The engine of my little car groaned as I forced it up the narrow snow-covered roads and away from the town below. Fierce gusts of wind shook its very frame and the wipers worked overtime to clear the snow.
I'd cranked the heater up to full blast, but it did nothing to take away the freezing chill. Even inside the car, wispy plumes of breath escaped from my mouth and nose and covered the windscreen in a misty film, making visibility almost zero. Leaning forward, I peered out, desperate not to steer off the road and into some ditch. I knew that if I could just reach a main road, the chances were that it would have been gritted with salt and I would be able to make my way home to Havensfield without incident. Even if I had to drive all night, I was determined to get there. I hadn't even stopped at the Crescent Moon Inn to collect my stuff - I would pay to have it forwarded to me at a later date.
I just wanted to be away from The Ragged Cove; but more than that, I wanted to be as far away from Luke as possible. I didn't care if I ever saw him again. I felt crushed inside at how he had treated me back at the station and how he'd lied about what had taken place up at the graveyard. I knew that he had seen that girl - I knew it!
Wiping at the inside of the windscreen with the back of my hand, I could just make out a sign fixed to the side of the road. As my car crawled towards it, my heart almost leapt with joy. The sign read:
You are leaving The Ragged Cove
Please drive carefully!
Feeling as if I were returning to civilisation - the real world - where mobile phones worked, radios got a signal, shops stayed open, and vampires didn't chase you around graveyards in the middle of the night, I almost felt like punching the air with joy. Taking one hand from the wheel, I switched on the radio and my heart sank as the sound of static hissed through the speakers.
But then, as my car inched towards the sign, I heard something faint - a sound within the static and it sounded like music. Turning the dial on the radio, I lent forward and to my joy, I could hear the sweet voice of Adele singing 'Someone like you'.
"C'mon," I said aloud. "I want to hear you!"
Her voice was faint, almost like she was lost somewhere within the static, but with every inch my car took towards that sign, her voice became clearer. Turning the dial in the hope of picking up a clearer signal, I took my eyes off the road for what seemed just like a second. But in that moment, I hadn't seen the sheet of black-ice covering the road. The back end of my car skidded right, then left as I gripped the wheel and screamed, "No!"
The Mini spun out of my control and headed for a huge drift of snow. Thumping into the ancient stone wall that lined the road, the car tilted right, and for a moment I thought it was going to tip over onto its side. Slamming my hands against the dashboard to steady myself, the car nose-dived into a ditch, its rear wheels lifting off the road. Leaning forward in my seat, my chest pressed against the steering wheel, the voice of Adele began to fade until the sound of static seemed almost deafening.
Pushing against the car door, I clambered free of the car and fell into the snow outside. At once, my nose, ears and hands began to sting with the cold. Shielding my eyes against the blizzard, I looked around, trying to get some bearings. The sign telling me that I was so close to escaping The Ragged Cove was behind me and it seemed to taunt me. Turning my back to it, I peered in the direction that I had come, and some miles in the distance, I could just make out the twinkling lights of the town. Looming up into the night like a twisted finger, I could see the steeple of the church in the dark. Cupping my hands, around my mouth, I blew into them. They were fast going numb. Turning to look at my car sticking up out of the ditch, I lent against the boot and tried to force the rear wheels back onto the road.
"Please!" I groaned. "I just wanna get out of this godforsaken place. Is that too much to ask?" I shouted into the dark.
The car rocked up and down like a seesaw, but however much I tried, I couldn't get the car out of the ditch. With each passing minute, the snow grew deeper and deeper around my shins.
Knowing that I had to make a decision as to what I was going to do, I considered my options. I could stay in the car and hope that someone came by and helped me, but the chances of anyone being out on a night like this was remote. The roads were fast becoming impassable, so I knew there was little chance of being rescued by a passer-by. I could stay in the car with the heaters running, but I doubted they could melt an ice cube, and I would more than likely freeze to death. I didn't have any blankets or warm clothing in the boot, and the rate that the snow was coming down, my little car would be covered within a couple of hours. I didn't fancy dying entombed in a 1960's Mini, buried beneath a mountain of snow.
Then remembering my mobile phone, I rummaged for it in my pocket. Pulling it out, I looked at the signal bar which continued to glow red. Holding the phone above my head, I tried to search for a signal.
"Please!" I hissed. "Just give me a break. I deserve one with everything that I've been through!"
But however much I turned and moved towards the border, the signal bar remained that constant, angry red.
Putting the phone away, I looked back at the town below me. I figured that if I crossed the fields, it could be no more than a couple of miles away. I could stick to the road, but it wasn't as direct with all its twists and turns and would probably double the distance of my journey. But however much my life depended on it, I really didn't want to go back there. What was I going back to and how many days would I have spend there before the snow eased and I could get my car back onto the road? I really didn't want to go back to that Inn, and now that I'd been banned from the police station, I had no reason to be there. I didn't know if I could face any of them again - I didn't know if I could face Luke again. But I couldn't stay out on the road. Not only was I exposed to the freezing weather, I was a sitting target for vampires.
So taking my torch from the car, I pulled the collar of my jacket up and set off across the fields, back towards The Ragged Cove.
Bent forward at the waist to protect myself from the freezing wind and falling snow, I trudged across the fields. The snow was falling so hard and fast that when I glanced back at my car in the distance, I could hardly see its little red frame and my tracks had already been covered. Ahead and to the right, I could see what looked like a wooded area. So cutting diagonally across the field, I made my way towards it, hoping that the trees would offer me some shelter.
The snow whipped and howled all around me, and in the noise of the wind, I was sure that I could hear the far off sound of screaming. Looking in the direction of those cries, I thought I saw shadows flitting back and forth across the skyline. Turning around in the snow, trying to locate those sounds was disorientating and it wasn't long before I had lost all sense of direction. Peering into the distance, I was sure that I could see a dark smudge on the horizon, and hoping that it was the wooded area, I set off towards it.
I hadn't gone far when I noticed the dark smudge had changed and now looked like three dark shapes in the distance.
"What's that?" I said, shielding my eyes with my hands, trying to workout what the shapes were. With every second they seemed to get closer and they were coming straight towards me. As they got closer still, I thought that perhaps they were three people, but that couldn't be right - they were travelling too fast - no one could move with such speed and agility in the heavy snow.
Then with my heart almost stopping, I realised that the shapes coming towards me were people, and they weren't walking - they were running towards me at an incredible speed, as if they were soaring just inches above the snow. Realising that I was in incredible danger, I ran as fast as I could, hoping that I was heading towards the shelter of the trees.
My progress was slow, hampered by the deepness of the snow, which was now level with my knees. Looking back, the three figures were now so close that I could hear the sound of the rushing wind their speed created, whipping up the snow beneath them and spraying it into the night.
"No! Please God, no!" I cried, staggering forward and losing my footing. Panicked, I clawed myself back onto my feet. My whole body trembled - not because of the cold - but in fear. My legs felt as if they were going to give way at any moment and I desperately needed to pee. Not sure in which direction I was headed, I stumbled on, tears running down my face through sheer terror.
Sucking in mouthfuls of freezing cold air to try and calm myself, I turned around to see the three vampires racing towards me, their gleaming white teeth glistening like razors in the night. Standing rooted to the spot, I screamed. Within touching distance of me, one of them darted left and the other right, so as to surround me.
"Stay away from me!" I screamed.
They circled me, zipping back and forth as if examining their prey. The third one raced forward, its eyes burning red and mouth drooling. Shrieking, it grabbed for me, its claws skimming just inches from my face. I ducked, dropping into the snow. Glancing up, I watched as it raced away. My heart almost stopped. The vampire was wearing what appeared to be a ripped and dishevelled looking police uniform. Without having time to comprehend what I'd seen, the vampire lept into the air, corkscrewed around, landed and raced back towards me.
Knowing I had nowhere to run or hide, I covered my face with my hands and prayed that my death would be quick. The sound of its screaming, coming out of the dark at me, I closed my eyes and waited to be taken. Then there was another sound, almost deafening. It was like the loudest thunderclap I'd ever heard.
"What was that?" I shouted in shock, snapping open my eyes. I caught a fleeting glimpse of a winged creature soar across my eye line, snatching away the vampire who was just about to take hold of me.
Pulling myself out of the snow, I looked up to see what it was. But it moved with such speed and agility, it looked like nothing more than a fluttering blur of shadows. The vampire in the police uniform was yanked this way and that in the sky just above my head.
It tried to fight back against whatever it was that had hold of it. Shielding my eyes against the snow, I could see that whatever it was, appeared to be stripped to the waist. The creature's skin was as pale as the snow that fell all around it. Its hair was black, just like the wings that protruded from its back. But it moved too fast for me to really see it. Not knowing if this creature were my saviour or if it had its own plans for me, I turned and fled.
With my heart racing like a trip hammer, I stumbled, got up, stumbled again, until I was near exhaustion. Looking back over my shoulder, not wanting to lose sight of the other two vampires, I saw the one in the police uniform arch its back and throw its arms wide as it became consumed by the creature in the sky.
Then with an ear-splitting scream, one of the other vampires chased after me.
"Get away from me!" I screeched, stumbling backwards into the snow, landing on my arse and knocking the wind from me. Covering my ears with my hands, I looked past the approaching vampire and saw the shadowy creature rip out the throat of the vampire in the police uniform. Blood sprayed into the night and spattered the snow around me in crimson streaks. Then my rescuer - if that's what it was - soared away in a fluttering blur and tossed the second vampire, who was almost upon me, through the air like a rag doll. This one was female and from where I lay in the snow, I could see that she was wearing a floral-patterned dress. Her bright auburn hair fanned out in the wind.
Then to the right of me, I heard the gut wrenching sound of screaming as the third and final vampire took their chance and raced towards me. Turning, I tried to run away, but the creature was too quick. And by the time I'd felt its hot breath against my neck, it had snatched hold of me with its talon-like hands and lept into a nearby tree.
Kicking out frantically, my stomach lurched as I watched the ground disappear beneath my feet at an incredible speed, as the vampire scrambled up the trunk of the tree with me clutched in its arms. Within seconds, I was looking down at the tops of the trees. Looking left and right, I could see that the vampire had its claws hooked into my jacket.
"Get the fuck off me!" I roared. "Put me down!"
Glancing up into its face, it looked white and contorted as if in constant pain. Just like the others, its eyes burned red as if its brain was on fire in its misshapen skull. The vampire's forehead was pronounced and its brow appeared to almost hang over its eyes like a ledge. Its nose looked more like a snout and its mouth was like an open wound, fleshy lips pulled back, revealing a bloody set of gums that were crammed full of razor-sharp teeth.
Dragging me higher into the tree, I screamed. Ahead I could see the flutter of white and black as the flying creature tore the female vampire in two, casting the remains of her body in opposite directions.
"Let me go!" I screamed, kicking and struggling wildly.
Hearing my screams, the winged creature flew towards us and again, the night was torn open by the sound of that thunderclap. Within an instance, it was upon us, its form shimmering so much as to make it impossible to truly see who or what it was.
As the shadowy form attacked the vampire who had hold of me, its claws dug deeper into my jacket and flesh. The pain was excruciating. Reaching into my pocket, my fingers brushed against the small bottle of holy water given to me at breakfast by the old woman. Crying out in pain, I fumbled the cap off the top of the bottle. Reaching round, I poured some of the water onto the vampire's claws. Almost at once its flesh began to bubble and blister. Tendrils of smoke started to rise from its white flesh.
Shrieking in agony, the vampire let go of me and I tumbled out of the tree and towards the ground. Over the sound of the wind whistling in my ears, I heard the vampire howl one last time as the winged creature tore it apart.
"Help me!" I cried looking down as the snow-covered fields raced towards me. Closing my eyes, and for the second time that night hoping my death would be quick and painless, I felt myself soaring upwards and away from the ground.
Opening one eye, I peered out and could see I was in the arms of the creature that had saved me from the vampires. My face was pressed against his naked chest, which felt as cold as the night air that rushed passed me. Glancing up so as to get a peek at its face, whatever it was arched its wings, so that it fell into shadow, masking its identity.
"Hold tight," it whispered. Then that ear-shattering thunderclap came again and everything went black.