Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Forever ❯ Blood Wood ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Laila led the way through the village and into the woods. She hummed and rocked her basket in time, skipping ahead of Neona along a path through the forest. She didn’t seem to actually be watching were she went, but a half-blood didn’t need to. Whether the girl was following her nose, or her instinct back to her vampire lord made to difference to Neona.

She watched Laila skip along, following at a reasonable length behind the bear. She owed the girl her life but that didn’t mean that she was ready to trust her just yet.

“Neona,” said the bear as she pivoted on one heel, turning to face her as she continued to walk backwards along the path. Neona said nothing but one of her ears turned to point at her, showing that she was listening.

“When we get home, you’ll have to wait for me by the front gate. Ill run and drop my groceries off in the kitchen and come right back for you. Just remember that if anyone approaches you, especially if they look like they’re going to attack, tell them that you belong to Lord Haimon.”

Neona slowed to a stop and frowned slightly at her words. She did not want to belong to anyone, it was enough to owe her life to someone else, but now she was to give it to a vampire? Laila stopped before her and smiled softly, an act that did not comfort Neona in the least.

“I will repay you for saving my life as well as I can. But do not ask me to surrender my life to your vampire lord,” Neona said. “I would rather the Lion have me.”

“No, I didn’t mean that you would be pledging to him at all. It’s just that Lord Haimon is my master, and until you can repay me you’ll be working with me in his house. So its not that you’ll belong to him, just his household okay?” Laila grinned as though pleased with herself and turned around to skip onwards.

Neona let the space between them grow a little more before walking after her. She didn’t argue that belonging to the vampire and being part of his house were basically the same, she doubted if the girl would listen if she tried anyway.

“There are a lot of half-bloods who live with us, all sorts too. Tigers, lions, bears, foxes, there are even mice and rabbits. We used to have a sheep but- Oh that reminds me!” Laila looked over her shoulder, her face suddenly very serious. “No one is allowed to go into the forest after dark. If you do then you’re fair game to the vampires okay?”

“They eat their own servants?” Neona asked, startled though somehow not surprised. Laila merely shrugged and began peering intently at the trees ahead of her.

“The forest is their hunting ground, so we know better than to go out when their feeding. It’s happened before, and usually they’ll catch themselves before attacking one of us but there’s been accidents before. Just look at that mangy lion who attacked you earlier. Luan used to be a fairly decent guy until he decided to venture into the woods and get himself bitten. Luckily it was his lord who caught him and Keahi let him go but if it was someone who didn’t know him then...” Laila stopped in front of a rather old looking tree.

“They hunt the woods often?” Neona asked, stopping beside Laila as she looked around for any suspicious movement.

“Every few nights or so. Whenever the craving hits them. Lord Keahi and his father hunt more often than Lord Haimon does. You’ll get used to their patterns fairly easily, then you’ll know when it’s okay to go out, if you have to.” Laila placed a hand on the old tree and Neona felt a sharp chill hit her.

She heard the wind whistle through the trees around them and watched as the rays of sun began moving around them between the tree leaves. She reached out and placed a hand on Laila’s basket as she turned her head from side to side to look around.

The forest began to change, the trees spread out, the bark taking on a darker brown color that seemed almost black. All of the leaves around them changed from rich forest green to a strikingly blood red hue. The grass underfoot began to whither, and strange silver vines shot out of the earth to entangle the trees, squeezing so hard that some boughs began to snap.

It was dark, the sky barely visible through the red leaves. There were no stars, only silvery clouds in the sky and from what she could see the moon was full, and a deep red-orange in color that seemed to illuminate everything around them.

Neona shuddered from the sense of foreboding that the forest seemed to radiate towards her. She felt sure that she shouldn’t be there, that no wolf should.

“Welcome to Blood Wood, Neona.” Laila began to lead her away from the tree but Neona stayed where she was. “Aren’t you coming?” Laila asked, looking back with concern.

“You said that we shouldn’t be in the woods at night. What if they catch us?” Neona strained her ears to hear even the smallest of sounds but the woods seemed empty save the two of them.

“It isn’t night. It’s day time,” Laila said, she looked confused, which was how Neona felt.

“But the sky, it’s so dark here. And the moon-” Neona stopped as Laila suddenly began to giggle.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot to explain. The vampires can’t go out in daylight because they’re so sensitive to the sunlight. They live here in Blood Wood because the land is cursed. There’s no day at all. The moon changes from silver to that orange-red color so we just go by that for night and day. Silver is for night time, and orange is for day time.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” Neona said, looking around the woods with a greater sense of curiosity. Laila smiled at her and waited for Neona to walk after her before leading the way once more.

“There are many things here that I’m sure you’ve never seen before. When there’s time I’ll show you what I can. Maybe even the lake if Lord Haimon will let me. Oh, there’s the main house up ahead!” Laila pointed excitedly. Neona followed the line of her hand, her eyes opened wide with surprise as what she saw before her.

There was a tall black metal fence that was over grown with the silver vines, and two huge black gates that stood open before them. She followed Laila up to the gate and then took a deep breath to steady the rapid beating of her heart. Beyond the gate she could see the main house, it was unlike anything she had ever seen in the small villages where she had lived.
The house was easily twice as high or more than the bakery had been, and at least a block wide. The dark crimson paint was peeling from the sides of the house, and the wide stone steps that led up to the black wood doors were crumbling away at the edges. There were great black pillars rising to hold up the roof over the veranda, all wrapped with silver vines that seemed to be slowly covering the house. There were many windows, rectangular, or round in shape, and nearly all with their curtains drawn.

She could see light through the curtains, and shadows of servants moving about through the house, she thought she saw one pause at a curtain and peer out but they were gone almost as soon as she noticed them.

The ground before the house was littered with crumbling statues and dried up fountains, most with vines or a strange, dark purple moss growing up one side of them. Far to the left of the house, along a broken and grown over path, was a much smaller house that looked as though the vines and moss had nearly taken over. She guessed that to be the servants quarters.

“Alright, I’ll be right back. Stay put so I can find you when I come back. And remember if anyone tries to come at you, tell them that you belong to Lord Haimon.” Laila took off running towards the main house, not caring to wait to be sure that Neona had even listened to her.

Neona held back her sudden urge to follow after the bear. She reminded herself that Laila had told her to wait there. Perhaps she was not allowed on the grounds without permission from a vampire lord.

She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned against the black gate to wait for Laila to return. There was plenty of movement in the house, and since Laila had gone in there was quite a bit more pausing at the windows as servants peeked through the curtains.

She heard a rustle in the forest not far from her and quickly looked towards the noise, moving away from the gate as she did so. Her tail stiffened, and her ears flattened against her head, she shrank back slightly and swallowed hard, watching fearfully as a man came out from the darkness of the woods.