Game of the Vampires

Chapter 18:

    

     It has been a month since Paul died. Nothing has changed really. The only thing that has happened is that the games are getting closer.

     Everyday that leads to the game makes my stomach twist because I know it's a day closer to the end of most of the slaves' lives.

     I knew how the clans treated this game. It was what they craved for every two years. They chose three-fourths of the slaves that they had. One-fourth would continue to be fed on and work.

     All in all, we as slaves were never going to leave here. There was no escape for us.

     From what I understood, the vampires were evaluating us and testing our limits to see how far we could go. I knew it was only a matter of time before they began to choose between us.

    

     It seemed like I had been asleep for only seconds. Then, I was ripped out of my cot.

     I landed on the floor as my eyes opened. My nails quickly began clawing at the floor as I tried to grip onto something.

     I let out a shriek. As soon as the noise passed between my lips, I felt a sharp blow to my head before everything around me went black.

     When I came to, my senses were blurred. Everything seemed to echo and ring as I sat up. Despite the dizziness that hit me, I rose to pushing myself off of the dirt-covered ground.

     The space around me was covered in towering corn stalks. I couldn't see above them. When I tried to see through them, all I could see was black figures.

     I closed my eyes for a moment, inhaling deeply.

     Think, Airlia. Think.

     I knew I was in the fields. Why? I had no clue. I had a bit of a hunch, though. Judging by my twisting, nervous stomach, I wasn't going to like it.

     I opened up my eyes. My vision was slowly returning to normal as were my other senses. I groped around for something I could use to defend myself. Anything at all would do perfectly...

     Aha! A stick!

     I clutched the thick, woodened limb close to me as I started to walk forward.

     Even though the tree limb seemed pathetic, it gave me the support I needed. I felt like I could do serious damage with the limb right now.

     I continued on, careful not to make any unnecessary sounds. The night was quiet as it was. Not even the normal bugs and frogs made their chorus of racket. No, of course it had to be dead silent!

     I froze in my steps when I heard a scream from somewhere in the corn stalks. It was a great distance away.

     I remained quiet as the scream was quickly cut short. I swallowed the lump in my throat as my heart began to pick up pace.

     Steady there, heart.

     They're going to kill us all off!

     My thoughts were cut off when I heard another shriek. This one sounded nearby. I didn't even wait to see who would be next because I took off like a cannon ball leaving a cannon.

     More screams erupted, echoing through my head as I continued to run. I didn't stop running, even when I thought I could hear someone advancing on me.

     My foot suddenly became caught, and I stumbled down. The next thing I knew, I had rolled into a trench.

     I opened up my eyes and began to try moving, but as soon as I tried to move to my legs, pain would shoot up my ankle and halfway through my leg.