"What are you?" He asks me, breaking the silence. I am quite shocked by this question. Mostly because I don't even know how to answer it.
"Werewolf. I think... And you are a vampire," I state. He nods.
"You don't smell like a werewolf." He lifts his...
I wake up to being slapped on the cheek by Kai. I fly up in a sitting position, which I am soon to regret as my head begins throbbing with pain. I close my eyes and grab my head to try and block it out, which obviously doesn't help. Hera is licking my ear, and I swat her away with my hand, but feel bad instantly, as I know she's just trying to help.
"You okay?" Kai asks me, with his deep voice slowly caressing the inside of my skull and eliminating a bit of the pain. I swallow and let out a small 'yes'. I reach to the back of my head with my right hand, only to find a huge sore lump. I inhale through my teeth.
"Don't touch it. You hit your head against the radiator as you fell. It's bleeding, but you will be fine." Hera gently closes her mouth around my wrist and directs my hand down into my lap. That's when I remember.
"Did you see our stalker in the room?" I ask with my eyes flying up to meet Kai's. He just looks at me confused.
"Yeah, he was in here when you were sleeping. But he got out of the window as we entered the room..." Kai begins, but I shake my head.
"No, I mean, right before I passed out. I saw him in the bathroom mirror leaning over the bed, but he was gone when I turned around." Kai looks spooked and worried. He looks down at Hera, who looks equally out of it. As they don't answer, I continue; "I think he may have been closer to us than we first anticipated..." I pull down the shirt to reveal the bite mark on my shoulder.
"I think he may have been the one to bite me. But I don't know when he could have done it. Surely, I would have noticed, right?" Hera is still looking pretty scared, and now she is also walking restlessly back and forth in the room. Kai is looking at me panicked and swiftly pulls my shirt back on with trembling hands. He looks around frantically. This makes me freak out. Wtf is going on?!
"We uhm... You gotta... Let's..." Kai seems unable to collect his thoughts and keeps commencing an action but doesn't finish it before starting on the next. Hera picks up on this, and at least she is able to collect herself enough to assist. She bites Kai's calf, prompting him to 'sober up'. Hera moves her head in a way making it look like she says 'sit down', which Kai then does.
After a long pause, he does a deep inhale and exhale and begins; "I think he may be a vampire...". Now I understand why he was so freaked out. I don't know much about vampires, only that we are NEVER to speak aloud of them back in the camp. I did manage to hear some gossip here and there about them, and it was never anything good. Whenever they were mentioned, an eerie feeling fell over us all sending chills through our bones. They must be some kind of God of Death or something. And the mere thought of that lurking around and stalking us makes me want to throw up from sheer fear.
Again, there is a long silence before I break it. "So, what now?" I ask. Kai stares into the air paralyzed from fear.
"I don't know", is the only thing that leaves his lips in a whisper.
"Kai. You have to tell us what you know about these guys." I beg him. This makes him look up at me slowly, still with stiff and widened eyes. He takes a deep sigh, then looks down again and begins.
"They are monsters. They are the natural nemesis of our kind, and I have been unfortunate enough to cross paths with one..." A single tear rolls down his cheek, so Hera leans her body against his legs as a comfort. He continues;
"I never told you where I came from or why I was alone. A group of vampires is the reason behind that. I came from a great pack with noble warriors and gentle leaders. About six months ago, all that was ripped to pieces; I came back from a hunt with my three best friends only to find that our camp was utterly destroyed. The ground was muddy, which was weird since it hadn't rained in days. Upon further inspection, we realized, that we were walking around in the blood of our pack. They had killed everyone, and all the bodies were covered in bite marks and more or less drained from blood. I ran to find my mom, but she was dead. Beside her lay Abey, an omega, who was barely holding on to life. With the small rest of power in her, she whispered 'vampires', and then she died as well.". Even though his tale is gruesome, I can hear, that he tries to be as factual as possible, probably to try and hold the awful feelings at bay. He does not succeed, however.
At this point, streams of tears are pouring down from his eyes. He sobs softly, so I gently put my hand on his back and stroke him lightly. I feel so sorry for him. I wonder what happened to his three best friends, but I'm afraid that they died as well, and I don't want to upset him any further, so I decide to ask him another time.
He sniffs and wipes his face in his sleeve, looking determined to not be fragile or vulnerable anymore. He gets up and clears his throat, his eyes still looking puffed and red.
"Come on, we need to leave. We can't stay here if a vampire is stalking us. Nothing good could ever come out of it." It is not up for debate, as he turns around and begins walking out of the room. Hera and I throw a look at each other and proceed to get up and follow him.
I go through our to-do list mentally; Find a city: check. Get dressed: check. Learn more about the druids, and whether they can help us or not: stalled. New objective; get as far away from the vampire as possible.
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