Reign of Blood Read online

  I breathed in deeply, deciding to head toward the nurses and see why I was there and how I had gotten there. I padded softly on the cold tile floor, feeling the cool breeze of air conditioning swirling about me. The place was clean, as a hospital should be. The floor gleamed as the fluorescent light bounced off the freshly-polished and cleaned surface. It was almost too clean. I reached the desk and was about to speak to one of the nurses, whose back was toward me, when I let out a yelp as someone grasped my shoulder.

  “Do you need something, miss?” A calm voice sounded off behind me. I swiftly turned, restraining myself from smacking her. The nurse eyed me suspiciously, her blue eyes gleaming as she studied me. Her dark brown hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail that sat softly on the neck of her purple flowered scrub top. Her pants were a solid purple and her lilac-colored stethoscope hung from her neck. My eyes drifted to her name tag and read the name “Grace.” She wore light makeup and smelled like a combination of medicated soap and scented lotion.

  “I–I don’t know. Where am I? What am I doing here?” I asked softly. Grace gave me a concerned smile and waved me to a chair at the station as she grabbed a chart from a wall rack and flipped through it, reading the contents.

  “Ah, Miss April Tate, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, it seems you are here for treatment of a viral infection.” She smiled and looked up from the chart as I stared back confused. My fingers subconsciously reached over to touch the bite on my left arm. Feeling nothing but smooth skin I glanced down, sensing a shift in my surroundings.

  “But how did I get infected?” I looked back up at Grace but found her gone. Looking around me, the same nurse’s station remained but looked ravaged. The fluorescent lights were dangling from their cords and flickering in and out. Papers and charts littered the now-dirty and streaked floors. I shot up from my chair and gasped. Along the hall were the same nurses I had just seen working but now they were lying face down on the floor, lifeless, with the color drained from their skin. Their eyes stared out into nothingness, blank and dead. I shivered, stepping over them, and noticing I was no longer wearing the hospital gown I had awoken in, but jeans and a white shirt. I paused, catching sight of Grace standing in the hallway, facing away from me.

  “Grace? What’s going on?” I felt the hair on my neck stand on end as Grace turned around–she now owned the grey skin of a feral vampire and bared her fangs, flashing them at me as they dripped with fresh, red blood. A snarl crawled across her face as her red-black eyes gleamed in the nearly darkened hallway.

  Oh shit!

  I backed into the nurse’s station, searching for a weapon in the trashed mess of the desks and chairs. Finally spotting a scalpel lying across what looked like a prepped table for a chest tube, I grabbed it and a cart of charts, swinging the cart behind me, just in time to hit Grace as she scrambled toward me. She was fast but not fast enough as I spun around a pillar. I hopped onto the desk, swiftly bending as I pirouetted back, bringing my arm with the scalpel in hand around in an arcing motion to slash her throat. The thick, syrupy blood poured out of the neat cut like a bucket being poured down her scrub top. I had not cut far enough through to decapitate her but it was near enough for sure.

  I landed on the floor inside the quad of desks and scrambled back onto my feet as she reached toward me, gurgling as blood continued to spout out of her neck. Her eyes were angry but sallow as she began to turn paler, her life blood draining away. Grabbing a thick bedside chart, I swung it as hard as I could into her face, sending her head reeling across the tile. Her grey-skinned body convulsed as it dropped to the floor without its brain to command it.

  I sighed, dropping the chart and looking around, hoping she was the only vampire around. When I didn’t see any more I relaxed just a bit and started down the hallway. I avoiding the ripped wires from the lights above that swung into my path. I still couldn’t figure out why I was even here. This was not right somehow; I was at home sleeping, wasn’t I? I felt naked without a weapon and searched among the rubble for anything I could use to kill a vampire. Finding a broken bar off a transport cart, I gripped it in my hand. I was ready to pummel anything that came at me.

  I made it around to the back employee hallway when I stopped, realizing the elevators might not be working. I pushed the button but the console was dead. I sighed, hoping I wasn’t on the top floor; going down the stairwell was not going to be fun if it was infested with ferals. As I exited the employee hallway and made my way through the floor’s main passageway, where I finally found the stairwell. I dodged a few gurneys on my way and stupidly swung the stairwell door open without scoping it out first. So why was I surprised when three feral vampires lunged at me immediately, taking me down and biting into my upper arms and my thigh?

  I screamed as I kicked and hit as much as I could, hoping to get away from them, but they latched on and sucked my life’s elixir away. The light faded in and out above me as I saw a shadow of a woman standing over me. Her eyes were not red but a desert sandy brown rimmed in a circle of gold. She snickered at me and bent down next to my ear. “You are one of us,” she faintly whispered just before the darkness overcame me.

  Chapter Nine

  The air around me was thick and noxious, and seemed to set my breath on fire. My chest burned as I heaved the air in and out, sitting up in my bed. I was back in my compound sanctuary, this much I gathered from darting my eyes wildly around the room.

  Oh thank God, it was just a nightmare.

  Grabbing my bottle of water, I took a swig of cool liquid down my burning throat as I tried to control my breathing and my racing heart. The sheets were soaked and my body was drenched in a film of wetness from writhing in the bed. It had seemed so real and I had let it overwhelm me. I was usually pretty good at controlling my dreams, able to wake myself up before anything bad happened. Yet my control had languished in this dream and had left me flattened.

  Shaking my head, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and pushed my dripping strands of hair off my face. I hated nightmares; I had only wished to rest in a dreamless sleep that never seemed to come. I hoped my dream was not any kind of omen–that would not be good at all. The slickness of my shirt and shorts gave me a shudder as it reminded me of the coolness that the concrete emanated all around. Shivering, I stood up slowly and changed my clothes out for a fresh set.

  I was about to pull on some new shorts when I noticed the alarm flashing on the console and the low beeping noise of the warning light. I froze, staring at the monitors, waiting to see what had set off a motion sensor outside. My heart wasn’t cooperating anymore and continued to jump in my chest as I watched the screens.

  Quickly, I grabbed a pair of jeans instead and pulled them on, yanking back my soaked black hair into a messy, low ponytail. Slipping on one of my hoodies for warmth, I sat at the monitoring desk and waited, hoping it was a false alarm and that an animal had found its way across the property. As the camera flashed to the driveway, I realized what had tripped the sensor. Two figures stood at the van, seemingly searching its windows and circling it round and round. I gulped. They were so close–I prayed that the soundproofing of my sanctuary was working its magic at that moment.

  Staring at the figures, they reminded me of the lone vampire girl from the other day, the helpless one I had killed without hesitation. Pressing my lips together, I felt an urge to gear up and slaughter these two, just like the girl. That is, until I saw another two figures walk across the screen.

  My heart jumped again. Am I surrounded? I sucked in a breath as I realized I had been holding it for a bit too long. How many are out there? What if they find me?

  The questions poured through my head as I stared wide-eyed at the scene before me. I couldn’t believe that they had come up so far into the mountains. Why would they do that? Was the lack of food bringing them to me? I frowned as I realized that my mother’s blood was still smeared across the van’s door and the light sprinkle of rain that fell on and off in th
e fall here had probably wet it enough earlier to bring out the blood-tainted stink all around the van. I suddenly regretted not washing the damn thing when I could’ve. It would have saved me this headache for sure.

  I decided to get ready, just in case they barged through into my hideaway. I doubted they would, this place was fortified. Pulling on my socks and boots, I laced them tight and added some daggers to a bandoleer I strapped across my chest. My machetes sat cleaned and gleaming on the rack across from the desk. I pulled only one down, not feeling too hot on my left arm, and a hatchet to swing if need be. I was still tired but I was hoping I wouldn’t be doing any fighting tonight.

  The monitor’s glow burned my eyes as I spent the next couple hours staring at the figures shuffling around. They had my curiosity up. Some glanced around the property and searched about for whatever they were looking for. Others were up in the cabin, checking it out, but none headed into the cellar for some reason or another. My hide out was safe. But the confused look on some of their faces made me suspicious. They were not the crazy ferals from the city who pounced without remorse and tore at a person with fangs. Like the girl from the other night, these ones walked more smoothly and did not snarl or look around crazed. I almost could mistake them for humans except for the glimpse of a fang every now and then flashing in the screen from their partially opened mouths. No, these were not feral, and this scared me most of all.

  I thought I knew what was out there, but these mutants made me want to hide in my hole even more. I watched them for a good while until they disappeared from the cameras. I knew I couldn’t leave without risking discovery during the night. I didn’t think I could use the van anymore. I would have to find another car to use until they moved on but who knew how long that would be?

  I groaned at my grave mistake, taking it for granted when I parked my van outside every day. It had been my only connection to our old life. Now I would have to let it sit for a while to make sure they suspected nothing was out of place. More out of place than the blood on the door? I huffed out a breath, shaking my head. I hoped they would just move on. This was so not a good thing; my little universe was crashing down, splintering into severed shards made to cut at every step. I wasn’t sure there would be anything I could do if they discovered my hideout. Sighing, I was not sure what to do about anything anymore.

  I sat at the monitors for what seemed like an eternity. My legs were kicked up on another chair while I leaned back, arms crossed on my chest while my exhaustion fought me to close my eyes. The hum of the equipment was lulling me to sleep, even though I had drank all the energy drinks I could without enduring any severe side-effects of overuse. I glanced at the clock on the wall; it was 4:15am, four hours since I had seen the strange hybrid vampires outside. I figured they had left by now, with sunrise nearing. I bet they didn’t want to be around to enjoy that.

  I sighed, slipping my weapon belts off to rest in the middle of the concrete floor. I went and slumped onto my bed, fully clothed. It seemed my will to be neat and tidy was waning as more time went by without my family. I shook the depression off me as the darkness embraced my weariness. I was going to need some rest, knowing that unfortunately, the game had now changed.

  Chapter Ten

  I waited until the sun had fully risen to emerge from my hideaway as carefully and as quietly as I could. I left prepared for a fight, no longer sure if the hybrid vampires were day walkers or not. Anything was possible. I was not about to walk out like a cow to slaughter. If it came down to it, I would die fighting.

  As I crept out the metal doorway, I quietly clicked it closed behind me, hatchet in hand just in case I was jumped at close range. With my eyes constantly scanning the area, I waited minutes upon minutes, listening for any unusual noises. When nothing happened, I let out the breath I had been holding. My relief flooded me as I punched in the key code to lock the door and walked down the driveway, heading to the neighboring houses. I knew of several cars that had been left abandoned with the nice cabins that lined the roads in the Mt. Charleston community. I had spent many a youth church camp weekend up in these mountains. Some of the adult members had had cabins up here. It may not have been Aspen, but these houses were not cheap. Most had the log cabin feel to them and sat buried in snow in the winters. Right now, I wanted to get a new ride and hopefully someone had stowed a car in a nearby garage. But first, I would have to make sure no ferals were lurking about in the dark garages and houses.

  The nearest cabin I came across looked like it might house something. I took the steps two at a time and tried the handle. It didn’t turn in my grasp. Cursing under my breath, I ran around, checking doors and windows to find a vulnerable spot. Groaning when I found none, I took out the hatchet and positioned it to slam against the window next to the door. The impact sounded like an avalanche of massive chimes clinking onto the ground in a shower of glass, making me hold my breath. I scanned around the trees and the land, waiting for anyone to appear. Luckily no one came from outside or inside the cabin.

  Reaching into the shattered remains of the window and avoiding the shards of sharpened glass, I turned the bolt that kept me from getting in. Rushing inside, I clicked the door behind me, surveying the cabin. It also seemed abandoned and untouched for what could’ve been eons. I quickly made my way to the garage door, pulling my flashlight out; it would be dark as night inside there. I swung the door open and flashed the beam of light across the space. It was empty except for some storage containers and shelves of old sledding equipment and bicycles. I had wished it would’ve been that easy but up here in the mountains most people hadn’t made it back. I doubted they would leave a car in an unwatched house.

  I moved onto three more houses before finding one that had been occupied more than most of the others, but no one had been there in at least half a year. There was the foul smell of old garbage sitting in the trash can. I wrinkled my nose, knowing I had to work fast. It smelled like whoever had lived here might be rotting upstairs. I held my breath after quickly scanning the rooms before me. Making my way to the garage, I flipped the lock open and turned the door handle. My beam of my flashlight showed me an older model Toyota. I wondered where the keys would be. Closing the door, I made my way around the kitchen and front door, hoping to find the keys somewhere common, on the counter or a hook somewhere. I found them on a hook on the kitchen cabinet catch all area, like a mini desk in the middle of all the action.

  As I scooped up the keys, I heard a thump. I stopped in my tracks as I waited to see if it would sound off again, attempting to listen over the drum of my own heartbeat. The moments ticked by forever, but I never heard it again and chalked it up to a tree branch thumping the side of the house. I rolled my eyes, muttering to myself; I couldn’t believe how paranoid I had become. I walked back over to the garage, opening the door to find myself immediately thrown onto my back, holding back a feral vampire who had slammed me onto the wooden floor.

  I shoved back up at him, keeping his drooling fangs off my skin. He was incredibly strong, probably starving if he had been stuck in that garage for a while. I grunted as I tried to hold him up, jamming my forearm in his throat with my right arm, I reached down to my chest to the dagger bandoleer that I had crisscrossed there, quickly yanking out a thin sharp dagger. I jammed it as hard as I could into the side of his head, where the temple bone was thinnest, closing my eyes and mouth as the cold wetness of his fluids poured down onto my face.

  Pressing up his weight, it was just enough for me to bring one of my legs up to thrust him off me and into the dark of the garage as he writhed and convulsed on the cement floor. I wiped at my face as best I could and ran ahead of him, unlatching the garage door lock and heaving it up. It rolled on squeaky rails and let in the late morning sun. The feral squealed in pain as it caught the sun’s rays and sizzled into a blacken pile of ash. I dropped to my knees, breathing heavily as I recovered from the unexpected surprise attack.

  I groaned, wiping at the stickiness that drenched my face. T
he black-red blood clung to my hair, face, neck and arms like a thick, rancid muck. Sighing, I frowned at the still-smoldering, smoky pile next to the car that I had wanted to take. I made my way back inside, finding the small hallway half bath where I grabbed the hand towel off the rack and wiped away what I could of the thick, disgusting ichor. Satisfied but knowing I now needed another shower, I turned to find the keys I had dropped by the door.

  The car took a few turnovers before it started, showing a full tank of gas. Smiling, I shifted it into reverse, stopping in the driveway to slam the garage door back down to ward off any suspicion of disturbance. Jumping back into the driver’s side of the car, I pulled out the rest of the way and headed back home to change.

  Once inside, the sweet feel of the shower made me want to stand under the water forever. Remembering to conserve the heated water, I proceeded to scrub the nastiness of the feral vampire’s blood off my body. The water swirled black and pink down the drain, like clouds of death, spinning as it fell into the holes of the pipe drain. Finished, I changed into fresh clothes and proceeded to cleaning my weapons, which were now caked in the clotted muck of blood. It would take me most of the afternoon to get them cleaned up. I figured my day was wasted. I hated not heading to town to search for my mother and brother but what good would I be in this anxious and spooked state? Unfortunately, it was time to lay low for a bit and this was the day to do it, especially with those hybrid vampires lurking about.