Autumn, 1803
“Batten down the hatches, men! She'll be on us before dawn!” Jameson leaned hard to the right as he swung the helm, countering the tilting hull.
The night had been unbearable. Not even I could sleep when the north sea tossed and turned us like a cork in a bottle.
My open shirt blew around me in the freezing wind. There was no time to finish dressing, I'd barely managed to fasten my sword to my hip as I'd run to the tiller to help.
“Captain, the storm'll be upon us in less than an hour,” Jameson informed me, sweeping back the dark blonde locks that had come loose from his braid.
One of my crew, a newbie by the name of Pud Jessops, retched full-bodily over the stern side, coughing his guts up into the sea.
“Why'd you recruit the weed?” I sneered. A man needed two things to survive aboard a ship: a strong stomach and sturdy sea legs. This boy didn't seem to have either as he stumbled backwards, nearly falling on his arse.
“Forgive me, Varick. The boy's a cousin of mine. And he may be a weak hand on deck, but he knows more tales of the sea than you or I. He's a born storyteller, and in them days without woman or rum to entertain the men, I figured it'd do us no harm to have some other form of entertainment.”
I rolled my eyes at the comment, but let Jameson have his way. He much too easily bought into the idea of mermaids and beasts of the deep for my liking. I believed whatever my eyes proved to me, no more and no less. But if he needed his stories to find excitement in the seven seas, then so be it. I, on the other hand, found passion in gold, women and blood.
Jameson could have his fish-tailed fantasies, but I would lay with real women and search for true satisfaction. Of course, love wasn't my goal. I wouldn't be so cruel as to let a woman fall for a pirate who spent less time on land than a seabird. I was a free spirit. And no one would tie me down.
Jameson, however, had a woman waiting for him at every port. Lovelorn and doe-eyed at the sight of him, as if they really believed he only had eyes for them. If they knew what a womaniser he was, they probably wouldn't have given him the time of day.
But if there was one thing I'd learnt from my time at shore, it was that women were trouble. They gossiped, they plotted, they schemed to win the most eligible men. It was our gender that were the fools, writing them off as simple-minded creatures. But in a partnership, they often held all the cards, they just didn't let their husbands realise it.
I had a strict no-women rule amongst my crew. I'd heard of ships that kept women aboard, no doubt for the type of entertainment that Jameson so clearly craved. So I'd let him have his story boy. Better that than bringing a temptress onboard.
Selena's scent still reeked havoc on my senses, her saliva, her skin. It was a narcotic, tempting me to take more. Driving me to insanity. Yes, women still had the upper hand. I was their slave. Especially to a girl like her. Only, they didn't win if I took an interest in them. When I'd had my fill, I'm not sure I won either.
I was caught in a never-ending cycle of craving, sating and despising myself.
Some of us were different. Some of the Vs could suppress their emotional responses. But I'd never taken council from a V. No one had taught me the ways of coping with my new self, it had come to me through practice alone. But look where that had landed me. At the hands of the Helsings. Watching this twisted game they played to fund their cause. Why didn't they just kill us all and be done with it?
I half concentrated on the screens encompassing the far wall. Six girls now remained from the twelve that had started this round. More than I'd expected by this point. I wasn't sure whether that was to do with the Vs' weakness or the girls' strength.
Either way, one had to win out. I just hoped Selena came back to me. Because if I had to sit here, witnessing another V drain her body, I'd be at breaking point. I didn't understand the new emotions I was feeling toward her. I'd convinced myself it was to do with her blood, but a niggling voice in the back of my mind told me it was something more than that. Though what that was, I couldn't quite comprehend.
Ignus caught my eye from the front row, glancing over his shoulder with a dark grin. That kid was as screwed up as they came. And no wonder, considering he'd rarely left this island. His parents were practically brainwashing him, forcing him to be the good little heir they needed to ensure this island had a future.
Rotten luck for me, seeing as I was cursed with an eternity of serving whichever Helsing happened to reign here. Unless I could escape. But two hundred years had passed since my last attempt, and the mere memory of what they did to me still haunted me.
Midnight had rolled past and I hesitated to go to Mercy's room, not wanting to take my eyes off of Selena. Many of the men forwent sleep at this stage in the game. No one wanted to miss the next death, even though the Helsings had an alarm system hooked up to their rooms that warned the men if Vs were getting close to any of the girls.
As the hours ticked by, I knew I couldn't wait any longer. Rising from my seat, I headed toward the east tower. My pace was slow; I was in no hurry to meet with Mercy again. But how I behaved with her tonight was key to my survival. And perhaps Selena's too.
I knocked on the door and she wrenched it open barely a second later.
“Where have you been?” she demanded, taking my wrist and encouraging me inside.
“The men were asking my advice,” I lied and she huffed, dropping onto her bed in her slinky nightgown.
“Well you'll have to make up for lost time.” She grinned, beckoning me with her finger.
My throat tightened with revulsion. I moved to the bed, taking her wrist and drawing it to my mouth.
She tugged it free, shaking her head. “My neck today.”
I suppressed a shudder as she took my arm, guiding me forward and shifting the golden locks from her throat. I bent low, tempted to take a deep bite, but resisted, putting my plan into action. “I can't hurt you,” I said softly, drawing away with a feigned expression of pain. The only pain I was feeling was the sickness in my stomach. I hated this girl right down to the pit of my soul.
“Oh,” she breathed and I heard her heartbeat rise, felt the heat radiating from her blood.
I backed away, rubbing my eyes. “It's too much Mercy. The way I feel about you. It's all too sudden.”
“Oh Varick, it's my blood. It's let you love me at last.” She raised her arms, wriggling across the sheets with her joy.
“I think you're right,” I said with a taut frown.
“Come, drink more,” she offered, tilting her neck toward me, but I shook my head.
“No, I wont. I can't.”
She stood, hurrying across the room just as I laid my hand on the doorknob. Damn.
My escape had been so close.
She offered her neck to me again and I knew I had no choice. Not that drinking her blood was in any way a misery for me. I had no qualms about sinking my teeth into this wretch. But the fact that she enjoyed it made me uneasy, not to mention the fact Abraham would have me hung, drawn and quartered if her found out.
I sank my fangs in all the same, taking what I wanted and what she gave willingly. She cupped my neck, pulling me to her, and despite the delicious drink running down my throat, all I could focus on was her hands on me. My skin itched with how much I wanted to push her away, but I remained in place.
Today, being well fed already, it was easier to stop. Combine that with my general ill-feeling about this whole thing, and I was probably only at her neck for half a minute.
“It's too much for me, Mercy. I need time to process these feelings.” I wrenched open the door and Mercy gazed on triumphantly as I slipped away.
A grin crept onto my mouth as I wiped the blood from it, heading back toward my room.
Hook, line and sinker.
Selena
Cass finally came to and I fed her the last of the berries from both of our packs. She had no signs of injury, but fatigue had set in. She must have been running around this forest longer
than I had.
“How'd you make it here?” she asked when she woke.
I wanted to hide the fact that I'd killed Marie. But Cass had been through enough that I didn't want to keep secrets from her. When I told her what had happened, she didn't glare at me or walk away, she hugged me, wrapping me in her limber arms.
“It wasn't your fault,” she said. “The mist must have been poisoned. I kept seeing things...”
Tears slid down my cheeks, reality finally settling in. I'd murdered another person. She may not have been entirely innocent, considering her past, but she'd had a good heart. And killing her boyfriend hadn't been any more noble than me killing my stepfather.
“I'm so sorry I left you,” Cass said, a single tear escaping her eye.
“I understand,” I breathed.
“I want to get out of this forest,” Cass whispered, glancing toward the cave exit. “We could make it to the checkpoint within hours. It's close.”
I nodded, clutching onto her a moment longer, knowing the pain at what I'd done would never leave me.
As we gathered up our things, I became aware of how little I really knew about Cass. She never spoke about her past and I was sure there was more to her than met the eye. A survivor like her wasn't born this way, she was made. But how, I wasn't sure.
As we gathered up our things and headed into the eternal night, I plucked up the courage to ask her. “Who were you before all of this?”
Cass glanced at me, before her gaze fell to the ground. “I told you. I was in for arson.”
“Why did they send you to a maximum security prison? No one died, did they? You said you only tried to burn down your ex's place.”
She nodded, digging her teeth into her lower lip. As we crossed over the river, tiptoeing across protruding rocks in the stream, she turned to me.
“I hurt a lot of people, Selena.” She shook her head.
My foot slipped on the rock and she steadied me, holding me in place. “You're a good person. You hurt someone that hurt you. You shouldn't be here with the rest of us.”
I untangled her fingers from my cloak. “I'm not, Cass. No more so than you or anyone else. You've saved me more than once. I wouldn't be standing here without you.”
Cass choked out a dry laugh. “You don't understand.”
“Then help me to,” I demanded. “What does it matter now? We'll most likely be dead before tomorrow.”
She sighed, making her way across the rocks and I followed her onto the dry ground.
“My ex's home was in a block of flats. The one I set light to.” She stopped walking, keeping her gaze fixed on a tree ahead of us. “Families died, Selena. Couples. Teenagers. Kids.” She covered her face, a rattling sob rolling up from her throat. “I was so angry. I never thought about the consequences. And that bastard wasn't even in the flat.”
I touched her arm, anguish flaring through me. “You didn't know.”
“I did know!” She cupped her hand to her mouth, horrified by herself. “I knew other people lived close by, that should have been enough. But I wasn't myself. I was a wreck after I found out he cheated on me. I acted stupidly. I wasn't thinking.”
I gripped her arm. She'd forgiven me of everything I'd done. I needed to offer her the same courtesy.
“Are you sorry?” I asked quietly.
“So sorry...I'd do anything to take it back.” She wrenched her arm from my hold. “I tried to kill myself. But the police found me swallowing the pills. Had my stomach pumped before they arrested me.”
I sucked in a breath, eyeing the bunched muscles in her shoulders. I could see how much pain she was in. I'd admired her strength so much through this game, but clearly she was broken inside. She'd made mistakes that had cost people their lives. But now I had too. So how could I be angry with her?
I reached for her again and she shrank from my touch, spinning around. “I want you to survive this, Selena. You're the only one that deserves to.”
“Don't say that,” I bit back. “I'm as guilty as you are.”
“No...” She stepped forward, squeezing my arm. “You're not like us. You're a survivor, not a killer. That's why you're still here. Whereas the rest of us...” She sighed.
“There's no difference. People have died at my hand, it equates to the same thing.”
She shook her head, pressing her lips together.
“Stop it,” I demanded. “We're here, still standing. And that's all that matters now. We can go home, start fresh-”
“There's nothing for me back in England.” Cass moved away from me, heading on.
“Then why are you still walking toward the checkpoint?” My question hung in the air and she didn't answer, continuing to weave through the trees.
I huffed, heading after her. We moved on in tense silence, not even the birds daring to make a noise between us as we walked.
It was so quiet that it didn't seem natural. Fear crept up my spine as some sense warned me that we weren't alone. I twisted around, suddenly sure that we were being watched. My heart started thumping faster and my palms grew slick as I tightened my grip on my stake.
Movement caught my eye ahead of us as a V suddenly charged out of the undergrowth, a feral shriek escaping it. I froze but Cass started running, sprinting straight toward the V with a cry of her own.
She collided with the Vampire, shouting out with effort as she brought it down, sticking her stake deep into its chest. The starved V fell to the ground, but Cass didn't stop there. She started stabbing and stabbing and I stood, watching in horror as she took out her rage on the fallen V.
Cass finally stood, dripping in blood, a grimace on her face. She wiped a splash from her cheek and set her jaw. “I may not deserve to be here, and I sure as hell don't know what surviving this game means for me. But I do know I don't wanna die any more.”
I nodded, wide-eyed. “You're not going to die.”
She thrust up her chin. “Correction: we're not going to die.”
She stomped off into the woods and I hurried to follow her. Christ, Cass was formidable. Together, maybe we really did stand a chance.
We finally passed the tree line and a steep downhill descent led us toward a beach. At the edge of it was a large cabin. Smoke pumped out of a chimney, the scent of burning coal reaching to us on the wind.
“That's it,” Cass sighed, checking the map on her cuff.
It was quiet. Too quiet. The waves lapped against the shore. All we had to do was walk a hundred metres to the cabin and we'd be safe.
I moved forward but Cass caught my arm. “Wait,” she hissed, pointing past me.
My neck prickled as I followed her finger, finding a row of Vs lined up along the tree line. They were gazing at us, hungrily licking their lips, but none of them made a move.
“What are they doing?” I breathed, clutching Cass's arm as I stumbled backwards.
Before she could answer, a flash of purple shot past us as Sakura sprinted down the beach. Other girls, evidently hiding amongst the boughs, followed her lead, making a dash for it.
The Vs' ever-watching eyes made me nervous, but as they started in our direction, Cass and I followed the other girls.
I spotted Kite and Angelina stumbling over the rocks, splitting apart to make their own way to the cabin. Briony was just ahead of us and a girl I didn't know with short, strawberry blonde hair sprinted after her.
I shot a glance over my shoulder, expecting the pursuit of the Vs, but they remained sentinel, standing in rows, just watching us. As if they were waiting for-
A scream tore through the air and I flung around, trying to place it. The girl with short hair had disappeared, but I couldn't figure out where to until Briony dropped out of sight, too.
My heart plummeted and I dug my heels in, forcing myself to a halt.
Cass wheeled around. “What are you doing?” But I was already heading toward where I'd last seen Briony. The Vs were moving at last, circling around an area where the blonde girl had been running. I spurred my
legs on, desperate to find her. After what I'd done to Marie, I couldn't leave her.
I reached the place where the blonde girl had disappeared and gasped, finding her in a deep pit, laid across a bed of spikes, her body torn and broken.
“No.” I backed away in horror. My head snapped up as something moved in my periphery; Briony was clambering out of a ditch several feet away. I sprang into action, running to help her.
Something clicked beneath my feet and suddenly the ground disappeared.
I acted on instinct, thinking of the spikes. Of the blonde girl's unseeing eyes, her body speared on the wooden spikes. I threw out my arms, reaching for the stony wall as it rushed past me. I managed to dig my fingers in, stopping my fall with a jerk.
Glancing down, I saw the first of the spikes just inches from my feet. I dug in my toes, desperately clawing my way upwards. The top of the pit was a few feet above me, too high to reach on my own.
Vs came into sight, leering down at me with hungry grins on their faces.
I grunted my frustration. I was too damn close to the checkpoint to go out of the game like this. I grabbed my stake and used it to heave myself up the wall.
A V flew through the air with a scream as it landed on the spikes. It hadn't been killed, but was evidently stuck on the sharp poles, unable to get free. More fell and I ducked my head as reaching fingers swept past me.
“Selena! Grab my hand!”
I reached upwards toward my unexpected saviour and Kite took hold of my fingers. More hands found me and I was heaved out of the hole, planted on my feet and forced to run again.
Kite, Cass and Sakura were my rescuers. Sakura, who had already reached the checkpoint had actually come back for me. And Kite who had despised me since day one. I had no time to think about it as we ran as a tight group toward the cabin where Briony was already darting inside.
We stumbled onto the beach, rushing through the door which was open and waiting for us.
V Games (The Vampire Games Trilogy Book 1) Page 21
