Immortal Awakening

by Shana J Caldwell

  “Look, I don’t know you and I certainly don’t trust you. For all I know, there could be a bunch of humans standing above us waiting for us to emerge. Zuriel needs rest and medicine that I’ll have to leave this filth you call a city to get. We can be in the sun, we just choose not be, and you need to stop asking so many damn questions. It’s irritating.” He looks down at me, his black eyes fierce and blazing. Who the hell did he think he was? I get that he just lost a friend, and might lose another, but that doesn’t mean he can take it out on me. If I remember correctly, I’m the one who saved Zuriel. I inhale a deep breath.

  “Okay, I get it. You just lost a friend and now you have to trust me to not lose another. I already know my city is filth, but it’s all I have. You don’t need to stay at my place, but it is the only safe place you can stay. So, you’re going to have to put some trust in me because I’m trusting that you won’t kill me while I sleep. Okay? Now, let’s figure out how we’re going to get Zuriel up the ladder.” I step to the side and look back at the ladder. Then it clicks.

  “I have some rope in my house that I can get and we can use it to pull him up. And by ‘we’ I mean you.” I nod, I like this idea. I like this a lot.

  “Hate to…break it…Zeke…she has…a good…point,” Zuriel gargles from where he’s leaning. Zeke stands deathly still and takes a moment to think about it.

  “Fine, go get the rope and some other clothes.” He crouches next to Zuriel and examines him.

  “Wait, why clothes?” I ask. What did he need clothes for? He was already dressed.

  “If people see me like this…” He stands and gestures to himself. “I’ll be a dead man.” Oh, that made sense. His shirt was covered in dry blood and torn around the edges.

  “Oh okay, good point. Well, I’ll be right back.” I climb up the ladder and gently push the manhole cover open, slowly sticking my head out and survey the scene. I knew the unregistered people living in houses near me knew well enough not to tell the guards. We had to look out for one another, so I could climb out and shut the manhole behind me unnoticed.

  I open the rusted gate and walk towards the house. After walking up the steps, I unhinge the lock I’d made myself. It was just a piece of rope tied around a nail in the door and looped around a nail on the wall to keep it shut. I shut the door behind me and lit the candle that I kept on the desk to my left; I only had few matches left.

  I walk down the hall and quickly peek into the left arch and check the kitchen, making sure everything was how I’d left it. Turning, I walk through the other arch to the lounge room. There was a small television set up against the wall to my right and a torn blue couch pushed up against the wall in front of me. I didn’t see the point of it being in front of the TV if it didn’t work.

  I make my way up the stairs, and into the hallway with four doors. The first door to my right was the bathroom. I’ve been working on getting the water system operational again so I didn’t have to bathe in the creek. My bathroom consisted of a sink with a round mirror above it, a small built-in cupboard full of towels to the right of the sink, an open shower in the corner with a shower curtain tied up against the wall, and there was a toilet opposite the shower. Whenever I had to go I used a bucket then threw it down the sewer.

  I keep walking. I only had two bedrooms and they were on the right side of the hallway. One room has a double bed and the other has two singles, so I assume the owners who previously lived here had two children. I’d never found photos of them in the years I’d been here, maybe they took any trace of their existence with them. The door at the end of the hallway on the left side was my storage room, it had the main things I need and stuff I could use to trade. I walk in and grab the rope and a spare change of clothes I’d found that looked like a man’s uniform.

  *

  I pull open the manhole and look down.

  “Are you still there?” My voice echoes softly off the sewer walls. A few moments pass and I still don’t see anything. I slowly climb down the ladder and see Zuriel still leaning against the wall. I place the rope and clothes on the ground and crouch down next to him; his skin has broken into a sickly blue rash. I gently tap his face.

  “Hey Zuriel, can you wake up for me?” I peer closer to his face. If he was dead, I was sure to pass out cold. Slowly, his eyes start to roll open. Only this time his eyes were red, his black pupils shrinking and growing rapidly. He gurgles and they shut again. I start to panic.

  “Zuriel, hey, stay with me.” I tap his face again but he doesn’t open his eyes. I stand up and look around. Where the hell was Zeke?

  “Zeke!” As soon as his name leaves my lips he’s standing in front of me.

  “Do you have everything?” He spots the rope and clothes. He starts tying the rope around Zuriel like a harness.

  “Where the hell did you go?” I demand. One of the sewer dwellers could have found Zuriel and made a meal. Anything is fair game to them, anything.

  “I figured, once Zuriel started healing he would be hungry so I went looking for something.” Oh god, I was going to be sick.

  “Did you find something?” He ties off the rope and pulls the end, lifting Zuriel with no problem. He lowers him to the ground and grabs the clothes.

  “Yeah I did. Don’t worry, I made sure it was no one important and that they didn’t have much longer to live. I hid them, so when he’s well enough I’ll come back and get them.” technically he’d just committed murder, right?

  “You can’t just go and murder people when you feel like it. Oh my god.” I look at him, absolutely astonished. He raises his top lip at me.

  “It was you or them, I’ll ask you next time to make the choice.”

  I keep my mouth shut, no one down here was important. Not even me. I’m about to turn around when Zeke pulls his shirt over his head. His shoulders and back muscles ripple as his arms move. His back is covered in tattoos and from what I could see so were his arms. He turns around and looks at me. I try to take my eyes away from him but they just kept searching his body. His arms are muscular and his full front was just eye-candy. He has all different kinds of tattoos displayed on his chest; from words that aren’t English to weird symbols. My eyes finally find their way to his.

  “Can you hold my things?” he asks bluntly, not fazed by my eye- ogling. He's probably used to it by now.

  “Yeah, of course.” I nod my head and reach out my hand, he hands me his shirt. I drape the shirt over my arm and the smell of vanilla and pine wood wafts its way into my nose, along with the smell of old blood. He turns away and unbuckles his jeans. Oh god. I turn away to give him that privacy. He clears his throat and I turn back. The uniform fits him tightly. He hands me his jeans and belt and I stuff them into my little backpack along with his shirt. I never thought I’d find a vampire attractive.

  “Okay, I’m going to climb up, check to make sure it’s clear, then you’re going to climb up a little and pass me the rope okay?” I nod as he lifts the rope and places Zuriel directly under the ladder. He climbs up. I hear a scrape and then nothing.

  “Pass me up the rope.” I grab the end of the rope and make my way up the ladder and hand it to him.

  “Do you want me to climb out or wait down here?” He nibbles his lip while looking down at me.

  “Come up here because it won’t take me long to pull Zuriel up.” I pull myself out of the manhole and keep watch. In a matter of seconds, Zuriel is huddled in Zeke’s arms with the rope still around him.

  “Shut the manhole and I’ll head to the house.” I nod and push the manhole shut. When I reach the house and lock the door from the inside I find Zuriel lying on the couch. He seems to be tied to it.

  “Um Zeke, why is he tied up?” I call out to him, wherever he is. Suddenly, he was walking over to Zuriel with a wet cloth. Uneasiness spreads through me.

  “He’s tied up because I’m about to leave and I don’t know how he’ll react when he wakes up.” So basically, I could be mauled when he wakes up. Just what you want.

/>   “Oh-kay, how long will it take you to get the medicine? Because I don’t exactly want to be made a meal of and I have no protection whatsoever.” I leave out the part of not knowing how to fight; they don’t need to know all of my weaknesses. I rub the chills off my arm. I’ll be fine; he’ll be back before I know it.

  “Maybe a day…two if I’m held up but that’s highly unlikely.” He stands and walks over to me.

  “Can I please have my clothes back?” He starts unbuttoning the military shirt. I grab his clothes out of my bag and toss them on the ground in front of him.

  “Well, what do I do if he wakes up while you’re gone?” I call from the kitchen as I set the bag down on the table.

  “Certainly, don’t untie him,” Zeke calls back sarcastically. God, vampires are more annoying than humans. I roll my eyes.

  “I saw you get out of the chains when you were on the stage, he could do the same.” I don’t know what I’d do if he broke free from the rope before Zeke got back. Probably lock myself in my room, prepare myself; maybe some seasoning.

  “Zuriel can’t do that. We all have different abilities and unfortunately that’s a disadvantage for him.” Phew, I’d be safe. I sag with relief.

  “What if he’s hungry, what should I do?” I open my bag on the kitchen table and empty out its contents. It would last me a week at most, two if I rationed the bread.

  “That’s what you eat? That doesn’t look like much,” Zeke questions, leaning against the arch. I just shrug; there wasn’t much I could say about that really. It wasn’t much at all.

  “It’ll last me a week or so.” I put the food in the non-working fridge and sit down.

  “Are you serious?” I look over at him, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. Why did he care? Had he seriously overlooked the level of poverty this city was actually in? Had he not seen the sewer dwellers when he went back to kill one of them? They were barely human.

  “Um yes? That’s actually the most I’ve ever had in my house until now.” He looks at me blankly; clearly I was just wasting my breath.

  “What did you trade for it?” I scratch my arm, this was weird. He shouldn't care about human trades. He’s a vampire.

  “A blanket I found in the cupboard and a photo frame.” I yawn and rub my eyes. I lost track of time when I was put on the streets, the sun was still up so I’d guess it was going on late afternoon.

  “All of that for basically nothing?” Zeke walks over and sits in the chair across from me, his long leg grazing mine as he makes himself comfortable.

  “Why are you so surprised? I’m sure you’ve been to plenty human cities before.” I leaned in, a hint of challenge in my voice.

  “I just am, I thought that…actually, it doesn’t matter what I think.” He leans back in the chair and crosses his arms.

  “It’s just the way I live.” I look down at my hands before looking back up at him, should I offer him something to eat or…? I clear my throat.

  “Do you want something to drink or eat? I have two bottles of water and stuff.” He scratches his stubble, his hair slowly creeping down.

  “I’m good. You need it more than I do.” I nibble the side of my lip. I knew I was getting a bit too thin but I was managing. I couldn’t remember the last time I ate a full meal.

  “Thanks for the consideration. Anyway, I never formally introduced myself. Allison, call me Ali.” I lean back and wait for his response. I clasp my hands on my lap as my stomach flip-flops inside me.

  “Ezekiel, call me Zeke.” I smile shyly, his mouth turning up slightly at the corners.

  “When are you leaving to get the medicine?”

  “Soon. I’ll go when the sun sets so I have less chance of being caught.” He leans his elbows on the table and combs his fingers through his hair. I finally have a chance to study his facial features. He has a strong jawline and dominant cheekbones. His lips are shaped in a cupid's bow, complemented by powerful eyebrows; they were dark enough to match his hair and really brought out his eyes and thick eyelashes. He also had a few weeks’ worth of stubble on his chin. I wonder what he was like before he was changed, or if he was born that way.

  “Tell me about the other human cities.” I ask, wanting to know if they were all like this or if I had hope for something better.

  “Most are like this, the cement wall trapping you in like cattle. There’s a rare few that don’t have a wall. They have security obviously but they’re more advanced with weapons and technology. There are groups that decide to fend for themselves, living by the rule of each other. I’ve come across a few abandoned towns like this, not a soul to be seen. It’s like they just vanished. We don’t stay in those towns very long, the hold the essence of death in the air.” He says, massaging his temples. I wondered if the cities with no walls had people like me there, fighting to live day by day.

  “It would be nice I reckon, being able to travel so freely and not be afraid of everything.” I sigh and rest my chin in my hands on the table.

  “Oh there’s plenty to be afraid of. I’ve seen some horrifying things in my centuries; humans are really the least of our worries. With the world gone to shit it’s unleashed a lot more nasty creatures, these creatures didn’t exist in the Before.” He leans back and looks at me evenly. He knew I’d have more questions, how could I not?

  “What do you eat?”

  “We don’t eat. We drink. It’s mainly animal blood as well. I know vampires are working on genetically modifying animals so they grow bigger and hold more blood. Some vampire cities actually have humans that volunteer themselves to be a blood bank.” I grimace at the thought.

  “In return they get to live with the vampire, they get protected and are well looked after. It’s really not that bad of a price to pay. Other times there’s blood bank whores, you find them on the streets in the darker places, they offer themselves to any vampire that will take them; not caring if they die or not from it.”

  “Wouldn’t that make them vampire?” I ask.

  “No, you can only be turned by the King. But he’s in resting. He hasn’t been around for a very long time.” My brain is warped with information. There’s a vampire King. I’m about to ask more questions when he looks up at me suddenly.

  “Do you have a place I could rest for a bit?”

  “Yeah, follow me.” I stand and he follows me up to the room with two single beds.

  “This is the only room without windows so I figured it would be the best one for you.” I open the door and can hardly see anything.

  “Thank you. I’ll be out soon.” He nods and with that, he closes the door. Now it was time to do something. I walk downstairs deciding I may as well have a slice of bread.

  “Ali.” Startled, I stumble down the last few steps, regaining my balance once I’m on even ground. I steady myself as I hold my breath, then creep towards the lounge room and slowly pop my head inside. My blonde hair waving around my face. Zuriel is laying there, his eyes open and unfocused. I step cautiously into the room.

  “Zuriel?” I whisper, afraid I’m hallucinating his voice. Suddenly his eyes snap to me. He opens his mouth and no sound comes out, he tries again with the same result. I click my fingers, trying to think of what he could need.

  “Water?” He opens his mouth again, gives up and smiles lightly. I run into the kitchen and pull out a water bottle. I walk back slowly to the lounge room; surely Zeke wouldn’t be angry at me for giving Zuriel water? I kneel beside Zuriel and slowly unscrew the lid off the bottle.

  “Now, before I get closer you have to swear on your non-beating heart you won’t make me a meal out of me. Understood? I wouldn’t taste very good anyway, so you’d just be left with a foul taste in your mouth.” A sound similar to a grumble comes from him; I’ll take that as a yes. I scoot closer to the couch and slowly put a hand to his face, surprised that it feels warm, nearly human. I lean his head back and slowly trickle water into his mouth, he gulps it down hungrily. Once the bottle is empty I put his head down gently and si
t back. He still looks as bad as he did before, but his eyes seem more aware.

  “I hoped it helped. I know it’s not a lot and I’d offer you some bread, but I don’t feel like being a mother bird and regurgitating it for you.” I smile softly as I sit back on my hands and watch him. He observes me quietly, and I wonder what’s going on in that head of his. What he was thinking, or if the hunger had him. He didn’t seem like he was going mad. He slowly shuts his eyes and settles on the couch. I stand up and look around.

  The first time I’ve ever had guests and they’re both asleep. I’d be looking for things to trade if they weren’t here. I had no idea what I’d do if I ran out of matches and I didn’t particularly like living in the dark. I couldn’t leave the house either, not while everyone would be turning the town inside out looking for them. I head upstairs and grab a towel and a clean set of clothes, thinking I might as well go have a swim.

  Once I reach the shade of a weeping willow beside the creek I set my towel down and strip to nothing. There were still a few hours until the sun would set so I was positive Zeke wouldn’t see me in all my glory. I slowly slip into the crisp water and wade around, the sun warming my skin. As I lie floating on my back, I let my eyes slide shut and the water’s current wash me away.

  CHAPTER 3

  I wrap the towel around my hair as the sun sinks behind me, it lights the tall grass stalks into a golden hue. I pull my clothes on and head for the house. Zeke will be leaving soon. As I turn the corner into the lounge room I nearly pass out. Zuriel is untied and sucking the life out of a sewer dweller. My sharp intake of breath causes Zeke to turn around. I take a cautious step back. The blood drains from my face.

  “Ali, calm down.” Zeke holds his hands up as a peace offering.

  “What, what’s going on?” I freeze, choking up “What the fuck!” I shout, my hands begin to shake as the dead sewer dweller shrivels up. Every instinct is screaming for me to run in the opposite direction. Knowing how easily that could have been me makes a shiver rage through me.