Chapter 1 - First Blood

The sudden sound of the alarms is deafening and more than anything, terrifying.

They’ve found me.

It’s over.

I've failed.

The cool autumn air burns in my lungs as I struggle to catch my breath while I run through the empty streets, desperately searching for an escape. I glance up at the puffy dark grey clouds covering any evidence of the rays of sun that were my safeguard just moments ago. Daren was right; I should have never left; now we're both dead.

No, I can't accept that, I have to find a place to hide.

I examine the houses on either side of the street, once beautiful human sanctuaries, now nothing more than menacing stomping grounds for the Parasites that have all but vanquished the human race. I spot a small shack behind a tiny blue duplex and before I can think, I'm running full speed towards it. I reach it in seconds. I pull on the door as hard as I can only to find that it's been bolted and locked. If I don't get into this shack they will find me for sure. The thought of being found brings on a dizzying wave of nausea that causes me to lose my balance.

That can't happen, they can't find me. I have to get back to the others.

I struggle to steady myself, once I’ve found my balance I kick the door in as hard as I can, to my surprise it bursts open with only a single jolt. I jump in and close the broken door tightly behind me. Slowly, I take a couple of steps back then crawl in to the corner and put my head between my knees. My pulse is pounding loud in my ears as I wipe the sweat from my forehead. I think back to when I first left camp to go on this very necessary raid:

 

  I grab my backpack and storm out into the cool, wet November morning. The sky is still a gray blanket of cloud. A few rays of sunshine are just starting to break through the remnants of last night’s rainstorm.

Daren is close on my heels.

"Elle, you can't go alone, it's too dangerous!" He is hollering at me now.

"Stop yelling!" I shout back as I swing around to face him. "I am not discussing this anymore, I won't let her die."

I see the look of sadness and desperation in Daren's eyes as he weighs my words.

"Dying yourself is not going to save Maddy." The anger has drained from his voice; a hushed sound of regret has taken its place.

I reach up, resting one hand on his shoulder and brushing back his dark hair with the other.

"Daren, we can't both go and leave her here alone. She needs the Serum. Look," I point to a break in the dense cloud cover over-head where a few rays of sunshine are shooting down through the trees, "the sun is shining, I'll be fine." I say soothingly.

I watch the anger return in his amber eyes as he pushes my arms away.

"Serum?" He growls. "You sound just like one of them! She'll never forgive you for this."

I breathe a sigh of relief at the second part of his rant.

"It's settled then, I'm going."

He lets out a loud groan, but I start talking again before he can argue anymore.

"Listen, Maddy can hate me all she wants for using the Ser-" The scowl that comes over his face at the term I choose makes me rethink my wording, "venom to save her, but I don't care if she never speaks to me again, as long as she's alive!"

He glares at me for a moment before surrendering.

"Fine, but you're taking all lavender if you're going to be gallivanting around a town full of Parasites, and that's final."

"But Wh-"

He interrupts before I can finish, "That's final." He barks.

"Fine!" I snap back at him as I stomp away.

He starts to follow me but I stop him, "I'm perfectly capable of getting it myself. Go back inside and stay with Maddy, she shouldn't be alone."

I see a flash of pain cross his face as I mention her name but he just nods without a word and trots back to the cabin.

Once he's inside I traipse around our little camp, easily finding the hidden stashes of the pretty purple flowers we picked over the summer, shoving them in my pockets and backpack. Maddy's mother taught her how to preserve the plant's aroma long after it dies, a helpful skill she never thought she would need. I pause to sit on a stump and rub some on my legs and arms. There's no way the Parasites will be able to smell me now. I look around the dense forest concealing our small cabin. I can't leave Daren and Maddy without any protection, not even these incredibly pungent pines hiding our little cabin is enough to confuse the scent of a human to a Parasite's superb senses; lavender is the only thing that can do that.

Trying not to make any sound, I stand up and start retracing my steps, slipping as many of the plants as possible into the stash places without them being too noticeable. Just as I arrive at the last stash spot, a massive pine tree riddled with little holes, I hear Daren deliberately clear his throat very loudly behind me. I start at the sound and swing around to see him eyeing the lavender in the tree disapprovingly.

"I thought I said you were taking all of it," he says, annoyance clear in his tone.

With a sigh I take the lavender out of the tree and shove it in my pocket.

"You caught me," I say dismissively, waving my hand in the air. "Now I have all the lavender, are you happy?"

I'm a terrible liar and I can see that Daren is already questioning the legitimacy of my statement.

Before he has a chance to answer me I pull the straps of my backpack tighter and duck around him, heading into the forest towards the only town within ten miles of our little hideout. "See you at sunset." I call over my shoulder.

 The trek to the town only takes me a little less than an hour; living on the run for the last four years has made my body strong and fast. I can even kill a Parasite single-handedly now, a feat most consider impossible.

       Once I get to the town I slow my pace, put on my sunglasses, and go into stealth mode. One wrong move and I’ll be dead, or worse. I carefully and quietly make my way through the town, quickly darting across intersections when needed and slinking along the sides of houses, dodging windows to avoid being spotted.

I manage to make it to my destination without attracting any attention to myself. Hiding behind a large bush I take in my surroundings; there is a large white house to the right of the block along with several smaller ones, all with curtains tightly closed to keep out any unwanted sunlight. To the left is an abandoned grocery store and an apartment building, several run-down vehicles are parked along the empty street, giving me the uneasy feeling of being in a ghost town. Directly across the street, taking up the entire north side of the block is the hospital, my target.

I shouldn’t even really call them hospitals anymore they are more like prisons now, the place where Parasite’s keep the humans they feed on. The thought of entering it sends the revolting taste of acid into my mouth, it takes everything in me not to throw up and blow my cover, but this is the only place I can get the Serum without taking it directly from a Parasite’s mouth then fusing it with lavender, which takes days. By then it will be much too late for Maddy. I scan the street and the houses to make sure no one’s around before I bolt across to the hospital, I sneak along the wall towards the back of the building.

“Are you sure there are enough of them to keep the town satisfied?”

I screech to a halt as I hear the beautiful voices; Parasites, of course.

“You’re right; I may need to head to the city and petition for another dozen.” I listen as a female voice responds.

“I think that would be best, we don’t want a riot on our hands. Thirsty means moody!” A male voice chuckles at his attempt at humor.

As soon as I understand the conversation the revulsion from just the thought of being here returns, I have to put my hands over my mouth to keep my breakfast from making a comeback, they’re talking about humans, getting more humans for the town to feed on to be precise. I get a hold of myself and peek around the corner to see the two of them standing under a canopy serving as protection from the few rays of daylight bouncing around the sky. Directly behind them is a staircase leading to the back door, my way inside.

I can’t help my eyes from drifting back to the bloodsuckers. So beautiful, these creatures, that’s what makes them the best predators, their looks, sound, even smell are so attractive to a human it is no surprise our race fell prisoner to them so quickly. Most of us didn’t want to resist. They don’t look any different than a human really, just much prettier, even the males. The only real difference is the fact that they always have blood-red irises, although when they invaded they wore contact lenses to disguise this.

The female, a pretty blonde wearing a dressy outfit, laughs along with the Male, an athletic russet haired man wearing a doctor’s lab coat.

“Okay then, I’ll head out right away, you have a good day.” She replies and disappears in the blink of an eye.

Another element that makes these creatures very hard to kill, they can run faster than any vehicle at full speed. Running away isn’t really their style though; they would much sooner pick up the car and throw it at you. Luckily lavender can knock them out cold, the same way chloroform works on humans; you just have to get close enough to make them inhale it.

I duck back behind the wall for a moment before taking another peek. I look just in time to see the man walking through the door back into the hospital. Now is my chance. I swing around the corner, jump over the railing on the staircase and walk into the hospital. As soon as I am inside I settle into a casual walk, masking the terror I feel tearing at me from the inside. The smell of blood is so strong I can almost taste it. I hear some sort of slurping sound coming from a room in the long hallway leading to the lobby and make the mistake of peeking inside the room to inspect the strange sound as I walk.

I see a man sitting upright on a bed while a woman is crouched behind him, all I can see is her long dark hair and the back of her head buried deep in the man’s neck, blood dripping down his body, soaking and staining the normally white hospital bed sheets. I stop dead in my tracks and gasp in horror. The woman’s head snaps up at the noise, she’s looking directly at me, her eyes not the standard red I’ve come to expect but instead it seems her pupils have grown to cover her entire eyeballs in black. Blood is dripping from her lips as I watch them turn up into a wicked smile.

“What is it? Did you want to share?” She purrs.

I just stare blankly at her, trying to figure out how to respond. She looks me over for a few seconds before shrugging.

“Suit yourself,” she says.

Then, with one quick motion, I watch as she jerks her head back, her teeth turning to fangs so quickly if I had blinked I would have missed it, and sinks them back into the man’s neck.

As soon as the slurping resumes I can’t stop myself from running. I dart down the hallway until I skid to a stop just in time to stop myself from slamming right into the reception desk. The man behind the counter jumps out of his seat, surprise clear in his red eyes.

“It’s alright ma’am, we can get you set up with a feeder right away!” he exclaims.

Thankful for the lavender and sunglasses disguising me, I shake my head.

“No, no, I’m not thirsty.” I say, my voice not as shaky as I expect it to be “It’s-my human, I-I drank too much, she needs the Serum right away!” I tell the short, sandy haired receptionist. “Oh, oh my, you must be careful, we are running short! Which room is your feeder in?” He asks.

“I can do it, no need to bother yourself; I just need the Serum.” I try to say convincingly but epically fail.

“I’m sorry miss, but that’s not the way we do things around here, I’m here to administer the Serum only if absolutely necessary. As you know, we cannot be in such close contact with the lavender used to defuse the venom and the humans are becoming increasingly,” He pauses, “difficult to work with, leaving us with a very limited supply.”

I nod.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the situation had grown so precarious, I am in room 109.” I reply, remembering the room numbers from the end of the hall near the exit.

“Excellent, shall we?” He says and he reaches into a small refrigerator under the desk, grabbing a bag of clear liquid with just a tint of purple to it, and begins walking down the hallway.

I slowly start to follow, quietly reaching into my pocket for the few stems of lavender I stuffed in it back at the cabin and crumpling in my hand, hiding it in my closed fist. Once we reach the room, the receptionist walks in ahead of me but I am close on his heels, as soon as we are both all the way in I quickly kick the door closed. Before he has a chance to ask why no one is in the room I grab him from behind and shove the fistful of flower into his airways.

He immediately collapses in a heap on the floor. With adrenaline coursing fast through my veins I throw his body aside, grab the sack of liquid and make my way back out the way I came in. I know the receptionist won’t be out long. Soon there will be a hunting party searching for me.

I run out into the street, not bothering to try and hide this time, the town will be crawling with bloodsuckers at any minute, the small bits of sun poking through the clouds have vanished now, leaving them to roam freely once again. It won’t take the hunting party very long to find me at all. It is just as this thought crosses my mind the first alarm sounds.      

 

Author's Note

Any input, positive or negative, is welcome! Thanks for reading!

Reviews

[NinjaShadowWolf]

I liked it. I enjoyed the sense of emergency in the first few paragraphs. It definitely is a unique story. I also like the idea of the lavender working against them. "The smell of blood is so strong I can almost taste it." That was a very descriptive sentence, definitely understand the tasting of smells. I'd like to read the next chapter. You left on a cliff hanger.

[Kaylee Mae]

Thanks for the review! (Sorry my thanks is a little late, I'm still getting the hang of this website!) I just posted the next chapter, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one!