Selena
I loved the moon. It was inherently linked to darkness and yet it shone brighter than any star in the sky.
“Why does the moon shine?” my mother had once asked me.
“There isn't a reason, it just shines,” I'd answered, naive and young, barely eight years old and still believing magic existed in the world.
“Everything has a reason for what it does.”
I knew we weren't talking about the moon any more. But people. One person in particular: Elijah.
Now, I was standing amongst girls who had done unspeakable things in their lives. And still, I stood by them. I'd never forgiven Elijah for what he'd done to me or my mother. Perhaps he had had his reasons. But reasons weren't excuses. I'd had my reasons for killing him, but the fact he'd hurt me didn't mean I could shirk the responsibility of what I'd done. So what had my mother been trying to say?
I stepped after Twyla, knotting one hand into my dress whilst the other was curled so tightly around my stake that it hurt.
Her first step into the cage made the whole thing rattle. I shut my eyes, digging deep for my courage as I followed her. The canyon stretched out below our feet, the mesh of wire suddenly seeming so thin beneath the weight of us.
The mist soon encompassed our entire world. The way back was obscured and the way forward just as blind.
Twyla halted and I realised why. The cage had come to a dead end, with a ladder leading up to another level. Shouldering her crossbow, she put her hands on the rungs and headed up. I gazed after her, my throat constricting as I watched. The fog swallowed her whole and I waited with baited breath for her to reach the top.
“It's alright!” she called down and I relaxed, moving after her, heading up the ladder.
The metal rungs were moist with vapour and icily cold. I kept my chin high, facing the way ahead as I climbed, not thinking of anything but reaching the top.
One obstacle at a time.
I hauled myself over a lip at the top and Twlya's hands gripped my shoulders, helping me up.
“Alright, girl?” she asked, her chocolate eyes boring into mine for a moment. I nodded, but before I could answer a force collided with her from behind. Twyla shoved into me and I fell back.
My stomach lifted as I fell, scrambling for purchase. But I was falling, falling, the air rushing past me.
With a crack that juddered its way through my entire body, I hit the cage floor at the base of the ladder. Thames and Eesha were half way up it and Veta hurried to help me.
I groaned, waving her away. Something was broken. Something important. I couldn't move. My spine felt like it had shattered. But where was the pain? At any moment I was going to feel it.
I was paralysed, from the injury or from shock, I wasn't sure which.
Panic invaded my heart.
“Veta,” I panted. “Help me.”
She dropped to her knees, opening her pack and taking out a bottle of V blood. Gently, she held it to my lips. Before I'd finished drinking the disgusting sludge, screams sounded from above.
“Drink now, help later,” Veta urged, ignoring the screams.
I nodded, drinking more of the blackish blood, trying not to focus on the taste of iron and something rotten beneath the tang.
Slowly, I regained movement in my hips. Veta helped me sit up and my heart rate settled slightly, my panic easing a fraction. I gripped her arm, so grateful I couldn't find the words to encompass it.
“You do same for me.” She smiled; her teeth overlapped in several places, but only seemed to add to her gothic beauty.
I placed my hand on the ladder again and hot blood dripped onto my palm. I looked up, trying to see through the thick mist.
“Twyla?” I called. “Thames? Eesha?”
No one answered so I hurriedly stepped onto the ladder, moving upwards with caution. As I reached the top, fingers slithered into my hair. I screamed as I was dragged over the ledge with inhuman strength, flailing as I tried to get a hold of my stake.
Blood dripped through the mesh beneath me, soaking into my dress. I kicked at the V who had hold of my hair. It was small, hunched over, its bones seeming to protrude from its shoulders.
I kicked out again and a sharp snap sounded something breaking. The V released me with a wail and I scrambled away, spotting Veta climbing over the ledge.
Across from me, Thames was crumpled in a heap, blood spilling from a wound on her chest.
The V ran at me, screeching wildly and I readied my stake. I let out a shout of defiance, running to meet it, swinging my arm forward. My stake sunk in on target and the V fell dead before it could land a blow.
I panted, dragging my stake free as I turned to help Thames. Veta was already there, cradling her in her arms and I saw the jagged skin torn across her chest. It looked fatal, but she was still alive and Veta was managing to pour the V blood into her mouth.
Thames spluttered a moment later, gasping dramatically as she knocked the bottle away from her mouth. “Yuck!”
“You don't forget I help you,” Veta said, standing and tucking her bottle away.
Thames rolled her eyes, standing, but a small look of admiration passed through her features as she gazed at Veta.
“Where are the others?” I asked.
“Bitches ditched,” Thames said, pointing ahead.
I nodded, unsure how to respond as I moved forwards. The cage was enclosed so the only way onward was laid out before us. Our footsteps sounded as dull, metallic thuds as we walked but there was nothing we could do about it.
A shadow came at us through the mist and all of us raised our stakes.
“Hey, this way!” Twyla appeared. “I found a way across.”
“Was that before or after you left me to die?” Thames accused.
Twyla gave her an appraising look. “After. And I thought you were already dead so no apologies needed, right?”
Thames laughed manically as Twyla turned, guiding us forward. Pounding feet gave away an oncoming V and I crouched low, ready to fight.
As the snarling, screaming V appeared from the fog, its features twisted with starvation, Twyla released a stake from her crossbow. It shot through the air, cutting the Vampire down before it got within ten paces. As the V fell, the cage rattled from the impact and we cautiously moved around it. I prayed there weren't more close by, drawn by the noise.
“Christ,” I breathed.
“I stay with you,” Veta said, smiling.
The mist thinned a little and the other side of the canyon became visible. It was only fifty paces away. All we had to do was cross straight over a caged bridge. Eesha must have already been on the other side.
“Go,” I urged, starting to jog, wanting to be done with this day. Longing for the comfort of a warm bed and hot food.
As one, we started running, sprinting toward the finish line that was so near, I could almost feel the relief awaiting me.
With a creaking, wrenching sound of metal on metal, the bridge rolled.
I screamed, crashing into the side of the bridge as I was thrown into the mesh. It was spinning on an axis and I only had a second to focus before it spun again and I flew into the side. My hands were cut from the wire and blood was trickling down from my eyebrow.
Thames muttered curses about the Helsings as she regained her feet. We hurried onward, grouping closer together. Nearing the other side of the canyon, my stomach lurched as I noticed the final stretch of the bridge had no roof. I kept a wary eye on the gap above us as we ran, worried the cage was going to roll again at any second.
We'd moved ten more steps before it happened. The tunnel rolled with a mechanical clicking sound and this time, I clung onto the mesh for dear life.
As the roof of the cage suddenly became the bottom, I found myself hanging above the canyon, my hands sweating and my strength failing by the second.
The other three had managed to stay on the walls either side of me, able to use their boots to hold on, too.
I cried out as my arms burned, knowing I was going to drop. One of my hands came free and I screamed.
“Hold on!” Thames shouted at me.
I clamped my eyes shut, groaning with all the effort I had, flailing to get my other hand back in place.
With a gasp, my fingers came unhooked, my strength failing me.
“Selena!” Twyla cried out.
I was plummeting, down, down, down, certain rocks awaited me below, ready to provide me a violent end.
I hit something hard. Too soon. I wasn't dead. The cage had rolled, and miraculously, I'd missed the gap by mere inches. I practically started sobbing my relief as I held onto the wire, spinning wildly as it righted itself once more.
I rose on shaky legs, stumbling forward, desperate to reach solid ground.
“Go, go, go! Before it happens again!” Thames shouted and we started sprinting.
Someone's hand was on my shoulder, forcing me on, but I didn't need any encouragement. I was the first one onto solid ground, practically flying toward the safe zone. There were a few more feet to go, slipping through a metal gate where four helicopters were lined up. Girls were crammed into each of them and I spotted Eesha inside the closest one, gesturing wildly for us to join her.
I hurried to get inside, climbing in next to her. She might have abandoned us, but I didn't care. At that moment, all that mattered was that another day in hell was over. And I'd survived.
We waited in silence, catching our breaths. As our helicopter filled up, it rose into the sky and I blocked out the sight of the open door, the wind tugging at my dress. We'd made it with time to spare, helicopters still waiting below for the rest of the contestants.
A sickness filled my stomach at what was yet to come. That had just been the start. And the game was far from over.