Mudskippers

Chapter 4

I froze in terror. She just stood there, smiling at me. I stared back as I thought of my options for escape. If I turned my back from her, she’d probably break in. But the longer I stayed, the more likely she’d attack me anyways. I backed away slowly towards the exit of my bedroom, never taking my eyes off of her. She waved and walked past my  window. As soon as she was out of sight I sprinted down the hall where Ethan and Dason were waiting for me.

 

“I think I just saw a halfling.” I whispered in a panicky voice. Dason held my backpack out to me and looked towards the back door.

“Then we should leave as soon as possible. Are you ready?” He asked. I nodded and pulled my pack on.  We turned to the  door and saw her standing in the doorway. She held a bloody shirt and was wiping her mouth with it. She stepped inside and looked up at us as she licked her lips. Before any of us could react, she pounced on Dason, fangs bared. Her nails dug into his shoulder and tore straight through it. He pulled at her as she snapped her mouth closer and closer to his neck. Ethan grabbed her from behind and tried to pull her off but she held onto Dason’s coat so hard she slashed it to shreds. Her mouth got closer and closer to Dason’s neck. I was frozen with fear, unsure of what to do with myself. I started to move towards Ethan when the little girl turned from Dason and latched her tiny mouth right to his neck. The surprise of her attacking him forced Ethan to the ground. He rolled and yelled as she drank from him. Dason grabbed her arms and pulled her off of him. In one swift movement he broke her neck. She fell to the floor, dead. Ethan gripped his neck, blood oozing through his fingers. I rushed to his side as I picked up the shirt the girl had been holding. I tore a strip off and held it to his neck.

“Ethan, are you okay? How do you feel?”

“Well, I just got attacked by a halfling, so, you know, I’m surviving” he replied in a raspy voice. He coughed and tried to sit up, his hand covered mine and putting more pressure.

“Lets have a look at that” Dason offered. We pulled our hands off to reveal a nasty bite on his neck.

“Does it hurt?” I asked

“Sure as hell stings a lot” he quipped as he reached for his wound.

“Stop, don’t touch it. We should wrap that up with something clean. Here,” Dason pulled off his pack and opened it to pull out a small medical kit, “put some bandages on that. And clean it out before you wrap it up. I’ll go scout the area, see if any more of these little devils are around.”

Dason opened the front door, turned left, and disappeared from sight. I pulled off my pack and sat down next to Ethan. I opened the medical kit and pulled out a bottle of alcohol and all of the gauze pads. I ripped another piece of the shirt off and dabbed the alcohol onto it.

“Do you want something to bite into? It’s gonna sting...a lot…” He nodded and looked around for something to put between his teeth. He ended up with a couch pillow in his mouth. He looked at me, gripped the pillow hard, and nodded. I took a deep breath and lightly touched the top of the bite. He flinched and hissed into the pillow as I continued to clean the bite. There were four distinct holes and dark purple bruises surrounding them.

“That is one nasty hickey little brother” I joked as I began to wrap the bandage around his neck.

“Just don’t choke me, okay? I need air to breath.”

“Almost done, now don’t touch it.”

“Trust me, I won’t...how long do you think I have until I turn?”

“I don’t know, we’ve never actually seen these things before, let alone watched someone turn into one. Maybe Dason knows. We’ll ask when he gets back.”

We stood up from the ground and sat down on the couch. We stayed alert and watched both doors, waiting for Dason to show. After what felt like an eternity in silence, Dason appeared at the front door.

“There are several nests further inland, and I managed to avoid a group of halflings skulking about, but I think it’s high time we leave. Ethan, are you okay enough to travel?”

“Do I have a choice? I’m not sticking around here...So how long do you think I have until I turn?” Ethan asked, his voice still raspy. Dason shook his head.

“I don’t know, son. You’d have to talk to someone who knows more about vampire bites. Someone in the Wests might know."

We gathered our packs, Dason and I took the bulk of Ethan’s pack, and cautiously left through the back door. We crept from house to house until we hit the edge of town.

“Say goodbye to Northers, sis, because we are never coming back to the frozen hell again.”