Everything was exactly how I had seen it in my vision.
The graveyard was nestled against the surrounding forest but was enclosed by a sturdy wrought iron fence designed to serve as a barrier from the woods that was cloaked in a layer of transparent fog. Some of the fog was still cascading in through the wrought iron bars, mocking a ghostly waterfall.
Something rustled in the bare tree next to me.
Turning sharply, I prepared for the worst to take me by surprise.
“Cawwwwww.”
I ducked out of the way of a swooping crow dive-bombing my head, tripping in my stupid heels, but instinctively catching myself on a nearby headstone which thankfully intercepted my fall.
“Damn bird!” I screamed out at the thing that perched itself on top of a dead log lying on the nearby ground, watching me with its beady black eyes.
In some superstitions, crows represented an omen of impending death; so, why wouldn’t there be one next to me? I mean, hell, every other bad luck is against me, so why not add one more shitty thing to the list?
“Shoo, you little shit.” I swatted at him, but he only did a couple of small hops along the log.
“Addelay…”
A flurry of wind lifted my hair off my shoulders, bringing the whisper that called for me close enough to lightly tickle the back of my ear. I quickly turned myself around in a complete circle to face... nothing but the same asshole crow, still sitting on the broken log watching me mockingly.
“Was that you?” He answered me with another throaty caw making me cringe at the loud cackle.
“Addelay…”
This time the beckon came from a different direction. I strained my ears to see if it was them playing tricks on me now. Being in a cemetery alone in the middle of the night tended to mess with all of your senses.
A human scream pierced through the uprise of wind that whipped my hair in all directions now, threatening to lift my dress up as well. I flattened my hands against my thighs, keeping it pressed against my shivering legs, so as to not give an embarrassing show to whatever lurked in the dark around me.
I broke into a sprint further into the middle of the cemetery, skidding to a complete stop when a large figure came into view.
“Xander!” I yelled out to him, breathless as his glazed-over eyes rolled into place, trying to focus on who was calling out his name. He lazily lifted his head that was resting on the tree.
“Adde? Adde is that you?” He questioned my presence, weak and disoriented.
Foolishly I ran to him. Seeing my friend I had feared would never be found instantly threw all of my common sense out the window.
His body was bound tightly to the base of the enormous tree -part three of my vision- that was now nothing more than a skeleton from the hands of winter. Dirt-caked ropes fastened his wrists one on top of the other and were suspended above him, leaking blood where the rope had rubbed his delicate skin raw, and was running down his well-defined arms. One more rope, wrapped around his waist, was keeping his torso securely fastened, and kept him from moving away from the tree.
Gashes still moist with blood spread across his chest, and deep, oozing cuts had been inflicted on his once smooth tan face. On his shoulder were what appeared to be large claw marks buried deep into his flesh. Liquid oozed from those too.
He writhed against the restraints, trying to free his freshly mutilated body. Rushing to his side, I stood on my tiptoes frantically tugging at the ropes that were keeping his badly beaten and bruised body confined. Sweat dampened his wavy hair, despite the freezing cold, and his skin was burning hot to the touch. My feet strained to boost me up higher, making my calves cramp up.
“Hang on Xan, I’m trying to get you down! I… just…can’t…seem to get it!”
The underneath of my nails started to bleed from desperately tearing at the knots in the tight ropes. Nothing was setting him free besides whatever put him here.
Putting aside being in a graveyard in the middle of winter, and untying Xander from a tree that someone had obviously fastened him to, something else wasn’t right.
His hands began to violently shake like something was controlling them from the inside. Then, just like that, every one of his nerves went AWOL.
“Ad…Adelay get away from me!” His voice cracked just as I got one of the knots loosened, but not completely unfastened.
“No! I almost got it Xander!” I was determined to get us out of here, whether it meant tearing every last one of my nails from my fingers or not.
“Adelay get away now!”
His voice trembled in a low growl, definitely not Xander’s usual voice. A euphoric laugh echoed in the air, making me instinctively drop my heels into the ground and let go of his bloody wrists. The laughter got louder, burrowing deep into my ears. I wobbled unsteadily away from Xander.
A man appeared out of the darkness behind us, clapping his hands together to applaud me. I recognized him instantly. It was the Sid Vicious lookalike from the club earlier.
“Glad you could join us, Adelay. Wow, I must give you an A for effort though. I would have never expected you to walk so easily into my arms. Well, that is until your little bloodsucker friends deserted you, taking all of your good judgment with them. Didn’t your vampire teach you to never wander off by yourself?”
“It’s you?”
“It’s you?” He mocked my question
