The Dead Days Journal: Volume 1

by Sandra R. Campbell

  After stashing five of the six packs in the storage room, hidden where no one else would easily find them, the four of us went to the outlook room. It was a ten by ten room carved out of the natural cave above the bunker’s roof post, and the only room with a wall-hatch to the outside. The opening was large enough to get a good view of the courtyard but too small for any person, or vampire, to crawl though. The room had minimal furnishing, just two metal folding chairs and a futon, but if we had to make a stand, it would be easy to defend.

  Ben had figured, and Duncan agreed, that it’d be better to get caught here than out in the open expanse of three levels of stadium-sized tunnels that made up the main bunker. Ben and Duncan carried an arsenal from the storage room. Tilly toted blankets and candles while I hefted the sixth pack stuffed with rations and other necessary supplies. The weight on my back felt like two thousand pounds, or maybe it was the combined weight of eighteen scared people.

  An hour or two passed. At least it seemed that long, but there was no way of knowing for sure—no one had a watch anymore. I got up several times to check the hatch, but there was nothing to see, nothing to hear. The outside was wet from rain, and the courtyard and surrounding night woods were empty. The night was void of life, not even a chirp from a cricket, and a small part of me worried for Halloween. He was alone, one against many—too many even for a vampire of his magnitude.

  The burden of worry does horrible things to the body. After pacing the cramped room, I finally collapsed on the small futon. It wasn’t long before Ben settled down next to me. Sliding one arm slowly along the back of the cushion, he collected me to his side. I buried my face in his chest. Breathing in the scent of him, I wished with all my heart that things were different. I didn’t want to leave him for a blood-sucking monster.

  Ben tightened his arm around me. “Can you tell us what happened with Vincent?”

  I adjusted my position so I could face Duncan and Tilly and still stay nestled in the warm nook of Ben’s arm. “My father wanted me pregnant, wanted me to provide him an heir. You know, keep the Marrok legacy alive. More importantly, he thought a baby, even just the idea of a baby, would give my mom the hope she needed to beat cancer.”

  Tilly gasped. “Sylvia had cancer?”

  I kept going, knowing if I stopped to answer her question I might not be able to finish. Duncan tested the strength of the folding chair by leaning back on two legs, and he stared up at the jagged ceiling.

  “When Ben told my father about our fight, about me not wanting to have children, my father lost it. He dragged me outside and demanded that I have sex with Ben or he would take matters into his own hands. He said I’d be responsible for my mother’s death if I didn’t. He even threatened to lock me away. I ran.”

  Ben put his free hand over my knee. “I’m so sorry, Leo. I had no idea.”

  I glanced up at Ben and saw too much hurt in his eyes. I turned away. He didn’t know that I’d come back for him. Ben deserved to know the reason I’d never gotten the chance to read his note.

  “I came back. I knew you and Duncan wouldn’t let him hurt me. I told myself it was all a misunderstanding, that I’d taken his threat out of context. But when I came back, my father was waiting. Something in his eyes wasn’t right. He told me Ben was looking for me at the river. So I went inside and grabbed my pack. I wanted to get Ben and leave, but instead Jack found me. He wore a black ski mask and used a chloroform-soaked rag to knock me out. When I woke up, Halloween was there.”

  Duncan popped to his feet and slammed the chair into the wall behind him. “Did he rape you?” His voice was a quivering boom.

  “No. Halloween stopped him.”

  Duncan smeared his hands over his face. “So how is it, then, that Ben killed Jack?”

  “Halloween fed on me. I was unconscious for a long while. I am not sure what happened, but the next time I woke, it was to the sound of Jack’s voice. He helped me to get away from Halloween. He told me he’d made a deal with Halloween for a chance to be immortal. Jack also admitted to trying to rape me. He gave me the ski mask and bottle of chloroform and told me he was nobody’s pawn.”

  “I still don’t get it,” Duncan said, shaking his head. Tilly slipped out of her chair to console Duncan with a rub of her hands across his shoulders, and then she placed the slightest peck to his ruddy cheek.

  They were the unlikeliest of occasional couples. Duncan, an oversized, tattooed ex-military biker, and Tilly, a kindhearted, choir-singing, and now practically blind, retired track coach. The only thing they did have in common was their unruly hair. Duncan usually tucked his wild mane under a hat or a bandana, whereas Tilly’s bristly curls were always tamed with tight braids. But tonight they were missing their routine hair fixes, and they had never looked more suited for one another.

  Ben vacated the futon, inched around Tilly and Duncan, and opened the hatch on the wall to study the view for a moment before he spoke, never turning around.

  “I thought Robert and I were searching for your body. But then, on our way back to the bunker, we heard the screams and gunfire, and out of nowhere, I see you running toward me. I thought you were a ghost… That is, until I saw the vampire running behind you.”

  Tilly left Duncan’s side and sat next to me on the futon. Curling my knees up to my chest, I leaned against her. Needing to feel her warmth, I closed my eyes to relive the night Ben spoke about behind sealed eyelids.

  “I shot a few times and he went down, but he didn’t die. Of course, now we know he can’t die. He got back up, snatched Leo, and took off running. I was following—trying to anyway. Those suckers are so goddamn fast. I almost had a clear shot when another vampire appeared out of nowhere. The second one leapt on Leo and ripped into her side. There was so much blood that I thought for sure she was dead, but then Halloween turned on his own—he protected Leo. He killed the other vampire.”

  Ben drew in a sharp breath of air. “Jack showed up as the battle between the vamps ended. He aimed his gun at my head as soon I’d set my sights on Halloween. It took me less than a millisecond to realize he was involved. I didn’t have to know the details to know Jack deserved to die. The only thing I knew before I shot him was that he’d helped the enemy in some capacity.”

  That was the last I wanted to hear of the conversation. They knew all they needed to know. So I curled up next to Tilly and forced myself to sleep.

  The smell of sugar slammed into my nostrils and something wet pressed against my cheek. I opened my eyes to see Halloween kneeling in front of me, his midnight skin covered in sticky blue blood. In one hand he held two red bottles. Two vampires were dead. The other hand was pressed lightly to my face. Halloween looked like he’d been to war. The burnt-orange glow of his eyes was so much like that of a cat’s eyes in the dark, only his were burning brighter somehow.

  I scanned the stuffy room for the others. Everyone had dozed off. Ben was slumped on the floor below the hatch, and Duncan was asleep in one of the folding chairs, the other chair hard-pressed to support his booted feet. Tilly was snoring lightly beside me. Halloween had entered without waking anyone but me. Instinctively, I knew what he needed.

  After pocketing the small bottles, Halloween stood and, with a grisly hand, gently pulled me to my feet. We never made a sound as we headed out of the room, but Tilly must have sensed our movement.

  “What’s happening?” Tilly slurred her words, not fully aware.

  “Shh… Don’t wake them," I said, nodding toward the slumbering men—not that she could see any of us. “Halloween has to feed.”

  Halloween’s hands shot from his sides, grabbing my arms painfully. His quick, hard moves gave me a fright and I tried to pull away only to have him yank me closer.

  Tilly darted through the open door, her eyes wide, searching, but not quite seeing what took place in front of her. I watched her pause for a second, listening to make sure Ben and Duncan were still resting before closing the door behind her.

  Halloween lifted me, clampin
g me to his chest, and swiftly moved down the tunnel.

  “Orrin, wait!" Tilly cried.

  I couldn’t see past Halloween’s blood-soaked body, but I heard Tilly’s shoes on the concrete—she was running for the first time in years. Running blind and chasing a vampire.

  Halloween growled under his breath, released me, and then stopped to wait for her to catch up.

  Tilly huffed and panted. Bending over, she held one slightly arthritic finger up, signaling us to hold on while she caught her breath. “I can’t see or fight. Leo’s a great fighter.”

  Tilly paused to take another deep breath. “She can run and has great aim with a gun and knows how to use a knife. You need her. We need her.”

  Tilly straightened. I didn’t like where she was going with this. “You need her strong and healthy. She’ll stand by you and keep you safe when you need to be. Besides, I’m used to feeding people—this shouldn’t be all that different.”

  One sprint and suddenly she’s a martyr.

  “No way. Not happening.” I pulled Halloween by the elbow. He didn’t move. A strange kind of annoyance tugged sharply at my insides, making me question my refusal. Am I angry at Tilly or just scared for her well-being?

  Then I saw Halloween’s burning eyes trained on the curve of Tilly’s long neck. No, not angry. I wasn’t proud of the irrational feelings that took over, but at least I’d found new resolve. Stepping up to Halloween, I waited for him to acknowledge my presence. But he paid no attention.

  I slapped him across the face. “Don’t even think about it.”

  “Leona Marrok! Don’t be rude!” Tilly shouted, obviously responding to the sound of flesh striking flesh. She knew a slap when she heard one. “There isn’t much that I can provide anymore. This is something I can do. Let me help.”

  Halloween leaned forward, and his heavy breathing chilled my forehead. I couldn’t look at him, but I couldn’t turn away either. All I knew was that he wouldn’t be allowed to sink his teeth into Tilly. Fingering for the sheath attached to the back of my belt, I removed Ben’s knife and swiped the sharp blade across my wrist.

  Halloween’s nostrils flared. Snatching my hand before the first drop of blood fell, he brought the open wound to his mouth and sucked. I lifted my head and watched his bright eyes roll up just before his midnight-colored eyelids dropped. Tilly wasn’t close enough to see us, but the slurping, purring noises from Halloween had to make the scene clear to her.

  I can’t believe it. I’m jealous. Why am I jealous? I’m so not jealous!

  Halloween’s feeding was his most brutal to date. The pulls were so fast that the veins in my arm felt as if they were being sucked out of my body. Lightheaded from the cruel and painful withdraw of blood, white spots invaded my vision. I blinked them away. I thought I was okay when the spots didn’t return, but then my knees buckled.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  I would never fall again, not as long as Halloween was around to catch me. While my lifeblood had restored him to his former splendor, his feedings had reduced me to a useless lump of meat. I hurt from my head to my toes and barely had enough energy to lift my head off his steely shoulder. Straining my neck and eyes, I tried to keep the corridor from spinning.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.” The bile in my stomach rose to the back of my throat. I swallowed it down. “Stop… Put me down.”

  Instead of letting go, Halloween squeezed me tighter and muttered words that sounded a lot like, “Almost there.”

  So much for dressing the part—tough leather and kick-ass boots hadn’t changed a thing. The feeling of helplessness was as unsettling as my sour stomach. Over time, I’d adapted to high levels of pain, grief, and stress. They were a part of everyday life now, but I was done being treated like a damsel in distress. Halloween had rendered me powerless for the last time.

  “I said, put me down.” The scratchiness in my voice at least had a hint of the determination I felt.

  Halloween dipped his head for a brief sideways glance. “You’re in no condition to walk.”

  “Then I’ll crawl!”

  The concrete floor suddenly rose up to meet my butt, and a sharp jolt ran the length of my spine and exploded in the back of my head. I labored to get to my feet, wincing from the pain. When Halloween offered a supportive hand, my first thought was to slap him away, but the raised trails under his midnight skin quickly changed my mind.

  I fed you. Now you’ll fix me.

  I latched onto his wrist and pulled him closer. Using both hands, I turned his arm over to expose the tender underside of his wrist, and I bit down until his cool sweetness coated the inside of my mouth. I closed my eyes and savored the rush of almost instant relief.

  This is what I care about—Halloween’s cure-all remedy. Not Halloween. That flash of jealousy had everything to do with his blood and nothing to do with the vampire. Halloween was a means to an end—nothing more. He’d save my family…

  And then I’ll be his slave.

  Halloween jerked his wrist out of my mouth. “That’s enough.”

  I wiped his blood from my lips with the back of my hand and immediately felt better. “Yummy.”

  Moving past him, I realized he’d been carrying me to the closest thing we had to a basement, our large storage space. We were standing outside the stairwell door. I reached for the handle, intending to open the door, but Halloween stopped me by planting his balled fist into the steel door with enough force to dent it.

  “You will never do that again,” Halloween growled.

  “Do what?” Taking a step back, I looked up into his blazing eyes.

  He leaned forward, the flame of his anger burning into the space between my eyes like a branding iron. “You do not take without permission, and never in a place where someone can see.”

  I spun around. We were alone in the tunnel, which concerned me a little. How long had I been out? Where was everyone? “There’s nobody here.”

  Halloween yanked the door open and held it for me. His glare kept me in place until I caught a distant whiff of scented candles—cinnamon and apples. The storage room below smelled like heaven.

  I followed my nose down the stairs and around the dim room until I came across Duncan and Ben hefting steaming buckets of water to the metal tub. Tilly was there, too, adjusting a leaning stack of blankets and towels next to the bath.

  “Leo.” Ben noticed me before anyone else even had a chance to look up. Emptying his bucket and placing it on the floor, he took a couple steps forward, but he paused. As he rubbed the jagged scar on his neck, his soft, sad eyes darted from me to the dark presence that had followed me inside. “You’re okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “But you were in shock,” Tilly said in a shaky voice. Her hands shook, too. She’d witnessed a brutal attack but hadn’t really seen anything. Sometimes it’s the things you can’t see that affect you the most—the smell of blood and the sounds of eating and cries of pain… I’m not sure I wanted to imagine the images that ran through her head in that moment.

  Good. The next time Halloween needs to feed, Tilly won’t be as eager to offer her vein.

  “Huh… Well, it looked worse than it was. I’m better now.”

  Duncan lifted a skeptical brow. He wasn’t buying it any more than Ben, who knew exactly what had transpired. The healing properties of vampire blood was another secret Halloween had insisted that we keep to ourselves.

  Suddenly Halloween pushed past me. “She still needs to get warm. Tilly, can you stay with Leo while I speak to Ben and Duncan outside?” Without another word, the three men exited through the small side door that led into the cave. I would have followed them out, but a bath and a fresh change of clothes were too good to pass up.

  Tilly placed her hand on my shoulder. “Are you really all right?”

  “Yes.” I started to remove my bloodied shirt. “Ouch!” Tilly had given me a firm pinch behind the ear.

  “Don’t ever do that to me again! When I offer my
help, you damn well better accept it.”

  “I’m sorry," I said, shaking my head. I tried to find the right words to explain myself, but I couldn’t come up with anything powerful enough to make her understand.

  “Get in before I toss you in.” Tilly tapped my back. Her touch and tone were both gentle. Maybe she grasped more than I gave her credit for.

  I had brushed my teeth and washed my hair and was having a leisurely soak in the tepid water when I heard the hinges on the side entrance squeak.

  Tilly had already gathered MREs from one of the stashed packs, and she was setting a makeshift table for everyone between the floor-to-ceiling shelves when Ben, Duncan, and Halloween rounded the shelving unit. I had just enough time to exit the bath and wrap a beach towel around me.

  Ben made a beeline straight to me, his big arms surrounding me in a warm embrace. Squeezing me tighter, he roughly kissed the top of my head with too much urgency.

  I returned his intense sentiment by wrapping my arms firmly around his waist. “What’s wrong?”

  Ben squeezed me tighter before setting me aside. Something was obviously wrong, and my deep gut feeling was that the something was me.

  “What is it?” I asked again. Complete silence was his response.

  Halloween edged up behind us and, without warning, dropped his pants. I did my best not to stare, but it was difficult. His supple midnight skin moved like smooth silk over the hard, coiled muscles that covered his entire body. If you took away his alien eyes, camouflaged skin, and retractable fangs and claws, he could be the most beautiful creature alive. I felt heat flood my cheeks when he hiked a thick, sculpted leg over the side of the tub and slid silently into my old bathwater.

  I hid my embarrassment by turning my attention to food. While the rest of us ate a tasteless meal, Halloween cleansed and relaxed in the tub as if we weren’t even there.

  Ben and Duncan went outside to douse the fire that was used to warm the bathwater. I scrounged up new clothes for myself, and I found a pair of sweatpants for Halloween to wear. He was still in the tub when I offered the pants. Tilly was now making her way blindly up the stairs. So, we were basically alone.