Dhampirica

XIII

DAY FIVE WAS AS GRUELING and severe as the others, but it was on that fifth day — or rather, fifth evening — when they finally came upon a small remote town with signs of life. They treaded cautiously in, an eerie quietude settling over the streets as the sun crept back over the horizon, ready to rest. The town was insignificant in size and population, with a few old houses and shops and cars scattered throughout. Not many, but they were there. Yvanna had never felt such relief.

Lord Dante, eager to rush into the nearest building, started ahead of her.

"Wait," she said, holding her arm out in front of his chest. "Let me do the talking. We need to be careful not to show our fangs. We don't know how these people feel about vampires."

"I'll be fine," he insisted. "I can handle a little light conversation. I'm sure my Canadian accent is better than yours anyway. We don't want to let on we're American."

She relented and he led the way to a nearby inn. It was small and antiquated, much like the rest of the town, and a far cry from home. Regardless, it was miles better than sleeping outside in the cold as they had done the past several days.

A doorbell jingled as they pushed the door open and stepped inside. The cozy warmth of the room blanketed Yvanna, and she felt her stress recede very slightly. The inn was comfortable and quiet, with a reception desk, a small lounge and dining area, and a staircase at the back leading upstairs. There were a couple of humans in the lobby who passed them curious glances.

Yvanna approached the reception, seeing an elderly lady with narrow glasses and narrower eyes. She was suspicious of them, and Yvanna could not blame her. She was certain they looked quite the sight.

"Hello," Yvanna greeted, smiling gingerly.

"Evening," Lord Dante said, flashing the receptionist an intentionally tight-lipped smile.

"Good evening, what brings you two strangers here?" said the woman.

Very suddenly, Lord Dante hooked his arm around Yvanna and pulled her against him, stunning her for a moment. "My fiancée and I are from Toronto. We were backpacking, but got robbed along the way. We lost all of our stuff. We were hoping you might have a phone we could borrow?"

The woman frowned. "Oh, I'm very sorry to hear that, but unfortunately, all our phone lines are down. The recent snowstorm hit us pretty hard. We do have a repairman coming to fix the cell tower, but he won't be able to until tomorrow morning."

He and Yvanna exchanged glances. They appeared to be thinking the same thing: what now?

"Well," Lord Dante cleared his throat. "No matter. Maybe we can hitch a ride out of town."

The woman looked regretful. "You're very far from home. There's a deliveryman coming next week with some supplies from Thunder Bay. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to give you a ride there. He should be here on Thursday."

Thunder Bay? They were very far from home.

"Thank you," he replied. "If it's not too much trouble for you, could we spend the night here? I'm afraid we don't have any money, since everything we had was stolen..."

"Of course, of course! Poor things. We have plenty of rooms available. Here—" she rummaged through one of the drawers and emerged with a key. "Take room 13. And feel free to help yourselves to the kitchen." Her voice held a strange tone, piquing Yvanna's interest.

"You're very kind," said Lord Dante, finally letting go of Yvanna. "Well, goodnight then."

Yvanna followed him up the stairs, glancing back at the woman to see her gaze trailing after them. She was still suspicious of them, but cordial enough to help out in case they were actually honest strangers.