by Unknown
“Whatever,” Ryder says to the guard.
“What did he say?” Lakia asks as Ryder sits down.
A smile appears on Ryder’s face from the attention he’s getting. He’s always been like this.
“Just tell us,” Lakia snaps.
“I asked where we were going, and he was like, ‘you will know when we get there ...’ He said we can get in touch with our parents when we get to Sector 105,” Ryder says, leaning back in his seat.
“So basically you got no information,” Lakia says, frowning.
“You see if you can do any better. They are like frigging robots, programmed with the answers,” Ryder says
My train seat pushes up under my butt.
I look to my side as I feel the warmth of a body. It's Roslin, a kid from our school.
He has scratches on his rat-like face, making it appear as if he has whiskers, and there is a painful-looking gash across his overgrown eyebrow.
I’m surprised someone like him was able to survive a vampire attack. He probably got the cut from stumbling as he ran to the train.
“You should get that looked at,” I say, wincing as I look at the nasty gash and dried brown blood matting his eyebrows.
“Yeah, going after breakfast,” he says, wrinkling his too-large nose. “They have a doctor on the train,” he blurts out, as if he’s been chugging energy drinks all night. Roslin’s dark, sunken eyes dart between us.
“What else have they got?” I ask him. He smiles at me, and a glimmer of light enters his brown eyes; he’s clearly grateful for the question.
We did a science project together years ago; he seemed like a nice kid, quiet. He’s a little bit taller than me, I’m guessing 5’4”. The way he carries himself, with his head down, makes him look smaller, which isn’t good for a boy who’s already on the small side.
“The train is full of kids. It's a private train for us going to Sector 105. The front of the train past these food cars is locked off—there are guards stopping us from going down there,” Roslin says breathlessly.
“Maybe they are there to stop kids like you from bothering the train driver,” Ryder says; he’s not impressed with our new friend.
“If you don’t have any useful information, get lost,” Ryder says, waving his thumb back to another group of seats.
“Nice friend you’ve got, Sadie,” he says, leaving.
“Jesus, Ryder. Do you always have to be a jerk?”
“Shut up, Sadie,” he said.
“You shut up. The poor kid’s on his own.”
“Do I look like I care?” Ryder snaps.
“I’m done with this.” I get to my feet, grabbing hold of my wrapped-up toast and water bottle.
“Sadie, wait,” I hear Lakia say as I exit the food car; I’m too tired to argue with Ryder.
I march down the hallway to my suite. I grip hold of my water bottle and squeeze it tightly—too tightly. The lid pops off and water squirts out of the top, splashing onto the wall and floor, and the bottle slips from my fingers.
I reach down and retrieve the water bottle and the lid from the floor; there are only a few drops left.
Frigging hell, I’m not going back in to get another bottle. Looks like tap water till the next mealtime.
The emotions start to bubble up inside of me. Not here … not now … Hold the emotions in. Wait till I get to my suite.
I take off, running to my suite, past door after door. How many kids do they have here?
There were at least thirty kids in the food car; how many other food cars are there on this train?
When I got to the train with Blake, everything was a blur. I should have at least looked to see how many other cars there were.
I push open my train suite door, my new home.
Chapter Five
“Wait.” A piercing scream comes from outside of the train.
I jump up and search for my stake. My mind feels heavy … I was asleep and I didn’t have nightmares. Nothing, until now, but this is not a nightmare, I am awake.
My stake is on the table. I grab it and wrap my fingers around it. I look out the window, where the scream came from.
It's a terrified girl. She’s running toward the train, which is moving slowly, as if we just stopped.
Behind her there is a pack of people chasing her. It's a pack of vampires. Where is her guardian?
I slam my fist against the window; she sees me.
Her eyes are wide open, whites bulging, and she has raw, bloody gashes across her face. Her clothes are ripped as if she has just survived a brutal attack.
“Stop the train,” she screams.
I run out of my suite and into the hallway.
“Stop the train,” I scream as I run, but there is no one around. The hallway is empty. My heart races as fast as the train is moving away from the girl.
“Why are you awake?” a guard says as I turn a corner and he spots me.
“Stop the train,” I repeat, running in his direction. “Stop the frigging train. A girl is being chased down by vampires, we have to help her.” He stands there as if shocked to see me, then turns and walks away from me.
“Stop—the girl,” I scream as I grip hold of his shoulder and pull him around to face me.
He spins around to face me, then swiftly raises his arm and jabs me in the neck with a syringe. He injected something into my neck. Whatever it is takes effect instantly.
The train hallway starts rocking from side to side as if I’m on a boat, not a train. My feet feel like they are heavy weights sinking into the floor. My body slams up against the train wall as if I’m drunk; I lean up against it, using it as a guide. I have to get back to my suite … the girl.
Curling my hands around the cold metal door frame, I peer into my suite.
There are people—no, vampires—running along the side of the train, outside my window.
One of them turns and faces me: an overgrown vampire. He smiles and reveals his sharp white fangs …
“You’re next ...” I read from his lips as he sprints forward with the others.
“Help me.” Pleading screams sneak through the gap in the window.
I stagger toward the window. The smell of rotting death fills the room. My head tilts sideways. Bile flies out of my mouth and I vomit onto the floor.
I can feel myself drifting in and out of darkness. Don’t stop moving.
I kneel on the seat and slam my hands on the window. The vampires have stopped moving.
As the train approaches them, heads turn to face me. Their faces are covered in crimson red blood that glows in the sunlight. The girl’s body is in the middle of them, with blood seeping from every vein.
It feels like the train has slowed down, so I can get a clear view of the horror in front of me. They look as though they are smiling at me, like hunters proud of their kill.
A bloody hand slams up against my window. I shriek in fear, diving backward, backward, and land on the floor. My head crashes against the door. Stars appear in the corners of my eyes, followed by darkness ...
“Sadie.” I can her a soft female voice. “Sadie, time to wake up, we are nearly here,” the voice adds.
I can see the redness through my eyelids; it feels like I'm in a bright room.
Gently I open my eyes, trying not to blind myself with the light. There is a lady leaning over me, rubbing my arm to wake me.
“Ah, just in time,” she says, and warmth travels up to her eyes as she smiles.
She has a white coat on over her clothes.
“You took a nasty fall,” she says with a concerned look on her face.
“A fall?” I question.
I raise my hand to my head, I can feel a bandage. I don't remember falling. It must have been some force. A little shooting pain runs up my shoulder, like a bolt of lightning has traveled through my body. I must have landed on my side.
“You will recover from these injures quickly,” she states as she looks at a handheld computer.
&nb
sp; “Can you continue?” she says in a flat robot tone, like her emotions are gone.
“Continue?” I ask.
“With the training,” she says flatly.
“What if I can’t?” I look her straight in the eye because I want to see her reaction.
Her eyes bulge just a little as she looks upward, then flicker back. What is she looking at?
“Please wait until you get to Sector 105 before you make your decision. I know you will make the right choice,” she says as she puts the handheld computer down.
“You are free to leave when you are ready. We will be stopping in a few minutes,” she adds as a smile appears on her face. This time it doesn’t reach her eyes. With that she leaves the room.
Leaving me alone with my thoughts.
I look around the windowless room for a mirror. On a side table there are tools like the kind dentists use to look inside your mouth, along with a mirror that’s about the size of a quarter.
As I jump down off the bed, the paper rustles beneath me. My legs feel like jelly. How long have I been knocked out for? There are no clocks in the room; it has the familiar splattered gray walls. How can there not be one single clock on this whole train?
My eyes stop in the corner of the room, where the doctor’s eyes rested. There is a speaker like the one in my room, splattered with gray paint.
As I stare at it deeply, inside it, I can see a red light. I push the lone chair near the speaker and step up on it. My legs are still a bit wobbly, so I lean on the wall for support.
Standing on tiptoe, I can just see in. There is a small black box with a red light on top.
Quickly I jump down. Damn … it's a camera. Why do they have hidden cameras? What are they looking for? If they were for our protection, which I would understand, they wouldn’t be hidden. There would be no reason to hide them—unless they are watching us. Not the vampires.
Jesus, and there I was giving whoever is watching a full blown view of my face. They are going to be watching me now ... even more than they already were.
I need to get out of here.
I grab my jacket off the chair and slip it over my shoulders, stopping me from feeling quite so naked in front of them. Whoever they are ... Sadie, stop being so paranoid, I tell myself, shaking my head. There must be a reason for it. Protection—there is a train full of kids being hunted by vampires. I turn away from the camera and laugh ... my concerns are laughable. If it wasn't for the government, I would be dead.
Want to read more? Get your Free copy here > www.instafreebie.com
Author's Note
I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I did writing it.
If you have time to write a review, please know that I will read it and take the feedback seriously.
Every review increases the chances that other readers will discover this novel and influences what I write in the future.
www.amazon.com
www.goodreads.com
You can sign up for pre-release specials at www.hjlawson.com
Contact me directly at [email protected]
Twitter @hjlawson1
Facebook www.facebook.com/hjlawson1