The Vampire's Rival

The past being an affliction with no remedy

There must have been at least fifty people making up this Wildling tribe. I drew a majority of the looks as I walked behind the men who carried Hadley. Before long, they had Hadley in a large tent at the centre of their village. It was a triage tent. A kind of mobile clinic. There were others here besides Hadley. Some were sick with fever. Others were nursing injuries, most minor, but a few included broken bones. The vampire dogs weren't the only danger this tribe faced in the Jungle.

Kade followed us in. He gave instructions to the tribe Healers to make Hadley their priority. There was some resistance, but Kade's authority and my intimidating presence quashed that almost immediately.

Kade then left the tent to instruct his people to pack and get ready to leave this place.

The tribespeople did their best for Hadley. I watched as the Healers worked to save her, but there was an unmistakable cloud of hopelessness surrounding them. Still, they did their best by her. In the end, Hadley's wounds were too severe even for the gifted tribal Healers. The gaping hole in Hadley's right shoulder was doused in clotting meds and covered in a thick wad of leaves and bandages. A drip line of blood and Hb boosters was fed into her left arm. However, her breathing was shaky at best, and she was fading fast.

"My Healers have done everything they can. There's nothing more to be done. She won't last the night," the main Healer explained.

The lady was tall, had skin the colour of mahogany, hair tied back in an austere ponytail afro and had an air of authority around her. She had an eyepatch on her left eye. Her right eye was a dark brown. Her lips were painted black and pursed to complete the serious look on her face. One of the other Healers walked over and whispered a message to her.

"There's word that the others from her group have arrived. I'll send for them to say goodbye." said the lady with an eyepatch. "You should say your goodbyes too."

Kade walked into the triage tent at that moment and was updated by the main Healer before she left the tent. He walked up to me and stood next to Hadley's bed.

"I'm sorry for the grim news," he said. He looked at Hadley. "We'll move her to another tent to give her privacy. I've instructed Anette, the Healer you just spoke to, to make sure she feels no pain as she passes on. We'll hold a ceremony for her before we leave at dawn."

I looked down at Hadley.

"She's not dead yet." I said.

Just then, Jamila and the others walked into the tent. Jamila was inconsolable. The others tried to remain stoic, but every eye held tears in it. Crystal was helping Jamila walk over to Hadley and Billy was organising everyone so that they could all fit around Hadley's bed. I walked out of the tent, unable to face Hadley's friends.

Unable to face Jamila.

It was a few hours later when they moved Hadley into a smaller tent. Her friends had been dispersed among the camp, assigned to tribe members who would help them as the whole village relocated to a place that Kade had called "The Caves". I waited in the shadows of the jungle trees, watching until most of the tribe had fallen asleep and only a few were left to watch over them. I walked towards Hadley's tent, easily avoiding the guards.

"You said you would leave." Kade said, intercepting me before I had reached the tent.

"And you said you would save her." I returned.

He unsheathed his katana. "I will not let you endanger my people. You can't say that I haven't been patient."

"All I ask for is a few minutes with her," I said, keeping my composure, although everything was chaos inside. "To say goodbye."