Page 2 of This Blood That Binds Us

The forest was quiet, bugs buzzing in cadence with my victim’s heartbeat. The voice was gone, thrust back into my head somewhere. My feet were moving without my permission. I backed away until a tree branch jabbed me. Only then did I take in the scene fully.

Her body was a few feet away. Her skin was pale, her warmth fading into the damp forest floor. Her bright hair dulled as she lay on the ground.

Instinct told me to run, but my feet were glued to that spot. She was dying. I couldn’t leave her there.

Fear and guilt swallowed me whole. My stomach rumbled in pain. Nausea traveled up my throat, and I retched out loud, covering my mouth. Even as a vampire, my body reacted to stress.

I dry heaved until I finally willed my wobbly legs to move. I wouldn’t let her die. She had to live. After rushing to her side, I leaned down to search her pockets. She was wearing a bright, fleece-lined rain jacket. Carefully, I rummaged in her jacket pockets, praying to myself.

I grabbed her cellphone with shaking hands and pulled it in front of my face. Squinting from the light, I fumbled past the lock screen. The call wouldn’t connect. I jumped up, holding the phone in the air until it rung.

Softly, I laid it back in her hand, making sure the connection remained. It was the best chance I could give her. I wanted to stay with her and hold her hand and see life return to her face until help came, but footsteps echoed from behind me.

I left my heart on the ground and disappeared into the forest. My mind still raced, looking for a better solution. I slipped between the trees, hiding just outside of the fire’s glow.

An unrecognizable male voice rebounded through the thick tree trunks. “Honey, she’s fine. She said she does this thing all the time.”

A glimmer of hope sparked a tingling in my hands that traveled to my throat. I thrust a hand over my mouth to stifle the desperate pleas hanging onto my lips.

A woman whispered, “I have a bad feeling. She’s out here all alone. I just want to check on her.”

A bickering husband and wife, no doubt. I walked in closer to them, staying just out of sight.

The man spoke again. “Louise, we can’t just have a fun camping trip, can we? You always have to be worrying about something.”

“Shut it, Ron.”

They were close, heading directly toward where I had left the girl. The smell of her blood caught in the breeze, swirling around us, the light of the girl’s fire still burning.

It was the best gift of fate I’d ever been given. In just a few steps, they’d find her.

Another set of footsteps tore through the forest floor in the distance.

It was two more people, and this time, they were running, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. That’s when I knew exactly whose footsteps they were.

I ran as fast as I could toward the melody, and a strong set of hands cut off my momentum. They would have sent me flying if not for the firm grip on the back of my shirt, pulling me back onto my heels.

My two older brothers stared back at me. Their protective shadow engulfed me, making me feel small. They were still intheir sweats and baggy shirts. They must have gone after me right after I had left the house.

“W-What are you doing here?”

“We couldn’t let it go. We followed you,” Luke said as he towered over me, much like he would when we were kids. His eyes searched me up and down with worry.

“Yeah, fuck this ‘on your own’ shit,” Zach said.

His shoulders fell away from his ears and he stuffed his hands into his pockets, waiting for me to speak.

Luke said, “Are you okay?”

I was surprised he couldn’t smell the blood, but I couldn’t, either. I had run farther than I thought.

“I-I think so. I’m all right.” I lowered my gaze.

“Did you do it?” Zach’s eyes darted to Luke. “You know...drink blood?”

Two months into being a vampire, and that sentence still sounded wrong in my ears.

“Yeah, I did . . . and it was fine. It’s all fine.”