• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

By the time night rolled around, I figured out how to make a fire. I remembered the days when I sat in front of the television, seeing people on survivor shows make fire out of things they found out in the wilderness. Honestly, it was harder than they made it look, and I about gave up before I saw a little flicker of a flame.

Now I had a fire just outside of my little alcove. While the blanket would keep me relatively warm in the cooling night air, the fire would hopefully aid in that fact, as well as give me the ability to see farther than a couple feet ahead of me.

It was dark in the forest at night when the moon was full. I didn't want to know how limited my eyesight would be once the new moon rolled around.

I should have moved on. Kept pushing myself forward to create more distance between me and the city. But something kept me back. Maybe it was the fact that someone had found me and covered me up, as well as fed me. If I continued farther away from the city, I doubted I'd luck out twice.

I pulled the soft blanket up to my chin and watched the flames dance in the gentle wind. The wood beneath the fire crackled, and I couldn't help but remember when Noah, Luca, and I made s'mores one night when our foster mom wasn't home. I kept catching my marshmallows on fire, to which Luca always blew it out, plucked the burnt fluff from my stick, and ate it whole.

While I met Noah first when I went to live with them, I'd fallen for Luca almost immediately. My little thirteen year old mind seemed to short circuit whenever he was around, with his breathtaking blue eyes and a mess of black hair. The other foster boy used to make fun of me for it.

My feelings for Noah came slowly, but somehow or another I realized I liked him too. Where Luca was all dark and devious, Noah was gentleness and light. The moment I walked into the doors of the foster home, after being moved from my previous home, he was the first one to welcome me.

I sighed and rested my head back against the wall of the alcove.

"I expected you to be asleep."

I shot up, stumbling over my feet and almost tripping into the fucking fire. Hands grabbed me and steadied me, and I looked up into eyes too old for the world the vampires created.

The oldest kids were seventeen at the time of the takeover. This woman looked to be in her late fifties, at least.

I stared at her, my eyes wide.

"Calm down," she said, her voice gentle. "I came to retrieve the canister. I was going to go back and refill it, then have some more food for you in the morning."

I shook my head. "Who-"

"You escaped the city, right?" She slowly let me go, making sure I didn't stumble.

"Are you a vampire," I asked, rather than answering her question.

She flashed me her teeth - completely straight without a hint of fang. It didn't make any sense. They'd said that everyone eighteen and older had been eliminated.

"Yes," I finally answered her. "I'm from the city. South district."

She nodded. "You're a good ways away from the south district. When did you escape?"

I looked down at the fire. "Last night. Can I ask how you're alive? I mean..." I raised my eyes and looked at her again. At the fine lines around her mouth and eyes, hinting that she smiled often. "You're not..."

She raised her thin eyebrows. "I'm not young, right? To be honest, I'm not entirely sure. Some friends and I came out here to camp seven years ago. When we went back to our homes, it was practically a desolate wasteland. There were dead people in the streets and inside of stores. We didn't know vampires took over until almost three months later when we found other people who hadn't been in a populated area at the time of the takeover."

So there were more people like her.

"In time, I'll have you come back with me." She smiled. "But for now, we need to make sure you're not being followed or watched. I'd rather not bring vampires to our camp. I'll continue to bring you food, of course. Can't leave you out here starving."

I knelt and grabbed the empty canister from the ground and handed it back to her. I wasn't going to deny food. Especially if that meant I didn't have to kill an animal myself.

"I'll bring you a lighter and a knife too." Her eyes found my fire, and I started to tell her that I was fine without them, but the amount of work I had to put into my fire stopped me. It would be easier to just gather some wood and light it, rather than take hours trying to make a flicker of a flame appear.

When she turned away, I called back out to her. "What's your name?"

She glanced at me from over her shoulder. "You can call me Tati."

"I'm Mae," I said. "Thank you, Tati. You don't have to do this."

She winked at me, but said no more as she disappeared into the darkness.

I stared after her for a while, considering how she could have found me. From my perspective, I was out in the middle of nowhere. Even with a preliminary search, I couldn't find any real form of human inhabitants.

I could have followed after her, but chances were, I'd give my location away. I didn't know the forest surrounding us like she seemed to, and I'd have to keep close if I planned on making it there without getting lost.

Honestly, I understood her not wanting to bring me back. Though if someone was actively watching me or following me, there was nothing keeping them from following after her as well. Especially if they wanted to finish what they started all those years ago.

I sat back down next to my fire and closed my eyes, smiling a little at the fact that I really wasn't alone. There were more people who weren't held in the grasp of the vampires, and hopefully soon they'd allow me into their folds.