by Sofia Daniel
“H-he…” Zarah finally raised her head. “How do you know?”
“I was in the nightclub bathroom when they took me. He passed by a huge mirror, and all I could see were panicking girls.”
She clapped her hand over her mouth. “Did they slaughter everyone?”
I dipped my head and stared at the metal floor of the van. The vehicle accelerated, indicating that we were on a freeway of some sort. Lights streamed in and out of the tiny window. Erica had been alive when the man had taken me away, but there was no telling what the second man had done to ‘clear up.’
With a cough, I said, “The club was filled with yellow gas, and everyone in the hallway was either unconscious or dead.”
“The police will think it’s a gas leak,” she replied. “Did anyone know you were there?”
Terror seized my heart. “You don’t think they did something to my mom?”
She glanced away.
I clenched my hands and gazed down at the man lying at our feet. Zarah was right. These guys weren’t regular terrorists, killers, or even traffickers. I rested the back of my head on the van’s wall and blew out a long, shuddering breath.
“They want us for something special.” The words tumbled out from my mouth.
“W-why?”
“They could have taken anyone at the club, but they cast the other girls aside to find me. I…” My throat dried, and I stared down at the young man from the juvenile detention center. The vampires had broken in especially for him, leaving behind hundreds of other targets. A shudder ran down my entire body. “I don’t think they’ll drain us a single attack.”
Vampires probably treated humans like milk cows. Kept them well-fed and locked up until it was time to feed. We probably had a rare blood type they found delicious.
The ground beneath us rumbled, as though the vehicle had left the smooth terrain of the road. A slight lurching of my stomach told me we were traveling uphill. I rose from my seat and gazed out of the window. Silvery moonlight reflected off what looked like a dense growth of trees and shrubs and ferns.
My stomach turned to lead, and I lowered myself into the seat. “We’re in a forest.”
Zarah whimpered.
I squeezed my eyes shut. In a few hours, it would be morning, and Mom and Steve would wake and wonder why I hadn’t returned from the club. Then they’d hear about the yellow gas and think I was dead. How would they explain things to Daniel, my seven-year-old brother?
A pang of regret struck my heart. Would I ever see them again?
The vehicle joined a gravel road, and I squinted up into the top of the hill. Deep in the woods stood a gothic castle of tall towers and twisted roofs that looked like it had been moved, brick by ancient brick, from Transylvania.
The muscles of my throat convulsed. Would this be the place of our imprisonment or our death?
Chapter 2
I pressed my fists to the sides of my head, breaths fogging the window with each passing moment. The road wound around the forest, giving me a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the castle. With hands that trembled, I reached into the pocket of my leather jacket and pulled out my phone — still, no signal. The vehicle had probably blocked us from the outside world, which explained why they hadn’t searched through my possessions.
I sat at Zarah’s side and wrapped my hand around hers. “Th-this is our last chance,” I tried to keep the hysteria out of my whisper. “T-the doors will open, and we’ll be led into a dungeon or some vampire’s coffin. Are you going to let that happen?”
Zarah squeezed her eyes shut. “If you had seen how they moved…”
I drew back. Whatever she had seen had broken her, and I didn’t plan on keeping Zarah company in the vampire’s lair. Even if they dragged me back, kicking and screaming, I might get a few seconds to send a message for help or make my location trackable when Mom realized I wasn’t in the Velvet Lounge.
The thought of undead monsters biting into my flesh and drinking my blood made every hair on my body stand on end, spurring me into action.
I shuffled past the juvenile delinquent, who still hadn’t moved the entire journey, and crouched low at the door. As soon as they opened it, I would make my move again. Sparing Zarah one last glance, I asked, “Are you sure you want to stay?”
The van’s front doors opened and slammed shut, and heavy footsteps crunched on gravel. My heart made a slow, steady thud that reverberated in my chest. This was it. If I kept low, I’d avoid their grasping hands and disappear into the woods.
Sucking in a deep, steadying breath, I readied myself to burst out and sprint.
The lock turned, and a large body knocked me aside. I fell onto the side of the van and hit my shoulder. The doors opened, and the juvenile delinquent sprinted past the two men, through a gravel driveway, and into the darkened woods. They turned and watched after him.
The one who had taken me out of the club snickered. “Will the wolves eat him or turn him?”
“Maybe Rolf will take a liking to him and mount him from behind.” The second man laughed at his joke.
Before I could right myself and spring into action, a gloved hand wrapped around my ankle and pulled me halfway out of the van. Winded, I skidded toward him on my back, then he wrapped his arm around my neck and set me on my feet. Eyes that reflected the moon like silver dollars leered down at me, and an icy fist wrapped around my heart.
Then he parted his lips and hissed, revealing fangs.
A scream tore from my throat, and I jumped back, but he held me tight.
“Don’t tease the girl,” said the crimson-eyed man who had captured me in the Velvet Lounge. “We still need to go after that jackass who ran into the forest.”
“Let the werewolves have him,” muttered my captor.
All urges to wriggle free and escape drained from my limbs, and my body went limp, like a cat lifted by the scruff. While the second man helped Zarah out of the back of the van, the first walked me around the vehicle to the castle’s white, stone steps.
Mounting terror gripped my lungs and throat, making me gasp for air.
Vampires, werewolves… What else existed in this world? Zombies?
The silver-eyed vampire pushed open a set of double doors that led into a grand entrance hall made entirely of marble. Two ticking grandfather clocks stood like sentinels on both sides of a hallway that led into the dark. Opposite stood an unlit fireplace large enough to accommodate a dozen frightened girls.
Through rasping breaths, I let my gaze wander to the portrait above the marble mantlepiece. It depicted a being whose arched brows framed staring, brown eyes, a silken mustache that curled across his cheekbones, and the longest set of mahogany ringlets I’d seen on a man.
Anyone who had seen the entry on Wikipedia would remember that face. It belonged to Vlad Dracula, the Duke of Wallachia.
Also known as Vlad the Fucking Impaler.
If I hadn’t been held up by a giant, silver-eyed vampire, my body might have collapsed onto the black-and-white marble floor tiles.
Instead of the blood-red coat from his fifteenth-century portrait, Dracula wore the kind of morning coat grooms wore to weddings, with a waistcoat, bowtie, and a handkerchief. Spots waltzed before my eyes. We were going to be the brides of the most famous vampire in history.
Footsteps echoed from within the darkened hallway, and a trio of boys my age strolled toward us. Each wore black blazers with matching pants and red, tartan ties.
The one on the left stepped into the light. A boy whose coppery hair flopped over one side of his face arched his brows, revealing curious, forest-green eyes that made a breath catch in the back of my throat. It was the kind of messy style that took ages to perfect and framed cheekbones that could have been chiseled out of alabaster. Strong, pale lips curled into a smile that was half-cordial and half-hungry. My gaze traveled down a six-foot-tall figure of broad shoulders, and prominent pecs that followed the tailored lines of his blazer.
I gave myself a menta
l slap and squeaked, “Help.”
“Actually, that’s a great idea.” My captor said. “Prefects, could you put these two in a holding cell? One of our newcomers ran into the forest.”
Panic exploded across my chest, and my heart pumped blood into my legs, urging them to run. But I couldn’t act until those two armored men left the castle to find the delinquent.
The boy in the middle strolled into the entrance hall, his gaze skipping over us as though he saw frightened girls being held captive every day. The chandelier light picked up the lemony highlights and golden-brown lowlights curled around his honey-blonde hair. Hooded eyes as hard as the aquamarines on Mom’s eternity ring, stared down a straight, aristocratic nose, making all the moisture in my throat evaporate. With cheekbones that could slice through a girl’s jugular, he flared perfect nostrils and flattened his full lips into a disapproving line.
“And you let her encounter werewolves?” he asked.
“Him,” replied my captor.
The blond’s cruel eyes flickered up and down my body, and my heart rate doubled. Before he could utter something ominous, the redhead strode forward with a grin. “Of course, Commander Colt, we’re happy to assist.”
The commander squeezed his fingers around the back of my neck and whispered into my ear, “Be a good girl and follow these boys, or you’ll be the one thrown to the wolves.”
Clenching my teeth, I tried not to imagine a real-life werewolf. When my captor released me, I stepped out of his reach and looked for something, anything that might help my escape.
The red-haired boy offered his arm in a mockery of gentlemanly behavior. “Allow me.”
I glared at his elbow and tightened my lips.
His smile flickered as though my natural survival instincts had caused him offense, and he gestured for me to walk beside him up the wide, marble staircase. “It’s this way.”
A shuddering breath escaped through my nostrils, and I locked gazes with Zarah. Her eyes were wide, the color of a cloudy sky, and her thin lips trembled.
As though on their own volition, my legs broke into a sprint, and I headed for the double doors. No amount of vampire charm would sway me into getting close to an undead, blood-drinking creature.
In the blink of an eye, the copper-haired boy appeared before me, blocking my exit. He held out both palms in a placating gesture. “Where do you think you’re going on a full moon?”
Palpitations reverberated through my insides. He was almost as quick as our two abductors. I darted left toward the fireplace, but in a few rapid steps, he overtook me and held me by my arms. “Easy now,” he said in the kind of tone I expected a farmer would make to a goose he needed to keep sweet and tender for foie gras. His green eyes softened. “Don’t run around and get yourself hurt.”
“Get off me,” I said between clenched teeth.
A frown crossed his features, and he released his grip. I spun, only to find the blond boy scowling down at me with cold, aquamarine eyes. “Stop wasting our time, frumosi,” he snapped. “Or we will make your introduction to the vampire world even more painful.”
Zarah let out an agonized whimper and convulsed with fear.
“You’re scaring your friend,” said the copper-haired boy.
“Why are you reasoning with these creatures?” The third guy stepped into the light.
He had the same high cheek-boned look as his companions, but his skin was a deep bronze with full lips and a dimpled chin that made my lips part and my breath quicken. He was a couple of inches taller than the other two, with a broader build. Long dreadlocks tumbled down to his shoulders, framing brooding, black eyes that looked through me as though I was beneath his notice. I would have said his hair was the same color as his eyes if it wasn’t for hints of dark blue highlights in the light of the chandeliers.
“Nero is right,” said the blond. “You take the fool running around like a headless chicken, and I’ll take the one who looks like she’s going to piss herself.”
“At last, someone who knows what to do with a frumosi.” The third guy turned around and retreated into the dark hallway.
If vampires hadn’t abducted me, disappointment would have fallen through my insides like a lead balloon, but we were in the lair of creatures that were as deadly as they were beautiful. If these vampires were emitting some kind of hypnotic charm to distract me with their looks, I needed to throw it off. Fast.
I took in my surroundings. Up the stairs, beyond the half-landing were tall, arched windows, too high for me to scale. Even if I managed, jumping through them would mean the vampires would find me at sunset a bleeding heap of broken bones.
“Welcome to the Sanguine Academy of Vampires.” The redhead wrapped his hand around my arm and guided me past a staircase that looked like it had been lifted from Beauty and the Beast. Except here, the heroes wore their ugliness on the inside. “I’m Raphael.”
Warmth from his fingertips seeped through my leather jacket and onto my skin. It likely indicated that the monster had just fed on a live human. The thought of it made my skin prickle into goosebumps.
As we reached a heavy, wooden door, the blond chuckled from behind. “Clean her up before you start making moves.”
I stared ahead and suppressed the urge to spit in his face. He made me sound like a filthy piece of meat.
Raphael pushed the door open, revealing a darkened stairwell illuminated by the chandelier light at our backs. Our shadows fell down the stairs and stretched down to a pitch-black space.
Terror seized my heart in its clawed grip, and my blood turned to ice. I tried jerking away, but Raphael was too strong. “Let go of me.”
“Carry her down if you must, but stop playing with your food,” said the blond.
Behind me, Zarah burst into hiccuping sobs.
My head spun, and dots appeared before my eyes. A tight band of panic squeezed around my lungs, and all the air left me in one frantic breath. I shuffled back, only for Raphael to sweep me into his arms.
“Don’t be afraid,” he murmured as he descended the staircase. “No one’s going to hurt you.”
“Yet,” added the blond.
“Stop teasing them, Dante.”
The door behind us slammed shut, encasing us in darkness. A sob caught in the back of my throat. This was it. The vampires would throw us into their dungeon and forget about us until it was time to feed. I tried not to think of a group of boys like the pair carrying us down the stairs, each taking their turns to bite my neck, but I’d seen too many vampire movies, watched too many supernatural TV shows to push the image from my mind.
“Lights, please,” said Raphael.
Seconds later, a pair of lamps shone from below, filling the stairwell with light. Another wooden door stood at the bottom of the stairs. Two identical, blank-eyed men of about twenty-five stood on both sides holding the lanterns. My throat dried. If it wasn’t for the slight rise and fall of their shirt-covered chests, I would have thought they were statues.
“Two new frumosi for the cells,” said Raphael.
Frumosi. The word echoed in my skull. It probably meant blood bag or something just as grotesque.
The man on the right of the door turned the handle and pushed the door open, revealing a stone room. Inside sat a boy a year or two older than us lying on a bed of straw with manacles around his leg. He raised his head, revealing eyes bloodshot with tears. “New frumosi, right?” he croaked. “Welcome to hell.”
“He’s exaggerating,” Raphael murmured into my ear.
I flinched away, and he set me on my feet.
Dante, the blond, dropped Zarah, and she stumbled forward. Raphael held her steady and whispered what sounded like words of encouragement. It was hard to tell with Zarah cringing and sobbing.
Raphael backed away. “See you later.”
I didn’t reply and waited for them to step back into the hallway. As soon as the door shut, and a key turned in the lock, I faced the man. “How long have you been here?”
“This time around? Two days,” he replied. “But before that, I was here for three years.”
“T-three?” Zarah choked.
I forced my frantic breaths in and out of my lungs. Slowed them right down until my head stopped spinning, and I could think straight. Apart from the red-rimmed eyes, he looked in the peak of health and not emaciated from being fed upon by vampires. I cleared my throat and asked, “What do you mean?”
He sighed. “I’m a frumosi, like you.” My mouth opened to deny being anything of the sort, but he raised a palm. “The vampires say we’re special, but we’re just food and breeding stock.”
Tremors shook my legs, and I lowered myself to the ground. “But we’re human.”
“Yes and no,” he replied.
“How do we get out of here?” I raised my head, looking for a window or a grate, but the only way out was through that heavy door.
He lowered his head and sobbed. “We can’t unless you know how to slip through locked doors, dodge werewolves, and undo blood magic.”
Hysteria rose from the pit of my belly and wound around my throat. I wrapped my hands around my middle as though that could keep down the rising panic. “We’re trapped? But you said you returned two days ago.”
A harsh chuckle spilled from his lips. “Because a female vampire took me to produce sun-walkers for her and her sisters. They sent me back because they deemed me too defiant to keep around. Now I’ll be turned into a knocker.”
“Knocker?”
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hands. “Those mindless slaves in black. They’re enchanted to walk about the building like golems.”
Like the blank-eyed men who stood in the dark outside this cell until Raphael ordered them to turn on the lights. I gaped at the crying man.
Zarah rocked back and forth, repeating the same words over and over. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die…”
“I still don’t understand,” I whispered. “Why did we get captured?”
