Stranded With a Vampire - 2. Chapter 2

"Oh come on, you fucking useless garbage!" Caden yelled at his phone, clearly remembering that it had been advertised as waterproof, and yet it wouldn't turn on. Outraged, he pressed the on button over and over again but nothing changed. The display stayed black, only showing him his miserable reflection.

In a fit of rage, the redhead threw the smartphone, making it slam against a palm tree and break into its individual parts. "NOOOO!" Seeing the mess he had made, he quickly rushed over and collected the little pieces that were strewn all over the white sand.

Seeing the broken parts of his only possible connection to the outside world broke something inside the redhead. With shaking hands he tried to put everything back into place but it was no use, because he had no idea how the insides of a phone was even supposed to look like, let alone how to make it work again.

With tears running down his face, he stuffed the broken pieces into his pocket and leaned against the palm tree. "I want to go home! How am I even supposed to survive?! I don't even know how to cook!" He rambled on and on between episodes of heavy sobbing, while the sun slowly sunk on the horizon.

Only when his stomach painfully constricted and growled did he finally realize that just sitting around and crying wouldn't get him anywhere. He dusted the white sand off his clothes and wrapped his arms around himself to protect himself from the cold early evening breeze.

"Maybe there is a five-star resort with a nice restaurant on this goddamn island." He motivated himself and looked around, contemplating which way to take. After slightly hesitating, he finally decided that going to the mountains in the middle of the island might be his best option to get a general overview of his surroundings. And, hopefully, find any sign of other humans.

Clumsily, he stumbled into the thicket, quickly realizing that his shorts and polo shirt were less than optimal for a walk through the jungle. Caden cursed loudly at the branches and shrubbery that scratched his arms and legs, but yet he still continued on his way, determined to reach the mountains he had seen from the beach.

After what felt like hours, the redhead finally reached the bottom of the mountain range. Bloodied and bruised from the entire ordeal, he sat down on some rocks and tried to catch his breath. He didn't think he had ever worked out that much. Hell, not even his personal trainer had ever managed to get him to sweat that much, mostly because Caden reminded her that he could just fire her every time she annoyed him too much.

With the sunlight almost completely gone for the day and his stomach still empty, Caden decided that it was probably better to wait until morning before attempting to find a way up the mountain and to find something to eat and a place to rest, instead. Exhausted, he wiped the sweat off his forehead, stood up and took a better look at the small clearing he had found himself at. Then, suddenly, something moved in the undergrowth just a few feet from him.

"Hey! Don't come any closer, I have a weapon!" The redhead yelled and quickly picked up a thick branch that was lying nearby. The rustling came closer and closer, making Caden tighten his grip on the piece of wood. Even though he was shaking in fear, he was still determined to at least try to fight whatever this was.

With a loud cooing, a quail-like bird suddenly jumped out off the thicket, scaring Caden half to death and making him fall onto his butt. He stared at the tiny bird in disbelief while it picked at the ground. Slowly, a thought formed in his mind, and he looked back and forth between it and the branches he was still clutching in his hand.

Just imagine it's a pinata. A few well placed hits is all it takes. It can't be that hard. He thought and slowly got back on his feet. Carefully he snuck closer and got ready to strike, when the bird abruptly looked up and turned its head in his direction. "Don't you fucking dare." He threatened the small animal, but the second the words had left his mouth, the stupid thing took off running.

"Fuck you!" Caden angrily yelled and dashed after the bird, determined to get his chicken wings. He had almost caught up with it when, all of a sudden, it flew onto a tree. Almost as if it was taunting him, it sat on a branch that was just slightly high enough to be out of his reach.

Filled with fury, Caden struck the tree with his makeshift club while screaming profanities at the bird. Drained, he slumped against the tree and looked at his still very much alive dinner.

"I fucking hate you! Why can't you just come down so I can eat you?!" He cried out and lazily swung the club in the direction of the cooing bird.

"I'm so hungry!"

"I'm. So. Hungry…"

Caden’s eyes widened in horror when he heard someone repeat his words back to him. Even though the croaking voice had been barely more than a whisper and it still rang so clearly in his ears. Completely panicked, he scanned his surroundings, his eyes landing on something in the shadows of the forest. It almost looked like a human, but with glowing purple eyes that were directly staring at Caden.