By One Drop of Blood

Part 4

I fall to the ground with all my weight. The fall is not that high but the impact hurts non the less. With me inside the barn should be the enslaved people or maybe I have entered the one barn that the slaves fled from. I stumble through the darkness inside the barn. The outside night is dark too for sure but the small light from the moon is enough to let the eyes get used to it but inside all light is absent. I walk a few steps towards where I think the walls are. Out of the pitch black that is filling the barn a wooden object hits me right on the head. The sudden strike catches me of guard so I stumble to the ground. Next up a lamp is lit that shines light on who attacked me. The person is already reaching back to take another swing to my head. The shining lamb is held by another person. The new light source shines enough on me so that the person attacking me can grasp who I are. In an instance the wooden weapon falls to the ground and the woman holding is drops to her knees. She is one on the slaves sleeping inside the barn. Her hands are folded in a praying position as she apologises to me

"Please forgive me good sir. We thought you would be the Obayifo coming back for us."

Her eyes are on the brink of tears. Full of fear. Why is she apologizing to me? I am not her superior. Other people join her request for forgiveness. The people must mistaken me for a guard.

"Please don't worry about me." I reply while I get back to my feet.

"I am no guard. I am a soldier of the United States and me and my comrades are here because we got notice of a vampire haunting the area. We encountered one of your fellow sufferers. He said his name is Wilmington and that he fled the plantation after he got attacked by a shadow." By the mention of the vampire and that we are indeed here to hunt for it triggers a shiver inside the people.

"The guards said they would protect us against monsters." One man in the back speaks up. A bit of a rumble moves through the group.

"The white demons are coming to devours us!" Another man raises him voice. The whole crowd begins to mumble which morphs into a rumble. The voices get louder.

"Please everyone stay quite." I try to calm them all down.

"The guards will hear us! Please stay quite." My words show effect. The people become quiet again.

"I need to know what you have experienced. Please describe it to me. I need to know every tiny detail." For a short while the people become completely quiet. The woman who beat he over the head takes up the word.

"Sir, we didn't see much. The screams of Wilmington woke us up even though it happened in the next barn. We heard the rumble when the other escaped. Gunshots and horses appear. Soon after the guards entered our barn and told us to get back to sleep. They would not answer our questions on what happened."

That ads not much to what we already know. I can not already prove that the vampire is hiding inside the mansion. Wilmington word alone is sadly not enough and up until now all of this could very well be just some other monster. We need proper prove. Maybe they got in contact with the other barns.

"Did you talk to the others?"

"Yes, sir. We could talk to them for a brief moment when we were send to the fields. They told us that they were attacked by a shadow from which a pale slender silhouette emerged. Also five people could escape from the plantation which meant that we had to work even harder."

"Did something other happen to you or the farm in general?"

"The men working on the plantation also changed. They started wearing masks and long coats all the time. Even in the burning sun. They stopped talking except for what is absolutly necessary. Once in a while the guards dragged away a man. Some time after the man was dragged back to us with him being unconscious. The men would not wake up for a couple of hours and when they would return they could not go after the easiest of task which lead to the guards punishing them even harder. They would be haunted by nightmares

Silence prevails with the group of people until a young man breaks the silence.

"Sir, is it real? Do people live free in the north?"

"Yes they do Miss. And all of you could as well."