Token Vampire (Token Huntress Book 2)

by Kia Carrington-Russell

  Half of the members carried heavy back-packs. They began to share around bottles of water. I focused my mind on Lincon. His mind wasn’t attentive, but it was alert and open, he was waiting. Now was the time.

  I compressed my thoughts and sensation of motivation, just as I had practiced with him. I felt his brain patterns go into overload for a moment and then he was blocked off from me, his mind shut me out, so he could concentrate on his task. I didn’t know how he would manage to break through all the security, but he thought so highly of himself, that I hoped he could pull it off. I located Tythian, his mind was calm and collected, but impatient. I sent him a strong urge of motivation, as well. His brain pattern was gone entirely from the borders of the Human Compound. Within seconds I located him back in the compound. He also had closed his mind off to me. Now I waited.

  “Water, Ellie?” Sydney offered me a bottle of water. My hand twitched oddly as I had the overwhelming sensation of darkness. I was inevitably tired from using my gift for so long, and in the sun at that. I fell back from my bodies’ temptation and straightened my thoughts.

  “No, thank you,” I said. I looked away, hoping that when I did, the smell of him would wash away. My senses were acutely aware of his every movement. I continued to ignore the urges that screamed at me. My blood cells felt as if they were on fire and my inner vampire thrusted within me, not wanting to feel the thirst of what I had suffered last night. It was like trying to tame something wild within me, there was no reasoning. I could not tell the instinct that I would be fine, that another day will not hurt or exhaust me; and that I would never allow myself to thirst in that way again. It was the instinct of survival and excessive drinking.

  “Are you okay, Ellie?” Sydney asked. His movement shuffled closer to me and my body froze. The two parts of me rolled over one another in dominancy. This was the line of control I was battling. I continued to ignore him as I tried to push the vampire part of me down. I would not lose control.

  “We have four rodents!” One of the men screamed. Sydney walked away from me in a hurry, and the relief washed over me. I sighed in such relief, before refocusing myself. Four rodents.

  “Move out!” Sydney demanded. In groups of twos and threes they swarmed. In the near distance, I could hear the wobbly steps of the rodents who ran towards us.

  “Come on Ellie, we will circle them from behind,” Sydney said. He grabbed the back of my leather shirt as if to lift me. The touch ignited flames on my skin. I followed him, trying to focus only on the sounds of the rodent’s footsteps, which we ran past and circled from behind as the others took the force at the front.

  Sydney stopped. He was listening out for something. “Can you hear that?” he asked arching his neck. Gun shots fired and screeching noises clawed out of the rodents. The smell of blood filled the air. “I think a vampire might be close.”

  I felt the vision of my purple eyes fading in and out, as if my own warning signals. I tried to focus on the sound that he heard. It was another vampire, I could sense it. It was what threw me over the edge, to know that another hunter was within the woods preying on my victim- on my feast. I could not deprive myself from the thirst any longer. My fangs slipped out elegantly. I wanted to pull away, but that small part of me was silenced. I wanted to feast, I thirsted for it. I was a superior race. They were only human, what was wrong with just a taste.

  Sydney turned around to me and waited for a response. I stood there my arms inward to my body. I couldn’t resist it anymore. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. I jumped on him and delved into his neck. I bit into him, excreting my venom, so his yelling would stop. I covered his mouth until I could sense the paralyses working. His blood oozed into me, filling me and releasing all tension I had within my body. I continued to drink from him, feeling enlightened as I did.

  This wasn’t darkness, this was purity. It made me feel good, it made me feel strong. I continued to drink. I needed more as if it were my last feed. I couldn’t let myself starve as much as I had yesterday, never again could I leave myself so vulnerable and exposed. I felt Sydney’s memories flood into me, I wanted to see more of his story, more of his world.

  “Esmore.” A hand grabbed my shoulder, and I snapped in response. I looked over my shoulder and snarled at the vampire who dared interrupt my feast and my prey. Chase’s gray eyes pooled into me, they were blank as if a mirror of my own. I blinked, and retracted my fangs. I came to the realization of what I had done. I looked down at Sydney’s heavy body that I held limp in my arms. “No, no, no,” I slapped his face. But his pale skin did not lighten with life. His blue eyes continued to stare towards the sky. “No, no, no.”

  Chase crouched beside me and wiped at the bite mark I had left behind. He rubbed my venom between his fingers with suspicion. “This is a lot of venom, Esmore.” He rubbed his leather sleeve over my mouth and wiped away the blood. “I was worried you were too weak to be here today. I thought this might happen.” He collected Sydney’s large and limp body.

  “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to,” I said, embarrassed by my own weakness. I had given in to temptation and I could no longer hear the pulse of Sydney’s beating heart. Chase must have been on the borders with Tythian today. I could not sense him, because I was so focused on Tythian and Lincon.

  “Wipe your lips a little more,” Chase said, soothing. I could feel him excreting his calmness over me, like he always did. “I will take him back with me. We will see what happens from there.” My eyes opened wide. Chase said I had injected too much venom, could he mean that he might now turn vampire?

  “Over here!” Someone yelled. The members began circling Chase.

  “Raaawrr, I am the evil vampire!” Chase began in a robotic voice. “I eat human. Nom Nom. Rawwwwrrr.” He said. The members began to shoot their bullets at him. Chase easily dodged them. He began to enjoy the game.

  “I love human, nommy,” he said. With vampire speed he stopped behind one of the humans. “Nip.” He said and began to laugh as he swirled in circles, effortlessly carrying Sydney in his arms with vampire speed. His back was too us now. He looked over his back dramatically, his abs sticking out as if he were posing. “Bye now,” he charmed with a smile, before vanishing into the foliage.

  “Are you okay, Ellie?” One of the men asked. He lifted me by my arm. “She seems unhurt. But she has blood on her,” he told the others. “We need to pull back now!”

  That two hour fast pace was one of the most disheartened two hours I had ever experienced. I felt numb, conscious of what I had done, but there was a part of me that felt so relieved and overcome with joy to be fully quenched. I was unable to decide on which side I wanted to highlight the most. It was easier to listen to the darkness that murmured it was okay and only natural. That I am the Hunter and everyone else were my prey.

  *

  We climbed up the ladders of the back wall, the atmosphere still and eerie. I did not want to risk losing control, again. I didn’t dare use my gift to see where Tythian and Lincon might be or if they were successful. One of the guards confronted us, to the new leader with a depleted expression. He looked around in search of Sydney.

  The man, who now led us, shook his head with a saddened expression. The guard’s voice came out distant. “Sydney too?” The temporary leader looked up at him for a moment and questioned what he meant. “There was an incident here while you were gone. A break out of a vampire and two Hunters, I didn’t even know we had two Hunters within the compound. But these one’s looked different, I thought they were sabers. Well, the glimmer I had of their image, before they jumped over the wall and fled. And then Charlie. . .” His eyes bulged, mortified.

  “I wish I never saw anything like that,” the guard said recoiling. “His eyes had been gauged out and his chest has been stripped with claw marks. The inside of his stomach had been clawed out and he had been choked by his own intestine,” the guard began crazily speaking and went a ghostly pale. I looked into the forestry below us; the mist rose against the wall.
I wanted to picture anything, but that. So, both Lincon and Tythian had succeeded. “And eight guards and two nurses were killed.”

  I showed no movement or inclination of listening in, but I was angry to hear that another ten were killed, after I told Lincon to not hurt any humans. I knew Tythian wouldn’t have wasted his time on anyone, other than Charlie. The others scaled down the wall and into the training grounds, dejected. They rested their weaponry on the ground and looked at one another, lost.

  “I think we should go back to our families for today,” the temporary leader said. He had oddly shaven tracks in the side of his hair. “I will report to Mr. Richard.”

  “Wait, Cole,” one of the women grabbed him before he left. “Titan?” The rest of the group sagged in depression. The reality of my actions seeped further in. I had taken that child’s father away from her, the man in her life she idolized and adored so much. I could no longer handle being amidst this chaos, pretending like I was a victim.

  “Either I or Mr. Richard will find her,” Cole said. “I will see you all here first thing in the morning. Let us have some time to pay our respects.” Everyone dispersed. At first I didn’t know where to go. I had no family here. I had Jenn, but I was ashamed of what I had done. Yet, my footsteps followed the path of where she might be. I found myself, standing in front of the two attendants that permitted people to go into the science lab. By myself I could not go in.

  “What are you doing?” Jenn asked from behind me. She walked towards me and smiled politely at the attendants. Without answering, I followed her. I wanted to slam a huge sensation of panic into her. Like I was supposed to, if I felt like I was losing control. Jenn grabbed my hand and held it firm. She did not look at me. I could see the beautiful face and frame of Jenn, but in this moment, I felt the overpowering sense of Yolo reaching out to me.

  “You succeeded,” Jenn whispered. We reached the end of the steps and blood encircled my nose. The human whom it belonged to, was now dead. Charlie was now dead. Within the first laboratory room and cell of where Charlie must have once sat; blood was sprayed everywhere. Blood was smeared amongst the glass, rolled over the bed and affected the white shelving that held tubes of blood.

  “I hope you both find some form of peace after this,” Jenn said. She released my hand. She attended to the furthest room and spoke to someone there. I continued to stare at the blood, replaying the guard’s words who informed us of the painful manner Charlie died in. I thought of Sydney, sending him out a prayer. I prayed that after Chase took him back to the coven, that he was alive, that Chase could save him. If not, I didn’t know how I felt if he turned vampire. It could take up to days for him to turn.

  I considered the very thing Chase now watched out for. What if it were possible that Sydney turned into a vampire? Could I still return Titan to her father? Would Sydney ever allow it, now being the monster he hated so much? The monsters that I hated so much. Did I hope for him to have been turned, magically somehow, without realizing it? What did I consider worse for him, to be dead or to turn him into the very thing that both of us hated? But what I hated most right now, above all other monsters, was myself.

  I followed Jenn silently, for the rest of the day. I ignored all those around me, as If it were only Jenn and I who walked through the halls. I knew this was a situation where I should find guilt. But without either Chase or my mother, I felt nothing. But I was conscious, that what I had done was wrong. It consumed me to have this emptiness; I wanted to feel regret, sympathy and guilt. But those emotions did not come. I was a monster.

  The Human Compound went into both a silence and frenzy. Most stayed within their homes, soldiers guarded the area heavily. A few were regrouping to go on the hunt for Lincon, Kora and Kasey, of which I still had no idea, how he had done it. He was an illusionist and he told me he would not tell me his tricks. It made me question as to what extent his illusions could form into. Mr. Richard was furious and demanded that his property was to be returned to him. He told Jenn, that she was not to leave the Human Compound tonight. She was completely against it. She smiled as charmingly as ever, and told him sternly, that she would still return to her own compound.

  Our walk to the border was silent; Jenn asked no questions about the day’s event. Tythian waited for us, he was neatly groomed and cleaned up. I imagined that it would have been hours of scrubbing for him to look so cleansed. There was hollowness in his eyes. He had acquired revenge, the one thing he wanted most and yet it was obvious it brought him no peace. It only validated how insignificant Charlie’s life was. He was a major part and memory of Whitney’s world and just like that he could be killed. Tythian and I didn’t appear to be that different at all.

  The nauseous sensation of being teleported by Tythian grabbed hold of my stomach. The dusty smell of the coven underground hit me. It felt as if it were a burst of life. I was back now. Back in the shadows of where I felt I now belonged. Chase had taken Sydney. Is he alive or had I. . . A sickness swirled in my stomach as I sniffed for Chase’s scent.

  “Wait, Esmore, you must brace yourself first,” Tythian said sternly. “It is not the easiest.”

  Jenn’s beautiful body formed into Yolo, who looked between us skeptically. “What isn’t?” Yolo challenged me to tell him the truth. I suspected that a part of him already knew. I could smell Sydney’s blood all over me, the small particles that were left on my skin, that hadn’t wiped off. Yolo would be able to smell that too.

  With vampire speed, I dashed through the tunnels to where I could smell Chase. Before I opened the door my hand froze. There was an aroma in there that smelt like me. But I could also distinguish it was Sydney. My blood boiled in suspense. I resisted opening the door. An overwhelming surge of grief, disappointment, pain and suffering rolled over me. I clenched my stomach, unable to control this affliction. What were all these feelings, where had they come from?

  Tythian and Yolo stood beside me, both of them studying me. “I thought it might be like this,” Tythian said. “You are only a new vampire, Esmore. Those who turn another vampire are emotionally connected. These are not your own feelings. For someone who cannot feel, it must be overwhelming.”

  Tythian reached for the door handle and I panicked. I didn’t want to see it. Why didn’t I want to see it? I could sense something was wrong. My stomach churned. But Sydney is vampire, he is alive. A slight relief washed over me. But it was fake relief, I knew something was wrong. I heard a cry, as if a new born child had screamed for its mother. Uncontrollably, I barged Tythian out of the way and opened the door. What was this pull of attachment and maternal instinct?

  Chase studied me when I entered the room. My mouth opened. Sydney’s large back was turned to me. He sat in the corner of the room. Every step I took towards him, created heaviness in my stomach. I thought that soon my legs would collapse. But he was calling out to me, I couldn’t resist him. I couldn’t reject him, this child of mine.

  Sydney gave out a stifling scream and he charged his shoulder into the wall, with such force I heard it crunch.

  “Don’t do that,” I said worriedly. I ran over to his side, able to take those final steps. I pulled him away from the wall, wanting to see his face. I pushed aside his hair and he began to make a cooing noise. “Sydney, look at me,” I whimpered. Already my tears had spilt. I could not sense the man that I had only teased today. I scanned my mind over his. Only small pulses of thought came from him, tiny and insignificant.

  Sydney looked at me, rubbing his cheek into my hand. His neck clicked awkwardly as he did. I gasped in shock, yet, I had already sensed that this was already there.

  “He is a defect vampire,” Chase said, still studying me. I choked on my own words. Tears began to blur my sight. What was this? I held Sydney’s face to my chest. His large frame cowered towards me. I could not let any harm come to him. I had to protect him; I had to look after him.

  “Ah,” I jarred back and pushed Sydney away from me. “He bit me.” A small part of my chest had been ripped
away, skin and all.

  “He can’t feed properly, Esmore. . .” Chase began.

  “No!” I snapped. “You cannot hurt him. You cannot take him away from me.” I stroked his sandy brown hair, protectively and began to snarl at the others.

  Tythian and Chase exchanged a look. Yolo watched the exchange between Sydney and me, with little interest.

  Chase leapt across the room. “You can’t hurt him!” I said savagely. I stood up and slammed my hands hard, against Chase’s chest. Chase overpowered me and slammed me against the wall. We struggled in dominancy. I kneed him in the stomach three times. I had to get to Sydney. I had to protect Sydney. Sydney. Sydney. Chase blocked my knee on the fourth. He held me with only one hand, before firmly before punching me hard in the stomach, winding me for a second. But that second was all that he required.

  With no mercy in his eyes, he leant over Sydney.

  “No, Chase, No!” I screamed. I ran for him. Chase plunged his hand into Sydney’s chest and pulled out his heart. I gasped in disbelief as Tythian caught me. I had my outstretched hand over his shoulder, gasping to get to my baby. My Sydney. The room around us swirled into darkness. Tythian teleported us back to the hot day of the desert. I dropped to my knees in shock. I stared at the deserted ground. Tears escaped my eyes as I snarled, and pledged my revenge against Chase.

  “Esmore,” Tythian said, calmly. “Have you come to your senses yet?” I snarled my fangs at him. I realized how pathetic I looked. I sat on the dry ground with Tythian watching over me. I looked around, and reevaluated my surroundings. The tears I shed became dry. I took shallow breaths. The upheaving pains in my chest and the panic attack that I endured lessening.

  I looked to Tythian for some form of explanation, my overwhelming sensation of the feeling of pain and suffering gone. A maternal instinct that had swept over me disappeared.

  “Chase had to do it. You would’ve destroyed yourself in the process. We weren’t sure if you would be overwhelmed by the emotional connection, due to you having none without your heart. He was defective. Without being spoon fed every day, he would have died. You would not act like your normal self. You too, would have been led down such a path,” Tythian explained.