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 floating 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 head 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.
Turning back the way I'd come, I circled the pool of water, keeping in the relative safety of the trees, not wanting to cross the exposed grassland any time soon. Dark mounds out in the field made my gut churn. How many girls had already fallen? I made a mental note to check the profiles as soon as I could find somewhere to hole up for a while. Following a narrow stream, I managed to loop around the grassland through a wooded area, making up some of the time I'd lost.
It wasn't long before I grew utterly desperate for heat, my bones feeling like they were encased in ice.
After another agonising mile, the crackle and pop of a fire caught my ear. I turned, zombie-like in the direction of the noise, quickening my pace despite my stiff legs. Perhaps I was imagining it. After all, I'd been envisioning flames with every step for the last hour. But no, there it was; the golden glow of heat radiating between the tree trunks.
I stumbled toward it, the hem of my dress dragging through the muck. I hesitated as I approached, moving behind a wide oak before glancing around it. The fire warmed my cheeks, like it was breathing life back into my body. It was unashamedly large and surrounded by ten of the girls, evidently having banded together to light it. I spotted Thames amongst them, facing away from the fire with her stake in her hand. Five others were doing the same, whilst the rest huddled close to the flames. They were working together, protecting each other. Did I have a hope in hell of gaining their allegiance too?
The numbness of my body urged me to try.
I stepped out of the shadows, the flames dancing over my white, sodden dress. The girls stiffened at my movement, then immediately relaxed.
“Keep walking. This fire's not for you,” Rosaleen said in her celtic tones, her red locks as bright as the flames behind her.
“Why not?” I half shouted. I was utterly desperate and even if all I could do was stand there and waste time whilst I basked in the glow of the fire, I was damn well going to do it.
“This is a treaty. And you're not part of it,” she answered.
“Well how does one become a part of it?” I said through my teeth, stepping forward, glaring at her. “Isn't being chucked into this game enough without turning on each other, too?”
Rosaleen glanced at the others. “We don't have any weak links.”
“She's not a weak link,” Thames spoke up, turning to me with a cat's smile. “Selena killed a spectator.”
I almost went to correct her, but kept my lip buttoned at the last second. I had to play the killer again. Nodding, I tried my best to look fierce.
Rosaleen was evidently the leader of this little alliance because everyone was looking to her for approval. Everyone but Thames who was gesturing for me to join her without a care in the world.
Rosaleen clucked her tongue. “Did you really do that?”
I nodded. “The Helsings give the winners to the highest bidder. To spend a night with them.”
Rosaleen's upper lip curled backwards. “I thought that was just a lie you told to get the approval of the crowd.”
“They do that on Trayford Island too,” another girl spoke and relief skittered through me. Her face paled and her naturally olive skin dulled. My heart twisted at her expression; evidently she hadn't been as lucky as me.
Rosaleen dropped her arm so her stake hung at her hip. “Alright, you're in. But you do as I say or you get left behind. We're only as strong as the group, so you let us down and you're out.”
I'd warmed up marginally whilst standing before the fire and my ankles chose that moment to unleash hell on me. I hobbled forward, praying to god Rosaleen wasn't going to turn me away the second she realised I was injured.
Instead of sending me packing, however, Rosaleen pointed at Eesha who hurried over, taking out her water bottle which was filled with blackish-blue blood.
“How-?” I started but Eesha cut me off.
“We took one of them down. They're not the only ones who can hunt.” She grinned, passing me the bottle and I put it to my lips, trying not to inhale the vile scent as I took a sip. The dull, cold sludge slid down my throat and I fought the urge to retch.
Thanking her, I sighed as the pain receded in my legs, dropping down onto a log before the fire and finally soaking in the full strength of its heat.
Gazing around at the girls, I figured this game was different in more ways than one. Many of them had been through this before, some several times. They knew what they were doing. And teaming up with these particular girls seemed like the luckiest thing that had happened to me in a long time.
Thames dropped down beside me and another girl with a short afro stood up and took her place.
“Won't the fire draw the Vs here?” I muttered.
“Yep,” Thames said brightly.
“Weak Vampires do not hunt together,” another voice replied in a thick accent. I spotted Yelysalveta – or Veta as she'd asked me to call her - across the fire, the green ends of her dark hair seeming to glow under the light. “They not intelligent like fed Vs.”
“So you're picking them off?” I asked in alarm, unsure if I wanted to stay much longer.
Thames threw her head back, laughing. When she finished, she slashed her stake through the air. “Cut the Vampires down, one by one. Then what fun is it for them?” She pointed up to the sky as if to indicate the men watching us.
A feeling stirred in my stomach, spreading like a golden light inside me. The last time I'd felt it had been with Varick. Suddenly, I smiled. These girls weren't playing along. They were defying the Helsings, just like I promised Cass I'd do. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
“Got one,” Eesha hissed. “My left.”
I stood, turning to watch as the girls on the inner ring crept to Eesha's side, stakes drawn. Two of them held a cloak between their hands as they concealed themselves behind a tree.
A hush fell over the group and I clamped my stake tighter in my palm, straining to hear anything beyond the spitting fire. And yes, somewhere off to Eesha's left between the trees was a snarling, growling sound growing closer.
My stomach knotted as I waited for it to appear.
Was this a good idea?
Eesha bent her knees, looking like a cat about to pounce. Then, ever-so-slowly, she cut her palm with the tip of her stake.
I gasped as a blur of movement shot between the bows, so fast I only saw the impact of the V's attack, taking Eesha to the ground. The two girls with the cloak moved forward, wrapping it around the V's head. Three more girls moved to help them, taking hold of the cloak and yanking backwards so the V was dragged up. Eesha acted swift and deadly, piercing the heart of the Vampire with her stake, letting out a shriek of effort.
Black blood poured down her arm and the V jerked once in death.
The girls set to work draining its blood into bottles in rehearsed movements. My throat constricted in disgust. I turned away, sinking back onto the log, my heart racing like mad. What the girls were doing was brave, clever, and entirely admirable. And yet...watching them take that V down had left me reeling.
What if that was Varick? a voice whispered in my head. Tears pricked the back of my eyes and I blinked rapidly to clear them. I was losing my mind. How could I pity the Vs? I knew what they were capable of. But I also knew what they could be when they were fed...
This was all the Helsings' doing. It wasn't really the Vampires' fault. And yet voicing that opinion would have certainly gotten me kicked out of the group faster than lightning.
I shut my eyes, trying to focus on calming my restless heart. Silently, I prayed that if Varick was out there somewhere, he would stay far away from us.
“Seen this?” Thames plopped into the seat beside me again, wiping black blood from her hands with a rag of material ripped from her cream dress.
I turned to see what she was showing me. In her hand was her tablet and on it was a list of five tactics we could implement to improve our ranking.
- Kill a Vampire
- Respond warmly to messages from the spectators
- Use wit and cunning to get ahead in the game
- Demonstrate your survival skills
Thames tapped her finger on the fifth item and my heart jolted as I read it.
5. Kill other contestants when necessary
“And when is that necessary exactly?” I spat, guessing the spectators would figure out what I was talking about.
Thames tucked the tablet away, yawning broadly. “Guess we'll find that out.”
I was half tempted to move away from her.
“Oh, Lena, don't be scared of little old me.” Her expression was smiling but her eyes were full of hellfire. Christ, I didn't know how to trust her when she looked at me like that.
“Don't call me Lena,” I muttered. “My stepfather used to call me that.”
“Jesus, are you getting sentimental on me? Please don't cry on my dress, I had to do some unspeakable things to make those Helsings give me a new one.”
I let out a humourless laugh. “Not sentimental. He's the reason I went to prison.”
“What was he, your pimp or something?” There was no mirth in her voice this time.
I wrinkled my nose. “No, he was...” What was he? My abuser? Tormentor? Those words were too impersonal. He'd been the ruler of my small world. The demon who'd kept me prisoner.
His words inched into my mind, a memory I'd nearly blocked out entirely. “So long as you're under this roof, little Lena, you belong to me.”
“Oh,” Thames sighed, cottoning on from whatever emotion was written into my features. “You killed him?”
I nodded once, setting my jaw. For all that had happened, I still couldn't find it in me to regret my choices. If I was cursed to live in hell in payment for killing the man who had hurt me more deeply than anyone ever had, then so be it. I wasn't afraid of the future, it was returning to my past I feared. The memories would probably never stop haunting me. But in a twisted way, I'd still rather be here, facing new enemies than still facing him.
Thames turned her wrist over, pointing to a row of neat scars lined up on her forearm. “Each one of these is a member of my family.”
I nodded slowly, counting five in total.
“I cut myself after I killed them, to remember why I did it.” She took my arm, aiming her stake onto the pale skin beneath my wrist. “Want one?”
I jerked away, recoiling from her. I had so many questions to ask and yet I feared offending Thames. Because for whatever reason, she'd taken a liking to me. And that worked in my favour for the game, even my strange spectator ally, Typhon, had encouraged me to befriend her. I couldn't fight back my curiosity, however, so I asked, “What were the reasons?”
Thames tilted her head and her dreadlocks slid over one shoulder. She was pretty in a way; her features were almost masculine in their strength and yet her eyes were as blue as Bachelor's Button, her lashes thick and long, contradicting every hard line of her face. “I'll tell you one...” She hovered her finger over the scars, picking one as if singing eenie-minie-mo in her head. She pressed down on the third one in. “Jeffrey.” She inhaled slowly, inclining her head left and right, a smile tugging up one corner of her mouth. “Jeffrey, Jeffrey, Jeffrey...” She tutted, her eyes flashing up to meet mine. “My half brother. Older by eight years and my sole care-giver when I turned ten. Before that I was passed from foster home to foster home; I never stayed in any of them more than a year.” She let out one of her small, crazed giggle. “Alright, maybe I was a bit of a difficult kid. But who wouldn't be when life was about as stable as a one-legged donkey?”
I nodded, biting my lip as a pang of pity darted through me. “And your brother? What was he like?”
She sucked her lower lip for a moment. “He was...fine. I mean, he didn't hit me or anything if that's what you're thinking. His girlfriend was the real problem: Channel. Always off her head on something, used to smack me around in front of her friends. And Jeffrey just stood by, let it happen. You can imagine the kind of dump they lived in, too. The place stank of piss and drugs and they'd have me clean up the beer bottles, syringes and ash trays dumped all over the place.”
I let out a noise of disgust and Thames pursed her lips before continuing.
“That's not why I killed him though – not just 'cause he had about as much backbone as a worm when it came to his girlfriend. It was a year or so later. I'd just turned eleven and Channel was having a party with a bunch of scumbag drug addicts. I wanted to stay in my room, but she kept encouraging me to hang out with her and her friends. I knew something was up because she was actually being nice to me. Then she gave me this pill: I can still see it, this tiny white disc in the palm of my hand. She said it would let me go wherever I wanted. And I stupidly believed her. I wanted out of that house so much that I swallowed it.”
“What was it?” I said in alarm, disgusted.
She shrugged, her eyes dimming to two dark marbles. “All I know is I woke up in hospital with my stomach hurting like hell. Jeffrey was there and the police too. And he backed up Channel's story that I'd stolen the drug from one of her friends and swallowed it.” She slid her finger across the scar that marked his death. “I never forgot about that. How some people can sell out their own blood so easily.”
“V!” Rosaleen called and the girls moved into action again, half of them surrounding her.
“Another here.” Veta squared her broad shoulders toward another oncoming Vampire. The first V was snapping and snarling as it arrived, its torso bare and bloody with burn marks.
I ran forward with Thames, lifting my stake, my heart lodged in my throat.
Veta met with it first as the V collided with her, taking her to the ground. She hissed through her teeth as the V sank its fangs into her neck, but commendably didn't scream.
Thames started dragging it off of her. I shot a glance over my shoulder, finding the rest of the group grappling with another Vampire on the other side of the fire.
Thames bashed into me as she fought to aim her stake at the V's chest. I caught myself, holding onto her arm to stop myself from falling.
“Here, strike here!” I snapped, pushing Thames aside and slamming my stake into the back of the V's neck.
It screeched and writhed whilst Veta fought it away from her neck. Silver droplets sprinkled over Veta as Thames and I yanked the V aside so it fell onto the dirt, still. The light of the fire caught in the mess of liquid silver as it ran across the ground in tiny rivers.
I pressed a hand to my heart as I urged it to settle.
“Hamno,” Veta muttered in her language, gaining her feet, her ebony dress stained with silver and blood.
“What the hell?” Thames gestured to the liquid.
“They have a capsule in their heads, like ours,” I explained, a little breathless. The other girls were listening now, having dealt with the other Vampire.
“Good to know,” Eesha said, panting from her fight against the V.
Thames was looking at me like I'd just handed her a bag of gold. I avoided her bright, admiring gaze and, instead focused on rubbing my arms to wear away the goosebumps.
“Right, let's get out the map and plan our journey to the safe zone,” Rosaleen said in an authoritative tone that made everyone fall silent. There was something about her that easily commanded power.
As a hush fell, I gazed into the trees. The wind rushed over my skin and my hair whipped around me. The hairs on the back of my neck crept up and I was suddenly hyper aware of being watched.
“I think we should leave now,” I said in a whisper, glancing between the boughs.
“Someone scared?” Rosaleen mocked and a couple of the others laughed. “Weak Vs aren't clever enough to keep quiet when they move. We always hear them coming.”
I ignored her, turning left and right. Something was out there, watching us. I could sense it. And that didn't add up with the way the other Vs were behaving.
“There's one out there,” I hissed, shifting the stake in my palm to get a better grip. “Maybe the Vs are figuring out what we're doing.”
A few more laughs went up and Rosaleen dropped casually onto a log, taking out her tablet. “There's only weak Vs in the first round. We saw them out in the field. I thought you played before?”
I nodded vaguely, more focused on the flood of adrenaline pounding through my veins.
My fingers flexed instinctively as I considered my position. My dress was mostly dry and the cuts on my legs were healed. My gut rarely let me down so I knew it was time to move.
I gazed into the dark wood and the urge to run seeped into my muscles.
I backed up toward the opposite side of the camp. “All the same, I think I'm going to get moving.”
“You leave and you're out of the group,” Rosaleen said simply, her eyes never straying from the tablet in her hand.
Thames's eyes were on me, something curious in them.
Death was hovering close by, I'd felt it before, and I'd learnt too many times not to ignore it.
“Right, I'm with you,” Thames said easily, moving toward me. But before she reached my side, death arrived.
Blood, fire, hell.
A blur of movement was ripping through the group, tearing throats out with a slash of claws.
I let out a scream, rooted to the spot by shock.
Rosaleen charged at the Vampire who was moving like the wind. The V was hunched over one of his victims, about to drink when Rosaleen slammed a stake into its side. The Vampire wheeled around and in a horrible, wrenching moment of clarity, I recognised him.
Long, matted hair. His beautiful features were contorted into a beastly snarl. The stake in his side made him roar out with pain. His hand whipped through the air, smashing into Rosaleen's chest. She flew backwards and I cried out as she crashed into the fire, impaled on a upright log.
I clapped my hands to my mouth, forcing my legs to move, to help Rosaleen. Thames dragged me back as Rosaleen flailed, the smell of burning flesh assaulting my senses.
“It's too late!” Thames shouted in my ear.
“Varick!” I screamed, horrified as he murdered nearly every girl present right before my eyes. Two more stakes found their way into his body.
I cried out in fear of his death, shaking Thames off, suddenly running like a mad thing toward him.
He just needs to drink, then he'll be fine.
Then this will stop.
Eesha slammed a stake into his stomach before he flung an arm at her, knocking her into a tree. She slumped to the ground and he approached, his head hanging low as he prepared to feed.
My breathing was ragged as I halted behind him. Taking my stake, I made a desperate decision and dragged the tip across my bare shoulder to draw blood.
A suicidal idea, but the only one I had at that moment. I had to make him stop hurting the other girls. And if he fed from me, he might find his way back to humanity.
Varick snapped around, his eyes pinned on the blood leaking from my shoulder, his pupils dilating with hunger. My body shuddered, trembling from head to toe as I forced myself to remain in place before him.
He moved in a flash. But before he reached me, Thames appeared, screaming her rage and slamming a stake into his chest.
I screamed out in horror, running forward. “No!”
Varick stumbled backwards and Thames grabbed me before I could get to him. My hands reached over her shoulders, desperate, flailing, my fingertips grazing nothing but air.
“What are you doing?!” Thames screeched at me, shoving me backwards and forcing me away from Varick.
With a wave of relief that crashed across my heart, I spotted him fleeing into the trees, dripping dark, blackish-red blood behind him.
I was a mess, shaking, clinging onto Thames as I tried to steady my thoughts.
Only four of us remained from the carnage. Eesha was holding back tears as she caressed the cheeks of her two friends and Veta looked like a statue, standing by the trees with two girls dead at her feet, her eyes pinned on the burning form of Rosaleen at the heart of the fire.
In the blink of an eye, our whole world had shattered.
“We burn the rest,” Veta said, wiping sweat from her brow. “That V must not get blood.”
Thames set me down on a log, giving me a wary look before helping Veta and the others pile the bodies onto the fire.
I'd never been so rattled. My hands wouldn't stop shaking. I was torn between my need to help Varick and my disgust at what he'd done.
Thames knelt before me after what felt like an age. I was numb, trembling, my mind retreating to somewhere far away.
“We have to move.”
“Yes,” I breathed as she wiped a speck of blood from my cheek and pulled me to my feet.
“Should have listened to her in previous time,” Veta muttered in broken English and Eesha let out a strangled sob.
I marched into the trees, moving as fast as my feet would carry me, the other girls following close behind.
Thames occasionally caught my eye; so many questions burned out of her expression. But I didn't say a word, just pressed my lips together and kept walking. On and on into a darkness that seemed to live in my heart as much as it lived in this forest. And I didn't know how I would ever find the light again.