Thirty One Days

Run

We had begun walked through the woods again, Jack leading.
"The Umbra Viatorem was once a person of the Night. A vampire, to be exact. his name long forgotten now but not his story." Madam Luna was walking behind Istvan and I, sandwiching is in the middle. As we climbed deeper into the forest I wondered if the night would ever end or if this was it. An endless night, being chased by three people. A Slayer, that half blinded Jack in an attempt to get away. A Witch, that immensely drained Madam Luna. And a twisted Doctor.
"The story goes that he was feeding on a victim, after being thrown into jail and starved by a near by town. This victim, unbeknownst to him, was a Viven Mortua." The slight breeze had stopped, making the air that hung around us heavy. "Afterwards, he began going through changes, his victims blood fusing with his."
"Filthy." Jack grumbled to himself.
"Not long after reports began popping up of Vivne Mortua people disappearing, of course normal authorities didn't do much about it. They couldn't, it wasn't in their jurisdiction." A Loud snapping came from the left of us, the four of us all turned, ready for whatever was lurking just out of the moonlight.
Jack inhaled deeply, paused a moment as we all looked towards him, then relaxed. "It's just a rabbit."
We all relaxed, Istvan let a small laugh out, turning towards me with a half smile. As long as the four of us stayed together, I knew we'd be alright.
Our walk began again while Madam Luna picked up where she left off.
"Then one day, a traveling sales man went to the Umbra Viatorem's house and what he found was gruesome." She paused for a moment, a dizzy spell settling in for a moment, reaching out to Istvan for balance. She began again once it passed, "He had stumbled upon a massive grave, all pale with incisions along their wrists and necks. Drained of blood and life."
A shiver ran through my spine as the imagine of dead bodies laying on top of each other, came to mind. All those people who had families, friends, a life, all gone with no warning. Betrayed by their own kind. My own kind.
Glancing at Istvan, who returned to his position next to me, I reached for his hand and interlaced our fingers. The warmth from him overpowered the chill that had overtaken me. A feeling of protectiveness settled in.
"When the sales man reached the town closest to his house, he spilled the tale of what he had seen. The towns people did hesitate, they were tired of their friends and family going missing, so they headed straight for his house." Madam Luna paused for a moment, looking behind them continued. "What the towns people saw was, in its rawest form, a monster."
"My great grand mother would never speak of him," Jack said, shaking his head as he lead us through the forest. As we've been on this walked I've come to learn how superstitious he is. "Never even mutter his name, it attracts him like a moth to a light."
Madam Luna giggled to herself, attempting to hold it in and Jack looked back at her. Hard at first, then more soft as his lips twitched into a smile.
"Anyways, What they say was the remains of a man, his flesh melting away from him, exposing his bones, hair missing. He had consumed such a large quantity of Vivne Mortua blood that he transformed into a hideous, disease, living corpse. The smell of rot following him wherever he went."
"So when people make a deal with him," Jack picked up where Madam Luna had left off, "they're allowing him to drain them, taking almost all of their blood, their gift, until they're almost gone. Then they're required to help him find their next victim."
"So what is Doctor Williamson doing?" I asked, recalling that he clearly still had his gift and didn't look lifeless or drained. In fact, other than the significant amount of wrinkles he looked to be in good health.
"He trying to become the next Umbra-"
"Can we stop saying that name?" Jack snapped, back and shoulders tensing up as his speed began to increase.
Silence settled in. The sound of our feet trudging through wet grass and the small amount of wildlife around us took over as the sound track of our walk. The moon was still high in the sky and our only source of light, the surround trees loomed over us casting long, narrow shadows on the ground. The air was still around us, unmoving, and the ever present feeling of being watched still lurked in the distance.
As I glanced away, into the surround forest, I felt as though I had been here before. Like the pattern of trees were familiar, the way the moon broke through throughout the forest and across its floor. The fresh smell of the earth and a light breezing picking up again.
Madam Luna broke the silence. "Very good Istvan, and I can only assume he was trying to sacrifice you two."
"Why us? Why not another pair?" Istvan asked, his grip tightening around my hand. His protectiveness reminded me of my brother, oh god, I haven't texted my mom since before leaving Madam Luna's.
Pulling out my phone, which I was surprised that I still had, I saw that my mom had call six times, left three voicemails, and twenty two text messages. I was so dead.
How would I ever explain this? She would immediately think that I was running wild through the campgrounds with some boys. It wouldn't be too far from the truth but still, I didn't want her to not trust me. That was the last thing I needed.
I tried to send her a text back but It didn't go through, I had no signal. Mind whirling, I groaned.
"Vivne Mortua people are becoming less and less easy to find," Madam Luna said, not noticing my internal distress.
"Are you okay?" Istvan whispered, his eyes falling on me. Despite my internal distress my cheeks flushed as I smiled up at him, putting my phone away, and nodded.
"You said Istvan is part Spirit, that's something special about him. Since those little buggers are too-"
"Jack!" Madam Luna cut him off, anger edging her voice as her temper showed. "Mind your manners, many of the Spirits were royals." She scolded.
"What about Stevie?" Jack asked as he glanced back, ignoring Madam Luna but heeding her warning at the same time.
"That I do not know." Madam Luna admitted, falling silent once again on our small traveling party.
My shoulder still aches from running into that tree but my legs no longer burned, but they were heavy. And I was tired. I had been up early this morning and now, not knowing what time it was, I knew that I would be approaching twenty four hours of consciousness.
A split second later, I felt myself going down as my foot caught on a loose tree root. Open impact The ground felt wet and soggy, until I realized that I had fallen into a puddle. A thick puddle.
"Stevie!" Istvan and Madam Luna both rushed over towards me, my body ached from tiredness and the impact. Why was I always the one running into things or falling?
Madam Luna stopped Istvan from helping me up, pushing his hand away, as the both stared at me. Jack joining them a moment later, after realizing we weren't fallowing.
I began to trembled slightly. What were they looking at? Placing my hand on the ground as leverage to push myself up, it hit the water, casing me to look down.
Not water.
Crimson blood filled the puddle and stained my jeans, a burning sensation settling in as my heart beat began to quicken.
"Stay calm child," Madam Luna bent down in front of me, but staying calm was the last thing I could do.
Why was I like this? Why did it have to be me and no someone else? My life is the punchline of every bad joke and I'm sick of it. I'm tired of being tired. I'm tired of being overly sensitive to everything.
She reached out for me, but I scooted away. Towards the tree line. The feeling of suffocation bad seized me, and all I wanted right now was space from everyone. Space from myself.
As I backed up, I hit something, branches rustled and the looks of Madam Luna, Jack, and Istvan's faces stirred worry into my mix of emotions.
"Vincit qui," Madam Luna muttered, her hands covering her mouth.
Turning around, I saw a little girl in a torn dress standing in the bushes directly behind me. The air left my lungs when I made my way up to her face, she was Faceless.
She was the girl from my dream.
"Run!" She screeched from her hidden mouth, terror tearing through me as my body forced itself up. 
And I ran.
Blinding through the forest.