JAEGER

Izzy started walking slower, trailing behind me. 

When I slowed down for her, she slowed down more, and when I stopped she did too as if she purposely wanted to stay behind me. 

It took us a couple of hours to reach the next ghost village where we could rest. It was the village Kenter, where the farmers used to stay. The houses in this village were spaced out, each house having a massive block of land surrounding it.

"I prefer the other house next door," Izzy said before we entered one of the houses.

"Should we go there then?"

"No, I can go there, I can stay on my own. I don't need... company."

She didn't even give me a chance to respond before she left, closing the door behind her. I found it odd the way she suddenly left, but it was odder being alone again. I never minded the silence before, but now I did, and I didn't like it. I had gotten used to talking to someone and always having someone in the room. 

Since I was alone though, I decided I may as well run over the plan in my head.

Izzy had told me countless times how my plan wasn't at all a plan and that I needed to come up with a solid one. I was starting to understand why she said that. I didn't care whether my plan was solid or not in the beginning, so long as I got my hands on the Zas in the end. Now I didn't only want to get my hands on the Zas but I also wanted the both of us to come out of there alive as well—wanted Izzy to come out of there alive—so I had to fill the gaps in my plan if I wanted that.

We were at Kenter right now and had to get to Zvade. We still had quite a distance to travel but at the pace we were going, we'd make it in a week or so. That was all I had at the moment, getting to the Zas, but what about getting out? What would we do once we infiltrated Zvade? How would we get to the Zas? What was the strategy once we had our eyes on him? Questions started popping into my head one after the other, and I began answering them all.

I didn't know how long I had been strategising before a slow symphony of music started playing, bringing me out of my thoughts. I imagined Izzy was playing the music, but where could she have gotten it from? And why was she playing it so loud?

I heard movements outside the house and suspected it was Izzy, till I realised that it wasn't just one person moving... there were several. I went to the window and my breath caught as I beheld what was outside. It was a swarm of vampires, like a community. 

A community of vampires were outside.

How had I not heard them approaching?

The majority of them were pulling some sort of baggage. People, I realised. The vampires weren't simply vampires, they were Supremes and Quearus' and they were making their way to the Great Hall. The Great Hall was a tall, brick building, seven floors high, with numerous rooms inside. The farmers used to hire out a room, a story or the whole building to host events, discuss their harvests, and sell or advertise their products.

A horrific realisation set in as I looked out at the vampires. The high-status vampires. The loud, calm music. The humans. 

A blood feast. They were going to have a blood feast tonight in the Great Hall.

Perfect timing.

They could have gathered tomorrow or yesterday, but no, it had to be today. It had to be done the day Izzy and I were here. They didn't feast often so the thought of it occurring didn't even cross my mind.

Blood feasts always had a big turnout, so this place was going to be packed with vampires in no time. We needed to get out—

Horror set in when I remembered Izzy wasn't with me. She was out there somewhere in one of the houses. One of the many houses that were going to be surrounded by vampires.

I quickly stripped myself of my obvious weapons, not wanting to draw attention to myself, but kept my daggers hidden beneath my clothing. It wouldn't take long to get to Izzy, I just had to look like a vampire long enough to walk across the long strip of land and find the house Izzy was in. 

I changed into a plain white shirt and a jacket that I found in one of the closets. My shoes and trousers weren't too bad so I didn't bother changing them. Once I was dressed, I ruffled my hair. The vampires never bothered to look formal during blood feasts, so I wouldn't stick out. When I was satisfied enough, I left the house.

Rather than fighting the vampires around me, I walked among them. The vampires were probably thinking about all the blood they were going to drink tonight, so they paid no attention to me. I, on the other hand, was only focused on getting to Izzy and getting us out of here before this easy task of escaping became a very difficult one.