Married to the Vampire King (COMPLETED)

Chapter Forty-Six

The Road to Port Cressida

Sophie Reese

The road climbed up and along a steep ridge. The distant glow of the city could be seen above the pine tree tops that lined the road.

I peeked through gaps in the trees, trying to spy a glimpse of the city that I had heard so much about. I was curious about what the city would look like and the people who lived in it. With a population of several million, the city had to be massive. How did so many vampires survive in one big urban area, like this? How were they all able to feed? No way was there enough humans in the area for a couple of million vampires to feed upon. Blood had to be brought into the city to sustain everyone.

The road climbed upwards to an exposed cliff edge. The wind was now howling around me and I could smell the ocean. The city was a port, so we had to be travelling towards the sea. The road climbed a little higher until we were finally riding along the top of the cliff. I turned my head and looked out over the cliff edge and took my first good look at the vampire city. The sight was familiar, yet strange. The city looked like any other city at night, but some of the buildings and streets looked out of place. The city appeared to be built in a natural cradle between a bay and crescent of mountains that separated the bay from the mainland. The mountains offered protection and secrecy from the human world, but limited building space. The centre of the city appeared to beautifully laid out with crescents of townhouses and fine detached mansions surrounded by gardens. However, the edge of the city was tightly packed with hundreds of narrow winding streets that backed right up the slope of the mountain.

The motorbike slowed as the road became uneven and the wind grew even stronger. A dull orange glowing light appeared in the distance. Jacques reduced his speed as we slowly passed a woman and four children huddled around the burning trash can. The woman, a tall thin gaunt-looking thing, barely lifted her head to acknowledge us as we passed. Her children, on the other hand, stared at us with large sad eyes that tore at my heart.

Were they homeless?

I tapped on Jacques' shoulder, urging him to stop, but he shook his head continuing. At first, I didn't understand, why he didn't want to help, but a few seconds later we were passing dozens of people huddled around burning heaps of trash. Behind them, was a jumble of tents and makeshift shelters.

Jacques stopped the bike and dismounted. "We'll need to walk from here," he said.

"Is this the Spit?" I asked getting off the bike.

"Yeah, this is the shame of Port Cressida," he replied.

At that moment, an elderly couple walked past pushing a shopping cart filled with bags of stuff. The old man had his arm draped around the old woman as she cried into his chest. "How are we going survive now? We've lost everything," she sobbed.

The old man shook his head gravely, "We should have moved sooner. I thought we had more time."

"What will we do now?" She choked.