Hunter Becomes Hunted

The forest was very dark.

Predators were hunting, while small animals and herbivores were hiding. An owl was perched on a tree branch eyeing a small rat. It was waiting for the right opportunity.

The rat, clueless, left its burrow. It sniffed around and then started slowly moving to a nearby tree. Under the tree were fruits that had fallen to the ground. It grabbed one and turned to return to its dwelling.

At that exact moment, it got pinned to the ground! The owl pierced it with its talons and almost ended the rat's life instantly. Without any struggle, it carried the rat and flew back to another tree branch and started feasting, never realizing that someone had been observing it.

That someone was Adam.

He had been taking a short break to think about where to go when all of this happened. He admired how the owl used perfect timing to sneak attack the rat, leaving it no room for escape. It was true that people often let their guard down when they obtained what they wanted.

He stopped caring about the owl and started thinking about his options. He would never make it to a town before sunrise, but he would have enough time to reach one of the many hunting huts in the forest.

Adam couldn't go for a hut that was too close to the village, or he might be discovered. Wasting no more time, he started running. He made his best not to make the least amount of noise. His speed was quite high and he didn't feel tired at all. At some point he went past huts that he deemed unsafe, so he kept running.

It had been four hours already and he didn't have much time left, so he would settle for the next hunting hut he would find.

After some time, Adam changed direction and slowed down a bit. He had spotted a small wooden shed. Soon enough, he was standing next to it. It had seen better days and looked quite old. The shed was made completely out of wood and had no windows, only a small door. There was trees, bushes and vegetation around it and it would normally be hard to notice.

The reason Adam could notice it was the smoking chimney at the top of the shed. Someone was inside!

Adam approached the door and stood there for a moment. He didn't feel tired at all after all that running, but he felt thirsty.

'I hope there will be some water inside', thought Adam before knocking on the door.

"Anyone in there?"

No answer.

He knocked again, and no answer was given once more.

Left with no choice, Adam tried to push open the door, but it wouldn't open. He pushed harder, and it creaked. He pushed even harder and the door suddenly opened!

Surprised, he fell forwards and landed on his knees. He tried to stand up, but then suddenly stopped. Something cold and sharp was pressing against his neck and a hand was grabbing his shoulder.

"Don't move! you alone or there be others?", said a whispering voice from behind him. It was the voice of a man.

"I'm alone. Why are you...", tried to ask Adam.

"I ask the questions.", interrupted the man who then added. "What d'you want? Where'd you come from?"

"I'm from the mountain village. I... I was looking for mushrooms and got chased by a bear! By the time I was safe, it was already dark and I was lost. I saw the smoke and came to look for help...", said Adam while sounding scared.

"You out-ran a mountain bear? How?"

"I thought I was going to die! It ran very fast but gave up on me once I threw my basket full of mushrooms at it. I guess it wasn't that hungry...", answered Adam.

"You have a weapon on you?", asked the man as he stopped whispering.

"No...", answered Adam. He felt the knife moving away from his neck.

"No weapon? An idiot then!", said the man as he let go of Adam.

He then moved away from him and sat next to the fireplace and threw some wooden sticks into it.

"Close the door kid", said the man as he sat there silently.

Adam didn't answer, he simply stood up and closed the door. He touched his neck and felt around, he had a small cut that had already stopped bleeding. He sneered inside, acting like a helpless kid had saved him from many sticky situations but it wouldn't always work. He was glad it worked this time.

He looked around and the shed was just like he had imagined it. Small, dark and had animal skins, and hunting materials hanging everywhere. There was a small straw bed covered by a big hide and on the wall next to the hide was a fireplace connected to a clay chimney.

"Come, sit here.", said the man as he kicked a stool next to the fireplace on his left side.

Adam sat on the stool and then looked at the man. He was covered in furs and leather from head to toe. His graying dark hair and beard were long and unkept which made him look quite old. His face and eyes however showed that he was only in his mid or late thirties.

"Sorry about that, gotta be careful 'round here", said the man as he pointed at his neck while looking at Adam's, and then went silent.

"I am lucky to be alive after all that happened recently.", said Adam to break the awkward mood. But he actually had meant what he said. The whole village disaster almost got him killed.

"Yeah, the bear musta had eaten just before it met you, and you don't look too tasty.", said he as he took out some meat jerky from a bag to his right and started to chew on it while sizing up Adam from head to toe.

Adam looked at the jerky and realized he had eaten nothing in the past few days. He wasn't feeling hungry though, only thirsty. He chose to ignore what the man said and asked.

"Do you have some water?"

The man then grabbed some leather gourd and gave it to Adam. After drinking for a bit, Adam felt that the water was not calming down his thirst at all. The man then gave him a weird look, so he gave him back the gourd.

"I know right. Wish it was ale heh.", said the man as he started laughing.

Adam looked down at his hand and seeing the red stains of blood on his fingers, he realized something. He wasn't a human anymore! He had become a blood sucking vampire...

Adam looked at the man and pretended to be laughing with him. But inside, he was thinking of a way to make him lower his guard. Thinking for a moment, he remembered the owl and the rat. Which made him smile for a moment as he thought that he was in the same situation.

"Same situation!", said Adam as realization dawned on him. He didn't notice that he had thought that part aloud.

"You what?", asked the man in confusion.

"Nothing, I was just thinking about how I was going to find my way back to the village."

"oh, well that's not my problem.", answered the man.

"How about I give you something valuable and you help me go back to the village.", said Adam.

The man's face turned serious and his eyes became sharp as he asked with a deep and slow voice "What valuable something? You have it on you?"

"No, it's in the village. My grandfather's sword. I'll give it to you if you help me go back. I can't fight anyway and it won't be helping me by taking dust in the ceiling. What say you?", said Adam as he did his best to look scared, conflicted and full of hesitation.

"Sure. We go at dawn, in an hour or so. I don't want to be out in the forest at night." Said the man as he got a bit excited.

"Can I have some jerky? I'll pay you for that too.", said Adam to which the man completely let his guard down and turned to reach for the jerky while smiling.

He froze halfway to the bag and his smile faded as he felt two sharp things penetrate his neck. He tried to defend himself, but he felt his body go cold and lethargic. He couldn't resist at all...

Adam didn't stop until he felt his thirst disappear and that he was full. While drinking, he wished that the blood would flow to him and to his greatest surprise, it did. It tasted amazing, and he somewhat felt better after drinking that much. It felt as if he had gotten a little bit stronger.

He let go of the man who fell lifeless on the ground. Adam then went to the bag and grabbed a piece of jerky. He chewed on it and smiled. It had been long since he last ate meat, it sure felt good.

He then opened the door, grabbed the corpse and threw it on his shoulder. It felt very light, even if the man was taller and heavier than himself. After about fifteen minutes of running, he found a spot that had tall and thick bushes.

Adam threw the corpse there and went back to the shed. Once inside, he made sure the door wouldn't open, and then went to the makeshift bed. He laid down, closed his eyes and tried to get some rest. After a few minutes, he fell asleep, satisfied.