We kept quiet and remained unnoticed. Toward the end of the day, a small island came into view—an island that I had never come across before, nor even heard of. It was clear that this ship was headed right for it. It traveled the last stretch of ocean and arrived in a small harbor. There was a clank. It sounded like a ramp being lowered. Arletta and I had to lean further into the shadow to make sure that we weren’t spotted as people began piling off the ship. I soon realized that they were witches, and from the conversations I caught snippets of, they were celebrating a wedding. They were certainly dressed for it. Both men and women were dressed immaculately as they levitated suitcases and bouquets of flowers above their heads.
I couldn’t help but wonder why these witches were even traveling by ship when they could easily magic themselves to any destination in an instant. From the way they had decorated the boat, I guessed that the voyage must have been more of a leisure ride than anything else, and now it seemed that they would be continuing the festivities on this little island… It was certainly very picturesque and being quite out-of-the-way—perhaps even unknown to a lot of supernaturals—I couldn’t deny that it was a beautiful venue for a wedding.
Arletta and I waited until they had all left the boat and trickled into the line of trees that bordered the beach, and then we waited a bit more until sundown came. Now we could leave the ship without getting burned. We were both starving as we hurried over the beach toward the mainland. We kept to the trees at first, looking all around us, trying to scope the place out.
Once out of the small forest, we hurried along cobbled streets, winding in and around quaint thatched cottages and square, stone buildings. We kept to the shadows as much as possible. We soon realized that there was quite a mixture of residents here. We spotted some vampires, witches, werewolves, and even a few foul-mouthed harpies. Arletta and I ended up finding refuge for the night in an old shed filled with hay. From the state of it, it appeared to have been abandoned. Our exhaustion drowning out our hunger, we both flopped down against the straw and fell asleep.
The next morning, we had to seriously think about what we were going to eat. Those hours we’d spent fighting to avoid the sun had taken a lot out of us. We managed to find several snakes writhing in the bushes nearby, so those became our meal—our disgusting, but sustainable meal.
In the days that followed, we continued sleeping in the barn. We passed the nights roaming the island, trying to keep our heads down, as we attempted to figure out what we should do next. I couldn’t go back to The Tavern—not after the incident involving Benjamin. One of those men who had come to attack Benjamin had survived, and he would no doubt have labeled me a thief and accomplice in his friend’s death to the authorities.
Arletta and I spoke surprisingly little considering what we’d just been through together. We were both still in a state of shock, a state of grief. We’d not only lost Hans, but also his brothers, who’d become like my own brothers over the years we’d spent together—witnessing them morph into monsters before our very eyes.
The truth was, I’d spent the last eighteen years waiting for Hans, and I’d never even considered what my life would be like afterwards. I’d just focused on getting through those years without losing my mind. Now I wasn’t sure what to do—if there was anything we could do other than try to cope with the grief and mourn the loss of Hans and his brothers.
But as it turned out, our little reprieve was interrupted sooner than we could’ve expected.
It happened in the middle of the night. Arletta and I were sleeping on a stack of hay when I sat bolt upright, the sound of thundering footsteps filling my ears. Footsteps that sounded like they were coming from just outside. I climbed off the hay stack and swept across the barn to the door. I created the slightest crack with my fingers in the door and peered outside.
I almost screamed. Whipping through the trees all around us were dozens of deathly pale, skeletal bodies. They moved with unnerving speed and from the looks of it, they were all headed straight for the town.
How are there so many of them?
The thought tightened my throat and stole my voice.
Terrified that one could sense us, I closed the door as softly as I could before whirling around to look at Arletta. She was still sleeping on the hay, a peaceful expression on her face, as though all was right in the world. I was afraid to wake her in case she made a sound and attracted some of the monsters to us. At the same time, she couldn’t remain sleeping.
I climbed over the hay and kneeled next to her. Clutching her shoulder, I shook her. I still didn’t have a plan. I was just working on sheer instinct.
“Arletta,” I whispered. “Wake up.”
Her eyelids lifted and she looked up at me blearily. “What—”
I pressed a finger to her lips.
“Just come with me,” I breathed. “Don’t make a sound.”
Her eyes widened with alarm at the urgency in my tone and to my relief, she kept her lips sealed. I pulled her away from the hay and the two of us returned to the door. I didn’t know where we would go exactly, but we couldn’t wait here like sitting ducks. We were just lucky that they were all heading for the town, and didn’t seem interested in stopping around here—at least, not the last time I checked…
Shoving Arletta to one side, I planted my fingers along the edge of the door and created a crack, just wide enough for me to peer through.
I let out a slow sigh of relief as I gazed around. It appeared that they had all passed—how many of them had there been altogether? I could hear the sounds of running, many dozens of footsteps, drawing away in the distance. Gripping Arletta firmly by the hand, I pulled her out of the barn and we stepped among the trees.