Chapter Fifteen

   Running down corridors in a strange building isn’t easy when you have to expect to turn off unexpectedly. Jake was in the lead, Mike and I following at his heel. I hadn’t run so fast before but this seemed easy.

   There were too many short corridors in this place; by the time we had turned one corner we had to turn another, though they could have seemed short because we were running that fast the longest corridors were merely a few paces long. Left, right, straight on, left... I lost track of the directions we were heading. I focused on why we were running and realised that may be I’d be running for a long time now; until when I’ll never know but hopefully this will all end one day. No more killing, no more running; just peace and freedom. That’s what I wanted right now – freedom. Freedom from everything and, if possible, from myself.

   ‘Stop!’ The order hit me hard and so did Mike. It was such an abrupt warning that Mike, who had ended up behind me, rammed into my back and forcing me into Jake. ‘Ow!’

   ‘Sorry,’ Mike apologised.

   ‘Alright, here’s where we split. Go through this door and you’ll end up in a side driveway, further is the woods. Where you go from there is up to you. Goodbye.’ He began to turn around to head back but I couldn’t let him go after what he had done for us.

   ‘Jake, come with us.’ I felt Mike’s shuffling behind me.

   ‘I can’t,’ he said, half turned.

   ‘Please, you can’t stay here; you don’t belong here.’

   ‘I don’t belong anywhere anymore. Mum kicked me out when they came for me. She thought it would pass to Ben not me, him being the older one but no. I have to do this; it’s who I am now, like you are who you are now. It’s what makes us unable to survive together.’

   ‘You’re wrong about that you know. I never chose to be this, it happened and it was always going to happen whether I willed it or not. You’re different. You could have chosen to walk away or turn your back on it. This isn’t you; come with us, please. Leave all this behind.’ It was all I could do to make him free again. He stood there, side facing me, head bowed, thinking. I had to rely on myself with persuading him, Mike had no say when it came to me and Jake.

   ‘If I leave, I’ll be an outcast; I’ll have to hide away.’

   ‘But you’ll have no laws to be governed by. Just you alone; well, sort of alone. If you want to run, and I see you do, at least run with me.’

   ‘That’s a bad plan. How could I trust you now, that you’re a...’

   ‘What? A vampire.’ I laughed a little. ‘Jake, I’ve stopped myself from killing you once and that was the hardest thing for me. As long as you can put up with me killing again, it could work.’

   ‘Well, if you’re going to decide, now would be the best time,’ Mike added.

   Jake looked back down the corridor in thought, thinking of what he would be leaving behind and the life he would be taking up.

   ‘Alright, lead the way.’ He smiled at me and I back to him.

   Mike grabbed my hand from behind me. ‘Come on, Tif, we’ve waited too long.’

   Outside was still bright but the cover of the trees made it better to see; my eyes weren’t so blinded.

   ‘You know what would make your image more convincing?’

   ‘No, what?’ Jake replied.

   ‘A flask, dagger and crossbow.’ Mike flashed a menacing smile.

   ‘Yeh, maybe. And you’re missing something too,’ Jake said, adding to the joke.

   ‘And that is?’

   ‘A cloak.’ That made me giggle and Jake chuckled.

   ‘Huh?’ Mike mused. I tried imagining them both there now as they each described each other to be. Mike in a gothic attire and Jake in leather with a crossbow lying across his back.

   ‘Nothing, just you wouldn’t suit it but Jake would.’

   ‘Oh, great, so I’m the stereotype and he’s not,’ he said sarcastically. ‘I meant you too, Tif.’

   ‘Nah, I wouldn’t wear it. Leather ain’t my thing.’

   We hadn’t gone too far into the trees, which were just spread out enough for us to be surrounded yet not too close to each other. Mike was stood rigid, arms down by his side. Jake was leant against a tree, one leg bent with the sole of his shoe flat against the bark, and had his arms loosely folded across his chest.

   ‘Are we still on the run? ‘Cause by the looks of it we’re just standing around,’ Jake said after some time of silence. He looked over from me to Mike; who now had his head bowed.

   ‘Stay here.’ He began to walk off with his hands deep in his pockets.

   ‘Will do,’ Jake scorned back. I had other plans. I followed Mike deeper into the woods. Unfortunately, he either heard me or smelt me following.

   ‘Tif, I told you to stay,’ he stated strongly.

   ‘Since when have I ever done what I’ve been told,’ I replied softly. ‘What’s up?’

   ‘Him.’ His voice was shallow and hard.

   ‘What has he done?’

   ‘Not what he’s done. The fact he’s with us now makes everything harder.’

   ‘How does it?’ I asked so I could help the situation.

   ‘If it was just us two, we could have headed back to my place; but with him we can’t. It’s too dangerous for him. They’d try and kill him or I’ll been seen as a betrayer or you, seeing as it was you who invited him along.’

   ‘Don’t make this my fault,’ I shouted back. ‘I was thinking about him. Anyway, you made him decide within a few seconds. The way I see it, it’s your fault.’

  ‘I never blamed you. Only you should have thought better.’

  ‘Well, I’m sorry, Mike. Can’t we just leave him now? He doesn’t know anything but what we’ve talked about and that wasn’t much.’

   ‘No, he’s partly in the same situation as us now.’

   ‘Then what?’

   ‘We’ll have to persuade the others to take him in with us when we get back.’ He seemed to have changed his mind.

   ‘You think they will?’ I asked what seemed a question with an obvious answer.

   ‘I’ll talk to them.’

   There was a lot of walking from wherever we were to the nearest town. Mike and I let Jake walk ahead while we trailed behind. We must have walked about nine miles before the noises of the modern world hit the air.

   For most of the way, Mike held my hand loosely but when the first cars could be heard very clearly, he tightened his hand around my fingers.

   ‘Jake, do you know where we are?’ he called ahead.

   ‘Nope. I don’t know if we’ve headed north, south, west or east. So don’t rely on me for directions.’

   ‘That’s perfect,’ Mike complained.

   The trees began to thin and spread apart as we continued to walk. Eventually, the trees and earth stopped altogether, to be replaced by pavement and street lights. Clouds patched the sky above. I felt the gentle breeze against my face and through my hair. It was nice after the musty air of the woods.

   We’d reached a long main road, seemingly between two towns.

   ‘Left or right?’ Jake asked.

   ‘Don’t mind, I just want to go home,’ I replied. I looked at Mike. He had his eyes closed and his head was raised. He was either listening for something or smelling the air for clues (what for was beyond me).

   ‘Right.’

   ‘Any particular reason?’ Jake commented.

   ‘It smells friendlier.’

   ‘For you or me?’

   ‘That will depend.’

   ‘On...?’

   ‘Stop bickering. The sooner we reach a town the sooner we get home.’

   ‘Point. Come on.’

   ‘She’s right though, Mike. Let’s put the enemy thing behind us. I’m with you now. I can never go back. To my people, I’ve abandoned them and possibly betrayed them.’

   What happened between them next, I didn’t find out. I turned my back on them and started to walk the way we’d chosen. I blocked off their voices and focused on the bird song above and around me.

   Walking was good; just walking, not thinking, forgetting. I never expected any of this; not the changes, not the moving, nor the running, nor the hardship and pressures. The worst part was knowing that that thing did exist, exist inside me. To have nearly no control over the one thing that I need to understand, need to shut away and never let out, meant more to me than I thought it would. It was like... like finally solving a problem you never knew you had and then finding out that you’ve only solved the smallest, least significant part of the original problem.

   What I really hated was that my third option had been within my grasp; to get rid of the problem altogether, to die would be to free myself from myself without any drawbacks. No memories would remain, just blackness, just oblivion. The chance had just been obliterated by the one who wished to protect me from anything hurtful, including himself. Thinking all this and, admitting, feeling quite sorry for myself, I trudged on in self-pity, forgetting about the two rivals behind me.

   Breathing in, I smelt the sweetness in the air. It made my mouth water slightly but, after my first attack, the sensation wasn’t as strong or overpowering. I shook my head and looked around suspiciously in case anyone saw.