The Chosen Ones

by Brighton, Lori

  Terrified, I huddled behind that desk, clutching the sword against my chest, and waited. As the minutes ticked, I had the unsettling realization that the screams had stopped. Silence meant one of two things…either the beautiful ones had killed everyone, or Will and his men had won. Sweat trailed down my forehead, stinging my eyes, but I didn’t dare move to brush it away.

  “Please, please let them be alive,” I whispered.

  “This way, I’m sure of it,” a man’s melodic voice echoed down the hall.

  Not Will or any of his friends. No, this voice was too perfect, too beautiful. I cringed, biting my lip to keep from whimpering. The man from the children’s room. A beautiful one. He had followed me after all. Elation fought with terror. I gripped the sword with damp palms.

  Cut off his head. Cut off his head.

  Will’s words of wisdom repeated over and over through my mind and I almost laughed at the absurdity of it all. Right, I’d merely attack him, cut off his head, and then we’d all live happily ever after.

  “Roman, you idiot, you’re just hearing things,” another man muttered.

  I stiffened in horror. Two beautiful ones?

  Footsteps thudded against the floor, vibrating the very hall. I was going to die. Sally flashed to mind, beautiful in her white gown right before the beautiful ones had attacked and murdered her, draining her blood…

  “I can smell you,” Roman said, chuckling as if it was all some game.

  The acidic taste of bile surged up my throat. He knew I was here. The idea of a surprise attack fled just as quickly as it had come.

  “It’s all right,” Roman said in a soft, kind voice that mocked the horror of my situation. “Everything will be fine. Just come out. We will forgive you.”

  His friend started laughing, the joke apparently highly amusing. Just like that my fear gave way to anger, a burning hatred that pulsed through my veins. My grip tightened around the hilt, and the urge to jump to my feet and swing that sword overwhelmed me. But I wasn’t trained to fight, and so I would have to use my brains instead.

  “Come, my dear,” Roman’s friend called out. “The waiting will only make it worse.”

  How little he knew. The waiting was all I had. His sweet scent floated toward me and I realized just how near they were. Their footsteps thudded close. So close that dust and debris fell from the ceiling, pattering to the ground at my feet.

  “She’s here,” Roman whispered. “I can smell her.” He jumped atop the desk with a thunk, a dark shadow that suddenly hovered over me. “Hello, my love.”

  I didn’t scream, I didn’t cry. Instead, I grew oddly calm. As he leapt from the desk I did the only thing I could—I lifted the sword. The entire world seemed to slow down. Instinctively, I closed my eyes as he fell upon the blade. I could hear the swoosh of the steel going through his torso and then suddenly he landed atop me, flattening me to the ground. Shocked, for a long moment I merely lay there under his weight, the hilt of the sword digging into my gut while his warm blood poured down around me, soaking my silly ruffled shirt.

  “Roman?” his friend cried out, followed by the thunder of feet.

  I used what little strength I had left to push him off me. He rolled onto his side, my sword still piercing his torso. With my heart hammering wildly against my rib cage, my body and mind screaming at me to run, I pressed my feet into his chest and pulled the sword free. It was as the blade was back in my hands that I heard him groan. I froze for a split second, realizing he still lived.

  Behead him. Behead him.

  I jumped to my feet. I didn’t think, merely lifted the weapon and swung. The blade sliced through his neck, only to come to a stuttering halt as it hit bone.

  “Ahhh!” he cried out, clawing at the weapon.

  Determined, I shoved my foot into his chest for momentum, and pulled the blade free.

  “You bitch!” his friend screamed.

  As the other beautiful one jumped at me, I swung the sword for a second time, this one harder. The blade sliced through Roman’s neck, hitting the cement floor with a thud. His head tumbled away, rolling down the corridor like a ball. It was done. Before I could lift my weapon again, the other beautiful one was over the desk and on me. We fell to the ground, my skull slamming against the hard floor. Pain shot down my spine. A startled cry escaped my lips as the world around me wavered in and out of focus.

  Weak and stunned, the sword slipped from my grip, clanging across the floor. In the low lantern light I could see the hatred in his gaze, the look of pure determination to take my life. He gripped my neck with his strong fingers. The air around me fled. My head pounded, my lungs burning.

  Something…I needed something. Frantic, I swung my arm wide, reaching out… My fingers brushed the cold metal of my sword. I gripped the blade, not even pausing when it cut into my hand, and swung it toward his head. The hilt of the sword hit his temple. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to make him loosen his hold. Wonderful air seeped down my throat and into my lungs. Gasping, I sucked in as much as I could.

  “You’ll pay, cow.” Hands raised, he started toward my throat once more.

  Whimpering, I shoved my feet into the floor, trying to throw him off, but he wouldn’t budge. Those strong fingers caught my neck again. I clasped his wrists, digging my nails into his flesh. It did no good. I was going to die after all. The light faded, and my lungs burned with an intensity that had tears blurring my vision. I shifted my gaze, refusing to look into his eyes when I died, and that’s when I saw Will standing on the desk.

  For a brief moment I thought I’d imagined him…until he jumped. With a cry, he leaped down, swinging his sword in a great arc like one of the warriors I’d read about. The blade hit the vampire’s neck. It didn’t pause as mine had, but swiped cleanly through the animal as Will landed nimbly on his feet beside us.

  The beautiful one collapsed onto his side, his head rolling down the hall and into the shadows. I was barely aware of the blood splattering across my trousers. Because as that head rolled to a stop against the wall, I was reminded of Thanatos and the way he’d ripped that man’s head from his body the night he’d saved me. The night I’d realize just how strong the beautiful ones really were.

  Thanatos.

  I hadn’t thought about him in days. Suddenly, the entire skyscraper faded. Will, who was checking the bodies to make sure both beautiful ones were truly dead, no longer mattered. The smoke curling down the hall wasn’t important. All these days while I’d been half-dead, the memory of Thanatos had been like a mere dream, something that tempted me when I slept. Had he been enemy or friend?

  Lantern light suddenly flashed across my face, momentarily blinding me and bringing me back into reality. “You okay?” Will asked, kneeling in front of me.

  I nodded, although I wasn’t sure. Physically, yes, I supposed I was well enough, although my throat hurt. Emotionally, I wasn’t sure I’d ever be okay again. I swallowed hard, daring to look at the two bodies, still unmoving. So much blood. Thanatos was a beautiful one, he belonged with them, yet he had saved me, hadn’t he? I wasn’t sure anymore. The entire time at the castle was a blur.

  “Jane?” Will watched me with a critical eye, as if he searched for something, yet wasn’t quite sure what he looked for. “You saved them.”

  I didn’t respond. There was a question to this statement, although what he asked I didn’t know, nor did I care. My gaze dropped to the two bodies near my feet; they were beings who had been breathing only moments before. I had killed one. I had taken a life. Oddly, I felt numb about the whole thing. There was no sense of vengeance or relief, only nothingness.

  “Kelly and the children…you saved them. I saw you.”

  “Yeah,” I whispered, my throat painfully sore. I swore I could still feel his fingers around my neck. I crossed my arms, hoping Will didn’t noticed how much I trembled. “I couldn’t let them die. Not like that.”

  He nodded like he understood. And he did. Will had saved me. He’d saved hundred
s in this never-ending battle. “They’re dead, the few blood drinkers who found our lair. But we have to leave the city. It’s been compromised.”

  I didn’t protest. There was nothing here for me. I belonged nowhere. He reached out his hand. I hesitated, staring at his strong fingers and thinking of the beautiful one who had tried to choke me. But Will wasn’t a vampire. He was human, like me. Steeling my nerves, I slipped my hand into his. He pulled me easily to my feet but didn’t release my hand.

  “Are you back now?” he asked, his breath warm across my face.

  I wanted to shrink away. “I don’t know.” I wasn’t sure. “Maybe.”

  “Good.”

  “They’re here!” Kelly called out, her voice echoing down the hall, followed by the thunder of footsteps. I’d never been so happy to see her.

  I pulled my hand from Will’s just as she came running up to the desk, Tony behind her.

  Her wide gaze followed the pattern of blood covering my clothing, then jumped up to my face. “Are you okay?”

  I nodded, watching them warily as they climbed over the desk. Being this close, having them stare…it was all too intimate.

  “Did you…” She looked down at the mess of blood and body parts littering the ground. I knew what she was asking. Funny, how only two weeks ago death, destruction, and blood had sent me into a tailspin. Now I could look at it without flinching.

  “I only killed one,” I replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable under their intense scrutiny. They were looking at me differently. Shocked, yes, but something else…as if they expected more from me now. I wasn’t sure I could offer more.

  “Just one?” Kelly laughed and wrapped her arm around my shoulders, pulling me close for a hug, despite my bloody clothing. I remained stiff, counting down the seconds until she finally released me and I could breathe again. “Just one?”

  “Holy crap, she killed a beautiful one?” Tony said, looking at Will for confirmation.

  I didn’t bother to explain that my killing had been more about luck than strength or cunning. Will picked up my sword, swiped the blood off with his shirt, and then handed it to me. “Well done. It’s yours now.”

  I took the weapon, the weight reassuring in some way. When my sister was little she’d made herself a doll out of wheat stalks and a dried apple. She’d kept that doll with her until it had fallen apart. She said it made her feel better, safe. Holding the sword, I finally understood.

  “We have to leave. They’ve found our base,” Will said, leaping over the desk with the agility of a guy who’d been running his entire life. “It’s time to move before they return with reinforcements.”

  He and Tony started back toward the main room, dismissing me and the killings. It was back to business. This was my new normal. I had no friends, no family. I had nowhere to go but with them.

  “Congrats.” Kelly grinned, helping me over the desk. “Not only did you save a room full of kids, you also killed your first beautiful one.”

  I didn’t respond. As we made our way down the hall I couldn’t help but glance back. I couldn’t see the bodies, but I knew they were there. Like ghosts, they followed me.

  How quickly my life had changed. They’d murdered Sally, and now I had gotten back at them. An eye for an eye—I supposed I finally understood that saying. It had taken the death of a beautiful one to bring me back to life. This was what revenge was all about. So why, then, didn’t I feel any better?

  Chapter 3

  They burned the bodies.

  To make sure there were no remains, no evidence, Kelly had explained. I said nothing as I watched the corpses fry; my throat hurt too much to speak. But even the overwhelming scent, so repulsive that I thought I might vomit, didn’t deter me from watching. Who would have thought something so beautiful could have smelled so badly?

  As ill as I felt, I stayed because I too wanted to make sure they were truly gone. I wanted them dead. Hated them with a burning passion that matched the heat of the flames before me. It was the only feeling that kept me in the here and now. Yet, seeing their perfect faces burn, the skin practically melting from their skulls, was something that would give me nightmares for years, if I lived that long, and I found I couldn’t look away from the grotesqueness of it all.

  “Well, we got to stay here for two months,” Kelly sighed. “Longer than most places.”

  She wasn’t watching the bodies burn; the common sight didn’t concern her in the least. Instead, her gaze was focused on the building in the background. The place where we’d been living only an hour earlier. Smoke trailed from the open windows in thick, black clouds, the scent heavy in the air. I realized how close we’d been to burning like the beautiful ones.

  Disconcerted, I tore my gaze from the smoke and refocused on the fire. But killing them made little difference. I still felt their presence, hidden within the shadows, waiting for me to sleep. They followed me like the scent of smoke clinging to my clothing. The weight of my sword nestled in the leather sheath Kelly had given me made me feel somewhat better, but not much. Somehow we had survived, but would we next time?

  I watched with a cold detachment as two of Will’s men tossed the body of yet another beautiful one into the flames. The fourth and last. Amazing how so few vampires could do so much damage.

  “Are you all right?” Kelly asked, resting a hand on my shoulder.

  Her touch startled me from my stupor, and made me uncomfortable. I stepped away, avoiding eye contact for fear she’d see the unease in my gaze and know that I hadn’t returned to normal after all.

  “Yes.” And I was well enough. At least I could move, I could speak, I might be able to eat without getting ill. I was certainly better than I’d been in the last two weeks. But I was still numb…so numb inside and out, deep within my bones. I didn’t think the feeling would ever truly go away. I was like early spring when the ground looked soft and thawed. Yet, if you tried to dig deep you’d find it hard and frozen.

  “It…seems sacrilegious in some way, killing something so beautiful.”

  “Sacrilegious?” Tony laughed, as he sidled up next to Kelly and threw his arm over her shoulders.

  Will merely studied me thoughtfully from the opposite side of the bonfire, his eyes unreadable. I admit a part of me wondered what he thought. Was he disappointed I hadn’t worked harder, or relieved that I’d finally broken out of my stupor? A log in the fire popped, sending a whirl of sparks into the air and pulling my attention from Will. Pretty, really. I watched until the sparks disappeared into the late afternoon sky. It had been days since I’d seen the clouds.

  “Don’t know what sacrilegious means,” Tony said. “But I say a dead beautiful one is a good beautiful one.”

  One of Will’s men nodded his head, agreeing.

  There was something about Tony I didn’t like. He nuzzled Kelly’s neck, his blue eyes hard, soulless, too much like the beautiful ones. But I couldn’t blame him, could I? After experiencing what I’d experienced, every day I felt as if I was growing colder. Maybe I didn’t care for Tony not because he reminded me of the beautiful ones, but because he reminded me of what I was becoming.

  “We should move out,” Will said.

  But before any of us could take a step, Kelly cried out. “You’re injured!”

  It wasn’t until she pushed away from Tony and grabbed my hand that I realized she was talking to me. She smelled like smoke from the burning skyscraper, but then we all did. And like her, dark smudges of soot marked my arms and probably my face as I’d brushed against burning rubble to free myself from the cement tomb. At least in the compound we’d bathed often. Here, there were no rules to abide by and I wondered if I’d ever feel clean again.

  “Not good,” she murmured, still focused on my wound.

  I’d forgotten about the injury I’d received when I’d killed the beautiful one. The red gash seemed so insignificant after all that had happened. In fact, the stinging pain where my own sword had sliced my palm had become a part of me, like the
beating of my heart. “It’s fine.”

  I pulled away from her. Honestly, I liked the pain; it reminded me I was human, alive. That pain kept me grounded in the real world when I feared I could so easily slip away again.

  “No, it’s not fine.” She sighed, her concern touching and annoying. “Will?”

  He nodded toward a pile of rubble along the side of the road. “Come on.”

  A blush crept its way up my neck and into my cheeks. I wished she hadn’t said anything. It wasn’t as if I needed even more attention than I’d been getting the past two weeks. I’d taken up too much of their time already, I didn’t want to be a burden. Reluctantly, I followed him, weaving my way around the chunks of cement that had fallen from the tall skyscrapers surrounding us. Although the buildings were broken and destroyed, it still made me dizzy when I looked up at them. I focused on my feet instead, concentrating on my dusty boots.

  Will settled on a large boulder and pulled open his pack. “You should have told someone you were injured.”

  Flustered and embarrassed, I shrugged. “Does it matter?”

  “You know it does.” He wrapped his fingers around my wrist and pulled me close. His touch was warm and so human that it made me flinch. It was too much feeling at once, my mind and body couldn’t handle the sensation. “You might have lived in a compound but even you know it could become infected.”

  “And what? I’d die from infection instead of by the hands of the beautiful ones?” Even I was surprised by the sharp bitterness in my tone. How much I’d changed in the last two weeks. At least in that compound I’d still had hope.

  He glanced up at me through his lashes. “We do actually have lives here, you know. Something worth living for.”

  As if to mock my bitterness, a tiny white butterfly fluttered around my head, before catching the breeze and drifting away into the smoke. A brief moment of loveliness, perhaps something I’d imagined. I released a harsh laugh and glanced around the ruins. There was nothing left of this civilization but gray destruction. The butterfly, as tiny as it was, had a life. We didn’t.