A Tree That Sprouts Roses And Drips Blood.

Chapter Five.

Climbing the stairs, a calm settled over me and it felt like everything was right at this moment. Even though I was about to face death, I couldn't be upset. A few good things had come out of this horrible mess. One, my Dad was not crazy. I knew that now. Two, I hadn't watched T.V in two weeks, Mum would be proud, I thought ruefully. Three, I had finally seen the beautiful Irish countryside, I could die a happy woman. And finally four, I would certainly die. That meant I could skip the straight jackets, I realised, forcing a smile as I reached the top of the stairs.

I glided to the door, not eager for death but glad it would be all over soon. Opening the door with an audible click, I vaguely noticing the "Private" sign was back.

His scent hit me like a tidal wave, strong and powerful. I looked around to see where the room had taken me now.

The sun glared in my eyes, so I must be outside. I could feel a light, warm breeze and for a moment I thought I was back on the balcony. Then the sun was obscured by a cloud and I could see huge hanging leaves. Not only leaves, but tree trunks and the buds of new flowers. Far away in the distance the sound of a stream bubbling. I looked down and saw the ground was concealed by a thick vegatation of grass. I noticed something purple, out of place in the leafy depths of the jungle.

It was him. Demetrio Reanulti stood as beautiful as the first time I'd seen him, leaning lazily against a log. The purple had been his sweater, accompanied by straight leg jeans and hiking boots. On his back was a huge ruck sack. I let out a startled, shaky laugh and he jumped.

"what?!", he asked, eyebrows raised.

"It's just I hadn't realised vampires needed hiking supplies..", I laughed again, eyeing his backpack.

He glanced over his shoulder at it, like he had forgotten it was there.

"Oh this? It's not for me, it's for you".

He had the satisfaction of seeing my face drop. I hadn't expected that. For the first time since learning of my inevitable death, I was afraid. He wasn't going to do it quickly, he probably wasn't even going to kill me. He would make me hike this rainforest, til my will was weak, then force me to change.

My eyes darted around the forest looking for any route of escape. Nothing. He looked at me earnestly, clearly seeing my asessment.

"Anna, I'm not going to-".

His sentence faded out, as my eyes zeroed in on the glint of something silver, craftily concealed in a pile of yellowing jungle leaves. I ran for it. I didn't know what it was, but it looked metal. Metal was good. You could hit with metal. You could defend with metal. As I dived for the leaves, he sat unresponsively gaping at me in disbelief. I ignored him and rummaged through the debris. My hands closed around a piece of the metal thing. Handle bars. An engine. A motorcycle. I had never been so happy to see something with a motor in my life.

I glanced over at demetrio, he was still staring blankly at me. I kicked the bike to life, roaring down the forest path. This bike could go fast! The foliage that lined the road was streaking past me. I glanced one more time behind me, back at Demetrio. He met my exultant gaze and blurred into action. He tore down the path after me. But his pursuit was not one of a hunter, more of a worried mother chasing after her flightly child.

I could see and opening ahead. A break in the trees. Sunlight poured into the approaching clearing, flooded it mercilessly and this became my goal. I didn't know if it would work, but wasn't supposed to incinerate vampires? It was my only hope, he was gaining on me.

The trees were thinning, the clearing drawing closer. Freedom was so close I could taste it. It tasted strangely of honey, lilac and sandlewood. Or maybe it was just his scent hanging in the air. I glanced behind me and relief and euphoria floooded my pores. He was gone. He had given up. I exhaled and released my fingers a fraction from the clutch, letting the bike slow. Then a flash of white beside me threw me off balance.   

He hadn't stopped, he'd just moved to a diffrent angle. He was running parallel to me now, cutting through the trees like a human bulldozer. My heart dropped and my fingers curled reflexively around the clutch. The bike shot forward and I struggled to control it. I saw his face freeze in horror as the front wheel of the bike wobbled. Ha, I thought, now I wouldn't that be a pity. If I died before he could kill me.

He kicked it up agear, his legs were a blur. Stealth flowed in each movement and he was flying through the surrounding trees with the power of a wrecking ball. He excelled past the bike and I thought he would jump out in front of it to stop me. But he kept going. He was going to stop me before the clearing. I squeezed the clutch tighter and the bike snarled satisfyingly, but the wobbling worsened. The back wheel bucked and the front gave in. The bike fell on it's side and I sprawled out on the forest floor.

My head cracked against a piece of stone and the heat suddenly rolled over me. I hadn't realised how hot it was. The sun baked down on me, especially around my head. I reached up to shade it with my hand and encountered something of a sticky consistency.  I pulled back my hand and wondered at the red stuff oozing through my fingers. I heaved trying to swallow the sick rising in my throat. A rusty salt smell filled my nostrils. The smell of fresh vlood. I swallowed more sick.

Sparks filled the air and I looked down in time to see the bike holding me hostage on the ground, burst into flames. The sun had been nothing to this. It felt like I was cooking, my skin sizzling straight from my body. The flames licked their way up my legs. Too hot. Much too hot. I struggled to get up, but the bike was too heavy. And suddenly I felt heavy and my eyelids were heavy. I was so tired. I wanted to sleep forever. The black waters of death were coming in tidal waves towards me. Promising rest and numbness from the pain. I kept the waters at bay by inches, but they were closing in on me. The fire was still blazing, blistering and dissolving my skin in it's wake. I gave up and let the black waters drag me under. Just as I felt a pair of arms lift me into the air.