I noticed a cold, palelight slicing through the blackness as I stopped at the opening andrisked a glance into the room. One of the doors to a fridge on theleft of the room was wide open, the white light moulding to thesilhouette of a hunched-over figure kneeling on the stone floor. Icould just make out the plastic drawers which were stacked in theindustrial fridge. Each one was packed with bags and bags of blood.A wet, suckling noise met my ears, and that’s when I noticed adozen or so drained blood bags scattered on the stone floor aroundthe figure.
I reached up, tryingto feel for the light switch, not wanting to take my focus from thehungry Vampire, but a loud bang from somewhere upstairs made itshead jolt up. I froze on the spot, or maybe time seemed to slowdown, because in a fashion which would have fit a horror film, itshead slowly lowered and turned to me. Blood-red eyes starred at mefrom behind a curtain of dark hair. Trails of red blood marked thecreature’s white skin, dripping from its fangs.
And that’s when itdawned on me—this was the first time I’d actually seen a Vampirefeeding, and well, being a Vampire and not a scientist.
But then, confusionkicked in as I focused on the creature. Hadn’t Elle said that theirhair slithered out when they transformed? That they were bald andlooked more like the Master from Salem’s Lot? Weren’t their jawsmeant to dislocate and their fangs—?
My head hit the wallbefore I had even realized the Leech had moved. Bone crackedagainst stone, and my body slumped like a sack of potatoes to thehard floor. A heavy weight sat on me, something sharp digging intomy chest.
Shaking off themomentary shock, my gaze found those red eyes, which were a merefew inches from mine. Despite its face being so close to me, Icouldn’t make anything else out but those eyes. Hungry, angry, andwell, just fucked. A gurgling hiss reverberated in the Vampire’schest as it dug its claws into mine through its balled-upfists.
“Fuck.” The word leftme on a whoosh as I was hauled up and flipped over the creature’shead. I landed on my back, my legs flat against the basement’s maindoor. Tilting my head to the left, I caught the end of theVampire’s legs as it high-tailed it up the stairs.
“Shit. Elle,” Imumbled, rolling awkwardly onto my side.
“Jesus, you gotyour arsed handed t’you.” The Teen popped into view as I madeit to the stairs.
“That’s the first timeI’ve ever been face to face with an actual Vampire that isn’tlooking normal.” I stumbled up the steps.
“They’re notpretty.”
Despite everything, atleast Elle had been right about that. Hollywood definitely hadtheir Vampires wrong. There was nothing sexy about them at all.
I circled into theliving room and study of the middle house first only to find therooms empty.
A rhythmic thudsounded, and I rounded the corner to see two Vampires lying at thebottom of the steps to the right house. Danielle hopped over theunconscious bodies.
“Only two of them overhere.” She looked at me. “You okay?”
“There was onedownstairs,” I said, heading to the living room of the lefthouse.
“What happened?”
“It took me bysurprise. Looked nothing like how I expected.”
“I told you theyweren’t pretty.”
“It didn’t look howyou said, though.”
Her brow furrowed.“What d’you mean?”
A thud soundedsomewhere upstairs.
“You search the lefthouse.”
I glanced at thefemale and male who lay in a clumsy heap at the bottom of thestairs.
“They’ll be fine. Alltied up.” She legged it up the stairs of the middle house.
I quickly searched thebasement of the right house before making my way to the firstfloor. A thud followed by a crash sounded, indicating that Elle hadobviously found another Vampire. Possibly the one that had freakedout and jumped me, but as I hit the stairs to the next floor in theleft house, the hint of blood teased my nostrils. I found the lightswitch.
“Y’know you don’tneed the lights on, right?”
Force of habit, Iguess. Plus, I had spent enough time trapped in the dark. Itwasn’t a place I wanted to live in.
Warm light flooded thehallway, and my focus stopped on the closed door of the first room.A smudge of blood marked the brass doorknob.
“Be ready thistime.” The Teen stood by the door.
Duh.
Steeling my shoulders,I pushed the door open wide. The light flooded the room,highlighting the young lad sat on the floor in the left corner,legs pulled to his chest and arms circling his knees. He was wedgedbetween the wall and a waist-high cabinet.
I moved into the room.A large bay window sat to the left, thick, long black satincurtains hanging at either side. A large black faux corner sofatook up the centre of the room, facing the flat screen televisionsituated above the fireplace. Like most rooms in the triple livingspace that was the Nest, the walls were white and dotted withartwork. Apart from another cabinet which sat symmetrical to thefirst, and a long hallway table flat against the wall behind thesofa, the room was fairly empty for its size.
“Have you come to killme?”
The words were saidsoftly, and it took me a moment to realize they had come from theballed-up creature in the corner.
“What?”
He lifted his head.Startling bright brown eyes looked up at me with confusion. Fearmarred his smooth pale skin, and despite the fact that dry bloodstained his chin, he looked like a freaking Disney character. Hisblack hair was a tangled mess that stopped at his shoulders.
“Have you come to killme?” he repeated.
God, he was only alad. This couldn’t be the creature from the basement.
“Looks can bedeceiving,” The Teen sang beside me, her arms crossed as shegave the baby-faced Vamp the dead eye.
“No.”
Another thudsounded.
“What’s that?” Theyoung Vampire looked around the room, hugging his legs closer.
“Nothing you needt’worry about.” I moved over to the bay window. “What’s yourname?”
“Mark.” He eyed mesuspiciously. His nostrils flared. “You’re a Vampire?”
“Yeah.” I leantagainst the windowsill.
“I’ve never seen youbefore.”
“I’m … new.”
“You smell funny.”
“I’m verynew.”
“Well, you’re too lateto officially join our Colony.” His focus became lost as he staredoff
