Bloodlines: Dark Embrace

Chapter 7 - Bad Company

"How long is this journey going to take?" I asked.

"Not a clue, Lad." He replied.

"N-not a clue?! Haven't you made this journey before?" I asked, raising my voice.

"Of course I have, but it's not exactly a simple journey. Sometimes it's less dangerous than other times, maybe we'll lose a limb! Who knows!" He said, chuckling.

I stopped for a second and stared at him in shock before jogging for a few seconds to catch up to him. He hasn't slowed down this whole trip, in all honesty, I've been struggling to keep pace with him, although I wouldn't let him see that.

"So all though we have supernatural abilities, we're still risking getting killed? What kind of beasts are on this trip? What the hell kind of hill is this we're going up?"

"Oh no, this isn't no hill we're going up. This is a strangely large mountain and it's not as simple as just walking up a steep slope for a while. Once we get to the bottom of the mountain, it'll be a few days at least before we reach the top." He replied, not slowing down or having to take gasps of air during talking like I had to.

After taking a few deep breaths, I continued with my questions, there's so much about this world I don't even know, I barely know what or who I am anymore but I am forced to accept it.

"Okay, so I don't think I'll mind the walk or the climb, but what's out there? Are there vicious animals or people hunting us like back in that village?" I asked, struggling to keep my breathing at a normal rate. That man has been walking for at least three hours straight, forcing me to go along with him and the night had only gotten darker but my newly superior eyesight made it so much easier to see than it would be as a human.

He chuckled lightly before answering, "I honestly have no idea, Lad."

"You what?!" I exclaimed. "We're risking death and we don't even know what might be trying to kill us?!" I was furious. I could swear that he was trying to get me killed, first with the villagers and now this.

He chuckled again, either not noticing my anger, not caring or just finding it funny how furious he was making me. "Exactly! You're spot on! We only know it's dangerous because bodies have been found all throughout the mountains and have been killed in lots of different ways. Some had claw marks on their body, some had bite marks and some only had a single body part left!" He chuckled again.

How can this maniac find this funny?

I fought the urge to turn back and live my life on my own as I did before. I figured it was best to find what I was before I try anything of the sort. I thought being some sort of super human, or a vampire, as Marcus called it, would make me less consumed by fear and be more feared.

I suppose I am more feared considering we were just chased out of a village but that's normal for me, but now I have to be worried about being torn apart in the next few days, something that I haven't had to worry myself with before.

In the past three hours we seen nothing but trees, grass and occasionally a river. We hadn't seen any other village and there was nothing to mark where we were going, no odd trees, no signs, nothing, yet, Marcus knew exactly where we were going. I hoped. I couldn't complain about the scenery though, it was absolutely picturesque.

The few streams we had walked by were peacefully, none violently crashed against the many turns of the river and the sound of the flowing water made the scenery just seem more magnificent.

The forests were quiet, the only sound being the gentle breeze rustling the leaves. Although it was dark, there would occasionally be a patch of land where no trees covered the sky and the moon and stars shone through, lighting up a small circle of grass. The night was truly breath taking.