Mark

Some action...

 

When I woke up the next morning my eyes felt heavy and were surrounded with sleep. I rolled over and thought about going back to sleep, but when yesterday’s events came rushing back to me I knew I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. I reluctantly sat up and rubbed at my eyes. I looked over at Ash’s bed to find it perfectly made and vacant. I threw the covers off and walked over to the beaded curtain hoping that my assumption was right yesterday and that this was a bathroom. I flicked the light on and felt much more awake that I was right. Nothing but the towels and shower curtain in this room was black. The walls and floor were white tile. I looked in the mirror and cringed at what I saw. My hair was messy and sticking up at weird angles and I had dark bruises beneath my eyes rimmed with red from a sleepless sleep. I quickly stripped and got into the shower. I was fully awake when I realized that the water was not hot yet.

I was relatively happy when I stepped out of the shower and wrapped myself in a poufy towel. My clothes have mysteriously disappeared and were replaced with fresh clothes. There was a pair of loose black jeans and a black tank top with a little skull on it. Next to it was my pair of beaten up converse that I wore to work the night my world changed. I was happy there was no blood to be seen on them. I quickly changed glad to have just a bit of myself with me, even if it was just shoes. What girl didn’t enjoy shoes? I was still drying my hair when I went into the main room. From the corner of my eye I saw Ash on her bed. I dropped my towel to the floor so I could make my bed. “Hey thanks for the clothes.”

“You’re welcome.” Said a voice not Ash’s, but Caleb’s. I tensed for a moment in surprise, but then continued with the task and didn’t turn around to face him. I finished up, picked up the towel and put it away in silence. When I came back out Caleb was on his feet. He was wearing simple blue jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket. “Are we going somewhere?” I asked when I saw his jacket. “Yeah we’re going to stop by your apartment to pick up some clothes and necessities. But we can get some breakfast first if you want. But I guess it would be more like dinner.” I felt my eyes widen, did I sleep that late? Caleb smiled, “Our days and nights are reversed. Right now it’s ten at night, so it’s like breakfast for us or maybe early lunch. Brunch? But you can eat whatever you feel like.” You’d have to adjust when you’re hunting a creature of the night, I guess. “Umm coffee would be good.”

“Alright follow me then.” He opened the door to the bright hallway and waited for me to leave the room. He locked up Ash’s room and went down the hallway, then opened the last door on the right. Nate was reading a comic book inside what looked like a break room or kitchen area. It came with a fridge, microwave, oven, and double sink. Nate was sitting at a small table to the left. No one else was in here. Caleb spoke up behind me, “Every hallway has one of these at the end to the right, if you ever get lost in here and need food or something.” I just nodded and went over to the counter in search for coffee. When I couldn’t find any I asked, “Do you guys not have coffee or something?”

“Nope,” they both answered in unison. I could feel my jaw drop in surprise. No coffee, this place was starting to seem like hell. At the sight of my expression Caleb explained, “That little pill Poppy gave you gets rid of all addictions and bad habits- such as smoking, drinking, drugs, and unfortunately coffee. Our body has no need for it and rejects it. We have tea though if you like.” I was speechless so I just nodded. He walked up next to me by the counter, “What kind would you like?” I have never had tea before so I was clueless. “Umm whatever you’re having will be fine.” He gave me a curt nod and got busy. I grabbed an apple out of the basket on the counter and went over to sit next to Nate. I took a bite of the apple and glanced at the cover of the comic. Wonder Woman? I raised my eyebrow at Nate. He glanced at me over the top of the comic and grinned. “A woman who fights crime and has a whip, how much hotter can you get?” I took another bite and wondered if it had anything to do with Anna. Caleb came over and set a cup of tea in front of me and sat down across the table. I took a sip of the spicy tea and another. I can’t believe I wasted my time with coffee. “Where’s Ash and Anna?” I asked after a moment of silence. “They went out hunting without us, they should be fine.” Caleb said. “Yeah they’re strong enough to handle it without us.” Nate added though he sounded as though he was trying to convince himself. I finished my tea and apple shortly, in a hurry to be able to get my things. Hopefully I’ll be able to lose these two and forget this ever happened. Somewhere a voice in the back of my mind snorted and said, ‘Like that’ll ever happen.’  

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We stopped in front of a door. It was blue and heavy looking like all the others. To the side of the door was a key pad. Nate gently placed his fingers on the keys and looked at me with no humor in his eyes. “If you escape we will just hunt you down and drag you back, it’s our job and we are good at it. Okay?” I just stared back at him, well that kinda messed up my plans for escaping, but if I was supposed to be a badass vampire then I should be able to slip away. I ignored him and glanced down at his fingers with curiosity. Nate opened his mouth to say something more, but from the corner of my eye I saw Caleb shaking his head at him. His fingers moved over the keys, 0-6-6-6, and then Nate turned the handle. I blinked and I felt a confused look come over my face. Were they joking? Caleb looked at me, grinning, “It’s okay you can laugh; it is a bit ironic.” I just shook my head and rolled my eyes at him. His grin got wider as I went through the door, following Nate. After Caleb shut the door behind us we were in the dark. I stopped as I waited for my eyes to adjust. Caleb gave an impenitent sigh behind me, but I just waited because I didn’t want to walk blindly into the scary tunnel. Nate was walking ahead and his footsteps echoed around me. It was noticeably cooler in the dark and there was a light breeze coming from farther forward. After a bit I could tell we were in a rock tunnel, almost like a cave. I started forward again now that I could see. After a couple turns I could see a faint light coming up.

                The tunnel opened up into a large tavern. From the high ceiling were blinding lights not unlike the ones in the healing ward. The ground was flat and covered in gray linoleum which was nicked and dented from use. There was a big hole in the opposite wall lit by a few lights going deeper in like Batman’s cave. In the Batman cave there were automotives, a lot of automotives. There were dirt bikes, motorcycles, and ATVs. Of course there were cars, many cars. There were limos, taxis, and trucks. There were sports cars like Ferraris, Vipers, and an Austin Martin or two in the back. I knew my mouth was open, but I couldn’t seem to be able to close it. It was like an ultimate garage. So many cars, I wonder how they got them all. What do they use them for? In front of me Nate and Caleb were arguing. “Come on let’s take mine,” Nate pleaded.

“No way, we took yours last time and the time before that. Katherine needs to get out and stretch.” Caleb said back and stretched his arms out wide.

Nate didn’t give in, “Last time she was in the car and got blood all over the seats. It took me forever to get it all out.” He paused while I glared at him. “Well I’m sorry Nate. Next time I’m freaking dying from a vampire attack you can just leave me on the curb so I don’t get your seat dirty.” I sucked in a breath to continue, but Nate interrupted me.

“Rocks, paper, scissors?” Did he even hear me? I let out an angry breath and clenched my fists, trying to calm down.

 Caleb rolled his eyes, “Fine.” They put their fists out in front of them, shook them three times, and… shot. Nate sighed in defeat when Caleb’s paper beat his rock. Caleb had a smug look on his face as he pulled out keys from his pocket.

“This way,” Caleb he said over his shoulder as he started walking toward the far right spinning his keys around his fingers. I followed him stiffly. Then he stopped and I looked at his car. I felt the rest of my anger rush out of me. Oh my god. I felt my eyes widen as my eyes caressed his vehicle. He had a GTO, my dream car. It was a beautiful dusty black with a hard top and it was well taken care of. I was willing to bet it was ’67. I stepped forward not taking my eyes off the car and put my hand out in front of me to touch the hood, but knew it was rude. I glanced over my shoulder to see Nate and Caleb watching me closely, “May I?”

“Sure.” I let my fingers trail lightly over her cool, glossy hood. “What year is she?” I asked Caleb not taking my eyes off the beauty in front of me.

He barley paused before answering, “1967.”

“She’s a beauty. You’ve taken good care of her,” I complimented him before turning my eyes back to the car.

Caleb spoke again, “Her name is Katherine,” his mother, I thought to myself. He continued not missing a beat, “and yeah she is beautiful. Glad to know that someone has a good taste in cars around here.” I could tell he was talking about Nate not having good tastes.

I lifted my fingers off the GTO, knowing it was against some law to leave fingerprints on a car like this. I turned back to the boys and saw they were trading a look of amazement, probably wondering where I got this knowledge. In the orphanage all they had for reading material were the bible, fashion magazines, and automotive magazines. I didn’t have much of a selection when it came to reading, so I was pretty good when it came to fine automotives. I didn’t tell them any of this because I wanted them to wonder. Caleb opened his mouth probably to ask me how I knew, but Nate spoke, “Are we going or what? You guys can talk about cars another time.” Caleb went to the passenger’s side and opened the door. He leaned into the car and pulled forward the seat so someone could sit in the back. Neither Nate nor I moved to get into the back. Nate looked at me and spoke smugly, “Shotgun.” I sighed and rolled my eyes, he’s so childish. I scrambled into the back, not wanting to argue- I just wanted to get out of here. I settled into the black leather seat and leaned forward to pull back the seat. I grabbed onto the seat just as Caleb did, I pulled my hands back quickly, I couldn’t see his face, but he paused for a moment. I saw his smooth hands clench the seat for a moment, then relax and put the seat back in its place. Nate got into the passenger’s seat and I watched Caleb go around the front of Katherine, his fingers trailing lightly on the hood, like mine did moments before, and get into her driver’s seat. The engine purred as he turned the key, he put his arm behind Nate’s headrest as he backed out of the space. He stopped, put her into drive, but he held my eyes for a second longer before turning forward.

He went down the lighted tunnel. I looked forward watching the lights go by one by one for a few hypnotic minutes. I knew a small smile was on my lips, it was so much like where Batman exited his bat cave. Then up ahead I saw a wall and the smile slipped off my face. Caleb sped up and looked at me in the rearview mirror. I cleared my throat, but he didn’t look forward. We were getting closer to the wall, “Um, Caleb you might want to look forward.” My voice was steady, but my heart was beating fast and I started looking for exits. I tried the door handle, but that didn’t open, like I had room to jump out anyways. “GODDAMMIT CALEB STOP! DON”T YOU SEE THE EFFING WALL?” I was yelling and freaking out. I leaned in between the seats to do something, but Nate grabbed my wrists before I could do anything. “LET ME GO! DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH TOO?” I yelled at him, but now Nate was looking at me too. Were they crazy? Figured, they believed in vampires didn’t they? We’re all going to die and I’m not even wearing a seatbelt I thought vaguely. Then we were at the wall. I squeezed my eyes shut and felt my stomach clench. I waited for the impact, but it never came. Caleb slowed to a stop and Nate released my hands. I opened my eyes and looked around. We were in a dimly lit parking garage. I blinked once, then twice. Both Nate and Caleb were grinning at me. Caleb spoke, “The Orphanage is totally underground so no one will find it accidentally. We got Poppy to enchant the wall of this garage so it looked like there wasn’t a giant hole in the side of the building that leads underground to a secret facility.” He smiled at me and Nate let out a chuckle. “You defiantly had one of the best reactions. Probably in the top ten, don’t you agree Caleb?” Caleb paused for a second thinking it over, “I don’t know, I think maybe top five.” It took a second for that to sink in. That was actually really cool. I bet no one noticed it and it looked perfectly normal I thought glancing back at the perfect boring brick wall. But they pissed me off. I smiled coldly at Caleb his smile fell off his face and was replaced by a confused look. “A*****e!” I yelled at him and punched him in the arm. “Ouch! Hey don’t you use your vamp strength for revenge.” He rubbed his arm and Nate burst out laughing. I glared at Nate and he shut up the instant he saw my face. I leaned back into my seat; arms crossed over my chest and fumed. After a minute Caleb started up the car and navigated to the exit of the garage.

Author's Note

Hope you enjoyed it!