A Lonely Journey

Some journeys are better travelled in company, but some are just meant to be travelled alone.

 

A LONELY JOURNEY

Zoe Ruff looked at the rapidly rolling landscape out of the window. Though everything in sight in the almost barren land moved at a blurring speed, the train seemed to move at a torturously slow pace for her. She closed her eyes and sighed, sometimes one just had to be patient. She lifted her eyes to the sky, she could tell it was going to rain; black clouds covered the overcast sky, swirling and merging into one another, a personification of her thoughts.

She sighed again, she was tired, not having slept or eaten for the last 32 hours, there was a dull ache in her temples from the lack of rest and strain, she knew it would develop into a full-fledged headache shortly and she didn’t have the pills. But none of it bothered her, except her failure.  How disappointed would Anton be!! She had let him down in the only thing he had ever asked her. It wasn’t for the lack of trying though, she had tried her best. But sometimes your best just wasn’t enough.

No use thinking about that now. But she wouldn’t face Anton with a failure, there were other ways. That was why she was here wasn’t she? Alone, on this almost empty car, on the only train from Trantil Mountains to Noctis. She believed the city would have an answer; cities always had answers didn’t they?

Still it bothered her what she would do for money once she reached there, having spent the last of her savings on the ticket, she might have chanced the risk of a ticket less travel, but that would be too big a risk, since the train was the only medium of transport from the mountains and run only once every 30 days, but even then almost always ran empty. So there was little chance for the few rare visitors to escape the station without tickets.

Too bad the train wasn’t run during daytime though. She would have enjoyed the sun, as it was so rare a privilege. The wilderness that stretched for hundreds of miles from the Trantil Mountains to the next vampire settlement, also called the “Trantil Waste” was barren and uninhabitable, with caked dry earth and lakes which were once full but whose water had long since turned deep and poisonous. There were of course forests scattered across the landscape, but the trees were abnormally huge and twisted with swamps and quicksand and no one knew the kind of creatures lived it its depths. It was said to be even more dangerous than the lakes, so much so that not even “The Solis Radii” dared go there.  So there was no barrier to block out the sun, none was needed. She didn’t know why she longed for the sun to view such a wasted landscape. But to her, to humans, the sun was a symbol of hope, an unblemished and infallible source of power and beauty as it looked upon the world in all its majesty. But not many could appreciate it, some like the ones in Noctis never had the chance to see it and some (like the so called protected families in Town) saw it too often to appreciate it.  

She let out an irritated sigh. What the Hell? She had more pressing problems than teaching people the importance of Sun!! That was when she was aware of two pairs of eyes watching her; she turned to look in the direction.

It was a child, a boy of around 8 years, with pale skin and short brown hair sitting opposite her, the only other inhabitant of their compartment. She could immediately tell, without even looking at his blood red eyes that he was a vampire, no child ever travelled alone on such a dangerous route at night. In fact no human did and even vampires avoided the Waste.   

He smiled slightly on seeing her looking at him.

“A lonely journey isn’t it?” he asked in a voice that seemed oddly like that of a child and an extremely old man. It kinda reminded her of a fruit that had a healthy skin outside but was rotten inside.

“So it seems…” she answered back... his gaze made her uncomfortable like he was evaluating her, weighing her purpose.

“Indeed…”he mused, smiling and nodding slowly, observing her keenly, from her thick long hair that reached to her waist, a rich red mixed with a tinge of gold, like strawberries dipped in golden honey, to her large eyes framed by long lashes, it was so hard to identify their colour, one could classify them as light brown mixed with red, but to him they seemed a light pink, a most uncommon colour if it was natural, she was young not more than 16 or 17 with a lithe body and a pale creamy skin, anyone could see she was beautiful, except herself perhaps, for her long her which should have been smooth and silky was unkempt and dry tied back carelessly and her cloths were simple and dull and she was dressed in a most unattractive manner.

“I suppose you are from “The Ministry”? “She asked nonchalantly.

“You are right, Miss. I’m indeed from the Ministry. I had to come here for business purposes”

“The Ministry” was the system of governance created by the vampires. It took care of everything from law and Order to commerce, retail and Tax. No Vampire would have any business on the Waste except one from The Ministry; he might have come on an audit as the Ministry conducted an audit of its lands every year to make sure no shady activity was going on.

 “I see” she nodded cursing silently; what rotten luck that a Ministry official had to travel in the same compartment with her!!   

“And what might a young lady such as yourself, be doing in a dangerous place such as this? The Waste is not for anyone, human or vampire…” he asked in the same strange voice...

She tensed involuntarily; there it was the first question, who ever heard of a Ministry official who didn’t try to poke his nose into your business? She tried to mentally list out other such questions he might ask, he would surely ask where she had stayed during her visit. No one could stay in the waste, anyone who had any business here at all always stayed at the inns in HillSleigh, a village located in the mountains. And he would easily find out her lie if he enquired in the small closed village.  But even if she did manage to bluff her way through it her greatest concern was what she would do if he asked her for her license to be here?  Whatever he asked or didn’t ask, he surly would ask for that! Damn!!

She knew she could not tell the real reason for anything, but she also knew any reason she gave would only make him even more suspicious.

“I’m a student of Botany, and I’ve heard some extremely rare plants grow in these parts. It was only natural that I should be curious” she answered trying to keep her voice casual; besides what she had said was partly the truth.

“I see…And may I enquire what plant might have aroused your curiosity so much that you undertake such a perilous journey?”

She wondered how to answer; she knew she could not tell the name of the plant she was truly interested in, but she could also not tell any common plant, for only the uncommon ones grew here. But whatever answer she gave, she also knew he would ask her if she had a permit to study it.

“Its lamia bibens…” she answered at last…”Also known as “Black Drinker”, it grows normally just as any other plant, but if you pour it the blood of a vampire, it bears a black fruit. The flesh of the fruit is the only thing a vampire can consume other than blood. But the blood of a human is said to kill the plant.”

“Yes…that is quite a rare plant indeed. Not even TUSAR is said to have it.”

At the mention of TUSAR she clenched her fist, but immediately composed herself, she nodded expecting him to ask the license any moment.

“Yes, there have been only rumours of its existence, no actual records. But if it were to actually exist will it not be as though we are drinking our own blood. I mean the plant takes vampire blood and gives a fruit which only vampires can consume, isn’t it as though we are consuming our own blood?” he asked.

“Yes….but I still think consuming your own blood is better than consuming that of others” she said coldly and immediately regretted it. One simply didn’t talk that way to a Ministry guy. Why can’t she be patient, until the right time?

But he simply smiled and added…”I suppose you humans need to say the same thing in front of your dinner plates every time you eat a pig or chicken”

“I don’t think so, it’s the pig or the chicken that needs to tell this to us, just as I’m telling it to you. But since they don’t its their problem” she finished.

He laughed throwing back his head, a short bark like laughter.

“Aren’t you a witty one?” he asked smiling.

“So I’m told” she turned to look out the window. She was right, it was raining now and droplets of rain glistened on the glass. She heard the sound of a bag opening and turned to see him take a packet of blood from his bag.

“My dinner” he said tearing open the packet with his fangs and starting to suck the blood.

“Nothing fancy, just plain A Positive…” he said…”I wish I could offer you something, but I don’t have anything worth giving you” he added.

“It’s ok…I’d rather not take food from strangers, especially if there is a chance of me becoming their food…”

He laughed again.

“Yes I would love that, the packed blood always tastes stale, fresh blood would be nice for a change” When she glared at him he quickly added “Just kidding”

 “So how old are you kid?” she asked deliberately, this kid was creeping her out with his strange young-old voice…Well what the Hell? He was just a kid wasn’t he, even if he were a very old kid…?

“137 to be exact” He replied.

“I see…that’s a very long time to live. Have you been with the Ministry all these years? “She asked him.

“Yes…employees of the ministry rarely change; it helps keep the governance stable”

She nodded… she wondered what sort of life he must have had for over a century, trapped within the body of a child….She wondered why vampires didn’t grow old or die or how they even came into existence. Vampire origin was a strictly guarded secret and humans were forbidden from researching vampire anatomy or history, still there were the rule breakers. Anton was one, and he believed vampires must have originated from humans themselves, that humans were somehow turned into vampires, after death perhaps. But with the limited resources he had he couldn’t be sure and since the Ministry rule was to incinerate all human corpses (for the purpose of “Hygiene”, something Anton found extremely fishy) he couldn’t verify this theory. 

She noticed that he had almost finished his packet, an involuntary shudder ran through her, whose blood was it that he was drinking, was it that of a mother who worked as a Donor to feed her child or perhaps a husband who had to pay blood tax for his family’s safety? She felt an unconscious wave of disgust and hatred for the boy sitting across her squeezing the packet and sucking the last drops of blood from it, sucking somebody’s life… What gave one race the right to so completely destroy another? Monopolize its land, its resources even the sun and its right to very existence? Over the course of 137 years how many people did he destroy, how many gallons of blood did he consume? Isn’t this enough? Haven’t you lived long enough? She silently asked him. God did not say the earth belonged to vampires!! She clenched her fist, which made the boy look at her sharply. She immediately shook herself and continued staring out the window.

“Just a simple curiosity...what blood group are you from?” the boy asked her after a while.

“B Negative”

“Not a rare one, but not a common one either, atleast better than the A group”

Before she could reply, they were both distracted by a bloodcurdling growl. They looked out the window to see several shadowy shapes racing across the barren land. One of the shapes seemed to be ahead of the rest and was carrying something in its mouth.

“Sand Dogs…” the boy muttered quietly.

She nodded; sand dogs were a species of dogs endemic to the waste, their name coming from the colour of their skin, which was thick and leathery without any fur. They lived in packs and were vicious hunters, swift and fast, not afraid of fire and almost impossible to escape once encountered, but like any species in the waste often turned cannibalistic; their skin was almost always covered with deep wounds from assaults within the pack. She knew as much from having lived in the Waste for almost ten years.

Right now the one ahead of the pack seemed to be carrying something in its mouth, a clunk of meat, a big mistake because the others were closing the gap rapidly. In the brief moment the scene was illuminated by the light from the train’s window, she saw as the first two ahead of the pack pounce on it bringing it down, one of them grabbed its jaw and yanked, tearing out its lower jaw along with the meat piece it carried.  The others joined in ripping and tearing at its limbs. The one under attack began yelping pathetically while the air was filled with the howls of its assailants. She was vaguely aware of the boy averting his eyes. She pulled back from the window as well, glad the sky was overcast, it was not that such sights particularly bothered her, having lived it the Waste she knew only too well such things were common everyday occurrences there. But still it was not something one particularly enjoyed.

Soon the train left the bloody pack behind, she leaned back on her seat closing her eyes, the lack of food and sleep was making her dizzy.

“It’s a terrible land…the Waste” she heard the boy say quietly.

“Yes…”she muttered softly.

“It’s my first time visiting these parts” he said

“You mean you have not visited even once in all of 137 years?” she asked incredulously.

“Well in spite of the years my physical body and brain are that of a child, so the Ministry doesn’t trust me on anything dangerous. I only came here because the guy assigned to these parts had some urgent engagement at the last minute.”

“Then if you have a child’s mind how do you work at the Ministry?” she asked.

“Well my experience all these years has made me much more than just a child, thought me things a child is never supposed to know, made me learn to deal with society and people, but still I’m intellectually and physically limited when compared to a man who has lived for the same amount of time as I”

“I see…” she nodded slowly.

He smiled and opened a book out of his bag and started reading it. She wondered what book it was, but she was tired and not really in an affable mood to ask.

They were quite for some time, the boy reading the book and she looking out the window at the rain and the shadowy outline of the Trantil Mountains.

She closed her eyes listening to the slow monotonous rumbling of the train it was lulling her into a haze despite her efforts to stay awake. She heard the boy say something and nodded without really paying attention her eyes closing shut, the comforting blanket of sleep enveloping her.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was aware of someone shaking her, calling out to her, jolting her awake. She opened her eyes to find the boy standing beside her.

“We’ve reached Noctis…”he said…”You fell asleep during the night…thought I’d wake you up”

She looked out the window, the barren landscape was replaced by a busting station teeming with people, filled with noises of peddlers, newspapermen and blood vendors, illuminated by huge floodlights, a long queue of people stood behind the glass fronted ticket counters and there was a huge ornate clock to the north its golden hands showing the time as 9 in the morning, she took all of this at a glance even before she was fully awake, her first look at Noctis.

She got up shaking sleep out of her eyes, the sleep had done her good, she no longer had the headache, but she still felt like a fool for falling asleep. Anton had warned her time and again not to lose her guard when alone in the presence of vampires. What if he had bitten her? Officials of the Ministry could get away with anything. Her hand unconsciously went to her neck, feeling for any marks. There were none.

He smiled on seeing that.

“Don’t worry I don’t have the habit of attacking a friend without their permission”

“Sorry…” she muttered embarrassed.

“It’s alright; it helps to be cautious….”

She smiled nodding.

He was trying to take his suitcase from the luggage rack; it was too high for him.

“Wait I’ll help...” she said stepping to take the huge black suitcase from above.

She lifted it with difficulty and placed it down panting. It was too heavy even for her.

“Sorry…the guy who came to send me off placed it there, not very thoughtful of him”

“Do you need help carrying it out?” she asked.

“No, no, someone will come to pick me…the train will be here for a while, so you don’t have to worry” he said.

“I see…well then it’s time for me to be going” she said slinging a small black bag across her shoulders.

“Nice meeting you” he said extending his hand. She took it, it was soft not cold like she had expected, and fragile, almost vulnerable, she was sure she could crush it now if she tried, it was hard to believe it was the hand of someone who had lived for a century sucking on the life of others.

“Goodbye” she said opening the compartment door, but just before she stepped out he called out to her.

“I forgot to ask your name” he said.

For a moment she wondered if she should tell her real name.

“Zoe…Zoe Ruff” she said finally….”And yours?”

“Edmund” he stated.

She nodded. Vampires didn’t have last names.

“Goodbye Edmund” she said stepping out of her compartment and into the station.

And as she was milling along with the throng of people headed for the exit something suddenly struck her, throughout the entire journey, the boy had not asked her a single question about herself, like she had dreaded, other than asking her why she came to the Waste he had not even asked her where she came from or in which institution she had learned Botany, a very odd thing for a Ministry official to do with a suspicious human.

He had not even her asked for the wretched license!!

Author's Note

No Jack in this chapter, but I’ve introduced another important character. Sorry if it seems like a cliff-hanger, but soon things will connect and start making much more sense. Review if you like it (or don't like it); it gives me the motivation to continue.

Reviews

[Jhansi Ki Rani]

I absolutely loved this character, Zoe is the kind of main character I love to see in a story like this! I love her attitude, and her chracteriziation is downright beautiful. It does make me wonder though, so does Edmund plan on having a future reapperance? Anyway, this is really interesting so far, and I honesty can't wait to read the next chapter. It feels like I'm reading a real book... which I kind of wish I was, so I didn't have to wait lol. But back to the review, like before, you're descriptions are very nice, and you have an incredibly high vocabulary. I can't wait to see what happens in the future, and I thinkI can successfully say Zoe is my favorite character so far, I can't wait to see how she interacts with Jack! Wonderful story, can't wait to see what happens next!

[FictionQueen]

Thanks :)
I wanted Zoe to be different and a bit aloof ;)
Ya, Edmund might reappear in the future depending on how the plot progresses.