Heirot

Tenele thought he was crazy. Slow? He'd catch her if she moved slow. And he'd already lied to her once about this. What if this was the side that wanted to eat her? Hell no, she wasn't going slow. If anything, that made Tenele move faster. She stumbled, stooping to catch her balance and pushing back up. Her bleeding ankle was already starting to swell and bruise.

Vlad held back with everything he had, gave her all the lead he could. But his prey was fleeing. He burst into a sprint again, chasing after her, crossing ground faster and faster, until he was close enough to grab her.

He did, and then his body hit an invisible forcefield. With a howl, he found himself stuck, but he had her arm. He held her wrist tight, too hungry to care why he couldn't move any further. He pulled, dragging her toward him.

"No!" Tenele cried, pulling on the ring. The chain was too short to touch him without getting closer, and she was throwing her whole body into leaning as far away from him as possible. "Vlad!" She tugged on her arm, but his grip was too tight. She pulled the necklace off in a hard tug, snapping the clasp, and pressed the ring into his cheek.

Vlad twitched at the sensation, shivering. His hand stayed locked around her, but his eyes flashed with intelligence. "Tenele," he whispered, sucking in air as he realized their situation. His fingers dug hard into her skin. Prey.

"Still," he choked, working hard not to pull her any closer to him. "Be still!"

"Ah!" she winced, tugging on her wrist. "It hurts." She focused hard on being still, but she was trembling. Shaking. It hurt to stand. He was going to kill her. He was going to hurt her. Eat her.

Vlad breathed heavily as he stared at her trembling hand. He looked at the ring in her other hand and focused on it. All the memories that went with it. His fingers unlocked, one by one, from her skin. He let her go, and stepped back into the center of the circle.

Then, it was like he couldn't even smell her. Her heartbeat quieted, her scent weakened. The world blurred. He knelt down dizzily.

Tenele fell hard on her butt as soon as he let go. She heaved relieved air through her lungs so quickly she thought she might pass out. He was trapped. She was safe. They were both going to live until the boats came. Tenele curled over onto her side and let out a heavy sigh. She just watched him while her heart rate calmed, trying to ignore the ache in her leg.

Vlad wrapped his arms across his stomach like he was going to be sick. "K..kill me..." he shuddered. "You h-have to kill me, Tenele." Crap. How could she do it? What could she use? He ran through an inventory of the island, but there was nothing that could wound him. Not truly.

A holy circle....he leaned forward on his hands and extended a trembling claw into the dirt. If he could inscribe it, and teach her the incantation... His hand shook uncontrollably as he tried to trace a ring around himself.

Tenele thought he was doing something to hurt himself. She reached through the circle as quickly as she could and smeared the dirt, before jerking her hand back. "Don't," she barked at him. "Stop. Just hold on a few days. Atul knows we are here. He is coming for us. Okay? A few days. You can do that."

Vlad stopped scratching at the dirt and stared at her with a look of inconsolable despair. "I'll escape..." He stared at the ring in her hand. "D-on't make me do t-this," he couldn't stop shaking. "I c-can't kill you. Don't do this to me!"

Tenele stood slowly. "It will be okay," she whispered to him. She hobbled back a few steps. "You can make it." She pointed to the lean-to he'd made her. "I'll be in there. You won't be able to see me. So, maybe that will be better. Just pretend I'm not even here... Just a few days. I'm sorry. I can't kill you. I can't let you die."

Tenele made her way to her new shelter slowly, each step agonizing. When she finally reached a comfortable spot inside, she rested on the palette of leaves he'd collected for her. He'd built her this shelter out of love. He wanted her to be safe and protected. She wrapped her arms around herself tightly. Was she making a mistake by not honoring his wish?

Vlad clenched his eyes. He didn't stand up. He didn't fly at the walls. He didn't try to call to Tenele. He was so hungry. His veins felt wrung dry. Everything hurt. His chest throbbed where he'd dug at it. He thought several times about stabbing himself. Tenele's gentle voice kept coming back to him. "It will be okay". He pressed his forehead into the dirt and clutched his hands behind his neck like there were arrows hailing down on him.

24 hours later, he was no longer shaking and growling. He was curled on his side in a fetal position, completely limp.

The fire she'd built had long since gone out. She hadn't been able to carry more wood back to start another. She looked down at her swollen ankle and at the entrance to the lean-to. She was afraid to go out again. What if he saw her? What if it got him all worked up?

She was cold. Her skin felt hot. Really, this was not the time to get sick. She hadn't eaten either. She should eat.

Tenele sighed. She stood up, grabbed one of the spikes that Vlad had left her, and started out of the lean-to. She moved as quickly as her injured leg would carry her. Tenele brought back wood and made a fire. She left then to go find food. The hunt wasn't very successful, and she ended up returning with a cluster of coconuts for dinner.

The day passed and turned into another and after that Tenele took to burning the wood slowly and mixing it with leaves so it was extra smoky, hardly leaving the lean-to. Every now and then she'd peek outside at him to make sure he was still inside the circle.

Vlad's sanity began to shed off the second day in the ring. He had a go at the walls several times, and the impact was a relieving distraction to his blurry senses. He let the force of the barrier ground him, but he didn't let himself truly try to force his way out. He build Tenele's eyes into his memory, the ring that hadn't burned him. THere was hope. There was a possibility that she could love him again. He was going to die in this circle. He was going to earn that love. He wanted food desperately, but he wanted her more. Even if it killed him. She would not remember him as a monster. He was determined.

He did want to die, sometimes. Not just in theory or as a sacrifice, but in earnest. He wasn't proud of it. Hunger did nasty things to his brain. He wanted to see her, but he also hoped desperately she never came near him again.

When the sun rose on the third day, he was the color of weathered wood, and completely still. His pulse was gone. his breath was gone. His mind was blank.

Tenele had watched Vlad all morning and he hadn't moved. From what she could tell he hadn't even blinked. She was worried about him, but afraid to go out there and check on him. What if he was dead?

Tenele took an empty coconot and a sharp shell. She cut her hand open and let blood fall into the shell until she'd filled it halfway up. Her hand hurt, and she barely managed to tie the wound.

When she was done she stood up slowly, hobbling on her fractured ankle towards the circle. Tenele was slow, afraid. But, he wasn't moving. Was he dead? Tenele knelt down slowly and set the coconut in the circle. She reached out with a stick and poked his arm. He was so pale and lifeless.

Her heart twisted. She was torturing him. He was dead.

"Vlad?" she asked softly, moving the stick and reaching through the circle towards his face with her bandaged hand. She cupped his cheek lightly. "Please wake up. Don't be dead. Please, don't be dead."