The sounds of pounding thuds echoed behind them, as loud and thunderous as her own heart beating in her chest. Rose cried out as she clung onto the vampire, Kyles expression was frozen in confusion and terror as the duo lept from the window and began climbing away. As they escaped, the pounding coming from the other side of the door had devolved into a scratching sound. 

      “Holy Shit!” Rose held onto the vampire for her dear life! Rebecca’s fingers and toes somehow found purchase onto the iron plating as she scaled the exterior skin of the ship.

      “Hold on Rosie!” Rebecca cried out as she made her way up the bulkhead. The guardrail wasn’t too far away, Rose could make out the brass poles lining up the railing. She did her best to focus on them so she wouldn’t look down.

      “What are we running from?” The clawing from below grew louder as they made there way up the ship. Rose found herself pressing her head into the vampires chest to keep herself stable. Rebecca’s mounds were like squishy pillows. 

      Just as they reached the guard rail, the sounds coming from Kyle’s cabin ceased. Judging by there position, it looked like they were near the forward bow of the ship. Rose shrieked as the vampire lunged upward, she practically soared through the air, and landed on her feet with the human in her arms.

      “Woohoo!” Rebecca cheered as she stuck the landing. They couldn’t have been climbing for more than a few seconds, but Rose never felt more relieved to be on solid ground.

      Rose was still clutching onto the woman’s torso, she was fidgeting against her soft grasp. When she realized it was safe to step down Rose couldn’t help but feel a little ridiculous. 

      “You can let go of me now…if you want to,” Rebecca’s voice was full of canny sarcasm. 

      Rose blushed, “Ok I guess.” Until then she hadn’t noticed the lone sailor in front of them, he was the only person on that particular section of the forward deck. Evidently he had tried to find a quiet place to have a swig of whatever was in his flask. He looked disheveled and worn out. His uniform was creased and unbuttoned, there were bags under his eyes. Seeing Rebecca come out of nowhere must’ve confused the hell out of him.

      “Don’t mind us,” Rebecca brushed her hair back and tried to feign a smile. To which the sailor sighed, consumed the rest of his flask, and stumbled away. 

      Rose should’ve taken this as a sign for how truly bad things were, for a sailor witnessing a vampire scale the side of the ship and jump the guard rail should’ve demanded more attention. Likely, it should’ve demanded severe punitive measures. Instead the poor guy couldn’t be bothered, or was simply too tired to deal with it. 

      Rose and Rebecca scanned the side of the ship, there were some people further away but no-one else was nearby. “I guess we should probably go back to our cabin…” Rebecca tried to speak as the wind blew. It caused the henley sweater she wore to flow up her stomach, she shrieked and grabbed hold of it swiftly. 

      Rose cleared her throat and tried to cover her eyes, but she couldn’t help but take a peek. Once the wind settled Rose took the opportunity to speak, “Who was that at the door? Why did we just do that?”

      “Oh a little morning exercise is always good you know,” Rebecca’s attempts to brush aside the question was terrible, “You know, got to limber up.” 

      Rose just looked at her accusingly, “Becca?”

      “Becca?” Rebecca stumbled, “Did you just call me Becca?” 

      “Stop dodging the subject! Who was that guy?” Rose stomped her foot on the floor of the deck.

      Rebecca looked down, her toes were fidgeting, “…I don’t know.”

      “Bullshit!”

      “I really don’t know!” Rebecca protested, “Truly I’ve never seen him before, but I have seen that look in his eyes. His eyes…they were hungry and wild. I don’t know who he was, but he was definitely on the hunt for human blood.”

      Rose froze, she could feel a pit in her stomach. “What are you saying?”

      “He was hunting…” Rebecca looked dead straight into Rose’s eyes.

      Despite the warm air, Rose felt unbearably cold. Fear sucked into her very bones. “We should tell someone!”

      “Yes we should, but first…I need a moment.” Rebecca rubbed her eyes and walked back over to the guardrail. It occurred to Rose that the vampire might be far more exhausted than she let on. Rebecca leaned on the railing and looked out toward the open sea. Her hair sparkled, reflecting the morning light. 

      Rose could still feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. A bead of sweat strolled down in between her shoulder blades, another caressed the edge of her cleavage. “How were you able to climb the side of the ship?”

      Rebecca looked over her shoulder as she answered, “I can do a lot of things, since drinking your blood.”

      For several minutes the pair just stood there in silence, the only audible sounds came from distant tourists and the ocean breeze. Rebeca returned her attention back toward the ocean, her mind grew distant. More time passed before the silence was broken, a melody formed to dance on the wind. Rebecca’s singing voice was soft and hypnotic.

      Crystal blue skies offered a warming sunlight. In the light Rebecca’s skin gleamed even paler, almost as if her body reflected the suns rays rather than absorbe them. She stopped humming for a moment when she realized Rose was leaning on the rail next to her, “Nice day isn’t it?”

      “Weird,” Rose muttered, “Your singing…I can’t get that tune out of my head.”

      Rebecca chuckled at that. She unbuttoned the collar of her henley to expose a small parcel of skin. Her silver cross dangled from her neck to settle on the base of her breasts, it caught the sunlight to cast a brilliant glare. Rose found herself looking at the jewelry, her eyes were shamefully glued to the padding where it sat. 

      The vampire was taken aback for a brief second, noticing what Rose was looking at. Her smile seemed to cast its own glow, one that made Rose’s heart race. “It belonged to my mother you know…” Rebecca paused before continuing, “Its the only keepsake I have left of her, and of my family.”

      Rose looked out over the ocean, it was miraculously calm. If one didn’t know any better they would assume the ship rested on a sheet of glass rather than an endless sea. Suddenly the wind picked up causing Rose to lose her grip and slide back; but just as she was about to fall, a steady pair of hands caught her. Rose looked over at Rebecca who was already too close for comfort. The silver cross dangled in front of her while the vampires hair blew in the wind, thick and illustrious. 

      Once the wind died down Rebecca took a step back, but she remained standing close. Her skin smelled like rich flower petals, and her eyes glowed like sapphires. Rose swallowed before speaking, “So what happened with your family?”

      Rebecca sighed while leaning against the rail. She had to be careful so that the henley wouldn’t slide up to expose her hips and groin. “I’ll tell you, but then we have to bring Maggie some pancakes,” She smiled again.

      Rose wasn’t sure if Rebecca was joking or not. Then again, nothing made much sense with this beautiful creature. “Pancakes?” she asked.

      Rebecca nodded, “Trust me it’ll make her feel much better. And we should also change clothes, I don’t know about you but this is starting to get a little chilly for me.”

      “Agreed, we can talk about this later.” Rose took a step back from the railing, she expected the vampire would follow her.

      “No,” Rebecca’s voice was like a stone being dropped.

      “What?”

      Rebecca was holding onto herself anxiously, “I…don’t think i’ll have the courage to tell you later…so do you mind if I just get this over with now?”

      Rose could feel a cold sweat forming on her brow. She could tell this was something that Rebecca needed to get off her chest. “Ok, then I guess I’m all ears. I’m sorry if I stepped on a nerve.”

      “No…you didn’t step on a nerve…” For the first time Rebecca’s tone was completely serious, “you stepped onto a whole circulatory system.”

      And then and there Rebecca told her everything, even the parts that weren’t for human ears.