by L. M. Justus
He was so dead.
He scrambled off Sarah, retreating toward the far corner of the room.
I started forward, but Nathaniel grabbed my arm and pulled me back.
“Let. Go,” I growled. “I’m going to rip his head off.”
I tried to jerk my arm out of Nathaniel’s grip, but he held tight.
“Sarah needs you now,” Nathaniel said in a soothingly hypnotic voice. “I will deal with this cretin.”
He darted over to the man, who had crouched into a ball with his back pressed into the corner. Nathaniel lifted him by the front of his jumpsuit, slammed him into the wall, and gave him a face full of fang. It took every bit of willpower I had to turn away and trust him to do the right thing.
I rushed to Sarah’s side. I felt like choking when I saw what had been done to her. She was crying and her lip was bleeding. Her shirt was half-tucked and her hair was a tangled mess. I looked her all over to figure out where else she was hurt.
“I’m okay. He didn’t . . .” she whispered.
Tears stung my eyes and I was trembling, badly. I ground my teeth together and clenched my fists. I wanted to hold her and never let her go, but my instincts warred inside me to finish off that idiot first.
“It was stupid of me to go wandering by myself,” she said, snapping me out of my indecision.
“No, don’t be ridiculous. You can’t blame yourself. I’m angrier than hell at that asshole piece of–”
“Shh,” she said, grabbing my hand. “Just hold me. Please.”
I cupped her face in my shaky hands and leaned forward. She held still as I gently sucked her cut lip into my mouth, using my saliva to heal her wound instantly. When I was done, I pulled her against my chest and wrapped my arms around her in a safe cocoon.
Twisting slightly to see how Nathaniel was doing, I caught a glimpse of Sarah’s attacker as he walked out of the room.
“What the hell? Did you let him go?” I said.
“That man will never lay a finger on another woman again,” Nathaniel replied.
“What? I was counting on you to make him suffer for what he did! I’m going after him.”
“No, you will not. I manipulated that man’s thoughts to make him forget this,” he said, pointing to his fangs as they retracted into his gums. “He will not remember we are vampires, and I have programmed him to consider females sexually unattractive. Permanently. I cannot control the minds of everyone in this facility however, because there are simply too many of them. Therefore, you must work with me to keep our secret. Running around exacting revenge will accomplish nothing.”
I glared at him. “Yes, it will. It’ll make me feel a million times better.”
Nathaniel shut his eyes and shook his head. “Let us meet up with the others,” he said, opening his eyes again. He stepped gingerly over the broken glass and walked out of the room.
“Are you sure you’re not hurt anywhere else?” I asked Sarah, moving my hands delicately down her arms.
“There might be a few bruises, but I’ll be fine,” she answered, her voice flat.
The self-confident strength I loved about her was gone. Damn that filthy, creepozoid jerk! If I saw him again he was toast, no matter what Nathaniel said.
I laced my fingers through Sarah’s and pulled her gently to walk with me. We left the office in its trashed state and followed Nathaniel down the hall. After a series of deep breaths, my boiling blood cooled to a simmer.
We entered the room where we’d left the girls and found them already awake. The second she spotted Sarah, Sophie let out a shriek.
“Oh my God! What happened to you?” She ran over to give Sarah a hug, her eyes shooting daggers at me as if it were my fault.
“Nothing,” Sarah and I both said at the same time.
“Don’t give me that,” Sophie said, shaking her finger at us.
“The sun has almost set,” Nathaniel pointed out, ignoring Sophie. “I will depart shortly.”
“We should stick together,” I said.
“It will be easier for me to scout the city perimeter if I am alone,” he argued.
Trudy raised her hand. “I’m sorry, Nathaniel, but I agree with Reed. I think we’re safer as a group. We’re all rested and fed, so there’s no need for us to hang around waiting.”
Everyone nodded. It seemed we were all feeling a little vulnerable at the moment.
Nathaniel looked at each one of us. “I suppose. You do realize Reed could keep you safe in my absence?”
I glowed at his faith in me, but I wondered if it annoyed the girls being reminded how helpless they were compared to us vampires. I was no match against other vampires, but a bunch of humans would be easy to manage. Maybe I could hold off the entire prison population if I had to, but going our separate ways still felt like a bad idea.
As we waited for night to fall, Sarah explained to her sister what had happened. Sophie was as anxious as I was to get even with Sarah’s attacker; if he had any intelligence at all, he’d steer clear of us until we were long gone.
For once, Sophie and I were on the same page. We focused on consoling Sarah instead of arguing with each other. I could tell Sarah was trying to put on a brave front, but her clipped, one-word answers spoke volumes. She was the kind of person who wanted to jump in and rescue people, not the other way around. Even though I knew her well enough to know that much, I still didn’t know what to say to make her feel better.
After Sarah finished describing the attack, her sister pulled her in for a hug. “I promise not to let you out of my sight from now on,” Sophie said. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
“That’s right,” I agreed. “If we stick together, we’ll be fine. No more wandering around by yourself looking for headache medicine.” I smiled at Sarah encouragingly to soften my words.
“With all the excitement, my headache seems to have vanished,” Sarah said. “I wouldn’t recommend that particular method as a cure though.”
“Hey,” Sophie said, nudging Sarah with her elbow, “was that a joke, big sister?”
“I think she’s going to be all right,” I said. “She’s a fighter.”
“Yes, she is,” Sophie agreed. “She really is.”
We lapsed into silence, relaxing as much as possible while we waited out the rest of the day.
Eventually, the nighttime darkness gobbled up the last hint of daylight and we headed toward the main yard as a group. With nothing better to do in their spare time, we gathered a large following of curious on-lookers as we went. I kept a wary eye on the inmates and considered pulling out my samurai sword as a warning for everyone to stay back.
The open area where we’d left our van was a sea of orange jumpsuits, with at least a hundred inmates gathered. A familiar scent caught my attention and Nathaniel frowned, obviously noticing the same thing.
“Interesting friends you have chosen to keep company with,” a girlish voice called out from the top of the prison wall.
Everyone turned to look upward.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said.
It was none other than the Queen of San Jose. Again!
Nathaniel
The Queen of San Jose stood atop the thick, concrete prison wall, her focus solely on Nathaniel and his companions. The hundred or so prisoners watching from the edges of the yard did not appear to interest her in the slightest. Curling strands of barbed wire, which ran the length of the wall, blocked her; she ripped out a section of the wire as though it were fashioned from a spider’s web and tossed it behind her.
The Queen took dainty steps along the wall until she was directly in front of Nathaniel’s little group. She sat down, legs dangling over the side of the twenty-foot drop like a carefree child. She’d dispensed with her frilly dresses for a more practical ensemble: an over-sized knit sweater, black leggings, and leather riding boots.
Reed let out an exasperated groan. “Geez, why can’t she just die?” he muttered.
Nathaniel stiffened. The
Queen’s casual demeanor was an illusion, and there was no chance she had missed catching Reed’s remark, given her vampiric hearing. His stomach clenched as he marveled at Reed’s obtuseness; how had the boy failed to grasp the extent to which the Queen abhorred ill manners?
Her eyes narrowed and she glared at Reed. “Imbecile!” she hissed. “Will you never learn?”
Pushing off her perch on the wall, the Queen jumped to the ground, landing lightly on her feet as though the drop were two inches rather than two stories. She bared her fangs and the group of prisoners took a few steps back, suddenly realizing this innocent-looking girl was neither innocent nor a girl.
In a flash of movement, she had Reed flat on his back. He shouted and struggled to throw her off, but he was no match for her strength.
The women, particularly Sarah, gawked in horror. They were either shocked into silence or intelligent enough to keep their mouths shut.
Nathaniel’s heart sank. The Queen clearly intended to carry out her signature move–one he had witnessed too many times in the past. “Your Majesty,” he called out.
She disregarded him, focused on her task.
Stabbing her fingers into the flesh of Reed’s left bicep, she ripped out a sizable chunk of skin and muscle tissue.
Reed’s scream echoed across the prison yard and his fangs sprang out from his gums. The blue of his eyes leeched away as his thirst overtook him.
The Queen stood up, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped her hands, a satisfied smirk twisting her lips.
So much for keeping their status as vampires a secret from the inmates.
Reed leapt to his feet and blood dripped down his arm while he surveyed the men. His injury was severe enough and he had lost enough blood that he needed an emergency feed. It seemed as though his gaze swept the crowd in slow-motion as Nathaniel’s brain worked furiously to figure out how to get the situation under control. It was bad enough the prisoners had now witnessed evidence that vampires were real, but to make matters worse, they would soon learn one of the vampires’ greatest weaknesses. After Reed’s emergency feed, he would die, leaving himself vulnerable to attack. It was impossible for Nathaniel to exert his mind control over all the inmates simultaneously; therefore, he needed to find another solution.
Reed darted forward, his injured arm dangling at his side, bleeding and useless. With his good arm, he grabbed one of the prisoners from the front of the crowd and began feeding. Even in his injured state, there must have been a modicum of sanity left in the boy; Nathaniel did not think it a coincidence Reed chose to feed from the man responsible for the attack on Sarah earlier.
The women remained still, watching, mute with shock. While some of the inmates did the same, others shook off their surprise and scattered into the prison.
The Queen chuckled at the chaos she’d created.
Reed finished feeding, and threw his victim roughly to the ground. Nathaniel rushed over to him and whispered, “I am sorry for this, Reed.” Without any other warning, he picked him up and threw him into the air. The poor boy went sailing over the prison wall, landing with a thump on the ground outside. It wasn’t a pleasant way to send him to his death sleep, but at least none of the prisoners would realize he was unconscious and vulnerable.
Sarah stared at Nathaniel, open-mouthed. He mentally reviewed the reasoning behind his actions, hoping she would read his mind and understand. The revenants outside the prison weren’t interested in vampire flesh and blood, so they would leave Reed alone to heal in peace. After a moment Sarah’s shoulders relaxed slightly, although her eyes remained wide as she wrung her hands.
“Nathaniel,” the Queen said, her eyes twinkling. “You are a delight, as always.”
“What is it you desire, your Majesty?” he asked. He was tired of her antics, but had long ago learned to hide his disgust and annoyance.
“My reign over San Jose has come to an end, because you and your cronies destroyed my lair. And there is little reason to take over New York with its current lack of humans to feed upon. Thus, I find myself searching for a new realm, and in the meantime, I propose we play a little game.”
“Game, your Majesty?” he said, carefully keeping his expression neutral. The Queen’s sanity had obviously crumbled, much like her brother’s before her.
The Queen grinned. “Yes, a game. It will be so exciting! As you know, there are very few female vampires because women do not make the transition easily. You have three women in your company who make excellent candidates for surviving the turning. I want you to choose one of them and attempt to transform her. I understand you will need time to consider which one makes the best choice, so I will give you a twenty-four-hour head start during which you can think about it while fleeing this place. If you have not attempted to turn one of the women by the time I catch up to you, I will decide for you.”
Nathaniel blinked. He did not know how to respond.
“Make haste,” the Queen said, shooing them away with her hand. “The clock is ticking.”
“Let us gather our things,” Nathaniel said. He turned and walked quickly toward the main building.
“What about Reed?” Sarah asked, jogging to catch up.
“We will collect him on our way out.”
Trudy exchanged a look with Nathaniel. “Why did you throw him over the wall?” she said.
Nathaniel turned to face her. He was surprised to see the look of sadness in her eyes, as if she were disappointed with his callous behavior. “I understand my actions may seem questionable, but I have Reed’s best interests at heart. I did not want the prisoners to witness Reed’s death after feeding. Please, rest assured the boy will be fine.”
Trudy nodded, and they continued to the room that held their belongings.
Working in silence, they packed their bags as quickly as possible. In less than ten minutes, they were ready to leave.
They returned to the main yard and the few inmates they encountered regarded them with wary eyes.
“If we attempt to drive past the city’s outer limits, the human authorities will try to apprehend us.” Nathaniel said. “Therefore, it is necessary for us to continue on foot until we devise a plan.”
“If you think that’s best,” Trudy said.
“We trust you,” Sarah added.
They crossed the yard to the entrance, where Benny and his thugs lurked in the shadows at the enclosure’s edge. The chain-link fence Benny had been leaning on jangled when he stood up straight. “You guys–” he began, pointing at them as they drew nearer. “You guys are real vampires. You weren’t kidding.”
“Did the Queen leave?” Nathaniel said, ignoring Benny’s accusation.
“Do you mean that crazy blond-haired girl? If so, then yeah, she took off,” Benny answered.
At that point, Nathaniel would have thanked his hosts for their hospitality, however in light of their ordeal at the prison, he left without uttering another word.
The bodies of the revenants he had killed earlier lay scattered about outside the prison’s entrance. There were no mobile revenants within the vicinity. Nathaniel unlatched the gate and pulled it open. He went outside and ran to retrieve Reed.
The boy lay in an awkward position with his arms jutting out in opposite directions and his head tilted at an unnatural angle. Nathaniel slung the boy’s dead weight over his shoulder and returned to the entrance. Sarah closed the gate and their little group walked away from the prison without a backward glance.
They hadn’t gone far when Reed grunted and started to flail about. Nathaniel set him on his feet with a hand out to hold him steady. He kept a grip on Reed’s shoulder until the poor kid’s eyes focused.
Reed looked around, clearly confused. Then he glanced at his bloody shirtsleeve and thumbed the hole in the material. The injury underneath had completely healed. “I can’t believe she did that. I’ve only had this arm for a week.”
Sarah came up beside him and slipped her arm around his waist.
“Wh
y aren’t you guys in the prison anymore?” Reed asked. “And hey, why did you throw me outside like that?”
Nathaniel let out a long sigh. “I did not want the prisoners to know we die after feeding. I apologize, but it was the best plan I could determine spontaneously. It also goes against my instincts to leave the prisoners aware of everything that has occurred; one of the vampire race’s cardinal rules is to ensure humans do not become aware of our existence. We shall have to hope no one believes them if they confess to seeing real vampires. Our biggest concern now is this ridiculous game the Queen wishes us to play. She has set us the task of attempting to turn Sarah, Sophie, or Trudy into a vampire, and she has given us twenty-four hours to escape.”
“What? No!” Reed shouted.
“I volunteer,” Sophie said, stepping forward.
Sarah gasped. “Sophie!”
“What?” Sophie gave her sister a challenging glare. “I already told you being a vampire seemed like a pretty sweet deal. Never growing old, being super strong and fast. Sounds rough.”
“Hey, haven’t you been paying attention? Look at what happened to me,” Reed said, pointing to his arm.
Sophie crossed her arms. “Yeah, and look how fast you healed. Imagine if the Queen had done that to me? It would have taken weeks to heal from an injury like that. In fact, I might never heal from a wound that severe.”
“You’re missing the point,” he grumbled.
“Hang on,” Sarah said. “Sophie, there’s no way you’re volunteering for this. The chance of any of us surviving the transition is fifty-fifty at best, right Nathaniel?”
Sarah looked to him for confirmation and he nodded.
“Forget the Queen’s ridiculous game. Let’s get the hell out of here and stay away from her.”
“Because that worked so well before,” Reed said sarcastically.
Sarah gave him a scathing glare at his lack of support for her idea. Reed shrugged and said, “Just saying . . .”
“We need to get out of the New York City area in any case,” Nathaniel said. “I do not know how we will get past the barricades at the city’s perimeter. If only there were a tunnel, we could bypass them. Or perhaps . . .” His voice trailed off as he looked up. A low-flying helicopter passed not too far off in the distance.
