“We have to move now!”

“We have to move now!” You tell Nicole.

The water has reawakened the pain in your arm and something slimy has passed between your feet. You cannot stay here any longer.

Reluctantly, Nicole follows you. You take the opposite direction the vampires went. After a while, you reach the edge of the forest. The beach is here, open space with nowhere to hide. Just a few hundred yards away, you spot a pier and attached to it, a small boat. Your salvation... maybe, if you manage to reach it before the vampires catch up with you.

You turn to Nicole.

“It’s now or never.”

You start running. You run and run and, full of hope, full of fright, run a lot more, run for your life.

At any moment you expect to hear the vampire’s howl again, their swift feet treading on the soft sand, a hand grabbing your neck and ... no you cannot think about it, you have to run.

And you reach the pier. And you jump into the boat. And Nicole is here with you. And you push it away from the pontoon. And the engine starts. And the island shrinks...

***

Six days later, half dead from dehydration, you are picked up by a cuban fishing ship. They take you to a hospital in La Habana.

You survived.

For now, because now you are hunted, just like Nicole. And for the rest of your life you will run.

So, start running because they are just behind you.

Run little girl and fear.