Vampire's Prey

Chapter 41: Toxin

He needs help. He needs help, and I don't know how to help him. My eyes jump around the chapel looking for someone who might, but we're alone.

Jaclyn was outside. "Jaclyn!" I scream.

"Jac-Jaclyn!"

She bursts through the door wielding a kitchen knife. Her gaze lands on me, and she goes pale. I'm cradling a huge vampire.

She quickly snaps out of it and rushes over.

"They-" my voice cracks. "They shot him with arrows. Poisoned. I can't- I can't wake-"

"I understand." She kneels beside me and rests two fingers on his neck. Her stern words pull me back from panicking. She's a healer. This is her domain. There's not a person in this whole village better equipped to help Rahlan.

She pinches his eyelids open with two fingers. His red iris is as still as his body.

"He's unconscious," she says. I knew he couldn't be dead, but hearing her say it helps me breathe again.

Her eyes run up and down his body. "He was struck with arrows?"

"Three." I nod. "In both arms and the hip."

She carefully lifts his arm. There's no sign of blood seeping through his sleeves. I run my finger down his cheek, over his rough stubble. Please wake up.

"I need better light." She stands and quickly disappears out the door.

After he was hit with the arrows, I watched him digress from stumbling to unconsciousness. I imagine taking his hand and somehow pulling him up to stand again, but I'm afraid I'll hurt his arm further by enacting a fantasy.

Jaclyn returns carrying a roll of material with two long wooden rods. She lays them out beside Rahlan. It's a litter.

"Lift his shoulders," she instructs.

Keeping his head propped up against my lap, I dig my fingers under his torso and grab his leather coat.

Jaclyn wraps her hands around his ankles and gives me a nod. Straining, we manage to lift him onto the litter, and I gently rest his head on the coarse material.

Jaclyn and I both grab the ends of the wooden rods, and we stand. He's heavy.

We hurry out of the chapel with quick short steps, and she leads the way back to her home.

My fingers burn under Rahlan's weight. I would have asked one of the village men for help, but Rahlan's complexion would immediately give him away as a vampire. Fortunately, the streets are empty. Jaclyn is the only one I can trust, the only one who will help me. If the villagers found out, they'd kill all three of us. Ivan could be raising a mob to storm the chapel at this moment. Jaclyn's risking her life to protect Rahlan, a vampire like the ones who enslaved her, just because he's important to me.

She left her front door open, allowing us to quickly slip inside. My eyes scan over Rahlan the second we're under the living room light. Nothing appears to be seriously wrong. Please let that be the case.

We lower the litter onto the bed in the spare room that Jaclyn had prepared for me.

She closes the front door and fetches a few candles. Soon the room is lit, and the window shutters are closed, preventing any villagers from spotting the vampire that's only yards away from their homes.

"His clothes," Jaclyn says. She begins unbuttoning his jacket and untying his shirt. I unclip his belt and pull off his pants, leaving him in his shirt and underwear. Together, we manage to free his arms from the coat sleeves, but we don't bother trying to move it or the litter out from under him.