I must have fallen asleep, though I don't remember lying down. When I woke up the moon was high on the sky – it was a middle of the night. I shivered in the cold and was about to get another blanket when I heard a man's voice, weak and trembling, "You can't give me to those leeches. Not even you...".

A snort came from my savior, like a short laughter, "Maybe we could make some arrangements to let you stay alive." I flinched at the coldness and cruelty ringing in her words.

Carefully I put away the blanket and crouching moved to where I heard the conversation. There was a man in mid-thirties, his clothes torn and tattered, blood and bruises on his face and arms. He was standing with his hands up, pale like a ghost in the cold moonlight. A puff of steam was coming from his lips, so he wasn't an undead. I couldn't see his face well, but his whole body language was screaming fear.

The bald woman was just sheathing a knife – was she the cause of his wounds? A rifle was lying on the platform near me – I'm sure it wasn't there when we came here. I kept quiet, not sure what I should do. The men kept looking back at something and I suddenly realized what it was. Among the branches, not far away from the edge of the platform, hovered a young woman. She was deathly pale, except for dark circles under her red glowing eyes. Long, fiery hair flowed down freely onto her simple, summer dress with faded floral pattern. Oh fuck. For the first time I saw a vampire from this close.

The vampire kept silent, her eyes following my rescuer with a mix of desire (which could easily be just hunger) and admiration. She seemed almost oblivious to the man, despite his bloody wounds. As I watched her as if hypnotized, my nameless savior took out from somewhere a white collar with a small, blue flickering light. This caused the man to back off with a mix of surprise, disgust and fear.

"Where the fuck did you get a slave collar?" he rasped.

"I see you know what that is. Good," she ignored his question. Her cold voice send shivers down my spine. "Put it on and you can spend the night here," she added, handing him the collar. He shrank back further, his back now on the platform's railing. The vamp girl seemed to notice him then and silently hovered just a bit closer.

"I won't be your fuck toy, mutant!" he barked, his eyes darting all around in search of a way out.

That was when he finally noticed me. For a moment he seemed surprised.

"But you already have a fuck toy I see," he smirked motioning his head towards me.

The woman cast ma a glance and swore under her breath. "Go back to sleep Tomek. I'll deal with this guy," she said, not turning to me fully. I tried to say something but words got stuck in my throat.

"Put this on Francesco or I'll give you to Lily as a snack. Poor girl has been coming here every night for god knows how long," she said ignoring me completely and throwing the collar to the man. He caught it deftly and inspected it with disgust and ... despair I guess. He glanced one more time at the floating bloodsucker and again at his oppressor. Finally, resigned he put on the collar. The metal snapped as it locked on his neck, the light turning to green.

"Good boy," my strange savior said with a content and a bit cruel smile. Lily hovered a little further, visibly disappointed.

"Fuck you," the man grunted, trying to keep his distance from her.

"Stay," she said and the man froze. The slave collar was working. She approached him and caressed his cheek. He flinched and tried to say something, but she silenced him with a short "Don't speak". She delicately moved his long hair away from his face. He shivered as she traced his lower lip with her thumb. She licked her lips. His breathing went short, his dark eyes flickering with helpless anger. Lily moved closer to watch the scene, fascinated.

"What's going on?" I blurted. The rising tension flopped. The woman turned to me abruptly, as if she remembered me just now. The man sighed with relief.

"Just chatting with an old acquaintance of mine," she laughed half-heartedly. He shot her a look full of hate but could not speak.

"Didn't look like a friendly chat," I ventured. I expected her to say something, shout or explain. She just shrugged.

"Go to sleep, both of you. There are still a couple of hours till dawn," she ordered. Even without a slave collar I felt strangely compelled to obey. Francesco had no choice. To be fair, she offered him a sleeping bag and a blanket, that he took to the furthest corner of the small tree house. He wrapped himself tightly and closed his eyes, though his uneven breath told me he wasn't falling asleep.

She seemed restless, pacing the platform and looking at the sky. I tried to follow her with my eyes, but I was too exhausted and they just shut out of their own accord. In a fevered dream I saw her luscious body. Swaying her round hips she approached me and touched my face. Her hand was cool and silky, seductively caressing my cheek, tickling my lower lip. I gasped and suddenly she was all covered in gore, her eyes shining red. I tried to back off, but I slipped on something and fell hard on my butt, just to find myself sitting in a puddle of blood. She bent over me and touched my arm. I jumped.

"Tomek, wake up," I heard her say. Her face was close to mine and she was gently shaking my arm. "It's time to get ready. We shouldn't be wasting daylight."

I blinked to clear my vision and wiped the sweat from my forehead with my sleeve. Shit, that was some dream. Francesco was already sitting by the burner, probably making us a tea. The day was just beginning, red sun timidly showing its first rays on the horizon.

"Where are we going?" I asked as I shed the rest of dream fog from my head.

"To Three Oaks. It's the nearest settlement. You'll be safe there," she responded softly, like she was soothing a frightened child. She was probably right to do that – I was twenty, but I really had no idea what to do. Just two years ago Hubert and I were creating web pages and planning on going to university. Roman and Iza were romancing hard, nobody having a slightest idea they were werewolves. And then the world ended.

I sighed. "Will they accept me? I don't actually have many useful skills. I was just foraging with my friends, but they..." I couldn't finish the sentence. I remembered Hubert's motionless body and Roman and Iza's angry snouts.

"It'll be all right. The village always needs foragers," she tried calming me down, rasp in her voice making it sound tired.

"And what about him?" I asked motioning towards Francesco.

"We'll see," she cut me off and stood up. "Eat something, drink the tea and let's get going," she commanded and again I felt compelled to listen. What was wrong with me, I'm not the type to be ordered around.

Francesco handed me a cup of hot, dark beverage without a word. I guess he was still forbidden to speak. In the daylight I could now see his handsome face with a square jaw and high cheekbones. His long, dark hair was no longer disheveled, now bound neatly in a ponytail. He cleaned himself too, all traces of blood gone. He wore a leather jacket over his torn clothes.

We moved out when the sun was fully visible over the horizon. She tidied up everything making sure the hideout would be ready for her next time. Pulled up the ladder and hid the string. We were going in a line, with her on the front and me in the middle.

"How far is the Three Oaks?" I asked.

"We should be there before sundown," she answered shortly, making it obvious she wasn't in a mood to chat.

We walked in silence that was getting heavier with every step we took. Our guide was taking unexpected detours through the overgrown fields and deserted villages, as if she knew where the emojis were. We met no monsters on our way, though this area should be crawling with them. My feet hurt like hell by the time we stopped for a short break around noon. Even without anything to carry (I lost my backpack in the factory) this pace was too much for me.

I didn't complain. Somehow I couldn't muster enough courage to say anything actually. Francesco was not allowed to speak and my savior's gloomy face was telling me to shut up. I longed for the company of my friends. We always had something to laugh about, even in these sad times after the end of the world. I sighed remembering Roman teasing Hubert about his red hair, just to hear how he was a bad wolf. Those were the times...

Soon we moved on, eager to reach our destination while the sun was still up. The sky was painted red when we saw smoke snaking up from a cluster of big trees. My benefactor cursed quietly and quickened her pace. I could hardly follow her. From a distance we could already smell burning wood and plastic. Oh shit.

When we arrived we saw a landscape of destruction. All the houses were burnt to the ground, no trace of life left. Some charred remains littered the make shift streets of the small settlement, together with all kinds of trashed things. If I was to guess the emojis broke the perimeter, someone thought to fight them with fire, but could not control the flames. All the flammable wooden huts burned as the monsters raged eating every scared human trying to escape the small apocalypse. Poor people.

And poor us. We were supposed to find a safe place to spend the night here. With all the houses destroyed we'd be easy prey for the bloodsuckers. I really hoped the boasts of my savior about being able to fend them off were more than just idle talk.

At least she seemed not to lose her wits. She ordered us to set up a fire while she took out salt and garlic from her backpack and started to form a protective circle around our humble camp. The night was coming fast. We were as ready as we would be when the last rays of sun disappeared, opening the way for the vamps to come from the dead.

I always found it strange that the vampires didn't wipe out the parasite by themselves. They were immune to it after all. But then again, for as long as the sun was up, they were literally dead and defenseless in their nests. Infected werewolves were great at sniffing them out and eating everything that stood in their way. If it were only humans the bloodsuckers' guards would be enough to protect them, but the furry monsters were almost unstoppable.

We were eating a simple supper when I thought I caught something in my peripheral vision. I turned uneasily, but there were only dancing shadows from our campfire. I was too scared and started imagining things. Francesco was restless as well, fidgeting with a small pocket knife. His eyes darted once in a while to the bald woman, with a mixture of fear and hatred. Our lady was sitting motionlessly, eyes closed, breathing slow and steady.

Suddenly she stood up and approached the magical border she created. "What do you want Lily?" she asked into the darkness. I shivered when the familiar figure materialized right in front of her.

"I think we need to talk, huntress," the vampire whispered, but the wind brought her words to me.