Chapter 2

It was the cold that woke her. A bone deep chill that left her muscles sore from her body's incessant shivering. She cracked open her eyes a mere fraction, quickly closing them again as the pounding in her head took on a new tempo. Water dripped gently on her cheek and she opened her mouth to allow some to enter, hoping it would ease the desert-like feel of the sandpaper that was once her tongue. Her senses slowly returned and with them brought the smell of decaying leaves, rotting wood and mildew. She fought the urge to vomit, dragging herself to sit upright. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes, squinting at first then fully as she realized she had no idea where she was.

A full moon shed enough light through the canopy of overhead branches to allow her to see her immediate surroundings. Trees, she saw nothing but trees no matter which way she looked. She listened intently for any sounds of life, but could hear nothing over the roar of falling water nearby. Opening her mind, she searched for stray thoughts and thinking she heard something, gingerly pushed herself to her feet. She swayed and clasped hold of a tree trunk as her legs threatened to give out on her.

Deciding her best course of action would be to make it to the water, she stepped forward only to notice she was missing a shoe. Not that she could have walked very far in five-inch heels but those were her favourite Jimmy Chou's.

"Damn it," she swore, reaching down to pull the other off before hesitantly creeping across the sharp pine needles and small twigs littering the forest floor.

Sidney wracked her brain for the memory of how she ended up in a forest; nothing came to her. The last thing she remembered was dancing with Brian at the club, a vague recollection of getting hot and going outside for air. That was it.

The roar of crashing water grew deafeningly loud, making the pain in her head almost unbearable. Centuries ago, her mother had shown her a plant that would cure any pain; she had no recollection of its name, but it had deep green variegated round leaves that became red near the bulbous root. It only took a minute or so to spot one. After stripping the leaves from the bulb, she sucked on it and continued toward the water. The thinning of the trees allowed the moon to penetrate, illuminating her path better, but it also made her dress take on an ethereal glow, causing her to become highly visible against the dark backdrop.

It was as she emerged from the dense trees with the decaying smell that her senses stepped into overdrive. The heady scent of fresh blood assaulted her, making her realize that she was starving. Her head whipped around to face the source of her fascination - a faltering heartbeat. Her eyes glowed and teeth extended.

Whatever lay beyond the rocks at the base of the waterfall was dying. Instinct told her to jump, so she did. Leaping on impulse, she sailed through the air for longer than she anticipated before splashing into the pool at the bottom. Blood tainted the water with its metallic flavour, becoming more concentrated as she neared the source. Gulping some of it near the edge of the pool helped to take the depth from her hunger, however, it tasted like nothing she'd ever sampled before.

The blood belonged to a vampire she discovered cowering in a small crevice beneath the rocks. He would have been around twenty when he was changed. That was all Sidney noticed before he removed his hand from the broken shaft of an arrow lodged in his chest. Had it pierced his heart he would have been dead already.

"I need to take this out, it won't heal as long as the wood stays in there," she told him, rolling him over to check for an exit wound.

A red stained arrowhead glinted in the dim light. Clasping it in her fist, she gave one sharp yank. It slid from his body making his blood flow again. If he were to stand any chance of healing, the blood would need to be replaced.

With no time to hunt for an animal, she bit her wrist and held it too his mouth. Each swallow strengthened his heartbeat and she let him fed until he finally opened his eyes to stare into hers. The sudden burst of his unguarded thoughts entering her mind sent her sprawling backwards.

Dainton. Siofra hunting. She recognised that word from her human days, it meant changeling. Images whizzed by, the bombardment invading her mind and clouding her vision. They came so rapidly she couldn't focus on a single thought: running, dodging tree trunks, jumping rocks; the vision of a middle-aged woman on her knees, tossing powder into a fire as she chanted. It was gone as quickly as it came. The intensity left Sidney on her hands and knees trying to rebuild her shields.

He reached for her, dragging her into the shelter of the crevice in the rocks. "The sun rises in a moment. Rest, they won't find us here."

She let him cradle her in his arms until she felt the stirrings of the bloodlust returning. An overwhelming need to hunt and an animal would have to tide her over. She slipped from his embrace, creeping silently like a predator to the edge of the rock pile. On hearing the gentle lapping of an animal drinking from the pool, she peered over to see a young deer dipping its tongue in the cool water. She circled in behind it, flashing to its side like a ghost, and wrestled it to the floor by its antlers.

"Sleep," she commanded it in a whisper.

Its struggles ceased.

Nudging Dainton's sprawled, sleeping form with her foot to rouse him, she slid the deer into the crevice between them. His eyes shot open, first with fear and then in shock as he glanced between her, the deer and the bright light beyond the shadow of the rocks.

"You can walk in the day?" he asked, awe evident in his tone but the thoughts that broke through her shields confused her. I did not believe her, she said she could bring you and I doubted her...I'm sorry, Mama.

"I need answers andyou're going to give me them after we eat and get some sleep," Sidney stated."I'm too hungry to think straight right now."     


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