Lady Grey

I could see Slick, now. He was standing on a dimly lit flagstone floor, but he was not alone. A pair of bare, human feet approached him.

The feet were slender, with steep arches and long toes. A black millipede crawled onto one of the feet, and wound itself around the person’s ankle, scuttling in circles, like a cursed anklet.

‘You did well, Amos,’ a woman said, her voice echoing off the stone walls. ‘Now change back into a kitty for me, won’t you? You know how I loathe rodents.’

Slick’s tail shot up, pointing straight toward the ceiling. His black fur stood on end, as he puffed up with excitement. Then, his whole body began to grow. His limbs and tail grew long and thin, while his head became fat and round. His narrow ears grew wider, and more pointed, and bloodied fangs sprouted from beneath his lips. In a matter of seconds, Slick, or Amos, as it turned out, had turned into a cat.

I looked down at my empty hands as the realisation of what’d happened, hit me. I’d accidentally left the dead squirrel’s body at the top of the passageway, but it didn’t seem to matter anymore. The poor creature had never been Amos’s wife, it’d been his prey.

My mind was racing. If Amos was really a shapeshifting cat, did that mean the woman beside him was the witch?

I wanted to turn and run away as fast as I could, but my legs wouldn’t move. My whole body was stiff with fear. I suddenly felt very foolish for ever believing I’d had magical powers. Of course, Amos had been lying. There was nothing special about me. I was just a normal, naïve, thirteen-year-old girl. I’d let my desire to believe that I was special get the better of me. And now, I was going to pay the price for my delusions.

The woman stepped across the passageway exit, crouching down so that she could see me. ‘What a cute little bunny you’ve captured, Amos. She will make a delicious meal.’

The woman looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had long, blonde hair, that hung in a perfectly straight line, kissing the flagstones as she tilted her head to look at me. Her face was small and delicate, but her eyes were large and black. I thought that she was pretty and terrifying in equal measure – reminding me of my own mother.

‘Are you the witch?’ I asked, doing my best to sound strong.

The woman laughed and shook her head. ‘Oh, how sweet. No, dear, witches are not real. I am Lady Grey, this is my son, Amos,’ she gestured toward the black cat, ‘and we are vampires.’

Finally, my legs figured out what they were supposed to do. They were supposed to run, faster than any teenage girl had ever run before.

No sooner had Lady Grey finished speaking, than I was scrabbling back up the passage. I slipped, smashing my knee into the floor, but I didn’t stop moving. Scrambling on all fours, clawing at the treacherous stones with my bloodied fingers, I fought my way back up toward the moonlight.

A cold feeling washed over me. I still couldn’t see the metal grate. There was no way I was going to make it. If Amos came after me, there was no way I would be able to outrun a cat. My heart pounded in my chest. I was sure that I was about to die.

‘How delectable,’ Lady Grey whispered, her breath hot and wet in my ear. ‘The adrenaline in your veins will taste so sweet.’

I flailed, swinging my arms wildly, hoping to strike the vampire, but she was too fast, and I was too weak. Her arms slithered around my chest and shoulders. Then, her grip tightened, until she had squeezed all the air from my lungs. I fell flat against the stones, her body on top of mine. My head torch smashed. A shard of glass sliced open my forehead. Blood trickled into my eyes.

I could not see.

I could not move.

I could not breathe.

I was done. That was it. My life was over.

Lady Grey bit into my neck, and I screamed.

I knew, then, why the muntjac barked in the darkness.

I knew how it felt to be prey.

Lady Grey drank her fill, draining me until my vision turned dark, and my mind grew quiet.

I am so stupid, a voice in my head said, as Lady Grey finished her feed. I am stupid and broken, and I deserve to die.

‘This one’s weak,’ Lady Grey said, as I felt her weight lift from my back. ‘She won’t survive to become a vampire. Maybe they’ll find her body in here, or maybe they won’t. It doesn’t matter. Dead humans do not concern us.’

‘Did her blood taste good?’ Amos asked. His voice was deeper, now that he was a cat. ‘I wish I could taste it. Maybe I’ll just try a few drops.’

Something soft and fluffy rubbed against my arm. Then, I heard a thud and a horrible screeching noise.

‘Get ahead of yourself again, and I’ll kill you,’ Lady Grey hissed. ‘Do not forget the promise you made to me. I could’ve left you dying, out in those woods, but I didn’t. I made you into a vampire. I made you into my son. And now, you want to eat from my plate? You know the rules. You can eat your fill of the animals, but any humans that enter those woods, are my prey. If you don’t like it, I can always find myself another son.’

Lady Grey’s voice grew distant, as I took what I thought would be final breath.

I thought of Mum, Dad and Lottie, back at the campsite. I thought of the decrepit old dog, Walker. I thought of the horse nickering in the night. I hated myself for being so reckless. I wished I’d been able to put up more of a fight, at the end, but at least no one else had seen how feeble I’d been. Mum would be so disappointed in me, and Dad would be so upset.

Lying there, suffering in the darkness, I felt ashamed and alone. I thought I had let everyone down.