POV- Twig
Luna's hand slipped out of mine as I tripped over a tree root. I curse word came to mind, but I didn't dare say it in front of my kid sister.
Luna reached down, lending her pale arm to help me up. I brushed my long, brunette hair out of my face. Instead of using Luna's aid to help me up, I pulled her down with me. I pressed my finger to my lips so she would know to stay quite. Luna had a backpack on. I made sure she laid on her side so it wouldn't poke up.
The root I had tripped over was large and arched a few inches off of the ground. At first I wondered how I had missed such a huge outcropping, but then I realized that the ground on this side of the root was lower. Me and Luna were now lying in a concave rut in the ground.
I could hear shouting from where we had come from. I noticed that I could see through the crevice between the nefarious root and ground. I clearly sighted the two boys, teens, who had been chasing us.
The boys had stopped and were looking around. They were most likely siblings, about my age. I would have guess them to be identical twins, but the one of the left appeared a year or two older. Gripped tightly in each one's hand was a stake. I guessed that they were wooden, but couldn't tell due to the nighttime darkness. The younger one also held a torch.
"Where'd they go," shouted the older boy. I almost thought it was funny that they were stupid enough to be shouting. The sound of my heart thumping violently in my chest drowned out my humor, however.
The boys ran off to their right, the wrong way. Once they were out of sight, I counted to fifty before whispering to Luna to get up.
We climbed back over the root, which was covered in moss. Luna nearly lost her grip because of the moss, but made it over safely. We headed back to town.
We walked into the general store. As per usual, a guard in chainmail wielding a broad sword stood just inside the door. He eyed us but figured us harmless and switched his weight from one foot to the other. I saw my friend, Carter, standing by the counter talking to Cindy, the cashier, his girlfriend. I approached and greeted them.
"Would you two watch Luna while I look around?" I asked. They assured my they would. Luna rolled her eyes, probably thinking I was treating her like a four year old.
I made my way towards the back of the store, examining the wooden shelves. There was packaged foods such as pretzel bags and dried noodles, fresh fruit, flour, seasoning, a few books, an abundance of figs, and plenty more. I found my query in the far back. Guttered shelves held ice and spherical flasks which held an assortment of beverages.
I grabbed seven flasks of koli juice, which was as many as I could carry, and carefully brought them back to the counter.
I set all seven flasks on the counter and opened my coin purse. "How much?" I asked.
Cindy looked at Luna and then me. "Nothing," she said, pulling out her own coin purse.
"I can't let you pay for our stuff," I insisted.
"Nonsense! I'm paying for your drinks and you can't stop me, Twig."
I sighed. "You know I hate charity," I said, carefully loading the drinks into Luna's backpack. Luna elbowed me. "I mean, thank you, Cindy." I'm pretty sure it's my job to teach my little sister manners, but she did a much better of teaching me them.
We left the store and headed East down the main road. A minute into our trek, I stopped walking. "Give me the pack," I ordered Luna. "It's too heavy for you."
"I got it," Luna argued. "It doesn't even feel heavy." She continued walking.
I yanked Luna's backpack off and slung it over one shoulder. "Hey!" She protested, spinning around.
I glared at her. "You have to at least try to act like a normal eleven year old," I reprimanded. "Normal kids your age would struggle with something this heavy."
"But we're not a normal kids." Luna said quietly
"You're right," I said. "We're vampires." I wiped my forearm across my nose, smearing the blood trickling out of my nostril.
