Becoming the Cheetah

19 - Bite

I stood paralysed with fear, the vampire woman was towering over me. Her red eyes and pointy teeth looking hungry and wicked. Her eyes seemed to be piercing into my soul as she stepped closer. I couldn't move away even as she got closer, I could barely even breathe. Fear had truly frozen me. She smelt of fresh blood, she must have killed many others before me and I would be nothing to her. Flame had told me vampires were dangerous but nothing could compare to the horrors that I pictured at that moment.

Suddenly I snapped out of my paralysed state and ran. I was not going to be torn apart or be drunk dry from her. All I needed to see was Flame and I was so sure he was in this forest. I just needed to find him before the vampire caught up. Running as fast as I could hear my own heart beating wildly in my chest. The forest rush past me in a wirlwind but my lungs started to burn.  The vampire was close behind me, she was fast.

In the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of orange. Hope flickered in my heart. Before I could even turn my head to get a better look the vampire jumped on me and pinned me to the ground. I let out a huge scream, louder than any sound I had ever made in my softly spoken life. The vampire forced my arms to the ground, she had incredible strength. I felt so weak and helpless against her. She opened up her mouth and bared huge vampire fangs at me ready to bite me. As she leant in closer to bite me I could smell the blood on her breath. Fresh metallic blood. I closed my eyes. She is going to drink all my blood this was the end and I didn't want to watch. I stopped struggling and gave in. 

In complete darknessed of my closed eyes I cursed myself for having the hope that Flame was out in the forest with me. In my oxygen-depleted state I must have just imagined him.

I waited for the vampire to bite me for what seemed like a long time. Was she going to bite me or not?

I opened my eyes cautiously, the moon light was a little bright for my eyes but as my eyes adjusted I looked around the vampire had gone. Instead standing right in front of me was ... Flame!!! He smiled at me, there was a smear of blood on his lips. I jumped off the ground and hugged him. He hugged me back tightly and I started crying, I couldn't help it. The warm feeling I always got when I was around Flame returned to me. It was addictive, yet comforting. 

It was all I needed in this moment.

"Where have you been?" I asked him while crying.

"The vampires have been getting worse Victoria, my alpha wouldn't let me go anywhere near you," he told me. I stopped crying and he kissed me. I kissed back and we just stood there kissing for a long time. I can't even put into words how happy I felt then I completely forgot how lonely, weak and utterly petrified I had just been feeling because now Flame was here. That was all that mattered. 

Somehow even though I had put myself in extreme danger I was right. He had been out here. And it almost felt like I was all worth it to see him again.

He pulled back "Victoria you shouldn't be out here it's really dangerous," he told me "the vampires are everywhere. At the moment my pack is trying to get rid of some of them but there are so many."

I sighed, I just wanted to be with him. Now he was talking about vampires I didn't want to talk about them. That was the last thing I wanted to talk about now that we had finally been reunited. I was about to tell him something when an arrow shot out of the bushes and narrowly missed Flame's head. He pushed me behind himself in a protective way.

"Show yourself!" he growled.

Clutching his back I could feel the muscles rippling under his jumper, ready to shift. It was strange but I wasn't scared in fact I felt safer than ever with him beside me.

A group of vampires walked out of the bushes all around us. Flame cursed under his breath. I stood closer to him, he would protect me. I know he could. A vampire slashed out at Flame with a sword he jumped back, knocking me to the ground. 

"Sorry Victoria," he told me, "but try and stay out of the way."

The vampires surrounded him with their weapons and fangs all thirsty for blood, I couldn't look. Closing my eyes I could smell so much blood and hear screaming and yelling. Please Flame, please be ok ... don't leave me! I started crying tears pooling in my closed eyes.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my ribs and was thrown across the clearing into a tree. I had the wind knocked out of me and landed on the ground on my back. I slowly opened my eyes my wet lashes clumped together. There was a vampire staring at me hungrily. I tried to get up, I tried to move, I tried to call out to Flame but I couldn't. The only things I could feel were fear and a searing pain in my ribs. The vampire approached me and he leant down to bite me. I did the only thing I could do which was kick him in the face. My ribs stung but even that didn't seem to bother him too much. So I kicked him again but this time harder. He dodged my leg and grabbed me around the waist picking me up. I wasn't going to let this vampire eat me Flame was so close by. Adrenaline coursed through me giving me strength, numbing the pain in my side. I wriggled out of the vampire's grip with all the strength that I had and ran.

The vampire chased me but I was running as fast as I could. It was getting so dark I could barely see the mammoth trees that I was passing. All I knew was I had to get away, the vampire was likely to be right behind me. I tripped over a root of a tree and hit my head on something hard. Putting my hand to my head I felt blood. The vampire was right behind me laughing. I felt like an idiot for even bothering to out run the vampire though fear clogged my throat. He was going to finish me. Suddenly the vampire fell to the ground, and in the back of his head there was an arrow. 

Mr Pan walked out from behind a tree with a bow, but this time he wasn't using his crouches and he wasn't wearing any pants. 

Because just like the picture in the book he had goat legs. And horns spouting out of his dark hair. A satyr. He smiled at me his green eyes still ever sparkly even in the darkness, it almost felt like they gobbled up the moonlight just to glitter the way that they did. He walked over to me then helped me onto my feet.

I just stared back at him, to be honest I should have seen this coming. He always shows up at the randomest times. But this time he really look like he was in his element holding a bow in the forest.

"I guess these can be useful sometimes," he said while examining the bow he was holding. I continued staring at him he looked up at me and smiled.

"So you're probably wondering why I'm here, actually you've probably been wondering that since you first saw me but this is probably the last time you'll see me," he told me.

"What?" I blurted out "you're my maths teacher!"

More of the cryptic nonsense.

"Yeah I'm going to give that job back to the mortal who had it before since I am pretty much done here," he told me.

Why is he always so confusing?! He could probably see the confused look on my face so he asked me with a crazy smile, "are you ready for something different?"

"What...." I asked finally sounding as confused as I was feeling.

"You will be even more powerful that that werewolf boy you seem to like," Mr Pan told me sounding almost like he was trying to convince me of something.

"I don't need to be powerful," I told him lying, I did need to be powerful but what is he talking about?

"I think now is the right time," Mr Pan said and stepped closer to me "I guess this is bye for now or as your new species say, meow for now."

Before I could even process what he had said properly he stepped forward and bit me on the neck. I felt some strange power flow into my body but as soon as Mr Pan let go of me I fell to the ground. My vision was dimming and all I could see was Mr Pan's hooves walking away from me.

What is happening?!!!!

I blacked out

Published - 8/4/2014

Edited - 27/9/2020