School for Vampires

by Quinn Conlan

  “Are you sure this is the right place?” I ask.

  “Yep,” says Jason, “I used to know every inch of this part of town.”

  “I’m sure you did,” says Garret, cuttingly. We move across the room, trying hard to avoid the broken glass. It’s difficult to imagine finding anything of value here. But as we edge closer to the other end of the room, a dull light becomes visible. It shines up faintly from the floor. We exchange glances. I look at Jason as if to say ‘what’s down there’? He shoots a perplexed look back. Unchartered territory. We slowly move closer. I realize there’s a large wooden hatch on the floor. Light shines through the slim cracks. This must be where Kate was headed.

  We come to a halt about 6 feet from the hatch. None of us dare speak, but it’s decision time. Do we go on, or turn back? I’m scared beyond belief. I’m sure the boys are too. But I’m also curious. I think of Kate, lying there naked on the train tracks. I think of her smile, and her kindness towards me. I picture her flying around the oval on Backers Day, showing everyone just how amazing she was. My decision is made. I look at the boys and they either feel the same, or are swayed by my face. We’re heading down the rabbit hole.

  I take a step forward. Suddenly, four figures drop down from the high ceiling. I know immediately that they are vampires. I also know, from what my heart tells me, that they are strong. And sinister.

  “Well what have we here?” says a male vampire who I sense is the ringleader. They are all dressed in designer black clothes and look like they’re on their way to a very hip party.

  “You kiddies have strayed a long way from the nursery,” says a second male, who looks at me like I’m dinner.

  “Let me guess, you little training wheels felt like being rebels? Thought you’d sneak up top and earn a bit of street cred?” asks the ringleader. I’m heartened to hear this. It means they don’t know who we are.

  “What happened to Kate?” asks Garret. Looks like they’re about to find out who we are. We should have had a group meeting on our approach to detective work. The vampires seem briefly taken aback at the mention of Kate. They obviously know who she is. The ringleader smiles menacingly.

  “Someone’s seen one too many episodes of CSI.” The other vampires laugh. “You nosebleeds are punching way above your pay grade.” I already detest this guy. I’m certain Jason and Garret do as well. He’s so smug. My hatred makes me bold.

  “Why don’t you answer the question tough guy?”

  Really bold.

  He looks straight at me, in a moment of fury. Then his creepy, menacing smile returns. He laughs. The others laugh.

  “You wanna know what happened to Kate? She couldn’t dumb it down, so she had to pay the price,” the ringleader says.

  “What are you talking about?” asks Jason. They all laugh yet again.

  “There’s so much you don’t know,” says the ringleader smugly. Too smugly.

  “I’m getting really tired of people saying that,” I say. Suddenly, a female vampire standing beside the ringleader rushes at me. She is upon me in a heartbeat, with her hand around my throat and fangs extended. Terror takes me. Then lets me go. From a place I don’t understand, I find myself pushing her in the chest with my hands. She goes flying through the air and lands back by the ringleader’s side. I’m as shocked as everyone else. The ringleader seems particularly impressed.

  “This one’s got a little bit of talent. Careful now sweetie, you don’t wanna follow in Katie’s over-achieving footsteps.” Upon hearing these horrid words, that same strange force wells up in me, and I charge at the ringleader. When I make contact, he instantly pushes me away and this time, it’s my turn to go flying across the room. I land on the broken glass-covered ground, winded and shocked. Garret rushes to help me up. The vampires laugh. This is sport for them.

  “Just tell us why she died, jackasses. You know you’re going to kill us anyway,” says Jason. I’m shocked to hear these words. But he’s right. We’re no match for this crew. They know it too. Another couple of rounds of sport and then three fresh dead bodies will grace the underground train tracks.

  “Alright. We’ll tell you. And then we’ll dine on you. Deal?” asks the ringleader. We don’t answer, but of course we don’t have to. “You have no idea how complicated it is up here. You think it’s just about Backers making their picks at Selection? Selection is a joke. Everything’s decided by then. They spend months, sometimes years, picking who they want. Then they make deals with the other Backers.

  “Kate was a star. She’d already been bought by Tobias Fricket.” Garret and I look at each other. The fifth Backer. “He’d fought hard for her. He had to give up his next five draft picks just to get her. And a slice of the Manhattan pie. But he didn’t care. He knew how talented she was.

  “He got the teachers to make sure she didn’t shine too bright, cos if the others knew what they were missing out on, they’d come asking for more. But then Tobias’ son, Beaufort, had to go and fall in love with Kate. And that changed everything. He met her in secret one night and told her what her fate was. He knew how nasty daddy could be, and he didn’t want Kate becoming his apprentice. So Beaufort met with the other Backers, behind old daddy’s back. He met our boss, Bones, who’s down that very hatch right now, doing what he does best. He told Bones about Kate’s talents, and how she’d been undervalued.

  “Beaufort got word to Kate that if she showed off enough at Backers Day, the whole draft would be shaken up, and she’d have a shot at ending up under someone else’s roof. Beaufort even arranged a meeting between Kate and Bones this weekend. I guess that’s not gonna happen.

  “You see, when little Katie put on her dazzling display, Tobias was furious. He knew how much it was gonna cost him. He went on the warpath. He wanted to know how he’d been played. It didn’t take long til he discovered Beaufort’s romantic follies. So, he did the only thing he could do. He had Kate killed. And let’s just say young Beaufort has gone a few rounds with the sun. He hasn’t faired so well.” I suddenly think about the hooded vampire in the stand with the half-melted face.

  I can’t believe the story I’m hearing. All of this was going on and Kate couldn’t breathe a word about it. My heart breaks for her. She was nothing but a pawn in a stupid, archaic, egotistical power struggle. “So there you have it. Hope you could keep up. I struggle myself sometimes.” He actually seems pretty chuffed that he got to tell the story. “Oh, and as usual, those weird little tunnel freaks took the fall. After all, they’ve gotta be good for something beyond lighting candles.” They laugh. I’m repulsed by everything I’ve just heard. So this is the world I’ve been forced into? This is what we’re down there studying our butts off for? It’s a joke. A sick joke. I look at Garret and Jason. I’m suddenly struck by just what terrific young guys they are. How uncorrupted and decent. How they run rings around these jerks standing in front of us. I see them both slowly move their hands towards their pockets. The blood darts. Our first and last line of defense from what is surely about to come.

  The vampires start to approach. This is it. “Story time’s over,” says the ringleader. “Now it’s time for a long sleep.” They seem thrilled at the prospect of ripping us to shreds. I know all three of us won’t go down without a fight. I’ve seen tonight that I have strengths I didn’t know about. Maybe I can use them again to buy Jason and Garret enough time to make a run for it? Back to the manhole and to the safety of the Underground? It’s not much of a plan but it’s all I’ve got.

  As they approach, I step in front of my dear friends. Our assailants laugh and continue moving closer. “Go!” I say to the boys. “I’ll stall them, you can make it back to the manhole.” If I had any hope of my words taking hold, it’s dashed when I see Jason running from behind me and launching through the air towards the ringleader, blood dart in hand. As he bears down on his target, the ringleader deftly grabs Jason in a headlock, takes the blood dart from his hand, and plunges it deep into Jason’s chest. I see the blood disappear into h
im. Immediately, he starts convulsing, and the ringleader effortlessly hurls him through the air. Jason lands on a pile of broken glass and starts frothing at the mouth.

  Garret steps in by my side. We don’t stand a chance. He takes my hand. The smallest mercy is that we’ll meet our fate together. As our killers advance, suddenly another black-clad figure drops down from the roof. They land directly in front of Garret and I. Instantly, I see the fedora. A lover of hats and excellent timing.

  Without turning to face us, this still-shadowy figure says, “Go! Now! Don’t look back!” I know the voice. I can’t quite place it but I know it. And I believe it. Garret and I turn and run. We go to Jason, who still lies in the grip of convulsions. Garret picks him up, and we run as fast as we can back towards the Underground. We hear the sounds of an almighty fight behind us. Punches, kicks, snapped bones and screams. When we reach the street I turn back to look. I see our savior in full flight, annihilating the opposition one by one. I see an axe take the heads off two of them, and the handle of that axe plunge into the heart of another. I see the one remaining vampire, the ringleader, be lifted high in the air and thrown onto the roof of the hatch. The wooden knob in the centre of the hatch goes right through his heart and sticks out the other side.

  Garret suddenly calls me from the street. He’s made it to the manhole. I turn and run. Garret calls out for Carter, who must be high as a kite, but who holds up his end of the bargain. The manhole is lifted and we gently lower Jason down. Garret practically forces me to follow. He descends, hot on my heels, and closes the manhole. We all lie down on the tunnel floor. It’s dark, rancid and smelly down there. But we are safe.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  We move when the seizures stop. Carter is smart enough not to ask any questions. Not yet anyway. He leads us back through the rabbit warren to the train tunnel. If we’ve timed it right, the Saturday social should have come to a close, and kids will be making ready for bed. Garret carries Jason over one shoulder. Even in the dark, I can tell he’s gravely ill.

  We step into the Commons as one. It’s empty. Since I’m the only other Luther, I need to carry Jason for the final leg. We make hasty goodbyes, agreeing to meet up tomorrow. I fling Jason over my shoulder and snake through the tunnel, making sure to duck for any low hanging tree roots.

  The Mess is empty. I hurry across the rug and up the narrow tunnel towards our bedroom. I have no idea how I’m going to explain his sickness. It’ll be hard to miss. I’m exhausted. And deeply worried for my companion. At one point, I find myself thinking if Kate were here she’d know what to do.

  When I arrive, everyone immediately stops and stares. They rush at us. I lay Jason down on the rug. He looks even sicker than I dared imagine. His skin has started to grey. His eyes are bloodshot. His body still spasms every once in a while. Everyone wants to know what happened. I feel like I’ve got nothing left in the tank, but out of thin air, a plausible lie emerges. I tell them he was messing around with a blood dart with his mates down in the Commons, and it accidentally went into him. People are horrified. We’ve all been drilled on the effects of a fully loaded blood dart. At this point, I’m just hoping there’s someone who knows how on earth we treat it.

  “There are meds in the dispensary for this,” says Lizzy. My heart skips a beat. She runs off to grab them. Someone goes to the bathroom and returns with a wet towel. I dab Jason’s forehead and face. He seems barely conscious. Lizzy returns empty-handed. We all stare. “I’m so sorry. The dresser Kurt threw smashed a bunch of bottles. There’s a pile of random pills on the floor but there’s no way of knowing which is the right one.” I think about rushing to another House. Suddenly, Jason grips my sweater with his shaking hand and pulls me down towards his face.

  “I can get through this Blake. I know I can. I just have to ride it out.” He speaks in a pained, fevered whisper. But he’s right. A blood dart isn’t lethal. The most extreme symptoms occur over the first six hours, and then they start to subside. By the second day, it’s on par with a bad case of the flu. I tell everyone we’re just going to ride it out and to get ready for bed. I look up at Jason’s coffin. I can’t bear the thought of him being alone with this six hour wave of torture. There’s nothing for it but to bunk down with him. I gently lift him into his coffin, leaving him in his old leather jacket and jeans. Then I climb up and lie beside him. We are winched into the darkness. I take him in my arms and travel with him on his trip to hell.

  It takes every ounce of those six hours for the extreme symptoms to run their course. Jason slips in and out of deep, terrifying dreams. He sweats so much, we’re both completely soaked by the following night. He holds onto me for dear life. Every now and then, his entire body jolts, as the dead human blood kicks yet again.

  When the tide turns, I’m as happy as I’ve been in a long time. Everything dies down. The nightmares fall away. I can feel his blood beginning to find itself once more. There is no sleep. For either of us. We just endure.

  By the following nightfall, Jason has slipped into flu territory. His body has begun to fight back, although he still has a way to go. When it’s time to rise, the coffin floor is slowly prized downwards. I look across and to my immense surprise, I see Garret staring straight at us.

  I gently slip away from Jason, who lies in a kind of fevered half-sleep, and I climb down to the floor. I feel shocking, and I’m sure I look much the same. Garret just stares at me in silence.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised they let him in.

  “I talked my way in, I wanted to see if Jason was alright. I guess I didn’t need to worry.” His face says it all. He’s crushed. With these words, he turns and makes his way back down the tunnel. I go after him.

  “Garret, wait.” He stops in the tunnel and turns around.

  “What is it Blake? You’re gonna tell me how I’m wrong again? Tell me I’m imagining things? Let’s hear it. Give it your best shot.”

  “He was sick Garret. He couldn’t be alone.”

  “Then let his lame, rat pack mates help him! You’re my girlfriend Blake, do you even know what that means?!”

  “Yes, of course I do! But come on, you saw how sick he was! He needed help.”

  “Yeh well, I guess you were only too willing to give it. You know, I always wondered if you could fit two people in one of those.” He turns and keeps walking. I feel awful that he’s so hurt. I also feel angry.

  “Don’t just walk away!” He stops and looks back at me. I go on. “Can I at least tell you how I’m feeling?”

  “You’ve made it pretty clear over the last few days how you’re feeling Blake. Just not with words. It’s over. We’re done. Go be with James Dean’s love child.” He runs through the tunnel and away from me. I stand there utterly unsure of what to do or think or feel. Suddenly, everything is confused and crazy.

  I go back to check on Jason. He’s been moved to the sofa and lies there shivering and delirious under a blanket. He looks so much better than last night, but it’ll be days before he’s restored to full health. I worry about school tomorrow. We’ll have to find some way to cover for him. I kneel down in front of the sofa and lean in close. “Jason? How are you doing?” He opens his eyes and looks at me. They’re still blood shot.

  “Never better kiddo,” he replies. I smile. He goes back to his half-sleep. At least he’ll be safe and undisturbed here.

  I go into the powder room and sit with my back to the wall. I need to think. So much has happened. Garret has dumped me. Jason is sick. We all nearly got killed. And that smug ringleader has given me a huge piece of the pie to digest. Thank god he loved the sound of his own voice. It’s hard to fathom, all the backroom wheeling and dealing. It’s unfair. All Kate did was shine too bright. And she paid for it with her life. I think about Tobias Fricket. At least my intuition didn’t fail me, the day I met him. He’s evil to the core. I suddenly wonder if word will get back to him about last night? I can’t imagine he’ll be too happy, knowing that Kate’s murder is bein
g investigated.

  I don’t know what to do. I should study. Term two assignments have already started pouring in. I should go find Garret. I should rest. But all I can really think about is Tobias, and Kate. That she died so senselessly. I think it’s chilled me to the bone, because I’ve realized that could so easily be me one day. I don’t know what happened last night, but clearly I’ve got some kind of ability inside me. Am I one of their ‘stars of the future?’ I thought we were so safe down here. I’ll have to add that to the long list of things I was wrong about.

  I go back out and check on Jason again. He’s still got me worried. He’s still lying on the sofa, but he’s awake. He turns over. His ashen face startles me yet again. “How do I look?” he says, jokingly.

  “Just be grateful we don’t have mirrors,” I say. We both smile. His humor is a good sign.

  “We dodged a bullet last night,” he says.

  “You mean a stake.”

  “Who in sweet hell was that bad ass in the floppy hat?” Jason asks.

  “Beats me,” I say. I lie because I’m learning that knowledge can kill down here. I lie to protect him. “All I know is, we owe them our life.” Jason stares at me. We fall into a silence. I can tell he’s thinking deeply about something.

  “Blake, thank you.”

  “It was nothing.”

  “No, seriously. Thank you. I wouldn’t have gotten through the night without you.” Hearing these words suddenly makes me feel awkward. My feelings have been all over the shop for days. I try and move the conversation along.

  “Hey, how did you know that area around the factories so well?”

  “I used to cruise those streets. I even lived on them for a while.”

  “Where was your family?” I ask.

  “Didn’t have one. I had a brother. He was four years older than me. We grew up in an orphanage.” I had no idea. I thought growing up without a mom was bad. Jason continues. “One day, my brother’s 16th birthday, we’re mucking around in the room we shared at the orphanage. He goes to the bathroom and I decide to hide under the bed. It was a game we used to play as little kids. When he comes back in, he starts looking for me, pretending to have no idea where I could be. Even though the only thing in this room are two beds. Suddenly, the door opens and these guys come in. They sound mean. They ask if my brother’s name is Paul. He says yeh, and they tell him someone important has chosen him. I just assume they mean for adoption. Anyway, the next thing, they grab him and I hear this god-awful sound, and Paul screaming in pain. I see blood drip onto the floor. I’m so terrified, I can’t move. Paul asks them what are they, and they say “we’re vampires, and pretty soon you will be too.” I remember Paul saying “but you’re not real”, and these assholes just laughing. And then they took him.”