V Games (The Vampire Games Trilogy Book 1)

by Caroline Peckham

  The persistent rain made for a miserable journey as we walked on through damp bushes and low-hanging leaves on the surrounding trees. My cloak was soon soaked through and I decided, dark or not, cutting through the caves had to be the better option.

  According to the map, there were several entrances to the underground passages. We headed for the furthest one, figuring the other girls would seek shelter as soon as possible. And that could draw the Vs away from the other cave entrances.

  The rain washed away the last of the snow. The world was sapped of all colour until we were left in a monotone landscape, drudging on for what felt like an eternity.

  I thought of the sun, picturing a summer's day, lazing on the small garden lawn outside my home, sipping lemonade with Mum, enjoying the few safe hours we'd had whilst Elijah was at work.

  I craved daylight, and it made me think of Varick and the hundreds of years he'd spent in darkness. Perhaps immortality wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

  Cass found the cave entrance first, hidden behind a mass of vines. We'd managed to gather a fairly decent amount of food, hopefully enough to see us through the pass. Our horde mostly consisted of berries, but Sakura had dug up a couple of roots she said were edible.

  Pushing past the vines, we tentatively made our way inside. As I'd hoped, fresh water trickled down the cave walls and we spent some time filling our bottles from the small rivulets.

  Sakura took the knife from her bag, cut the metal boning from the upper part of her dress and tugged it free. She bent a small piece of the metal, tucked one end under her cuff and pressed the other atop it. The map sprang to life and remained in place when she removed her finger from the cuff.

  “Light,” she announced brightly, heading into the cave.

  “How'd you do that?” I asked, wishing I'd known of such a technique back in the bunker yesterday.

  “The metal makes a circuit between your skin and the receptor. Simple really.” Sakura twisted the remaining metal in her hand until it broke into pieces and she passed bits to Cass and I.

  Copying her, I arranged the metal in place and was proud when it worked. Sakura definitely seemed handy to have around.

  As we headed into the cave, the ceiling became lost high above into the darkness. Every step seemed to echo on for miles, making me cringe over and over. A Vampire would hear us a mile off, but taking our boots off on the wet ground didn't seem like an appealing idea.

  Thankfully, the cave soon grew narrower and we made less noise as we progressed, winding into the depths of the mountain. None of us spoke. The only sound was the persistent dripping from the cave roof, the sound tenfold as it echoed through the caverns.

  Sakura cursed from up ahead and as I caught her up, I found out why. The trail we'd followed dropped away into a dark abyss, the sheer edge before us stopping us from progressing. On the other side of the cavernous space, I could just make out a passage through the light thrown from our cuffs.

  “How the hell do we get over there?” I asked.

  A horrible, screeching noise sounded behind us and fear flashed through me.

  I looked left and right for a way across, certain this couldn't be it. Cass reached into her bag, took out her flare and snapped it, chucking it into the empty space before us.

  We watched in silence as it span away, the glowing red flames lighting up the pit as it hit the rocks below. It illuminated one other thing: a natural bridge of rock just a few feet below us, perhaps half a foot wide.

  “Great,” Cass muttered.

  Sakura shrugged. “No point whining. I'd rather walk across that than wait for a V to catch us.” With swift skill, Sakura dropped down onto the ledge below. She was graceful in her movements, raising her arms either side of her like a gymnast on a balance beam, making her way across.

  I steeled myself before following, dropping with much less grace onto the bridge of rock and planting my feet.

  Cass watched from above, her pale face illuminated in the hazy blue glow of her cuff.

  “You can do it,” I encouraged and she nodded, taking my hand as I helped her down. We wobbled precariously and I immediately let go of her, crouching down and finding my balance. Carefully turning, I spotted Sakura almost at the other side already.

  “Damn show off,” Cass muttered and I broke a shaky laugh.

  As I stood on trembling legs, I thought of my stake, and how it would be near impossible to take on a V here without falling.

  As I moved, one step at a time, I focused on the ledge that Sakura was scrambling up to. My breaths came in small pants, my heart faltering with every movement I made.

  A rush of air was the only warning I had of the V that landed before me, having jumped from the ledge above. With a shout of alarm, I acted instinctively, shoving hard against the V's chest. She was slimmer than me and smaller in height, but as she tumbled from the ledge, she grabbed my arm, dragging me after her.

  “No!” Cass cried out.

  My arms flailed as I plummeted off of the bridge, my heart in my throat, my vision a blur of blue and red.

  The V clawed into the rock with its free hand to halt her fall and I grabbed her other arm, saving myself. Suddenly, the Vampire was my only chance of survival and I desperately gripped her wrist with both hands.

  I kicked at the rocks, trying to find purchase on the side of the bridge, but they were slick with water and made me swing precariously from the V's arm.

  “Selena!” Cass called.

  “I'm here!” I choked.

  The V snarled and snapped at me, but I couldn't escape. She seemed barely human, her face skull-like and her eyes sunken. She dragged me up with her free arm, bringing my neck to her mouth. I dug the stake into a crevice for support as she clutched me to her skeletal body, ripping at my cloak with her teeth. Fear juddered through me as I desperately tried not to fall and equally to keep away from the ravenous Vampire.

  “Cass, pull me up!” I begged, shaking off the V's hold on my arm and reaching upwards.

  My fingers grazed the top of the bridge and a cold hand clamped down on them.

  The V scrambled upwards, biting deep into my neck and I fought back a scream, a pained groan passing my lips instead.

  “Up, up,” I begged as Cass's grip tightened on me.

  I tried to jerk out of the V's grip, but it was no good. Despite her emaciated condition, she was still stronger than me.

  As Cass took my weight, I managed to pull the stake free of the rock. Before Cass could pull me up, I twisted my arm between the V and I, and pushed the tip as hard as I could against her.

  With a roar of anger, she shoved me back against the rock, knocking my head against it. My vision blurred and my grip loosened on the stake.

  Another hand joined Cass's and suddenly I was yanked upwards.

  A foot flew threw the air, smashing into the V's shoulder. She lost her grip on me and tumbled backwards with a screech of rage, a distant smack sounding her impact.

  I gasped my relief as Sakura and Cass dragged me up onto the bridge. Blood dripped from my neck, streaming over the rocks.

  “Oh hell, Selena.” Cass pressed her hands to my neck, stemming the blood flow.

  “I'm alright. Just go.” I managed to crawl toward the ledge and Sakura helped me up onto it.

  As Cass joined us, she ripped a large swathe of material from her dress and held it to my neck, absorbing the blood.

  I panted my thanks, dropping my head back onto the rocks as I caught my breath.

  “Here.” Sakura brought my stake to my lips and I grimaced as I licked the blood off it. After a few moments, the pain in my neck and head eased and I felt ready to move again.

  Cass helped me to my feet and we journeyed on, huddling together through the narrow passage leading away from the canyon. The metal wire had come loose from my cuff, but as we rounded a corner, I discovered I no longer needed the light.

  Glow worms illuminated the cave roof, like stars in the night sky.

  Cass and Sak
ura extinguished the holograms on their cuffs and we followed the silver trail above us deeper into the cave system. Soon, we reached a dark pool of water where the twinkling lights reflected in its inky surface.

  “We have to go through,” I said, pointing to the passage on the other side.

  “Take your cloaks off, put them in your bags,” Sakura suggested, shedding her own and tucking it away.

  We moved into the pool, holding our packs above our heads. The water was numbingly cold and I was soon up to my waist in it. I tried not to think of the monsters I imagined living in the depths of this pool, but every splash made me jump. By the time we made it to the other side, we were shivering and our teeth were chattering violently.

  “H-here, we'll start a f-fire,” Cass said, moving to higher ground where the floor was dry. Taking her kindling from her bag, she arranged it in a neat pile before striking the single match she had. The flames took and we worked quickly to encourage the fire, ripping small slithers of material off of our dry cloaks to burn. The fire burned low, but it was enough to warm us up and, within a couple of hours, we were dry enough to stop our persistent shivering. Eating a handful of berries each, we resolved to continue on, following the map into the belly of the mountain.

  As the hours ticked by, I grew worried about the lack of Vs we'd come across. “Where are they all?”

  “Maybe they're chasing the other girls,” Cass replied.

  “Hope so,” Sakura remarked without remorse.

  I shot her a glare and she rolled her eyes.

  “What? You'd rather it was you they were hunting?”

  I remained silent, taking the lead as guilt tugged at my gut. I wanted to be good enough that I didn't think that way. But I knew Sakura was right. I'd rather the Vs were off hunting someone other than us.

  We reached a sheer wall, blocking our way. Milky white stalactites hung from the roof, so sharp they looked as though they'd be lethal if they fell on us.

  “Where now?” I asked, turning back to the others.

  A pool of water lay at the base of the rock and Cass splashed through it, following it along the wall. “This water has to go somewhere.”

  The rushing sound of an underground river confirmed her theory. Sakura perched on a rock, taking a drink whilst we hunted for a way out.

  The further Cass moved into the pool, the deeper it got and she was soon submerged up to her chest. She gasped then dropped under the water.

  “Cass!” I cried, splashing through the pool after her.

  Her cuff illuminated beneath the water and disappeared into the darkness. I gazed left and right, the cold water making me panic.

  The blue glow of her cuff reappeared and Cass resurfaced, dragging down a lungful of air. “There's a way through.”

  Relief spilled through me.

  “I am not going down there,” Sakura said from her rock, shaking her head.

  “Suit yourself,” Cass said, turning to me. “Come on. It's not that far.”

  I nodded, taking her hand and readying myself mentally for what I was about to do. Before we disappeared under the rocks, Sakura sprang to her feet.

  “Wait! I'm coming.”

  “Hurry up about it, then,” Cass urged, huffing her frustration.

  Sakura waded into the pool, reaching for my hand. I clasped my fingers with hers, finding them trembling.

  “It'll be fine,” I said and she nodded, not looking convinced.

  “Follow me,” Cass said, gulping down some air and diving under again.

  I took out the flare in my bag, snapping it and letting it sink to the bottom of the pool, illuminating the way in a red flow. I dragged Sakura after me as I dove under, squinting through the dark pool and following the light. Sakura's hold on me was vice-like, making it difficult for me to swim. But I couldn't deny, I was reassured by her presence, too.

  I kicked as hard as I could, pressing my hand to the rock above my head as I moved through a large hole beneath it. The light of Cass's cuff disappeared and I swam harder, panicking as I lost sight of her.

  There was nothing I could do but swim on. My lungs burned for air, my chest compressing with the cold.

  Dark thoughts crept into my mind. I wasn't going to make it. The water was weighing me down like a tonne of bricks. I kicked out violently, desperate to find air.

  I needed to get out.

  I had to reach the surface.

  Despite my flailing, Sakura never let go of my hand and, somehow, my head breached the water. I threw my head back, gasping down as much oxygen as I could.

  In a heartbeat, I knew something was wrong.

  Cass's light shimmered on the roof as she flailed on the rocks at the edge of the pool, battling against an emaciated V. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, its body so thin it was practically bones.

  The snapping of its jaw sounded through the cave as Cass fought it off with all her might.

  I shook off Sakura's hand, scrambling toward the edge of the pool. The rocks were slippery as I tried to drag myself out, digging my fingers into the cracks, desperate to reach Cass.

  The V's head snapped around and all I saw was a tangle of matted hair and sharp teeth as it lunged toward me.

  I reared backwards, but the V never made contact. Cass appeared above it, slamming her stake between its ribs. The V died with a jerk and a grunt and bluish blood poured into the water around me.

  Sakura cursed loudly, swimming to my side.

  Together, we crawled out of the pool. Cass stood there, breathing heavily, clutching her neck.

  “It bit me,” she whispered and I tugged at her arm to the see wound.

  “It's alright,” I encouraged. It wasn't deep. The V had barely gotten its fangs into her.

  “Why did it stop feeding on me?” Cass breathed.

  “You.” Sakura gazed at me with a look of dismay. “It went after you.”

  A chill ran through me and I tried to shrug off the comment. “Don't be ridiculous.” But my conversation with Varick filled my mind. If I really did have more desirable blood than the others, it was a miracle I'd gotten this far.

  The chances of me getting through this round seemed to dim before my eyes.

  “I'm not going to turn into one of them, am I?” Cass thankfully changed the subject, giving me a wide-eyed look of horror.

  I quickly shook my head. “No. I don't think it works like that.” Of course, I didn't really know what I was talking about. I'd never thought to ask Varick how someone became a Vampire. But I'd been bitten before and hadn't felt any strange effects from it, even if I had been healed shortly after.

  “Think you have to die first, then you'll change,” Sakura said, wringing the water from her skirt.

  “After you've been bitten?” Cass asked in horror.

  Sakura shrugged. “I heard one of the girls talking to Varick about it.” She stood up straight, flicking her hair back which looked as dark a purple as her dress now that it was wet. “He's kind of hot, isn't he? In a psycho sort of way.”

  I wasn't sure what to say to that. And the knowledge that Varick was almost certainly watching us right now made me blush. What the hell kind of a reaction was that? I just prayed the dark and the blue lights on our cuffs had hidden my response.

  “He's a V, Sakura,” Cass spat. “How can you even look at him that way?”

  I busied myself by starting to search for an exit to the cave, pretending to be entirely uninterested in their conversation.

  “I'm just saying. Guy like that was probably model hot before he died. Now he's like, a super Vampire.”

  “I don't care what he looks like,” Cass snarled. “If any Vampire comes near me, they all get the same treatment. A stake through the heart.”

  “Can we drop this?” I said as lightly as I could. “I'd like to get out of this cave, today.”

  “Well this was your great plan, Red, now where do we go?” Sakura folded her arms, lifting a brow at Cass. Cass looked ready to punch her.

  “How
about you make a suggestion for once?” Cass barked. “This was our plan, why not go make your own?”

  Their voices were raising and it was making me nervous. “Guys, please. Can you shut up and help me here?”

  I moved along the cave wall, shining my light around the space, searching desperately for a way forward. Their arguing continued, both of them completely ignoring me.

  I sighed, shuffling along a narrow edge beside the water. I didn't want to get back into it any time soon. My core temperature had plummeted and the sooner we got somewhere dry, the better.

  My heart juddered as I found a way out: a tiny crawl space at my feet, just big enough for us to squeeze through. Maybe.

  When I turned back to the others, who were shouting at the top of their lungs, I lost it.

  “Shut the hell up!” I barked and they fell silent. I lowered my voice to a whisper. “You wanna bring every V in these caves down on our heads?”

  They shifted guiltily in front of me.

  I sighed, pointing to the gap in the rock. “This is our way out.”

  Cass marched away from Sakura, joining my side. A blood-curdling shriek sounded from across the room and we all swung our lights in that direction. On the other side of the pool, high up on the wall was a dark hole that led out of the cave we were in. And something was shuffling its way through it.

  “Go,” Sakura hissed, waving her hands at us to head through the hole at my feet. Before we could duck into the space, Sakura dived ahead of us, wriggling through head first on her belly.

  Cass looked like she was about to stake her, when I pressed a hand to her arm.

  “Calm down. We're all going to get out of here.”

  Cass went next, slipping into the tiny space with more grace than I knew I would manage.

  I dropped to the floor, flattening myself and wriggling forward as fast as I could. After a bone-squeezing minute, the tunnel widened just enough that I could crawl, but the walls still pressed down heavily on my shoulders. I tried not to think about the fact the weight of an entire mountain was resting above me and continued moving, following Cass's feet ahead.

  The blue light of my cuff kept blinding me as I moved my wrists and I soon had to turn it off, focusing solely on Cass's light which was filtering around her.