Decayed

by Jessica Sutherland

  I stuck my nose to my lip, looking out at the vampires I knew wanted to kill me. Now, however, they looked like they really wanted to kill me.

  “I am a vampire!” I complained, not really thinking things through wisely.

  “Kill her before she escapes!”

  I jumped back, confused, as the vampires stood and surrounded me. I narrowed my eyes, wary of how this was going to turn out. A female vampire in a white dress lunged at me, her furrowed face growling, and I darted aside. Her long nails clawes at my chest, and the others cheered her on. I darted again, landing behind her. I remembered all the dorky vampire shows and movies I had watched growing up. Hoping it worked, I grabbed the dagger still standing out of the girl's body and darted back around. The vampire whirled to face me , teeth bared and hands thrashing, as I pushed the blade up through her ribs. She squealed in agony as the dagger pierced her heart, and she fell to the ground in a pile of dirt. I turned to face the ground. The man beside the corpse had freed himself, and he sat gaping at me stupidly as I braced for another attack.

  I had legitimately destroyed these vampires' good opinions of me. They gaped for a minute, before a low moan became a tumultuous rage that roared through the hall.

  “Hey, uh, vampire lady?”

  I turned around to see the nervously shaking man talking to me, “Yeah?”

  “Now would be a good time to go.”

  “Go where?” I cried, lunging forward as a wave came bearing down upon me. I jumped up, barely avoiding landing in the open stomach, and jumped off the other side. The vampires still circled us though.

  “You will be burned for this,” sneered the hag, who had backed away from the center for protection.

  I filed that information away for later panicking, waiting for my new rescuee to climb down from his death bed.

  “How do we get out of here?” he cried, hiding behind me.

  “If I knew I think we'd all ready be out!”

  I snarled as the vampires hit us again, beating me back into the altar but not harming the guy.

  “Run!” I screamed at him, and watched him scuttle away, clinging to his robe for dear life. I found myself standing atop the altar, matching as many blows as I could, and getting knocked down repeatedly. The fight was horrid, and I screamed out in pain as my legs were clawed away by someone at the bottom of the altar. I was about to collapse and give up when a loud crash resounded through the room.

  The vampires looked up to see what was happening. A bright explosion had gone off outside, destroying someone's car. I figured it was the human getting killed, and turned back to my enemies. They had dropped their hands, however, and grown slack. I recognized what the look in their eyes. Terror.

  I looked up at the balcony situated at the front of the room, and felt my heart drop to the floor as a wealthy, gray-haired man stepped forward.

  “For this ritual's blantant disrespect toward the master,” he called out heatedly. “None of you will be shown mercy!”

  I watched as the vampires surrounding me feebly cringed, shrinking away from the altar.

  “And you, foul changling, will die a slow death.” His eyes narrowed upon me, glowering with rage. I thinned my lips, climbing down from the altar. I needed to get out of here.

  I waited for the group of vampires behind me to break apart a little, and then dashed. I didn't dare stop as I ran for the window, suddenly aware of dozens of feet following me. A glittering window stood before me, thin and delicate, and I crashed through it. I landed on my feet, threw myself forward, and ran. I could feel their breaths on the back of my neck as I fled, their growls rumbling across the glittering pavement.

  I ran past cars and limos, seeking the gate through which we had come. I couldn't believe how much faster I was than them. I could hear their growls become pants and wheezes as I fled for miles. The forest thinned, and I arrived at a large estate gate with a gold and black sign. I yelped as I flung my body up to the top, but was stopped by my closest assailant. He grasped my legs and pulled hard, making the torn flesh there burn. I cried out, kicking, as he fought to hold me down. Sneering, I wrenched my right leg out of his grasp and stomped his face with my heel. He cried out angrily and I pulled myself over the wall. He growled, jumping up to follow.

  Quickly, I hurried into the woods across the road, grabbed a branch, and steadied myself. I held my hands behind my back, waiting nervously as he threw himself down into the ditch. His left fist slammed into my head, knocking me back, and I stumbled. Gritting his fangs, he jumped on top of me, and I squirmed under the cold press of his body. I remembered Cain taking me against my will before I'd come here, and my head exploded. Screaming, I kneed his groin, then his stomach. He moaned, and I kicked him off. I climbed on top of him and punched him furiously, growling, “Don't ever touch me again,” before grasping his head and turning it as fast as as sharp as I could.

  I shuddered at the sound of his neck breaking, but could tell he was far from dead. Shaking, I took off. I knew in my gut that leaving him there alive was not smart, but didn't know how to kill him. I ran, hearing the sounds of nearby vampires and car engines, coming to kill me.

  I stood in Atlanta, on a sloping street surrounded by restaraunts and firms. I shook, more out of fear than cold, as I debated on what to do. People were staring at me, in my formal dress and heavy makeup. I sniffled a bit, shuffling my sore feet.

  “I had hoped you had found somewhere safer.”

  The familiar voice rang toward me, and I turned and saw Friday standing in a dark corner.

  “Oh my god!” I ran toward her. I stopped as she held out her hands to stop me. “Please don't be too excited. You've made a mess. A bad mess.”

  I pleadingly approached her. “I didn't mean to!”

  “It's okay,” Friday hushed me in her usual way. “You weren't one of us to begin with.”

  “But how?” I cried, wringing my hands. “I got bit and sexed up just like you did!”

  She laughed, I mean really laughed.

  “What's so funny?” I asked.

  “Cain didn't sex me up,” she answered. “I'm his daughter.”

  My stomach exploded with confusion and hate as her green eyes glittered mournfully.

  “But you're his wife!”

  “You're his daughter too,” she said quietly.

  I pursed my lips. I didn't like this. Not at all.

  Her pale skin melted into the shadows, blurring her against the wall. “I'm risking my life for this, Georganna, so we must be quick. I wanted to give you money and tell you to go to a museum at this address.”

  Her pale fingers, with deep, red nails and black gloves, pulled a parchment colored card out of nowhere.

  “A man named Gabriel will help you. He's very nice.”

  I threw my hands down. “Friday, I don't understand why you're helping me!”

  She sadly grinned, looking at the bottom of her dark, red dress. “I like you, Georganna. You remind me of someone precious.”

  I mumbled, “oh.”

  “Be careful, Georganna.” Friday leaned into me. “The vampires here are purists, that's why Dunnings wants to kill you. The others just want to kill you for slaying Larretta, but he's the leader of a purist faction. In fact, we all are.”

  I shook my head in confusion, “This is too much! I shouldn't have attacked! I am so stupid!” I cried, burying my face in my hands.

  Friday put her hand on my shoulder. “Unfortunately, that wouldn't have helped. If you had changed when the High Priestess demanded, she would have ordered your death then. Atleast you got out.”

  I shrugged, swallowing tiredly. “I guess.”

  Friday handed me a bag and winked. “Goodbye, Georganna.”

  I smiled weakly, holding my hand up. “Bye, Friday.”

  Friday's shadow consumed her, and soon I was standing alone in the street. I pulled the backpack on and stared down at the address. I only had five hours to get somewhere nice and dark before I became a scorched vampire. Wary of ran
dom attacks, I set out for the town of Dean, and a street called Carpenter.

  Six

  The dank motel that stretched beside a crime-filled street was dark and moldy. I swallowed wearily as I sat down on the bare mattress, staring up at the sheets now covering the window. The wind whistled against the stained glass, and lights from patrol cars dotted the thin coverings. I pulled my suitcase up and flung it upon the bed, wrenching it open and staring into its contents. A drawing sat upon my folded denim—a portrait of a girl looking out a vine-covered window. Friday was scribbled across the bottom, and I imagined her standing there with her long, delicate hands stretched upon the windowframe like spiders.

  I shoved the picture back into the suitcase and hurried to change out of my dress. I had darted as quickly as I could to avoid human sight, and only garnered a few wary stares when the gleam of my shoes caught someone's eye.

  I was shifting through my clothes when I found a clothed covered object wrapped in my Hello Kitty shirt. I unsheathed a silver dagger, with gleaming amethysts running across the handle. I held it up, wondering what it looked like in the moonlight. Sighing at its beauty, I curled up on the bed and held it close. Fear thrummed through my heart like an erratic drum. I was once again alone, and painfully lost.

  BANG!

  The vampires sped into my motel room, weilding knives and clenched fists. I sat in the dark quietly, watching as they tore apart the lumpy bed and snarled. Growling, a short, brown haired vampire crept across the thinly-carpeted floor. I lunged. The vampire screamed, hitting my face, and I grunted as he moved his hands to crush my throat. Choking on his vice grip, I kicked off the floor and nailed his gut. Moaning, and clutching himself, he backed off. His two buddies turned and growled, their ugly faces seething at me. I braced myself.

  Snarling, the vampires threw themselves at me. I screwed my face up in determination, and jumped. My foot swung around, crushing the blond's nose. He grimaced, but didn't cower to much. I ducked the black vampire's swing, his large fist hitting the wall behind me. I yelped as the first vampire hit me behind the head, and I fell to my knees.

  “Kill her,” the black vampire spat.

  I gritted my teeth, pulled my dagger out of my belt, and swung around. The blonde gasped in surprise as the dagger dug through his undead body. The two cried out as their partner collaspsed into a pile of dirt and ashes.

  “You'll pay for that, bitch!” The short vampire lunged at me again, and I stabbed his throat. He threw me against the wall, holding my weapon hand above my head. His other hand choked me.

  “Kill her!” the other one shouted, impatient.

  I gasped out in pain, pulling my arm down. Angry, I bared my teeth and forced my face to shift. The vampires cried out as my skin morphed and glimmered before them. Strength pulsed from my new layer of skin, and I pulled the vampire's hand down. He yelled as his hand moved against his will, and I finally managed to cast him aside. They bared their fangs and charged. I glittered away from the wall, appearing behind them. It had taken all day to learn how to shift from one side of the room to the other, but I had. I watched their faces contort with rage as I swung the dagger down on their backs, the short one first. He screamed and fell, watching the other throw a fist at my face. I ducked, darted around him, and stabbed him cleanly. I panted. The dirt covered the floor now, and I would have no way to explain it. Breathing heavily, I grabbed my packed suitcase and fled.

  The night was full of bad people. I glimmered above an exit, my auburn hair hanging around my face from under a hood. The exit was empty, but I could still hear the sounds of trouble nearby. Sniffing the air, I caught the scent of blood. So someone's getting killed down there, I mused. I blinked and ran. The air rushed past me as I sped through the space, passing people and cars like a bodiless shadow. I glimmered into sight from time to time, but mostly stayed hidden. I was unsure of how many vampires I was evading, and was confused as to why they were so slow. I thought all vampires moved like this.

  Dean was small, with one barred convenience store. It smelled dank, and reminded me of the town in which I had stayed. I stopped walking and running as fast as I could. I didn't smell anything dead, so I figured I had been lost by anyone following me. The sky was polluted, and I couldn't make out the stars. It was saddening, but I focused my eyes back down. I needed to concentrate.

  I glimmered from one side of Dean to another, until I found a rural street leading me through a small, spread-out neighborhood. A white, two-story house stood at the far end of the small street. It was overrun with vines and plants, and all the windows were covered. “Museum of Antiquities” glared at me in harsh, gothic writing on a swaying white sign. My head low, I made my way to the door and knocked, heavily.

  I waited before knocking again, and getting an angry, “Shut it, down there!”

  Footsteps beat through the house, and the door swung open to reveal an irritated young man. I squinted, my jaw dropping as I stared up at Cain himself.

  “You bastard!” I wailed, throwing up my hand to knock him out.

  “Whoa there!” crying out, he stepped back with his hands infront of him. “Before we start attacking each other, who are you?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, seething, “You better explain to me what happened! Why do all the vampires want me dead?”

  Confusion darted across Cain's face. “Do you know the Judge?”

  I smirked, throwing my suitcase down, “You are the Judge!”

  He smiled. I stepped back as he shuffled around, his yellow pajamas glaring at me through the door. “Ah, I see now. You're one of my brother's little wives.” He tapped his head with a finger, “He's always losing you girls. Why do the vampires want you dead? Well I don't know,” he ranted.

  I glared at him incredulously. “Please, you have to help me. They're after me now, and I don't want to die.”

  He grinned, “No, of course not. That's why you're still here after what my monster of a brother did to you. Come in,” he stood aside.

  I awkwardly shuffled into the foyer, watching as he stuck his long neck out the door looking for witnesses. Satisfied, he shut the door quickly and led me to a small living room covered with antiques.

  “You are Georganna, he told me about you.” He uncorked a bottle of blood and poured it into some tall glasses. “Said you look just like Amelie.” He stood back, head leaning to the side, peering at me with big, glimmering eyes. I blinked, realizing they were blue.

  “Are you not a vampire?” I asked stupidly.

  He chuckled, “Yes, I do believe you share a resemblance to our dear Amelie.”

  I wiggled on the sofa uncomfortably.

  “Yes, I am a vampire. I hope you don't make any assumptions about me based on my dear, older brother. We don't see,” he tapped his right temple, “eye-to-eye on many subjects. Our lovely existence as vampires among them.”

  I looked down at my glass and watched the contents swirl and glimmer. “You do have wives, don't you?”

  He smiled, showing several very pretty white teeth. “Noooo,” he sat, stretching in his canary yellow pajamas. “Just once, and that was a long time ago.”

  My lips circled in a quiet, “Oh,” and I went back to focusing on my glass. “I still want to know why I'm not a pure vampire,” I said quietly.

  He chuckled, thrusting his pink tongue through his teeth. His cheekbones were unnaturally pink. I frowned in confusion.

  “Let me see your face,” he said, sipping at his glass.

  I relaxed, letting my body change. I trembled as his eyes widened, and he sat up. “Oh, this might not be good.”

  “Um, why not?” I asked nervously.

  “You're not one of us,” his eyes glittered happily, despite telling me something he thought was very bad.

  “You happen to be a member of a different species of vampire.”

  “A different species?”

  He beamed, sitting back and relaxing again. “Not that different from our own. You're almost the same, except you als
o happen to be a bit faster, stronger, and psychic. All of which make you a threat to the stability of our vampire social system.”

  I blinked. “I don't understand, I'm not anything special! I'm not psychic!”

  “You're a priestess of Lilith, is what you are.”

  I gulped. “I don't know what that is.”

  He laughed, clicking his tongue. “Of course you wouldn't. Cain told me all about how you were a regular high school socialite. Well, I'm sorry to tell you, you won't be popular anymore, love.”

  My heart sank, but not at what he was sneering at. “A priestess of Lilith? What does that mean?”

  He drank the rest of his blood and sat the glass down lazily. “In the beginning, there was Lamastu, or Lilith. She didn't sleep with people and create vampires, she summoned them. Demons from a dark dimension, that stole the souls and consciousness of mortals and dwelled in their deadened shells. Three demons were put into the bodies of three dead warriors, who went out into the night to spread their evil existence. Three became three thousand, but there were still problems with Lilith's plan. Things got in her way, organizations and traitor vampires. She created a special sect of vampires to live under her sole command, the priestesses. They were girls that were forced to merge with the vampire demon, but granted the restoration of their souls and Lilith's own blessing. The priestesses have become hated by vampires over the last century, mostly due to their involvement in stopping the Master Vampire from making all out attacks on humans. To be a priestess was once a revered blessing, but now it can get you killed.”

  “They all follow the King...” I breathed.

  “Blindly,” he muttered.

  I watched him stand. “What do I do?”

  He smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. “Hide in here, and we tell no one that you came to Dean. You can set up shop in the attic. Basement's much too crowded. Hope you don't mind?”

  “Not at all,” I nodded. “Wait! You never told me you're name.”

  He smiled goofily, “Im Abel.”