Sandabury Academy

Going Home

**Valerie's POV**

The smell of blood grows stronger as Terry and I approach a small clearing. I can tell this kill happened recently - a couple hours ago at most. Once we break through the treeline, I gasp in shock. We walk over to Sarah's limp body and notice that it's already showing signs of damage from the sun's rays. After a vampire dies, their bodies become similar to those of our ancestors in that they deteriorate quickly in the sunlight. I squat down next to her to get a closer look past the burns that now cover about a third of her body.

Something punctured her abdomen and left a gaping hole big enough to fit an arm through. It isn't until I look a few feet to my right that I notice the heart. Whatever did this ripped Sarah's heart out through her stomach. Unfortunately, that would not have been enough to kill a vampire right away since the heart needs to be punctured by a wooden stake or the body decapitated. Instead, she died from bleeding to death slowly and in one of the worst ways imaginable. I turn her body over to see claw marks raked across her back very similar to the ones on the bodies of the innkeeper and his family. Terry echoes my thoughts exactly.

"Of course it had to be Doppelgangers. They're the only 'bad guys' we've come across since we started this whole thing. The only question is why was Sarah this far from the Academy?"

I stand back up from my squatting position. "That and where's the rest of her posse?"

Terry nods in agreement. "Judging by the amount of blood permeating the air, there has to be another body nearby."

Now its my turn to nod. Terry and I head in the direction of the fresher smelling blood. By the time we reach the next body, Logan is already squatted down examining it.

I sigh having forgotten that he followed us through the portal. Terry picks up on my immediately soured mood.

"Dude, you're in the way," Terry says as he walks up to a now standing Logan. Logan merely looks at me, no doubt expecting some sort of reaction to him beating us to the next body, but I don't give him the satisfaction. Peering around him, I notice that this body is missing a head while its foot is stuck in a nasty looking bear trap. Terry scans the perimeter while I get a closer look. It's obviously a female considering the bust, so it most likely is another member of the posse.

"Found the head!" Terry calls out a moment later.

I turn and see Terry holding up the disfigured face of April given the slight burns already starting to appear on the skin.

"These girls are from the academy," Logan states.

"No shit, Sherlock," Terry counters. "They were some of my biggest fans," Terry mutters with a pout.

Rolling my eyes, I say, "Five bucks says Barbie is nearby too."

"Oh there's no doubt about that," Terry replies.

I pause and lift my head up, subtly inhaling the soft breeze blowing up the mountain side. Letting my newfound abilities fully kick in, I quickly discern the direction of another body by the base of the mountain. There's also a very subtle scent of spice mixed with burnt firewood in the air. My eyes land on Terry's knowing smirk.

"Jaheara's been through here, hasn't she?"

I nod. "She's traveling with the same group that did this," I say emphasizing April's slow burning corpse.

"Then they're barely more than a day ahead of us," Logan butts in.

"Captain obvious at it again," Terry whispers as he walks past me.

I chuckle and jerk my head to the side, motioning for us to move out. We start to take off when Logan calls out.

"What about the bodies? We can't just leave them here."