Forsaken Blood

- GRIEF -

Layla had never felt more vulnerable than she did now as standing alone by the edge of the water. The cold night air stung her cheeks as it blew up from across the dark flowing river. She looked down to the left where a line of small boats had been half pulled up onto the river bank. She singled out her transport - an old wooden row boat with chipped paint and sturdy oars. She knew this was forbidden, but who was playing by the rules anymore.

She didn't think twice, but pushed the boat off from the water's edge and let it slide silently into the icy waters. Layla jumped in before saturating her shoes and with one last push from the oars, she was rowing across the river into the forsaken world. Layla's mind was blank as she glided across the black water. Her mind had gone into protection mode and had numbed anything she should have been feeling.

The river suddenly picked up its current and forced her boat this way and that. Layla heaved at the oars and threw her whole body into rowing. The river was flowing hard and she could feel the sweat run down her back. Her arms burned but it felt good against the biting cold. She rowed and rowed and fought desperately to get to the other side.

With one final battle, the boat came crashing into the far bank of the river. It was quiet over here and Layla readied herself for whatever might come as she hopped out the wooden vessel. Her heart raced as she half expected to be met by the most gruesome monsters she could imagine. But when she calmed her senses she was surprised to find this side of the river to be nearly the same as the one she had come from with its warehouses and factories.

Her phone began to ring - it was Jeremiah. She looked at it for a minute before turning it to vibrate mode placing it back in her purse. A lecture was the last thing she could handle right now. She felt her purse vibrating over and over and knew it was him. She slowly turned back to the river and looked over to the far bank. A lone figure stood under the hazy glow of a street lamp, watching her walk to her doom. She knew it was him and pulled out her phone.

JEREMIAH: what are you doing going over to that side? You don't know what you are getting yourself into

JEREMIAH: please answer, it's dangerous there, they don't care who you are, they will kill you, or worse

JEREMIAH: I'm going to call you in two minutes, please for me answer

Ring-ring... ring-ring...

She wanted to ignore the call, but she couldn't help but remember that he was there for her when she needed it.

Layla picked up the phone, "look I don't need a lecture, I'm just doing what I need to do for myself."

"Listen to me Layla," his voice was quick. "You have no idea what is over there."

"Vampires? Yes, I know," she said sarcastically.

"There is a lot worse than that Layla, and crossing over is forbidden for humans as well as their kind. It will start an all-out war," Jeremiah said.

Layla didn't care, "I'm sorry Jeremiah. I appreciate you looking out for me, but I've had enough of my world."

Before he could answer, she hung up. They stood glaring at each other from across the river and she realized that this was it – she was saying goodbye to everything she knew.

There's no turning back now...

Jeremiah yelled across the river and she barely picked up what he said. He began throwing his arms around, but she didn't have time to watch him, she heard noises nearing toward her. She had no time to face what was coming, before rough hands grabbed her and a hessian bag was forced over her head. A cord pulled around her neck and her hands were bound with tight grip-ties behind her back.

They never spoke a word but shoved her along so that she was being blindly guided. Her heart was racing, she wanted to scream out - to fight them – but she couldn't see a thing and her ankle throbbed in pain.

"Who are you?" She managed to cry out, "where are you taking me?"

She wasn't given any answer but was thrown into what felt like the boot of a car. The lock clicked as her sight plunged into a deeper darkness until all she could hear was the soft purr of the engine and her own racing heartbeat. She squirmed and kicked but it was no use. With every slight movement, the hard plastic of the grip-ties cut into her wrists.

She felt the car come to a stop and screamed through the hessian bag, "hey! Let me out of here!"

Soft footsteps approached with the metallic jingling of keys. They scraped against the lock and with a sharp click she felt the cold air rush in over her again. The bag was ripped off her head.

There stood a woman with jet black hair pulled tight into a ponytail. Ruby red lipstick stood out against her porcelain white skin and the black eyeliner wings accentuated her beautiful emerald-green eyes. A black under-bust corset led down to a black dress and knee-high boots. She was stunning in an evil sort of way.

"Get out, now," she ordered.

"Where am I?" Layla asked.

"I said now! Don't make me tell you again," the lady said in a raised voice.

Layla squirmed like a worm with her tied hands and swollen ankle. The woman grunted and grabbed Layla's arm before yanking her out of the car in one smooth action as though she was as light as a feather. The woman let Layla come crashing down onto the hard cement.

Layla winced in pain, "my ankle is sprained."

"Ha! Like I care," the woman said smirking.

She began shoving Layla through some kind of warehouse. It was empty and their footsteps echoed between the concrete floor and metal walls. The lady led her through a door where there were shelving and boxes neatly stacked. To the right was a large walk in freezer.

Layla pulled back, she knew there were bodies in there.

"Please let me go," she pleaded."I won't tell anyone what I've seen, I promise."

Layla was forced forward without a single word of reply. They walked down a narrow hallway and she noticed a flickering orange glow radiating from one of the openings. She stumbled toward the ambient light that eventually led to the end of the warehouse. There she was met by a heavy wrought iron gate with two small fire pits standing on either side of it. The woman opened the gate with a slow creak and kept Layla walking. They descended down stairs of ancient stone that was encased by walls like an archaic catacomb.

The stairs gave way to a long underground passageway that had old wooden doors poking out to the left and right. The woman marched Layla down the hall, wrenched open one of the doors, and hurled Layla into a tiny cold cell. The door slammed behind her and Layla screamed out at the pain in her foot.

"Please, don't leave me in here," she screamed.

Layla's heart was hammering, her body trembled, she was terrified of what was to become of her. She tried desperately to call Jeremiah but her phone had no coverage. The wintery air seeped right down to her bones making her whole body ache.

Looking around the room, there were no windows, only an old musty mattress and the sour smell of mould. There was nothing to do other than sit and await her fate.