by S E Lunsford
“So, how are all these people immune then?” I gestured out the window.
“The kids aren’t, well, most of them aren’t,” she said. “But the adults are, a lot of them are the originals. The original group of people. After they found out what his blood could do, they took as much of his blood as they could safely remove and stored it for later.”
Gritting my teeth, I looked out the window absorbing what she said.
“There’s no way we can leave him here,” I said turning back towards them.
“I told you she would say that,” Edward commented looking over at Carlisle.
“Fine,” his older brother said. “You two go get him while we head out the north side of town. There’s a shelter in a cove not far from the town, the creepers can’t get to it, we’ll wait for you there.”
“I’ll come with you,” Becky said, looking at me. “I know how to get in there.”
Edward and I stared at Becky. She met our gazes with a flinty look of her own.
“It seems you know a lot more than you’ve let on,” I said.
“Maybe, but like I told you earlier, I’m on your side,” was her reply.
“We don’t have time for this,” Carlisle said as he began to move down the stairwell. “You guys get Chris, and we’ll meet you to the north.”
Rosalie wrapped her arms around my waist before looking up and smiling. “See you soon,” she whispered.
“Definitely,” I said, giving her a quick hug before letting her go. “Be safe.”
“I think there’s no question about that,” Cassie said before giving me a quick hug. “See you later. Don’t get caught up.”
“Like I ever do,” I barked out a laugh as I watched them disappear around the curve below us. “So, what’s up with the kids?” I asked turning back to Becky who looked like she was considering our options.
Glancing over her shoulder at me as she made her way into the hallway, she shook her head.
“That’s a little long to explain right now,” she said. “We should go down the opposite side of this building. That will put us within striking distance of where they’re holding him.”
Making our way through the hallway, the doors were adorned with name plates telling anyone who passed by whose office was behind the tightly closed doors, along with what they did. I couldn’t help but smile at the words attorney at law and realtor, professions that were no longer needed. My smile fell as I wondered what happened to the owners of those titles, where they were today or even if they were alive at all.
Glancing over at Edward, I saw that he was looking at the name plates too a look of sadness changing his expression into one I hadn’t seen before. He caught me looking at him.
“My mom was a realtor,” he said with a half shrug. “Well, at least she tried to be with all us kids hanging around. Whenever she got a phone call from a client, she would always yell at all of us to be quiet, then she’d be so nice when she answered. We used to tease her about it because she talked so much nicer to her clients than she did to us.” He paused and took a deep breath as he looked at the name plate again. “She would always argue with us that she didn’t do that, that she loved us more than anything, then she’d just roll her eyes and give up her argument.” He smiled, and I found myself chewing on my lip as I watched him. “Then we’d laugh because she knew we’d won.”
“Are you guys coming?” Becky called out from the end of the hall.
We hurried after her, the unknown realtor and attorney not quite forgotten as we made our way down to street level, sliding out of the door and pressing ourselves along the side of the building surveying the crowd.
Some of the children looked over at us curiously. One little red headed girl broke rank to run over to me reaching out with her small hand to take mine. Then she was suddenly snatched away from me by a harried looking woman whose dark hair was coming out of its tight bun at the back of her neck.
“Come on Victoria, we need to leave,” the woman said, firmly holding the girl’s hand.
“But, I have something to say to her,” said the little girl.
The woman glanced at me, her eyes filled with anxiety. “I’m sure she doesn’t want to know what you have to say,” she said sternly as she turned away.
“I do,” I said, looking at the girl and smiling. “I do want to hear what she has to say.”
“Really, you don’t,” the woman replied.
“Do what he tells you,” the little girl called out as the woman dragged her away until she disappeared into the crowd. “Make sure you do what he says.” Her voice rose up over the heads of the people behind her.
“What the…,” Edward looked over at me. My confusion was mirrored in his face. We both looked over at Becky who just shook her head.
“Like I said, later,” was her response. “But, just so you know, you probably should listen to her.”
“Okay,” I said. I took a deep breath to squash down the feeling of confusion that was rising up, threatening to distract me.
“I’ll go in from the left side,” Becky said pointing towards the building that sat on one corner near us. “You both go in from the right, they don’t have so many people on that side. When you’re stopped, just tell whoever it is, the commander has need of information.”
“That’s it?” Edward asked dubiously.
“Yes,” she replied. “Most people wouldn’t even dare to try and get in there.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because they’ll just kill you on sight,” she said. “You’ll only have a few minutes to find him on the third floor before they figure out that you’re not supposed to be there. Let’s go.”
Edward and I barely had time to glance at one another the same ‘kill us?’ question in our eyes before she was moving, diving into the crowd towards the community center. We followed, allowing the crowd to push us to the left as we made our way across to it. Looking over, I saw Becky’s blond hair disappear around the far corner of the building even as we stepped into its shadow.
Pushing ourselves up against the wall, I leaned over to see where the door was.
“Not far,” I whispered half to myself.
“See anyone?” Edward asked.
The area around the door was surprisingly empty of people.
“No,” I said, making my way towards the door.
Placing my hand on the handle, I gently pulled. It heavily came towards me as I peeked into the interior hallway washed in gray. It was empty too. We stepped into its cool interior, looking back and forth down the hall.
“Over there,” Edward said, pointing to a stairway at the end of the hall.
I nodded trying to push down a feeling of unease that was infecting me. The silence was thick. I took in a deep breath through my nose, shaking my head slightly at the lack of any sort of scent.
“Up three levels,” Edward said as we stood at the bottom of the stairs.
We looked up, both our bodies straining beyond themselves trying to pick up anything that might be above.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” I whispered.
“Me too,” was his response. “But, we’ve got to do it.” His forehead furrowed with thought. “Of course, maybe Becky has distracted them all.”
“Maybe,” I answered as I began to quickly climb the stairs.
Our feet were velvety silent as we made our way past the second floor and on to the third. Stopping at the door with a big 3 painted on it in black, a loud thud and a crash from behind it made us both jump and dive for either side of the door. Before we had time to even think, a large man in fatigues, followed by another came through the door.
“I just don’t think,” the man was saying. His words dropped off when he saw me standing there. “Who’re you?” He asked, his scowl growing deeper as he took in my clothes and crazy ponytail.
“Let her go,” said the other as he walked into the landing. “Clearly she’s marked.”
“I’ve never seen,” said the first
man as Edward came around for behind the door, a metal rod in his hand. He brought the rod down hard on the back of the man’s neck who crumpled into a heap on the floor. Silence descended for a moment as the other man looked at his fallen companion before lunging at Edward.
“Go get him,” Edward yelled as me, as he threw his arms around the man and pulled him backwards. I darted through the doorway losing sight of them just as they tumbled down the stairs.
Rushing down the hallway, I frantically tried almost every door only to find they were all locked.
“Please,” I whispered under my breath when there was only one door left.
Reaching out, I tried to turn the handle only to find that it wouldn’t move. Leaning against it, I could feel tears begin to well up in my eyes. Taking a deep breath and chewing my lip in frustration, I tasted the tangy saltiness of metal in my mouth. Dragging the back of my hand over my eyes, I willed the tears to stop and forced myself to calmly look down the hallway as I tried to slow my heartbeat.
Shouts in the stairway told me I didn’t have much time when I noitced a shard of light come into the hallway from the window near me. Looking more closely at it, I narrowed my eyes following it to its ending where it fanned out into another stairwell. Quickly walking over to it, I stepped in and saw there was one more door there hidden away from the rest of the hall.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out to the doorknob, saying a prayer to whoever might be listening before turning the knob. It twisted easily in my hand.
Carefully pushing it open, I slid into the room that looked like a chemistry lab from high school complete with beakers, flasks, bunsen burners and tubing, lots, and lots of large rubber tubing. The sweet scent of blood wafted over to me, hitting me with its intensity as it thickened. Pulling up my shirt collar to cover my nose, I looked around again. My eyes focused on glass vials that were filled with a deep red liquid that could only be the blood I was smelling.
I made my way over to the vials that were neatly arranged in trays on one of the countertops. Picking one up I turned it one way, then the other, watching the liquid shimmy up one side of the vial before making its way down the other, leaving a thin layer of transparent red in its wake. Gritting my teeth together, I placed the vial back.
As I put it back a whispery shift sounded for the far corner of the room. The rubbery tubes were thicker there, snaking their way up and down from floor to ceiling. I made my way around the counter trying to see what was in the corner through the glass beakers and vines of tubing. Picking up a glass flask, I gripped its neck until my knuckles went white as I continued to make my way over to the corner.
“Dani,” a whisper floated over to me making every muscle in my body freeze, while my hand somehow gripped the glass flask even tighter. I crouched down peering into the tubes but only saw an outline of a body there.
Thin laughter rose up out of the nest of tubing, followed by deep coughing.
“You don’t recognize me,” the voice commented after the coughing spell was over. Relief washed over me as the timbre of the words settled around me.
“Chris?” I whispered, making my way towards him.
“Don’t come too close,” he said.
I stopped just short of walking into a trip wire that was undoubtedly attached to an alarm of some sort. I carefully stepped over it, pushing rubber tubes out of my way and finally saw Chris who lay on the floor in a nest of blankets. He tried to smile, but the effort made sweat appear on his forehead and above his upper lip, making his pallor seem even more pronounced.
I tried not to gasp as I saw the rubber tubes attached to needles pushed into the flesh of both his arms and his legs. Blue, purple and green bruises bloomed up and down his limbs where he had been poked and prodded with Lord knows what. The tubes that were attached to him were filled with dark blood that ran through the tubing in a path out from his limbs into beakers where it dripped, slowly filling the glass containers up one drip at a time.
My shock was followed by swift anger at seeing him this way. “We have to get you out of here,” I whispered fiercely, all too aware that the noise down the hall was coming closer.
“No Dani,” he whispered. “I’m not going anywhere, you have to get the rest of them and make sure you take them to safety.”
My mind reeled as he grimaced in pain.
“No, I need to get you out.”
He shook his head, “Listen to me,” he said. “Take as many of those vials as you can fit safely in your pack,” he nodded towards the vials on the countertop. “Then get the children in this building and take them to safety. When you are in a safe place inject them with the blood in the vials and…,”
“What?” I interrupted him. “What are you talking about? We’ve got to get you out of here, they’re bleeding you out.”
He looked at me as if I had just said the most obvious thing in the world, but still wasn’t understanding.
“Dani,” he said slowly. “They need my blood.”
Standing still, I tried to absorb what he said. “What? Why?”
He didn’t answer, he just looked at me his eyes staring into mine as if by sheer force of will he could get me to understand.
“Chris,” I carefully made my way even closer to him, stepping over tubes, trying not to jostle anything as I made my way into his space. I crouched down next to him. “We need to get you out.”
Reaching out he took my warm hand into his cold one, shaking his head no. “The children are right down these stairs. You have to get them out. They’re important.”
I glanced at everything that he allowed to hold him in place.
“But, you’ll die,” I whispered hearing my voice crack as I took a shaky breath.
He didn’t answer, he just smiled at me squeezing my hand even tighter.
“The blood, my blood, is the key,” he said.
Those words jogged something in my memory about the way the creepers reacted to me at the angel’s hotel, and even outside of this place itself when we were trying to get in. They avoided me and Becky but went for Edward. My mind whirled as more memories surfaced.
“In the car, when my aunt,” I whispered.
He nodded, confirming the directions my thoughts were taking.
“But, why are they doing this,” I gestured to the tubes. “I know you, you would just...,”
“Give it to them,” he finished for me. “Yes, I would,” he said with a sigh, his eyes traveling over the tubing and beakers and vials. “They want my blood, but they don’t want to be bothered with me.”
We sat quietly as I took his words in.
“I want you,” I whispered, gripping his hand tightly and trying to hold back the tears that insisted on leaking from my eyes. He reached out and gently wiped away the ones that were escaping down my cheeks.
“I know,” he whispered, “But you have to leave me here and do as I say, the children must be saved. You need to take them North there’s another sanctuary town there, but before you do make sure they are inoculated with the blood in the vials.”
Scuffling came for just outside the door.
“Quickly,” he said pushing me away from him.
Instead of moving away from him, I reached out, winding my arms around his neck and as if he couldn’t stop himself, he wrapped his arms around my waist as best he could. We clung to each other for a moment.
“Go,” he whispered, pushing me away from him.
“Okay,” I whispered as I began moving away from him, grabbing trays of full of vials and carefully putting them in my pack. Just as I zipped up the top of my pack and slung it on my back, the door flew open and Edward came in.
“Come on,” he said grabbing my arm. He stopped as he saw Chris behind me. “What the…,” he trailed off as he took in the tubes, the beakers and the blood.
“We have to go,” I said, shaking him and heading for the door.
“What about Chris?’ He said not moving.
“We have to go, he wants us to go,” I sai
d. “There are kids downstairs that we have to get. Is anybody out there?”
“What?” He asked as he watched Chris.
“Go,” Chris whispered, as he barely held on to consciousness. “Go.”
With one last look at him, Edward and I ran out the door before ripping open the door the stairs and making our way down the stairwell.
Chapter 13
“Where did he say to go?” Edward called out over his shoulder as I tried to hear if the guards figured out where we went.
“This floor,” I stopped next to him on the landing on the floor below, as he carefully looked through the narrow window in the door to see what, or who, was behind it.
He shrugged his shoulders as he looked over at me.
“How many kids?”
“Dunno,” I answered, stepping in front of him. “But, we’ve got to be quick.”
Pushing the door open just a crack, I carefully looked down the hallway. It was entirely still. I tried to move the door open even further, but it stopped. Reaching around the opening, I felt a large piece of furniture blocking it.
“Come on,” I whispered, pushing against the door with my back. Edward threw his weight on it next to me and it began to move, then stopped, suddenly pushing back on us. Pushing even further, we managed to look at one another shock bleeding its way into our eyes.
“What the,” Edward grunted out, as voices from the floor above grew louder.
I took a deep breath, scenting out cool mintishness from the hallway we were trying to get into. Chewing my lip as we pushed, my mind turned over as I tried to figure out what to do. Rustling behind the door made up my mind.
“Please let us in,” I whispered.
“Who are you?” Came a small voice in my mind.
“We’ve come to help,” I answered out loud. Edward looked quizzically at me.
“We’re okay,” said another voice out loud.
“You won’t be soon, they’re coming for you,” I told them.
“Who sent you?” Came yet another voice, this one larger than the others.