Bitten by the Vampires

“Yes,” I whisper. “I understand.”

“Don’t speak again,” Eli says. He turns to Benjamin. “Bring her.”

Then he and Matthew turn in unison and walk away. They move away from the edge of the village, away from the town, and they disappear into the darkness of the woods.

“Time to go,” Benjamin says. He grabs my wrist – not even my hand, just my wrist – and yanks hard. I struggle to keep up with his long strides, but I move as quickly as I can, wondering where the hell we’re going.

The screams of the villagers have stopped, somehow, and I don’t know whether the sound of silence in the woods is more horrifying than the sounds of their screams. I want to ask Benjamin so many questions.

Where is he taking me?

Where have the other villagers gone?

Am I ever going to see them again?

Are they dead?

But I don’t ask him that question, or any question at all. Instead, I just follow through the darkness until we come to a clearing. There are carts here with cages in the back, and I discover where the other villagers have gone. They’re piled into the cages: literally on top of one another, and they’re tied up. It can’t be comfortable, and in fact, I’d beg to guess that the way they’re all sort of shoved into cages actually hurts quite a bit. I want to protest, to argue that this kind of treatment is totally inhumane, but then I remember Eli choking me, and I wisely shut my mouth.

Benjamin seems to notice me taking everything in, and he definitely notices my silence. I don’t know if he’s pleased or not, but he’s certainly not more angry than he was a minute ago. He leads me to the very first cart. This one has a sort of carriage. There’s a place with a driver and then the actual carriage part has two big doors that can open and close. I look at him, and he nods.

“We’ll be riding in the back,” he says. “Antonio can drive.”

As if on cue, another vampire appears. He’s dressed in all black, just like the others, and he looks me up and down. He sniffs. Is he smelling me? Then he shrugs and climbs up onto his seat. He grabs the reigns and looks over at us.

“Ready when you are,” he tells Benjamin.

“In you go,” he gestures toward the carriage, but there’s a problem: it’s fucking huge, and I have no idea how to get inside. It’s not like I’ve ever left Eagleton in any sort of vehicle: car or carriage. I’ve seen cars, but I’ve never seen a carriage. This is like a blast from the far distant past.

Do I reach for the door handle first?

Do I climb up and then try to open it?

I don’t want Benjamin to think I’m trying to be problematic or troublesome. Even the horses are tired of waiting for me, though, because they neigh loudly. Finally, I decide to climb up and then pull the handle open. Benjamin instantly realizes what I’m doing, and he stops me.

“Wait,” he says. He’s not mad. “The door opens first,” he says. He reaches above me and pulls the handle. It opens, and the door swings outward.

“Thank you,” I say. “I’m...I’m sorry. I’ve never...”

I’ve never seen a fucking carriage before, is what I want to say. I’ve only heard about these things in books. Eagleton had plenty of houses and horses and we even had a couple of run-down cars that should have been ditched long ago, but carriages?

Those are the sorts of things you only read about in fairytales.

I don’t know where the roads in these forests go. They aren’t even really roads. There are dirt paths, really, that are wide enough for travelers to use, but I stay away from them. My job as a guard is to watch things, and so I watch. I don’t wander because I don’t need to. My needs have been met during my time in Eagleton.

I don’t need to cause trouble by wandering down the roads and looking for things.

Now, though, I suddenly wish I’d been a bit more adventurous.

At least then I’d know where we’re going.

At least then I’d have some sort of idea.

“Climb in,” he says. He offers me his hand now, and I take it. Carefully, I somehow manage to get into the back of the carriage. Stumbling inside, I’m grabbed by a set of hands.

“Careful.”

I’m completely surprised to find that both Eli and Matthew are inside of the carriage: one on either side. I don’t know where I’m supposed to sit or what I’m supposed to do now. Do I sit on the floor? Is that where the bad girls go? They seem to sense my confusion and take pity on me, somehow, because Eli pulls me beside him and slings his arm over my shoulder. I’m pressed up against him now, and I pull my bag into my lap and just sit there silently.