Eternal Reign (Age of Vampires Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  “Where to?” Callie whispered.

  “Somewhere you won't come back from.” Dad murmured, holding us tighter.

  Whether he knew more or not, he didn't let on as he started muttering about supplies and the patrol at nightfall. The longer I stood there in his arms, the more fear crept into me. If Dad was afraid, I knew we should be too.

  “We might not pass,” Callie offered and Dad nodded, a sad twinkle in his gaze.

  “Of course.” He nodded firmly. “Now go to your room, I need to think a while.”

  Callie and I moved back to our bedroom in tense silence, shutting ourselves away. Our two single beds were practically touching in the small space. Just a small path between them led up to the lonely window. Perched on the one table in the room was a half-burnt candle and a stagnant glass of water. Last night, Callie and I had kept the candle alight longer than usual, telling each other stories and imagining up a life beyond the Realm. Fantasy was the best way to escape this world, but the reality was, we were trapped here. And our conjured dreams of safety had just been thoroughly stamped out.

  I dropped onto my bed and Callie sat on hers, our knees nearly touching. The room seemed more monotone than usual, even my sister’s golden hair appeared dimmer.

  “Where did you get the food?” I whispered, my heart still pounding out of rhythm from our encounter with Wolfe and his creepy gang.

  “There's a way out. I told you Thomas was getting supplies from beyond the fences.” Her eyes lit up with mischief as she reached under my bed, extracting the bag and pouring the contents onto the mattress. A bunch of tinned food and some thermal underwear lay amongst the haul.

  “Oh my god,” I breathed as realisation stabbed at my chest. “If they find out, Callie, they'll-”

  “They won't find out,” she insisted. “Thomas has been sneaking in and out for months.”

  “It's not going to go unnoticed forever.” I pulled at the collar of my shirt, feeling overly hot all of a sudden. The test, Wolfe, and now this. We were in serious trouble one way or the other.

  “Maybe we won't be here forever.” Callie's mouth pulled up into a grin. “We could leave. Take Dad and get out of here.”

  “We can't leave,” I gasped, a tremor rocking through me. “We wouldn't get two hundred yards before they caught us. And then they'd throw us all into the blood bank.” My hands shook with the mere idea of it. All our lives, we'd looked out for each other. The three of us. Now our safety seemed like an illusion. But leaving was just another way of getting ourselves strung up and drained.

  Callie knotted her hands together, thinking on it. “Maybe there's a better world beyond the fences, Monty.”

  I cringed at the nickname she knew I hated, but she continued on, ignoring my expression.

  “We always dreamed about it when we were kids. What if there are still places out there like the ones in Dad's stories? And even if there's not, do you really want to spend your whole life in the Realm?”

  My gut prickled. I didn't want that. No one wanted that. Regular blood-givings may have made us valuable to the vampires now, but we all knew what happened when we grew old, useless, weak.

  An ache grew in my chest. “Of course I don't,” I sighed. “But the patrols will be extra tight while the Elite are still here. The guards always try to impress them with how vigilant they are.”

  Callie nodded her agreement. “So we wait until tomorrow morning-”

  “And hope the sun's shining,” I finished for her and she solidified our decision with a firm nod.

  The room seemed to brighten again as rays of sunlight streamed through my chest. We could actually pull this off. Really get free of this place.

  A knock came at the door and Dad entered, a grim expression pinching his features. His eyes fell on the haul beside Callie and his brow creased in confusion.

  “I know a way out,” Callie announced, lifting her chin. We never kept anything from Dad. He was probably more of a rebel than us at times.

  Dad shook his head with a small chuckle. “Why doesn't that surprise me? You better show us where it is then Callie, because I'm not letting those bloodsuckers take my daughters anywhere.”

  My heart swelled and something bloomed inside me that I hadn't felt in a long, long time.

  Hope.

  I didn’t sleep that night. There was no way I could switch off the swirling thoughts which chased their way through my brain. We were leaving the Realm. I didn’t know if it would be the most exciting thing I’d ever done or the most terrifying. Both, I guessed.

  The biggest question I kept coming across was where we would go once we got out. Dad remembered the world before the vampires but the places he’d known had been mostly destroyed in the Final War. Even if he could figure out somewhere for us to go there was no way of knowing if it was safe. Or even if it still existed.

  We would be heading towards a hope and a dream. Which really wasn’t very reassuring. Stop being so negative Callie.

  I rolled over for the hundredth time and considered voicing my concerns to Montana. We’d talked ourselves hoarse when we’d finally turned in for the night and eventually drifted into silence, but I was sure she was still awake too.

  Somehow breaking the illusion of sleep didn’t appeal to me though. We’d promised Dad that we would try and get some rest before our journey and starting up another conversation felt like breaking my word.

  It wasn’t like there was anything she or I could say anyway. We were heading into the unknown. Plans wouldn’t matter one bit once we made it past the fences. We knew nothing of the world beyond the Realm aside from the stories Dad had taught us. I didn’t even know if those were all true. He’d told us just as many myths and legends as he had memories of the way the world used to be.

  I could very well have gotten some of them muddled up in my mind. Maybe there really were trolls hiding under bridges and it was the giant redwood trees he’d visited with Mom that didn’t exist. The more I thought about it, the more my brain ached.

  At least I’d gone to bed with a full stomach. We hadn’t held back on demolishing the supplies I’d found. Dad had reasoned that we’d need our strength for tomorrow and I wasn’t going to argue against a decent meal. We planned on grabbing more food and clothing from the apartment block I’d raided when we got that far anyway. I had my heart set on that white coat.

  Is there really any way we can survive this? The negative voice in the back of my skull wouldn’t be silenced by the promise of a warm coat. I sighed loudly and pressed my thin pillow over my face, resisting the urge to scream into it.

  Maybe we shouldn’t risk running. There was a good chance we wouldn’t pass their test and we could just carry on living here. I’d have to get up and follow my normal pattern of hiding in the ruins and avoiding interactions with the people who lived near us. Keeping to myself so that I didn’t have to risk feeling the pain of loss when someone went missing. Slowly watching my family starve to death while the vampires breathed down our necks, just waiting for an excuse to take us and bleed us dry...

  The thought alone was enough to make my heart sink. Although the idea of escape was terrifying, it was also the realisation of a dream I’d never dared to believe in before.

  Life in the Realm was no life at all. The only time I ever felt free was when I escaped into the false reality of one of Dad’s stories and I always had to come crashing back to the misery of our lives when it ended. This could be our one shot at true freedom. And no matter how fleeting it might end up being, we had to take it. Even one day of freedom would be worth whatever punishment they gave us for it.

  My mind drifted to the blood bank and I wondered if that was really the case. The stories about what happened to the people who got sent there were so horrendous that I struggled to believe they were true. But sometimes at night when the wind was blowing in the right direction, we could hear the screams coming from that place.

  It wasn’t even in our Realm. The huge building was at the top of a l
arge hill miles to the south and we’d had it pointed out to us on multiple occasions. Black smoke poured from the giant chimney and though it was too far away for us to really smell it, sometimes I woke with the taste of ash on my tongue. Like a warning about what would happen to me if I ended up there. That was where we went if we didn’t follow their laws. That was what happened to anyone who disobeyed them. No one who was sent there ever came back.

  A shiver ran down my spine and the doubts crept in again. Was it worth the risk? It had to be; my soul yearned to be free and I had to embrace the chance to get out of here.

  My heart fluttered like a butterfly trapped in a jar, aching for the lid to be lifted. Freedom. It was like a whisper in the dark and I ached for it. I’d never wanted anything the way I yearned for that sweet promise. No one to answer to, no one to take my blood from me for their own sustenance. To be more than just a food source for a bunch of parasites. A life of my own.

  A smile tugged at my lips and the fear slid back like a retreating tide.

  Our battered blind was pretty useless at shielding our window and I watched as the space beyond it slowly brightened into a new day.

  I gave up on any pretence of sleep and got to my feet to look out properly. Between my worrying through the night, I’d desperately wished for a sunny day to aid in our escape but luck wasn’t on our side. There was no sign of the sun beyond the thick grey clouds which blocked out the sky. At least it wasn’t raining. But I’d have given anything for a blue sky and a blazing sun.

  “Do you really think this will work?” Montana asked from her bed beside me. I looked around and found her wide eyes gazing up at me from beneath her blanket. I didn’t blame her for staying put; the temperature had dropped below freezing in the night and my toes were already beginning to feel numb despite my thick socks.

  “It has to,” I replied more bravely than I felt.

  She didn’t voice any more doubts even though I could see them written across her features. I was sure a hundred of my own were painted on my face for her to see too. No matter how much of a front we put up we’d never been able to lie to each other. We were two halves of the same whole. Twins couldn’t keep secrets from each other, even if we tried.

  I caught her fingers between mine and held on tightly.

  “We’re going to be free Monty,” I whispered, smiling at her. She didn’t even protest at the nickname she hated as a smile gripped her features too.

  “Free,” she breathed in agreement and I could hear the same wonder in her voice that I felt.

  We’d both been born prisoners here, the concept of freedom wasn’t something either of us could fully understand. And yet it called our names in the silence of the cold nights. Whispered to us over the growling of our empty stomachs. It was the voice we’d never dared to listen to before but now that we were, it was screaming our names.

  I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a tight squeeze before heading for the bathroom.

  The light bulb flickered above the cracked basin as I entered the small space. I shivered and hurried to brush my teeth in the ice-cold water.

  When I’d finished, I surveyed myself in the small mirror, hoping to banish some of the fear that glowed in my blue eyes before I had to head outside. The mirror was tarnished and had a jagged crack running through the centre of it so I’d never really seen a good reflection of my face. I wondered how I looked to other people. Would they see the fear I was trying to hide? Worse than that, would they see the truth? If anyone guessed that we were going to run then they might tell the vampires. Turning in traitors got you extra rations, new clothes. I couldn’t expect any loyalty from the rest of the humans in the Realm. They had their own families to worry about. They wouldn’t think twice about handing us in.

  News would have spread by now about our tests. We had to at least turn up for our duties before making our escape. If we didn’t show our faces then the alarm would be raised that much sooner.

  I started brushing my blonde hair, teasing out the tangles caused by my restless night. It hung to my waist in loosely twisting curls. I knew it would be more practical to cut it short but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It was the one thing I’d gotten from our mom. Whenever I thought of her I had trouble remembering much about her features apart from her long golden hair and bright blue eyes. It was soothing somehow to carry that little reminder of her wherever I went, even if it was hard work to look after.

  Once I’d removed the knots, I expertly braided my hair down my back to keep it under control. I rarely left it loose during the day despite how much I loved it. It attracted too much attention and I preferred to go unnoticed.

  One complication I didn’t need in life was the attention of men. At least not anything serious. Relationships just gave you someone else to love and lose. It was hard enough worrying about Montana and Dad all the time without adding anyone else to the mix. Losing Mom had nearly killed Dad and I could still see the pain of her loss hiding beneath the surface when he thought we weren’t looking. Even after all these years.

  Once I was done, I headed into the kitchen and started on a big batch of pancakes. I’d been skipping the first meal of the day a lot recently to preserve our rations but we wouldn’t be coming back here and there was no point in leaving it behind. Besides, a big meal was just what we needed to set us up for the day ahead.

  Dad appeared at the scent of the food as I dished out the first batch. His hair was dark like Montana’s and thinner than it used to be. He smiled enthusiastically at the meal as I pushed it towards him but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “Are you ready?” he asked seriously.

  “No,” I replied honestly. “But how could I ever be ready to run away from everything I’ve ever known? I’m excited though, if that’s not insane.”

  “It’s not.” He smiled warmly. I may not have inherited his looks but we had the same spirit. While Montana had always loved the stories he told us because of the romance and magic in them, I’d always loved them for the adventure. Though I’d never thought I’d be able to see what the world held beyond our Realm, I’d dreamt about it every night for as long as I could remember. I wanted to be Jason leading the Argonauts to find the Golden Fleece or Hercules fighting the Hydra. In a terrifying way, all of my wishes were coming true.

  “What if something goes wrong though? What if the vampires catch us?” I asked even though we’d already been over this.

  “We can’t be much worse off than we are now anyway. If you hadn’t found that way out of the Realm yesterday we might very well have starved or frozen to death this winter. The only thing we might face is a slightly quicker death. And if we really do manage to escape them then we may even get to live real lives of our own choosing. This is the opportunity I’ve waited for for a long time. I’ve dreamed of getting you girls out of this damned place and it’s finally happening.” His eyes glimmered with enough hope at the possibility that I put my fears firmly aside. I needed to focus on this plan and on getting us out of here. There was no point in wasting energy on the idea of it not working.

  Montana came out of the bathroom with her dark hair brushed and her cheeks flushed from washing her face in the cold water.

  “Are we ready to do this then?” she asked as she accepted a plate of pancakes and I took my own over to the small table to join my family in devouring them.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here girls,” Dad replied enthusiastically.

  We all smiled at each other eagerly as the reality of what we were about to do settled over us. Yeah, it would be dangerous but if it all worked out then we would really be free. For the first time in mine and Montana’s lives we would be able to choose our own destinies.

  I fell on my pancakes ravenously, pushing aside the twist of guilt I always felt when I ate well. For once we weren’t being frugal and I was confident that we could get more than enough food outside the Realm in the abandoned buildings.

  As we finished our breakfast, I pulled the brown pac
ket I’d found yesterday from my pocket and held it up to show them. “Just wait until you try this,” I said eagerly as I broke the brown food into three equal pieces.

  “What is it?” Montana asked as she reached for it unenthusiastically.

  “Trust me, it tastes better than it looks,” I promised.

  “I haven’t seen chocolate in a long time,” Dad said as he turned his little slab over in his fingers. “Your mother absolutely adored it. I used to pick up a bar every Friday night on my way home from work and we’d share it while watching trashy TV.”

  “The picture box thing?” I asked. Dad had explained about the kinds of technology they’d had before the vampires came but hardly any of it was allowed in the Realm anymore. The only TV I’d ever seen was the CCTV monitors at the Emporium and I couldn’t really imagine myself wanting to spend hours watching that.