by Morgan Rice
“Choir practice,” he repeated. “Where is it?”
The boy who’d first spoken pointed a trembling finger down the hall. Beside him, two of his female friends were crying and hugging, their frightened stares locked on the body of the dead girl.
Kyle made to leave but had only gotten two paces when he turned back and grabbed the two crying girls. He bit one first, then the other, draining the blood from their necks in turn as their pained cries turned finally to silence. He dropped them at his feet, stepped over them, and headed down the hall, leaving the rest of the group gaping.
Kyle followed the sounds of singing until he reached the room where the choir was practicing. He slammed open the doors.
The group could tell the instant he entered that they were in danger. Their singing ceased immediately.
“Jasmine. Becca,” he demanded.
The two trembling girls came forward. He grabbed them both by the necks, hauling them off the floor.
“Scarlet Paine. Tell me where she is.”
The girls kicked and writhed in his grip. Neither could speak as Kyle’s grip was too tight on their necks.
“I know,” someone said.
Everyone turned, surprised. Kyle dropped Becca and Jasmine and looked at the girl.
“Who are you?” Kyle said.
“Jojo,” the girl replied. She twirled some hair in her fingers and smiled. She was wearing a Ralph Lauren top. Clearly one of Vivian’s friends.
“Well?” Kyle said.
“I…” the girl began but stopped. “We were at a party together the other night.”
“And?” Kyle demanded.
“I saw her. With this guy. Really hot guy actually.”
Becca and Jasmine exchanged a look. Jojo coughed and carried on talking.
“They were talking about how they couldn’t be together forever because he was, like, dying or something.”
Kyle’s patience ran dry. He flew across the floor to the girl and hauled her into the air.
“Skip to the end!” he cried.
The girl clawed at his hand round her neck. “Church.”
Kyle studied her for a moment then put her down. “Church?”
The girl nodded, her eyes wide with terror. She rubbed her neck.
“Church. Or castle. Or cathedral. Something like that. They... flew off together.”
Had the girl said such a thing earlier, her classmates would have ridiculed her. But moments after witnessing Kyle fly across the room at her, the idea of Scarlet Paine and some handsome boy flying into the moonlight together suddenly seemed less far-fetched.
From her heap on the floor, Becca flashed angry eyes at the girl.
“Why would you tell him that, Jojo?” she cried. “He clearly wants to hurt her!”
“Vivian loyalty,” Jasmine replied scathingly.
Kyle’s ears pricked up. He thought of Vivian’s sweet blood. He turned to Jojo.
“You’re one of Vivian’s friends?” he asked.
The girl nodded.
Kyle grabbed her hand.
“You’re coming with me.”
The choir watched in horror as Jojo was dragged from the room and into the hallway. Kyle dragged her along the corridors with him. The whole place was a scene of chaos. The kids he’d turned had begun feasting on one another. Those who had yet to be turned were running and screaming, trying to get out. Kyle nodded to the goth girl and her friend as he passed them, watching them sucking the blood of their school mates. Beside him, he felt Jojo quiver.
He reached the gym and hauled open the doors to find the cheerleader girls had attempted to form a human pyramid to get out through one of the top windows. The pyramid tumbled as soon as they realized their capture had returned and foiled their plot.
“Clever,” Kyle said with a laugh. “You’ll all make excellent additions to my family.”
“Jojo!” someone cried as Vivian’s friend was thrown into the gym.
Kyle looked around and licked his lips.
“Let the fun begin,” he said to himself.
CHAPTER FIVE
Police officer Sadie Marlow peered through the small glass window into the room. In the otherwise bare room, she saw that there was a bed against one wall. Sitting upon it was the girl she’d been sent here to speak to.
The psychologist standing on one side of her pulled a swipe card from his pocket. But just before he swiped it against the door lock to allow the officers entry, he paused and turned to face them both.
“You know we haven’t been able to get an intelligible word out of her yet,” the psychologist said. “All she says is ‘Scarlet. Scarlet. I have to find Scarlet.’”
It was police officer Brent Waywood’s turn to speak up.
“That’s why we’re here, sir,” he said, pointing to his open notebook. “Scarlet Paine. That name keeps cropping up in our investigation.”
The psychologist pursed his lips.
“I understand why you’re here,” he replied. “I just don’t take kindly to the police interrogating my patients.”
Brent flipped his notebook shut abruptly, making a smacking noise. He glared at the psychologist.
“We have dead cops,” he said in a clipped tone. “Good men and women who won’t be going home to their families tonight because of some psycho who will kill anyone and everyone in his path. What does he want? Scarlet Paine. That’s all we have to go on. So you can see why questioning your patient is a priority for us.”
Officer Marlow shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, frustrated by the way her partner seemed to find conflict in every situation. She couldn’t help think that her job would be much simpler if she could do these interviews by herself. Unlike Brent, she had a calm demeanor__ and a way with witnesses, particularly the mentally vulnerable ones like the girl they were here to see. That’s why the police chief had sent her to the secure the mental facility in the first place. She just wished he’d picked a better officer to accompany her. She realized then, with a sinking feeling in her stomach, that the police chief hadn’t exactly had many cops to choose from. Other than the ones guarding the high school, the rest in the precinct were dead or injured.
She stepped forward.
“We understand the witness is in a fragile state,” she said, diplomatically. “We’ll keep our tone civil. No demanding questions. No raised voices. Trust me, sir, I’ve got years of experience talking to kids like her.”
They all glanced back through the window at the girl. She was rocking back and forth, her knees pulled up to her chest.
The psychologist finally seemed satisfied to allow the officers entry. He swiped the card against the door lock. A green light flicked on, accompanied by a bleep.
He led the two officers into the room toward the hunched girl. It was then that Officer Marlow noticed the cuffs on her ankles and hands. Restraints. The hospital didn’t issue restraints unless the patient was a harm to themselves or others. Whatever this girl had gone through, it had been horrific. How else would a sixteen-year-old high school kid without so much as a blemish on her permanent record be suddenly deemed dangerous?
The psychologist spoke first.
“There are some officers here to see you,” he said, calmly to the girl. “It’s about Scarlet.”
The girl’s head darted up. Her eyes were wild and roved across the faces of the three people before her. Officer Marlow could see the anguish in her expression and the desperation.
“Scarlet,” the girl cried, pulling on her restraints. “I need to find Scarlet.”
The psychologist looked at the two officers as he left the room.
*
Maria looked up at the officers. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the sane part of her was still working, still lucid and awake. But the part that Lore had messed with was in control, and it felt like a dark storm cloud fogging up her mind. She had to get out of this place and she had to find Scarlet. Scarlet would be with Sage, and Sage, she was certain, would be able to help he
r. He’d be able to undo what his cousin had done to her.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t explain to anyone that she wasn’t crazy, that she didn’t belong here, shackled like a convict. Even when her friends came to see her, even when her mother held her hand and cried, Maria couldn’t get the words out. Whatever Lore had put inside of her brain was impenetrable. And it was getting stronger. With every passing moment, she felt her strength seeping away. Her ability to fight Lore’s mind control was diminishing and the sane part of her was becoming weaker and weaker. Maria was certain that if she didn’t get help it would eventually disappear altogether, leaving her an empty shell.
The male officer stood with his gaze tipped down to Maria. The female officer perched on the side of her bed.
“Maria, we need to ask you some questions,” she said, softly.
Maria tried to nod but nothing happened. Her body felt heavy. She was exhausted. Fighting whatever Lore had done to her brain was tiring work.
“Your friend, Scarlet,” the woman continued in the same gentle way. “Do you know where she is?”
“Scarlet,” Maria said.
She wanted to say more but the words just wouldn’t come out. She watched in frustration as the male officer rolled his eyes.
“This is useless,” he said to his partner.
“Officer Waywood, you need to be patient,” the woman snapped at him.
“Patient?” Officer Waywood cried. “My friends are dead! Our colleagues are in danger! We have no time to be patient!”
Trapped inside her own mind, Maria felt her own frustration grow. She understood Officer Waywood’s concern. She wanted to help, she really did. But thanks to Lore, she could hardly utter a word. Getting the words out of her mouth felt like running on a treadmill—all that effort and she never got anywhere.
The female officer ignored Officer Waywood’s outburst and turned back to Maria.
“The man looking for your friend, his name is Kyle. Have you ever seen him before? Heard her mention his name at all?”
Maria tried to shake her head but couldn’t. The female officer chewed her lip and fiddled with the notebook in her hands. Maria could tell by her gestures that she was weighing something in her mind, trying to decide whether to tell her more.
Finally, the female officer reached out and squeezed Maria’s hand. She looked deep into her eyes.
“Kyle… he’s a vampire, isn’t he?”
From his standing position, Officer Waywood threw his arms in the air and scoffed. “Sadie, you’ve gone crazy! That vampire stuff is just crap!”
The female officer stood quickly, bringing her face up to the man’s.
“Don’t you dare say that,” she said. “I’m a police officer. It’s my duty to question this witness. How can I question her properly without telling her what we know?” Before Officer Waywood had a chance to respond, Sadie added, “And it’s Officer Marlow, thank you very much.”
Officer Waywood gave her a displeased look.
“Officer Marlow,” he said, enunciating it through his teeth, “in my professional opinion, introducing the idea of vampires to a mentally unstable witness is a bad idea.”
From her place on the bed, Maria began to rock. She could feel the sane part of her, buried so deeply beneath whatever Lore had done to her, starting to surface. Somehow, the fact that Officer Marlow believed in vampires was helping the trapped parts of her mind break free. She tried to speak and at last a noise came from her throat.
“War.”
The two officers stopped arguing and looked back at Maria.
“What did she say?” said Officer Waywood, a frown across his face.
Officer Marlow rushed to the bed and sat beside her.
“Maria?” she said. “Say that again.”
“W…” Maria tried. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her lucidity was returning to her. Her mind was becoming her own again. Finally she got the word out. “War.”
Officer Marlow looked up at her colleague. “I think she’s saying ‘war.’”
He nodded, a worried expression on his face.
Maria took another deep breath, willing the lucid part of her to take control, to tell them what she so desperately needed to.
“Vampire,” she said through her gritted teeth. “Vampire. War.”
Officer Marlow’s face paled.
“Go on,” she urged Maria.
Maria licked her lips. It took every ounce of effort she had to stay present.
“Kyle,” she said through a grimace. “Leader.”
Officer Marlow squeezed Maria’s hand. “Kyle will lead a vampire war?”
Maria squeezed back and nodded.
“Scarlet,” she added. “Only. Hope.”
Officer Marlow exhaled and sat up straighter. “Do you know where Scarlet is?”
Maria gritted her teeth and spoke as carefully as she could. “With Sage…the castle.”
Suddenly, a deep pain started inside Maria’s brain. She screamed out and clutched her head, pulling her hair into her tight fists. Instantly she knew that the sane part of her was being overpowered once again by whatever damage Lore had done to her. She was slipping away.
“Help me!” she screamed.
She began pulling against her shackles and thrashing wildly.
Panicking, Officer Marlow stood. She looked over her shoulder at her partner.
“Call it in,” she commanded him.
She tried to calm Maria but the girl had lost it. She was screaming over and over. The door bleeped and the psychologist rushed in.
“What happened?” he cried.
“Nothing,” Officer Marlow said, backing away. “She just flipped.”
She paced away as the psychologist tried to calm Maria and stood beside her partner.
“Did you call it in?” she said, panting from anguish.
“No,” he replied tersely.
Officer Marlow frowned at him and reached for her walkie-talkie. But Officer Waywood leaned forward and grabbed it from her hands.
“Don’t,” he snapped. “The Chief doesn’t want to hear this crap. He’s got his whole squad to look out for and you want to bother him because some crazy kid thinks there’s a vampire war!”
Over the sound of Maria’s screams, Sadie Marlow spoke in a hurried, insistent voice.
“The Chief sent us here for a reason. Why would he want to question a so-called ‘crazy kid’ if he didn’t think she could help? Kyle wants Scarlet Paine. That girl,” she pointed at Maria, “is the closest we’re going to get to finding her and maybe ending this thing. If she knows something then I’m pretty sure the Chief will want to know.”
Officer Waywood shook his head.
“Fine,” he said, shoving the walkie-talkie back at her. “It’s your career on the line, not mine. Let the Chief think you’re a lunatic.”
Officer Marlow snatched the device from her partner and clicked the button.
“Chief? It’s Marlow. I’m down at the institute with the witness.”
The walkie-talkie crackled.
Officer Marlow paused, weighing her words. “She says there’s going to be a vampire war. Led by Kyle. And the only person who can stop it is Scarlet Paine.”
She looked up at her partner’s raised eyebrows, feeling like a fool. Then the walkie-talkie buzzed again and the police chief’s voice rang out.
“I’m coming.”
CHAPTER SIX
Scarlet coughed and wiped dust from her eyes. Her mind swirled as she tried to make sense of what was happening around her. One moment the Immortalists had been advancing on her and Sage, the next moment there’d been a tremendous explosion that rocked the castle. Then the ceiling had caved in, bringing with it brick, wood, and heavy slate tiles.
Scarlet looked around and found that she was in a cocoon of rubble. It was so dark she could hardly see. Thick dust clogged her lungs, make it difficult to breathe.
“Sage?” Scarlet cried into the darkness.
Something stirred beside her.
“Scarlet?” came Sage’s voice. “Is that you?”
Scarlet’s heart leapt as she realized her beloved was still alive. She scrambled over boulders and debris toward the hunched shape of Sage. Once she reached him, she pressed her lips against his.
“I’ve got you,” she whispered.
“Scarlet, it’s too late,” he countered.
But Scarlet wasn’t listening. She slipped her arms around his naked torso and pulled him to sitting. He slumped, weak, barely able to hold his body up.
“What happened?” he said, surveying the damage, his voice little more than a croak.
“I have no idea,” Scarlet replied.
She looked around again and this time started to notice the tangle of Immortalists sprawled across the floor, or trapped beneath ceiling beams and clumps of brick and stone. Flames rose from several different areas like strange orange shrubbery.
Octal lay motionless on the floor. His staff lay beside him, snapped clean in half, and the cross on the tip that had been used to pierce Sage was aflame. Scarlet couldn’t tell whether Octal was dead or not but he certainly looked like he wasn’t going to be doing any harm for the time being.
Then Scarlet recognized the twisted metal fuselage of a military plane amongst the rubble. She gasped.
“It was a plane,” she said. “A military plane crashed into the castle.”
Sage shook his head, confusion across his brow.
“There’d be no reason for a plane to be here,” he replied. “The castle is in the middle of nowhere.”
“Unless they were looking for it,” Scarlet finished for him, as it dawned on her. “Unless they were looking for me.”
Just then, a mound of brick shifted and Sage winced as it slammed into his leg.
“We have to move,” Scarlet replied.
It wasn’t just danger from the damaged building she was worried about—it was the Immortalists. They had to escape before anyone came to their senses.
She turned to Sage.
“Can you run?”
He looked up at her with weary eyes. “Scarlet. It’s too late. I’m dying.”