by Jade Farhill
“What’s that noise?” Abby asked one of the vampires who had been reading quietly near her.
“It’s the boulder, locking the sun out for the day.”
So … she was trapped in here.
She pushed that thought aside and decided to get to work. She questioned every vampire she came across, making her way back up through the levels as she did. When she finally got to the top level, she spotted a vampire she recognised. But not the one she was looking for.
“James?” she asked incredulously, approaching him.
He snapped his gaze at her, his eyes crazy. “What?”
Her chest tightened. It really was him. “James,” she said uncertainly. “That’s your name.”
“No,” he snarled. “My name is Fang.”
That was a bit … unoriginal. “Where were you when you first woke up?”
“Here. I was recruited for the coming war.”
The war with the hunters. The war the vampires were finally losing because of the cure and the vaccine. “I see.” She asked him about her sister.
“I’ve only seen you.”
Abby nodded, guilt weighing heavy on her shoulders. If it hadn’t been for her and Sharon, James might still be human. Had he tried to join the hunters? Or had he gone out searching for vampires himself, to earn more money from the hunters? She might never know.
Two weeks later, when Abby had decided it was nearly time for her to move on, she was reading in the library when screams and hisses began issuing from the upper levels. Cries of ‘Hunters!’ echoed down the halls.
Abby jumped up. She couldn’t be cured now—she’d barely begun her search!
Acid green gas slithered into the library, and the normally peaceful space erupted into chaos. Abby pulled out the gas mask she’d taken from the hunter complex, put it on and hid in a corner.
A few hunters entered the library and started racing through the shelves in search of prey.
Abby went still.
A hunter stalked past her nook, then spun, blade out, chain whip at the ready. She met Abby’s gaze.
It was Harriet.
They stared at each other for a long moment, then Harriet cocked an eyebrow. “You must be rusty, Rormton. You evaded us for so long and it only took us three weeks to find you again.”
“Maybe you’re just getting better?” Abby joked.
Harriet chuckled. “Well, I’d never deny that.” She looked over her shoulder, then back at Abby. “Wait five minutes before you leave this room. Then head straight to the surface.”
“Thanks.”
“And Rormton—try not to get caught again.”
Abby dipped her head. “I’ll try.”
***
Abby left Sunrise Beach and went to Sydney, then Melbourne, going from den to den, searching for her sister.
When she finally found a lead, she discovered that Sharon had already moved on from that particular den. Abby tracked Sharon across the country, never staying in one place for too long.
At night, when the dens were empty and every vampire was on the hunt, Abby went to local laboratories to concoct the cure.
But when she had spare moments, Abby considered Sharon. Why couldn’t her sister settle down? Because of how she’d started life as a vampire? Because Sharon was wracked with guilt for possibly killing Abby?
***
After two years of searching, Abby finally came across someone in Western Australia who’d seen Sharon only days ago.
“Oh, yeah, her,” the solitary, old vampire said, eyeing Abby as if trying to work out how old she was. “Yeah, I saw her in Darwin, just two days ago.”
Abby’s eyes bulged. “Really?”
“Yeah, heard she was heading to a den near there. Is she a relative?”
“She is.”
The vampire nodded. “Yeah, I thought so. Hey, do you know how she was Turned?”
“All I know is that she’s out there.” Abby shrugged.
“Pity. I know someone who’s keen to find out.”
Abby’s blood went cold. Was he referring to The Horror?
She had no time to waste. Instead of going straight to Darwin, Abby returned to her property in the hinterlands of Sunrise Beach, where she kept all the cures she’d stocked for this moment. Then she left for Darwin.
***
The den was three hours run, south of Darwin. Abby found it by following a group of vampires leaving the city before dawn.
She blended in with the crowd of vampires entering the den before sunrise. It was just like all the others—Abby was getting sick of them.
But on the second level, a scent in the stale air made her stop in her tracks. She knew that scent. She’d know it anywhere.
Vampires strode past her, barely even noticing the smell. The young ones crowded on the top level, just to avoid the temptation of drinking fresh blood. Abby moved to the nearest unoccupied room and lurked inside for a while, waiting for the halls to empty. During the day, most vampires left the main pathways clear, just in case hunters burst through the boulder covering the entrance and sunlight filtered through.
When she finally emerged, there was only one other vampire left on that level. It seemed that everyone went out of their way to avoid it.
If that was the case, Abby could be putting herself in serious danger by investigating. Someone very powerful in the den evidently didn’t want anyone near here.
But Abby couldn’t just leave.
She put her gas mask on, just in case. The chance of being cured was too high.
But something didn’t make sense. What was he doing here? And—she sniffed the air—with only two other hunters?
Abby looked down the other path. The safer path. The path that ensured she’d walk out of here alive … or undead. The path that promised her sister and the reunion she craved like she craved blood.
Then she sighed. She’d known what she would do the second she smelled the little hunter. Regardless of the danger, she needed to investigate why he was here, and who he was with.
She moved to the room radiating their scent. A human’s scent didn’t infuse a room quite like this unless they stayed there for a very long time.
So how long had the little hunter been in this den?
The other vampire on this level and was guarding the three hunters. A solitary vampire, which meant it was old—and powerful. That was going to make things … difficult.
Admittedly, Abby had an overabundance of cures in her bag. Thank you, Past Abby, for being overprepared, she thought.
Pulling out a spray canister that held thirty-five doses of the cure, Abby tried to come up with a plan. She’d only ever fought two vampires in her life: Sharon, and the one who’d attacked Lynn.
And both times, she’d almost died …
Abby slid her eyes to the side. Okay, so how could she do this without dying?
Element of surprise?
Abby leaned her head against the wall. What am I doing? Sharon is here. This is my chance!
But the little hunter and two other hunters were here too.
Abby opened her eyes and steeled her resolve. Then she peered around the corner of the doorway and into the room. The vampire was female, heavily armed and looked like she could defend herself. She also looked to be in a foul mood, her lips permanently in a sneer, gaze fiercely and determinedly pointed away from the three humans.
Metal bars split the room in half, reaching from the floor to the ceiling, forming a cage. They revealed the three trapped hunters, as if the queen wanted them on display. The door into the cell was on the far side of the room and was similarly barred, except it had a number pad installed on it.
Abby would need a code to get to the hunters. Her eyes travelled to the irate guard—first she needed to deal with her.
Abby took a steadying breath. Then tackled the guard to the ground.
The guard threw Abby off her, and Abby went flying into the wall.
“These humans are not for you,” snapped
the guard. “They belong to the queen.”
The queen: the most powerful vampire in the den.
Damn.
But Abby would much rather face this vampire than the queen. She attacked again.
The guard punched Abby in the guts and slashed her across the throat, splattering blood against the wall. Abby fell to the floor, covering her wounds.
The guard stood over her, eyes bright with excitement. “I’ve never drunk another vampire’s blood before. None have been stupid enough to attack me. But I hear that if you do, you gain their powers.” She kicked Abby in the face.
Pain darkened her vision.
When it cleared, the guard was grinning evilly at her, licking at Abby’s blood that was still flowing down her fingers.
Then she pulled back in disgust. “What is this?”
But Abby’s answer came in the form of a cure cannister to the face. It exploded and the guard fell back, coughing and waving the green substance away from her.
But the damage was already done. The guard was now human.
Abby’s nostrils flared at the new human scent, and her mouth started watering. But she would not attack a human, especially in front of three hunters, no matter how hungry she was—and she was getting hungrier by the second as her wounds healed.
The former vampire was staring up at her, pale and shaking. “Pleas—”
“What's your name?”
“Irena.”
“Okay, Irena, how long until the guard changes?” Abby compelled.
The guard blinked. “Five hours.”
“How long have these humans been in here?”
“Three months.”
Three months? What the hell? “Why are they still alive?”
“The queen wanted to teach them a lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“That it’s stupid to be a hunter, especially now that they’re turning us ‘back into pathetic humans’.”
Abby frowned at Irena.
“I’m just quoting the queen.”
Why would Sharon want to be a part of a den that had such a cruel queen?
Abby looked into the cell and saw the three figures. Their heads were bowed, their wrists and ankles chained. The cuffs at their wrists looked to be the only reason they were vertical.
They were emaciated and their breathing was shallow. They all looked to be about eighteen. Had they all been captured on their first hunt?
Abby remembered the last time she’d seen the little hunter. He’d been strong, trying to control his heart and breathing. Not once did he display the vulnerability she saw in him now.
What kind of psychopath was this queen?
If Kenny could see this, he’d be doing everything he could to rescue his son.
A sense of duty towards Kenny had prompted her to follow the little hunter’s scent. But seeing the boy and the state he was in, compassion drove her actions now.
“What’s the code to open the door?”
“Only the queen knows.”
Abby had no intention of trying to make friends with the queen to get that code. She always avoided the most powerful vampires in the dens—those who resided in the lowest levels. They were genuinely terrifying, and made Abby’s respect for the hunters—especially those who went after the old ones—increase significantly.
There had to be another way inside.
Abby eyed the cage. The lock was electronic and connected to a computer control. Could she somehow short-circuit the lock, like she had when she’d first woken up as a vampire?
“Where’s the power source?”
“With the queen.”
There goes that idea, she thought.
Young vampires had no memory of their human lives, which meant they wouldn’t know how to use human technology. The older vampires, Abby hoped, were clearly in control of their actions, but still might not know how technology worked. She imagined a four-hundred-year-old vampire trying to use technology, giving up and then abducting an IT guy to do it all for him.
“Well, at least I know something they don’t,” she muttered, and downloaded an illegal code-breaking app on her smartphone. After a few attempts, she’d cracked the code.
The door clicked, then swung open. Abby allowed herself to smile in triumph—then froze, this was too easy.
She turned to Irena. “Why hasn’t anyone ever broken in before?”
“The queen—she makes sure those who disobey her suffer. A lot.”
Abby shuddered. I’m not looking forward to meeting this queen. Better do this fast and escape while I’m still free.
She stepped carefully but quickly inside the cell.
When none of the hunters moved, Abby began to worry. She approached the little hunter and ripped the chains off his wrist.
He slumped forward, but Abby caught him before he hit the floor. He was so light, she could feel his bones through his skin, see his ribs and his hips under the shirt.
She grimaced and placed him gently on the ground. Then she bit into her arm and put her wounds to his mouth, remembering how she had done this for his father. But this time, she didn’t need to compel the hunter to drink; he unconsciously swallowed her blood.
His eyelids opened, blue eyes unfocused and hazy.
She got chills at seeing her little tormentor conscious.
The fog in his eyes cleared.
Knowledge of what was happening shone in his eyes.
“Drink,” she compelled him.
Amazingly, he obeyed. Most hunters in the grip of death would have fought her, broken her compulsion, just like Kenny had. Why was he so compliant? What had they done to him in here to make him so obedient?
He moved his limbs slightly, readjusting his body. It would probably be terrifying to wake up in a vampire’s arms with them compelling you to drink their blood. Hopefully, he had no immediate plans to kill or cure her.
He took another gulp and broke the compulsion, turning his head away from her blood. She helped him sit up, then backed away to give him some space. “You okay, Little Hunter?”
He took in a deep breath, eyes falling on his emaciated companions. “I am, but they aren’t.”
“I was going to get to them next. I just wanted to make sure you were well enough before I helped them.”
He nodded. “I’ll be fine.”
Abby turned to the second hunter and forced his wrist cuffs open. He dropped and she caught him, then repeated the process of waking him up. But the moment he realised what was happening, he kept breaking her compulsion, refusing to drink her blood.
Even though this hunter was proving that he hadn’t been broken by the vampires, Abby couldn’t bring herself to appreciate it. “I’m trying to help you,” she said through gritted teeth.
The hunter replied with a belligerent glare.
Abby took a calming breath, then summoned all her strength and compelled with a single-minded intensity. “Swallow.”
The recalcitrant hunter complied, and—more surprisingly—so did the little hunter and Irena.
All three humans looked as disturbed as Abby felt. What had just happened? Had she just stumbled upon a … mass compulsion? Was that even possible?
She tested it out again, and all three obeyed once more.
Abby shuddered, not liking this newfound ability. “Just accept the compulsion,” she told the hunter in her arms, “so the others don’t have to obey too.”
The hunter’s eyes widened and landed on the little hunter.
“I think it’s safe to drink, Scotty. You’ve had the vaccine, and it’s not like she tried to Turn me.”
“Considering I created the vaccine, why would I want to Turn you?” Abby demanded.
Scotty pulled a face and started drinking. When he’d had enough, Abby broke the chains around his ankles.
She turned to the last of the hunters.
“What’s going on, Tay?” asked Scotty.
“I think we’re escaping.”
“That’s the plan,
anyway,” Abby said, trying not to shudder at the slow heartbeats around her—the same slow pace Abby equated with full and deadly hunters.
“Paddy’s not going to be happy about drinking your blood,” Scotty said.
“Well, he’ll have to deal with it, because I’m all you’ve got.” Abby unchained the final hunter—Paddy. His hair was dull in the dungeon light, and had to be compelled with the same heavy concentration as Scotty. This time, all four humans gulped. When Paddy looked like he was going to be able to stand on his own two feet, Abby took her arm away from his mouth. He sat up and she broke the chains at his ankles.
“What’s going on?” Paddy asked his companions.
As the little hunter told him, Abby turned to Irena. “Where are their weapons?”
“Two rooms to the left.”
“That seems … pretty close,” Abby said.
“Even you hate silver,” the little hunter replied. “Can you blame the queen for moving—and thus touching—it as little as possible?”
He had a point. “I guess I can’t.”
Abby told the hunters to wait there while she retrieved their weapons. “It goes without saying,” she added, “that I’d prefer you not to kill me or turn me human. But I’m saying it because I don’t trust you—even in this emaciated state, you’re still a danger to me.”
The little hunter nodded, and the other two looked at him before murmuring in agreement.
So, the little hunter was the leader of this group. She should have known he would become a leader. He had led the campaign of harassment against her.
Abby slipped out into the corridor and found the unlocked door to the room where the weapons were stashed. At least they were sheathed. The room reeked of silver. There was the scent of only one vampire, and it was very faint, as if the vampire hadn’t stayed long.
Abby got their daggers and silver chain whips and cure dispersal units, glad she was still wearing her gas mask. She wondered how the little hunter had recognised her so easily through her gas mask, but maybe when you dedicate your life to tormenting someone, you can recognise them in any circumstance.
Abby walked back down the hallway and dumped the weapons at the hunters’ feet. They bent down and tried to pick them up, then winced.
“Damn, this is heavy,” muttered Paddy, struggling to hold a chain whip. “It feels like it did when I held it as a kid.”
