The Lonely One

“Shoot!” I muttered under my breath as I slipped once more in the slick undergrowth of the little trail I had been walking on for seemingly endless hours. The red of my heels was almost completely covered in dark brown mud, only little splotches here and there showing through. It was almost midnight and an eerie sheen over the trees transforming each shadow into a different, and more terrifying shape. Any normal human would have been terrified by then, by I was perfectly fine, except for the slipping and sliding. I could break a heel for Christ’s sake! Every few feet there was a little bit of light from the full moon, at its peak now, peeking through the thick canopy of trees overhead. “Which weather.” I muttered, glancing up at the beautiful moon hanging contentedly over me. A few more steps and the narrow trail joined with another, slightly wider trail that lead to the Mayfield City Cemetery. Just as I began to step onto the trail, there was an odd rustling sound in one of the bushes that ran alongside the trail to my left. I stopped and tried to pinpoint the noise but was met by a stunning silence. Shrugging thoughtlessly, I kept walking. A few steps later, however, the rustling sound came once more, this time much closer to my left side. I cocked my head to one side to better hear the noises all around me and, hearing nothing, I turned curiously to investigate. As I leaned over to look under the bush, I little grey rabbit jumped out of the bush, hopped forward a few feet, stopped between my legs, looked up into my eyes, blinked, then turned and hopped off, completely unaware and uncaring. I relaxed my tense muscles and stepped back from the bush. Moments later, a cool gust of wind blew an odd scent my way and I stepped closer to the bush once more, my legs and arms tensing preparing for a fight. Within milliseconds of stepping up to the bush to investigate, I was attacked; strong, hairy hands clamping around my upper arms in a painful vice grip before I could even grasp what was going on. I kicked out with powerful force, striking out at every inch of body before me. A pain filled grunt sounded moments later and one of the hands fell, freeing my left arm to scratch at what I thought was my attacker’s face. What seemed like an eternity later, I was grabbed around the neck, the hand that had once been gripping my arm now squeezing the life out of me with a steel hard grip. I lashed out with one foot with every ounce of my slowly fading strength, smiling faintly as my heel connected with my attacker’s groin. With a throaty holler, the attacker hurled me to the ground, falling backwards against a nearby tree. I hit the hard, wet ground with a thump, bruising my entire left side as I did. I gasped for air, each gasp helping me to gain my strength back. After a few heaving breaths, I tilted my head up slightly to get a look at my attacker. His face was twisted with hatred and his eyes were a terrifying black; two glistening fangs hanging down from his pale gums. Just as he began to reach down to grab me once more, I screamed. The sound echoed off the trees surrounding us, bouncing back and forth, getting louder and louder until it finally began to fade. My attacker stumbled back, shock filling his face for a moment before he was able to regain his footing. He took a step towards me,but that was as far as he got. A large, dark shape came flying down the trail hitting my attacker just about waist level and knocking him to the ground. They fell to the ground, the new shape on top, hissing and clawing at the monster. With a start, I realized my attacker was a human, obviously male by his stature and strength, but a human just the same. Just as this realization hit me and I began to worry about my savior, the monster pushed up with his legs, having gained some leverage in the struggle, and the man went flying off into the woods. The monster jumped up, blood streaming from so many different parts of his face I couldn’t tell where he was cut. Slowly, he began to take a step towards me, but a twig breaking to our right, had the creature, vampire?, freezing in his tracks. I glanced to the side as well, my position on the ground not helping my view. An intake of breath turned my attention back to the monster and I noticed, with some shock, the terrified look on his face. He glanced down at me, barely seeming to realize my presence, then turned and ran into the woods. I watched the vampire’s retreating back for a moment, shock coloring every one of my features. Another twig snapping, much much closer this time, caught my attention. I turned slowly to my right, afraid of what I would see. A man’s hand hung a few inches from my face, fingers outstretched. Automatically, I reached up and took it, almost smiling at its warmth. His hands were pale but warm, his arms very muscular under his tight red shirt. My eyes traveled up his body as I stood, taking in every aspect of his perfect stomach and chest. Even in my own life, I had never met a human being so seemingly perfect. As I came to stand before him, fully on my own two feet, my mind froze as my eye met his. A small gasp escaped my lips as I took in the greyblue pools before me. The color filled my vision. The eyes were beautiful, though sad, almost as if they were hiding something. Special Instructions for Interior: I have an idea already of how I want the interior set up. I want it simple and uncomplicated. However, there are about 5 pages in the book that I am wanting to leave almost entirely blank. They have a sentence or two on them that I want bigger than normal font and centered on the page. I have an idea set out like I want it already. But I am not sure how I would need to present it so you can understand.