#nateswell

Nate had come here in search of answers. But all he had found so far was a bit of village gossip, nothing that could help him.

He took a swig of whiskey and sighed. How long has he been traveling? Weeks? Months? Years? They all blurred together after a while. He knew time went by, but it didn’t really matter. At least for him and others like him.

He looked down at his hands. Smooth and young. In the reflection of the inn’s window, he saw his youthful, wrinkle-free tawny skin and his brown hair that was devoid of a single lock of gray hair.

He closed his eyes, wanting to forget all the pain and suffering that had happened. Flashes of blood crossed through his mind. He could still hear the waves of water crashing into the side of the ship. Blood mixing into saltwater and the pure madness he felt after.

He concentrated on the sound of the creaking wood floors and the crackling fire. It was nearing midnight and the only other people in the common room were some older men and a few stray travelers listening to a story by the fire.

Out of curiosity and perhaps boredom, Nate walked over to listen to the story.

Sitting by the fire was an old man, his back hunched over and his eyes looking intently at his small audience. He took a puff of smoke from his cigar.

“I’ve been around these woods my entire life. And what I saw yesterday proved the old stories true” He took a long puff of smoke. “I was traveling along the path here and the sun had set already. And I know better than anyone else that these woods at night aren’t meant for human eyes. There are things in there that I wouldn’t want to ever see.”

All eyes were on the old man. A tenseness fell over the tavern.

“I was riding along the dirt path and I began to notice trails of blood and I thought ‘No big deal... It’s just some wolf or wild coyote’. Farther down the path I noticed a dead deer carcass along the forest’s edge. The weird part was the two perfect little holes in its neck. It looked so frail and pale as if its life were sucked out of it. Normally if it’s a wild coyote, it’d be a bloody, gory mess, but this……this… wasn’t the case. The dead deer didn’t look mauled or mangled. Its body seemed to be untouched save for the two punctured holes in its neck.”

Nate saw the man’s leathered hands tremble. He could sense the man’s increasing heart rate even though the man seemed to stifling some of his fear as he recounted his story.

“Then I saw something glint in the moonlight….and for a moment I thought it's just some wild animal out hunting. But then I realized the outline wasn’t of an animal…… It was of a man.”

The warmth that Nate had felt just a moment ago left him and he felt only a sense of dread.

“I couldn’t see a face, but I saw a quick flash of sharp, silver fangs.”

“A vampire” someone whispered.

The man nodded grimly. “It had to be a vampire. And it seemed to be feeding on the remains of a deer. I don’t know what to make of it. I’m only glad it didn’t come after me. Thankfully, I was so close to the town. Maybe that’s why it didn’t attack.”

“Don’t vampires drink human blood, though? Maybe you’re…mistaken?” another man asked hopefully.

The old man shook his head. “No, there’s no way. I’m sure I saw the shape of a man in the darkness. Maybe the deer was a last resort. All I know is that we all ought to be a little more careful for now. Something’s out there, I just know it.”

Adrenaline raced through Nate’s veins, telling him to run. However rational thought kicked in and he knew that the man didn’t see anyone, in particular, just a faceless body. He was safe. Nobody knew what he truly was.

The door of the inn opened, making everybody jolt in surprise and shaking them from their fear.

Nate got up to go to his room. He’d leave early tomorrow morning at the first light of day for Bucharest. He’d heard rumors that if there were any questions that he needed answers to, Bucharest was the place to go.

He was shaken out of his deep thought when he bumped into the new traveler. It was a young woman.

“Sorry,” the young woman muttered. “Didn’t see you there.”

“It’s fine,” Nate said. He detected the scent of cloves and black pepper as the woman walked by. As she passed by, he briefly noticed hints of tattoos on the woman’s wrists that were hidden by her cloak. He briefly wondered what type of traveler this woman was and what had led to her to this tiny, remote village.

For a brief second, they met each other’s eyes. And for a moment Nate thought that the woman could see him for what he was. He felt as if she knew. Yet he didn’t see any suspicion or fear in her eyes. She gave him a small curious smile as she walked away towards the inn’s check-in desk. How odd.

He withdrew from the common room and walked upstairs to his room.

Musty, stale air greeted him when he opened the door. The floorboards creaked underneath his feet. Slivers of bluish moonlight shone through the small window near the bed. His body felt alive yet calm at night.  The sunlight that was once so warm and lively became suffocating and almost too bright for him.