Crimson Born

by Amy Patrick

  He and his team wired electronic mallets throughout the caverns and connected them to a large console. When a key was depressed, a rubber-tipped plunger struck the corresponding concert-pitched stalactite, and a note resounded.

  The instrument was activated by an automatic system resembling a music box. It could also be played manually and often was by a vampire who used to be a famous concert pianist.

  I’d attended a few of his performances in the cathedral, a chamber with a soaring ceiling covered in crystalline limestone formations that resembled chandeliers.

  In awe of the place and the music, I’d marveled at the majestic sounds reverberating through the even more impressive caverns.

  Sometimes the organ was used to alert the Bastion dwellers of important news.

  The tune it played now signaled there was to be a gathering in the Grand Dome to be presided over by Imogen herself. Heather, who’d been to a meeting of our full community before, identified it for us.

  Like all the others in the Rainbow Cave, we started moving toward the Bastion’s largest gathering space.

  “Wonder what this is all about?” I asked. Whatever was happening, it must have been important.

  “Maybe she saw the announcement about Sadie’s rally coming up, and she wants to sort of launch a preemptive strike,” Kelly suggested.

  We entered the Grand Dome, an enormous chamber studded by towering stone columns that stood ten stories high.

  Some of them rose-colored and some golden-hued, they’d formed when stalactites and stalagmites had eventually met in the middle after centuries of growing toward each other at a rate of one cubic inch every one hundred twenty years.

  When all of us were present, Imogen arrived.

  Once again in black, she wore a sleeveless, full-length column dress. Her only jewelry was a pair of pearls.

  She climbed the platform and walked to the center of it where a large, ornate chair waited. Sitting in it, she lifted her hands to the sides.

  It must have been some sort of signal because a group of Bloodbound warriors marched into the room in full regalia.

  They formed two parallel lines, and between them they dragged a man dressed in filthy, ragged clothing.

  His stench filled the large room—or maybe it only seemed that way because of my enhanced sense of smell.

  The procession stopped in front of Imogen’s throne—and that’s definitely what it was.

  It had taken me a moment to realize it, but now that I saw her in the presence of the entire Bastion community, I understood. All of her talk about being a queen wasn’t figurative. She literally saw herself that way, and apparently so did everyone else here.

  Kannon stepped forward, bowed, then spoke. “We have found the rogue who’s been attracting so much unwanted attention. What is your wish?”

  Rogue?

  My attention lasered to the broken-down figure surrounded by guards. Could it really be Reece?

  His face was blocked from my angle, but it was hard to imagine this emaciated, reeking creature could be the same person as the robust, handsome boy I’d met the night of the blood moon.

  But then I remembered Kelly’s story about how she had spent weeks hiding and starving and what I’d learned about drinking animal blood.

  If it was Reece, he’d been on his own out in the world for a long time now. He might be suffering from animal poisoning or worse.

  As if operating with minds of their own, my feet started moving toward him. Heather grabbed my arm.

  “What are you doing?” she hissed. “You can’t go up there.”

  “It might be Reece,” I hissed back.

  Her grip tightened. “It doesn’t matter. You can’t help him now. No one can.”

  “What does that mea—”

  Imogen’s voice rang through the hall, soft but strangely powerful at the same time. “Step forward.”

  Shaking and stumbling, the ragged man obeyed. From my position behind him, I still couldn’t see his face, but I was desperate to. Like Reece, he had dark hair and big hands.

  What was going to happen to him? What horrible things had already happened to him?

  Oh Reece. I fought a near overwhelming urge to run to the front of the room and step in between him and Imogen.

  Her expression was pure disdain.

  “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused? There have been news reports about your escapades. There’s been talk among the human authorities of amassing the National Guard to search the area and exterminate you. I cannot tolerate that. The last thing we want is a search of this area.”

  Wait... what? She was talking about the local area here in Virginia. Hadn’t she told me Reece had been spotted in Pennsylvania near where the accident had occurred? Maybe this wasn’t him after all.

  Maybe he’s dead and you’re never going to see him again.

  No. I couldn’t even think about that. On the night we were both turned, Imogen had said Reece would eventually find his way home. This had to be him.

  Whoever he was, the man was in trouble. There was a palpable tension in the air around me, an expectation of... something. I didn’t get the sense that something was good.

  He said nothing in answer, only stood before Imogen with his head bowed and his sickly body stooped forward.

  I’d heard tales of holding cells deep in the cavern, though of course I hadn’t seen them. This poor wretch probably knew he’d be spending a long time in one—maybe eternity.

  Staring down at him, Imogen gave a slight nod, and one of the Bloodbound stepped forward.

  He drew his sword.

  In an instant, the rogue vampire’s head was disconnected from his body and fell to the stone floor. His legs hinged, and he collapsed.

  A scream ripped through the chamber.

  It wasn’t until the vampires around me turned and stared that I realized it had come from me.

  14

  Take Me With You

  Complete and utter shock caused my knees to buckle.

  If Kelly and Heather hadn’t been standing on either side of me, each holding an arm, I might have hit the floor as well.

  Heather, who was taller and better able to see over the crowd, leaned close to my ear and whispered, “It’s not him. It’s not Reece.”

  I lifted my head. The thumping of my heart was definitely no illusion. I really needed those vampire biology lessons to understand how that was possible.

  “Are you sure? You can see his face?”

  She nodded rapidly. I had to see for myself, though. When the people in front of me dispersed, I hurried to the front of the room.

  Heather was right. It wasn’t Reece.

  This poor soul had been much older. Though I felt sorry he’d met such a swift and gory end, I couldn’t help but be relieved.

  My eyes were so fixed on the shocking sight of him, I didn’t notice Imogen had left the throne until she came and stood beside me.

  “Why did you do that?” I asked through lips that felt numb.

  “Why wouldn’t I?” she asked.

  “He was probably starving and desperate. He might have been out of his mind from animal poisoning. We have doctors. Maybe they could have helped him. You could have... I don’t know... put him in jail or something instead of killing him.”

  Imogen used a tone of exaggerated patience. “You’re very young. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you’ll understand what I’ve come to accept—fear is the strongest motivator there is. If our race is to survive and thrive, we cannot have disobedience in the ranks. Strong leadership is essential, and our kind always does better with a queen who inspires respect, loyalty, and yes, a little fear.”

  She left my side and walked toward the exit, speaking in the kind of blasé tone you could only have when you’d seen centuries of death.

  “Besides, he was too far gone. At a certain point, it’s a mercy to end them.”

  I went through the next day in a daze.

  The rogue’
s public execution in the chamber didn’t seem to have affected anyone else the way it affected me, with the exception of Kelly and to a lesser degree, Heather.

  I didn’t know what I was going to do or where I would go, but I was sure of one thing... I didn’t belong here.

  If Imogen’s order was an indication of the kind of “leadership” expected of queens, I was definitely out. I could never kill a man—not on purpose anyway—and I couldn’t understand how it had been necessary for the protection of our people.

  It was hard to see the others just going about their business as if it hadn’t happened. Maybe they weren’t, as Imogen called them, my people.

  At this point, it seemed like the best thing I could do was leave. Maybe I could find a group of vampires who thought differently. A group who had no idea whose “daughter” I was.

  Maybe Heather’s boyfriend would agree to let me sneak out tonight without telling Imogen. I was on my way to find her when I ran into Kannon.

  “Hey there squirt,” he said. “Where’re you going in such a hurry?”

  “Nowhere,” I lied.

  “Well you sure are in a rush to get there—you walked right by me and didn’t even see me.”

  “I’m sorry. I’m distracted I guess.”

  “Well I’ve got something that’ll get your attention.” He paused dramatically. “I saw Reece.”

  “What? Where? Are you sure it was him? Is he okay? Why didn’t you bring him here?”

  Kannon chuckled. “Hold on now, one question at a time. We were patrolling near the Pennsylvania-West Virginia state line, and I saw a vampire dart into the woods. I followed him, got a good look at him. It was definitely Reece. As for why I didn’t bring him back, the answer is I couldn’t catch him. He’s damn fast—he’s Imogen’s child, too, you know.”

  “So he was in good shape then?” I said, my heart soaring.

  His smile dimmed. “Well, I wouldn’t say that. He’s been out there alone for a long time, Abbi. He looked rough. I told him I was there to help, but I’m not sure he even understood what I was saying.”

  “Maybe he didn’t recognize you. You said you were chasing him. Maybe he thought you wanted to hurt him.”

  “Maybe. Who knows what he’s been through in the past few weeks? I’m sorry I couldn’t bring him in. I know you’ve been worried about him. But you don’t need to. I’m going to go back to the area—bring a few of our fastest guys. We’ll catch him.”

  A bolt of inspiration hit me so hard I almost staggered. “Take me with you. I can help. He’ll listen to me. He knows me.”

  Kannon shook his head side to side. “I can’t do that. It’s too risky, and you’re too important to Imogen.”

  “Not anymore,” I assured him. “I told her I’m not going to be her heir. I’m still just a common vampire, like everyone else here. She told me I was free to leave the Bastion as soon as I complete my training.”

  “Yeah. Right.”

  He didn’t seem convinced. “Anyway, it probably wouldn’t do any good. It’s unlikely he’d still remember or recognize you. I think he’s been surviving on animal blood, Abbi. You know what—”

  I cut him off, the suggestion too horrible to contemplate. “No. I don’t know anything—not until I see him.”

  My mind filled with the disturbing images from the execution of the rogue vampire a few nights ago.

  “Bring him back Kannon. Please.” I debated making my next request but then decided to do it. “And if he’s not... healthy... tell me about it first, okay?”

  “No promises, kiddo, but I’ll see what I can do.”

  With a wink he walked away, and I went to my room where I would unpack my bag. There was no way I could leave the Bastion now.

  If the Bloodbound brought Reece here, and he was in bad condition like the other rogue had been, I had to be here to protect him from Imogen.

  15

  Not Himself

  They found him.

  It was about a week later when Kannon and his team came swaggering into the Rainbow Cave bragging about how they’d finally captured the rogue vampire who’d managed to elude them for so long.

  I rushed over to Kannon. “Is it Reece? Where is he?”

  Please please please don’t say the Grand Dome.

  “Hey, cool your jets there, little sister. No one can see him right now. He’s in processing.”

  “But it is him? You’re sure?”

  He nodded, though he didn’t smile. “It’s him.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  Something was definitely wrong. Imogen had promised I’d be the first to know when they found Reece, but no one had notified me he was here, and Kannon was acting weird.

  “I didn’t say anything was the matter,” he said.

  “You didn’t have to. I can tell. What’s going on? Is he hurt?”

  “No. But he’s not... himself right now.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “He’s sick, Abbi.”

  I grabbed the sleeve of Kannon’s shirt, pleading. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “It’s just as I feared. He’s been... drinking animal blood.”

  My heart seized with dread.

  Kannon’s grim tone matched his expression. “When I called in and told Imogen the kind of shape he was in, she gave me the option of just destroying him right there. But I couldn’t do it—because of you. And he’s strong. I told her if he can be rehabbed, he’d make one kick-ass Bloodbound.”

  “Please tell me where he is. I have to see him.”

  Kannon bit his lip and looked off to the side, but I could see he was on the verge of caving.

  “Please. I just want to look at him, just for a minute. Maybe it’ll help him to see me.”

  “Okay. But don’t tell anyone it was me who told you where he is. Our medical staff is trying to help him. The medical center is down the west corridor almost at the end. There’s a red cross painted over the doorway—a little joke of ours.”

  “Thank you,” I said and rushed out of the Rainbow Cave.

  Maybe seeing a familiar face would help with Reece’s rehab. In spite of Kannon’s warning, and the fact we’d only met that one time, I felt sure he’d remember me.

  At least he would if I had made a fraction of the impact on him that he’d made on me. He was branded on my brain.

  Unfortunately, when I reached the medical quarantine area, the staff wouldn’t let me into his room.

  “Please. I need to see him,” I told the head clinician. “He’s a friend of mine.”

  I had met the doctor at one of the Bastion’s social gatherings. Anthony Coppa had been an orthopedic surgeon in his human days, but once he’d turned, the constant exposure to blood had been too much for him. Now he worked exclusively with vampire patients.

  “Absolutely not. He’s far too dangerous,” he said. “One of our nurses is currently regenerating a limb after getting too close. I doubt he’d recognize you anyway. His mind is muddled from the effects of blood poisoning.”

  Pressure filled my head, pressing out on my eardrums. “What are you doing to help him?”

  “We’re offering him time-regulated feedings of blood. But so far, he’s refused to drink any. He’s a hard case. He was pretty far gone by the time they brought him in.”

  “Would drinking vampire blood help?” I asked with a mind to volunteer some.

  “It would certainly heal him faster, but it would also make him too strong for us to subdue and would put our staff and perhaps the entire Bastion at risk. We’ll stick with human blood for now,” Dr. Coppa said. “Hopefully when he gets thirsty enough, he’ll drink it. After that, we’ll wait for him to recover his senses enough to let someone get near him. Then we can inject him with small doses of vampire blood. It’s the only safe way to do it.”

  “Can I at least look at him through the window?” I pleaded.

  I needed to see for myself he was actually there and that it was truly my Reece in that locked medical h
olding room.

  The doctor’s brow furrowed in an expression of reluctance, but finally he cracked a small smile. “I don’t suppose that would hurt anything. Follow me.”

  He led me down a corridor lined with doorways. Opening one of the doors on the left, he motioned for me to proceed into a small, dimly lit room with two chairs, a table, and a computer.

  The wall directly in front of us featured a door that was bolted shut and a large window that was completely blacked out.

  “It’s one-way mirror glass,” Dr. Coppa explained. “This is an observation room. Since it’s too dangerous for anyone to be in there with him, we have to watch over him this way and record his feeding patterns and behavior.”

  Stretching out a hand, he pressed a button in the wall, and the black window shield cleared to reveal Reece on the other side.

  I sucked in a gasp of horror.

  It was like looking at a stranger. Neither of us was human anymore, and I must have changed too, but Reece seemed more like a wild creature than either a vampire or a human.

  His hair was disheveled and dirty, his clothes—the same ones he’d worn the night we’d met—hung in tatters around his tall, big-boned frame. His boots from that night were gone, and his bare feet were covered in dirt and grime.

  Like other vampire males, he was muscle-bound, but his face was gaunt, and his skin had a dull bluish cast instead of the vibrant coloring I’d become accustomed to here at the Bastion.

  He paced from one end of the holding room to the other, occasionally pounding at the walls and lifting his head to howl in frustration.

  It reminded me of a pathetic grizzly bear I’d seen once during a childhood visit to the zoo. The poor animal had been nearly out of his mind with boredom and the hopeless frustration of captivity.

  “You see why we can’t let you in there,” Dr. Coppa said. “We can’t even clean him up, poor soul. It’s the worst case of blood poisoning I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t sure we should even try to rehabilitate him.”

  Tearing my eyes away from Reece, I turned to the doctor and gripped his forearm.