V Games_Fresh From The Grave

by Caroline Peckham

  “What next?” Dylan demanded, grinning from ear to ear.

  Farim turned to him with an excited look. “Follow me.”

  We wound through the town and occasionally stopped for more V shooting. I was glad when Farim finally led us into a large warehouse, leaving the bloodied streets behind. I was never going to get those images out of my head. I'd seen a lot of things in my time, but that had to be amongst the worst. I wasn't squeamish, but watching that had made my grumbling stomach shut up at last.

  As we headed inside, a couple of the men took out tablets from their pockets and I noticed them scanning through profiles of the contestants. My heart skydived as I spotted Selena and I lurched forward.

  “Speak,” Ulvic gave me permission and I shot him daggers before doing so.

  “What are those?”

  Dylan looked me over, assessing, looking like he'd happily shoot me if I was tied to a door. “They let us speak to the contestants.”

  “Selena's a contestant?” I rounded on Ulvic, my heart kicking into gear. Chucked into the game twice? God, that had to suck.

  Ignus was smiling, but I ignored him entirely.

  Ulvic gave a small nod, a fleeting apology passing through his eyes.

  “She volunteered,” Ignus filled me in, glancing at his nails. “I give her a day before a V gets her.”

  “Hope not,” Dylan said, nudging the blonde guy. “I'd like to get my hands on the little virgin.”

  Some of the men laughed and my neck strained against the collar, my body wanting to turn into its wolf form. But I couldn't so long as the contraption was in place. That decision now lay with the Helsings. Instead, I gave them a look that said 'I would happily eat your faces right off the bone' and their laughter choked out.

  Farim led the way up a metal staircase and the roar of a crowd reached my ears. Thirty or so men were at the top of the stairs on a metal walkway overlooking a silver cage below. Inside it, two female Vs were locked in a fierce battle. Betting slips were clamped in the men's hands as they cheered on the fight.

  These Vs weren't as starved as many of those in the game were. They were sentient, fighting to the death, presumably because of the guns that were pointed at their heads by guards around the walkway.

  As the V with short brown hair fell to the ground and the other snapped her neck, I suddenly recognised the winner. She stood up straight, her long, red locks falling loose from a ponytail, the colour muddied by dirt and filth.

  Her face was blotted with blood. But those piercing green eyes found mine and my heart plummeted down to meet her in that pit.

  Cass.

  Selena

  I woke to the tap tap tap of water dripping steadily onto something hard.

  But that noise didn't add up with where I was: in a soft bed in the Northern Bliss Resort.

  My mind was heavy with fog and as it parted, I realised there was no longer a quilt or thick mattress in my reality. Wherever I was, it was pitch black and horribly, bitterly cold.

  I reached upwards and my palms immediately met a wooden panel. Pushing against it, a door above me swung open and I gasped as I spotted the moon peeking through a thick haze of clouds. The air was heavy with the aftermath of a rainstorm, the last of the droplets cascading from the sky.

  Launching myself upwards, I found myself inside a coffin, laid on the wet grass, lined up in a row of more wooden boxes, stretching out either side of me.

  Most of the girls were already awake, standing up inside their coffins or close by them. Others were just emerging, looking like zombies rising from the dead in their beautiful ball gowns.

  “Sick jerks,” Imogen muttered beside me, lifting the yellow skirt of her dress as she stepped out of her metaphorical grave.

  I tried to clear my thoughts, despising the fact I must have been drugged and my clothes had been changed. Not that it would have been the first time. And no doubt I had much worse things to worry about than that. Still, I found myself searching for the mark of a needle that had entered my skin, running my thumbs over the crook of my elbows. Nothing. Had someone sneaked into my room while I slept? Rendered me unconscious and placed me here when they'd finished prepping me for their twisted games?

  I shuddered, forcing myself to focus on the more pressing issue.

  Gazing across the land, I searched for signs of the game beginning. Of someone to tell us what was going on.

  Moving out of my coffin, I spotted some of the girls retrieving stakes from inside them. Turning, I found mine resting in the silk folds of the lining, alongside my tablet and a small backpack where my feet had laid. Beneath it was my cloak, white as my dress and made from a thick, durable material. I pulled it on before strapping my tablet to my wrist and opening my bag; it was stocked with two energy bars, a bottle of water and a box of matches. I slung it over my shoulder, recalling the fact that, the higher our rating, the more supplies we were gifted with. I wondered how the other girls had fared in terms of supplies.

  The cold was persistent, but the adrenaline in my veins was holding it at bay. As I straightened, clutching my stake in my palm, I noticed my name was etched into the side of the coffin. My stomach rolled.

  Today I could end up in one of those for real. The Helsings were goading us. How simple death was to them. Did they fear it themselves? Or was life to them as it was to the trees? Leaves turning crisp and brown, falling silently into death, soon to be replaced by another ripe growth in its place.

  I'd never understand them. And truly I didn't want to. What difference did it make now anyway? I was still standing here, a pawn in their games. Whether they valued me or not was neither here nor there. It wouldn't save me from the Vs.

  It wasn't long before everyone was awake, some shifting nervously, whilst others waited, their jaws set, knowing something was about to happen. I spotted Twyla-Rae a few coffins away from me, her black cloak strung around her neck and her stake clamped firmly in her palm. Her jaw was set with determination. She'd done this before, just like me. But I was certain I didn't look anywhere near as prepared as she did.

  Evidently no one wanted to be the first to break from the group, myself included.

  The field stretched out around us in every direction. And those who had played the games previously were probably as wary as I was of the type of pitfalls and booby traps that might await us in the grass.

  A horn blared across the land, bellowing and deep, dragging right through my bones.

  That sound.

  Haunting, echoing on forever, stirring up memories inside me I didn't want to recall ever again. I shut my eyes, counting one then two before opening them. My breath misted in front of me, hanging in the still air.

  All at once, the horizon lit up like ten sunrises dotted along the hill. I squinted into the bright blaze, trying to work out what I was seeing, raising my hand to shield my eyes.

  A roaring, screeching, wailing sound rushed through the silence, scraping against my eardrums.

  Screams. But they weren't coming from us.

  Typhon's message flashed into my head.

  When you see the lights, run.

  Inhaling a sharp breath, I turned and fled.

  I was the first to break ranks, sprinting flat out, not looking back for a second. The pounding of my feet sounded like a drum in my ears, my knees aching from the impact as I forced them to work past the stiffness in my bones. The drumming turned to thunder and I knew the girls were following as the bash of heels in mud hammered through my body.

  But the earth was quaking more than it should have been. I didn't want to think about why. But couldn't fight the urge to turn my head.

  A choked noise of fear squeezed up my throat at the sight behind me.

  Twenty starved Vs, perhaps more, charging after us at such a speed, I could hardly register each of them. And their bodies were smoking. Some were actually ablaze with fire.

  Ghosts danced before my eyes as I focused on the way ahead, the scorching lights on the horizon having left floati
ng imprints on my retinas.

  Sunlamps, it occurred to me.

  The Vs were fleeing.

  I kicked up my heels as I ran, a stitch tearing through my side. But I never slowed, and didn't turn back again, gazing into the blinding darkness ahead.

  The first scream made my throat tighten. The way it cut off so abruptly, the horrible gargling sound that followed. I'd never get used to it. And worst of all, my mind conjured images of Varick killing the unlucky girl. He could be out here. Could be pursuing me. The urge to look back and search for him overwhelmed me and I threw another glance over my shoulder.

  I wished I hadn't.

  The lights shining across the carnage silhouetted everything behind me. The Vs took out girls in vicious attacks, dropping them to the ground like lions bringing down prey. I watched in terror as Imogen fell to the ground beneath two Vampires, tearing into her yellow dress and spilling the contents within it.

  A drone whizzed over my head and I looked up, breathless, terrified, and everything else I didn't want the Helsings to see me as. But they wouldn't let me hide away. My fear was currently live in HD for all the viewers to enjoy. Drinking their drinks and smoking their cigarettes, soaking up the luxuries of a life I was now a part of. Death was just another indulgence. But I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of mine. Not yet.

  I pushed myself so hard that I wasn't sure which was going to give out first: my legs or my lungs. One of them was inevitable. I couldn't run this fast forever.

  A snarl caught my ear and a whoosh of air passing by made me lose my balance. I stumbled sideways and the toe of my boot caught in a ditch. Stumbling, waving my arms uselessly, I slid in the wet grass, my momentum propelling me forwards.

  The ground came up to meet me and my chin smashed into the mud. I bit my tongue, tasting blood and swallowed it fast to keep the Vs from smelling it. From what Varick had told me about my blood, I knew I was extra vulnerable. Especially if I cut myself.

  Before I could gain my feet, a painful weight fell atop me. The smell of singed skin and charred bones overwhelmed my senses. My dress was so big that the Vs claws couldn't rip through it in one strike – my only advantage. I twisted around, writhing like a fish in an otter's paws, trying my hardest not to scream. Not to draw more attention.

  Not now. Not like this. Not yet.

  My heart pounded in my ears as I fought for my life.

  The light behind the V illuminated its outline, catching in the drool on its bared fangs. Fangs readying to sink into my neck. My hand came up, so cold that I couldn't feel where the stake started and my fingers ended. Not until my knuckles crushed against the V's ribs, the stake sliding deep beneath them.

  With a groan that sounded almost human, the V collapsed atop me.

  I had no time to collect my thoughts; the stampede was upon me in moments. I slithered from beneath my attacker, scrambling to my feet and darting away.

  A manic laugh pitched through the air and I caught the eye of Thames running beside me. Her stake was bloody and three deep gouges were ripped down her arm.

  “Hey!” she called to me.

  Before I could run to her, a whip of a lilac cloak threw me off balance.

  Digging my heels in, I tried to stop myself from crashing into Eesha, but my legs were moving too fast for me to slow down. Before I hit her, her friend barged me out of her way. My stomach leapt as I nearly lost my footing again. Tumbling, tripping, then miraculously managing to keep running. But I was off course now, and Thames had disappeared amongst the mayhem.

  The clouds parted and moonlight spilled across the grass to my right. And not just the grass, a glint of light on water. I'd lost sight of anyone I could hope to call an ally, and I couldn't go on much longer. Perhaps that water led to trees or a cave I could hide in.

  In a heartbeat, I made the decision, veering toward it. I swerved past several of the girls I didn't know, their ragged breaths running over me as I moved.

  The clouds drew over the moon once more, but I kept true to my decision, sprinting on to where I'd glimpsed the water, leaving the field of chaos as far behind as I could.

  As I crested a hill, puffing, wheezing, aching all over, the weight of someone collided with me full-force.

  I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. The world spun as I crashed down a hill, caked in mud, seeming to hit every rock on the way down. Worst of all were the claws tearing at my flesh. The snapping of teeth by my ear. Every time I brought my stake up I rolled, my wrist crushed beneath me, freed again before being crushed immediately after.

  Adrenaline darted through my body.

  The icy water enveloped me like a cloak.

  I sank under, gulping down a mouthful in my desperation to catch my breath.

  Splashing to the surface, I raised my stake, letting out a croak of fury. I was so dizzy, I could hardly see. All I knew was I had to fight. I had to find the V and kill it before it could alert others to my presence.

  I gazed left and right across the shore, treading water as I searched in vain for the Vampire.

  Nothing.

  The only sound that filled my ears was the gentle lap of waves against the muddy bank I'd fallen down.

  The clouds let in a sliver of light, but there was no V to be seen. My lips trembled violently, my hair plastered to my cheeks.

  My heart began to slow and I started to believe I'd actually imagined the attack. Perhaps I'd only fallen, caught myself on brambles and bushes on the way down.

  Claws sank into my ankle.

  My scream must have been heard across the entire island. There was no helping the noise I'd made in my horrified surprise.

  I fought like mad, kicking and splashing, trying to escape, but only more claws seemed to find their way into my skin, digging, climbing, dragging me down into the depths of the black pool.

  I sank under and the silent world below the surface pressed in on my ears. I reached down with my stake, desperate to escape.

  Panic fled over my skin.

  This is it.

  I managed to get my head up to catch another breath, but was immediately yanked back down.

  Reaching blindly forward, my fingers slid into hair. A scabbed scalp. Teeth buried into my wrist and bubbles streamed from my mouth in a silent scream.

  Aiming my stake, I gripped the V's hair, pulled myself toward it and slammed the tip into the weak spot at the base of its neck.

  At that moment, the moon broke through the clouds, splitting the darkness of the water in two. I jerked away, releasing the dead V, its face burnt and blistered from the sunlamps. Silver leaked from its eyes, floating toward me in two coiling streams.

  I desperately swam upwards, breaching the surface and swallowing air like a fish would water.

  Frozen. Injured. Soaked to the bone. But still alive. I had to be grateful for that much. But it was difficult to be as I waded toward the water's edge, shivering like mad and doubting the decision I'd made to come here.

  A shriek up on the hill made me pause. I blinked away the water clinging to my eyelashes, gazing upwards, my stake clamped in my palm.

  One second. Two.

  Footsteps were coming my way and from the noises the approachers were making, they weren't contestants.

  Just as the first V appeared on the hill, sniffing the air like a bloodhound, I took a deep breath and dunked silently under the water.

  My entire body was numb. I was weightless, hanging suspended in a silent, temporary world. My lungs would only allow me to stay under for a certain amount of time. And despite the arctic water licking my skin, I felt safe with the pool drowning my scent.

  My lungs began to protest, but I worked against them, pressing my lips hard together for as long as I could.

  What if Varick was out there on the shore? What if he was searching for me as I was for him? Or worse, hunting me down alongside the rest of the Vs.

  Pain arrowed through my lungs and I knew I was on borrowed time.

  I let myself slowly rise, my hea
d quietly breaching the surface so I could take a small breath. The shoreline was empty.

  The Vs had moved on. And impossibly, I was still alive.

  Turning, I spotted a dark shade of trees on the other side of the pool, shrouded in mist. Moving my leaden arms, I dragged myself across the water, my heavy dress sucking me down. Every stroke pained me, my limbs seemingly turning to ice as I moved, but finally I reached the muddy shore.

  Hypothermia was probably my most deadly nemesis now as I waded out of the water, limping from the claw marks on my legs. They weren't too deep so I could still move fairly quickly. But I'd need to find V blood soon.

  I hurried between the boughs, the world oppressively dark and the fog hanging like sheets from the trees. Fumbling with the tablet on my arm, I unstrapped it and found a button for a torch. Pressing it with shaky fingers, the pale blue glow illuminated the forest floor, highlighting the withered leaves layering the ground.

  A vibration shot up my arm and I nearly dropped the tablet in alarm as I realised it was ringing. Holding it to my ear, I connected the call, my teeth chattering as the usual male voice spoke down the line.

  “Welcome to round one of the game, Selena. You can now use your tablet to orientate yourself on the island. You have twenty four hours to reach the safe zone on your map. Failure to do so will result in the detonation of the poison capsule inserted into the base of your skull.”

  As the voice droned on, I kept a wary ear trained on the forest around me, continuing to walk at speed.

  “Remember to keep in mind your rating during the game. If your rating drops below a two you will be entered into a redeeming process at the end of this round. You can now find a selection of ways to improve your rating in the menu. Good luck.”

  The line went dead and I quickly illuminated the map on the screen. My heart sank. I was way off course, travelling east in the opposite direction of the safe zone, highlighted in green. Between me and it was miles of forest and highlands that would no doubt be perilous to cross. My frozen fingers were a strong reminder that my first port of call was finding somewhere I could light a fire.