Dhampirica

XI

ITHAD BEEN AT LEAST an hour since they fled into the woods, though it was hard tokeep track of time with only the obscured sun to measure it. The snowscape was scarce of trees and coverage, but the dying storm helped mask their tracks. Yvanna had followed Lord Dante without much thought to where they were going. Rather, she was trying not to focus on the icy winds which blanketed her or the blistering pain of her naked feet in snow. When she finally thought to ask which direction he was leading them, he replied, "Home."

She stopped in her tracks. "I'm sorry, my lord, but I think it might be better to go the opposite direction."

He stopped too, only to turn around and give her a look of disbelief. "Why on earth would we do that?"

"They'll expect us to head in the direction we came from. If we try to cross the border again, we'll get caught. We don't know how they got over the border, either. If they paid someone off, we wouldn't know. We should go a different way and lay low for a while until we can get some help." On top of that, that they had no shoes and no supplies. They were not going to make it back on foot.

"I disagree. We're going back the way we came," he stubbornly replied, and began marching off again.

She quietly seethed. Temper, temper, she cautioned herself. She took a step forward. "My lord, I really think–"

Yvanna only had a millisecond to register something closing around her foot before she let out a scream. The teeth of the stealthy bear trap snapped shut with such speed and force that she felt her ankle bones break. Tears pricked her eyes. She could not even take a moment to scoff at the absurdity of her luck as she saw a man pull up behind Lord Dante with a hunting rifle.

"Don't move," warned the man. His face was partly concealed by layers of clothing, but Yvanna could spot the snow-white hair which peeked out from his winter cap and the harsh lines of his weathered face.

Yvanna froze. For a moment, she worried that this was one of their captors, come to take them back. But with his gun pressed against the back of Lord Dante's head, she did not think so.

"Please, let us go," she pleaded.

"Shut up," the man growled.

"What do we have here?" another woman spoke, walking up with a shotgun in hand. She had wiry grey hair and beady black eyes. "A couple of strays? They're just kids, Hugh. Let them go."

"They're not human, Marissa. Look at 'em," Hugh spat. "This one's got blood all over his teeth, and they're in handcuffs."

Marissa turned to inspect them, her eyes widening as she did so. "So it seems. What are a couple of vamps doing all the way out here? You're very far from home."

"We were backpacking and we got robbed. We just want to get back home. If you could help us–"

The woman laughed, and Lord Dante faltered in his speech. "You think just because those city folks up there have accepted you, that the rest of us will? No, boy. Freaks like you need to be put in their place. Come on, Hugh. Let's take these ones home."

Hugh nodded and pointed the barrel of his gun towards Yvanna. "Can you walk?"

She could not. Not now, at least. In a few hours, Yvanna might be able to hobble, but it would be a few days before she could properly walk again. Perhaps longer, without anything to treat her wound. She also had not eaten anything since Friday and had lost a sizeable amount of blood since then. Her recovery was significantly stunted, and most of her energy had been burnt by running for the past hour and a half. She was not sure what this meant for her survival here in this moment.