Chapter 1 Tess #2
He was wearing human clothes. It was like seeing a dog wear a suit.
He had on jeans and a black t-shirt, his tribal tats visible around his arms, his thick black braid falling to his waist. He had a goatee, and he was about 6’5” at least, broad and muscular like the rest of them.
He wore Converse sneakers and Tess almost laughed out loud and stepped out of the shadows.
If this guy wasn’t resistance, she had to at least compliment his cover.
“Hello…” Tess clenched her fists at her side. She had no weapons which seemed like an oversight but she never would have had a chance anyway against this guy.
“Do you happen to know if the wildflowers are in bloom?” The Vampyren said. He was smirking slightly, the corner of his mouth turned up as he regarded her.
Tess’s shoulders relaxed a little. All she had to do was mention spring now and that would be the sign.
“They’ll bloom more come spring,” she said.
“I’m Kal,” the Vampyren said, walking to meet her. The winter sunlight was harsh even on this overcast day but then Tess had been hiding out in the dark warehouse and now she squinted as she walked out to meet him halfway. “I’m taking you to Urbana.”
“Shoot, I was hoping for Disneyland,” Tess cracked. She shook his hand, and he cocked his head, looking rather adorably baffled. Maybe that was because confused was a funny expression for a Vampyren. “What’s Disneyland?”
“Nevermind,” Tess said, chuckling. “Let’s go.”
Tess actually groaned with pleasure as she sank into the plush leather seat on the passenger side of the shiny, black luxury SUV.
These Vampyren were starting to learn about cars, she supposed.
Kal climbed into the driver’s seat and reached into a small cooler in the back, handing her a chilled bottle of water.
“Thanks,” Tess murmured, though she was no longer thirsty, but starving.
There were human businesses popping up again more and more often.
Everything was pretty unregulated. You ate meat these days with your fingers crossed and you only ate it well done.
But as Kal sped down the highway, it made her hopeful seeing simple pop-ups along the road where lines of people waited to buy tacos or burgers.
It was heartening to see stores opening up though they were mostly based on bartering systems. It was the beginning of a new world in place of the old.
“Are you coming from Urbana?” Tess said, relaxing back in her seat.
“No, I’m coming from Chicago,” Kal said. “Got involved with the resistance there after I deserted my unit? But then I found out my brother’s been hanging around Urbana. Think he’s got a human girlfriend there.”
Tess blurted a laugh and Kal looked at her funny. She just shook her head. “You sound like a human. And you dress like one. Really assimilated, huh?”
“I’ve never really been happy as a Vampyren anyway,” Kal muttered. “So why not?”
“Interesting,” Tess murmured. She’d never met one of them who talked this way before. Even knowing they were joining up with humans in some attempt at solidarity within the resistance, it was strange to be up close to a Vampyren who was so different.
“When did you join the resistance?” Tess said.
“Just a year ago,” he said, his eyes narrowed on the road. “But I left my unit a long time before that. For a while I was just...getting by, hiding out. Keeping to myself.”
“Why did you leave your unit?”
“I saw a breeding pit for the first time,” he said darkly.
“Huh.” Tess nodded. “Man. You are different.”
He was good looking too. Although, his face was longer and less chiseled than a lot of Vampyren.
He had a quiet look about him. She wondered if he’d always been the quiet, thoughtful type when he was younger.
On Vampyren that probably didn’t win you many brownie points.
Now he squirmed under her gaze but wouldn’t look at her.
“Urbana was a breeding pit and a creche,” he said now, his voice taking the tone of a lecture. “It had the highest birth rate of any breeding pit in this region of the country. But after the battle of Urbana, they moved the children. The women are still living there though.”
“They moved the children?” Tess sat up straight and now she looked away, scoffing. Perfect.
The entire reason she was going to Urbana was to organize the liberation of the children from their creche, taking them to a secret location run by the resistance.
“Yeah,” Kal said. “But we know where they are. The Council doesn’t trust the leadership in Urbana. With good reason, obviously.”
Well, at least the resistance knew where the kids were, she supposed. But this made things more complicated.
“And the women?” She said now, stretching her arms over her head.
“They’re still…” Kal shifted around in his seat. The guy was really restless, she thought. “It still functions for breeding. But it’s not like the other pits really. It’s—
“More brothel style,” Tess said dryly.
“I guess so.”
She made a face and drank some water. That was better than a pit, but it still disgusted her.
Were the women willing and paid sex workers, that would be one thing.
But they were more like sex slaves, recruited against their will by the Council and Vampyren military leadership.
The whole thing was yet another atrocity.
“Okay,” Tess said, sighing. “Well, I hope the food is good.”
* * *
The Urbana campuslooked pretty even in the somewhat grungy gray light of late winter.
The snow had thawed, and the grass was poking through.
She could tell it must be really pretty in bloom during spring or in autumn.
They hadn’t talked much on the ride over since Tess had fallen asleep, too comfy in her seat.
But now she moaned and stretched, the SUV pulling into a prime spot by the quad between two of the dorm buildings.
Kal was looking at her kind of funny and she blushed, running a hand through her short hair.
She was wearing the same jeans, t-shirt, and a jacket that she’d been wearing for days.
She had no bag and nothings, only the clothes on her back since she’d been forced to drop everything and justgo.
The resistance tended to provide for their own so she was hoping there would be some generosity to spare.
“Let’s get you some food?” Kal suggested, as they made their way from the car across the quad.
Tess yawned and nodded in gratitude. “Please.”
Then a shower, she thought. Then hopefully, if she was lucky, some new clothes.
Kal led her to the cafeteria which sat in a sprawling brick building between the dorms. It was eerie inside where there had clearly been a campus Starbucks and a few other chain cafes, now shuttered.
But the counter of the main commissary was staffed and it must have been lunchtime.
A number of women were sitting at tables, eating and talking.
They look up at her in interest before turning back to their food.
“Kal!” A Vampyren man wearing the dressed-down version of a unit uniform came trotting up to Kal.
Tess got the sense that they were about to embrace, but they stopped short and just regarded each other for a moment before clapping each other on the back.
“Haven’t seen you in two years,” the man said grimly. “You look different.”
“I went native,” Kal said, shrugging. He turned to Tess and said, “Tess, this is my brother, Mark. And…” Another woman came up next to Mark. She was a little taller than Tess and she wore black jeans and boots, her dark hair in a long ponytail on top of her head.
“Oh!” She said, her eyes large. “You’re Tess! Good to meet you. I’m Crystal.”
Tess smiled tightly and shook her hand and it was all a little awkward for a minute, the Vampyren brothers seeming a little uncomfortable with each other after so long. But then Crystal rolled her eyes and said, “Tess, you must be starving. Come eat.”
The food wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad.
Considering Tess had been subsisting on whatever was edible that she could get her hands on for the past few months, she considered the spaghetti and salad to be a five star meal.
The meatballs gave her pause but when she looked at them funny, Crystal assured her that the meat was locally sourced and she trusted the people who inspected it.
She took the risk. When Crystal handed her a fudge brownie wrapped in plastic and a can of Coke, she gasped.
“Coke and chocolate,” she said, pretending to cry. “How long has it been?”
Kal laughed at that and they exchanged a little look. Shoot, that Vampyren was cute. She’d seen Vampyren who werehot. Kal was both hot and cute. That was definitely new.
“Yeah, we keep finding Coke,” Crystal said. “It’s the strangest thing. Although I’ve heard there are some pop factories opening up here and there? Of all things? Oh great, highest priority is definitely Sprite.” She shook her head, smirking at the thought.
“She complains about everything,” Mark said, nodding at Crystal. “You’ll get used to it.”
“He’s only saying that because I mostly complain about him,” Crystal snarked.
They gave each other a cute little look and Tess finally caught on, raising her eyebrow. “ Oh. You guys are… together?”
“Yep.” Mark winked at his lover. “She’s my mate.”
“Oh, I’ve heard about um… cross… couples?” She frowned, feeling uncertain in her terminology and not wanting to offend anyone, but Crystal and Mark didn’t seem offended at least.
“It’s bound to happen,” Crystal said, shrugging. “I mean they’re pretty hot.”
Tess didn’tmeanto, but she found herself looking right at Kal when Crystal said that, as if to confirm her statement. He looked at her and grinned and finding herself caught out, she flushed crimson and glared down at her Coke and brownie.