Broken Souls

by Jade M. Phillips

  Yet, aside from taking a ride on the Horus-coaster, I swallowed past my fear and somehow managed to speak. “My name is Ruby.”

  He cocked his brows and shifted on the stool. “Ruby? That is all?”

  “Carter,” I said with as much confidence as I could. “Ruby Carter.”

  Horus sucked in another mouthful of smoke and arched his neck, blowing it above himself. Afterward, he drew his gaze down to mine.

  “Where is your maker, baby vampire?”

  I just shrugged, fearing my voice would falter.

  Once more, the vampire got to his feet and grabbed the bars slowly with his long fingers, his eyes swirling manically. I flattened myself against the back wall, thankful I was far enough away he couldn’t grab me again.

  “Where is your voice, girl? Speak.” This time his voice elevated slightly, echoing through the cell. I tensed at his tone but kept firm eye contact.

  “I don’t know.” It was the truth. Though I’d finally found out my maker was Frank, my biological father, I didn’t know exactly where he was. Plus, I’d never even met him— consciously, that is. I’d also never been to FUSE headquarters where he was being detained. I just hoped when Guy got back there he would uphold his vow to me and help my father escape. Then it dawned on me that I still kept the letter I’d received from Frank in the band of my pants, and I moved my arm across my stomach as if to disguise it from my questioner’s eyes.

  Horus leaned in, pressing his face into the bars. “You don’t know where your maker is? Or your voice?”

  I looked down at my hands and steadied them. I would not show my fear. I could not be weak. “My maker.”

  Horus’ demeanor changed, now serene and calm again. I cringed. Jeez, Xanax anyone?

  “That is very unusual.” He backed away in contemplation, like he was pondering the meaning of life. “You’re telling me you know nothing of your maker? You never even saw his face?”

  “Yes.” I twined my nervous fingers together. “I’ve never seen him.” That much was also true. Except for in my hazy memories of the night I died I’d never met my biological father. And I don’t know why, but I felt the need to protect him, keep him a secret.

  Horus held his thin fingers to his face before taking a deep pull from his cigarette. His words came out with smoke. “The only way that is possible is if you were unconscious during your making. Were you unconscious?”

  “I was dead,” I said, and figured my answer was sound. I had been at least nearly dead, and that was close enough.

  He studied me for a moment, and then laughed wryly. “Well that does make sense, yes.” He paced along the front of my cell before stopping and turning to me again. “Where were you when you died?”

  I inhaled and straightened my shoulders. “In my car.”

  “Where?”

  “Bisbee.”

  “Where were you when you awoke?”

  I shrugged again.

  “Words!” He slammed his body up against the bars, making me jump. “Use your words, baby vampire! I’m no mind reader!”

  “I don’t know.” My heart pounded in my chest as I tried to come up with a reasonable explanation. “There were large buildings… warehouses, I think. And fire. Explosions. It was like a battle of some sort.”

  “The fallen coven.” He again released the bars and backed away in calm reflection. I couldn’t help but think the rise and fall of his moods echoed a psychopathic rollercoaster, one I didn’t want to buy a ticket for. Horus glared at me. “But that was over a week ago. Where have you been since then?”

  If Horus found out I’d been with Wilson, or worse yet, the Captain of their sworn enemy —FUSE— it would surely be my death, again. I racked my brain for the words Guy rehearsed with me. I had to stick to the story.

  “The Mission.”

  “The Mission?”

  “Yes, an old mission.” I relayed each rehearsed word calmly and pictured Guy saying them right along with me. “I found the church and took shelter there. I’ve been living off the blood of rabbits and mice.”

  Horus’ dark brows drew together, forming a straight line. He pinched his chin as he moved around the hall.

  “There were no known survivors that night. How is it you were not taken by FUSE?”

  Apparently, Horus was unaware of Frank being taken, or that he and I were the two survivors of that night. I was somehow glad. I didn’t trust the stinky vampire. My first reaction was to shrug my shoulders again, but I thought better of it. I continued on with what felt like the biggest cover-up story ever.

  “I don’t know. I just… got away.”

  “If you had just awoken as you were turning, you would have still been extremely weak. It doesn’t make sense that you were able to get away when none of the others did.”

  “I hid,” I said, and maybe a little too quickly. “There was a ditch and I covered myself with dirt.”

  His gaze landed on me, freezing me on the spot. I looked down at my feet covered in the white sneakers Guy bought for me. I thought of the night he saved me from the battle. I thought of Guy and his unbelievable strength. I tried to hone that strength from his memory and will it into myself. I breathed in, hoping I was coming off believable.

  “Well,” Horus said finally breaking the strained silence. “If it was up to me you would be killed right here and now. You don’t smell right and I don’t trust you. But unfortunately I am not the sole legion leader like I should be. You will have to answer to all of us.”

  I suddenly remembered Wilson telling me about the legion leaders and that he’d been one in the past. I couldn’t help but wonder if Horus had been the one to take his job after he fled Tombstone. But other than the legion’s ranks of power, I could not recall any other details of their democracy.

  Horus dropped his cigarette on the ground and crushed it beneath his boot. He glanced down the hall from where he had come. “The sun will be rising soon. You will be brought before the legion tomorrow night. Then we can decide when and if you will die.”

  Horus blew out the lone candle, casting the cell into complete darkness.

  “Tomorrow night?” I asked, trying to hide the worry in my tone, hating the fact that I would have to endure one more night of being locked up.

  “What?” Horus asked mockingly, giving me one last glance. “Is our baby vampire afraid of the dark?”

  And like a disappearing act, he vanished, his laugh echoing down the hall. A door slammed, leaving me alone in silence, alone with Humpty and Dumpty. They’d been so still during the questioning, I’d almost forgotten the wolf guards were still there. My first instinct was to break the lock on my cell and bolt out of there, saying to heck with this city and to heck with Tombstone. But even if I wasn’t apprehended by the guards, or burnt to a crisp by the sun, I had nowhere else to go. Plus that’s not what Guy would’ve want. He’d sacrificed so much to get me here, I couldn’t blow it now. Tombstone was my home now. I needed to face the legion and plea my case, praying I would meet the vampire named Pandora. She was the one Wilson told me about, an old friend of his. She was my only chance.

  I huddled close to the wall and wrapped my arms around my knees. A rush of fear scorched my veins, my eyes burning with unshed tears. But I held back, calling on my strength. I was almost there, almost home, and I sure as heck wouldn’t let anyone scare me, much less Death Breath himself— even if he was the scariest vampire I’d ever met.

  FOUR: GUY

  “Guy.” Ruby called out to me from within the twilight haze, her arms outstretched and her face stricken with tears. I tried to go to her, to run, but for some reason my legs stood cemented in place.

  I gazed upon her beautiful face, wrought with pain and sadness, her creamy skin a stark contrast to her violet eyes. Her long hair was so light it looked like snow and the woven braid hung over her graceful shoulder, a shoulder shaking with sobs. She wore a white robe as she had the first night I stayed with her, the night I rescued her from my FUSE soldiers.

&n
bsp; “Faith,” I called out the name I’d given her, thinking about how when I’d first found Ruby in her transformation, she’d surprised me with her unyielding hope and faith. And she had, in turn, restored the faith in me. But my words only came out as a dry rasp, my body locked in paralysis.

  “Guy,” she cried again, falling to her knees.

  “I’m here,” I wanted to say. “I will save you.” Instead, my voice no longer produced sound, my throat as parched as the cracked desert floor. I fought with all my might to go to her but my feet were heavy, my body like a bag of sand, immovable.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered, though barely loud enough to even hear myself. “I’m sorry for leaving you.”

  Guilt coursed through me like an illness as I thought about how I’d left her, hating what I’d done.

  I wondered how I could’ve been so stupid to think she would be all right without me. I was her protector and she needed me.

  But for the longest time I was overcome by regret and loss. Before I met Ruby I remained wrapped in eternal darkness, one the vampires bestowed upon me when they took away my first love. I was only a child then, unknowing of the dark world that surrounded me. I was unaware of all of the evil, pain, and death. But after they’d taken Lily from me, I changed. I changed into this beast of a human; cold, relentless, and unforgiving.

  A killing machine.

  I swore my life to FUSE. I swore to kill every last vampire and Unfortunate Soul until they were extinct or I was dead myself, either way. And I was so ignorant to think I’d ever be granted happiness for seeking revenge, a goal that could never satisfy my pain.

  But in the midst of a dark battle, Ruby brought me happiness. And although she was a creature of the dark herself, her light brightened my life, her smile, a beacon of hope and purity. How could the spawn of such an evilness be so loving and caring and beautiful?

  She was a reverse anomaly, a contradiction to what I always knew and believed. If someone like her was the epitome of kindness, had I misjudged the others? Were there others like her out there being tortured and killed because of association? Because they were different?

  “Guy,” she called out again, breaking me from my thoughts. She reached out to me with her delicate hand and our eyes met, my heart falling heavy. I couldn’t help her, I couldn’t save her.

  I fought with my own body to move, gathering every source within myself, the great strain of it causing a groan within my chest. The groan turned into a growl and then a booming war cry. I watched as Ruby faded away, her thin form growing translucent and hazy.

  “No!” I yelled, finally finding my voice. “Don’t go!”

  “Guy,” her voice echoed out, but she was nowhere to be seen, my eyes covered with the blankets of darkness.

  “Faith!” I cried.

  “Captain.”

  My body ached, and I felt a tear trailing down my cheek.

  “Faith…” I rasped.

  “Captain Stone.”

  I writhed in pain, every bone in my skeleton feeling like it was broken.

  “Faith…”

  “You don’t need Faith right now, you need to eat. Come on. Wake up.”

  Someone lightly shoved my body, pain shooting through me, and I was suddenly aware that I’d been dreaming.

  I groaned and rolled over, my eyes peeling open. A small woman with a round nose and long brown hair knelt by my side, holding a steaming mug. I knew in that moment she was a vampire.

  “Soup.” She gestured with the mug. “You need to drink up.”

  And then it all came back to me in a flash— the explosions, the escape, the car chase. I saw Ruby at the gates of Tombstone, our painful separation crushing my heart. I saw the vampire with the black eyes materialize into my truck and attack me. I saw the jail cell in which I was being held. And I felt the torture, horrible and relentless.

  I shifted my hip to sit, but the effort struck too painful on my battered body, every inch of my skin burning and singeing.

  Not only did my body complain of agony, but my mind felt detached and strange. At first, just after being attacked in my truck, I’d thought I would be turned into a vampire. I’d thought the bastard vamp who’d assaulted me had injected his venom into my neck. But as my mind cleared after being thrown into this cell, I’d realized he’d bitten me just to stun me for an easier capture and, possibly he wanted a little snack.

  But either way, I still remained human, and the strangeness in my mind I attributed to my bond with Ruby. Ever since the night she fed me her blood, I was connected to her, an unexplainably intense connection. And wherever she was now, fear beheld her. I could practically feel her hands shaking and to say that I felt what she felt was an understatement. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was sitting right next to me in the jail cell, the aura of her presence so thick it was unreal. My heart ached for her, to be with her and protect her.

  “Come on.” The girl coaxed me, placing a soft hand behind my back to help me rise to sitting.

  I opened my dry mouth to speak, but my words came out as a croak. I licked my cracked lips, tasting metallic blood on my tongue.

  “Drink.” She pushed the warm mug into my hands.

  I glanced into her eyes, kind eyes. Eyes different from the ones my torturer had. Those eyes were black as night, devoid of any and all mercy.

  I slid her one last glance before sucking down the soup in large mouthfuls, the welcomed liquid warming my insides. I coughed and sputtered before the woman took away my mug.

  “Slowly.” She smiled, wiping the dribbles from my mouth with a cloth napkin. She handed back my mug. This time I took small sips.

  “You need to start answering their questions,” she whispered, and swiveled her head around as though afraid someone might be listening. “If you keep withholding information, it will only get worse.”

  “Worse…” I repeated.

  How could it get any worse? I recalled the scenario from a few nights before. I’d left Ruby at the Tombstone gates and was on my way back to headquarters when I was attacked by a vampire. He’d materialized in my truck, causing me to swerve off the road, and I remember nothing after that except awakening here in this cell.

  I was then questioned relentlessly and, for every silent response I gave, a torturous punishment was served. The male vampire with the black eyes was in charge, and he just stood by while a female vampire thrashed me to pieces with her sharp nails and fangs. She was robed in the stately 1800’s fashion, wearing a maroon Victorian bustle dress with black lace and buttons. If I hadn’t known any better I’d have said I was taken back in time. But her actions betrayed her appearance, for she was anything but stately. She was pure destruction and chaos, her eyes burning wildly as she tortured me for my silence.

  I looked down at my arm, the gashes and teeth marks I remembered being there were now bandaged, though the pain still throbbed.

  “I’ve done nothing wrong,” I said, my voice sounding far away, not my own. But regardless of how I sounded, I could feel myself regaining a little bit of strength from finally having some nourishment.

  The kind vampire looked at me dubiously. “You are a captain in the FUSE army and were found only miles from the Tombstone gates. They see you as their enemy.”

  I knew from the night before, they accused me of being a spy. And I was okay with that. I’d rather them think me a spy than linking my arrival to Ruby’s. If that ever happened, Ruby would be dead and I along with her.

  But I would never cave. They would never pry an ounce of information from me as long as I lived. Though I now questioned my lifelong ambitions after meeting Ruby, I was still a sworn member of FUSE and they held my loyalty. As did Ruby. I would never betray their trust.

  “I will never speak,” I said to her before draining the last swallow of broth in my mug.

  “Then I’m afraid you will not have it easy,” she sighed.

  I released a wry laugh, remembering being mauled by the Victorian-clad vampiress when I refuse
d to speak. The male vampire laughed as I bled. I couldn’t imagine it getting much worse.

  “What is your name?” I asked her. Something about her reminded me of Ruby. She had a kindness about her that was unlike most vampires I’d met.

  She averted her eyes but whispered, “Cloe.”

  “Is that where I am, Cloe?” I asked. “Tombstone?”

  I’d blacked out after the vampire attacked me on the highway and was unaware of where I’d been taken. But because I sensed Ruby close by, I suspected I was in Tombstone. And if that was the case, I was terrified she would see me and get herself into trouble, the headstrong girl that she was.

  Cloe opened her mouth, but closed it again and sighed. “I am not to speak to prisoners,” she murmured. “My job is to make sure you don’t die before they get information.”

  “Well then I suspect you will be tending to my corpse soon enough.”

  I searched the walls of the dark jail cell. They were made of red brick and mortar crumbling with age and I saw a stain in the ceiling above me. I sat upon a splintery wooden bench that chaffed my backside. When I went to move my legs, the shackles holding them to the wall rattled. I gazed through the metal bars to the hall outside.

  “Please don’t say that,” Cloe murmured. “If you cooperate just a little they may show you some mercy.”

  “Mercy?” I croaked, remembering the “mercy” they’d shown me the night before. “I know their kind. They have no mercy.”

  One thing I knew about vampires was their age. The younger ones had brighter, more colorful eyes. The older ones, pitch black. The older a vampire became, the darker their irises were, not to mention their temperament. It was as if the humanity they once held slowly bled out of them over time. I’d only heard of a few vampires older than my friend Wilson and from what I knew they were all hard-core killers with pitch black eyes.

  “I know how terrible Horus can be,” Cloe said, a hint of fear showing on her face. We both froze at the use of the vampire’s name, Cloe realizing the mistake she’d made in saying it. Horus. I gained hope at the bit of information I now had. Knowledge is power and I now —if only a little— had some.