Stranded With a Vampire - 3. Chapter 3

"Who are you?" The redhead questioned the thing, but once again it just repeated his words back to him, with his horrible croaking voice.

From what Caden could see in the dim moonlight, it appeared to be a human but there was still something off about it. Maybe it was those purple eyes that shined like a cat's or the metallic voice that sounded like it came from a broken speaker but, either way, the redhead knew he had to keep his guard up.

He slowly rose to his feet, not leaving the thing out of his sight for even a second.

"Listen dude, I don't want any trouble." He tried to reassure the stranger as he slowly got closer.

"I kinda got washed up on the shore today and, well, I'm not really the survival kinda guy. So, if you could help me stay alive till we get rescued, I would really appreciate that." Caden explained and then added with a smug grin that he was even willing to pay the stranger a lot of money once they got off the island. By the time he was done talking he was almost close enough to make out the other person’s features properly.

That's definitely a guy. Caden thought while looking at the other person's figure. To his annoyance, he even had to admit that the guy was at least a head taller than himself.

"What do you say? Do we have a deal?" The redhead asked, forcing himself to smile and hold out his hand. The other person slowly tilted his head from side to side, almost as if he was thinking about it and then stepped forward, into the moonlight.

Caden’s eyes widened in horror and he barely could keep himself from screaming. He had already had the feeling something was going on with the guy but now that he finally could see him much more clearly, he knew exactly what it was.

That's a Zombie! He thought, a wave of dread washing over him, making him tremble. Even though it sounded insane, there was no doubt in Caden’s mind what that thing was. The stranger's grayish skin, sunken features, bloodshot eyes and the tattered rags, were all just way too much like how undead, brain-eating zombies always were portrayed.

Frozen in shock, Caden just stood there and stared at the monster in front of him. Even when the thing slowly reached out for him and its cold hand brushed against his own, he still couldn't move. Only when the bird he had tried to hunt screeched behind him, he abruptly managed to come back to his senses.

Without missing a beat he turned on his heel and started to run as if the devil himself was after him.

The redhead dashed through the forest, dodging low hanging branches and thorny shrubbery left, right and center. Scared out of his mind, Caden quickly looked over his shoulder to see if it was following him, when he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet give away. Before he could even realize what was happening he had tumbled down a deep slope and hit his head on a large rock.

The last thing he saw before blacking out was the creature slowly climbing down the steep decline, its eyes burning with an intense hunger and its sharp teeth glistening in the silvery moonlight.