The Vampire's Rival

When she hurts you but doesn't see it

The next two days were equally as unsuccessful at finding the Wildlings. Hadley led us to a river that was supposed to lead us to the Wildling camp, which meant spending the second night keeping caimans and river snakes away from the camp.

It was the third night and this one was marginally better than the last few. There was a roaring fire, and the river proved to be a much-needed source of food, with fish filling up jerry rigged fishing traps built by Jael, the lanky dark-skinned girl whom I hadn't seen speak more than three words at the same time this whole time. I was playing with Drew and the vampire dog. It was a bittersweet activity. The green edges in the dog's eyes had all but swallowed up the red, which meant that I'd have to kill the little guy soon, before he became a danger to the humans.

As if knowing his fate, he put on a good show, obediently following instructions as I taught Drew how to train him to listen and obey specific commands. Even for a Labrador, the vampire dog was learning faster than I had thought possible. Granted, I hadn't had the pleasure of befriending dogs before the Human Error, but I'd watched a lot of dog training TV shows back then, when TV was a thing. Those dog trainers would have creamed their pants at how easily this dog caught on to the training. Drew had taken to calling him "Brownie", and the dog had accepted the identity in only two short training sessions.

Drew couldn't get over it, giggling and dancing with every successfully obeyed command, much to the dog's delight, who would join in the celebratory dancing. I was really going to hate killing the dog. It would break the little boy's heart and that would break mine. But I could already notice the canine struggling. Anytime Drew was busy eating or cleaning himself up, the canine would lay on his belly, a melancholic look of need in his eyes. He'd pierce the humans with this forlorn look, occasionally licking his lips as he did.

I understood the look, was starting to feel the desperate blood lust creep up on me too. I wasn't sure the dog could control himself from eventually attacking a member of the group. I couldn't risk it. He could attack Hadley. It was time to take action.

Jamila walked up to us, giving the dog a quick pet on the head.

"Drew, it's time to eat," Jamila said.

The boy looked grumpy, but his stomach suddenly growled, and his eyes darted to the grilling fish a few meters away.

"Can Brownie come with me?" Drew asked Jamila.

Jamila turned to look at me. Drew turned to me as well.

"Not tonight, buddy," I said to the little boy.

Drew turned back to his furry friend. The dog's eyes were almost fully green now. I had a feeling Drew knew that this was a bad sign. He hugged the dog, much longer than needed for a quick separation to go eat dinner. He then ran to the grill to scoff down his dinner as fast as he could.

"His eyes have changed." Jamila said. She was on her knees, giving the dog all her attention, covering it in pets. If it wagged any faster, the dog's tail could have propelled him into the canopy. "That's not a good thing, is it?"

I sighed. "I'll make sure he won't hurt any of you."

Jamila stood up and faced me. "Your eyes are changing too."

I stayed silent.

She dropped her gaze to Brownie.

"Killing him will kill Drew." Jamila continued.

"Not killing him will kill everyone else." I replied.

Jamila looked back at me and gave me a solemn nod. "I'll make sure Drew doesn't follow you."

"Thank you."

I called the dog to follow me into the trees. With all the humans awake and several fires roaring across the camp, I was less worried that predators would dare attack. The air between the dog and I changed the deeper we walked into the trees. A thick tension brewed between us. His tail snuck between his back legs, and he hang his head lower as we kept going.