Crimson Shadows: Kidnapped by Vampires

Chapter 3

I stared outside my window into the darkness of the night and could barely see anything, except for the occasional illuminated sign or passing car. My eyes begun to strain from looking out the window and I let out a yawn. Glancing at the clock on the dashboard I realised it was way later that I was expecting, we had been driving for hours. Mostly in silence, thankfully. I feel my eyes get heavier and allow them to drift shut. Before I lose complete consciousness, I hear a small murmur from beside me of, 'goodnight princess'. My last thought before sleep was, 'how dare he'.

I awaken to an overwhelming brightness shining straight onto my face, I quickly cover my face with my hands. The laneway I had grown accustomed to was very shaded for almost the entirety of every day, so bright early mornings was a very unusual occurrence for me.

I sit up straight, stretching my back, hands still shading my eyes and gasp when I see the time is 6am. If we had been travelling all night, where the hell were we going? It had been 5 hours since I had last looked at the time, 5 hours of sleep was the longest sleep I had for a long time. To think it was in an uncomfortable car sitting upright with two strangers is saying something.

Out of know where, Dan appeared out of the corner of my eye. I didn't dare move. His face shined in the light, he didn't look happy and his eyes were bright red. His face was dangerously close as he studied my eyes intently. I didn't know what to do to break the stare and suddenly out of instinct my hand had reached up and slapped across his face.

"Fuck!" I growled and pulled my hand to my stomach wincing in pain. It felt as though I had just slapped a concrete wall, my fingers were numb with pain and my palm was stinging. Dan was staring in horror, his eyes now appearing gentle and calm.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you, Katie" He offered.

I glanced up at where my hand had striked his face, there was no mark evident, nor had he reacted at all.

"How did that not hurt you? How did that hurt me and not you!?" I begged for any explanation, looking right into his eyes.

"Little one, you have lots to learn about our kind." He finished off with a smug little face and looked ahead. What did he mean 'our kind'.

Although I didn't have it in me to respond, confusion and despair must have been present on my face, "Cheer up Katie..." he nudged me carefully in the ribs in a playful way and grinned.

Time passed quickly and soon we had reached a small town where there were people hustling around the streets. The first people we had come across since the previous night. I watched the people going about their daily business, prayed on the normal daily life of strangers, that seemed so unusual to me. As I gazed upon the crowds, I couldn't help but notice that everyone had unusually pale skin, reminiscent of Dan's complexion. The paleness surrounding me stirred an unsettling feeling within my stomach, I had an inexplicable sense of unease.

We passed through the town and drove for a few more miles. As the car halted in front of a large, charcoal-grey mansion, I found myself yanked out of the car and swiftly propelled through a throng of onlookers – all with the same eerily pale complexions. My toes were not even touching the ground, I realised.

"They are thirsty!" The man I recognised as being the driver, panted.

"I reckon." Dan replied arrogantly, "Get her inside now." He pointed towards the large glass doors ahead.

Finn gaped, "But..." He was interrupted by a stern voice coming from Dan, "Don't argue with me."

Dan was passing me to Finn, but I couldn't take it anymore and I needed to gain the attention of these people so that they could help me. I let out a piercing scream for help as I jumped out of his arms and made a run for the car, that was now sitting empty. I jumped into the driver seat and thanked the lords when I found the keys remained in the ignition. Breathing through my exhaustion, I started the car and slammed my foot onto the accelerator. Before I knew it, I was flying down the gravel road towards the main road, I had to at least be going 100km/hr. Then, something caught the corner of my eye and I allowed myself to glance sidewards. To my horror, Dan was running beside the car and seemed not even out of breath. He caught my eye and nodded, as if communicating with me. He then pulled open the door and grabbed a hold of my arm, whisking me out of the moving vehicle. I gasped as we landed hard on the ground on top of each other. I was on top of Dan, he had somehow taken the impact from the fall, but seemed unbothered. Glancing up at the car, I see Finn has taken control. My mind was racing so fast, nothing made sense at all.

I pushed myself off Dan and jumped to my feet with haste. Gathering my surroundings, I made for a sprint towards the main road.

I didn't get very far.

"Don't run princess, you're not going to get anywhere fast" Dan gently scooped me up in his arms and headed back to the mansion. I wriggled in his arms trying to get him to release me, but his grip was as tight as anything. He softly but swiftly dropped me on the floor in front of another man I hadn't seen previously. He looked fairly like Dan and around the same age too. Same chiselled features, beautiful, large eyes. He had a smarter look about him though. I sat staring up at him as he glared down at me.