She held her hands up.“TMI.”
What was wrong withthese creatures? They were insane, violent, greedy or horny. Mostof the time, they were all fucking four.
Christ. “Igotta get out of here, Elle.”
“That’s what I keeptelling you.”
“Well, tell me how?How do I get out of here, Little Miss Smarty Pants? What do Ido?”
“She said, “Drinkup. That is the last batch you will get before we leave.”
“And?”
She rolled her eyes.“They are taking you out of here.”
“Shit, you’re right.Where the hell do you think they are planning on taking me?”
She walked over to thesleep platform fixed to the wall on my left and took a seat. “Noidea, but if I were you, I would make my move when we’re all out inthe open. That’s if, you know, they don’t sedate youagain.”
“Fuck.”
***
Time meant nothinghere. A second could have easily been an hour when you were alonein the dark, staring at nothing, listening to every sound outside.Except it was quieter now; quieter than it had been before. Icouldn’t make out distant chatter, or footsteps. Nothing butsilence, which made it worse, made the isolation even moresuffocating.
No, time meant nothingwhen you were locked away, the only benefit being that it gave aman a chance to think and put his life in perspective. Do some soulsearching. Did I even have a soul anymore? When time was allyou had, what else was there to do but reminisce, regret, andwish?
“You’re reminiscingtoo damn much lately. It’s making me nauseous.”
“Well, what else wouldyou have me think about?”
“Duh, a way t’getout of here.”
“Erm, duh, I’mstrapped down, and in case you haven’t noticed, the metal of thesestraps burns my skin.”
“Jesus, did youever pay any attention to anything that I told you aboutVampires?”
“I did, actually,especially the part where you said that they had to bite people toturn them. So, what in the name of merciful Jesus has happened tome?”
“I don’tknow.”
I glanced at her,lying on the platform. “Yet again, you’d never admit that youdidn’t know something.”
“Yet again, that’sbecause I’m not the real Elle. I’m a memory of her, and I’m onlyrelaying information that teen Elle told you. If you had botheredtalking to adult Elle—”
“We kept intouch.”
“But you haven’tspoken for the last four years. An email essay on her birthday andat Christmas hardly counts as keeping in touch.”
“Look, that’s besidethe point. You said Vamps bite people t’turn them. You werewrong.”
“You’re clearlyspecial. The female just said you were an experiment t’prove theycould create Vampires differently.”
“Okay, so I’mdifferent, but why?”
“I don’t know, butdon’t y’think you need t’find out? You’ve been kidnapped,turned—”
“Molested.”
“I don’t think thatcounts.”
“Does too. Do youreally think I’d have let her do that if I was free from theserestraints?”
She turned herattention to me, eyebrows arched. “Is that a seriousquestion?”
My focus strayed backto the door. “I don’t want t’die here, Elle. I don’t want t’die insome cell or wherever the hell they’re planning on taking me.”
“I’m afraid it’stoo late for that, Than. You’re already dead.”
A bitter taste rose onmy tongue. Horrid reality snuck up on me once more. “I’m dead.”
How long had Freddieand I been missing? Had anyone even noticed? Had our parents? I hadbeen sending postcards to my mother every week since our littlebackpacking trek across Europe had begun. Surely, she would knowsomething was up by now. How would she find me?
“She can’t, Than.Hard enough for police t’find people in the country they live in.Backpacking ... you two could be anywhere. More to the point,you’re undead. You can’t see her or anyone else y’knew ever again.They wouldn’t accept you, and shit would really hit the fan ifpeople found out Vampires existed.”
“So, what’s the pointin escaping then? There’s nothing for me.”
“You can still havea life, Than. You can have a very long life if you get away fromthis place. Being dead sucks, being a Vampire has a lot ofcomplications, but being free and immortal is still something youcan achieve and work with.”
“I am not wheeling himthrough the forest. That is a ridiculous idea.” Voices echoed inthe hallway.
“What do you suggest?He needs to be detained. We have no idea what he is capable of.”Constance’s voice was easy to recognise.
“And neither does heby the sounds of his paperwork or from the look of him,” a malereplied. “I say we kill him.”
“No, Michael will wanthim alive.”
“For all Michaelknows, he could be dead already like the other one.”
The back of my headhit the platform. “Freddie.”
They had brought ushere together as far as I was aware; he had been ‘turned’ like Ihad. We had passed each other on many occasions as we were wheeledin and out of laboratories. He had been incoherent most of thetime, but like me, he had still been mobile, which was better thannothing.
“The Pack could havekilled him. Michael is not going to know either way, and I hardlythink he is going to care.”
“We take him with us.Michael is already pissed that the Infected Cunt got away, at Lancefor not being more careful or swift, and that Marko has refused togive our Colony a second chance.”
“And do you not thinkthat Marko would be pissed if he were to hear that Lance wasstraying from his orders? This facility was for harvesting,testing, and preservation, and yet, Lance was not only conductinghis own experiments, but—”
“Lance got what hedeserved.” Constance cut the male off with a grunt. “He is dead,and our discovery of his outside projects are shocking, but will atleast give some form of explanation to what went on here and howthe Pack were able to find this place. All of which will no doubtpiss both our Master and Marko off, but regardless of thisevidence, it will not change Marko’s mind. Our Colony is to have nofurther involvement in his plans. Lance blew it for all of us.”
“I cannot understandhow he figured out how to isolate and keep the virus alive.”
“Did you not see thestamp on the envelope? They were findings from the facility inItaly. That stupid bastard had eyes over there as I suspect someonewas planted here, which would be the only reason Marko found out soquickly that the Infected had been rescued.”
“It is wrong
