Chapter 5 Erythrocytes
CHAPTER FIVE
ERYTHROCYTES
All blood from Feeding Grounds is to be taken to the Undercity.
— Serun’s Law
A deep red light flows over me, making the diamonds across my white leotard and tutu glisten. The curtains open, and I face the sea of crimson glowing eyes that fills the theatre, consuming me.
They don’t clap.
They watch, for I am their entertainment.
I stare vacantly at the water slipping between my toes as I recall the dream I had last night. As much as I love ballet, dancing in front of nightwalkers isn’t something I’d want to do anytime soon.
“Three minutes left,” the Bleeder calls from the entrance of the women’s bathroom early the next morning. His face concealed by a mask, I can’t tell if he takes pleasure in seeing Feeders naked or not.
Do they find us attractive? They are still human, after all. They must feel some emotions—surely everyone experiences desire. Even I want. Not their blood, though. The stench of human blood makes my lip curl, and I enjoy regular food. Hunger grounds me in the belief I’m human…
Human enough, at least.
Manni hands me the soap. After I rinse off all traces of Jax from last night, I clean the soap by scraping off a layer, then pass it to Emily. She laughs but pushes the soap away and says, “Maybe we should have separate soap after you visit your situationship.”
“Oh…maybe,” I reply, my voice flat.
“You should smile more, Saya,” Manni says. “We hardly get to see it.”
I step into the spray, and suds trickle down my long, blonde hair. My eyes narrow as a memory bubbles up, and my eye twitches as I clamp down on my fangs.
My scream shatters the room, and tears prick my eyes as Mum pulls while sobbing, “I’m sorry, Saya. I’m sorry! But these are the only parts of you that won’t hold to the glamour!”
Another sharp pull, and my gums throb, aching for release. Sucking in a deep breath, I shove her away, and she flies across the room. Shadows swirl around me, and sparks of red light electrify the air.
Her eyes widen as she rises and limps back to my side. She falls to her knees, dropping the pliers and cradling my face. “I’m sorry. I just…If anyone finds out, I don’t know what they would do to you. Please, cling to the glamour, and hide yourself from the world.”
The shadows melt into the ground, and the red light dissolves into fragile tendrils in the air. “I know…But why is it happening now, after I bloomed? I thought I just looked like one of them, not that I was one…”
She brushed at my white hair. “I don’t know why they’re coming through now, but I need you to promise me something.” I nod, too afraid to speak. “Don’t laugh. Don’t talk with your mouth too wide, or it will show your fangs. Can you promise me that?”
“Okay,” I breathed.
“I’ll try,” I say to Manni.
“Two minutes,” the Bleeder calls out. He really doesn’t need to. Above the door hangs a steam-covered clock. It ticks loudly, each second a warning thudding in my head with every click of the hand.
I shave my legs and scrub my teeth simultaneously before the water is cut off.
I never understood why they offered us this indulgence when so many other rules are designed to stifle us. Why do they care about our hygiene? Maybe providing us with these small luxuries is to keep us just comfortable enough that we don't rise up.
Emily mutters a curse. A thin trickle of blood runs down her leg and swirls into the drain from a fresh cut. She turns off her shower, grabs a towel, and presses it against her bleeding knee. She quickly takes out a medical kit to patch herself up before the Bleeders notice.
To them, Emily is wasting precious blood.
“Thirty seconds,” the Bleeder calls out.
Exhaling, I turn off the water, grab a towel, and dry my body. As I drag the towel over my damp skin, black ink shimmers on my shoulder from my moonflower tattoo.
The Bleeder’s voice grows louder, counting down from ten as I snatch my clothes, shrug into my gown, and slip on my underwear. But as I turn my attention to Emily, she’s rummaging through her cubicle and mutters, “Where the bloody hell are my knickers?”
“Time’s up!” the Bleeder announces as I adjust and smooth my gown into place.
We line up in threes. Emily steps up beside me and groans, “I guess I’m going commando today.”
A Bleeder on either side of the door hands each of us a water bottle. They want our veins swelling beautifully across our skin.
When we are out of sight, I lift my gown and pull out the spare underwear I had tucked into my own.
“Thanks, Saya,” Emily breathes as I hand them to her. “For a moment, I thought you were swollen down there from whatever Jax did to you last night.”
Manni shoots me a sideways glance with a hint of a smile. Emily truly concerns me sometimes.
We stop so she can fix herself up while other women flow past us. Emily straightens, dusts down her clean gown and says with a grin, “Come on then. Let’s follow the herd.”
The men emerge from the corridor opposite as we approach the bloodbank.
Amidst the crowd, Cole strolls alongside Jax.
When they reach my side, I take my brother’s hand while Jax rests his own on the curve of my back.
We silently enter the bloodbank and make our way to the Bleeders waiting by each chair, quiet sentinels who expect us all to drain our blood for the nightwalkers.
And we do. If we don’t, we’ll end up in the private room. As well as the likelihood of never returning, I don’t want to find out how a nightwalker would react if they saw me.
“Take a seat,” the Bleeder at the door says, his hand confidently resting on his gun. Every Bleeder is armed. It’s why our run needs to be stealthy. They aren’t shy about using weapons if necessary. They killed Vinny last time, and most Feeders on the run stopped and hurried back.
With Cole’s hand in mine, we make our way to the chairs placed a few feet apart. Cole sits down, and I take the seat beside him while Jax settles in on my other side.
The Bleeder at my chair motions for me to roll up the sleeve of my gown. Next to me, Cole reveals his arm, displaying several failed needle marks and healing bruises mottling his skin.
Jax pulls up his shirt sleeve and rests it over his shoulder. Veins bulge under his skin. He doesn’t have many wounds because he donates easily.
“Your arm,” the Bleeder snaps, his gloved fingers pinching at my sleeve.
I bite my lower lip, almost piercing the flesh. As I roll up my sleeve, I quickly look away from the purple bruises and pinpricked holes marking my very blue veins.
The Bleeder grabs the strap from the table beside me, fastens it around my arm, and presses his hand onto the soft spot in the bend of my elbow until veins bulge beneath my skin.
It’s hard to tear my eyes away, but I do, turning to face my brother.
Blood slowly drips into his bag—a struggle, but it’s flowing, and that’s all that matters.
I turn away and settle more comfortably into my seat when I notice two Bleeders chatting by the exit. Their heads are turned toward the left side of the room.
I follow their focus to a woman hunched over and head down, glaring at the ground as though she were willing it to swallow her whole.
Bianca?
Beside her, Julien grips her hand tightly.
When I look away and over to Manni questioningly, she shrugs, but beside her, Emily pats her stomach and mouths, “She’s fucking pregnant!”
What?
The Bleeder at Bianca’s chair stops the blood extraction and says, “Get up, Feeder zero-three-seven.”
She shakes her head, her dark brown eyes wide with fear, and her hand still gripping Julien’s. The colour of her face turns ghostly. A pale white, like the new bedsheets Bleeders give us every couple of months.
Julien stands, moving to shield Bianca, but the Bleeder is quicker. He draws his gun and points it at him. “Get up, Feeder zero-three-seven, or I will remove the reason for your defiance.”
Bleeders are clever, and they know Bianca will comply if they threaten her lover. Most in her position would.
I glance at Jax. He observes through thoughtful eyes.
Most…
Bianca stands up in the chaos. Tears stream down her face, and dark hair tumbles over her shoulders as she follows, battling to keep her sobs in check. They lead her out of the room, and as the doors shut, the Bleeders position themselves to block the exit.
Silence suffocates the room as we donate blood.
When the bloodletting finishes, the Bleeder presses a cotton ball to the puncture wound and tapes it to my sensitive skin.
We leave the bloodbank and walk to the mess. Chatter picks up in the queue for food, a few of the Feeders in front of us talking about the pregnancy.
“She hasn’t had her period in three months,” Laura says to Holly. “We all knew it.”
The line shuffles forward. Cole is next to me, but he’s staring intently at the food, uninterested in the conversation. Even Jax doesn’t seem to care.
“Is that why they watch us while we shower?” Manni asks Emily. “I’ve been thinking about it since Summer was taken away. Are they keeping tabs on our periods?”
Emily mutters a few choice curses. “Dan and I had sex the other week.”
“Idiot,” Manni hisses.
“Wha—I tell the fucker to pull out!”
“And you trust him?”
“No…He stiffens like a plank and moans when he comes. It’s distracting.”
Manni snorts a laugh. “Stop, we’re about to eat.”
I lean slightly to the side to catch their attention and say, “One day, they’re going to serve us sausage when you speak of Dan’s dick spasms, and when that day comes, I’ll suffocate you in your sleep.”
We all break out in a much-needed fit of giggles.
I grab my tray and grimace at the loaf of bread, cup of water, and hard-boiled egg. Following Cole, we sit at the table closest to the courtyard.
Manni and Emily join us this time. Nearby, Julien sits alone, his glazed hazel eyes fixed unseeingly on his food.
Emily nudges Manni’s arm and gestures as though she is going to ask Julien if she can have his food if he isn’t going to eat it. Manni snaps her an incredulous look and quickly shoves her bread roll into Emily’s mouth to stop her.
“Where do you think they will take her?” Manni says between bites of her spoils.
“To be sold, likely,” Jax answers casually, not seeming to care if Julien overhears him. “Bleeders have no use for babies, so they’re probably selling her to the Undercity. I’ve heard that nightwalkers take newborns to raise them as children because they can’t have any.”
“That’s disgusting!” Manni’s face turns pale. “That poor baby.”
Jax shrugs. “Shouldn’t have fucked around in here. They are fools for taking the risk, especially after Summer.”
I place my boiled egg on Cole’s tray. “I don’t believe it. If that were the case, they would have taken Cole to the Undercity when we arrived.” Besides, why would they want human children when they can create halflings?
Crumbs scatter over the tray as Jax rips into his bread. “I heard it around the settlement. I never claimed it was true.” He pokes his tongue into his cheek and his eyes narrow further.
Emily pulls her gaze away from Julien and settles it on me, leaning in and lowering her voice. “Can you sneak through the vent tonight and see if you can find Bianca? You said they took Summer to the delivery room…”
“It’s too risky!” Manni hisses.
Emily leans back in her chair. “She goes in there all the time to see Jax. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
I move to tell her I will, but Jax snaps, “No! Fuck off, Emily. Saya’s not going to the ground floor. It’s safe to enter my room since it’s on the same level, but for you to ask her to go down to the ground floor…” Veins thicken along his neck. “Fuck. Off.”
Emily slumps back in her chair and folds her arms with a huff. “I was just asking.”
I turn to Julien. He still hasn’t touched his food. He wears the same look my mum had when she found out I was growing fangs at sixteen—a morbid, downcast silence.
“Babe,” Jax says, his voice gentle as he leans in closer, resting a warm hand on my leg. “Don’t do anything stupid. We’re getting out soon. Come to my room tonight, and we can have a bit of fun again.”
“Okay.” I avert my gaze from Julien and concentrate on my food.
It’s easier to agree with him and avoid another argument.
I have always wondered what happened to the women who ended up pregnant here.
Jax and I always play it safe, but I know both Emily and Bianca risk the “pull-out” method, and surely others have too.
Still, I don’t believe Jax. I don’t know Serun’s Law well—having only heard snippets from the Feeders and Jax—but there are no rules saying children and babies are offered to nightwalkers.
My hand tightens around the bread roll, acutely aware of Jax’s hand as it moves up my thigh. A touch that carries a great deal of meaning.
“Don’t fucking do anything stupid, Saya.”