Chapter 2
Chapter Two
I almost jump out of my skin when a horn blares in the distance, causing voices to hoot and scream, answering the sound. Panting, my fingers dig into the bricks of the wall at my back, clutching it for dear life.
This was an idiotic idea!
I should’ve waited until morning before heading out in search of a hospital, pharmacy, or anything I can think of that sells medicine.
Daylight means humans. Brainwashed or not, they are easier to outrun or manipulate.
I know because I’ve done that before. What I have never done, nor have I dared, is walk around in the middle of the night when all of them are out and about.
Rivulets of cold sweat trickle down my spine, causing the shirt to stick to my skin.
If you were not scared for your life and had no problem donating hemoglobin to whichever monster felt thirsty around you, life never changed.
Businesses, institutions, even schools continued to function like all was right in the world.
The only thing missing was the police. Everything was governed by the Guardians—a name they gave themselves.
During the night, vampires dressed in all black patrolled the cities.
When the sun came up, humans, or wannabe vampires as we called them, would take their places.
At times, the monsters were indistinguishable from the humans. Both were acting cruel and inhumane.”
Trembling at those thoughts, I swallow the lump that is lodged in my throat the size of a tennis ball.
“Don’t be stupid, April. You’ll be fine,” mumbling under my breath, my shaky voice does nothing to assure me.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickle, and numbness crawls through my body.
I can feel eyes on me, but my desperate search shows no one around.
Swiveling my head left and right, even looking up, squinting in the darkness in case someone is watching from the roofs of the buildings, assures me it’s just my paranoia.
Still, I can’t stop the shiver that passes through me, unable to shake off the feeling.
With a deep breath and a good reminder that people depend on me to make it back alive and on time, I peel my fingers one by one off the bricks.
Tiptoeing to the mouth of the dark alley, I dart my head out fast for a quick glance.
The street seems empty, only the lights from the few large stores and the yellow glow from a couple of street-lights cut into the darkness.
After a few deep breaths, I repeat the same thing, slower this time, checking everything before daring to step foot out of the shadows.
The feeling of being watched follows me around like the stench from the dumpsters that I can’t seem to wash off my skin no matter how hard I scrub when I get a chance to have a quick shower.
But the stench is good. It means they can’t smell you in the tunnels or even on the streets above it.
The invisible eyes probing the back of my head and between my shoulder blades, however, are not. It makes me jumpy and jittery.
The Financial District looks deserted. Come to think of it, it has been tranquil the last few days compared to how it usually is in this part of town.
On a normal night, this place will be bustling with life, music coming from the bars, chatter like a buzzing of bees adding a constant hum that never goes away and mixes with the honking of cars and raving of engines.
Quiet is not what you associate with Los Angeles, so red flags and alarms are blaring in my head.
LA looking like a ghost town often happens when the Council has some grand celebration or something great happening.
Everyone gathers at the Council Towers, leaving the city to breathe a breath of fresh air, so to speak.
Tonight might be one of those nights. Grinning from ear to ear, I shake off my hands next to my body.
“Lady luck at your service again, April.” Giddy with excitement, I speed up my steps, almost skipping down the street.
Passing the Los Angeles Public Library, another shudder goes through me when I look up and see the name on the street sign.
Hope Street stares mockingly at me. Unwilling to be superstitious, dismissing it all as a coincidence, I continue with determined steps.
Grand Avenue is close by, and that means the Millennium Hotel.
Where there is a hotel, there must be blankets.
With each step, I start piling up a list of things I need to grab for Eddie.
He will need to be warm to get better. Maybe they have some medication there, too.
I’ll have to check before I continue looking someplace else.
If I find everything there, I’ll go back faster.
Not wanting to dwell on things like how I’m going to accomplish getting inside a hotel, I keep dreaming about the look on Sara and Eddie’s faces when they see me.
The unusual quiet lulls me into a false sense of security and safety, but I relish it.
It’s not often you can walk down the street without looking over your shoulder.
Passing the buildings, I startle when I see another person walking parallel with me.
It must be another poor soul looking for food.
Sympathy makes me smile sadly at her. Her brown hair looks like a rat’s nest, un-brushed and coiled on top of her head.
A smeared face with dirt and grime is turned towards me, while her big, dark eyes watch me curiously.
The black shirt and pants she is wearing hang on her shapeless frame.
My heart stops, and the breath gets stuck in my throat when I see her boots.
Stopping in my tracks, I face her, lifting a hand to my face. She does the same.
“Of course, she does the same, you idiot. It’s you!” I mutter under my breath. I keep staring at the mirror walls of the building.
I haven’t looked at myself in months, so it’s no wonder I don’t recognize my own reflection. Snickering at my own stupidity, I stick my tongue out at myself before moving on. Who cares how you look? The only thing that matters is to keep breathing.
Breathing is good. It’s necessary.
Before I know it, I’m staring at the majestic hotel from across the street.
The arched entrance, with its sandy-colored marble, pulls me in like a moth to a flame.
As if mesmerized, the invisible thread reels me in and I follow it.
Catching myself in time before I can do something idiotic, like walking up to the door, I squeeze myself between two buildings, watching.
That nasty feeling probes at the side of my head, but I ignore it.
If anyone were watching me, I would’ve been dead by now.
The bloodsuckers don’t play games with those like me.
They kill on the spot, dust their hands, and move on with their day.
“I hate when I have to babysit.” The deep voice, way too close for comfort, makes me scream. Pressing both hands to my mouth, I even stop breathing.
“Stop bitching about things and do what you’re told.” Another voice, this one sounding bored, disturbs the silence. “Unless you have a death wish. I doubt the Council will be happy to offer you a day off because you don’t feel like babysitting.”
“The pathetic humans thought we were monsters.” The deep voice chuckles gleefully. “Let’s see what they think after the Italians spend some time here. They’ll beg us to rule over them as long as we stay here.”
“I wonder why they came,” the bored one drawls. “And unannounced at that. The Council almost burst a vessel when they popped up out of nowhere at their doors.”
“You think they’ll try to take over?” The deep voice sounds worried, and anything that worries a monster makes me want to scream and run. Gulping down panic and taking slow, shallow breaths so they don’t hear me breathe, I stand frozen, listening.
“I hope not!” snapping, the bored one shuffles around. Oh God, vampires are sitting right above my head on the fire escape of the building. I have no idea how they didn’t see or hear me. Unless they got here right after me when I heard them speak.
“I thought you didn’t care one way or another.”
“I don’t. What I care about is my own head. Seventeen dead since they came here a few days ago.” Pregnant silence stretches, making me think that was it. “Not all of them human.” My eyes widen at that last sentence.
“What are you saying? It’s a takeover for sure?” The cracking of the metal railing accompanies the deep voice.
“No…” the bored one stretches the word. “I think they are searching for something.” More shuffling. “Or so it seems.”
“Searching for what?” After a long moment, a gasp is barely heard above my head. “You don’t seriously believe those ridiculous stories, do you?”
“I don’t know…Sebastian is here, too.” I have no idea who that is, but by the sound of fear in the voice of the monster, I pray I never find out. Sniffing makes my thought process freeze. “What’s that stench?”
I almost jump out of my skin when a growl comes from the shadows. The mutt jumps out in the open, baring its teeth and looking around with his hackles up.
How the hell did he get here without me carrying him up the ladder? Was it him following me around, watching?
“This city is getting more disgusting by the night. Let’s move spots, then we can keep an eye on the other side,” the bored one says after spotting the mutt’s display of hostility at the empty street.
The cracking and groaning of metal tell me they are moving.
My oxygen starved lungs are screaming at me to take a proper breath instead of the pathetic little sips I’ve been doing.
Sweat trickles down the side of my face, but I don’t dare move.
The sound of boots hitting concrete startles my soul out of my body for a second.
I watch the backs of the two monsters as they walk away, unaware of my presence.
The one on the left is the one with the deep voice.
I know because I hear him speak before they disappear from view.
“I hope I never cross Sebastian’s path,” he tells the monster on the right.
So do I, buddy, my mind answers him silently while my legs turn to noodles, crumpling under me, and I drop on the ground.