“Burn them! Burn them all!” The man thrust his torch into the large fire that was slowly consuming a woman. With a violent war cry, the bloodthirsty figure tore across to where the others were tied, hastily jabbing at the sticks and dead matter at the base of the stakes where they were tied.

“Stop!” an elderly woman protested, mother to one of the victims of the massacre.

“She’s one of them!” the man yelled, rushing towards her. Before he had taken his first steps, the woman was swarmed with an army of protestors, all clawing at her, scratching her, striking her. It was not long before she was on a stake of her own, waiting for her own pending torch.

The crazed residents tore throughout the village, burning all those that opposed their actions. “In the name of the Holy One, we cleanse ourselves of this unspeakable evil!” they declared, reading various passages from Holy Scriptures before violently purging the lives of their victims.

A young male broke off from the riots, ulterior motives driving his actions. He checked to make sure nobody was following him before he darted into a nearby house. The house had, of course, been pillaged, and was now in ruins, but he made his way to a small cabinet. Hastily pushing it from its resting place, he opened a cleverly disguised trapdoor.

“Are you okay?” the teenager asked the girl inside.

“Are we going to be okay?” she asked softly, the fear evident in her voice.

“We’ll be fine,” the boy assured her, giving her a light kiss before pulling her from her shelter.

The boy sheltered the view of his companion from the flaming victims all around them, whilst doing his best to remain hidden from the savage villagers. He led her up to a hill, just outside the forest, where he knew she would be safe. As the two clambered up the incline, the boy turned, stumbling in shock as he realised the entire village was alerted to his intentions.

Grabbing the girl by her hand, the two ran up the hill as fast as their legs would take them. Upon reaching the top, the boy embraced her in a kiss.

As the villagers’ grunts and exclamations grew louder, the boy broke the kiss, before kissing the small but evident bump that was the girl’s stomach. “Goodbye Elizabeth. I’m sorry I won’t ever be there for you, but I’ll be watching you from above.”

Upon their goodbyes, the girl turned and ran for the forest, seeking shelter in the depths of the shrubbery and trees. Turning, she watched in horror as her love turned and faced their pursuers, stalling them in the ultimate sacrifice. There was nothing human about the way these beings swarmed him, tearing into him, ripping off clothes and skin whilst they affixed him to a stake of his own and surrounded it with flammable matter.

The girl cried out in protest as the torches were swiftly driven into the matter, setting fire to the arrangement. They laughed and cheered as the man screamed, writhing and burning in pain as the flames leapt up his body.

Once the flames had died down to leave nothing but a charred corpse, the group moved on, looking for fresh blood, savagely driven by their lust for retribution.

The girl watched her comrade throughout his execution, crying the entire time. When the mob was finally content with his death, they scattered, searching for more victims. At this time, the girl ran to the hills and lowered the corpse, spending one last moment with her friend. The tears running down her face, she tilted the boy’s head back, letting her teeth sink into his neck. She desperately tried to suck any trace of blood to share her gift of life beyond the grave, but to no avail.

“Please…” the girl cried, trying to revive her companion, “please…” She refused to leave the body behind, desperately trying to save her lover, but as the rays of dawn penetrated the darkness, she knew she had to flee. There was no point dying alongside her friend. She had to raise their child, for his sake.

“I love you, Vincent…” she whispered, before fleeing into the woods, where she would remain sheltered from the piercing rays of the sun.