The Last Human (Vampires Rule # 1)

by Rocky Grede

  He reaches the table and places his food down before slipping into the chair directly opposite the new guy who suddenly goes still, his fork frozen in mid-air. Both his Artico Destroyers study Albert from behind their shades, but make no attempt to remove him.

  A hush spreads through-out the lunch hall as the Vampires begin to realize what has just happened, and all heads turn towards this new development.

  “Hi there, my names Albert,” Albert says taking a swing of his blood drink, bringing the glass back down on the table with a clink, and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He pauses as if waiting for a response, but instead, the new guy picks up his knife and continues to eat as if no one has talked to him, ignoring Albert point blank.

  “So what’s your name?” Albert prods again, undeterred, his voice bounces around the silent lunch hall. Even the staff members have stopped to listen. Mr. Duke cocks his head, his eyebrows arching up. The caretaker puts down his half eaten pigeon and licks his lips; his blood shot eyes moving from Albert to the new Vampire. Mrs. Lake lowers her half empty glass to the table, and dabs at her mouth with a napkin, her attention too, now fully taken by the scene Albert has created. The Cook, who a moment ago was serving students behind the canteen, pauses and sniffs the air. He frowns, before shaking his head.

  The new guy raises his head and stares at Albert, his face motionless. Albert smiles back politely and give an encouraging nod of his balloon sized head as if insinuating that it is alright to speak.

  I watch on with curiosity, like everyone else, to see how the new Vampire will respond. But instead of saying anything, he just gets up, and begins to walk out the hall, with his two Artico Destroyers following in his wake. Every one follows their progress as they exit the double doors.

  As soon as they leave, muttered conversations break out across the hall as the students trade theories based on this new encounter.

  Albert picks up his tray of food, and glass of drink, and saunters in our direction, appreciated looks from other Vampires for his effort follow him. “Was worth a try,” he says, reaching our table and stuffing a chicken wing in his mouth, bone and all. He clumps down into the chair opposite me and gives me a grin, exposing his fangs and the shattered pieces of bone mingled with blood.

  “You’re disgusting,” I say, looking down at my own food as my appetite dissolves in my stomach.

  “Thanks,” Albert says, he drains his blood drink and slams the glass on the table. “So what do you guy’s think?” He looks to each of us in turn like a child waiting for someone to tell him his bedtime story; his amber eyes, freckled with red, are bright and clear.

  I shrug and turn my attention back to my food and try to force it down while Nathan academically explains his theory about the new guy being a fugitive.

  “Just think about it for a second,” he says, leaning in and whispering the words, causing the table to creak under the weight of his large arms. “First”- he raises one finger as if to emphasize the point - “the guy comes out of nowhere and no has ever seen him before.” He pauses as if waiting for the words to sink in before continuing, “Secondly”- he raises his middle finger this time, attracting a few scandalized looks from Vampires who mistake his gesture - “he’s been given Artico Destroyers as body guards, which can only mean he’s a danger to us or he is under protection from something and he can’t defend himself on his own.” Nathans eyes flicker to me as if those last words might have offended me. I pretend I didn’t hear and make a point of noticing the new TV installed on the far wall.

  “Thirdly” - he jerks his thumb up with a crack - “No one has mentioned his arrival. Plus there has been no official announcement. But all the teachers seemed to know he was coming though.” He sits back waiting for us to respond, proud of his little theorizing. Fruz, who had been chipping in with phrases such as, “Yes”, “His bang on”, “What else could he be”, every time Nathan made a point, frowns.

  “We could ask our parents, they should know something,” he says. Nathan and Albert both nod liking the idea. They pause, and all three of them glance in my direction.

  I look between them and swallow the slice of fish in my mouth, which slithers down my throat like a worm. “What?”

  Albert rubs his chin. “You could ask Lexus.”

  I stare at my plate, “No point,” I mumble under my breath, though I had been planning on asking him all along.

  “Why not?” Nathan asks with confusion.

  I shrug my shoulders. “He doesn’t tell me stuff like this.”

  Fruz sighs and sits up straight in his chair. He places both his arms on the table and intertwines the fingers on his hands. “Jake,” he says in a tone he normally uses when he is after some information. It is usually followed by a lot of persuasive tact where he throws the Pro’s against the cons, with the Pro’s always seeming to come out on top.

  “I’ll ask him,” I say, sparing Fruz the trouble of his forthcoming rant. “But I still think he won’t tell me.”

  Which is true to some extent, because Lexus refuses to tell me various things, for example; he refuses to tell me what exactly exists in the Shadow zone. The Shadow Zone has always been a hot topic of gossip amongst the students. It seemed no one got tired of talking about it, and the more they talked about it the more questions they had. Of course, no one answered them. Even the teachers claim that they are not sure what exactly exists there. The only thing that we know is that some sort of mutated creatures reside there.

  Albert gives me a gentle slap on my back. “You’re the man!”

  ***

  After lunch we had the excruciating double period of geology to look forward to. As soon as I enter the class, my eyes dart around for Alex. His chair is empty. So I sit down and wait for him to turn up. Other students spill into the room. Mr. Norman barges in with his overstuffed briefcase and kick starts the lesson. Alex still doesn’t turn up. I grow uneasy. Did Lexus do something to him? Elis, who seems to notice my anxiety, glides next to my desk and leans down. “He’s fine. He is taking a few days off to calm down.”

  I nod with relief just as Mr. Norman spins around to shout at us for talking, but when he sees Elis, he seems to bite back what he initially intended to say and instead says, “You got some good results in your test Jake.” He smiles, tight and hard, and turns back to the board and carries on writing. I sigh, flip open my exercise book and begin copying.

  Chapter Seven

  After school, Elis drives us back to the Manor. Maxwell sits beside me in the back, staring ahead without a word, his jaw set hard.

  This time no Vampire blocks the road as we drive through the busy streets.

  My thoughts keep drifting to the new Vampire. Who could he be? Nathan’s theory seems to have some life to it. Being assigned two Artico Destroyers must mean he is someone important, someone valuable. Even I wasn’t assigned Artico Destroyers until now.

  I sit up straight, remembering Lexus’s words in my mind: There have been some issues. And I have decided to assign you two Artico Destroyers as your escorts until the matters are resolved. I stare out the window, mulling over his words, and trying to figure out the source of the threat he was hinting at. Could the new Vampires arrival be just a coincidence or is there more to his arrival than meets the eye? Could the Vampire be an outsider?

  That would fit perfectly with the fugitive theory. We don’t really get Vampires from the other groups coming to us and pledging their allegiance, but it’s not unheard of. It has happened in the past several times.

  But what if the new Vampire was the threat Lexus was referring to? I close my eyes and sigh. That must be it. That was why he was given Artico Destroyers – not for his protection – but for mine. It makes sense on a level, but at the same time, I still find it odd for some reason.

  Elis parks the car in the Manor’s lot and we all walk up to the front door, each of them flanking me on either side. The Artico Guards at the door fluidly move aside, letting us through. I head towards Lexus’s office.
Two questions playing on my mind. Who is the new guy? What was the issue he was referring to before? The latter he has already refused to tell me, but perhaps today he is in a better mood, and maybe my theory is correct and the new Vampire is the new threat.

  I knock on his office door, but instead of hearing Lexus’s calm voice, another deep posh voice answers. “Oh come in.”

  I frown as my hand lingers on the door knob. I push the door open to find the office brightly lit by the overheard florescent bulbs, the light sharp and dazzling, bringing the usual dark room to life. And sitting behind Lexus’s desk, with hands clasped in front of him, is Gregory Assange, or as I used to call him ‘Uncle Greg’. He is wearing a tuxedo and has his long white hair pinned back in a ponytail similar to Elis’s. He smiles when he sees me, his short silver beard sparkles under the lights. He opens his arms out.

  I cock an eyebrow up as a grin breaks across my lips. When I used to be younger, he was the first person Lexus introduced me to. He used to open his arms up and I used to fly into them and then he used to spin me around like a Ferris wheel, but at blinding speed. Though entertaining at the time, those days are long gone, and I’ve grown out of such games.

  Gregory laughs; the sound deep and warm in his throat, and he brings his arms back down. “Too old for childish games?” he says with a chuckle.

  I smile. “You could say that.” I look around the office as though expecting to see Lexus. But the room is bare aside from us and the furniture. “Where’s Lexus?”

  A deep sigh escapes Gregory’s mouth, the sound drawn and tired. “He left on an important errand. Not entirely sure how long it will keep him,” he says.

  Before I can say anything, Elis beats me to it. “When did he leave?” he says, his usual calm tone losing its edge.

  Gregory turns his attention to the two Destroyers and says, “He left around six hours ago.”

  “Did he go on his own?” This time Maxwell speaks. I haven’t heard him talk for so long, that the sound of his voice actually surprises me, and I find myself giving him a backward glance; the deep low rumble with the hint of a foreign accent somewhere in there has be guessing his nationality.

  “No,” Gregory replies, and he flicks imaginary dirt from the shoulder of his immaculate tuxedo. “Four Artico Destroyers accompanied him at his request.”

  Elis and Maxwell exchange unreadable glances. I look between them, trying to figure out if I just missed something. Lexus, though not very often, does take off with little or no notice. But when he does, he always informs me. And this time he hasn’t.

  “You have not been forgotten Elis. Lexus left you a parchment,” Gregory says. He picks a black envelope from the desk with two fingers and slides it across the air to Elis, who catches it with his hand. Elis slits the envelope with a quick swipe of one finger, and withdraws a small sheet of brown paper. His blue eyes scan over it once, and then he folds it and slips it into his pocket.

  “He left one for you too.”

  I turn towards Gregory to see him holding a black envelope in his hand. I walk up to him, frowning, wondering why Lexus would disappear at such short notice and leave letters behind for us; why would he actually leave at all without informing me in person. I take the envelope from Gregory’s out stretched hand and slowly tear it open, an uneasy knot forming in my stomach. I remove the folded paper within, straighten it, and stare at Lexus’s spidery writing:

  Jake

  An important concern had arisen and I had to leave on short notice. I’m not sure how long this issue will occupy me, so I have left Gregory to handle matters within the city in my absence. Stay close to Elis and Maxwell at all times. Do not wander around on your own under any circumstances, even in day light. And above all, do not befriend the new child who has joined your school. Keep your distance from him. Some-day you’ll understand why.

  Lexus

  I read the letter several times, my lips forming the words of the last two sentences.

  “Best to do what he says.”

  I look up at Gregory who is rising from his chair. “I need to pay the border guards a little visit,” he says, wiping away imaginary dust from his tuxedo again, a gesture which he has turned into a habit.

  Elis and Maxwell, who had been in a whispered conversation, glance up. “Is Kruse still at the boarder?” Elis says.

  Gregory nods, running his fingers through his thin beard. “I need to pass on instructions to him,” he says.

  “Wait,” I say, and they all look in my direction. “What the hell is going on?”

  I expect Gregory to explain but it is Elis who talks. “Nothing you need to concern yourself with,” he says, the tone of his voice implying I should mind my own business, but in a nice and gentle way.

  Now my irritation is rocketing. Apparently something is amiss and I get assigned two Artico Destroyers as my escorts. Secondly, some new Vampire appears out of nowhere and is also assigned escorts, no one knows who he is, and those who know are keeping quiet about it. Thirdly, Lexus takes off with several Destroyers on some important mission, and warns me to keep away from the new guy. And no one tells me anything.

  “Look,” I say, the irritation and annoyance radiating through the one word. “You can at least tell me what is going on. Where has Lexus gone off to?” I look between them, hoping for some sort of explanation, even a half-baked one.

  Gregory shakes his head. “I’m afraid I do not know myself.”

  Gregory’s answer actually surprises me, and he sounds genuine and sincere, so I let it go to ponder over later and move on to my next question. “How about this new guy? Why do I have to keep away from him? Is he the danger Lexus was talking about or is the danger from the outside?”

  Gregory walks from behind the desk, and for a second I think he is going to stand in front of me and explain all, but instead he glides straight to the door. “I’ll be back soon,” he says to Elis and Maxwell, who both tilt their heads in acknowledgement. He looks at me and smiles a sad smile, before disappearing into the hallway.

  I sigh and turn to Elis and Maxwell and open my mouth to interrogate them, but Maxwell cuts me off. “Jake, you’re not going to get any answers from us, so don’t waste your energy asking. And just for the record, we do not know where Lexus has gone.” I recognize a tint of annoyance in his words, and I get a feeling that it is not aimed at me.

  I clamp my mouth shut with a sigh, knowing I’m not going to get any answers from these two. A volcano of anger bubbles inside my chest at the annoying fact of why I have to be kept in the dark. I let out a deep sigh, promising myself that I will force the answers out of Lexus when he comes back.

  But he doesn’t come back later that night. Nor is he back during daylight. I stand outside his office and knock, but get no response. I meet Elis and Maxwell down the hallway and ask them, only to hear Lexus hasn’t arrived.

  “I’m going out,” I say, walking towards the front entrance. I glance over my shoulder to see Elis and Maxwell slip on gloves and hats.

  The sun is shining like a live furnace, bright and hot, and it is hours before sunset. I walk along the path leading away from the Manor, and out the front gate. I glance back to find Elis and Maxwell have followed me silently. “We’ll take the car today,” I say.

  “Depends where you wish to go,” Elis says, tilting his hat down to cover his face.

  “The border,” I reply in a conversational tone as though I go there all the time.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Lexus’s orders.”

  I reign in my frustration. I planned on meeting some of my old Artico Guards - who according to what I’ve heard have been assigned to the border - and ask them about the new Vampire or if they had seen Lexus leave, figuring they might know something. “Fine,” I say, maybe a bit too bitterly. “Let’s go to the park.”

  I walk at a quick pace, not bothering to look if they have followed me.

  Once I reach the park, I know something is off. The air is cold an
d frigid and has a touch of frost. I glance around trying to place the cause of disturbance, before sauntering to the same patch of flowers I had seen last time. I frown as I crouch down and examine the frail and rotten petals, crisp and brown in texture, decayed with insects crawling across them. The stems are drooped forward and are thin and cracked. The roses are dead. Just yesterday they were fine. I look up to see the sky coated in dark clouds. The trees are silent and lifeless. Something has shifted.

  Chapter Eight

  First period is history, and I fumble with the knife in my pocket as I stare at the door to the classroom. After what happened yesterday, I’m not sure what to expect from the others. I wonder if they are looking forward to me puncturing my finger again, placing bets on who goes for me this time. Or maybe the new Vampire is still the main topic of gossip.