Vampires & Vinca by A.L. Tyler

Author:A.L. Tyler [Tyler, A.L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

He drove me out to an area in the mountains, and then we walked.

A long ways.

I was surprised by how well he handled going such a distance while looking like he had just done a round with the flu. The late October sky was overcast, and a thin misting was beginning to thicken into larger drops of rain.

“This is one of the camps Adeline set up, but they don’t use it anymore,” he said. “She sets up a new one about once a year, and then we use a different one every month to prevent anyone from planning an attack. They eventually tear down the old ones, but they haven’t taken this one down yet, so me and some of the others come here to run. It’s good for solitude, and it’s nice to have a little shelter when the shift keeps switching on and off.”

Vince had learned, and later explained to me, that the werewolves who had been infected longer were only rarely forced to take wolf form for more than a few days and only once a month. But being new to the affliction, Vince was more unstable, and the wolf took control at random when the moon was waxing.

As with the other camp I had seen, large amounts of wisteria grew everywhere. Most of it was dead now, the first frost having already come and gone, and the skeletal vines wavered uncertainly as their last tendrils fought to cling to the boards of the cabins.

He took my hand and led me to a cabin with a more intact-looking roof on the outskirts of the camp. When he opened the door, it took my eyes a moment to adjust.

He had made himself a humble living space in there, complete with a sleeping bag and an electric lantern. A few water-damaged books and magazines were tucked in one corner, and a small plastic container held a few granola bars, bottles of water, and a toothbrush.

I turned to Vince, smiling in amazement, and he bent down to pick up a large coffee tin from the corner. I was afraid it was the latrine, but then I saw the candles and matches inside. He had made himself a makeshift space heater.

Pushing his damp hair back, he lit the candle, and then set the tin down next to the sleeping bag as he sat. I went and sat next to him. Breathing heavily, he pulled off his wet jacket.

“Sorry about the weather,” he said quietly. “I was hoping for a better day when I brought you here, but I’ll take what I can get. The roof doesn’t leak much.”

I looked up, suddenly feeling bad for him. “They don’t have a better place for you to stay?”

“Oh, they do,” he said. “Yeah. The cabins that are actually getting used regularly have heat and everything. I just prefer to be alone sometimes, and the wolf doesn’t mind the lack of amenities.”

A wind rattled the shutters on the window, and Vince reached up to test the rag he had used to tie them shut.

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