Chapter Text
I had always enjoyed running. As a kid, when the others quickly tired out or got bored playing catch, I couldn’t get enough of it. I was running up and down the street, chasing whatever fantastical creatures my mind envisioned just for the sake of it. Later, after father died and my brothers joined up, running became my safe haven, a momentary escape from the daily struggle. It had always been about the experience, the feeling of freedom for me, never about the destination.
Things changed after I turned.
Discovering what my legs were now capable of had been exhilarating at first, but the delight disappeared quickly as the new routines set in. I was no longer chasing fairy tales; in fact, I wasn’t running anymore at all. I was hunting.
In retrospect, it wasn’t the experience that changed much. It was the destination, what lied at the end of every race. Jasper had always joked that, for someone who claimed to not particularly enjoy killing, I was a tad too good at it.
When I contemplated running away for the first time, a part of me wondered if this would bring back the old joys. After all, Charlotte and I would be breaking the proverbial chains to regain our freedom. The unfortunate truth, however, was that I had never felt this trapped before in my life.
It couldn’t have been more than half an hour since our first stop, we were still in the same forest, and every step was a struggle. We had slowed down significantly, still faster than humans but only just. I could barely think of anything but putting one leg in front of the other; if I did for more than a few seconds, I stumbled over my own feet.
Charlotte was struggling as much, if not worse, than I did. It made me sick to my stomach to know that I was the one who forced this on her. The fact that she had asked me to stop apologising, didn’t help either.
Was this really the better option? Jasper would have granted her a quick death. I doubted that whatever coven got their hands on us would provide her the same kindness…
No, I couldn’t think this way. All we had to do was make it through. She had been right, there was no point in holding a territory with a few hundred humans stretched over miles and miles of wilderness. There was a place where we could be safe. I had to believe that.
I took a breath to say something encouraging. I wasn’t quite sure, what I would have said, but it didn’t matter anyway. As soon as the air passed through my nose, venom started to pool in my mouth and my body froze.
Charlotte halted a split second later as she caught the scent as well. This was the way we were drilled; feeding without permission was certain death. But then, there was no one to give us permission anymore.
“Do we…?” Charlotte asked.
I guess so? My body dashed forward before the words could leave my lips. I was positive she understood, nevertheless.
Famished as we were, we drained the group of four in a matter of minutes. Charlotte decapitated her first victim in her eagerness, but the second one was a respectably clean kill. Almost as clean as mine, even though I had a good three years on her.
I didn’t feel a smidge of remorse, as I looked down upon our victims. Instead, a certain sense of victory lingered in the air. Maybe it was because Jasper and his moods were hundreds of miles away. Or maybe, it was because for the first time in this second existence, we had done something purely because we wanted to. This felt like an even bigger defiance than running away.
Inexplicably smiling, I wiped my hands in the grass and then turned to Charlotte. “How do you feel?”
“Like I could run for days.” She was smiling too.
“Good, because that’s what we’re going to have to do,” I answered instinctively, the true meaning of my words only slowly seeping through the euphoria that feeding had caused.
We had killed on foreign territory. If whoever claimed this land was inclined to let us pass before, they were certainly going to kill us now.
I didn’t waste another moment, took Charlotte by her hand, and picked up the pace. “Let’s go.”
xxx
We continued running for four days with little progress. Doing the exact opposite of how we knew covens typically conducted themselves meant that we had to travel during the day and hide at night. Unfortunately, the sun and little coverage made it sheer impossible to traverse outside the twilight hours.
I had lost count of how many hours we spent huddled in a cave, bush or abandoned cabin somewhere. We had stopped talking on the second day, worried about our breaths masking the life-saving misstep of someone approaching.
Charlotte had been quite imaginative, coming up with a handful of different signs to communicate the most necessary information. Go, look, stop, run, feed, I forgive you. At least that’s what I hoped she meant when she crossed her hands and affectionately placed them over her heart.
We weren’t holding hands anymore either, it was too dangerous. If someone found us, we’d need both to even have the slightest chance of clawing ourselves out of this mess. Still, sometimes at night, I’d place mine against hers, just close enough that the sides of them brushed against each other. It always elicited her a small smile. And that smile was enough to keep me going through the next day.
Finally, on the fifth day, the skies stayed clouded. We pushed forward as fast as we could, continuing our zig zag from cover to cover, still avoiding cities and populated areas. We hadn’t allowed ourselves to feed since that first mistake and although thirst was clearly bothering Charlotte again –judging from the way she frequently rubbed her throat – every time I spread my pinkie and thumb away from the rest of my fist and made a drinking motion, she just shook her head. At least the temperature was dropping, suggesting that we were headed the right way. Who knew, with another day like this, we might finally make it to the wilderness.
Charlotte’s gasp jerked me to a halt. She had already frozen a good four feet from me, and I was about to speed to her side, when I finally noticed what she had seen seconds ago. Across the field stood another figure dressed in loose rags. And he was staring right at us.
No! I cried internally. Not now, not when we’re so close.
I returned to Charlotte's side slowly, scanning the area, trying to figure out where the rest of his coven was hidden. But I couldn’t make anyone out.
Running away was the first option that crossed my mind, but it was also risky. And even though I didn’t like to entertain the thought, we were in a pretty good spot if a fight would ensue. The field was open, no-one would be able to sneak up on us.
“What do we do?” Charlotte whispered, her voice raspy due to the lack of use.
What would Jasper do? I asked myself. A foolish question, he’d fight. Obviously. But he had ten times the experience we had combined and usually a good number of newborns to offer as cannon fodder. All we had was ourselves.
“Wait and see. Maybe we’re lucky and he’s just a look-out,” I muttered. “But if another one shows up, we run. Head to the right into the corn.” Maybe we can lose them in there.
Charlotte’s eyes spoke of pure fear, but she nodded. Once more, she trusted me without second-guessing, and I hoped that her trust wasn’t misplaced.
I kept my eyes focused on the stranger as he came closer, scouring the area for backup out of their corners. There was still none. And in another strange turn of events, he seemed relaxed with a sheepish grin on his face. He even buried his hands in the pockets of his jacket, restraining himself.
He finally stopped a few feet away, nodding his head. “Hello, pleasure to meet you. It’s been a while since I’ve come across our kind.”
Charlotte and I exchanged a confused look.
“You guys come up from down south?”
His look was curious, he obviously waited for a reaction on our part. But I had no words. Nothing I had experienced in this second life had prepared me for an interaction like this.
Unsurprisingly, Charlotte was the first to retrieve her voice. “Yes. We wish to pass through to Canada peacefully.”
I kept my eyes peeled on the vampire. He didn’t react to her words, as if it was the most mundane request ever.
“There’s some beautiful stretches of nature up there,” he returned. “Though I wouldn’t recommend heading too far up north. It can be quite a hassle to feed.”
“You’ve been?”
“A few years back. I prefer good old Great Plains these days.”
I had enough of talking in riddles. The stranger didn’t seem hostile and while I wanted to believe it, reality had told me otherwise. If we were intruding on his land, I’d rather know it right now than spend another few minutes on platitudes. “How far does your territory stretch?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Son, they call this the ‘Land of the Free’ for a reason. There are no territories here, every man is free to go where they please.”
“No coven lays claim to these lands then?” Charlotte chimed in, surprise lacing her voice.
“No. Why would they? Seems rather boring to hunker down when you can have it all.”
I couldn’t believe what my ears were hearing. “What about the cities? Certainly, there are covens there.”
“Not as far as I know.” He shrugged his shoulders. “Though I did hear about a permanent residence somewhere up in Denali once. Maybe you’ll come across them if you head north.”
I felt Charlotte’s hand find mine. Her eyes spoke of disbelief, just as much as mine must have.
“You two certainly are a funny bunch,” the stranger said. “Are all the vampire’s down south like that?”
I ignored his question, still wrapping my mind about what he was implying. “So, there are no territories up here? We can feed wherever we want?”
“Of course! There’s plenty for everyone. What did you think?” Now it was the other vampire that seemed confused.
Could this be? Had Jasper lied to us? Was the tale of world-spanning wars for territory just that; a nightmarish tale to keep us all in line?
“Please excuse our questions, it isn’t like this where we come from. What you’re describing is a foreign concept to us,” Charlotte intervened, now a charming smile on her face.
I prayed internally, that she hadn’t placed too much trust in the other vampire’s words. But even now, he didn’t seem threatening. Curious mostly.
“It isn’t? Well, I’ve never been down past Santa Fe, but it definitely is this way up here.”
Jasper wouldn’t have lied, I concluded. More likely, he didn’t know better himself. Maybe even Maria didn’t. I had never questioned the ‘why?’ of the wars before, but the strangers’ words rang true. It’s not like there was a lack of humans on this planet. And as I started to entertain the reality he was painting, I felt the weight, that had been resting on my shoulders ever since I’d called out for Charlotte to run, starting to crumble.
I didn’t catch the rest of the conversation she had with the other vampire. My mind was spinning, trying to readjust to a completely new view of the world; to the fact that maybe, I hadn’t doomed but actually freed her. Freed us.
When my rabid thoughts finally settled down and I consciously returned to her, the stranger was gone, and Charlotte was standing in front of me with the biggest smile I’d ever been graced with.
“We’re free,” she whispered, tasting each word. The idea must have been as strange to her, as it was to me.
“We’re free,” I agreed.
“Free!” she echoed, this time with more vigour as she jumped up to wrap her arms around my neck. Holding her felt like the most extraordinary and natural thing all at once. And somehow, I couldn’t help but start laughing. It wasn’t long before Charlotte giggled against my neck as well and I was spinning in place. I didn’t know why I did it, it just felt right.
Just as right as it felt to push my lips against hers at the first chance I got.
When we finally tumbled into the grass, I’d made the first new discovery about this life in four years: vampires could get dizzy. And boy, did it feel good.
Charlotte was laughing next to me, pulling bushels of grass from the ground and throwing it in the air above us until there was nothing but dirt left on either side of her. I watched her silently, with a big grin on my face and a heart so light it felt like it could pop out of my chest and fly away any second.
This was the feeling I had been hoping for, the one that running had given me in a previous life.
Freedom.