Free Vampire Books: Vampire Bite – Chapter 7

Alfie is gone for longer this time.  Alfie.  My new friend who is a werewolf.

I finish my can and put it down, but I’m still shaking.  I rummage around in the tent for some snacks and then, with a big bag of tortilla chips, another drink, and a couple more blankets, I snuggle up closer to the fire and tuck in.  The crunching as I eat sounds loud against the quietness of the night.  When I’ve eaten enough I feel a bit more grounded and more like myself, although in a very surreal situation.  Being outside in the dark makes it feel like it’s the middle of the night, whereas in reality it’s only about six o’ clock – but that’s English winters for you.

I wonder what Alfie is doing in the woods.  Hunting maybe?  I wonder if he thinks like a human when he’s a wolf.…  I’m going to have so many questions to ask when he changes back.

I can hear soft padding paws approaching behind me, and turn to see Alfie-wolf panting towards me.  My heart races; even though I do trust him, and he looks friendly – he is enormous.  I guess I should have expected him to be a big wolf – but seeing as I didn’t really believe he would change I just didn’t think much about it.  And with everything else that’s been going on….

Alfie comes right up to me and this time I don’t flinch.  He sits down next to my blanket and I reach out towards him slowly, with his amber eyes watching my hand.  He nods his head a little, which I take to mean I should go ahead, so I sink my hands into his fur and then I hug him, wrapping my arms around his warm and gigantic doggy body.  He nuzzles my head with his nose.  I hold onto him for a while longer and then I let him go and offer him the half eaten bag of tortilla chips, but he shakes his head.

“Guess you’d prefer something meatier.  Want something else?” I ask.

He shakes his head again, then gets up.  With me down on the ground like this he towers above me.  He pads away a bit and then meets my eyes again, and this time his eyes look mischievous, like he’s challenging me to watch him, and then he starts to run in circles around the camp.  He is so fast!  A blur.  I laugh out loud – it’s bloody amazing.  And then he runs off out of sight again.

The night passes much like this, Alfie coming and going, me munching on more snacks, and eventually the adrenaline wears off and I get the sleeping bag.  I bring it back with me to the fire to keep extra warm and I do drift in and out of sleep a bit, aware of Alfie coming and checking on me, finding the sound of him around me reassuring and thrilling all at once.

I wake to the sound of the tent zip going, not far away, and open my eyes in fright and my body jerks, but it’s still pitch black apart from the fire which is burning low now.

“Shhh, just me Ava.”  Alfie’s voice, from a few feet away.  Alfie human, not Alfie werewolf.  “Just getting some clothes on, you can go back to sleep.”

“I don’t think there’s much chance of that,” I say, and yawn.

Alfie chuckles.  “What did you think?”

“A-maz-ing,” I say.

“I told you so,” he says, teasing.

“You did, but … no way could I have really believed it.  But I do now – even though I can’t grasp the how of it.  I want to ask you a hundred questions.”

“I bet you do,” he says, gently placing more logs on the fire and then coming to my side and lying down next to me.

I rest my head on my hand, propped up while lying on my side, and study him in the fire light.  “You look just the same.  Like it never happened.”

He shrugs, smiling.  “I am the same.”

“How?” I say, my voice filled with awe.

He chuckles softly.  “I’ve no idea ‘how’ – it’s a mystery – but it’s a mystery that is very real for me.”

“When you changed what did it feel like?  Did it hurt?”

“Nope, it feels like this huge rush – a massive surge of adrenaline – my heart races like mad and I can feel myself changing shape – but it’s almost like a big stretch, and as I stretch the changes just happen.”

“That really is amazing.”

“I know!”

“How many of you are there?”

“In my pack there’s twenty-two of us, which I think is about normal – varies though.”

I gulp.  “Wow, twenty-two werewolves.  Must be quite something when you all change.”

“It sure is – that’s why we don’t live in the city.”

“I get that now.  How common are werewolves?”

He shrugs.  “No idea really, but we come across another pack occasionally on a full moon – but when that happens we avoid each other, and then when we’re human again we can’t tell who else is a wolf anyway, not unless we know the truth.”

“Do you have super-strength?”

“Sure I do!  I’m strongest as a werewolf though.”

This gets me thinking about the vampire that attacked me, and Trish….  A wave of sadness passes over me.

“I guess this means vampires are real too.”

His face becomes serious.  “Yes; that they are.”

I shake my head.  It’s too horrible.  “So there really are vampires living in Exeter?”

He nods.

“Do you know how many?”

“No, but we have an idea – we think about eight – and we have a good idea of where they’re sleeping in the day, but we’re not one hundred percent sure yet.”

“So you have the numbers – you have a good chance against them, don’t you?”

“We do – we will get them in the end.”

“I hope so.”

“We will.”

“How does your strength compare to a vampire’s?  You fought off the guy that attacked me.”

“It varies.  Different werewolves have different strengths.  Same goes for vampires.  Think it helped that I caught that bloodsucker unawares while he was feeding on you; gave me an advantage.  Vampires get stronger the older they are.  I’m a match for a normal vampire, say if it was turned within the last hundred years.  Not the older ones though.  But we have the numbers – even if there’s an old vamp down there we can still take it out.”

“Down there?”

“Tunnels under the city.  That’s where we suspect the whole coven of bloodsuckers are hiding out in the day.”  Alfie squeezes his eyes shut and does an enormous yawn.  “You may be psyched but I’m knackered, think your questions will have to wait,” he says, and yawns again.

“Sorry!  Sleep.” 

I give him a couple of covers from my blanket bundle, he closes his eyes, and just like that, his breathing becomes slow and rhythmic and he’s lost to the world.  His face looks even younger relaxed and sleeping.  I can’t believe he was running around as a wolf, and now he’s here, next to me.  My mind is reeling.  But slowly I calm again and this time I fall into a deep sleep at Alfie’s side.

I wake up again hours later feeling gentle drizzle on my face.  I open my eyes to a very grey late morning and look over at Alfie; he is fast asleep on his back with his mouth open – not his most attractive look, but there’s something endearing about it nevertheless.  I make the most of the fact he’s still sleeping to clear my eyes of sleep dust and run my fingers through my hair to try and make myself not look like a complete state – hard without a mirror to aid me.  I sneak off into the bushes to do my business and when I return Alfie is sitting up with his hair sticking up all over the place.

“Morning,” I say.

He grunts.

I open the tent and get out a big two litre bottle of water and have a drink, then toss it to Alfie.  He accepts with a nod then drinks half the bottle down in just a few gulps.

“I’m famished,” he says.  “Any food left?”

“Hey, not a complete pig here, there’s loads left!  What would you like?”

“Biscuits.”

I chuck him a pack and he devours them while I nibble on some more tortilla chips.  I watch as he gets up and stretches.

“Back in a moment,” he mumbles, and shuffles off out of sight to pee.  When he comes back he eats lots more food before I get the chance to ask more questions.

“Tell me more about werewolves and vampires,” I say.

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

“Hmmm, not sure what to say really that you don’t know.”

“What’s it like when you’re a wolf?”

“It’s awesome, I have so much energy – I just run around like crazy.”

“Do you hunt?”

“Yep, sure.”

“Do you remember being a wolf after?”

“Yep again.”

“So what did you hunt last night?”

“I caught a couple of foxes.”

“And you ate them?” I say, kind of cringing.

“I did!  It’s not the same when you’re a wolf – seems completely natural.”

“Really?”

“Sure does.”

“What about vampires – do they really live forever?”

“Well, they would do if we didn’t kill them.”

“Have you killed any?”

“I’ve killed five altogether, over the years.”

“Any of them in Exeter?”

He shakes his head.  “My pack have though.  Two down.”

“Do you have to invite vampires into your home for them to enter?”

“Yep, that’s right.”

“So … what do you do at night … wander around looking for vampires to kill?”

“Basically, yes.  We all go out, split up to cover more ground.  Some of us, ’specially newbies, stick in pairs.  We’re all looking out for any sign of vampire action, and any we see we try and take pics of so we can all become familiar with what they look like – and follow them if we get the chance – to try and find out where they go.”

“Is there a big plan, or do you plan to take them on individually?”

“We want to find out exactly where they’re hiding out in the day so we can go down as a group and take them all on.  Reckon that’s how we’ll get rid of them fastest.  Until then we’ll just try and save as many lives as we can and kill any we get a chance to.”

“Are you going out looking for vampires tonight?”

“Yep, every night I’m not a wolf.”

“Can I go with you?”

He looks in my eyes, searching me.  “Why?”

“After what happened to me … what happened to Trish … and has happened to other people in the city….  I want to help.”

“You won’t be able to fight them.  They are too strong.”

“Are you saying I’m a weakling?”

He laughs darkly.  “No, but vampires and werewolves … our strength doesn’t compare to humans.  It’s off the scale.”

I think quickly.  “I can help in other ways.  I can keep an eye out.  I saw the guy who attacked me – I’d recognise him again.  I also saw the guy who Trish was with – I don’t know if it was him who … did it … killed her … or if it was someone else … but I can look out for him and if we see him we could follow him and find out.”

“I guess that makes sense.  It would be dangerous though.”

“I’d be with you.”

He pushes me playfully.  “Very touching,” he says, and laughs.

“I’m serious – you saved my life!  I feel safe with you.”

He puts one arm around me and pulls me against him, then kisses my cheek.

“Ok, sure, why not,” he says.

“Yes!”