Selena
Sleep was impossible. Varick held me whilst I tried to rest, but every time my mind relaxed, nightmares rose from the past. The games were about to begin and it felt as if I was going to wake tomorrow out an island, running for my life. And somewhere in this resort, were girls who would be doing just that. It was unbearable.
I finally managed to drift off in the early hours of the morning, but all too soon, a bell cut through my dreams. The persistent dong, dong, dong reminded me of a church near to my home. I blinked awake, reaching for Varick, but he wasn't there. An icy fist clutched my heart and I sat upright at speed. His silhouette was highlighted at the window, the moon dipping low in the night sky so the room sparkled with silver light.
I realised the bells were sounding from a screen on one wall. Words flashed on it, announcing that the first event of the games would begin in an hour in the arena on the strip.
I gathered my knees to my chest, thinking of the girls who were no doubt held somewhere awaiting to be thrown into hell.
“We don't have to watch,” Varick spoke from the window, his voice grave. “We can avoid the games altogether, no one would know.” I saw him shift and in a blur of movement he stood at the edge of the bed, gazing down at me.
I bit my lip as I considered his words. He was right. And yet...
“No,” I said through my teeth. “At the end of this, we'll need to know who the girls are so we can save them. We have to know what the arena's like, work out where they're being kept...”
Varick leant forward, his thumb tracking across my cheek. “I wish I could protect you from another game.”
“There's nothing more they could do now that would shock me.” I scrambled out of bed, moving past him, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm my pounding heart.
“That's not the point,” Varick's voice followed me into the bathroom.
I gently closed the door, stealing a few human moments of privacy. When I'd showered, I picked out the most casual dress I could find – a black cotton maxi – and paired it with some boots and a lined leather jacket before putting the gold mask over my eyes.
Varick was dressed in a shirt and trousers and I reminded him to bring a coat before we exited the room.
“You're human,” I whispered, tiptoeing up to place a jacket over his shoulders. “Humans get cold.”
He gave me a sideways grin before taking my hand and leading me toward the elevator.
The lift filled up on the way down until we were pressed to the back wall. Everyone was excited, dressed in luxurious gowns and fur coats, some of them sipping from bottles of alcohol they'd evidently brought from their minibars. Polar night or not, it was still barely eight in the morning. Perhaps some of them needed Dutch courage to watch the games.
We exited into the foyer and Varick kept a tight hold on my hand as we followed the flow of people through the bright room toward the exit. I gazed amongst the crowd, searching for a swish of red hair. I caught Cass's eye as we headed onto the floodlit street, tugging Varick in her and Jameson's direction. By the time we reached them, Ned had appeared too. With a pang of surprise, I realised we'd all chosen to wear black, as if we were attending a funeral. Perhaps some part of us knew that we were.
“Sleep well?” Jameson gave us a casual smile, but darkness lived in his eyes.
“Never better,” I said, my bleak tone speaking of the nightmares, the constant tossing and turning, the fear eating into my heart all night long.
It was a miracle I didn't have heavy circles ringing my eyes, but then again, I'd had enough sleepless nights recently for my body to adapt.
We followed the crowd at a steady pace, falling behind them a little so we didn't have to listen to the excited chatter that was making my stomach churn.
Ned pretended to take an interest in the buildings around us, pointing up at them as we moved. But our conversation was stilted at best. It was obvious no one wanted to put one foot in front of the other. The only thing filling our minds was what horrors we were about to watch.
I recalled the last game, standing above the amphitheater on a tiny platform raised into the air, gazing down at a horde of bloodthirsty Vs, waiting for me to drop. The crowd hoping I would.
Air refused to enter my lungs for a couple of seconds and I clutched Varick's arm. His fingers slid between mine and I was able to breathe again, rediscovering my resolve. We had to see this through. And when we got our chance, we'd make every last spectator pay for coming here.
Half way down the street, the crowd filed through the double doors that led into the arena. It rose high above us in a dome, the criss-cross pattern on the walls making it look like a giant beehive. The entire thing was made from shining glass so as we stepped inside, we could still see out, the night sky stretching above us.
The arena was twice the size it had seemed from the outside, reaching underground as far as it did above. Black leather seats ringed the edge of the dome in a giant crescent, sloping all the way down to an enormous stage at the bottom. Screens were erected everywhere, so I knew no matter how far away we sat from the stage, we wouldn't be able to escape the view.
Another wave of people entered behind us and we were forced to descend the steps, drawing much too close to the stage for my liking. Eventually, we filed down an aisle, dropping into five seats. I sat between Cass and Varick, my hand still joined with his. The screens around the arena were dancing with high definition shapes and colours as we waited for the show to begin.
Staff were moving amongst the crowd, handing out drinks and snacks from shiny black cases they carried around their waists. As one passed down our aisle, the girl opened her case and I could see into a small refrigeration unit.
Jameson took a bottle of vodka and a glass, and both Ned and I soon chose to take a shot for courage. It burned like acid, streaming down my throat, but a moment later, the kick of heat gave me some strength.
The crowd finally settled and the lights dimmed low. Hoots of excitement met my ears and I ground my teeth as I gazed around at all the hungry spectators, wishing it was them I was about to see killed.
Rockley appeared on the large stage in a stream of smoke, illuminated by red spotlights ringing the platform. He was shirtless with a collar of chains around his neck and a metal whip in his hand. His dreadlocks hung loose around his shoulders and thick eyeliner had been painted around his eyes.
When he spoke, his voice was amplified around the room through the screens, his face blown up on them for the whole stadium to see.
“Today you'll experience the story of de Vampires and de Hunters. From the dawn of man, there have been predators. Beasts with powerful jaws, with claws dat could rip bellies and spill guts.” Rockley raised his arms in the air and the whip he was holding rattled across the floor behind him. Music grew in a low beat, weaving tension through the room.
“But man overcame dem beasts!” he cried and a cheer followed from the crowd. “Until one day, man turn on his fellow friends. The devil himself chose men, women, children, all to live forever, to never age, never sleep, never walk in de sun again. But he also made dem hungry...” He ran a hand over his abs, grinning at the audience, the sight making my hackles rise. “Den nature fought back and Hunters were born, strong fighters who could protect humans from dese monsters.” A spotlight wheeled through the crowd and Hunters waved from the front row, all dressed in white and sat on sofas laid out just for them. I tried to count them but the camera panned by too fast.
“Twenty eight,” Varick whispered in my ear and I nodded. That included the Helsings, sat right at the heart of the seating area. One well-aimed grenade could take out the lot...
The crowd didn't stop cheering for a long time, waving their hands in the air and calling out names of Hunters I didn't know.
Rockley waited for them to calm down before continuing. He pointed at the Hunters. “Who wants to show dem what a Hunter can do, huh?”
The camera wheeled across the Hunters, slower this time so I could take in their faces, their fine clothes and, with a jolt, the weapons resting against their legs, on tables, across knees. Guns, knives, crossbows, stakes. They were armed to the teeth.
Some of them waved the cameras away, laughing. A man stood and the camera halted on him. Abraham's towering form filled the screen, his white clothes making him look angelic under the lights. He had a single curved blade in his hand, silver and shining like the moon.
“I'll gladly volunteer.”
“Can I have a round of applause for one of our most esteemed guests, Mr Abraham Van Helsing.” Rockley bashed his hands together and the applause that followed was deafening.
Abraham was a hero here. It made me cold to the bone. Especially as we had to join in, clapping along so we didn't seem suspicious. It sickened me. My mother had once told me that applauding someone in power just because everyone else was doing so, was like adding kindling to a wildfire.
Abraham ascended to the stage, his teeth flashing as he beamed.
“You ready to get ye hands dirty?” Rockley jested, nudging him.
Abraham rolled up his sleeves, turning to face the back of the stage, but the cameras kept feeding his face to us.
One day soon, I'll get my chance to kill you.
“Let's show them what we can do, eh?” Rockley raised his hands.
Silence stretched through the room.
BANG.
I jumped as four trapdoors flew open on the stage. Erected from them were Vs. Thin, emaciated and snarling. They ran full pelt at Abraham and Rockley, snapping and growling. At the last second, chains around their throats yanked them back.
My heart dropped. It was a set up. The Hunters weren't going to risk getting hurt.
Abraham made the first kill, but didn't make it quick, slicing off limbs before finally putting the screeching V out of its misery with a thrust of his blade through its chest. I forced myself to watch, and all I felt was a weight of guilt for how many Vs had died at my hand. I may have had no choice, but that didn't make me feel any better about it. Especially watching them be cut down so brutally now.
Rockley used his silver whip with skill, slashing great ribbons of red across the first V who got close. The Vampire screamed, rearing backwards, its skin singed from the metal. Rockley took a stake from his hip, using the whip to trip the injured V before burying the stake in its chest. As he did so, the Vampire ripped its claws down Rockley's chest and a smile pulled at my lips. But Rockley only laughed, springing backwards as the V died and raising his bloodied stake into the air.
The crowd whooped as Rockley opened his mouth, letting the blood drip onto his outstretched tongue. The cameras zoomed in on his chest, showing us the claw-marks knitting over and fading to nothing in a few short seconds.
Abraham cut down the final two Vs, making a vile display of both deaths. By the end, their blackish blood ran across the stage like hot tar, dripping from its edges.
Abraham's clean clothes were speckled with V blood, but he'd somehow managed to remain mostly clean of it. He descended from the stage with a bow and another round of applause broke out as a clean-up crew hurried to mop up the blood.
My stomach rolled at the carnage, but it only made me want to crush the Hunters more.
Rockley took centre stage and a hush descended on the crowd. “De Vampires were brought under control by the Hunters. Humans no longer had to fear dem. Dey could have wiped out de species, but de Helsings had a better idea. De games remind de world what Vampires can do. The danger dey pose. We offer dem sacrifices so dat you may witness dey're power. So that it is not forgotten what the Hunters did for mankind.”
I managed to bash my hands together in time with the rest of the audience.
“But...my friends.” Rockley sat on the edge of the stage, gazing out at the crowd, solemn. “We have all recently been reminded of dat power in full force.” The screen lit up behind him, playing footage from the amphitheater on the Isle of Lidelse. Suddenly my face was centre screen, standing between Veta and Thames, hands linked as we awaited our deaths on the day we'd escaped. The Vampires swarmed from the underground passages, surrounding us. The footage cut out, not showing that moment of unity, but instead skipping ahead to the Vampires tearing through the crowd, murdering everyone they came across. A swell of pride filled me and I instinctively tilted my chin up.
“I'd do it again,” I whispered and a low chuckle left Varick's throat.
“And we will,” he said quietly.
The footage continued to play, then changed to the game on Raskdød. I frowned, glancing at Cass whose eyes sparkled like jade.
Clips from my first game flooded the screen, changing so fast that all the deaths were condensed into less than a minute. Girls I'd known. Girls I'd liked. Girls I'd killed.
Marie's screaming face filled the screen, my stake buried in her belly.
I shrank back into my seat, my nightmares flooding over me in real time. I couldn't settle my breathing. This was too much.
“Dis girl made a mockery of the Helsings!” Rockley cried out as the footage paused on me winning the game, riding away in the helicopter across the island, sweaty and bloodied.
Boos filled the air and I glared around at them all, despising them, wishing I could stand up and show them how I'd deceived them once more. That I was here amongst them now. That they were all going to die for what they were a part of.
“So we are going to pay tribute to de Helsings in a very special way,” Rockley's tone relaxed as he stood and a light illuminated the back of the stage where a black curtain had been drawn.
Rockley moved toward it, swinging his whip as he took up position beside the stage. “If we cannot punish Selena Grey, then we punish everyone who helped her.”
The curtain dragged open and my heart stopped. I was out of my seat in a second and Varick's arms were around me. It didn't matter because the whole audience were standing, cheering at the five girls lined up on the stage, placed upright in glass coffins. They wore their dresses from the games, their eyes shut, their skin marble-like.
Twyla-Rae, Sakura, Briony, Angelina...Marie.
“During the games, they will die again as a symbol of our unity with the Helsings!” Rockley cried.
My heart ached, my pulse pounded like a war drum in my ears.
Vampires.
They were all Vampires.