Dead of Night

by C T Rhames

  Rows of chairs with people sitting on them, sucking blood from necks and wrists. I stood and stared. Cash was there, directly in front of the door, apparently deeply enjoying the neck of a young woman. I gasped and he looked up, disengaging from her neck, blood dripping from two very sharp looking fangs.

  Malia had frozen in the doorway, but now she unfroze, her face turning into a mask of rage. “You bitch, you don’t belong here!”

  “I don’t belong here? I’m thinking you are the thing that doesn’t belong!”

  She leapt for me, opening her mouth wide. Two fangs slid out of her gums as she slammed into me and threw me against the wall.

  “Malia.” The headmaster was there now, looking tired. He grabbed Malia by the back of the neck and pulled her away from me. I rubbed the back of my head, where she’d slammed me into the wall.

  “Lyric, you are becoming quite the problem,” the headmaster sighed.

  I gaped at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m such a problem because you have students drinking blood in here and I got attacked? Your priorities are all out of whack.”

  The headmaster sighed again. “If you’ll just let me explain . . .”

  “Forget explaining, I don’t want to hear it!” I shouted.

  Students were pouring out of the room. Some were wiping blood from their mouths with handkerchiefs. Others just licked their fangs. They all looked hungry.

  There were so many of them. “Is this whole school . . .”

  “What?” Cash asked, grinning and showing off his fangs. “Are we all what?”

  “Vampires?” I managed to get out.

  “Not all, but most,” the headmaster told me. Malia struggled in his grasp.

  My heart was thundering in my chest and I was certain they could hear it. The look they gave me was one of a hunter. I’d seen it in the face of a mountain lion stalking a rabbit before. Only this time I was the rabbit.

  I turned and ran. I could hear the headmaster calling out for everyone to just stop and calm down, but there wasn’t much hope for it. He did give me a bit of a head start though and I was up the steps and out the front door before the vampires surged up after me.

  It was still dark outside and I realized my mistake almost at once. There were many hours until dawn at this time of year. There was nothing stopping them from eating me up, but at least I didn’t have to make it easy for them.

  Running through the dark was terrifying, since I could hear the taunts and footsteps of the vampires behind me. They didn’t quite catch up with me and it took me a few minutes to realize they were drawing out the hunt. They could easily overpower me if they wanted to, but they were hanging back, making the hunt last. It was just sport for them.

  I was already struggling for air and my blood pounded in my ears. There wasn’t going to be much of a hunt. I was so out of shape and the air was freezing. I had left my room with nothing but a long sleeved shirt and sweatpants, so now I was getting cold fast. Too late I realized my mistake and stumbled toward the cave that Karen had shown me.

  The instinct to survive is strong. After losing my entire family, I felt like joining them, yet here I was, running when the opportunity to die was just seconds away.

  Dashing into the cave, I crawled into the space and scooted back against the back wall. Right about where the images of monsters attacking people were drawn. And that’s when I realized that vampires had been here for a very long time.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Lyric?” Mel’s voice echoed from the cave entrance and I shrunk back. This was not going to be good.

  “Go away.” I knew he would see me in the dark as soon as he managed to get into the cave.

  I could hear his footsteps crunch across the rocky floor and he was beside me in no time.

  “You should not be out here, you could freeze.”

  “I guess you don’t have that problem, huh?” I shivered.

  “No.” He was silent for a moment. Then he said, “The others are coming. Almost here.”

  “They’re going to eat me, aren’t they?” I sighed and buried my face in my arms. “I guess I should just get it over with.”

  “Get what over with?”

  “Death.” I looked toward him in the darkness. “Want to do the honors?”

  “Me? You want me to drain you?”

  “Might as well. I have a feeling you’ll be a little gentler than the horde out there.” I tilted my head to one side and swept away my hair. I closed my eyes tightly and waited for the bite.

  Instead, a gentle brush of skin across my neck made me shiver, almost pleasurably. Mel’s voice sounded in my ear. “I am not going to kill you. However, I will kill for you.”

  He was gone, leaving a gust of wind behind him. I crept to the entrance of the cave and peered out.

  There were at least fifty people, er, vampires, waiting outside the cave. Mel stood facing them.

  “Do not do this, I implore you,” he called out. “She is unique and the Masters wish to study her.”

  “Wait, what? What masters?” I called out.

  He ignored me. “This young woman may be the One we have sought for so long. She has the characteristics and we believe she will bring salvation.”

  Wait, this didn’t sound right. I leaned against the stone, feeling cold and weak. I definitely didn’t feel like the solution to whatever vampire problem they were having.

  “She has discovered us,” someone shouted. “She cannot be wiped, so she must die. This is the law.”

  “The law is changing,” Mel said loudly. No one seemed to care much if that was the case. Instead, they surged forward and in a moment, I saw Mel transform from a handsome guy pleading for my life to a monster like those on the wall behind me.

  He leaped forward in a crouching pose and snarled at the other vampires who were waiting below the cave. They were already hyped up and it seemed they were only interested in a fight.

  Mel gave it to them. He slashed and gashed and bit as he bounded through the crowd. I watched in fascinated horror at the blood arcing through the air. It was everywhere on the snow, looking black in the moonlight.

  I could make out only shadows against the bright snow, rushing back and forth. Some of them seemed to be trying to get to me and others were stopping them. The air was filled with screeches and unearthly howls.

  Then one broke through. It was Jeanine. She was dripping with dark blood and smelled of it as she leapt at me and dragged me further into the cave.

  My blood was running cold and I had stopped shivering already. That was a bad sign, I thought, vaguely. As was the fact that Jeanine seemed to be sitting on my chest. She twisted my head to one side and bent down.

  “I’m going to enjoy this, Booboo,” she hissed, before her fangs sank into my neck.

  It didn’t hurt, which surprised me. Instead, I felt heat spread from her fangs and run through my whole body. It felt good. I relaxed and stopped trying to push her off me. There was no point. She was too strong.

  Besides, it was high time I went to join Brett and Sara, I decided. And so I let her drain the life from me and let myself drift away on the bizarre high that it gave me.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I woke up yet again in a new place. This whole fading out and waking up somewhere different was getting old. This time, it was in Mel’s arms as he ran through the forest. I stared up at the sky and realized that it was starting to lighten.

  “Don’t you . . .” I started to croak out.

  “Hush. You are injured.”

  “The sun,” I managed to get out.

  “Yes, it is rising fast. Some of us will not return to the castle.” He kept his gaze forward, cradling me. “Just rest. I will get you to help.”

  “Help?” I tried to pull myself up and realized I couldn’t move my arms or legs. “I can’t move.”

  “Hush.”

  I woke again in the infirmary. The nurse was bending over me and checking my blood pressure. Absently, I wondered how many human stu
dents there were that they had to employ a nurse.

  “Am I going to be okay?”

  “Yes, you’ll be fine.” She tapped the bag of blood hanging above me. “Thanks to this miracle.”

  “Wait, I need a blood transfusion?”

  “Several, actually, but no worries. Your young men were happy to donate.”

  My young men? I looked up at the blood and my eyes widened. “Are you giving me vampire blood?”

  “Hush, dear, not everyone knows.”

  “But, you can’t, I don’t want to be one!”

  “Oh, don’t worry, you’re safe. This is just to heal you. You won’t turn just from receiving blood. You’d have to die while the blood was in your system.

  I lay there thinking about what she said for a minute before there was a rustle and Mel, James, Cash, and Tomas appeared by my bed.

  “How do you feel?” Cash asked, serious for once.

  “Like I almost died. Are you okay?”

  “We are fine.” Mel perched on the edge of the bed and looked closely at me. “You appear to be healing well.”

  “Thanks. I guess I have you all to thank for that.”

  Tomas smiled, “yes, we could not agree on who would donate, so everyone did.”

  “Do you all have the same blood type?” I raised an eyebrow.

  Mel smiled gently. “Yes, vampire.”

  “Hush, I hear that’s a big secret around here.”

  He took my hand. “Yes, but now you are a part of that secret. We expect you to take it seriously.”

  “Well, considering I nearly died for that secrete, I’m all for it. What happened at the fight?”

  “Many fought, some were injured.” He shrugged. “They should have listened to me.”

  “Oh yeah, what was all that about me being the one?” I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that special.”

  “Yes, you are.” Cash grinned. “Watch.”

  He called the nurse aid over and when the guy was next to him, Cash looked him in the eyes and said, “Stand on one foot.”

  The man stood on one foot. Cash chuckled, “I could make him strip for you if that would make you feel better.”

  I pretended to consider it, but then shook my head. “Nah, I’m good.”

  “Very well. Forget all of this and return to your duties,” Cash said, peering into the man’s eyes.

  “I’ve got work to do,” the man said and he went back to sweeping.

  “See? We can do that to anyone,” James told me. “Except you. And prophecy says that a woman will come who cannot be erased. And she will lead the race to success and break the bonds of oppression.”

  “What bonds of oppression? You guys are the oppressors from what I see.” I shook my head and regretted it immediately.

  “We are not perfect,” Mel admitted.

  “I’ll say.” I looked over at Cash. “Who were you eating in that room downstairs?”

  “A volunteer.” He smiled apologetically. “I can imagine that it looked quite terrible, but she did volunteer for the position.”

  “She volunteered to be drained of blood?”

  “When we feed regularly, we don’t require much,” Mel explained. “Which is why we have volunteers on hand throughout the day.”

  “And why the dining hall is so small,” I groaned. “I get it now.”

  The headmaster appeared and asked the boys to leave. He sat in the chair next to the bed and looked at me, pursing his lips. “You never cease to amaze me with your ability to get into trouble.”

  “This wasn’t my fault,” I said.

  “Oh, so you weren’t poking around in the basement?” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Well, yeah, but that didn’t warrant being eaten for dinner.”

  “I agree. We do try to keep an amiable environment here for both living and non-living students.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I still don’t know why I’m here. Why would you mix humans with vampires?”

  “Because these are vampires who need to learn everything modern,” he said. “The best way to reintegrate them into the world is to ensure they learn to use modern language correctly, as well as technology.”

  I recalled Mel fumbling with the phone and the odd way most of the students talked. “Yeah, I can see that. But then what about stuff like Karen?”

  “Oh, we have a policy to include vampire blood in every meal you eat here. That ensures that you have vampire blood in you should something happen and you die.”

  “So Karen did die?”

  “Oh yes, I’m afraid so. It was Jeanine and her crew, but accidents happen.”

  “But she’s a vampire now!”

  “Yes, and that’s regrettable, but it’s to be expected. When you have this many ancient vampires around, they’re going to cut loose sometimes.”

  I shook my head, “This is insane. This whole place is insane. “

  “I understand you might feel that way, but I believe you could do a lot of good here. And honestly, there’s nowhere else for you to go. That’s why Anderson recruited you.”

  “That was recruitment?” I shook my head. “This is not cool.”

  “You have a choice now,” he leaned back. “We can send you out into the streets so to speak, or you can remain here and help teach the new students. We’ll ensure you have a good education and are ready for college when the time comes.”

  There wasn’t much of a choice. I knew my stepfather would find me on the streets.

  “I’ll stay.”

  About The Author

  C.T. RHAMES is an avid reader and writer who enjoys dark rainy nights at her computer, accompanied by her two cats. She’s a big fan of bully romances and anything academy or paranormal school, so her books tend to reflect just that.

  Books By C.T. Rhames

  Island Academy Series

  Abandoned at the Academy

  Bullied at the Academy

  Taken at the Academy (Coming Soon!)

  Bloodborne Academy Series

  Dead of Night

  One Last Thing...

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