The Savior of Souls ✔

Part Three

"It's time to leave," Tyler whispered to me, shaking my shoulder slightly. I slowly stood up, feeling much better than I had before I slept. Anthony handed me a bag of all my cloths, and explained to me the plan. Or, rather, what little of a plan we'd had. He went home while Tyler and I were asleep and told both of our parents we were going to a separate friend's house. He got all of our stuff, and Shane's grandma would take care of the rest somehow while we were gone.

I nodded, heading to the bathroom Shane's family shared. I did all the morning routines and gave up the bathroom for someone else to occupy. Tyler and Anthony were talking to some of the other family members and I went to Shane. "So, how's this going to work?" I asked.

"Traveling?" He asked in clarification. I nodded, wondering how we'd avoid windows and such while traveling. "Us vampires have an underground system we've managed to hide from the humans, we'll go through those. People live, work, and stay there all the time," he explained, sitting on the couch. He pulled out his phone and gestured for me to sit with him.

When I sat I could see his phone, and he opened the images. Most of which consisted of articles, wells, and other information I couldn't put to use. He tapped on one of the wells. "The Well of Souls?" I asked.

"It's the best representation I could find," he said. He showed me some of the other information he'd found over the years and I knew then how dedicated he was to this journey.

A few minutes had passed and we were well into Shane's gallery when Tyler stood in front of us. "I think it's safe to leave, no?" he asked, pointing to the now opened window. The moon was well into the sky, and the night surrounded us.

"Yeah, now's a good time," replied Shane. We all stood and went to the door where all our stuff was stacked. We grabbed our bags and started heading out. As we walked I knew exactly what was wrong with the bond, there was another set of feelings there. It wasn't just Tyler.

We started walking over a hill and into the woods, the moon casted a faint shadow over the trees. Everything looked slightly different now; the colors were lighter and it looked almost like day to me. Anthony stuck close behind us, studying our steps at first until his eyes adjusted to the dark. Even then, he still stumbled. He'd have to get used to the night if he'd wanted this to work out.

"So, where are we going?" Tyler asked. He had been marinating in his frustrated thoughts for a while now and decided to break the silence.

"You'll see soon," Shane told him in response. He was leading our little pack and refused to look back at him.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Tyler asked him accusingly. We all stopped for Anthony to get a drink of water, forcing Shane to turn to us.

"I do right now," he replied honestly, he began to sound frustrated.

"Right now?" asked Tyler. "Do you know where The Well of Souls is?"

No reply. Anthony had gotten his drink and we were walking again. "You don't, do you?" I asked accusingly. To me he did turn around, he looked at me while he talked.

"Not exactly, but I know the general area. It's a ways from here, so we'll have time." He turned back around to lead again. This brought up more arguing between the two of them. I knew then exactly who else I was bonded to. The difference in the emotions were clear and easy to assign to each of them.

There was, of course, Tyler. Tyler was angered and frustrated at Shane for turning us. He hadn't had the choice I'd had, and even if he did his once planned out life was out of order. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to do any of the things he'd planned on, and I was willing to bet 'become a vampire' wasn't on his list.

The other emotion was rather annoyed, he felt a little guilty but had hope everything would turn out right. I pinned the emotions to Shane, and studied both of them silently as they argued for the next hour it took to get to the underground system.

The stairwell was deep in the forest, camouflaged by bushes so thick I hadn't noticed it until Shane was uncovering the entrance for us. Anthony stuck by Tyler and I as we walked quickly down the rocky old stairs.

"Hey, Shane?" Anthony asked shakily.

From behind Shane quickly appeared by his side saying, "yeah?"

"It's not dangerous for me to be walking in on a bunch of vampires, right?" he asked. We were close enough to hear a buzz of chatter coming from inside.

It took Shane a few minutes to reply, "it should be fine, you'll get looks but as long as you're escorted by us you'll be fine." He then went on to explain humans were often lured down as a source of blood, Shane assured Tyler and I blood wasn't a necessity. He then quickly explained for Anthony that once you're a source for the vampires you are sworn to secrecy, life on the line if you dared to spill the secret.

When we reached the underground system we found it to be rather lively. Shane was right, though. Those who'd noticed us had stared, but they weren't a trouble to us. I was most worried about the tunnel collapsing in on itself, it was made entirely of old rock and hadn't seemed to have had a renovation in years. Dim torches were scarce but there, probably for the mere humans who visited on occasion. The dark hadn't bothered me but I saw Anthony struggle to see.

On either side of us there were little shops, stands, houses, and hotels. We stopped at a hotel that looked expensive but Shane had assured us was not. Most of the vampires didn't believe in letting people live in poverty, we were for the most part immortal and they would hate to live eternity in bad conditions.

"Hello," greeted the vampire in the lobby. "How may I help you?"

"We would like a two bed room, please," Shane replied, pulling out some money.

"For how long will you need the room?" she asked, looking at their available rooms on her computer. She gave Anthony a sad look before returning to her professional business.

"Just tonight, please," he'd said. The lady asked for his name and opened a new tab. When she typed his name and saw no picture to match his appearance she deemed us safe customers to treat. She took the money and gave us the key.

When we got to the room there was a lamp that Shane turned on for Anthony's sake. It was the only light source we had noticed. Anthony offered to share a bed with Shane and that was it for our arrangements. We all got settled in and when we were treated with silence I asked Shane, "did you have a choice in becoming vampire?"

His face turned cold and he took a minute to recall a memory. "No," he stated.

A/N Stay tuned for the next update to learn more of Shane's past!