Chapter 3
1446 Words
3
Allie’s eyes widened, as did those of the other two boar men. Her captor wrinkled his snout. “But she’s gotta be worth something. I mean, she came through that portal stuff-”
The boss spun around to face them, and his nostrils flared. “You fools! You don’t think she won’t be noticed hanging around with us, especially after you made such a ruckus about the slop they serve in the galley?”
The third boar hunched his shoulders and gnashed his teeth together. “It wasn’t fit for a rat.”
“Well, that’s got the eyes of the captain on us, so over she goes!”
“No!” Allie was surprised to find it was her own voice that had spoken up. She pressed herself against her captive’s smelly chest and shook her head. “Please don’t! I won’t say anything to anybody, I promise!”
The leader grabbed her by the collar of her coat and snorted. “Oh, we’ll make sure you don’t say a single word.”
“Stop! Please stop!” she pleaded as she thrashed in his hold.
The porkers dragged her back to the rear of the vessel where the soft waves of the ship’s wake lapped against each other. One of them clapped their pudgy hand over her mouth to stifle her screams. The black, murky waters splashed below her as her lower half was lifted over the railing. Allie shut her eyes and pushed the tears out. They ran down her cheeks and dropped into the endless expanse of water that would take her to death.
“What are you doing with that young woman?
The men froze and spun around, yanking Allie away from the precipice of her death. Allie followed their gazes and beheld an elderly woman somewhere around eighty. She sat in the darkness of the eaves of the deck porch, and her pale features stood out starkly from the shadows. This woman, too, had terrible red eyes and canines that were just a little too long.
The leader of Allie’s captors snarled at her. “None of your business, now get lost.”
“I am making it my business,” the woman snapped as she rolled into full view.
The stranger wore a black vest over a white blouse, and an ankle-length skirt with folds covered her lower half. She rolled silently with her heeled shoes planted on the chair’s pedals and her short gray hair bobbing up and down against her ears as she dipped a little to spin the wheels.
The old woman stopped a few feet from the group and didn’t flinch when one of them raised his hand to swat at her. “Get out of here,” he hissed.
She cast such a hard, dangerous look at him that he froze mid-strike and his eyes widened. He shrank back and she returned her attention to the others. They, too, were a little cowed by their companion’s sudden surrender. “Whatever intentions you have for her, I will take her from your hands.”
The leader stepped up to her and puffed out his ample, but flabby, chest. “Are you saying you want to buy this scrawny creature?”
The old woman looked Allie over and smiled. The gesture was soft and at once eased some of the young woman’s terror. “Yes, I believe I would.”
The leader eyed her with a piggish look. “And what would you pay for such a treasure? Mind you, I only just recently refused the offer of Madam le Boyer.”
The strange woman scoffed. “And yet I now find you just about to throw her overboard. Is she to be kept in the waters until you find a proper offer?”
The piggish man shifted feet and wrinkled his brow. “Yes, well, we were just showing her the view.”
“And I’m sure she’s done seeing it, so if you would take this-” She drew out a small wallet from inside her vest and opened the fold. An unfamiliar currency popped out, but from the way their eyes popped out I knew she was loaded. “-then we will finish this arrangement and you ‘gentlemen’ will leave her to me,” the woman commented as she drew out a few bills and handed it to the leader.
He looked over the bills and grinned before he tucked them into his pocket. “She’s all yours.” He nodded at his man who held Allie, and the ‘gentleman’ pushed her forward.
Allie stumbled, but the old woman caught her at her side and cast a warning look at Allie’s former captors. “Thank you, gentlemen. Now if I so much as see you looking at this young woman again, I swear on the grave of my sire I will tear out your eyes.” The men winced as though physically struck, but she ignored their reactions and instead smiled down at Allie. “Come,” she whispered as she draped her thin arm across Allie’s waist and turned them away from the men. “Let’s get you something to eat, hmm?”
Allie felt like she was sleepwalking in a nightmare as the strange woman guided her down the long left-hand promenade and stopped them at a door halfway down. Her savior swung it open before she rolled back and gestured to the interior.
“After you, my dear.”
Allie shuffled into the cabin and found it was identical to that of Madam le Boyer, even with the coffin in the back room. The difference was in the atmosphere as the woman followed her inside and closed the door. There was none of the coldness as the other room. Perhaps it was the little touches, like the basket of flowers on the table or the handwoven blanket thrown over the couch.
The woman gestured to said couch. “Do have a seat. You look so pale that I half wonder if you aren’t ready to become one of us.” Allie stiffened and felt more blood drain from her face. The woman sighed and patted her hand. “You really have had a trying time, haven’t you? Don’t worry about my-ahem, appetite. I have all the blood I need in the fridge. Now then-” She tapped Allie on the rear in the direction of the seating area. “Go on and sit down before you collapse, and I’ll see what I can do for your food.”
Allie stumbled forward but caught herself and shuffled over to the couch where she reluctantly took a seat. She rubbed her cold hands together as her eyes darted over the room. Nothing appeared amiss outside of the coffin that she could see through the open bedroom door.
“What’s your name?” her hostess called from the little kitchenette.
“Allie.”
“That’s a wonderful name,” the woman complimented her as she poured some steaming water into a cup. She deftly turned around in her chair and wheeled herself over to the couch where she held out the mug. “This will fend off some of that chill that sank into your bones.”
Allie took the mug between her shivering hands and was surprised when the scent of chocolate hit her nostrils. “Is this-?”
Her hostess smiled. “Cocoa. Nothing like it on such a damp and foggy evening. Now then-” She wheeled herself a little backwards and set her pale hands in her lap. “-tell me a little about yourself. Your clothes-” She tilted her head a little to study Allie’s attire. “I have not seen the like on this world.”
A little color drained from Allie’s face as she grasped the mug tighter between her hands. “T-this world?”
The woman leaned back and clasped her hands together. “My, my, you are new, aren’t you? And your scent is very unlike this world, too. Do you happen to know the name of the planet from where those beasts plucked you?”
Allie swept her eyes over all the familiar, albeit dated, conveniences. “This isn’t Earth?”
The woman laughed. “Oh, very much no. This is the planet Pallido. It’s one of the prime vacation spots for vampires because the slow and uneven axis rotation means the nights last twice as long as those on Earth.”
Allie’s eyes settled on the woman’s long teeth. “T-then y-you’re-”
“A vampire?” The woman grinned and revealed her fangs. “Yes, dear.”
- Writer
