Midnight Crusade

Chapter 15

Time moved slowly for Vivian. The strangers had decided to tie her up to a tree just outside their camp and left her there. It had been hours she assumed, mostly by the way the forest darkened around them and grew colder. She couldn't really tell what time it was, but she knew it was growing late. Cold had seeped into her bones, her body constantly shivered as she resisted chattering her teeth. Everything became hazy as time went on, and Vivian wasn't sure if she was awake or asleep anymore.

"...vian." The woman heard a whisper, but couldn't make out the word. She lifted her head and gazed in front of her. Everything was blurry and she couldn't quite make out the figure kneeling in front of her. That was a person, wasn't it? "Vivian?"

The woman's eyes focused as he spoke her name, looking back at crimson hues. "Kit?" She hadn't even noticed he took her face in his hands until fingers brushed against her cheek. Was he real? Was she dreaming?

"I am real." Kit said, and Vivian realized she must have spoken her thoughts. "We need to get you out of here." His voice had a tinge of panic laced within it.

Vivian watched with half lidded eyes as the man moved behind her and ripped the rope clean off her wrists, unbinding her. Her arms were stiff as she brought them to her front, looking down at her hands and noticing the way the tips looked much whiter than they should.

"Can you stand?" Kit asked, moving to kneel back in front of her. He reached out with his hands, taking hers.

"I can try." Vivian said, trying to push herself up onto weak legs, but they refused to support her weight. She just went tumbling down back to the snowy ground. "No, no I can't."

"Okay." Without another word, Kit lifted her from the ground, the movement so fast that Vivian's world spun for a moment. But then she was in Kit's arms, pressed to his chest and feet dangling. There was sound that came from somewhere in the camp, footsteps crunching against snow. "We need to go." The vampire said, beginning to move away from the camp.

"Vampire!" A voice shrieked out before the trees could conceal them. Chaos erupted from the camp as everyone within sprung into action.

"Shit." Kit muttered as he picked up his pace and began to run.

"Don't let 'em get away!" Another voice yelled, and Vivian knew this wasn't going to be an easy escape.

Kit ran for what felt like only a few moments before his entire form jerked, and Vivian fell from his grasp as they both tumbled to the ground. Vivian was quick to push herself up and look at Kit. Her eyes widened when she saw the arrow sticking from his back. "Kit!" Vivian yelled, moving towards him.

"Go." Kit said, pushing himself from the ground. "They will come after me, not you."

"No!" Vivian yelled, looking up to see the people from camp coming towards them. "I can't leave you! I can't even run Kit!"

There was a look of desperation on the vampire's face at her words, panic and fear mixed into his expression. "Fuck." He said and pushed up from the ground, grabbed the arrow from his back and ripped it out. He barely flinched. Then he was moving towards her, picking her back up and began to run again. "Fucking hunters."

Hunters? Is that what these people were? Vivian looked over Kit's shoulder at the group of people following them, at the group of hunters. One of them loaded their crossbow and aimed it right at Kit's back. "No!" She yelled again, throwing her body to one side and causing Kit to stumble. Only, he stumbled out of the way of the arrow that came flying towards his head, wheezing past it instead. He didn't say anything, just kept running. She could hear the hunters behind them, Kit slowly losing them as he was faster than them.