Avenged

I do not know how this happened, or if I will even come out of this alive. I run through an unfamiliar forest, with that creature chasing after me. Making it home in one piece has never seemed as important as it is now. But I can not continue like this, trying to push my burning legs even faster, knowing that that nightmare is right behind me. If I can make it up ahead, then maybe, just maybe, I might have a chance, if only just a small one.

I can hear the mortal's breathing, fast and panicked, just like his heartbeat. I could have caught him hours ago, were it not for that damn crucifix. I would not have even bothered with a pitiful meal like him had he not been the one to kill my dear Amelie, the sweet and loving mortal who had stolen my heart. I run my tongue over my fangs, moistening them. This man will not see the morning - I will make sure of that.
 
Panting like an animal, I stay on the path, knowing that I will get lost if I don not. But that monster chasing me is having an easier time than I. My only protection is the small crucifix that was given to me by my village's priest. I hear cruel laughing behind me. Dear Lord, help me!

I laugh as I hear the mortal's heartbeat go up a notch. He shall have a heart attack if he does not calm down soon. However, that is not how I want to kill him. I want to taste his fear before his blood, hear the slowing of his heartbeat as I drink the sweet red nectar that he needs to survive. I will not leave Amelie unavenged.

The bridge is not all that far ahead, and already I can hear the sounds of the river flowing--

I start moving slower to toy with the mortal, to play with his sense of security. If he is assuming that running water will stop me, then the fool is terribly wrong...

--I turn my head and look back, only to see that horrible, loathsome demon. A vampire. An immortal. He glares at me, his perfect mouth curling into an evil smile. The bridge is so close--

The mortal looks back at me, his eyes wide with fear. I give him a toothy smile, flashing my fangs at him. I suddenly leap towards him--

--The vampire floats towards me and I scream. Suddenly it is wood that I am walking on, instead of a cobblestone path. I'm on the bridge, and I'm safe!

The mortal backs onto the bridge as I land in front of it. His eyes are triumphant - triumph that changes quickly to horror as I step onto the bridge. I take three slow, exaggerated step towards him and reach out for him like a blind man--

--I fall back as he reaches out for me. "Why?" I cry. "Why me?"--

-- "Because you killed Amelie," I reply coldly. I hoist him up by the collar of his tunic so that he and I are face to face. I tear off the chain that holds the crucifix and toss it into the river below. "A life for a life seems fair, doesn't it?" I do not give the pathetic creature a chance to answer. "And now, you die." I sink my fangs deep into his neck--

-- And I cry out in pain. So this was it, the end of my story. Lord, please guide my soul...

As I drink, I can feel his heartbeat slowing, his pulse fading. Ten minutes later, I drop the drained corpse onto the bridge. He can be found by his own kind, if the animals do not get to him first. I stride past the body to the opposite side of the bridge, over to the cemetary. I walk through the cemetery gates and search for the grave with the freshly turned soil. Bending down next to it, I silently read the inscription, brushing my fingers over the name. "Rest, dear Amelie," I whisper. "You have been avenged." I sofly kiss her name on the headstone and leave the graveyard.