Immortal Awakening

by Shana J Caldwell

  “Zuriel’s awake, so I couldn’t leave him here with you while he was hungry, that would be a death wish.” He turns and looks back at Zuriel.

  “They were already dead, no use letting their life go to waste and be meaningless.” the sewer dweller is limp in his arms and looked like they hadn’t eaten for a year they were that hollow. Zuriel pulls away from their neck, blood dribbling down his chin.

  “Sorry you had to see that Ali.” He tosses the person at Zeke. They bounce off his chest and hit the floor with a soft thud. He sits back down and groans, wiping the blood from his mouth.

  “Zeke, go bury him.” He was starting to get some colour back, if you count snow white as being a healthy colour. Zeke nods and with that he disappears with the person. Zuriel motions to the spot on the couch next to him, and I take it hesitantly.

  “Ali, I’m going to tell you something about Ezekiel.” He looks over at me, his face full of concern. I nod slowly, what’s the point of this? Why do I care about Zeke?

  “The girl that got ashed today was his sister.” My heart breaks for him. No one deserves that, vampire or not.

  “Oh my god…” I didn’t know what else to say, what could I say? Zuriel just nods and leans back into the couch. Before I could say anything more Zeke strolls into the room.

  “I’m leaving now. Zuriel try not to move too much and I’ll be back as fast as I can.” He nods and then he’s gone.

  “How long do you reckon he’ll be gone?” I ask.

  “A day maybe, who knows with that boy.” He laughs lightly.

  We sit there in silence. I wonder what’s going to happen when he returns.

  *

  The days pass by me in a blur. I’ve spent them looking after Zuriel and changing the dressing on his stomach gash. He’s deteriorating faster with each day that passes. He blows it off but I know he’s worried. I never thought a vampire could die, I mean, aren’t they immortal? That hadn’t stopped Zeke’s sister from keeling over and biting the bullet. I still haven’t talked to Zeke about the creatures that they’re supposedly ‘hunting’ but it’s at the top of my ‘To-do list’ when he comes back. I bit into my last apple, I’m going to have to trade soon, otherwise I’ll have to wait a few more weeks until the market comes back. I stand up from the couch and stretch.

  “Zuriel, I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” I was going to the abandoned school that was a block or so from where I lived. I had something very special hidden there.

  “Not without me you aren’t, young lady,” he grumbles. Before I can protest he’s already got his arm around my shoulder.

  “If Zeke comes back he’s going to be mad and if you get caught you’re dead. I can’t risk that.” His grip tightens on my shoulder, nearly shattering the bone.

  “Fine, but we need to leave a note for Zeke.” I lower Zuriel back onto the couch and run into the kitchen, shuffling through the drawers until I find a blunt pencil and torn piece of paper. Stay here, we’ll be back soon. That should do it. I set it on the table and walk back to get Zuriel, a large black hoodie slung over my arm for him.

  “I’m not sure that’ll help the situation,” Zuriel mumbles against me. We stumble out the door and head towards the street. The bleak sun lighting up around us. Clouds clustered the sky, rain would be coming soon.

  “Are you sure you want to come? I mean, it’s a bit of a walk unless we can find something I can cart you in.” At this point, a trolley would have been handy, he was starting to get heavy and we hadn’t even made it out of my yard.

  “Yes Ali. Can you stop worrying; you’re giving me a headache.” We stumble out the gate and head towards the school. After what seems like a lifetime of walking, we finally reach it. The two-storey building had survived a lot; all the windows were smashed and the red paint had nearly all been torn away. Zuriel looks up.

  “We came this far, just to be at a school? You’ve got to be kidding me. I thought you kids would do anything to not go near a school in your life again,” he grunts. More determined to reach the school and get him out of sight, I quicken the pace.

  “Hey, you didn’t have to come and it’ll be worth it,” I snap. He grumbles something I don’t quite hear, lucky for him. We burst through the wooden door and fall to the ground. The doors creak shut behind us and I immediately jump up, alert for anything.

  “Nice entrance,” Zuriel moans, he rolls over and manages to sit up.

  “Here, let me help you.” I run into the closest classroom and grab the office chair from the desk in front and roll it back out to Zuriel. I grab him from behind and lower him onto the chair with some difficulty. Luckily, I didn’t need to go upstairs.

  “This is so much easier. Oh my god.” My shoulders had been on the verge of breaking when we got here. Zeke wasn’t lying when he said he was a dead weight.

  “What are we even doing here? I know you’re not teaching me anything.” He grunts, crossing his arms in annoyance.

  “I’m here to see something.” If you look up ‘complaining’ in the dictionary a photo of Zuriel would be there, I swear, arms crossed over his chest and sulking.

  “Could you at least tell me what it is, human?”

  “It’s a book, vampire,” I retort.

  “Ouch,” he hisses.

  “Check-mate,” I laugh. He was fun to toy with when he was grumpy. I was taken aback by how comfortable I was starting to be around him. I couldn’t trust them; wouldn’t. But a small part of me felt like I belonged. I push that feeling away, not wanting to entertain the idea.

  We pass the dull red lockers on the wall, some hanging ajar. We finally reach the classroom I had to go into. I push him in and park the chair near a desk. I run over to the cupboard in the corner and pry the door open. Relief washes over me when I see the small, leather-covered book sitting there. I pick it up and gently run my fingers over it.

  “What do you have?” Zuriel calls over to me. I turn and walk back to him.

  “A book.” I sit down in front of him and open it. He frowns at me.

  “What’s the point of having it if you can’t read?” he asks. I smile up at him. A lot of humans of my time couldn’t read. Especially the poor ones. Lucky my real parents had given me more books than a library could hold while they still had me.

  “I can read.” He laughs and I frown at him.

  “I’ll prove it.” I clear my throat and start reading. “Satan finds work for idle hands to do. That was one of my father’s favourite sayings if he ever caught me daydreaming or lying on my back on the turf, staring up at the white clouds that raced across the sky. I could almost hear his voice, with its strong Irish brogue, as I sat on the sofa and sipped a glass of lemonade on this hot June day.” I shut the book and look up at him.

  “How did you do that? Humans aren’t meant to be able to read, especially not the unregistered ones.” His eyebrows furrow together as he looks at me sceptically. I just shrug.

  “I don’t know. It’s illegal for people like me to own a book, that’s why I keep it here. It’s my little slice of heaven.” I stand up and put the book back in the cupboard and jam the door shut again. I walk over to him and start pushing the chair towards the door.

  “Oi! Check upstairs and we’ll check these last few classrooms,” a male voice shouts from the hall. I turn and push the chair as fast as I can over to the window, Zuriel’s hair flying wildly around his face. It’d grown an inch in the time he’d been staying with me.

  “Okay. I’m sorry, but I’m going to push you out the window into the bushes below, okay?” I whisper. Zuriel just shrugs. With a lot of struggling I manage to slide the window up. I wrap my arms around Zuriel’s chest, being careful as I help him stand up. He leans on me as he climbs out the window. With a thud, he lands on the ground.

  “Zuriel, stay there okay? Do not move and make sure you stay hidden in the bush, okay?” I whisper down to him. He looks up at me.

  “Humans these days, so bossy.” he grumbles while hiding himself
under the bushes. I shut the window back down and straighten out my clothes. I walk over to the door and peek out. There was a girl about my age standing in the corridor with a tall dark-skinned boy who looks a year or two older.

  “What’s taking them so long?” the girl complains. She has short red hair which complements her slender figure.

  “How am I supposed to know?” the boy growls at her, running a hand over his shaved head.

  “CLEAR!” A shout comes from a door closer to them. A tall muscular blonde boy walks out, followed by a small staunch boy with spiky orange hair.

  “Finally, this is ridiculous. What are you trying to find?” the girl says. The blonde rolls his eyes at her.

  “We have two more rooms and then we wait for the other three to come down.” They all start heading towards my room, now was my time to shine. I step out into the hallway and they all freeze and stare at me. The girl pulls out a switchblade, it gleams in the light.

  “Uh. I’ll just be leaving.” I gulp and take a step forward. I feel highly uncomfortable with them all staring at me.

  “Who are you?” the girl growls. I take a step back. I pull my long, hair back into a ponytail so it won’t get in the way if I have to run.

  “What are you doing here?” the orange-haired boy says, taking a step towards me. His eyes flash green, I blink; startled. They fade back to a dull brown, must have been a trick of the light.

  “I’m Ali and I come here all the time. Who are you all?” I shrug; I need to leave as soon as I can to get to Zuriel. Although he was in the shade of the bushes, the sun would still be filtering through. The blonde steps forward and I eye him sceptically.

  “Ali, we’re some of the only unregistereds left. From your appearance, I’m guessing you are too. I’m Luke.” He walks over slowly and holds out his hand as a peace offering, his blue eyes empathetic. I watch it, after a moment he brings it back to his side. I nod at each of them.

  “Hate to be rude, but I really have to be getting home.” Luke nods and steps out of the way to let me through. It was weird talking to people again, it was almost nice. I stroll past them and pick up the pace towards the exit.

  “Ali, if you ever change your mind and want a family; find us,” Luke calls to me. That was sweet, but I’d rather not, something about him seemed off. He was too nice, too offering. I rush out the door and run around the building to where Zuriel is hiding.

  “Zuriel, it’s me,” I call softly. I scan under the bushes until I finally see one of his shoes sticking out. I rush over and drag him into the open. He opens his eyes and yawns.

  “Took you long enough. Now help me up.” I reach down and he uses me to stand up. He wraps an arm around me and we start walking back home. As we walk, I tell him about the people I’d run into and how they’d offered for me to go with them if I got lonely being by myself. His replies were just grunts. When we finally reach my house, the sun is high up in the sky and the heat is almost blistering. As soon as we get through the door, an angry Zeke storms towards us.

  “What the hell were you thinking?” he shouts at me as he lifts Zuriel off the ground and rushes him into the lounge room.

  I quickly follow, fiddling my hands together nervously. He’s pulled Zuriel’s shirt up and has a little silver box in his hand by the time I enter the room.

  “We’ll talk after I do this,” he growls over his shoulder, pinning me in place with his eyes. I should have just tied Zuriel down and gone by myself. Stupid vampire strength. He opens the silver box and dips his fingers into a blue gel substance. He spreads the gel over the wound, which was now deep brown colour. When the box is empty he pulls out a bandage and bandages the wound. He picks Zuriel up and places him back on the couch, then turns and storms over to me.

  “Are you stupid?” he barks at me. I take a few steps back.

  “Excuse me? I didn’t want to take him with me but he refused to stay,” I say slowly.

  “He could have died. You do realise that, right?” he shouts at me. I’m regretting not tying him up now. God, I really don’t think sometimes.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do!” I take another step back. Boy, I feel sorry for anyone who experiences this side of him.

  “Not going would have been smart. It doesn’t matter now because we’re leaving soon and you’ll never see us again.” Snarling at me, fangs break through his gums. He stalks back to Zuriel.

  “It wasn’t her fault,” Zuriel coughs. He pulls himself into a sitting position and coughs some more.

  “It was my choice to go with her. I knew what could have happened.” Zeke scowls down at Zuriel. I just stand there. I don’t like fighting, especially if it was with vampires, and I certainly didn’t want to be the cause of them fighting.

  “I’ll be back later,” Zeke growls and with a slam of a door he’s gone again. I walk over and sit next to Zuriel.

  “I’m sorry.” My head hangs in my hands. I feel a cold arm wrap around my shoulder.

  “Ali, he’s just upset. He doesn’t want to lose me.” He gives my shoulder a small squeeze and stands up. I look up at him.

  “Do you feel better?” I ask. He pulls up his shirt, peeling the bandage off. The wound is barely a scratch. The shock must have shown on my face because he laughs and lets his shirt falls back down.

  “I’m feeling ecstatic.” He stretches and looks around.

  “That healed so fast!” I exclaim.

  “It has a reaction with the infection and heals almost immediately. It’s crazy what the vampire world has come up with.” He smiles at me and strolls into the kitchen. I follow and find him looking out the back-door window.

  “What’s over there?” I walk over to see what he’s talking about.

  “You mean all the forest?” I ask. He nods.

  “There’s a river down there.” He nods again.

  “Let’s go swimming,” he declares, looking down at me.

  “If people hardly go there and it’s bound to be covered with shade from the trees then we should be good,” He was right, only I knew about it and it was shady. I sigh.

  “Fine, let’s go,” I follow him out the door and through the nearly shoulder high grass. After about five minutes of walking the grass breaks away and we begin walking through the forest. As we walk towards the sound of rushing water I decide to ask a few questions.

  “Zuriel, what creatures were you hunting when you got caught?”

  “We call them grobblers,” What a weird name. I’ve never heard it before or read about it in the bulletins.

  “What do they look like?” I ask, figuring Zeke wouldn’t answer any questions of mine.

  “They’re very large, bigger than a car. The ones I’ve encountered have all been tremendously strong. They walk on all fours and their feet have four talons and a large one at the back. Their bodies are large and round and usually have seven spikes down the centre of their back. They bleed green. We’re not sure what they’re used for - we’re still trying to figure that out. Their tail is a massive scorpion stinger that can extend to twice its body size and their skin is fairly rough, like uneven sharp stones.” He stops when we make it to the river. The water is crystal clear and fish swim around carefree. The bank is covered in short, bright green grass. He turns and looks at me.

  “They make this clicking sound to communicate with their kind. Ali if you ever hear a clicking sound run for your life.” He looks down at me. Why wasn’t he telling me what their heads looked like?

  “On a brighter note, let’s go swimming and enjoy the afternoon!” He pulls his shirt over his head, unbuckles his jeans and stands there in just jocks. I blush and look away. There’s a loud splash and I turn to see him gliding under the water. I pull my overly big shirt over my head and tug my tights off, slipping my shoes off in the process. I cross my arms over my chest and slowly walk into the water, knowing my white bra won’t be much help once it got wet. I welcome the cold and dive under the surface.

  When I resurface I find Zu
riel floating on his back, he stands up and smiles at me. The water almost reaches my shoulders, almost. He looks down and back up again.

  “I see this trip as a mini vacation. Although we never caught up to the grobblers, it’s been quite an adventure in itself.” I send a splash of water his way, which he easily avoids. He holds his hands up as an innocent gesture and I roll my eyes at him. We spend a few hours just enjoying the water, we barely speak but the silence is comfortable.

  We are lying on the bank with our feet in the water when we hear footsteps coming towards us.

  “What are you guys doing?” Zeke demands. I tilt my head back to find him staring at me. His eyes trail down my body, resting on my chest longer than they should before looking me in the eyes again. Zuriel sits up and looks over to him.

  “We’re just swimming. Come, join us.” He gestures for Zeke to come over and lies back down. I cross my arms over my chest. Suddenly Zeke is lying next to me, in only his jocks. I turn my head to find him staring up at the sky. I let my eyes trail over his body and his arms he rests beside him. He has a tattoo that stop just before his elbows. His lean legs are crossed at the ankles, his black jocks concealing something rather large. I blush and look away, my heart going wild in my chest. I need to get away from him.

  “I’m hopping back in the water.” I dive in, the water greeting me like a hug. When I resurface and wipe the water from my face, they are both walking into the water. Once they are nearly shoulder deep I decide to start a conversation.

  “So, where do you guys plan on going when you leave?” I ask an innocent question.

  “Home,” Zuriel says. I look over at Zeke and he gives me a small smile.

  “Is it like it is here?” I didn’t know they had homes. From the stories I’d heard, they lived in coffins. Zuriel laughs.

  “It’s better, it’s a hidden city. No one lives in poverty there, it’s rather spectacular,”

  “Hidden? How?” I ask, confused. How can it be hidden?

  “We have a special spell on it and only vampires can cross over the threshold. Sorry if I was getting your hopes up. Except the humans who are owned by vampires have a special chip in them, and the blood bank whores too. They can never leave. I doubt you’d be into that.” Zuriel winks at me and we both laugh.