by R.A Cullison
Victor was silent; it was beginning to get boring. I began to hum a few songs, which seemed to annoy him.
“Please stop.” he demanded, “I like it silent.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because it gives me time to think, this trip is very dangerous, especially in this area.” that was all he said. We stopped several time to eat and use the bathroom, but other than that, he wasn’t really a happy camper.
“Victor, I don’t mean to break your quiet time, but tell me what’s your story?” I asked.
“My story?” He looked at me confused.
“Yeah, why are you in this kind of business?”
“Because I am good at it and it pays well. You don’t look like the type that needs to worry about money,” he said, raising an eyebrow.
“No, I was lucky I was born into a wealthy family and not to long ago my great Aunt died leaving me with her whole estate. Yes, she was wealthy. But that don’t mean I don’t know what hard work is. I didn’t always depend on my family, I worked.” my tone must of took him off guard he was staring at me.
“Really doing what?”
“I worked in a warehouse, gas station and babysitting.”
“Oh ok, most women watch children, its kind of like readying for when they have children.”
“Or it could because some women are good with children.”
He shook his head, “maybe, I on the other hand don’t like children that’s why I never had any.”
“Really?” I questioned.
“Yes, why is that so hard to believe?”
“I don’t know you seem like the type that would have 10 or so.”
He started to laugh, “Nora, just because I seem the type don’t mean I am.” he was still chuckling alittle.
“It’s nice to hear you laugh.” I commented.
He turned at looked at me with a smile on his face, “it’s been along time since I laughed.” then it was back to silence.
The trail was beginning to get difficult for us. Victor was always on his guard, every little noise he would jump. It made me nervous to watch him. The trails began to get narrower and the mountain began to get steeper. A few times, I was scared of falling off the side of the mountain. About half way up the mountain, the trail crept close to the edge. I was trying not to look down, but I did. The edge was steep at the bottom was a river.
“Don’t look down.” Victor ordered
“Too late.” I said.
We were near the top of a steep incline when Victor stopped. I hurried up to get beside him to see what was wrong. As I peeked over, I saw a man hanging from a tree holding a sign. I couldn’t read it the writing was too faded.
Victor looked at me, “Let’s go!” he nudged his horse in the side to make it go, and I did the same.
We came upon a small village, at first I thought it was a ghost town, until I saw some people peeking out their windows. The people in this little village where very skittish about us.
“Why are they so scared of us?” I asked Victor.
“It’s because of the creatures that come out at night.” he was looking at the buildings.
“What creatures?” I was curious; he stopped and turned to me.
“Nora, there are things stalking this land other then werewolves and vampires” his brow were drawn together, “they are called Skuggor.” I was confused, he must of seen my look on my face, he sighed, “they are more vicious then werewolves and crave blood more than vampires.” I felt my eyes get huge.
I swallowed hard, “what do they look like?”
“They call them Skuggor or shadows, because their skin is black, they blend into the shadows.” he looked at the sky, it was becoming a dark, “we better find shelter and fast,” he said looking around. I looked at the sky, it was beautiful. It was crimson color that I have never seen before, reminding me of blood. I shivered at the word, “there!” he pointed to abandoned house. We trotted over to it. Victor dismounted to check the door. There was a big iron lock mounted on the wooden frame. That didn’t stop him, he took out his gun and shot the lock, I jumped.
“Sheesh!” I placed my hand over my heart,
He rolled his eyes, “You have to be more alert than that around here.” he kicked open the door, “lets go, we don’t have much time.” I dismounted and we led our horses into the building with us.
Inside it looked sturdy, only thing that made me worried was the fireplace and the windows. Victor wasn’t showing any sign of worry. I on the other hand was visibly shaking.
“Will this stand up to the Skuggor?” I asked looking around.
“I don’t know maybe.” he went around, checking the doors and windows, “yeah, I think we will be ok.” he went over to his horse and retrieved something out of his saddlebag. “Here.” he handed me a gun. I looked at it and then back at him, “take it, you need protection without it you will die.” I carefully took it out of his hand.
“I don’t really know how to use this.” I study it.
“Nothing to it, aim and fire. But make sure you….” he stopped, held up a finger, he was listening.
“What?” I asked.
He shushed me, “Hear that?” he walked over to the wall and peeked through a crack. “Shit! They are coming.” he ran over to his horse and retrieved another weapon from it. “Be ready.” he ordered, I held the gun with both hand.
The sounds of something clawing at the roof and walls. I was beginning to hyperventilate; my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest. Sounds were all over, coming from everywhere. I didn’t know what to do. Victor was calm, too calm. He had his eyes fixed on the fireplace. He had his gun drawn and pointing at it, I did the same.
“Something is coming down the chimney,” he said in a hush tone. I watched the dust fall and heard clawing. “Get ready.” he ordered. My hands shook so hard it was hard to keep the barrel straight, “easy, Nora.” he whispered.
A black hand grabbed the edge of the mantel. White-eyes emerged from the fireplace along with white teeth. I have never seen anything like it and the noise it made was a high screeching noise, it made me want to cover my ears.
It was crotched; its long legs up close to its shoulders and long arms where resting on the floor between its legs. It was getting ready to spring when Victor shot in its head, dropping it a few feet from me. I stared at it, “as I said you have to be on alert.” I felt like I was going to faint, “stay with me Nora, I wont be able to hold them off by myself.” I shook my head.
“Ok! Ok! “I told myself, “I can do this!” I ready the gun again. The clawing and screeching began to ease up. We heard screaming, women screaming. I looked over at Victor, “are they….” I didn’t want to finish.
He just shook his head, “They gave up on us and moved to the next house.” he lowered his head and began to reload his gun, “tomorrow we are going to have to check and see who was bitten.” I looked at him.
“Bitten?”
“Yes, bitten,” he closed the gun chamber, “we will have to shoot the victims in the head so they don’t turn into…that.” he pointed to dead creature on the floor,
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I don’t think I can do that.”
“Have courage, girl!” he pulled out a wool blanket and laid it on the floor, “get some rest.” I did the same, but falling asleep was easier said then done. The body of the dead Dredge was turning grey and its eyes where now black.
“Victor, what about that?” I turned to looked at him.
“He wont bother you now.” he rolled back over and went to sleep. The sound of his soft snores and steady breathing made me more relaxed and I drifted off to sleep.
The sound of people crying woke me up; Victor was already up, “Good Morning
, we have to get a move on.” I stood up. The Skuggor was gone.
“What about the victims?” I asked.
“I took care of that already. We have to get a move on.” he waited for me to get up and get ready.
We headed out of the abandoned house into the center of town. The center was blazing with bodies burning in it, I quickly turned away. I heard the cries of women and children. I wanted to get out of there, too much sorrow. Just at the edge of town there was another fire going, this time not a crowd was gathered around it, just a woman and a boy. The boy had his hand clamped onto his mothers skirt rubbing his eyes.
“Poppa!” he cried. My heart broke for him; he couldn’t be more than five. The woman looked like she was lost and bewildered. They watched us lead our horse out; I could feel their eyes upon us.
We got out of the village and mounted the horses, the black smoke from the burning bodies rose heavy into the pale grey sky. I began to think about Matt and how would I feel if I lost him. A tear ran down my cheek and my heart felt like it was going to drop into my stomach. I shook my head and told myself to stop thinking like that.
“We have two more days of riding a head of us.” Victor said shaking me more out of my sad thoughts, “the next town is called Kirov.” I looked at him.
“Russia?” I asked.
“Very good, you know your cities, Yes Russia.” he stared at the road ahead as if he were in deep thought.
It got very quiet; the only sounds that could be heard were bird and the wind hitting the trees.
“Victor?” I waited for him to acknowledge me; he turned his head slightly, “what are Skuggors? I mean how where they created.”
“No one knows, people have theories but no real proof.” a gust of wind blew his hair off his face, exposing a scare on his neck.
“What are the theories?”
“What some people think is that they are what you get when vampires mate with other vampires and others just think that they are a sub-species of vampires. Like I said no one knows.”
“What do you think they are?”
“I don’t have any theories on the matter except to kill them when they come near.”
The expression on his face was of fury and hate. I didn’t push the issue anymore.
We came upon an inn, which was odd because it was in the middle of nowhere.
“An inn?” I asked
“Yeah, The White Rose Inn, I been here before, the owner is Ivan, nice chap.” we dismounted and tied the horses to the post. I took my saddlebags off the horse and Victor did the same. We went inside. The sound of laughter and glasses clanging filled the whole room,
“VICTOR!” a man greeted us.
“Ivan, my friend.” they hugged.
He saw me, “Victor.” I knew that tone, he thought I was his woman. The Innkeeper laughed.
“Not what you think, dear friend, but we need a room with 2 beds if you have any available?” The Innkeeper smiled.
“For you, dear comrade, of course.” he handed a key to him and whispered something into his ear that made them look at me, smile. Victor hugged the man and we headed to our room with our saddles.
We walked up the stairs to our room; the room next to us had a woman moaning. We looked at each other, Victor opened the door. Only one bed, I looked at Victor.
“Don’t worry Nora, I will behave, you don’t have to worry about Me.” he looked at me, “do I have to worry about you?”
“Umm No.”
“Good, now let’s get some sleep.”
I took off my shoes and socks for the first time in days, it felt good. Victor stripped down to his shorts and climbed in bed. I did the same with my back towards him.
“Good Night, Victor.”
“Sweet Dreams Nora.” he turned off the light, I laid there thinking of Matt, thinking how I would explain sleeping in a bed with a strange man. I fell asleep, thinking of Matt.
Daylight, I had the first real nights sleep in a month. I rolled over to no Victor. I rose up to look around the room. His bags where still there, I wondered where he was. I heard whispering in the next room, the tone sounded like Victor. I walked over to the wall and pressed my ear to it. I heard Victor and a strange female’s voice.
“Victor, I was wondering when I would see you gain.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“Oh so you just come to my room to relive old times I guess.”
“Something like that.”
“What about the female with you?”
“I am taking her to her husband and child. I am just helping her out.”
“Oh, so you two didn’t have sex last night.”
“No, I don’t think of her that way.”
“She is beautiful, no?”
“Yes she is, but she is just a friend and married.”
“Oh” then I heard kissing noises and zippers unzipping. I sighed and decided to take a hot bath. I climbed into the hot soapy bath water when I head banging on the wall and moaning. I laid my head back and ignored the sounds from the next room. The water felt good and it was nice to get clean.
I waited for Victor to get back, they been finished for about 30 minutes. I heard them mumbling in there, I didn’t care to hear what they said. I just wanted to get a move on. Finally Victor made it back, he seen me sitting on the bed waiting for him. He knew I heard them.
“Old friend?” I teased. He just smiled.
“Yeah, ready?”
I stood up,
“Yes, I have been waiting over an hour.”
He didn’t say anything, he picked up his saddle and I picked up mine. We walked out into the hallway; the woman from the next room was standing in her doorway smoking a cigarette. She smiled at Victor and he smiled back.
“See you again soon, Victor,” she said flirtatiously. I had to chuckle, she looked at me, her smile disappeared. She was apprizing me with her eyes as I walked by.
We saddled our horses when Ivan came out, “Victor, may I have word please?” with his Russian accent made it alittle hard to understand…
“Sure, be right back Nora.” he handed me his reigns. I watched him disappear back into the building. I was standing there waiting, when a strange man caught my attention. He was standing on the other side of an out building, peeking around the back. I watched him suspiciously.
Victor finally emerged with some supplies, “Ready?” he asked, shoving what he had into his saddlebag. He had seen me staring at the man, “what are you looking at?”
“That man behind that building.”
He looked; “Man?” then he peeked out.
“Let’s go, lets not worry about some local farm boy, if he was dangerous he would have attacked you when you were alone.” We mounted the horses and started down the trail.
“Frequent here much?” I teased.
“Ha! Yeah, Natasha is a …um…. good friend of mine.”
“I bet.” I giggled.
“Yeah, yeah, I am a man; I enjoy the company of a woman now and then.”
“Why not get married?” I teased.
“Me? Married? No, my life isn’t for a woman, especially if I were to get her pregnant.”
“Then get a regular job?”
“No, I am satisfied with my life the way it is.”
That’s where the conversation ended and I didn’t want to intrude into his life. Boredom sat in I began to softly sing a song, I was surprised he didn’t tell me to shut up. He didn’t seem to mind it, even with my awful sounding voice.
“What is that song?” he asked.
“It was the song that played at my wedding, I don’t remember the name of it, and I don’t know why it just came into my head.”
“Its beautiful, even with your off key singing.” he smiled.
“Yeah…” The thought of Matt hit me again and I began to tear up, He must have seen it.
“You will be with him shortly, you d
on’t need to cry.”
“I miss him and my daughter, especially right now.”
“I know that feeling.”
“What?”
He sighed, “I was once married, to a lovely woman named, Gwendolyn. She was such a kind woman; I was surprised when she married me. She was too good for me.”
“Was married?” I asked.
“Yes, was.”
“What happened? Oh I don’t mean to pry.”
“No, I brought it up, she was killed by a Skuggor.” he lowered his head.
“I’m sorry Victor.” I said softly.
“Yeah, well that’s why I won’t marry.” He raised his head staring out in the distance, “what the hell?” he pulled out a pair of binoculars.
“What do you see?” I squinted, I saw a bunch of men on dune buggies and 4-wheelers, and “Who are they?” I asked.
“Scavengers.” he pulled out his pistol, “Nora, stuff your shirt and pretend to be pregnant and cover your face.”
“Why?”
“They won’t take you if they think you’re pregnant and ugly.” I did what he said.
“Now come over here and ride with me, hurry girl!” I did.
The sounds of them were getting louder then they stopped. I couldn’t really see them because my face was covered.
“What do we have here?” a mans voice spoke.
“Me and my wife are off to our new home.”
“Wife huh?” another mans voice said.
“Yes, she is with child” he patted my false belly.
The first man huffed; “Well shit!” they took off. We began moving again.
“Can I get back on my horse, I feel silly now.”
“No, they are watching us.” it was beginning to get dark, “Damn! I thought we would be in the next village by now, we won’t make it before night hit fully.”
“What are we going to do?” I asked frantically.
“I don’t know.” he stared a head then his head jerked to the side, “look there?” he pointed. I turned and looked. A faint glow of a house and rising smoke.
“A house?” I asked.
“Our only hope.” he nudged the horse in the side to get him at full speed. I could hear the familiar screeching sound of the Skuggors approaching. We knocked but no one answered, “We don’t have time for this.” he kicked the door.
No one was in there. We latched the doors and windows. I was beginning to get scared that we were too late.
“Shit! Victor, they are close.” I was in hysterics.
“Calm down!” he ordered.
I stepped on the floorboard it made a funny noise. Victor pulled me back and began to stomp on the floor.
“Yes!” he pulled back the rug exposing a door. He pulled on it, but it was locked. We pounded on the door, “Open this damn door!” Victor yelled. We heard a click of a latch. An elderly man and woman were down there. We hurried up and jumped down.
“Thank you!” I said.
“Shhh!” Victor shushed me. I pulled out my gun, Victor had his ready. We heard banging, clawing, glass shattering and screeching. I covered my ears, it made my head hurt.
I looked at the elderly woman huddled in the back of the cellar, she looked terrified. I walked back to her, sat beside her, which seemed to help her relax some.
The noises stopped after what seemed to be forever. The man turned towards us, spoke something in Russian. Victor and him had a short conversation. The elderly woman smiled at me, I smiled back.
“Thank you for opening up.” I said.
“Welcome.” the woman said.
“You speak English?” I asked, she looked at me as if I was crazy, and spoke Russian.
“That’s all she knows.” Victor translated. “We should all get some sleep.” Victor suggested. The older couple curled up together. I slept in the other corner. Victor slept leaning against the wall.
*********************************************************
“Poppa! Momma!” a frantic voice woke me up. The elderly couples were ascending the stairs to the frantic male’s voice. Victor was gone, no surprise there. I stood and went up the stairs as well; a young man was hugging the couple.
“He is their son.” Victor said peeking in from a broken window. The son looked at us.
“Who are you?” he asked me.
“I am Nora, that is Victor; we were riding and were caught out after dark. We had no place to go.”
“My father let you in?” he asked eyeing his father.
“Sort of he…” Victor interrupted me.
“Nora we must go.” I turned and looked at Victor.
“Ok, thank you!” I said again to the couple and we headed out.
