Souls vs Blood 3

Souls vs Blood 3

Harold felt a presense.

"Hello? Are you all right? Are you injured?"

Harold vaguely heard a voice asking him questions.

He tried to open his eyes... all he saw was a blur. He blinked hard.

He felt a finger poke his arm.

Harold felt a little better. He tried to open his eyes again.

A squatting figure. Hair tied into a bun with strands coming out at places. A girl. ALICE

"GET AWAY FROM ME" Harold backed away as far as he could. He could feel her soul coming in. He was injured so his body was absorbing Alice's soul at an alarming rate and Alice didn't know a thing.

"Hey it's all right, I won't hurt you!" Alice continued to approach him.

Harold backed away again to another trunk.

"Come here! I'll help you!" Alice is getting desperate. She was worried that someone else would die in this house. She didn't want that. She didn't want to see anyone else die.

"No NO, NO! THAT'S NOT IT GO AWAY. DON'T COME NEAR ME. IT'S DANGEROUS. YOU'LL DIE. GO AWAY"

Alice stops. He had a strong, mellow voice. It was captivating. "Okay. But you are okay right?"

"YES! *pause* Yes, I'm fine."

He collapsed to the floor in a worse state than before. How much had he absorbed? He couldn't tell. Would she live? Darn it all.

"Move a little further away."

"Why?"

"PLEASE!" He shouted in exasperation.

"All right!" Alice was intrigued by this boy in the forest. She decided to stay and make sure he was all right, at a distance.

Harold stopped absorbing her soul. She was finally out of the radius. She was safe. He was losing his consciousness. But he couldn't. Not now, or she would approach him again. He wouldn't let that happen. He stood up painfully. Alice, who had been squatting, followed his lead and stood, worriedly, hoping he wouldn't fall. He didn't have any physical injuries as far as she could see. No blood at least. Well, his blood had been banked in with the vampires but she wouldn't have guessed that.

The fastest and least damaging way of recovery, was to walk through a crowded street and take about an hour from each soul that passed. Not a very nice thing to do, but it was the nicest way Harold could think of. He heads to town. Every soul he passed on the way made things better. Soon he wasn't grabbing onto his arm. Then he stopped limping, he stood up straight, and by the time he reached town, his physical injuries were pretty much gone. Alice was amazed. She thought he had an amazing speed of recovery. Sad to say, she didn't know that the lives of everyone she just passed had shortened by about an hour or so.

All Harold had to do was stand still and let the crowds pass him. He shortened the time he took to about 15 minutes but because there were so many people it was more than enough. He was fully recovered. Luckily for him Alice lived at the outskirts of a crowded town area.

He turned back and looked at Alice. Alice jumped. He came closer. Now it was her turn to take steps back. Harold stood a good one and a half meters from Alice, and lead themselves away from the crowd so he had a radius around him.

Alice started speaking first. "Is it okay to come near you now?"
"No. It never is. But for now, this distance is safe."
Alice didn't understand what was so dangerous about this boy. It was mystifying.
Harold spoke again. "That boy that goes to your house."
"James? Do you know him?"
"He's dangerous too."
Now Alice wasn't too happy. A guy that she didn't know was telling her that the person she trusted the most at the point in time was dangerous. Did this guy even know James? She was his childhood friend she should know better! Or so she thought.
"How? What makes you say that?" Alice snapped.
Harold looks at her. His eyes were not cold or angry at her retort. There was something else. Alice tried to figure out what. Harold sighs, turns his back of Alice and disappears. It was as if he was never there. Then it hit Alice. He had eyes of worry. That boy, was worried for her. But why?

She did not tell James about the incident. Perhaps it was a girls thing, to keep meetings with another male species to themselves to avoid misunderstandings (and end up causing them). But she also felt a bit distrustful towards James. It was rather unthinkable but the words of a stranger broke her trust of James. She felt a bit distressed about it. When James came in and talked to her, she gave curt replies and default set expressions. James felt pricked about that but he thought maybe it was because they were home alone and she was afraid. Well, he amused himself by thinking that she was right to be. (right to be afraid of him I mean.)

Just as James headed off to the bathroom he suddenly noticed the mark on Alice. It was fresh. The stupid soul sucker had renewed his mark. That meant he was still alive. And there was nothing even the vampire James could do about that (The mark I mean). Absolutely nothing.

Alice continued her tiny cold war. James was caught up in his anger with the soul sucker so he didn't bother much about it. Alice resumed schooling.

On Harold's side, he had gone through the soul sucker portal into the soul sucker world and his friends were taunting him.
"Someone's in llluuurrrveee~~"
"Stop it..."
"OHHH He doesn't deny it!!"
"Ughh..."
Then Harold's closer friends came in and shooed the taunters away.
"What happened?" Eunice, a girl soul sucker came up to Harold and asked.
Jonathon, another soul sucker, turned his attention to Harold as well.
"I didn't mean to but I did."
"Kill her?" asked Tom, the third soul sucker friend.
"Not that much. I can't be sure I was unconscious but she is still alive."
"Unconscious?" probed Sarah, the forth soul sucker friend.
"She's friends with a vampire. Probably doesn't know he is one. He let in on my presence to some other guys and I got attacked but that's the human world. I'm all right now." (meaning healing wasn't a problem at all with so many humans around)
Johnathon speaks up, "those idiots that were serenading you (the taunters) have been filling their bottles with souls haven't they? Even we have. You are the only one with an empty bottle Harold. The only soul sucker."
"That's not true!" retorts Eunice.
Tom stands up for Johnathon, "Hey, your grandmother doesn't count."
Eunice pouts.
Harold, Johnathon, Tom, Sarah and Eunice were the sons and daughters of close families. Johnathon and Sarah were siblings.
They were the few who refused to absorb full souls, only absorbing a bit from each human at a time.
"Are you going back?" Sarah asks.
"Yeah. I have to or my mark will disappear and that vampire can feed on her."
"But you have to be careful Harold. Even if you don't join the front lines during the war, any soul sucker is any vampire's enemy." Tom said.
"I'd rather you not go..." Eunice said.
"How's my mother?" Harold decided to change the subject.
"She's doing fine Harold. I'm sorry I can't go with you to the human world." Replied Sarah.
"Hey, you're looking after my mother, I can't ask for more." Harold replied.
Sarah was a healer. She had the power to heal others, using the minimal amount of soul possible. She was preparing for the war with the medical team. Harold's mother was sickly ever since his father passed away. Not for reasons such as love sickness but for practical reasons since Harold's mother was surviving partially on her husband's... something, I haven't decided yet.
ANYWAY...
Johnathon and Sarah were from a warrior family so they were stuck with training and Tom was against Harold's trips to the human word for reasons other than soul absorption so he would not go with Harold to the human world. Basically, Harold would have to go alone. But first he would care for his mother. The mark would not disappear so soon anyway.