Age of Vampires- The Complete Series

by Caroline Peckham

  I stared down at him in shock, the silence in my ears punctured by the plink of raindrops hitting cement. Thomas lay in a growing pool of blood which seeped into the murky puddles surrounding him. I released my pack and it fell beside me, splashing water over my boots.

  My heart thrummed in my chest. I’ve killed him. Holy shit.

  I started to back away then stopped. If I really had killed him I’d have to confess to it. If the vampires found him... they hated dead bodies, wasted blood. Maybe I could come up with an excuse or something. Tell them he’d attacked me or… Pull yourself together Callie. Check his pulse.

  I battled against my fear and moved closer to Thomas’s fallen body. I leant down slowly, edging the toe of my boot away from the blood beside his head. My fingers shook slightly as I extended them towards his neck.

  His skin was warm beneath my cold fingers. I couldn’t feel anything at first but then the faint beating of his pulse came alive beneath them. I sagged in relief. He was an asshole and I’d have to tread very carefully around him from now on, but better a living asshole than a dead one.

  He groaned and shifted beneath me, making me stumble away. I backed up quickly and tripped over my pack on the ground but managed to stay on my feet.

  Thomas opened his eyes at the noise and I stared at him as he met my gaze.

  “I know your secret and now it’s mine too,” I said more bravely than I felt. “So just keep your mouth shut and so will I. They’ll never know.”

  His face contorted angrily but I didn’t give him the chance to reply. I grabbed my pack from the puddle beside me and turned to sprint away.

  The cans rattled as they bumped into each other and despite the blood I could taste from my split lip, I still knew it had been worth it.

  I kept running towards the occupied part of the Realm. There were no rules against exploring the ruins but hardly anyone bothered anyway. There wasn’t anything left out here worth taking and most people didn’t see the point in wasting their energy. I liked it in the ruins though. It was the only place that I could go where it was truly quiet.

  I ran on but suddenly the pounding of the rain wasn’t the only sound. A high-pitched ringing was coming from the town centre. I knew that sound. And it meant that I had to get home right now.

  I increased my pace and started sprinting. The pack on my back suddenly seemed so much more conspicuous. I didn’t know if I should try to hide it before I got back or if I was better off concealing it in the safety of our home.

  The ringing grew louder as I made it to the outskirts of town. The roads were deserted. Everyone had already headed back to their homes. There was no time for me to try and hide my treasured pack. I’d just have to get it back to our apartment.

  I raced down abandoned street after abandoned street, the emptiness making my skin crawl. I was late. I didn’t know what that would mean if they came knocking on our door but it couldn’t be good.

  I finally made it to the junction of our street and turned onto it. I pulled up short, my boots skidding in the mud as I spotted a group of vampires heading straight for the doors to our apartment block.

  I didn’t move. I’d never seen them wandering the Realm like that. Not in a group. There were five of them; four stood in a kind of formation around the one in the centre. They all moved with cat-like grace. It wasn’t natural.

  The four guards wore thick coats lined with golden thread, the hems trailing in the mud. They had long swords strapped across their backs but they looked more decorative than practical. It wasn’t like they needed weapons to overpower us anyway.

  Their skin almost glowed in the sunlight which made it through the rain clouds. I knew it wasn’t enough to hurt them but if the clouds just broke then poof. Or maybe not poof, maybe it would be more of a slow burn. I wasn’t sure exactly how it would kill them but I suspected it would. The one thing we could be sure of was that they couldn’t face direct sunlight. If the sun was shining we never saw them. Not that there was much hope of that during this storm.

  As if he’d felt my attention on him, the vampire in the centre of the group stilled and turned towards me. His movements were so unnatural. When he froze he literally stopped moving. I didn’t even think he was breathing. Do they even need to breathe? His icy blue gaze locked with mine and his too-perfect mouth curved into a mockery of a smile.

  I knew he was one of the Elite without having to be told. I hadn’t seen many of them in my lifetime but even amongst the other vampires they stood out as something… more.

  Their beauty was beyond eye-catching; it nearly stole your breath. Everything about them drew you closer but a feeling in the pit of my stomach always warned me away too. It was like I could feel how dangerous they were. Like some ingrained primal part of my makeup recognised the predator that lay beneath their stunning exterior.

  His clothes were like something from one of our Dad’s stories. He was wearing a cloak. An emerald cloak. What the hell? It would almost have been funny if I couldn’t see my death glittering in his eyes.

  The vampires guarding him stepped forward and he turned away from me as they guided him inside.

  As if a spell had been broken, I reclaimed the use of my limbs and turned back the way I’d come. No way I was following them inside but I could make it in through the back.

  The dumpsters behind the apartment building were overflowing as usual and I leapt up onto the closest one. The fire escape ladder hung a meter above my head and I jumped up, catching hold of it. My shoulders throbbed with pain, reminding me of the many injuries I’d sustained today but I had no time to listen to the protests of my body.

  I heaved myself up onto the ladder and started climbing. I made it to the top and onto the metal walkway that marked the first floor. I crossed it quickly and climbed off the other side of it, gripping a thin lip of concrete that lined the brickwork as I shimmied towards our window.

  I tapped on it urgently as I reached it and Montana’s worried face appeared through the glass a moment later. She shoved the window up and I half fell inside.

  “Callie, what the-” she began but I shushed her as I turned to secure the window again.

  “Look,” I whispered excitedly as I pulled the bag from my back and opened it to reveal the contents.

  Her eyes lit up as she spotted the haul of food and clothes but before she could ask me anything else, a sharp knock came at the front door.

  We both froze, looking towards our bedroom door in horror. We’d never been tested before. Why would they come for us now? I hoped it had nothing to do with my trip out of the Realm.

  My heart started to race and Montana snatched the bag from me, tossing it beneath her bed before pulling the worn blanket down to cover it.

  “What the hell happened to your face?” she whispered urgently and I raised my fingers to my split lip guiltily.

  “I’ll explain later. How bad does it look?”

  She shrugged and bit her lip letting me know it was pretty awful. I quickly shed my jacket and kicked off my mud-caked boots as I heard Dad heading for the front door.

  Montana grabbed a clean shirt from my closet and tossed it at me as I threw my saturated one to the floor. We repeated the process with clean pants and I kicked my sodden clothes into a corner before moving to stand beside her at our door. It was the final barrier between us and something that I really didn’t want to face.

  The sound of Dad sliding the deadbolt out of place rattled through the silence, filling my mind with images of the vampires who were waiting beyond it. The icy blue gaze of the Elite had burned its imprint onto my retinas and I didn’t relish the prospect of facing him again.

  With a deep breath, I moved beside Montana and we stepped toward the door, ready to face our fate together.. If anything I’d done today had placed my family in danger then I wouldn’t hesitate to take whatever punishment the vampires required of me. I just had to hope it wouldn’t come to that.

  “The Ford daughters are to be tested today. Bring th
em to me immediately,” the demanding voice filled our house, sending a tremor through my heart.

  I gazed at Callie, curling a hand around her wrist as we pressed our ears to the bedroom door. Though neither of us voiced our fears, I knew we were both putting off going out there.

  “Of course,” my Dad answered in a flat tone. “Please make yourselves comfortable, I'm afraid we've only got three chairs but I'm sure some of your Elite asses will be quite comfortable on them.”

  Jesus, why was Dad jabbing at them? No answer came from the vampires and I wondered if they even knew what humour was at all.

  Dad's footsteps thumped in our direction and Callie and I nodded, opening the door before he had to beckon us.

  I came eye to eye with Dad whose mouth was stretched into a painfully thin line.

  “Girls...” He didn't finish that sentence as the vampire's voice cut the air to ribbons again.

  “Out here. Now.”

  Callie threw a glance back into the bedroom before we moved past Dad, rounding into the kitchenette.

  My heart stumbled at the sight of three vampires before us. The front door was wide, revealing two more standing on either side of the entrance.

  The obvious leader was dressed in an emerald robe and had a dangerous glint in his eyes as they swung between Callie and I. His dark hair was neatly cut and his sharp jaw was perfectly clean-shaven. A beautiful, deadly bastard. There was no doubt he was an Elite.

  None of them had taken up Dad's offer of a seat – not surprising. But two chairs had been pulled out before the tiny kitchen table, evidently waiting for us.

  “Sit,” the leader ordered and we dropped into the chairs side by side, our hands clasping beneath the table. “Out,” he spat at Dad and I forced myself not to look at him as his footsteps pounded out of the room.

  The vampire's eyes slid between us, surveying, calculating. “I am General Wolfe of the New York Elite. Do you know what that means?”

  I shrugged and Callie shook her head.

  “It means I own you. Every damn hair on your head and every single blood cell in your veins. And I will not tolerate disobedience during the testing, understand?”

  “Yes,” Callie bit out and I gritted my jaw as I nodded.

  This vampire wasn't like the guards who patrolled the fences. He emanated power. And when he said he owned us, I had no doubt he was telling the truth.

  He gazed at Callie with narrowed eyes. “What happened to your face?”

  Callie touched her swollen lip and I tightened my grip on her hand, my heart thundering in my ears.

  Lie well, Callie.

  “I fell,” she said easily and I relaxed a fraction.

  “Hm,” Wolfe grunted, evidently satisfied. Turning, he gestured to the dark-robed vampires beside him and one of them produced a syringe with a slim needle on the end.

  Callie was first and she didn't even flinch as the guard drew out a large vial of blood from her forearm. When the guard moved to my side with a clean syringe, a shudder cascaded down my spine like cold water. I folded up my sleeve, offering the pale skin of my forearm to him. My eyes remained on the needle the entire time. A sharp pinch followed a vile dragging feeling in my veins.

  Next, they cut a small lock of our hair and put it in separate bags then wet our fingers in ink and took our prints.

  The house was deafeningly quiet. Wolfe's sharp orders were followed by our ascent and the soundless movements of his guards.

  They wrapped up everything they'd harvested from us in a sheath of leather which Wolfe tucked inside his robes.

  “You will be notified with your results in twenty four hours,” Wolfe said, moving toward the exit.

  I rose from my seat, my heart pounding frantically as my chair screeched backwards across the floor.

  “What happens if we pass the test?” The words left my lips before I had time to rethink them.

  Wolfe glanced over his shoulder with a menacing glare. “You will only find that out if and when you pass.”

  “What if we fail?” Callie demanded and tension spilled through the air.

  Wolfe grew eerily still, his dark gaze flicking between us. “Questions are for sentient beings. But unfortunately for you, the law does not recognise humans as such.”

  Anger flared in my veins hot and fast. I took a step forward, but a hand slammed down on my shoulder. A quick glance informed me Dad had returned.

  “Thank you, General,” Dad spoke loud and clear, forcing the conversation to end.

  Wolfe eyed him with disdain before exiting our home and leaving the door wide open as he sailed away with his guards in tow.

  Dad darted around us, slamming the front door and pressing his back to it. His jaw ticked as he looked between us, stress evident in his rigid posture. “You're going to pass...I just know it.” He pressed his fingers into his eyes and both Callie and I hurried forward into his arms.

  He hugged us tight, placing a kiss on each of our heads. “We must be prepared.”

  “What happens if we pass?” I asked.

  “You'll be taken away,” Dad sighed.

  “Where to?” Callie whispered.

  “Somewhere you won't come back from.” Dad murmured, holding us tighter.

  Whether he knew more or not, he didn't let on as he started muttering about supplies and the patrol at nightfall. The longer I stood there in his arms, the more fear crept into me. If Dad was afraid, I knew we should be too.

  “We might not pass,” Callie offered and Dad nodded, a sad twinkle in his gaze.

  “Of course.” He nodded firmly. “Now go to your room, I need to think a while.”

  Callie and I moved back to our bedroom in tense silence, shutting ourselves away. Our two single beds were practically touching in the small space. Just a small path between them led up to the lonely window. Perched on the one table in the room was a half-burnt candle and a stagnant glass of water. Last night, Callie and I had kept the candle alight longer than usual, telling each other stories and imagining up a life beyond the Realm. Fantasy was the best way to escape this world, but the reality was, we were trapped here. And our conjured dreams of safety had just been thoroughly stamped out.

  I dropped onto my bed and Callie sat on hers, our knees nearly touching. The room seemed more monotone than usual, even my sister’s golden hair appeared dimmer.

  “Where did you get the food?” I whispered, my heart still pounding out of rhythm from our encounter with Wolfe and his creepy gang.

  “There's a way out. I told you Thomas was getting supplies from beyond the fences.” Her eyes lit up with mischief as she reached under my bed, extracting the bag and pouring the contents onto the mattress. A bunch of tinned food and some thermal underwear lay amongst the haul.

  “Oh my god,” I breathed as realisation stabbed at my chest. “If they find out, Callie, they'll-”

  “They won't find out,” she insisted. “Thomas has been sneaking in and out for months.”

  “It's not going to go unnoticed forever.” I pulled at the collar of my shirt, feeling overly hot all of a sudden. The test, Wolfe, and now this. We were in serious trouble one way or the other.

  “Maybe we won't be here forever.” Callie's mouth pulled up into a grin. “We could leave. Take Dad and get out of here.”

  “We can't leave,” I gasped, a tremor rocking through me. “We wouldn't get two hundred yards before they caught us. And then they'd throw us all into the blood bank.” My hands shook with the mere idea of it. All our lives, we'd looked out for each other. The three of us. Now our safety seemed like an illusion. But leaving was just another way of getting ourselves strung up and drained.

  Callie knotted her hands together, thinking on it. “Maybe there's a better world beyond the fences, Monty.”

  I cringed at the nickname she knew I hated, but she continued on, ignoring my expression.

  “We always dreamed about it when we were kids. What if there are still places out there like the ones in Dad's stories? And even i
f there's not, do you really want to spend your whole life in the Realm?”

  My gut prickled. I didn't want that. No one wanted that. Regular blood-givings may have made us valuable to the vampires now, but we all knew what happened when we grew old, useless, weak.

  An ache grew in my chest. “Of course I don't,” I sighed. “But the patrols will be extra tight while the Elite are still here. The guards always try to impress them with how vigilant they are.”

  Callie nodded her agreement. “So we wait until tomorrow morning-”

  “And hope the sun's shining,” I finished for her and she solidified our decision with a firm nod.

  The room seemed to brighten again as rays of sunlight streamed through my chest. We could actually pull this off. Really get free of this place.

  A knock came at the door and Dad entered, a grim expression pinching his features. His eyes fell on the haul beside Callie and his brow creased in confusion.

  “I know a way out,” Callie announced, lifting her chin. We never kept anything from Dad. He was probably more of a rebel than us at times.