ReAwakened

  “Why her? We got to keep all the others. What’s so special about this one?”

  “I have no idea. And to tell you the truth, that has me intrigued.”

  The car hit a bump in the road and my head slammed against the roof of the trunk. The inside of the small compartment was beginning to feel extremely stifling. The oxygen had depleted, causing my pulse to quicken as my body fought to breathe. The severity of my predicament was starting to sink in.

  The team wasn’t coming.

  Not only did they not have any idea where I was being taken, but Jacques’ boss—whoever she was—had said that the attack had been prevented. This could only mean that the team had somehow been intercepted. I greatly feared what that meant for them.

  They were all supposed to be waiting a few miles down the road from Bloody Caesar, but before I’d even left Angel Creek, we’d been forced to split up. Right before we headed out Charlotte had fallen ill, breaking into an extreme sun rash. Sophie and Brooke stayed behind to help make her comfortable, while Seth waited around to give them a ride. Lena had gotten an important assignment from her father that she had to tend to, deciding to also hitch a ride in Seth’s car. They had promised that the delay would be minor, vowing to be at the club before I had a chance to disappear with Jacques.

  Hunter had arrived with me in my newly-repaired car, and I’d left him idling a few streets over from Bloody Caesar with the instruction to wait there for the rest of the team. After the stunt Sebastian and Razor had pulled, it was clear that at least the two of them had also made it on time, but all three guys were under strict orders not to tail Jacques’ car. The plan was for them to wait until he’d taken me and we were a safe distance away, then follow the tracking signal. If they were monitoring the device, they would think that I was still at the club where the broken piece of my toe ring lay.

  No one was coming after me. And even if they were, they wouldn’t be able to find me.

  I was on a journey to impending doom, and there was only one person I could rely on.

  Myself.

  The rest of the ride was jarringly quiet. I listened for more from Jacques and Faith, but aside from her complaining that “the Boss never kept them in the loop about anything,” the car was silent. I tried to concentrate on the noises outside, hoping to hear some kind of a landmark-identifying sound—like the bells of a clock tower or the whistle of a train—anything that could help me gain some bearing. To my dismay, the car’s engine was the only noise around.

  The paved road slowly turned into rougher terrain, and I braced myself to keep from hitting my head again as the car bounced around mercilessly. The sound of gravel hitting against the bottom of the trunk combined with the darkness inside, pushing my nerves to the edge. I had an overwhelming sense that I was traveling toward an inevitable disaster.

  I didn’t know how long I had until we reached our destination, but time was ticking away. I had to make a quick decision: come out fighting the moment the trunk opened and risk losing the chance to save the abducted Born, or play along with whatever Jacques had in store for me. Both options forced me into a lose-lose situation.

  The moment I let my guard down, allowing urgent thoughts about escape plans and rescue missions to ping-pong through my brain, she slithered her way back into my mind.

  Poor little Dawn. What a terrible predicament. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost.

  If I die, you die, I told the dark being inside me.

  That’s where you’re wrong, Sis. Her tinkling laughter spread through me. If you die, I live. Oh, how I’ll live!

  I clamped my hands against my ears—as if that could somehow drown out the pain inside my head. Go away! I commanded.

  I had to prepare myself for a fight against the vamp blood that Jacques would undoubtedly stab me with—there was no space inside my mind for Aurora, no room for error. Utilizing Lena’s techniques, I tightened the shield around my brain, slamming my thoughts shut. I couldn’t let her get to me. Not now. I had to be able to control every emotion and make my abductors think that I was weak. So weak that they’d never see my strength coming when it was time to strike.

  I took a deep breath as the car came to a stop. Doors opened and closed. Footsteps echoed through the darkness as they neared. The trunk popped open and I squinted to make out the image in front of me. Jacques and Faith loomed over me, guns poised and ready. In his free hand, Jacques clutched a blood-filled syringe.

  “I should have used this earlier,” he said, examining me. “Try anything stupid and I’ll blow a hole in that pretty little head,” he warned as the syringe inched toward me.

  I flinched, backing deeper into the trunk. Instinctively, my leg shot out to block his arm. I pulled my hand into a fist, preparing to strike him, but Faith’s words stopped me in my tracks.

  “I’m not only going to blow your head off, I’ll make sure to extend the same courtesy to your Born friends inside the building,” she said icily. “Your little rescue plan will be in vain. Even more than it is now.”

  “Now be a good girl and take your medicine,” Jacques said, jabbing the needle deep into my thigh.

  I clenched my jaw, focusing on calming my mind as the poison entered my body. My breathing grew heavier, my vision blurred. I could feel the blood pulsing through me, speeding up my heartbeat. My heart hammered against my chest; its rhythm so rapid and off-beat I thought that, at any moment, it would shatter into a million pieces. I focused on wishing away the involuntary effects of the poison.

  I’m stronger than this.

  I’m stronger than the dizziness.

  I’m stronger than the pain.

  I’m stronger than the darkness.

  My blood is stronger than the toxic substance coursing through me.

  I closed my eyes in meditation—a move which Jacques mistook as a sign that he’d won. He slapped a pair of iron cuffs around my wrists and ankles; shackles he assumed I couldn’t break in a weakened state. He placed me over his shoulder and began carrying me toward the building. From my vantage point, I could make out an upside-down image of a dark building. Bile rose in my throat. The nausea was partly brought on by the poison in my veins, but mostly because of the gruesome sign in front of me.

  Porky Meat Packers.

  Jacques was draining vampires inside a slaughter house.

  Ironic couldn’t even begin to describe the situation.

  I fought through the dizziness, memorizing the entrance we came through, imprinting into my memory the dark, winding corridors I was carried down on the way to our final destination. Which turned out to be an industrial-sized freezer. Jacques laid me on the floor of the icy prison.

  Retreating to the door, he turned to Faith. “Lock it.”

  Faith did a lot more than simply lock the door. She shot two blood bullets into my stomach, smirked menacingly, and only then shut the freezer. As her footsteps faded away, I released a pained gasp. The front of my dress was soaked in blood, the material clinging tightly to the wounds on my stomach. Gritting my teeth, I forced myself up to a seated position. Before I could contemplate expelling the bullets, I realized that they had completely dissolved within me. The foreign blood was already surging through my veins, wreaking havoc on my body. The cool temperature inside the freezer was the only thing that helped keep me awake.

  I had a laundry list of impossible tasks ahead of me. Staying awake was at the top of it. I had less than a day before Jacques’ boss came to collect me, which meant that, in under twenty-four hours, I had to find a way to escape my icy cell, locate the captured Born, disarm the explosives in the building, and get everyone out safely.

  Bonus points if I succeeded in getting rid of Jacques and Faith along the way, I thought bitterly.

  Gripping onto the frost-covered sides of the freezer, I dragged myself to a standing position. Blinking the dizziness out of my eyes, I tried to examine my surroundings. Long, heavy metal chains hung from the ceiling. Once used to suspend large portions of meat in mid-air, they
were now bare, stripped of their hooks and clasps. The walls of the freezer were enveloped in a thick layer of ice, its steel floor dangerously slippery. Aside from a thick pole directly in its center and some tattered rags littering the floor, the freezer was completely empty.

  In order to be able to do anything, I first had to remove the shackles immobilizing my arms. I traced the edges of the metal bindings with my fingertips. They were thick enough to cause a problem, but not impossible to break. I parted my hands, pulling the chain taut. Mustering up as much energy as I could, I slammed it against the erect pole. The metal screeched angrily, but didn’t break. I hit it again and again, grinding the chain into the pole when it wouldn’t split. The metal cut deep into my skin, drawing blood. I struck the pole again, stifling a cry when the shackle around one of my hands finally broke loose, taking with it a layer of skin.

  Wrapping the broken shackle and chain around my other wrist, I lay in front of the pole, flattening my back against the ground. Pushing my legs up and out, I thrust the ankle chain against the pole. A loud clinking sound resonated inside the freezer as I forged ahead on my quest to freedom. It seemed like hours passed before the chain finally cracked and split apart. My legs liberated, I groaned at the realization that I’d have to limp around with heavy, loud chains dragging from my ankles.

  Somewhat free of shackles, I examined the freezer door. It locked from the outside, completely lacking a handle on my end. I examined every inch of my cell, but there were no vents or openings anywhere in the floor or ceiling. Nothing. My only means of escape was the door. This meant I had to be ready for whoever came for me next.

  I waited by the door, dreading each passing second. While it meant that the effects of the foreign blood were diminishing, it also meant that my meeting with the boss was nearing. Not to mention, I was slowly starting to freeze. As a Born, my body temperature—though not as high as that of humans—never plummeted as low as the body temperature of Made vampires. Along with the side effects from the blood poisoning, hypothermia had slowly begun to creep in. I banged against the door, doing my best to draw attention. I needed someone to come and check on me; an open door was my only means of escape.

  Another hour passed as I fought to stay awake, continuing to hammer against the door. My senses aware of every minute sound, my eyes snapped to the door when I heard someone approaching. I could barely make out the footsteps, but as they increased in intensity, I prepared to strike. I had dragged a few discarded rags to the far corner of the freezer, fluffing them up in hope that the cloth mound would give the impression of a body lying on the floor. I quietly waited, huddling by the door. Just as I was starting to doubt that my plan would work, the door swung open and a slender hand wielding a gun poked through.

  “Stay on the ground!” Faith shouted.

  She pushed through the door, gingerly stepping into the freezer, her eyes narrowing at the pile on the floor. Before she could register what was happening, I jumped out behind her, wrapping the chain from my wrist around her neck, pulling her into me. She fought back, arms flailing, legs bucking, and head swinging, struggling to catch a breath. Grunting and wheezing, she clawed at the chain with both hands, losing her grip on the gun. The weapon fell to the floor as I continued to choke her.

  Finally, I felt her body seize, then relax against me. I dragged her to the far side of the freezer, setting her limp body down on the cold ground. Picking up her gun, I quickly snuck out, locking the door behind me. I didn’t know how long I had before Jacques discovered that Faith was missing, but I figured that time definitely wasn’t on my side.

  I crept through the poorly lit corridors, checking for any trace of the Born. One of the paths led to a large opening. Weak fluorescent lights illuminated an array of industrial conveyor belts, wrapping around the entire perimeter of the room. Fully decomposed cattle carcasses, now mere cartilage and bone, hung above them. The sharp smell of death and decay filled my nostrils, causing my nausea to return. Focusing my eyes away from the carnage, I glanced over at the machines surrounding me. Clamped to the wall were various saws and bolt guns. For a brief moment, I considered picking one up, but decided against it. Their sheer size threatened to slow me down immensely. All of the equipment, including most of the cement floor underneath my feet, was covered in dried blood. My stomach clenched at the sight, but I gave out a silent sigh of relief.

  Dried blood meant that no one had recently been drained.

  I made my way into another corridor, chest tight, head pounding. The second floor consisted of offices, each one dim and empty, devoid of the missing Born. The winding path led me to a dead end, then back down the stairs to the main factory floor. There, in the center, surrounded by bones and decayed carcasses, stood Jacques. In his hand was a large blood bullet gun. Before he had a chance to fire, I raised my gun, sending a blood bullet in his direction. As the shot rang out, he managed to dive to the side and dashed behind a large water vat, disappearing into the maze of equipment.

  “Why don’t you just make this easy and surrender now?” he yelled from somewhere across the room as I took cover behind the conveyor belt. “That poison hasn't worked itself out of your system yet. I know that you're still weak.”

  “Do your human clients know that they’re being healed by dirty blood?” I yelled back. “Blood of innocent vampires who were killed for their cure?”

  “Don’t kid yourself,” Jacques scoffed. “They could care less about where the blood comes from. You may like to delude yourself into thinking that we all live in some just society, but the truth is, it’s every man, woman, and vampire for themselves. It’s always been like that, and it always will be.”

  As he spoke, I made my way around the conveyor belt, crouching down behind it.

  “You kidnap innocent Born for their blood. And for what? Money? It’s pathetic.”

  “My need for Born blood goes a lot further than that,” he spat angrily. “Sure, I use it to heal humans and make money, but in the past few months, all of my research has centered on fortas. I’m going to locate and extract the gene responsible for these abilities from Born DNA. Imagine the power available to me once I find a way to harness fortas and implant them in others. The world will be a different place. A much more just place.” He let out a maniacal laugh. Jacques was not only a sleazy Born killer, he also fancied himself a mad scientist.

  Before I could retort, he was in front of me, firing off a round of sharp, spiky bullets. I leaped, narrowly evading the strike. The bullets echoed as they embedded in the metallic vat behind me. I jumped on top of the conveyor belt, grabbing onto the chains hanging above it. Wrapping them around my arms, I swung my body toward Jacques, striking him in the chest with both feet. He let out a pained groan as he flew against the wall, his back connecting with a button that engaged the motorized equipment. A deafening mechanical roar shook the room—the conveyor belt whirred to life, the saw blades buzzed, and the meat-grinder screamed for its next victim.

  As Jacques struggled to get up, I leaped down and shot him, the blood bullet lodging in his abdomen. He cried out in pain, but instead of incapacitating him, the hit only seemed to spur on his anger.

  “Don’t you see? I’m a genius!” he screeched at the top of his lungs, storming toward me. “I'm going to change the world!”

  He flew on top of me, knocking the gun out of my hand as he pushed me onto the moving conveyor belt. Consumed by fury, his eyes blazed and his mouth twitched in rage as he wrapped his hands around my neck. I coughed as his grip tightened, his weight crushing me into the conveyor belt. My lungs screamed for air as my head cried out for blood. Approaching a massive saw blade, we both froze as its sharp teeth narrowly missed us. We passed by unscathed, but the next saw, boasting a pair of smaller, tighter blades loomed ahead. Jacques loosened his grip on my throat in an attempt to disengage his body from the conveyor belt. Only, I wouldn’t let him go. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him back on top of me. The blades whirred hungrily as we approached. The closer we got,
the more panicky Jacques became.

  “You’re crazy!” he spat. “Let me off!”

  Refusing to yield his cries, I flipped him over, straddling him from above as I pinned him to the conveyor belt with my body.

  “Stop this thing! You’re going to kill us both!” His screams were barely audible over the noise of the machine.

  At the very last moment, just before the blades touched the tip of my hair, I pushed myself off the conveyor belt. With one hand, I grabbed the chain above, wrapping the other around Jacques and bringing him up with me. Despite the negative feelings I harbored for him, I couldn't exactly watch him get chopped into tiny little pieces of vampire hamburger.

  Once he realized that he was safe, Jacques retaliated. He pulled down on my arm, disengaging my grip and bringing me back on top of the conveyor belt. His body broke my fall, but as my hand slammed against the surface of the machine, the chain around my wrist caught onto one of its gears. The massive apparatus squealed and slowed its speed, but didn't stop. I frantically tugged at the chain with my free hand while Jacques tried to writhe out from underneath me. As he began to slither away, I tightened my legs around him, pinning him to the conveyor belt.

  If I was going in, he was coming with me.

  No more Born would have to suffer through his experiments.

  Fighting to break free, I continued tugging on the jammed chain. It made its way into the grinder, causing the machine to squeal and grunt. Refusing to give up, it ground the metal, pulling me closer. Right before my hand touched the mouth of the grinder, the chain snapped. I rolled out of the machine’s path, just as the grinder swallowed Jacques’ body, shuddering at the bloodcurdling screams that followed, fighting the nausea that accompanied the gut-wrenching sound of meat and bones grinding to a pulp. Ducking down to the grimy, cold floor, I shut my eyes as a bright red volcano of blood erupted from within the machine, pouring down on me. Little pieces of bone crashed to the floor, their melody akin to the sound of hail plummeting from an angry sky. I gasped, desperate to get as far away from the blood-covered room as possible. I rushed into another corridor, pausing briefly as I ran by the walk-in freezer. The door was wide open, the cell empty. As if on cue, an alarm blasted through the building.