Kidnapped by the Draug

Was I moving out of my own will? I couldn’t even tell anymore. All I knew was that I was simply putting one foot in front of the other, following this strange man-but-not-man down the street. I felt liked I was submerged in water. A while ago, I felt like I was drowning. Now, I felt as though I had already drowned, but I was still alive. The entire time I was wishing, no begging, for Claire to be alive. When I got home earlier, I found her dead. Before I left the house a third time, before I got that drowning sensation, I had been out fetching stuff for Myrnin. He was Claire’s mad-scientist boss, and he’d told Shane, Eve and I that he could bring Claire back to life. 

        I hoped desperately that he could.

        Moments later, a song filled the air. It sounded sweet, so sweet, whispering to me, calling me. I had to reach it. I had to get to that song. I’d stop anyone who got in my way.

        I continued walking, but I couldn’t see my surroundings. My entire spectrum of vision had been reduced to one focal point: the back of the man-but-not-man in front of me. He was leading me to the beautiful song of whispered promises, and for that I was grateful.

        “Hey! Hey, vamp boy,” someone yelled in the distance. I pushed forward. I would ignore this voice. Nothing could stop me from getting to the source of that song! “Hey.” I felt someone’s warm hand clamp on my arm. “Aren’t you that guy Eve’s gonna marry?” I swatted the hand off my arm and walked just a little faster. Eve was the least of my priorities. I mentally screamed at the guy to just leave me alone.

        But he didn’t. He was very persistent. He grabbed my shoulder and said, “Michael, isn’t it? Hey dude, I just wanted to say that I totally support you guys’s union, and—” I grunted and threw his hand off my shoulder. Couldn’t he just leave me alone? I had somewhere to be! I started jogging lightly to catch up to the figure in front of me. This guy was costing me valuable time!

        He caught up to me again. “Michael,” he said strictly. “Dude. I’m just trying to be nice, okay? I know everyone in town’s been rubbish toward you guys, and now when one person accepts your marriage, you throw me off? Not cool dude. Not. Cool.” That was it. This guy had just pushed me off the edge. I turned toward him and let my fangs slide out, and I was pretty sure my eyes had changed from their regular cool blue to a muddy red (this always happened to vampires who got mad). I couldn’t see his features clearly; I was that unfocused. I bared my fangs and hissed at him, and the guy backed off. “Woah.” His voice had taken on a completely different tone. One of surprise.

        One of fear.

        “No need to get pissed off. Jackass.” He said the last word quietly, but not enough to pass under my sharp vampire hearing. He backed away slowly and ran off into the dark. I wondered if I could ever get used to being a vampire. I hated using my vamp abilities. I’d always tried to keep a sense of humanity, and so far I’ve been successful. That’s why I agreed to marry Eve. I knew I had the control, so it would be perfectly fine for both of us…right?

        Eve still wasn’t my priority right now. It was the song. That song had just turned into my entire life: past, present and future. And I’d need the figure to show me the way. I turned around to try to find the figure.

        He was gone. I screamed in frustration and turned in all angles to find him. Stupid persistent human! Thankfully, the night air was not silent. Remnants of the sweet melody still floated through the air, and I ran in its direction. Closer, it was singing. Come and rest. Come and rest. I caught up with the figure quickly, thanks to vampire speed. He stood at a doorway of a big, old building with windows soaped opaque. It must have been closed for ages; the building looked old and sagging, and the paint had peeled from the brick to leave it looking diseased and rotten.