The Vampire's Mistress (A Beautiful Bite) Book 1

Chapter 2

7:16am

The dry air of the early December morning stung my skin like an array of tiny needles, making my eyes water. I stumbled in the snow, as I maneuvered around branches, and slid in-between trees. Twigs clawed at my face and tugged on my clothes as I crawled through bushes and shrubs. I began to shiver uncontrollably as a gust of wind ripped around a tree, puncturing through my thin jacket and tuque, makin me go numb. I should have known running away was never going to be easy, and a very risky obligation.The sun was just shinning through the blanket of trees, that would occasionally drop a blanket of snow from its long arms above. The dead, dry leaves that covered the understory cracked and crunched whenever I stepped on them, sending a chilling echo throughout the dense, canopy of the boreal forest. An owl over head flew past, sending snow from the branch he retired from descending down onto me head. I almost screamed in fear, but let out a chuckle when I realized what it was, and how silly. I was already on edge, and the last thing I needed was being scared off by an owl. For a second I began debating on running home and jumping into my warm bed, calling this whole trek off only because of a stupid owl. I could only imagine what I would do if I came across a bear or a wolf, I'd probably go into a state of shock and pass out. Or I would freeze in fear, and become a early morning meal for a pack of wolves, or breakfast for a grizzly and its cubs. I heard the best way to ward off a bear it to act bigger than it, and yell and scream extremely loud, which to me didn't make much sense. I imagined how I would look to the bear. A small skinny girl waving her arms in the air, yelling as loud as she could. I'd be a free kill. All the bear would have to do is take one good swing at me, and that would be it. However it was an idea. Not a very good one but if it meant trying to save my life in an event of coming across a bear, I'd do it. Although it was a situation I desperately prayed to avoid.

I walked further into the bowels of the forest. I had just realized that this is as far as I had ever walked into a forest alone, I felt proud and tough, although it was a very lame accomplishment. The leaves of the elders that stood for years above me fell to the ground like wisps. To me each leaf represented a memory, or a piece of time the tree had existed in. Even if trees shed their leaves every years, to me it felt odd, that they were carelessly giving a part of them away, riding themselves of it as if it plagued them.

After walking another ten minutes something caught my foot, sending me hurling into the ground. Making me slam my face into the cold snow. it felt like stone, or something metal when my foot touched it, I had been oblivious to anything on the ground when I was walking, lost in thought I must of misplaced my footing. I wondered what it was. I brushed the snow off my chest and legs and stood up. I had gotten some dirt in my mouth but was one of the least upsetting things that I was dealing with. I had fallen a lot harder than I thought I did, and sunk my face deep in the snow more than I would have thought. I must have hit something cause blood was oozing from my nose, and down onto my lips, mixing with the dirt. My cell phone had leaped from my pocket and cracked upon hitting the contraption below. I looked down at the mysterious object. It was flat and it appeared to be made of stone. The edges were jagged, and parts of it were rotten and cracked. I brushed off a thin layer of snow that covered what seemed to be writing. It was in another language that I had never seen before so I couldn't understand. It had weird markings and symbols all over it, even scratch marks. I leaned in closer to get a better look. I grazed my hand across the top, it felt cold, and hard. There was only a bit of it I could understand and it as date, I began to read It when I heard the sound of a branch breaking from my right. I shot my glance over in surprise, but there was nothing there. Only what seemed to be a never ending army of trees, stretching out for miles. There was no sign of movement, and their was no noise, only my breath, and the calming breeze of the chilling wind. I picked up my phone and shoved it into my pocket, that's when I heard it again, this time to my left. When I looked over I saw a man. He was tall, stocky and wearing all black, and was already walking quick paced towards me. It didn't faze him that I had seen him, it only made him move faster. I couldn't see his face for it was veiled by his hair, and covered by his hood. He wore a black coat with black slacks and shoes, and from what I could see his skin was an unhealthy white, smooth but ridged with age. I quickly stood up. My heart began to beat quickly, and fear settled over me. I knew this man was wanted to harm me, or quite possibly kill me. He was to big for me to take on, and seemed to be a lot faster for me to run, but it was my only bet. He walked towards me like he was about to claim a reward, a prize. But I wasn't going to wait for him to push a knife through my chest, or slit my throat and watch me bleed to death. I held my ground. The closer he got, the more intense the space between us grew. I had to run, but I knew if I tried I would never make it.