Chapter 30 - Bat Country

The sun rises the next day. I snore. My mouth hangs open. Still snuggled up on the sofa. The blood in the glass on the table had gone stale. Makes the air smell lovely though. I left the TV on. KERRANG! TV is on. My head rolls from left to right, my short dream of being eaten by a giant fish that came from a puddle is invaded by Trivium. Semi-conscious, I roll onto my side, facing away from the screen. I finally open my eyes. Switch off the TV and get up. Nausia still exists inside of me...I gulp down the stale blood and slam the glass back down, grimacing. I put my head in my hands and take deep breaths. That normally calms me down. It works. I pluck up the courage to get something to eat and head to the kitchen.

About an hour later, someone knocks at the door. That's the second time this week! What do these humans want? I answer the door. Standing before me are a group of people about my age. They smile at me. "What do you want?" I growl.
"Atem!" the female brunette cries.
"Is it really you?" a shorter boy asks. He looks like me, except younger and less serious.
"I am Atem," I mutter. "How do you know me?"
The pair frown at me. "Um...we don't speak in ancient Egyptian. Could you translate that?"

Another pair of humans pop up. They have a tan, remind me of people I used to know. "He says he is Atem and how do you know him," the male says.
"I'm Yugi," the short boy smiles. "This is Tea. That's Ishizu and her brother, Marik. Don't you remember us?"
I study them closely. They do seem farmilliar to me, I feel like I've known them before. "You were...my friends?" it's then that I notice my thick Egyptian accent and the ancient language I use. Is that why that girl wouldn't listen to me when I asked her to leave? I pause to think. I can't understand them anymore. I used to. I used to speak their language.

I allow them into my house and we settle on the sofa. The first two that I saw speak to me about old times. In the past, I knew them. Ishizu and Marik translate for us both. The female, Tea, just sits there blushing. "What's wrong?" I ask.
"He said what's wrong?" Ishizu replies to her.
Tea whispers something to her and she leans closer to me. "Er...She thinks you're sexy!"

Later, we get the gossip that there are demons in an Egyptian tomb. The humans want to investigate, but I'm weary. It's in the city. That's where the kids'll make fun of me. They'll attack me. I'll be forced into prison. I want to kill those demons, but I'll never forget what they did. Never.

I'm wearing a leather outfit. Tea is too. I sigh and put my helmet on. She does too. There's no room for us in the car. I glance around. The whole neighbourhood is out, staring at me is if they've never seen a vampire before. I snort and get onto my motorbike. Tea gets on behind me. The car starts off and heads into the road. I start the bike up. We cruise into the road and follow the car. Tea doesn't say a word. I can sense her nerves. Almost smell her fear. But, somewhere inside of her she loves me, for who I am, not what I am. I'm not that sure though. It might be a trick. I concerntrate on the road, dragging my mind away from the female human with her arms wrapped around me.
"Are you all right?" I ask, loudly over the roaring engine.
"What?" she calls.
What did she say? She probably doesn't understand me either...I'll have to teach her some of my language when we stop for a break.

It's such a long way to the city. The sun has already set, and given way to the beauty of night. We finally stop at a service station. I park my bike and me and the girl take our helmets off. We sit around a coffee table. Order drinks. Yugi has cola. Tea and Ishizu have hot chocolate. Marik has tea. I have water. Don't really like water, but it's the most flavourless thing I can get. I unscrew the top and reach into my pocket. I pull out a small vial of crimson liquid. Pour a few drops into my drink and swirl it around. I put the blood back in my pocket and take a few swigs. It's like an instant meal to me; quenches my thirst and soothes my hunger. Yugi grimaces. Tea watches intently, like she's studying a new breed of ape. I don't like it here. Too many humans and their vile habits. Tea's watching me again. I snap. "Would you like to learn my language?" I mutter.
"He doesn't like you watching him. I think you should just talk to him, not stare at him," Marik says to her quietly.
"No, he asked you if you would like to learn his language," Ishizu cuts in, scowling at her brother.

Tea smiles and nods. I say a simple sentence. She tries to repeat it, but it takes several tries for her to understand pronunciation and accent. I try another sentence, this time, a longer one. CRASH! We gasp and spin round. I jump to my feet and sniff the air. I frown. I can smell vampires, here, in this room. I scan the place, ready to attack who or whatever just broke in. Wait. We're the only ones here. Just a second ago, this place was crawling with humans, loads of them. How could they escape so quicky and unnoticed. I should have noticed them with my heightened senses. Only demons can move that fast. They can't have been demons; I would have smelt them, they would have killed me.

There's a shattered window to my right. "Show yourself!" I shout. "Now!"
"Your senses have failed you, Pharaoh," a female voice sneers. I growl. The humans huddle together behind me.
"What do you want from us?" Yugi yells.
"What I want is standing in front of you," the vampiress grins. She speaks both my language and theirs. I glare and flash my sharp, pointed long canines.
"Is that a challenge?" she hisses.

From out of nowhere, a large brown wolf leaps into view before us. I snarl like an animal, lunging at her, whilst transforming into my own wolf form. We clash into each other. The fight's on. We tackle each other, clawing, scratching, biting, snarling. She snaps her teeth around my hind leg. I howl with pain and swirl round, clamping my jaws around her throat. She chokes and throws me off. I pounce onto her. We wrestle on the floor. Blood stains our fur and spills everywhere. Our bodies cannot heal themselves if it is an attack from another of our kind.

We suddenly switch, from wolf to bat, in a split second. We flutter in the air, still battling. She snaps at me. I snap back, withdrawing just as she goes for my throat. Another change. We're in our strongest form. With black, demonic leathery wings, claws and teeth twice as long and sharp as when this began, we rage on. The vampiress slams me onto the floor. "Give up, young man, you're wasting my time!" she growls in my ear.
"Never!" I hiss, kicking her away. I grasp her by the neck and roar at her face. She screaches and smacks me. I drop her. She hovers above me. I glower up at her, a fresh scar bleeds across my face. She smirks, proud of her work. I launch myself at her, pounding her into the wall behind her. I lean in and bite into her neck. CRUNCH! She screams at me, peels me off and thrusts me into a window. The group of humans duck.

The glass shatters into the night sky and I hit the pavement below. I begin to pick my self up, arching my back, wings drooping. My hands slip in my own blood. I'm on all fours, gasping for breath. My face is smeared with crimson. The female vampire holds me up by my spine and nose dives into e building. She drops me and I smash into it. She cackles and swoops away, into the night. I slip down to the ground and tumble into the road, unconscious. Tea gasps and puts her hands over her mouth.
"Pharaoh! Are you okay?" Marik calls.
"Oh, no," Yugi croaks.
"We need to help him!" Ishizu cries, hurrying to the staircase.

You are not authorized to comment here. Your must be registered and logged in to comment