DANIEL HERON: BECOMING

20 - The animals out in the forest sounded different tonight.

Daniel observed Ana who went silent after she told him how Teresa and herself departed to the unknown. The expression of her face told him that her thoughts took her back to the time when the war ended. Time of abundance for her kind, he recalled her words. He didn't want to think about their true meaning, nor invoke the images of vampires feasting on the injured soldiers. His brother was a soldier too. Another life lost forever. In vain, Daniel thought.

He forced himself to stop thinking about Robert. Instead, he took a good look at Ana once more, before casting his gaze Teresa's way. He tried to imagine them as two ordinary faces in the sea of tormented souls in which a spark of hope was ignited after long period of darkness.

Teresa and Ana's escape didn't mean they too got away from darkness, he knew. It will follow them always. That was proven to him by that one ray of sunlight on Teresa's skin. But they did get freedom, like Ana said. He gave it another thought and realized that in the background of their freedom lurked insecurity.

"And ever since you ran away, you've been waiting for your clan to find you?" he asked.

"No," Ana shook her head. "Not our clan. Any clan."

Daniel's forehead wrinkled. "I don't get it," he stated.

"Of course you don't." Teresa closed Ana's suitcase and took it to the door as if it weighed no more than a bag of groceries.

Ana took mercy on him and provided an explanation. "We are two women, two female vampires without a clan. If a male vampire finds us, he can subdue us, make us a part of his clan. We would have no choice but to obey because in the world of vampires, females must be guided by a man."

"That's dumb!" Daniel concluded after a short pondering. "Based on everything I saw, I can tell you that you don't need anyone to guide you."

"We know that," Teresa said very close to his ear. He winced, not being aware of her proximity. "But what we know is not the same as the laws engraved into the essence of every male vampire. That is how we know they are coming for us. They won't let us be the exception."

Daniel looked at the suitcase by the door. Neither of them was prepared to give up, that he was sure of. "Well, at least you have a plan that's gonna take you away from here."

Teresa nodded, her jaw clenched in determination. "That we do," she said. "Now go get some rest. We're gonna need you fresh and rested in the morning."

Daniel complied. He didn't need any of them to command him to fall asleep, he was tired enough as it was. He didn't know how long he had been sleeping when he was suddenly awoken by a knock on the door.

Knock... knock... knock... knock...

He sat up straight, surrounded by darkness. He gave his eyes a moment to adjust, and while he was doing that...

Knock... knock... knock... knock... again.

He squinted, trying to see something, anything, in the darkness. He found two pairs of amber eyes somewhere down the hall.

Come here, quietly. The words were not spoken aloud, he only heard them in his mind, yet he felt incapable to resist them. He got up slowly, started to walk down the hallway, towards the ones who called him, thankful there were no obstacle in the way. At the end of the hall, an open door awaited him. As soon as he walked through, it closed with a faint metallic thud.

Afraid to speak, he stood in the darkness, waiting for someone else to break the silence. Instead of words came a small flower of flames on top of a wooden match. It moved through the air until it lit a candle. In its light he spotted a round table on top of which was a ceramic candleholder and nothing else. Ana and Teresa stood opposite one another, table dividing them.