I woke up rather early to find Sabrina long gone. Outside, the weather was gloomy, and the rain was tapping lightly against the tall windows of my bedroom, like a soft drumroll. The clock hands were on nine. Considering the amount of people involved in the final preparations for our wedding, I selfishly decided they would manage just fine without me – which meant I could sleep for a couple more hours. My conscience completely clear, I nestled back in my bed and was about to doze off, when there came a sudden persistent knock on the door. I froze, pretending not to be there, then pulled the blanket over myself to hide. And then my phone pinged, announcing a delivered message. The message was a voice note from dad.
“Open up, son, I know you’re not sleeping! I’ve brought you your suit.” He was clearly irritated.
Another urgent knock on the door.
Reluctantly, I crawled out of bed, opened the door wide enough for my hand to go through, grabbed the suit from my father with thanks and shut the door hastily behind him. To give him credit, he didn’t complain, just nodded understandingly and went on about his business. I had no desire to talk to anyone, let alone answer the same questions over and over. And now, I didn’t even feel like sleeping anymore. Why does everything always seem against me? There was nothing else to do but get up, so I decided to accept my fate. After a quick shower, I headed to the kitchen through the maze of old, dim corridors, moving in the shadows, trying to remain unseen. To my surprise, hardly anyone paid any attention to me, everyone busy with their own tasks.
Except for me and a local chef, the kitchen was empty, so I sat down to my breakfast in peace and quiet, and then, just as quietly, I returned to my bedroom. Today was supposed to be our wedding rehearsal, so I figured if I could survive today, I had every chance of surviving the Big Day itself.
I glanced at the perfectly ironed wedding suit and the lonely bow tie lying on the bed. I shuddered. It’s a good thing mom insisted on buying a classic tie right before the flight.
Well, it’s time I surrendered to fate and finally tried on this monstrous attire.
I donned the black pants, the white shirt, the black vest, and shiny new shoes, then stared at myself in the mirror. I couldn’t recognise myself. But I could now see why men wearing tux are often likened to penguins. Being in the suit made me feel somewhat strange and rather uncomfortable.
“Thank God I’ve never worked in an office. Suits are pure torture,” I muttered through clenched teeth as I lifted the collar to put on the bow tie.
There came a knock on the door, and before I could even decide if I wanted to see anyone or not, the door swung open. Derek stood in the doorway, sporting basketball shorts, a red Nirvana T-shirt, and a lime green hoodie. In his hands, he held a ball and a pair of sunglasses.
“Hey, Cornell,” Derek greeted me, spinning the ball on his finger. “Why are you all dressed up? The rehearsal isn’t due for hours.”
“Don’t ask,” I grumbled, giving my mirror reflection another disapproving look.
“Alright, I won’t. There’s no sun today, so Eric, Joey, and I are thinking of shooting hoops. You in?”
Derek stared at me, waiting for an answer while I struggled with the tie. It was my third attempt, and another failure.
“You’ll strangle yourself,” the bloodsucker remarked in a matter-of-fact way.
“Maybe that’s for the best. Why can’t we be wearing just jeans and T-shirts to own wedding?”
“Yeah, and ride off into the sunset on a Harley.”
“As an option, yes. What would be your dream wedding, by the way?”
“Well, my wedding was pretty traditional.”
I stopped and stared at the vampire. In all the years of our friendship, he had never once mentioned having been married. I couldn’t help but notice a sudden change come over Derek. The usual cheerfulness and nonchalant manner were gone without a trace. He heaved a sigh and seemed to retreat into the world of memories, running his hands over the ball absent-mindedly. I could tell he was pondering something – or rather, reminiscing about something – and judging by his sad expression, now wasn’t the best time to ask questions. But curiosity got the better of me, and I was just about to open my mouth when the door burst open, and Sabrina literally flew into the room.
“Jack, sweetie, is my phone charger in your suitcase?” she asked, pulling her phone out of the pocket of her long Terry bathrobe. “I can’t find it, and my phone’s nearly dead.”
Sabrina halted, looked me up and down, biting her lip playfully, and laughed.
“Holy crap, Jack! You look so smart! Boy, do I envy myself!” exclaimed my better half, adjusting the towel on her head before throwing her arms around my neck. “You look so sexy. A real gentleman. That suit looks amazing on you! Right, Derek?”
The vampire tossed the ball high into the air and, without looking at us, nodded silently in agreement. At that moment, I noticed someone else hiding behind him.
“Come on, Brenda, I’ve seen you now,” I called to her, finally giving up on the bow.
Sabrina smirked and put her hands on my tie. Moving her hands like a pro, she quickly did the bow for me and stood back to admire her work.
Brenda stood in the doorway for a moment, but eventually stepped hesitantly forward, handing me the hoodie I’d left in Sabrina’s room the night before.
“I accidentally ripped your sleeve. But I sewed it back together. I mean… Derek did. And I’m sorry about yesterday. Really, I didn’t mean to. It’s just… everything’s so overwhelming. And your constant thoughts…”’
“What thoughts?” Sabrina asked me, alarmed.
“Don’t listen to her, sweetheart. Everything’s fine,” I said, kissing Sabrina on the tip of her nose and gesturing Brenda to go to the table. “Help yourself to some chocolate and find something else to occupy your mind with besides reading my thoughts. We’ll look for the phone charger.”
I expected Sabrina to bombard me with questions, but to my surprise, she just started looking for the charger. Brenda fell silent and looked curiously at the unusually quiet Derek, who had put in his earbuds and seemed completely lost in thought.
Brenda slowly walked over to the table, on which were stacked a couple of chocolate bars, an old, yellowed wax sealed envelope, and a black velvet pouch. She glanced the items over, picked up a chocolate bar, stuffed it into her old leather jacket pocket, and gently ran her fingers over the velvet pouch. For a moment, she shut her eyes, as if trying to shake off the nagging urge to mentally scan its contents. She even bit her lip.
Still, curiosity got the better of her. She glanced at Derek again, as if hoping he might prove a welcoming distraction, but he seemed oblivious to everything around him.
Seeing that we were all busy with our own tasks, Brenda stealthily picked up the pouch, untied the ribbon, and pulled out the ring.
“Wowzer! Look at that beaut!” Brenda muttered under her breath, noticing the ruby start to glow faintly in her warm hands. She suddenly thought there might be some initials engraved on the back of the stone. She turned it over and peered at it, trying to make out the scratch marks that represented the letters worn away over time – sadly, she could decipher nothing. Brenda brought the ring to her face for a closer look, when suddenly the ruby began to pulsate, radiating a bright light. Her eyes widened, and she held her breath in awe.
A loud thud sound bounced around the room, creating an ominous echo. It was Derek slamming the ball down to the floor. Nothing to worry about, and yet the sound was enough to startle Brenda, causing her to drop the ring. It hit the stone slabs with a dull, metallic clink and rolled under the table. Brenda gasped and dropped to the floor after it. Picking the ring up with trembling hands, she saw in horror that a narrow crack had formed on the gem’s surface.
“Damn it,” she whispered, quickly getting to her feet and sliding the ring back in the pouch.
“Brenda! I told you only to take a chocolate bar and leave everything else alone!” I barked from the closet. “Sabi, I don’t know where your charger is. Maybe you left it at home? My backpack was around here somewhere. Maybe it’s in there.”
I stepped out of the closet and froze on the spot. Something in the bedroom had changed. Something was off. Actually… Everything was off! What the hell was going on? I admit the wedding was driving me crazy, but – to that extent?
I looked around frantically, not believing my eyes. The room, which I now knew down to the smallest detail, had transformed beyond recognition. The burgundy curtains with gold brush fringe trim, which I distinctly remember being open when I had gone into the closet, were now tightly drawn, deep blue and missing the fringe trim. Bright sunlight barely reached through the thick brocade fabric, only leaving tiny pools of dim light on the floor. It was even more strange because I clearly remembered it was a grey, gloomy morning when I woke up, and it had been raining through the night. The air was suddenly thick with the almost tangible scent of candles: beeswax, vanilla, and a hint of incense. A bad feeling crept over me, followed by a blood-chilling realization that somehow, I had managed to travel to another time, another dimension.
I took a couple of steps toward the bed, which seemed to have shrunk in size. What used to be a massive, messy-looking bed was now a small, neat, four poster affair. It was made up with a bedspread the same shade of blue as the curtains. On the solid oak nightstand, which I also didn’t recognize, stood a huge vase with a bouquet of scarlet roses. Next to the vase, rested a neat stack of antique-looking leather-bound books.
Their spines were adorned with gold embossing that glowed softly in the dim light of the strange chamber.
I kept looking around me in confusion. The walls of the room were changing right before my eyes. Their familiar color and pattern were slowly fading out, as if an invisible hand were carefully peeling the old wallpaper to reveal the ancient masonry hidden beneath. The patterns that were emerging now were intricate and unfamiliar: a tangled mess of grape vines, delicate flowers, and symbols I couldn’t decipher. It was as if the room were breathing again, gifted a new lease of life, returning to its former glory, hidden from view for centuries.
I stood there, in the middle of the bizarre transformation, feeling my head spinning as my reality was shifting. Every object, every corner of the room seemed to be telling its own story in some sort of magical performance, and I was a mere spectator. And it didn’t make me happy at all. What the hell was going on?
“Um… guys,” Derek called out quietly. “Is it just me, or was this door white just now?”
Our friendly bloodsucker nodded toward the massive black oak door with a brass handle and drew the basketball to his chest.
“It’s not just you,” I muttered, feeling my stomach drop as if it were setting off on its own adventure. I tried to keep my voice calm, despite numerous alarms going off inside my head. How could my room have become so unrecognizable in just a few minutes?
Derek and I exchanged glances. Both of us were trying to ascertain what was happening and what to do next. Meanwhile, the space around us continued to transform slowly, as if obeying some invisible force. Gradually, the room became more austere, with fewer and smaller objects in it.
“What the hell?” Sabrina suddenly screamed next to me. “What kind of sick joke is this? Where are we even?”
She nervously adjusted the towel on her head and stared at me in confusion.
“I… I’m not entirely sure,” a soft voice piped up from behind us, “but I think it’s my fault.”
Well, of course! Could it have been anyone else’s? What even possessed me to think that having Brenda as a wedding guest would not make things go sideways? Naive fool! I closed my eyes, counted to five, then turned to face Brenda. She was standing there, shuffling, a silly, guilty smile on her face. I clenched my fists, taking a step in her direction, and was about to be extremely rude to her when a sudden, strange rustling noise behind the door made me freeze on the spot. Someone was there, and that someone was eavesdropping on us. My gut told me we were running out of time, which meant we had to think and act fast.
“Here’s your backpack,” Brenda whispered, almost apologetically.
“I see,” I whispered back. “Now, pack everything from that table into it before it’s sucked into that time hole or whatever it is, and let’s get out of here. Got it?”
A muffled noise came from deep within the hallway. Brenda, her hands trembling, quickly stuffed a comb, the envelope, and the chocolate bar into the backpack. She reached for the ring pouch, grabbing it and trying to lift it, but it seemed glued to the spot and, a moment later, it vanished completely. She bit her lip and sniffled quietly.
Struggling with my hoodie, I gave her a threatening look that said, “I’m getting you for this, but first – I’ll deal with this mess.”
“Okay, I’ve got everything. Let’s go before – ”
Her words were cut off by a loud knock on the door, making us freeze in place.
“Who is it?” Derek whispered, gripping the ball tight as if it could offer him guidance and protection.
“Maybe the maid?” Sabrina suggested in a shaking voice.
“Maids don’t knock, sweetheart,” I whispered back. “They just barge in and start cleaning, even if you’re still asleep.”
Loud voices could be heard behind the door now, and someone was resolutely turning the handle. Brenda moved closer to me, Sabrina closed her eyes, and Derek and I exchanged frightened glances. The four of us looked like the rabbits in the headlights.
The door opened slowly, revealing a man in his fifties. I looked him up and down, my mouth hanging open in surprise. He, however, did the same thing. In his beige, embroidered, tailored high-collar jacket and matching breeches that barely contained his enormous belly, he looked like he’d just returned from a period costume party. On his feet were black velvet shoes with silver buckles, and on his head – a bulky curly wig. The man stared at our party in bewilderment, his eyes darting from side to side. I noticed there was no one with him. We had to act fast.
“He’s definitely not happy to see us,” Brenda whispered behind me. “I don’t speak French, but in my head, I can hear him screaming and cursing right now.”
Our spectacular visitor, apparently, didn’t speak English either, because our remarks agitated him extremely. His face puffed up and turned red, his eyes bulged, and he started screaming at the top of his lungs. That kind of scream, in any language, could only be a call for help.
“Derek,” I whispered. “It’s like being back in Illinois.”
Derek nodded understandingly and hurled the ball at the screaming man. The man’s arms flailed as he sought to maintain his balance. He grabbed onto the doorframe, stunned. Not wasting any time, I stepped forward and pushed him hard. He crashed to the floor with a thud, clutching his nose with both hands and yelling something in French.
“Sorry,” Sabrina whispered, taping the man on his shoulder. At her touch, the man went limp and started snoring. Derek grabbed his ball, and the four of us took off in an unknown direction.
We raced down a long, unfamiliar hallway, its walls adorned with the portraits that I could now recognize. They were Sabrina’s relatives. The stern faces seemed to radiate extreme displeasure at our presence. Brenda was panting under the weight of my backpack, Derek was clutching his ball tightly, like a lifebuoy, and Sabrina kept glancing back to check if anyone was following us.
“Where are we going? Who are we trying to escape from? And why?” Brenda panted out, struggling to keep up with us.
“From the wig guy in the breeches,” Derek snapped. “Where did everyone else go? I’m not the only one who heard many voices behind that door, right?”
“Maybe we imagined it all? Maybe it’s some public holiday, and everyone’s at home, glued to the TVs?”
“Brenda, you saw that guy! Does he look like someone who knows what a TV is?” I barked, feeling my lungs burning from the hardcore running. It’s done. I’m quitting smoking.
“Maybe it’s some kind of historical re-enactment or cosplay game that is part of pre-wedding entertainment?” Brenda suggested.
“Oh, please, Brenda!” Sabrina cried. She, too, had had enough of Brenda’s nonsense.
“What part of this looks entertaining and fun to you? Besides, if this was the case, we’d have know about it from Stella by now! She couldn’t keep a secret to save her life. Just keep going, guys. We need to find a way out,” Sabrina urged on, finally taking the towel off her head and putting it round her neck. “This is definitely our castle, but…”
She looked around. “It’s almost unrecognizable. But I remember my way around it.
Let’s keep moving.”
The hallways and corridors kept whizzing past us until finally terminating in a vaulted room with tall arched windows, through which bright sunlight was pouring in. There we stopped at last to catch our breaths. Suddenly, I heard a loud thud. The basketball slipped out of Derek’s hands and rolled across the parquet floor, creating a hollow echo. Derek cursed loudly and hastily put his hands over his eyes. In the sunlight, his skin instantly turned ashen grey, as if someone had emptied the contents of an extinguished fireplace over him.
“No, no, no, Derek, not now!” Sabrina exclaimed, rushing over to our beloved vampire, who was rubbing his eyes furiously, blinded by the bright light.
“Damn it! Talk about bad timing! I can’t see a thing!”
“Come on, buddy, lean on me,” I said, offering him my shoulder. He wrapped his arm around my neck, and together, we immediately went down on the floor.
“You’re freaking heavy!”
“Well, I’m freaking dead! Of course I’m heavy! Hold on. How could I forget?” His eyes still shut, Derek reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses.
“Alright, let’s go.”
We jumped to our feet, Derek grabbing the ball, and once again bolted forward, which seemed the only way to go anyway. At the other end of the vaulted room was another door, and as soon as I grabbed the handle, the door swung open, revealing another strange-looking man before us. This one was clad in modest yet smart clothes: a dark blue doublet with copper buttons, under which was a pristine white shirt with lace jabot, and black breeches tucked into knee-high black leather boots. His face was a mask of wrath. In his right hand, he was holding a pitchfork. He shouted something in French and bared his teeth in a menacing grin.
“One strike, four holes,” Sabrina remarked. We turned to gape at her. “What? That’s what he said! Does none of you folk speak any French? You’re from New Orleans, for Heaven’s sake!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, I pushed Derek forward with all my might and he landed right on top of our unfriendly “gardener.” The man collapsed under the vampire’s weight with a yell. The pitchfork fell from his hand and clattered loudly against the stone floor.
“Stop whining,” Derek panted, re-adjusting his shades, and gently slapped the guy on the cheek. The vampire’s strength was enough, however, to knock him out instantly.
But in all the commotion, the man managed to kick a full-size medieval knight’s armor suit that was perched on a wooden pedestal by the door. The mass of polished old steel wobbled, tilted, and then crashed to the floor with a deafening bang, sending steel plates flying in every direction and creating an endless echo that reverberated throughout the castle, it seemed, alerting everyone to our presence.
We froze, realizing that whatever cover we might hope to have had just been epically blown.
“Let’s go,” was all I could think of. I helped Derek to his feet.
“The corridor terminates in the kitchen, and from there, a door leads out to the garden.
This way we can get to the main gates,” Sabrina stated, handing the ball back to the somewhat exhausted vampire, who was still sitting on the floor next to his ‘victim’. He really wasn’t used to being pushed around and used as a walking shield.
“You sure?”
“I know this castle like the back of my hand. So yes, I’m sure.”
We set off again, carefully stepping over the suit of armor pieces not to make any more noise. Derek picked up the pitchfork and was now leading the way, ready to face new challenges in the form of weirdly dressed strangers. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back.
“Did you hear that?” he whispered, holding the pitchfork in one hand and his emotional support ball in the other. “I’m sure you didn’t. But trust me, it’s time to step on it.”
We didn’t argue and picked up the pace. After a while, we heard loud voices and the sound of running feet echo down the corridor some way off. I turned around to glimpse a furious crowd closing in on us. They were waving their arms and – I’m pretty sure – cursing at us.
“Sabi!” I yelled, snatching the towel from her and tossing it into the air.
The girl instantly read my mind. She raised her hands, and the towel seemed to come alive. It started twisting in the air, gaining speed, creating some sort of vortex.
Suddenly, it shot forward and ploughed into the crowd of our pursuers, like a mini tornado. It wrapped itself around a short man at the front, knocking him off his feet. He crashed to the floor, yelling. The others behind him stopped, hesitating, causing the rest of the crowd to run into them, trip and fall on each, like the dominoes. This was the time to run for it. We bolted down the corridor, turned a corner, and a second later, found ourselves in the kitchen.
Derek was in the rear this time and a little too keen to escape, so didn’t notice the large wooden table standing in his way. In horror, I watched him crush into it at full speed, sending the copper pots, pans and crockery clattering to the floor on impact, with one particularly heavy frying pan landing on his foot, as if in revenge.
“Ouch! Damn it…” Derek hissed, hopping on one foot and rubbing the injured spot on the other.
“No time to rest,” Brenda snapped, grabbing the vampire by the arm and dragging him along.
The kitchen turned out to be a huge room with vaulted ceiling and a massive, almost pre-historic stove that took up an entire wall. Next to the stove stood a basket with live chickens. The sight of us apparently agitated the poor things so much that the basket toppled over. The hens darted out in all directions, clucking in panic and adding even more chaos to the proceedings.
“There!” Sabrina shouted, her voice barely heard over the clucks. She pointed to the door leading out to the garden.
“Grab the hens!” Derek shouted, putting the ever-slipping sunglasses back on the bridge of his nose.
Sabrina and I exchanged glances.
“Are you deaf, guys? I said grab the hens!” Derek commanded, losing his patience.
Did he really think Sabrina and I were professional chicken catchers? Like, really?
Still, on we got with the task. We just sensed it wasn’t the time for questions. Obeying the command, we lunged forward after the squawking monsters. To our own surprise, we managed to catch a few. But just as we were about to make a run for it, a cook appeared from what looked like a pantry: a burly man with a ladle in his hand and a face purple with rage that boded ill for our future.
“Stop right there!” he barked in French, brandishing the ladle at our faces. Without further ado, Derek hurled the pitchfork at him. The cook dodged it deftly, but the manoeuvre gave us enough time to slip past him and out into the garden.
The great outdoors greeted us with the heavy scent of blooming roses and the cooling breeze of shaded alleys. I glanced at the sky. Not a cloud in sight! Sunny and warm!
We ran along a narrow path winding between thick bushes and small decorative fountains.
“I don’t remember these fountains ever being here,” Sabrina panted, clutching a hen to her chest as if it were her baby. She stopped to catch her breath and pointed toward a massive archway some way off. “Those are the main gates!”
But just as we turned to run in that direction, two men in identical outfits, and armed with swords, jumped out of the bushes in front of us. Judging by their smug faces, they were confident we were not going to get away now.
Once again, my body instinctively knew what to do, and since I was by now somewhat tired from running with that hen in my arms, I gladly hurled it at one of the men nearest to me. The bird squawked angrily as it catapulted into the unsuspecting guard’s face.
The young man lost his balance on impact and went down like a sack of potatoes.
The second guard didn’t move, staring confusedly at our motley crew. Brenda used that break to sneak up behind him and whack him on the head with my backpack. The sword fell from his hand, and not wasting any time, I picked it up and packed him another hefty punch. He passed out instantly, collapsing in a heap next to his partner.
“Sabi, lead the way!” Brenda shouted as the now familiar furious crowd of castle servants appeared on the kitchen doorstep.
My beloved witch didn’t move but closed her eyes, trying to focus. Her long, dark hair moved slightly, although there wasn’t the slightest breeze. Then, as if on her command, a sudden gust of wind blew out of nowhere, stripping leaves from the trees, kicking up dust and knocking our pursuers off their feet.
“Run!” I commanded, pointing toward the dense thicket beyond the castle gates. “Into the woods! Sabi, move!”
Sabrina opened her eyes, and we took off yet again, leaving the raging crowd far behind. Derek ran ahead, stumbling and falling, because his sunglasses kept sliding down his nose, thus being useless against the sunlight. He kept grabbing onto Brenda and nearly brought her down with him several times. I ran behind Sabrina. In one hand, I was holding the sword, and in the other – the remaining hen, which by now seemed to have accepted its fate and stopped clucking.
The castle gates were now behind us and we ran deeper into the forest. Tree branches intertwined above our heads in a dense canopy that barely let any sunlight through. We kept running until we were at a safe distance from the castle, and only then did we slow down.
“I think we’ve lost them,” Derek panted, looking around.
“I hope so,” Sabrina whispered, sinking on the ground by an old pine tree.
I finally caught my breath, too, dropping the sword, and sat down next to my fiancée.
She leaned on my shoulder, and I kissed her on the forehead. I was still holding the poor hen, which now looked like it had been electrocuted: its feathers ruffled, eyes open ever wider, its beak ajar.
“You’re a genius, Sabi. I’m proud of you,” I said, planting another kiss on her head.
The forest around us was thick and quiet, with only occasional bird chirping and rustling of dry leaves on the ground to break the solemn silence.
“What now?” Brenda asked, squatting down beside us.
“Now? Now we figure out how and where we ended up,” I replied, looking at Sabrina intently.
“You said it was your castle. Your ancestral home.”
“So it is,” Sabrina confirmed, although her voice carried a hint of uncertainty. “But something’s changed.”
“What exactly has changed?”
“Everything has changed! The furniture, the castle’s interior… And who’s that guy in the wig? And all those people? I don’t know any of them. Not even one of them! It’s like some weird re-enactment fest. Or maybe even a different century.”
Derek took off his shades and rubbed them on his T-shirt.
“We need to figure out what’s going on and come up with a plan, fast.” He declared, putting the shades back on.
I stood up and looked at everyone intently. In our current state, we weren’t going to get far. I was wearing classic pants, a shirt, a vest, and a not-so-classic hoodie. My new shoes were rubbing my feet raw. Derek, with his blue basketball shorts, a red T-shirt with a yellow smiley face, and a lime green hoodie, was a human version of a traffic light. He was fidgeting with a loose multi-color braid that was sticking out of his hair, adding to his already eccentric looks. He was not dressed inconspicuously, for sure. I turned my gaze to Sabrina. She was sitting silently by the tree, lost in thought, gently stroking the now-quiet chicken. She was only wearing a long white Terry robe and matching fluffy slippers that looked more like mini boots. Out of all of us, Brenda had the most appropriate outfit for a forest adventure: khaki jeans, worn-out off-white sneakers, a dark tank top, and a battered black leather jacket.
“Alright,” I finally said. “Sitting here waiting to be found isn’t an option. First we need to find a shelter, some clothes for Sabi, food, and then we can figure out what to do next.”
“What about Twiggy and Coco?” Brenda asked.
“Who?” we all asked in unison.
“The chickens! What about them?”
Derek stepped forward, frowning.
“I’m afraid one of them is now with that guard dude, back at the castle – did you forget? You decide if it’s Twiggy or Coco.”
Silently, he walked over to Sabrina and took the chicken from her, not without some resistance on her part.
“And this one here is my dinner. If you behave, I may let you have some,” he added, nodding to Brenda. “And don’t you complain.”
“Yeah, Brenda, you’d better not complain. Or I’ll feed you to him,” I said, winking at the girl, whose eyes were wide with horror.
“Let’s go, girls,” the vampire called out. “We don’t know what time it is, so we need to find some shelter before dark.”
I took my backpack from Brenda, and we moved deeper into the forest, hoping to find some kind of refuge there. The forest grew thicker and darker with every step. And with every step, I became more aware of just how deep a mess we were in.