Chapter. 7
The lack of food is starting to take its toll. I’m already tired, and we’ve only just begun walking. I’ve figured out that he’s only dragging me along with him to have his daily blood meals. He wouldn’t need me if his horse wasn’t killed. Which wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t hunt us down, and we wouldn’t have been fleeing if those vampires didn’t torch our village.
Uncle Ivan is a member of the Huntsmen, a brave group of heroes who pledge to protect humans from vampires. Though I don’t know him well, Jacob often visits him on his travels. I had hoped that the Huntsmen would defend our homes, but they must’ve been spread too thin. There was no one to help us when these demons came.
“Why did you burn my village?” I spit.
“You would not understand, human,” he dismisses me.
“It’s Julia, and I’m more capable than you give me credit. If you were trying to send a message to the king, then why not burn his palace instead of my home?”
“Your king is dead.”
King Howard is dead? I didn’t realize that our country’s situation was so dire.
“If the king is dead, then why burn my village? There was no gold or silver.”
“We have no need for vacant straw huts.”
“They weren’t empty. I was a resident, and I was just lucky enough to get away… at least at first,” I mumble the last part under my breath.
“I already warned that you would not understand. ‘Tis as frivolous as explaining to a bird why its tree was logged.”
It’s not that I can’t understand, it’s that he can’t be bothered to tell me.
He reaches out his hand, and I tense. “Don’t worry your little human mind with what has happened or what will happen,” he says, rubbing my head. “Just do as I instruct.”
“I am not a child,” I spit.
We walk further, and I spot something red in the corner of my eye. An Apple! We’re under an apple tree!
“Look! Apples!” I’m practically dancing for joy.
“Fascinating,” he says without slowing down.
“Can we take a short break? I’m hungry.”
He doesn’t stop.
I dig my feet into the ground and pull against the rope, but he overpowers me with little effort. I’m not going to let this opportunity pass by. Moving beside him, I position a tree trunk between us and make a quick circle around it, as much as the short rope will allow. Now there’s a knot. Overpower that, asshole.
He yanks on the rope, but the tree doesn’t budge. He raises his hand to strike me. I shut my eyes and tuck my head into my shoulder. “Please don't. I just want to eat.”
Nothing happens.
I look back at the apples, and he follows my gaze.
“You eat that?” he asks.
A wave of relief washes over me, and I relax my shoulders. “Yea, we eat fruit, nuts, berries, grain and meat.”
“So you are like monkeys.”
I don’t appreciate the comparison, but I keep my mouth shut for the sake of getting the apple.
“Untangle yourself from the tree,” he instructs.
I do as he says, and my face lights up when he begins picking apples.
He carries back five big juicy ones, and my mouth is watering. He holds one up for me to bite, but I hold myself back. There’s something off about it. It’s discolored, covered in little holes and doesn’t smell right.
“Can you open it?” I ask.
He breaks it in half, and I jerk away in disgust. It’s rotten, infested with tiny bugs. I scan the other apples. They’ve all got the same holes.
“Never mind,” I mumble, trying to internally reassure myself that real food will come soon.
When I look up again, he’s gone, and my rope is tied to a branch.
“Mr Vampire?” I call.
A few minutes pass before his footsteps return. He steps out the bushes, and I can’t believe the sight in front of me. He's carrying at least twenty apples in his cape, and they’re fresh!
He breaks one in half and holds it up for me to eat.
I take a huge bite. The sweet and smooth texture makes me groan. I take another and another, barely chewing before swallowing. It’s a relief to have something in my stomach again.
He moves his fingers around the apple, giving me a new spot to bite. I was so hungry that it only now crosses my mind that I’m eating out of his hand. I'm a little embarrassed eating like his pet, but it's either that or starve, and I don't think he'll be so cruel as to strike my face while I'm leaning in.
Soon the apple is finished, and I look at him with pleading eyes.
He breaks another one in half and lets me eat. It takes another four apples before I'm full.
He packs the rest in the bag on my back, and I crane my neck to try get a view. There’s food for days.