Crimson Bodies

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Ilene felt like a piece of her heart was chipping away, second by second, as she stared at the crimson bodies spread on the ground.

The vampires had easily swept inside their campsite, drank from anyone in sight, and then left to who knows where. They had had stolen so many innocent lives. These people—they were so excited to come on the trip--and now it was like the world had just betrayed them.

Right then she didn’t only feel sadness and hurt—but intense anger too. She wanted carve her own wooden stake and plunge it deep inside the vampire’s hearts. How could they do this? How could this be happening to her—to them?

She wanted to beat her fists on the ground and rip her hair out. God, she wanted to die right then. She didn’t know how she could go on with that burning ache in her chest. It was so consuming—so full of hate.

A hand touched her shoulder, and she spun around to meet Grant. As soon as she saw him, she felt the emotions bubbling inside her, and she allowed her tears to slip out. They were the only ones left! How would they get out when neither of them knew where the roads and highways were?

“Stop crying—“

“I can’t!” Ilene yelled, frustrated. She wiped her hands on her face, wiping the tears off, but more replaced them.  “We’re going to die out here. We’re going to starve.” She wanted to stop crying—badly. She didn’t want to look like a weak, damsel in distress. The last thing she wanted to do was have a meltdown in front of him. But the tears kept flowing.

She raised her eyes to look at him. He was staring down at her with a frown on his beautiful face. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Grant became ridged and shocked, but she didn’t care. Hugging him was the best source of comfort, and she really needed some right now. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, reveling in his touch. Slowly, he brought his hands up to rest on her back. He pulled, bringing her flush against his body.

“We’re not going to die,” He spoke, his husky voice echoing in her ears and causing the hair on her arms to rise. “I’m going to get us out of here.”

She let go of his neck, coming to stand in front of him. He didn’t look fazed as she was, not even a little bit. His cheeks weren’t red like hers were. Mostly… he looked emotionless, blank.  Of course, Ilene didn’t have a huge ego and didn’t expect every man to fall at her knees, but it confused her as to why he wasn’t affected, even a little bit. But forget all that, she thought. There's more important things on hand.

“Do you know how to get us home?” she asked. Ilene had somewhat of an idea, but it was bearly formed. Ilene doubted either of them knew real survival skills, so she hoped they could work together.

"I guess we have to go back to where we came from and retrace our steps."

"Sounds good. It's a long trip back, though. And I think it’s going to start raining soon,” she glanced at the clouds, “we should definitely pack some necessities.” He agreed, saying there were some things  he needed to take back to the real world with him.

None of them had a definite plan. Ilene thought they would talk about it while walking. Right now all she knew was that she had to get things packed and ready. The stench of blood and decay was assaulting her nose by the second, and she could stand being in the camping grounds anymore.

Ilene noticed that nothing was out of place once she entered her tent. No vampire had rummaged through her things. She stood at the entrance and gazed at Ally’s sleeping bag. Tears brimmed in her eyes and she furiously wiped them away.