Blood Bound

Chapter 12: Two fugitives

I'm being swept off my feet, falling softly into a soft carpet that flies into the night. Cue „A Whole New World" song.

I wish.

I'm not flying around with Aladdin in some fancy fairy tale Arab clothing. I doubt he would even go for me.

No, life is not a fairy tale. Unfortunately. It's much harsher than that. Although I have to admit that my current situation can be classified in the fairy tale category.

It's so surreal that I can't really wrap my head around it. My mind is a mess. A trainwreck. I haven't recovered fully from my panic attack; my heart is hammering up some drywalls; my mouth is dry from taking all those repeated deep breaths; my hands and back are still moist from the sweat. The chilly air is not helping and sends shivers down my spine.

"Where are we going?" I ask, not bothering to look up and view my surroundings.

"Out of Anchorage. That's our first priority," Sophie replies, readjusting her backpack. She spots a puddle nearby the curb and proceeds to wash her hands in it.

"Might want to put your shirt in as well," I point out, grimacing as the puddle changes its color slightly, from a dull grey to a murky brown, due to the blood.

Sophie looks down and curses. "Shit!" she groans. "I forgot about it," She instantly unclasps the backpack, grabs a clean, black longsleeve out of it and undresses in front of me. I swiftly turn around. Sophie snorts. "Prude," she sneers at me.

"Shut up," I mumble awkwardly, feeling my face turn red from embarrassment.

"Alright, let's go."

I turn around and Sophie is already putting her backpack back in place.

"How are we getting out of here?" I ask glumly. It's not like I've accepted my fate with a smile on my face. I desperately want to turn back home, to my sanctuary but Sophie's right; There's no way that I nor my family can handle a pack of bloodthirsty vampires. My eyes widen as sudden realization comes crashing over me. "My phone!" I gasp, patting my coat and finding nothing. "I forgot my phone at home!"

"Good," says Sophie. "It's not good for us to have them. They can use the GPS in them to track us down."

"But, but-„ I splutter helplessly. That was supposed to be my lifeline, a sureway plan to know for sure that my family would be alright. At the same time, I would be able to contact them and tell them everything is okay with me. To an extent, at least. . .

"But I haven't let them know where I'm going or anything!" I whine.

Sophie groans. "What part of running away do you not understand? They're not supposed to know because they could accidentically tip the others off!"

I stare at her, not believing my ears.

"So I'm just supposed to disappear into thin air without my parents' knowledge?" My voice breaks as I struggle to keep the waterworks to a minimum. "Do you have any idea how much that will hurt them?"

"Not as much as finding your corpse in a ditch!" she snarls, baring her fangs at me.

I flinch, recoiling a few steps back in fear. Sophie must be at her limit as well, I suspect as this is the first time she has bared her fangs openly like that. Her breath is quick and heavy and she's shooting daggers at me.

"It's my family," I try again with a more pleading tone of voice. "They have a right to know at least something."

"And if they do, you're gonna be an orphan, just like me," Sophie huffs. "Trust me, Leia, they're better off not knowing."