Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
“And I thought the Silvertown was grim,” Jude commented as we made our way outside Elysium.
The Wastes remained unchanged, the same desolate expanse I remembered, though crimson stains marred the stone walkways—remnants of the humans’ last visit.
Exiles, with their feeble and skinny bodies, lay piled all around.
Some lay sprawled in the streets, while others slumped haphazardly against buildings or on benches.
A thick blanket of snow covered the area, settling over the Exiles like a layer of fine white dust.
“What are these…things? I don’t know how else to describe them, but they feel sad— hopeless.”
I nodded, running my hand across my welted skin from the constant itching coursing through me. “Exiled vampires are banished to The Wastes for one reason or another by the vampiric authority.” He looked at me. “The people my father and Gabe work for, well, used to work for.”
“What makes them look like that?”
“That’s what happens when you don’t drink blood.
Your body still lives, but slowly withers away.
When they get too old, they’re usually thrown to the Dogs.
” I looked around, seeing mounds upon mounds of Exiles around.
“Although it appears there are more of them than usual because the Dogs have been disabled.”
We passed the large fountain in the middle of the courtyard, and I knew we were getting close.
It was weird to be out here in the daylight.
When I snuck away on my birthday, this place seemed so mysterious and dark, yet in the light it was dangerous and run-down.
I can see why I was always told not to come here, aside from the thieves and Exiles who were looking to drain me.
I noticed the alleyway and waved to Jude. “This way.”
“You sure?” He stopped, looking at the crumbling buildings. “This seems sketchy.”
“Trust me.” Together, we crept down the shadowy alleyway, the rough brick of the hotel scratching against my hand as the familiar building loomed. The sign, though unlit in the daytime sun, still clearly displayed its faded yet powerful letters, confirming our arrival: The Carlton.
I led Jude through the front door and into the once grand lobby, its faded grandeur now hinting at past glories.
We went through the door next to the large desk where the wizened man sat, checking people in.
Glancing right, I saw the men’s locker room and remembered when the lights started blinking when the Unicorns first attacked.
At the end of the hallways was the bamboo-clad tiki bar, where freshly washed plastic coconut cups were heaped on top of each other. A stack of rattan chairs sat beside the drained hot tub, its smooth surface cold and slick to the touch.
“Sauna? Play Room? What is this place?” Jude’s head was on a swivel from seeing a contraption like a hot tub for the first time.
“It used to be a hotel, but it was repurposed when the vampires took over.”
“Repurposed into what?” He opened the sauna door, showing a quiet room with rows of worn, wooden benches.
“Uh…” My cheeks reddened. “It’s a place people go…to have fun.”
He poked his head into the Play Room, and his mouth dropped. “What the hell are those swings used for?”
“Don’t touch anything.” I couldn’t help but laugh at his naivety.
There was no way I could tell him what each of these rooms was used for—or that I was yearning to come here just to let loose before we met.
This adventure scratched that itch for me, but I never want to go back to being controlled like I was.
I walked halfway up the staircase to the second level and leaned over the railing. “C’mon, Jude, we have to hurry.”
He put a finger to his lips. “Shh! We don’t know if anyone is here.”
“Why would anyone be here? It’s only open at night once a month.”
With a careless shrug, he trailed behind me up the steps. Our feet clinking on the cool, smooth tiles echoed as the familiar faded red arrow on the sign beckoned us forward. “Executive Lounge, that’s exactly where we need to be.”
With his gun held high, Jude followed me down the hallway. We passed endless rooms, each identical to the last, and I wondered if I’d recognize the lounge. I remember it being a big black door, but it didn’t have a sign or anything on it. I just got a weird feeling when I passed it.
A strange, unsettling feeling of intrigue settled deep within my bones, intensifying with each step we took.
Straight ahead was the Diamond Bar, where I met that sleazeball Trent, who tried forcing himself on me.
My heart fluttered as I remembered Gabe showing up and putting a knife to the man’s neck.
So romantic.
An inexplicable urge made me look down the hallway, where a heavy black metal door stood out, its keypad emitting a faint, warm glow against the cold steel.
“This is it.” I hurriedly typed the code Gabe gave me and heard a click as the door unlocked.
A disconcerting flicker of the hallway lights was accompanied by a distorted, unsettling sound—a misplaced resonance—that seemed to distort the space.
With electricity, there’s a constant humming in the air, but when that power is removed, it’s replaced with a strange silence.
“Gabe must have disabled the power.”
We entered the room behind the door to find a fairly large lounge, complete with a bar along one wall, velvet chairs, and couches all situated around a stage lined with a circle of light bulbs that had a shining pole in its center, affixed to the ceiling.
Surprisingly, the room felt luxurious, despite the events that took place here.
A strange smell lingered from the lounge, one I shudder to describe.
The electric hum, a low thrumming sound, started up again, and the circular ceiling and floor lights flickered to life. My lip turned upward as I passed a velvet couch, seeing stains on the armrest. Disgusting.
“Wh-what happened? Did Gabe fail?”
“I don’t think so,” I answered hesitantly. “Only certain lights came on. I think this hotel may have a generator that would provide power for necessities in the event of an outage.”
There was a sudden flash of red and green lights from a small, oddly placed door at the back of the room that startled us, and then we immediately ran towards it.
A standard hotel-style card reader secured the door, its metallic surface slightly worn from frequent use.
A faint green glow pulsed gently, beckoning me to turn the cool metal handle.
“Another shock that this door is open,” I breathed.
“It has to be because the power went out,” Jude whispered, keeping his gun pointed downward, ready for anything.
The next room had textured black walls which seemed to absorb the light, drawing the eye to the plush red headboard of the large bed, which dominated the space.
The bed was so big, at least five people could fit in it.
I rolled my eyes—of course, the vampiric council and military, who are majority men, would create a secret room to bring their flavor of the night. Men will be men.
On the far side of the wall, a door with a glowing red keypad hummed faintly. “Well, I think we found where the power is going.”
My hands grew slick with sweat as I gripped the cold, metallic handle of my gun, my heart pounding in my chest, knowing what lay beyond the door.
I lifted my finger, pressing the code Gabe shared onto the keypad, and a satisfying click echoed as the red light blinked green.
I looked at Jude, his expression serious, as he nodded and, with a powerful kick, sent the door swinging inward.
Jude and I stepped inside, guns raised, and three surprised faces stared back at us.
The three men fumbled for their weapons at their hips, but our draw was faster.
Jude’s silent shot sailed through the air, and the man closest to me stumbled backward, a look of shock on his face.
The recoil jolted my arm as I pulled the trigger, but my shot went wide, the bullet striking the man farthest away.
“Fuck!” the man yelled and clasped his leg.
I looked at the vampire I’d missed, his sharp fangs catching the dim light, their points gleaming menacingly.
A cruel smile stretched across his face as his finger tightened on the trigger of his gun.
It was like everything happened in slow motion.
A deafening gunshot ripped through the air, and I shoved Jude to the ground, our bodies hitting the floor just as the bullet ricocheted off the wall.
Jude’s hand moved like a blur as he brought up his weapon.
The gunshot was sharp and immediate, correcting my earlier miss.
The man fell to the ground in a solid heap while the last remained seated.
The room felt cramped, a suffocating density of objects making it hard to tell if it was actually small or just overflowing with machines.
Floor-to-ceiling monitors displayed various zones of The Wastes, their flickering screens showing specific points along the perimeter of the wall outside the city.
Jude sprinted toward the final man and swiftly wrapped his arm around the vampire’s neck, pressing the cold steel of his gun to his temple.
I scanned the several monitors displaying live feeds of the outside world, focusing on those pointed toward the city’s exterior wall.
No sign of The Unicorns, they must be hiding well.
“How do we open the gate?” With a decisive shove, Jude pressed the barrel of his gun to the man’s temple.
“You’ll never take down the vampires, you filthy human!” The man’s voice was laced with disgust as he turned to me. “And you should be ashamed of yourself, you asshole!”
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Jude screamed. “Help us, or you’ll feel a bullet in your head.”
The man held his hands up. “Okay, okay, fine. What do you want?”
“Unlock the gate.”
“I can’t do that without Mr. Asposito’s direction.”
Jude punched the man hard in the face and then returned his gun against his head. “Does it look like we care about Mr. Asposito’s direction? Just fucking do it!”
“Whatever you say.” A rhythmic clicking filled the air as the man typed furiously, his eyes flitting between the glowing screens and the keyboard, a blur of motion.
I stared at the wall of screens, each displaying various areas within The Wastes and the slow, agonizing movements of the Exiles.
My head bounced between the multitude of monitors, each displaying a different camera angle—I had no idea the surveillance was so extensive.
I was drawn to a bright red button, encased in a plastic box on the dashboard that seemed to mock me.
Of course it was a red button. My father is always so dramatic.
“All set!” The man smiled and reclined in the chair. “I’ve notified the vampire army that there’s been a breach in the security room, you both can go fuck yours—”
Before the man could utter another word, Jude’s swift movement ended his life, the bullet piercing his temple.
He hunched over, the warm blood trickling down his face and splattering onto the cold, hard floor below.
I opened the plastic box and pressed the red button, my gaze glued to the flickering screen.
A loud sound, reminiscent of a fire alarm, blared through the air, and white lights began blinking atop the gates to enter the city.
“We did it!” Jude smiled as he watched the screen with me. “We really did it!” He hugged me in his excitement.
“C’mon, let’s get outside and let Arthur know this war can start.”
Jude clasped my hand, and we ran through the echoing hallways of the hotel.
The air felt lighter, and each step propelled us forward with surprising ease.
We did it—the regime of vampires will soon be over.
We pushed the doorway leading to the hotel lobby open and ran into The Wastes outside.
Scaling the alleyway, we came to the main road.
I watched as Jude reached into his shirt, revealing the stick Arthur handed him.
He ripped it open with his teeth, and three red balls shot into the air, leaving a bright red streak in their wake before exploding with a pop.
A searing red light filled the sky as the explosion boomed, and a ferocious battle cry echoed around us.
Then the gate opened.