The Last Human (Vampires Rule # 1) (2 page)

I sig
h and
sprint towards a sink, turning the cold water tap on with a
trembling hand. I look at the gnash on my finger; the wound is
worse than I had initially thought. The cut is deep and long, with
blood still oozing from between the ripped skin. No wonder Alex had
lost it.

I glance over my shoulder,
towards the door, hoping no one drops in, because if
they do, it will surely be the end of me.

I place my finger underneath the gush of water and
watch as my blood rushes down the drain. I wince in pain as the
cold water stings the open cut. I also need to wipe the blood from
my pocket. The
stain will
eventually attract the whole school. I always come prepared for
such situations, but all my stuff is in class. More importantly, I
should have waited for the Artico Guards to escort me. I hope they
find me before anyone else does

I look around for toilet paper. For now, it will have
to do as a bandage.

Then, I hear the voices. I pause and cock my head
towards the
entrance as fear
wraps its tentacles around my body.

“
Nah, you guys cheated.” The first voice drifts
throu
gh the door, muffled and
loud.

I hold my breath.
Please pass.

“
Whatever, you’re just jealous.” The second
vo
ice is deeper, hard and
rough.

I keep my body still
, and my heart beat begins to race.

“
Who cares,
it’s just the first term anyway.” The third voice makes my eyes go
wide.

All of a sudden, as though a tape recording has
been
muted, the voices stop.
Rivers of sweat trickle down my neck as I stare at the closed door
in anticipation.

“
Do you guys smell that?” T
he deep voice makes me flinch. I slowly back away,
looking for an escape route, but only concrete and the shiny
surface of tiles and ceramic stare back at me, the latter two
teasing me with my own horrified reflection.

The door swings open with a thud. It breaks off its
hinges and hangs limply off the last few screws, creaking from the
weight; broken wood splinters jut out from the edges. The noise
makes me
jump backwards, and
my lower back slams into the base of the sink. I stuff my free hand
into my pocket and grip the hilt of my knife tightly, knowing I may
need it, but at the same time I know I don’t stand a chance against
their speed and strength.

They stand in the door way, frozen in place, as they
see m
e standing like some lost
puppy. Davilon moves gracefully to the front of his small group.
His nostrils flare as he breathes in the scent of my
blood.

“
Jake,” he says in his silky voice. “Jake you”-
he inhales sharply and his eyes light up -
“smell delicious…” The last two words hang in the air
between us, uncomfortable and awkward, filling the space with
further unspoken words and actions. But Davilon doesn’t move. He
doesn’t pounce. He just stares. They all stare.

“
Guys…you got your test papers back?” I ask
softly, hoping my voice doesn’t betray my fear, hoping they get
distracte
d from the scent of
my blood.

They don’t move.

I try a new line of tactic. I make a show of sniffing
the air. “The air freshener smells great,” I say.
“C
are taker sure has some
taste…”

No one is fooled.

They suddenly lose interest in me, and cock their
heads to the right. Davilon lets out a deep growl and backs out
into the corridor, lea
ving me
frowning in confusion.

Two quick flashes, blurs to my eyes, and standing in
the
doorway are two Artico
Guards. I relax as relief floods through my body, chasing away the
fear and replacing it with a sense of security. But then I notice
their uniforms; the black of the Destroyers, with the Destroyer
symbol embedded into the fabric. They aren’t my normal Guards, but
regardless, I’ve never been so relieved to see them in my
life.

The slimmer of the two, with
blonde hair pinned back in a ponytail, steps forward.
His movements are quick and graceful, and his eyes are hidden
behind shades. “Jake,” he says calmly, nodding his head in
greeting. He gazes at my wounded finger, then at my pocket and then
back at me. “We have come to collect you.”

The other Destroyer, sporting a short black beard
and
straight long hair hanging
low on his shoulders, flexes his muscular arms. “Did you have any
issues?” he asks, his voice rumbling.

I shake my head, figuring I’ll talk to Lexus about
Alex and convince him not to take any action. I know Lexus will be
furious at the attempt on my life, but he always listens to reason
and I don’t think I will be able to live with myself
i
f Alex is killed because of
me.

I glance over the shoulders of the Destroyers, and at
the sour expression on Davilon
’s face. “Guys I’ll catch you later,” I say, biting back a
grin, my earlier fear and dread gone as I grasp this rare moment of
revenge.

Davilon gives me a stare full of utter loathing, his
eyes flash in warning. The two Artico Destroyers cock their heads
back and stare at Davilon and his two friends, who both avert their
gazes.
Finally, Davilon does
too, and they all disappear down the corridor without another
word.

“
Friends of yo
urs?” says the blonde Destroyer.

This
time I
smirk. “The loose kind.

We saunter along the deserted corridors at a walking
pace. The
blonde Destroyer
leads the way, while the other trails behind, taking the rear
guard. They keep their distance from me, and I realize the alluring
scent of my blood must be hanging in the air, the sweet aroma of my
essence almost teasing them. I shift uncomfortably, but relax at
the thought that they are Lexus’s most trusted soldiers. Harming me
would be the last thing on their minds.

I notice the blonde
Artico is leading us towards the back of the school, possibly
through a fire exit, and away from the masses of Vampires
concentrated within the east and west wings of the school, and who
might lose control at the sight of my blood.

We pass a few classrooms full of students, the chit
chatter radiating from the rooms abruptly stops as we walk past
them. When we round a corner, the doors open and heads poke out,
and eyes stare at me. But no one follows us.

The corridors are dimly lit by bulbs, the light eerie
and orange, beaming down on us from the rows of
the
m littered across the
ceilings.

The blonde
Artico pauses, his ponytail sways as he glances over his
shoulder. “Keep close,” he says. “Very unlikely we will meet any
obstacles, but we should be prepared.” I nod back at him, knowing
full well how dire my situation is. Any Vampire, despite how long
I’ve been amongst them, might lose control. Or worse, a group of
them might give in to their cravings, and I’m not sure, despite
being Destroyers, how many they can handle at once.

The blonde
Artico turns into a dark unlit corridor, and I feel slightly
conscious about the shadowy darkness I find myself in, closed on
all sides with nowhere to escape. For a second, I imagine hordes of
feral Vampires bursting from each side, trapping us in, before
exploding to me with bared fangs. I shake the disturbing thought
off.

The blonde
Artico sprints forward, causing the air to blow in his wake
and rush back into my face. I pause, blinking away the sudden
current of wind, wondering the cause of his action. About a second
later, a door swings open at the end of the corridor, and cold air
from the wind, and light from the moon, comes flooding in,
breathing new life into the darkness of the narrow
passageway.

The
blonde
Artico walks out into the frigid night, and motions me to follow
with a quick gesture of his hand. I walk after him and linger at
the entrance of the open door. The sky is a darkish blue-black and
dotted with stars. The moon shimmers in the sky, half hidden behind
dark clouds that slowly march across the heavens. An icy wind blows
in my face and bites into my skin, sending a shiver through my
body.

I leave the door
open and amble after the blonde Artico, who is now walking to
the familiar black vehicle parked across the street that I normally
ride in. As I walk towards the car, I glance around into the
darkness surrounding us, expecting several Vampires to be hiding in
the shadows, drooling at the sight of my blood. But the night is
still and nothing moves or springs at me. I look over my shoulder
to see the muscular Artico standing at the fire exit, watching us.
His hair blows across his face as the wind weaves through the
strands.

“
He’ll pick
your stuff up.”

I turn
my
attention back to the blonde Artico, who has opened the back door
of the car for me like a chauffeur. Under the moonlight, his
features stand out clearly. His long blonde hair, pinned back in a
ponytail, has a whitish texture to it, like snow mixed with yellow.
His face is smooth and expressionless and his cheek bones are set
high. I figure he must be old and powerful, since he is wearing the
Destroyer badge across his chest. Those badges are only given to
the most trustworthy, loyal and powerful Vampires.

“
Wo
uld you
rather walk?” the blonde Artico says, looking up and down the empty
road, his lips curving into a grin. So he has a sense of humor
too.

I trudge towards the car and slip into the back seat.
The Artico closes the door, and gets into the driver’s side. He
glances over his shoulder and regards me from behind his shades. He
must smell the blood. The scent must be solidified by now. But he
doesn’t comment, and instead,
he guns the engine to life.

I gulp and stare out the window as
we drive away from the school.

***

Vampires walk amongst the streets,
dres
sed in various peculiar
attires. Some sporting top hats and walking sticks, others more
modern, dressed in rock style clothing with their hair spiked up
and held with gel.

Shops are open along the roads, and
Vampire
s move in and out of
them, doing their daily shopping. The lights from the street lamps
are dim and glowing orange, revealing the dark silhouettes of
Vampires below them.

Several heads look in our direction as we drive past
them, as though they caught the whiff of something odd, but then,
they continue with their own busi
ness, not thinking much of it.

The car suddenly stops, causing me to hurtle forward
and my seatbelt pulls me back, momentarily sucking the air out of
my lungs. I frown at the
abrupt pause, and I move my head towards the window to discern
the cause of the delay, and my face drops at the sight. A Vampire
has blocked the road.

He is standing directly in front of the car, midway
through the road. H
e is
wearing a long top hat. The sphere shaped base fans out around his
head like an umbrella. He’s wearing a duster coat; the ends of the
fabric near his ankles flap as the wind blows. His eyes are fixed
on the car. Then I realize, with a sudden coldness, they are fixed
on me. Though the windows are tinted, he must still sense me. He
must smell the blood.

The Artico honks several times. But the Vampire
on
the road doesn’t
move.

“
Why is he blocking t
he road?” I find myself asking.

“
Take a guess,” the Artico replies without
t
aking his eyes off the
Vampire.

I don’t need to guess. T
he answer is obvious, but I had hoped it was
something else. This must be a powerful Vampire if he smelled my
blood this far off and blocked the road in advance. And by his
posture and stance, he is close to losing control. I gulp and stare
at the sidewalks to find that other Vampires are pausing and
sniffing the air. This isn’t good.

“
Stay here,”
the Artico says.

“
Where are
you going?” My fear must have seeped through into my words,
because the Artico looks back with a neutral face.

“
To resolve the
complication on the road, before it escalates into a bigger
predicament.”

I nod,
take a
deep breath, and glance back out the window at the other Vampires
who are now cocking their heads and regarding the car curiously,
probably trying to figure out why the usual human, who journeys in
this car, smells extra appealing today.

The Artico swings the door open and slides out,
shutting it softly behind him. He glances about the street before
snarling at the surrounding Vampires, causing them to back off. I
wince at the primal and feral sound, the syllables high pitched and
brutal. The Vampires on the sidewalks disappear into the shadows,
sensing the bigger predator and the command issued by their
superior. But the one standing in the middle of the road doesn’t
move. He is still staring at the car, staring at
m
e.