Turned

that walking seemed to relieve.  I could leave Abdul behind and I could leave my brother and his vampires behind as well.  A tinge of guilt and sadness erupted at the thought of losing my brother again, but if he came with vampires than it was worth it.  I walked at a normal pace hoping I’d be mistaken for someone with some work to do in the pasture.  The sun warmed my back, and everything grew more peaceful as I ascended. The sounds of the camp were still audible, but they had diminished to no more than a soothing coo that showed people were living in the valley.  I stopped to look back as I neared the top of the hill, perhaps foolishly but something wouldn’t let me disappear without one last look at the largest settlement I’d ever seen.  Smoke from the farmhouse, the various huts and hovels that surrounded it and tasks I couldn’t be sure of at that distance rose into the air in narrow twisting columns that merged into a big cloud and flowed off to the south proclaiming their existence.  From above the tin roofs of the cluster of buildings sparkled in the sunlight like a field of mica and the yellow of the farmhouse’s walls dazzled like a fresh flower.  No area was untouched by the bustle of activity.  Children dashed along the narrow pathways between buildings, along the hillside to the south a young man slowly moved a herd of cattle along.  There were men, women and children in the fields, men and women tanning hides just south of the city, men digging, men building what I did not know, women hustling between buildings and everywhere children helped and hindered. My soul sighed but I did not belong here.  I could not make my peace with the vampires as they had.  I turned and continued my climb.

Then I saw a flash of movement along the hillside.  I hurried up the ridge but as I ascended a vampire trotted up, faster than a man could run.  He had pistols holstered on both sides of his waist and carried in his hands a high-powered rifle with a sleek black scope.   He had been a tall gangly man with a large Adam’s apple which bobbed as if his body had lost control of it in a thin long throat.  He grinned at me flashing long fangs and eyes that were slightly reddened from being out in the early morning sun.  “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked in a nasally voice.  My heart fluttered in my chest.  He could drain me and leave me here.  No one would be the wiser for days, or at all assuming the beasts took my body away.  I started to speak as he stared at my face, his eyes judging, but wild like a dog on a chain that doesn’t want to spook something beyond its reach.  He cut me off before I could say anything.  “You’re his brother, aren’t you?” he asked but before I could answer he grabbed me by the wrist and a shrill whistle burst from his lips in three sharp pulses.  A moment later another vampire ran up.  He looked amused; there was a twinkle in his chestnut eyes.

“This one tried to escape.  It’s his brother.” He told the newcomer.  The other one just smiled and tossed a length of straight black hair that was lying across his forehead and over his slanted eyes out of his face.  It shone in the sun, surprisingly vibrant for the patchiness of the remainder of his scalp.  He shrugged his shoulders.  “Better take him in then.  You know what we were told.”

“Of course, I do.  I don’t need you to tell me.”  He glared at the other vampire who appeared not to care or notice.  “I just need you to cover my section while I do it.”

“Sure,” he replied and then walked off disappearing into the pines.  My interferer exhaled exasperatedly and then said, “Come on,” letting go of my wrist and heading towards the camp.

As we walked through the town there were some whispers of, “that’s his brother,” but other than that no one saw anything out of the ordinary about a man and a vampire walking together through the narrow lanes.  We crossed through the town and made our way to a trio of barns that sat in the middle of the northern pasture.  The first barn’s doors were flung open and I could see straight through a dusty, hay strewn interior to the pasture beyond.  Each side of the pathway through the barn was set with stalls from which protruded the long faces of horses.  As we passed, they stomped, whickered, and shook their heads at the vampire leading me.  There were a group of vampires and men lounging around the front of the next barn some of them standing and smoking, others sitting on the ground and a couple of hay bales which had been stacked up outside.  They looked up as we approached, and a quick round of laughter passed through them causing the vampire who led me to scowl. My brother’s cronies: the two human brothers and Peter came forward as we approached.  My captor approached nervously, slowing his steps.

“What do you want?” asked Peter annoyance coming through in his deep voice.

“Nothing John,” my interceptor said, “It’s just that he said if his brother tried to flee, he should be brought to him and I caught him trying to leave.”  He pointed down the valley to the hilltop where he’d intercepted me.

“He’s busy.  Jeremy let him know about this.”  Everyone stood awkwardly for a few moments, occasionally flicking a cigarette butt away from the barn as one of the brother’s disappeared into the bar.  There were muffled voices from inside and what sounded like something being dragged across a floor.

The brother reemerged and said as he pointed at me, “Benjamin wants you