They finished their day in the nursery and had a quick bite to eat in the small cafeteria. Sara excused herself to converse with a group of girls in the hallway. Allie sat at the table alone. The table felt empty without Sara; in fact, half the room was empty. Allie began thinking of Shelby’s prank earlier. She had almost put it completely out of her head, but it was back and she felt uneasy in the tiny space, preferring to be back in the school’s larger cafeteria.
Thinking it was silly, she sat down to wait and began an idle search of the room to note who was there and who was missing. Maybe it would serve as a healthy diversion until Sara returned. She looked back at the back table and paid attention to each person there. She saw no one she knew by name. On one end she saw an older girl with short, shoulder length brown hair with a single braid of red, brown, and white on one side. This was the girl she had seen with the smaller younger Hispanic girl with the cross at school.
There were three others and in the center of the table sat the biggest of the girls, a blond girl with dark brown highlights and a ribbon of red who she had not seen before. This girl was doing most of the whispered talking. She told jokes then laughed loudly. Allie paid attention to the cross she wore, a bronze cross with a red jewel in the center that was placed perfectly between her large breasts. She smiled, thinking, this girl has not needed a pushup since probably age five.
Since Sara was still out in the hall talking and had not come into the cafeteria, and since the vampires that were known to her had not come in yet, Allie got an idea she should not have. She rose and walked to the back table. Assuming they were club members and all human, she walked up to the girl in the center of the table and smiled as big as she could.
“Hello, my name is Allie Carter.”
They all stopped talking and looked at her. The girl on the end of the table looked at Allie. She looked back at the table she had come from, presumably looking for Sara.
After receiving nothing but dead silence, Allie decided to try again – maybe they did not hear her? “Hello. I’m Allison. I work with Sara. What are your names?”
Allie displayed and touched her cross to indicate who she was. The group peered at it with confusion and then back up at her. Still none of them spoke.
Then, finally: “I’m Rebecca and who they are, is none of your business. Be quiet and get back to your table before the others get here,” said the big girl with an evil look.
“They’re coming,” said the brown haired girl on the end. She tilted her head as if to listen; Allie looked in the direction her head moved. “You have five seconds to get out of here before they arrive. MOVE!”
By the expression on her face and intensity in which she spoke, Allie knew it to be true. She took her at her word and hurried back to her table. Just as she touched down into her seat, in walked Stephanie and Shelby, side by side. They had on dark sunglasses and were not dressed in their club member attire. Each wore a white shirt with red checkered skirt.
Before taking her seat at the table, Shelby sniffed the air and looked directly at Allie, sneeringly. Allie saw her and turned quickly but still felt the daggers Shelby beamed into her back.
The day was saved when Sara sashayed in, talking on her phone. She waved at those in the back and sat down opposite Allie at the table. Yet Shelby continued to stare daggers. One day she would teach the girl to keep her place.
“What up, girl?” Sara said after hanging up her phone.
“Hey, Sara. How does that work down here?”
“Magic!”
Allie looked confused.
“Hey, Sara? Who is the center girl in the table back there?”
Sara looked and recognized her. Sara leaned in to whisper so the others could not hear her.
“Oh, her. That is Becky.”
Sara knew Becky was older and often tortured newbies. She assumed the girl must have said or done something to Allie.
“You won’t be working with her; she only works with the newborns in Beta section. I doubt she could keep up with the younger kids, being her size and all.”
Sara held her breath and made a face, expanding her cheeks to make them look fatter, like a blowfish. Crouching low to the table, she and Allie giggled.
They finished their meal with light gossip about others in the complex before getting up for their next task, Nadia and Lila.
The young women changed their clothes and put on the white T-shirts with the crests on the front and back. Allie left her earrings in the change room to make sure she would not lose them after Melanie brought her items back to her in the nursery. They went to the outer chamber and waited for Lisa to bring the girls in to them so they could board the railcar and go back to the training grounds on the Front Nine.
“Sara, what happened to baby Jessie? It has just hit me that I haven’t seen her. Is she with someone else?” Allie asked as they waited.
“Yes, she is. Jessica is being cared for by others so you can have a chance to get more familiar with the other two babies and these two girls. You and I are assigned to them and their care is all that we will worry about. I will take Nadia and baby Kelly and you will care for Lila and help with Marianna. We will watch the babies together in the nursery and work on the kids together. Remember what you have been told: Lila is your sole responsibility. If you fail to teach her everything she needs to know to blend in, she will be killed by outsiders. Everyone in town, including your parents, is an outsider. Always think of the children and what you can do to help them adjust. They are helpless without you. It is your job to be mother and father to them. Understand?”
“Yes. I’m ready.”
Several minutes later, Lisa arrived hand in hand with the two children. The two girls yelled, “Yay!” and ran over to hug their mentors.
Allie was happy to hug Lila again; she missed her and being with Lila made her forget her trouble with Shelby and Stephanie. She took Lila by the hand and led her to the railcar and strapped her in the front seat. After Sara had secured Nadia they both got into the back and Sara started the car.
Allie enjoyed the rollercoaster ride out into the sunshine. She did as the kids and raised her arms, screaming the whole way out to the training grounds. By the time the car stopped, all four of them were screaming with joy.
The railcar stopped and they let the girls out and began. When they were halfway through the course, Allie and Sara took off after them, but the girls beat them through the course with time to spare. Allie got to the finish line; like before, she hit the ground, breathing heavily. The girls pointed at her and laughed and were instructed by Sara to run the course again.
“Here you go, slowpoke.” Sara pulled out her tin and gave Allie a pill from the box. She swallowed it and relaxed on the ground, staring up at the sky and tree line.
“Where do you suppose these vampires came from? Do you think they are originally from outer space?”
“Girl, how many times do I have to tell you? They are not vampires and they are not from outer space.”
“Of course they’re not.” Allie rolled her eyes. She looked back up at the sky, wondering how she could best help the children.
The girls finished the course and raced back to them. Nadia was in the lead and she dove across the line, landing on Sara. Lila dove and landed on Allie and they rolled down a slight incline. When they rose, Lila’s green eyes had begun to change color from her play. Allie realized it was a reaction to hearing her heartbeat so she touched her shoulder. They walked hand in hand back to the others and the four of them took off racing for the large tree with the tree house at the top.
Nadia, who was the elder and stronger of the two, reached the tree first and leaped up its trunk. Lila followed close behind, moving up branch by branch instead of up the tree’s trunk like her sister.
“You see how they did it?” Sara said to Allie after they ran to the base of the tree and watched the girls climb up.
“Which way is easier?”
“For you it would be the trunk; the branches are light
and if you land on the wrong one you will fall all the way down to the hard ground. You got it?”
“Yep!”
When Sara started climbing, the girls were already in their tree house and playing with their dolls. She leaped above the branch and scaled the inside of the tree with little difficulty. Allie backed up, took a running start and leaped upward. She clung to a branch and drew herself up with sheer willpower. Soon, following Sara’s path, she arrived at the top of the tree. She looked down and was surprised at how high she was and how fast she had made it up. She stared out, trying to find her house or school, but they were so far from town that nothing was familiar.
Sara touched her on her back and they went inside. The girls were at a table playing with their dollhouse and dolls. Each held a doll in each hand. Allie sat down beside them and watched them play while Sara wrote on the clipboard. She found it interesting and wanted to know if they played differently than human kids. The girls held human dolls in their hands and they walked them to the top of the dollhouse and threw them off, one by one.
“Why are you throwing them off the roof?” she said to the girls.
“We are not throwing them off; they are jumping,” said Nadia.
“Yeah, they are jumping and running for their lives,” said Lila.
“Why are they running? Is someone chasing them?”
“Not yet,” said Nadia, then she laughed and Lila laughed too.
Allie tilted a confused head. “I don’t get it.”
Nadia looked at her, then Lila, then her again. “They found us and we have to kill them.” The girls put the dolls down and they each got one of the larger vampire dolls and put them on the roof. The dolls jumped down on top of the human dolls and wrestled with them. The girls then put the vampire dolls down and took out bloody human dolls and exchanged them with the others. Nadia stood up and said, “The end!”
Lila jumped up. “Yeah, we win again!”
This playtime creeped Allie out. It is like the time they ganged up with vampire dolls to kill the human girl doll and said it was the Destroyer and they were duty bound to kill her. Allie got a chill. She shook the thoughts from her head, it wasn’t her, she knew it. Fortunately, it was time for the part of their exercise program she loved: swinging between the trees. There was nothing like it: feeling the wind on your face and whipping through your hair, and viewing the world from a high position.
They all went outside and Sara chose the direction of travel. As soon as Sara had indicated their direction, the young girls were off, Nadia leaping first and Lila following close behind, mirroring her moves. Nadia would start off slowly, jumping and looking back at Lila to make sure she was keeping up with her. As they jumped more and more, she watched her less and less and led the way through the course.
Sara turned to her friend. “Always let them go first so you can see better where they are going and you can anticipate what they will do. If you go first, they could go another direction and by the time you figure it out they will be far out of sight. After a while you will notice they follow a similar route every time, which makes it easier.”
Allie nodded, understanding everything she was told. Sara motioned to her to go next and she leaped to the next tree. Sara allowed Allie to chase the kids; her mission was to see how well Allie could keep up with them. Her friend was being tested without her knowledge and so far she scored high grades. Allie screamed with joy as she followed the girls. In a head-to-head contest she was no match for Nadia, but she was easily able to keep up with slower, care-free Lila.
Without warning, Lila dropped from the trees to the ground and started running away from the densely packed woods to an open field. Sara stopped jumping when she saw her running and tried to see what she was after, but didn’t. Allie lost track of her because she was busy jumping and playing; she followed Nadia, unaware that Lila was no longer in front of her.
Sara ran up high to a treetop and searched for Lila in the open field. Lila chased a rabbit. Sara leaped to several treetops and dropped down and ran toward her from the other direction. Lila’s eyes were black and she was excited as she caught a burst of speed that enabled her to catch up and pounce on the furry animal. She caught it with both hands as she dived and slid with the creature up against a tree. Sara ran to her.
“Lila, look at me,” Sara commanded the young girl.
Lila rubbed the animal against her little face. “It feels good, Sara, it feels so good.” She continued rubbing the furry animal against her face and her eyes changed back to their normal color.
Sara knelt down beside her and rubbed the animal. “Yes it does,” she said with a smile.
“Can I keep it?” the girl asked excitably. “I will be good and care for it.”
“What are the rules about animals?”
“They are people with their own lives,” Lila said with disappointment.
“And what does that mean?”
The little girl frowned. “I want to keep her with me.”
“And what does that mean?”
“I’ll be good to her and feed her every day, every day.”
Sara’s heart was breaking, but she had to be strong for both their sakes. She told herself it was part of the job, the bad part, and repeated her question with a stronger look. “And what does that mean?”
Lila took a deep breath and relented. “I have to let her live her own life.”
“Very good, Lila, now feel her soft fur one more time and set her free. If someone caught you, wouldn’t you want them to set you free?”
“Yes.” Lila rubbed the soft animal’s fur against her face one last time and released her.
“Come on, we have to catch the others.” She helped her to her feet and they walked toward the woods, holding hands.
Nadia played on the nearby obstacle course swing set while waiting for Allie. Nadia swung in the swing and giggled as she went higher and higher. She wanted to go all the way around in a full circle, but eventually she reached a point where she could go no higher and she heard the chains pop as they changed direction with her momentum. She instead slowed down and twisted in her seat as she continued to swing at slower speeds and heights.
By the time Allie caught up, the caretaker was breathing heavily. She looked around for Lila, not spotting her, crossed over to Nadia. “Where is Lila?”
“She is back there chasing a rabbit.” Nadia pointed far back in the woods.
Allie got a sinking feeling and thought to herself, oh my God; I have screwed up big time. Not knowing whether she should look for her, Allie chose to wait with Nadia for Sara. Keeping quiet and waiting was killing her so she asked the young girl’s sister another question. “Why would she be chasing a rabbit?”
“She likes them. She is such a baby.” Nadia rolled her eyes.
“She likes them?”
“I mean their fur; it’s soft and tickles your face,” Nadia said with a grin.
“You saw her?”
“Yes, I saw her and the rabbit.”
“Why didn’t you tell me or Sara?”
“Tell you what?”
“That your sister left the course. She is supposed to be with us on the course, not chasing rabbits.”
“I know, but it was a big pretty bunny rabbit.” Her face shined with an innocence Allie hadn’t thought the girl had.
“Nadia, next time she leaves and you see her –”
Allie heard laughter. She turned in its direction, and saw Lila hurtling toward them, Sara right behind. Allie felt better but knew she was in trouble. They dropped down from a high tree and raced over to the swing set. Lila leapt into the swing beside her sister and began moving back and forth. Sara ran up and gave Allie a look to let her know she was in trouble. Allie had seen her mother with the same look on many occasions and knew it well.
They all went to the railcar and after the children were strapped in their seats, Allie waited for Sara to get in before working the controls to take them back into their underground home. The chi
ldren enjoyed the ride back by laughing, screaming, and waving their arms about – but the two in the back were silent.
Lisa was sitting outside waiting for them as they pulled up. The girls were unstrapped and hugged Sara and Allie before joining Lisa for lunch. Lisa stayed back and did not speak to them; she nodded at Sara and shifted her eyes to the right. Sara looked to the right and saw a purple pattern on the crest next to their entrance. Allie took the lead and walked back into the building with Sara following behind her, wondering how to approach the subject.
Allie turned around once they were inside and faced her friend. “How bad is it?” She needed to know if she would be allowed to continue.
“Do you really want this, Allie? If not, now is the time to get out with no harm being done. Don’t play, Allie: this is serious work and very few can do it. It is not easy and the sacrifices are huge.”
“I know... I know... I know! I’m sorry I messed up; I made a mistake and took my eye off her. It was just a mistake.”
Sara took her friend by the shoulders. “You listen to me. There can be no mistakes, not now, not here, not ever. She could be dead right now! You hear me? Dead! If anyone in town had seen her they would have shot her and killed her. No mistakes. She is young and does not know any better, but you, you are her lifeline and you make decisions for her to keep her safe and alive. You failed! You hear me? You failed!”
Allie started to cry. Sara was right: she was playing and had forgotten all about her duties. Her job to watch over Lila and keep her safe had become secondary to her fun. “I’m so sorry.”
Sara was tough when she had to be. Allie was her best friend and it hurt, but she had to slap her down hard to make a point. She straightened.
“Are you staying or going?”
Allie wiped her face and stopped sniffling. “I’m staying.”
Sara showed her no pity and glared. “Are you in or are you out? You had better decide now.”
“I’m in,” came a sniffling reply.
“Good. Come on. One of the Elders is here.”
Sara led her down a new hallway with patterns and designs in the tiled walls that she had not seen before. Allie saw colors in the tiles and wondered how much of the pill was still in her system. She stopped partway, fascinated by the colors she saw. She touched where she saw the color and traced with her finger the direction in which it took. Sara watched as she drew around the pattern. Inside Sara was joyous, but outside she displayed no emotion.
“I see a rainbow here, and a star here, and over here there is a ball of fire.” She moved from place to place in front of the white tiled wall, showing Sara what she was seeing.
Allie reached over to touch another colored area she saw, but Sara caught her hand. “Watch it. Don’t fall down; you have enough to deal with. Come on, let’s go this way.” She led her around the corner to a wider hallway.
As they walked down this hall, two vampire women came toward them, eyes black. They quickly raised dark hoods but not before catching Allie’s attention, especially the second woman for she was a gigantic woman of monstrous size. This woman stood nearly seven feet tall, the ends of her short red hair sticking out at odd angles with the tips pointed, dyed black, and moving as if they were the snakes of the fabled Medusa. She dwarfed the other in stature. Before Allie could examine further, Sara stopped and pushed Allie against the wall beside her. “Bow your head and don’t speak,” she said as quickly and quietly as she could.
They both held their heads down until the women passed. As they did, one of the hooded creature’s head moved—her entire body shook beneath her cloak. Something fell at Allie’s feet. Did the woman know she dropped it? Should she return it? She searched for an answer as she took a chance and raised her eyes to watch the women hurry around the corner. Allie was not sure, but believed the taller vampire was a prized warrior. She had a weapon at her side and wore some sort of military uniform beneath her hooded cloak, perhaps she was a guard. That meant the other was special in some way, though she didn’t get a good look at her. Could she be the queen people spoke of?
Sara tugged Allie forward but not before the young girl bent and grasped the fallen item. She tucked it away in her pocket following her friend with a look of wonderment. She felt as if she had stolen something valuable, as if she had a secret all to herself. She couldn’t wait to be alone to check out her prize. She hurried behind Sara with a heart as light as a feather.
“If they ever walk down the hall and their eyes are changed,” said Sara, “bow your head, stand against the wall, and don’t speak. They can hurt you if you challenge them, understand?”
Allie walked faster to keep up with her. “Yes.”
A door opened and the two young girls walked inside the room. Allie was confused by whom she saw, but smiled real big: it was Mrs. Taylor from school. “Hello, Allie.”
“Hello, Mrs. Taylor, how are you?” She was so happy it was her that she smiled uncontrollably.
“I’m fine, and you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Have a seat and I will be with you in a moment. I need to have a word with Sara first, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay,” Allie said, and sat down as she was asked. Her teacher and Sara left the room to talk in the hall. Allie could hear their voices, but not what they were saying.
Mrs. Taylor came back into the room without Sara and sat on the edge of the desk in front of her student. She opened her hand and revealed a vial with a green liquid in it. It was the same color as Allie’s favorite soda. “This is a memory eraser; if you drink it, you will forget everything about this place and our people. If you want to stay then don’t drink it. If you do stay, you are in for life. Your allegiance is ours: not your parents’, not yours friends’: ours. You will live in our world and follow our rules before the rules of your parents or the outside world. Be very sure this is what you want.”
The decision was simply: like Sara, she would have both worlds. “I am staying; this is where I want to be.”
“Many young girls have sat where you are sitting. They too were offered this choice and the majority of them decided to drink. They are now walking around your school unaware of us and have forgotten ever being here in this place, in this room, in that chair. It takes total commitment, total devotion. You will leave your home; you will leave your parents and friends and live with us. If you change your mind now, you can return to them.”
But Allie shook her head; she thought of the children, of her new abilities, this new world, and knew her decision. “I’m staying. This is the world I want to be in. I belong here,” she said with total confidence and conviction. “I belong here!”
Mrs. Taylor closed her hand. She went behind the desk and put the vial away. “I’m glad you are staying, Allie. We need you.” She took out a syringe and came back to her. Allie rolled up the sleeve of her T-shirt and braced herself for the shot. Mrs. Taylor injected her with a purple liquid that made her feel warm all over, then sick. For a few long seconds she bent and held her stomach, wishing away the pain – then finally drew herself to her feet.
“I feel better now, but I am starting to feel a little sleepy.”
“That’s normal. Let me put you to bed. When you wake, you will feel better.” Mrs. Taylor led the young girl out and down the hall to the sleeping quarters, where Allie fell fast asleep.
She had no way of knowing, but a cocoon formed around her and her body began changing as she slept.
Chapter 17
Cavers: A Vampire Tale Page 23
