Hungary, 1633: Rachel's Story

{Rachel's POV}

Rachel

Rachel runs swiftly through the dark woods outside the castle. Branches snapping under her feet mar an otherwise still night. The night is pitch black, and the recent rain has made the ground muddy and soft. The sticks and brush cut her bare feet, leaving a scent trail of blood that she knows the vampires can follow. She comes to a creek swollen with rainwater, and plunges herself into the icy water. Her muscles seize up, but Rachel wills herself them to work. She rubs the freezing muck on her entire body.

In the distance, she hears shouting and sees torches come alight. There isn't much time. Rachel climbs out of the creek, slipping on the soft banks. She continues her flight. After what she did, she knows it would be better to freeze to **** than be caught by Elizabeth and her daughters.

I will to go back for Sarah, Rachel tells herself, distraught at having abandoned her sister in the castle. Deep down, she fears she will never be able to go back, never be able to save Sarah.

What choice did I have? she rationalizes to herself. There is no time for guilt. Not now. That can come later, she thinks sadly.

She slowly makes progress through the woods, half walking, half crawling. Every inch of her body screams at her to stop and rest a bit, but she perseveres. There is no going back. Rachel is confident that the muck will mask her scent, but every minute the voices and torches are closer. A wolf howls in the distance, and Rachel freezes for a moment before trudging on.

After what might have been an hour, or five hours, she can't tell, she sees the distant lights of a village. Her heart leaps, but the voices are closer now. It is dark, and she reeks of river slime, but the vampiresses have superb senses. She can't stay in the open. Rachel weighs her options. If she makes a break for the village, even if she gets there, she (and the villagers) are dead. Her only hope is to hide and wait for the sun.

The voices are closer still. Rachel drops to the ground and starts to dig. The hard earth is softened by the rains, and she makes a moderate depression. She likes down, feeling the wet soil sapping her body heat. She shivers and shovels leaves and earth over her body. She stops when the value of additional cover is outweighed by the risk of movement.

The voices are very close now. Rachel hears twigs snap as the vampiresses walk nearby. There is another sound, muffled crying.

"Rachel, you've been a very bad pet, haven't you?" Elizabeth taunts. Rachel can hear the slightest twinge of desperation in Elizabeth's voice, despite her projection of composure. "Why don't we all go back to the castle and talk this over?"

Talk. Right, Rachel thinks. Rachel tries to suppress her shivering, to keep as still as possible. She breathes in shallow bursts.

There is a shuffling in the leaves, and she hears a girl begin to cry. "No--please don't--please!" the girl shrieks. Rachel's stomach drops. It's Sarah she thinks, devastated. She fights every instinct to jump out of her hole and go to get sister. She knows it wouldn't matter.

"Rachel, why don't you come out of wherever you're hiding and join us?" Elizabeth coaxes. "Your sister wants to see you." Rachel clasps her hand tightly over her mouth, stifling a sob. The voices are still a bit distant: they don't know where I am Rachel realizes.

The still night is shattered with a blood curdling scream.

Sarah! No!

Rachel hears shrieking and struggling, followed by crude gulping sounds. Her sister is being exsanguinated by Elizabeth. There is laughing from the others, but Rachel isn't sure who.

Rachel resolves in that moment: I will kill Elizabeth. I will kill those close to her. I will destroy her accursed race.

Their is a dull thud as a body is dropped to the forest floor, and the night is silent again. The silence lasts for several minutes. Rachel doesn't move, she barely breathes. She wills her numb muscles to not shiver in the cold.

"WHERE. IS. SHE?" Elizabeth shrieks in rage, lacking all of her usual composure, not Rachel takes little joy in it.

After a time, Rachel hears the hunting party stomp off. Towards the village. It is not long before Rachel hears faint screams coming from the direction of the village. Elizabeth is massacring them, looking for me Rachel thinks bitterly.

Hours pass. Through the leaves and dirt, Rachel sees the first rays of dawn. She breathes a sigh of relief. She lets herself grieve for the first time tonight. After sobbing, she lifts herself from the detritus, feeling the warm sun on her face.

Rachel begins planning that morning.

Elizabeth will pay.