Rushing Blood

Chapter 5: Meeting Melody

The top of my head pressed on the cold, dusty glass. My eyes kept wondering as the bus moved, passing large trees and valleys. I felt sleepy, my entire body was heavy as I vegetated on the old bus seats. We've been moving nonstop, trying to get to the next station. Who knew the Saint's Point was so far away? The old man that was driving the bus was basically almost asleep. My thoughts began to drift away as I shut my eyes.

Before I knew it, it was night and found myself waking up in a bus station with a bus driver flicking me in the forehead. I waved the man's hand away and walked outside the bus. As soon as I passed the doors, the first things that I saw were large wooden buildings and massive skyscrapers. It seemed like a mix of vintage and modern technology, perfect for vampires.

As I walked along the streets of the strange town, there were no signs of vampires or feeding areas. I kept trying to spot hotels or rest stops, but there were none to be found. As I turned a corner, I saw a girl, probably just a year or two younger than me. It seemed as if she was looking for something.

For some reason, I started walking to her, Maybe she can tell me where there's a Bed and Breakfast. I lifted my hand up, signaling her I was going to come over. "Um, excuse me, do you know where there's a place I could stay?" I asked, trying to sound nice and comforting.

"Are you new here?" she asked. Did I say something wrong? She lifted one eyebrow and said, "There isn't a motel in this town."

"Great," I said, rolling my eyes. Now I have nowhere to stay for the night.

"Hey, if you need a place to stay, you could come over to my house," the girl asked, giving me a warm smile.

My thoughts were all clouded by my desires, wishful thinking took a hold of me as I looked at the girl's kind, innocent dark brown eyes. If I were responsible, I would say no. If I weren't half asleep, I would say no. But seeing as if I'm not responsible, I was tired, and my parents weren't with me, I agreed.

"Sure, thanks. Uh, my name is Lilith, by the way," I said, reaching out my hand.

"Melody," the girl said, shaking it.

We began walking down the empty streets, the streetlights flickered on and off as we passed the dark houses, the more we walked, the deeper we went into the town. Everything seemed old, almost abandoned. I looked at my surroundings, the houses were made of bricks, the paint had peeled off and spiderwebs filled the doors. All I was thinking about was where I was and why exactly I was following some stranger I literally met half an hour ago.

While walking, I was completely oblivious that the girl had stopped walking. I quickly hit myself against her back and snapped out of my trance. I rubbed my head as the girl turned around to look at me. "We're here," Melody said.

I looked at the building that laid in front of me, it was large, several stories tall, made of bricks and stone. It seemed queer and eerie, so forsaken. In the darkness of night, it seemed like a haunted house, a place where no one would come in or out.

She started to walk slowly and turned to look at me, signaling that I should follow. My entire body filled with hesitation as I kept staring upward towards the top of the building. Should I just sleep in the streets? I thought as I looked back at Melody who was now in front of the door. I gave her a nervous smile and walked towards her. She picked up a keychain from her pocket and searched for the one that would fit the keyhole. She found a copper one and unlocked the door.

The door creaked as she opened it, showing the dark interior of the room. There were many halls that led to others, at least ten doors were in each side of the walls. I felt suffocated and claustrophobic as we walked along the endless hallway. Our shoes clicked against the wooden floor as we walked passed the endless maze of doors. We took a left and faced a double door that was shut closed.