The Last Human (Vampires Rule # 1) (3 page)

The Artico gracefully moves in
to the line of sight of the Vampire, blocking me from
his view. I tilt my head towards the window seat to get a better
look. The Vampire is now gazing at the Artico with his head cocked
to one side, his eyes blaze like a furnace. For a second, I think
he is going to attack, but then he moves back, shakes his head as
if waking from a daze, turns, and disappears into the darkness of
the night. I sigh and slump back into the car seat, wiping my
sweaty hands against my trousers.

The Artico slips back into the car and hits the
accelerator. He doesn’t say anything and keeps his focus on the
road, so I decide to break the si
lence, “So, who was that guy?”

“
A Vampire,” the Artico says
, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

My snort gets caught in my throat, and I take a deep
breath to push it down further. I stare out the windows, and at the
Vampires lurking and moving in the shadows, watching us as we
disappear around a bend.

As we drive through the city
, my thoughts drift back to Alex, the Vampire who was
so close to killing me. I wonder what Lexus will do to
him.

“
What are you thinking?” The voice of the Artico
breaks me from my thoughts
,
and I glance at the rear view mirror to find him studying
me.

“
Nothing,” I say with a shrug, but then I add,
“Well…I was thinking about the guy who almost got to me in school,
you know, the one wh
o almost
ripped my throat out.”

The Artico doesn’t reply
, and instead turns his eyes back to the road. He
presses his foot on the gas, sending the car bursting
forward.

The Manor looms in the distance; an old ancient
structure built centuries ago. The razor wire
fence
, surrounding the
perimeter, gleams under the moon light, sending out flashes of
warning to would be trespassers.

The large electronic titanium gates, at the crux of
the fence, open with a hiss as we approach. Two Artico Guards,
standing in the shadows of several oak trees, wave us through, and
we d
rive up to the empty car
park.

The Artico kills off the engine. He opens his door
and silently gets out. He slides my door open and stands back.
“
Come. Lexus wishes to see
you.”

I frown. “Is it about what happened today?” Lexus
doesn’t take attempts on my life lightly and I wonder how he is
goi
ng to react to this recent
one.

“
Not entirely,”
The Artico says in a cool voice as he begins to walk up to the
Manor’s entrance. I nod and follow. Then the thought strikes me;
where are my other Artico Guards? Why aren’t they escorting me?
With my finger bleeding, and with the worry of being eaten, and
then the relief of being rescued from that fate, didn’t really give
me much time to think about it earlier. I’ve never had Artico
Destroyers as my escorts before. I find it odd that all of a sudden
they are guarding me, and I wonder where Lucas and Wavin – my
Artico Guards – are now.

The Artico G
uards, who are standing on either side of the front door like
carved statues, step out of our way as we pass through the
reinforced steel entrance to the Manor. The hallway beyond is
brightly lit, and the patterned bulbs seem to shimmer.

The Artico leads me to Lexus’s office. He pauses
outside and motions for me to enter. I glance at him and knock on
the door, wondering wh
y he
didn’t just knock himself.

“
Come in,
”
Lexus’s calm voice answers from the other side.

I push the door open and enter the dark office. A
flickering candle, situated on Lexus’s desk, i
s the only source of light. The bright orange
and red flames cast shadows across the walls.

Lexus is sitting in his leather chair behind his
desk, his dark brown hair falls across his face a
s he flicks through paperwork.

“
How you feeling?” he ask
s without sparing me a glance.

“
Great,” I shrug. Alex’s face flashes through my
mind, contorted in fury and hunger. “What will happen to Alex?”
Breaches aren’t tolerated, especially ones that will place the
adopted son of Lexus in danger. I remember the first time one of
the Vampires had almost killed me. My Artico Guards at the time had
tackled the feral Vampire, and after that, I never saw the Vampire
ever again. I never asked what beca
me of him. Not wanting to know.

“
He will be dealt with,” Lexus says in his calm
cool voice, closing
one folder
and opening another.

“
I think he didn’t mean to --”

“
Want t
o eat
you?” Lexus finishes, glancing up, meeting my gaze. His emerald
green eyes reflect the flames of the glimmering candle, creating a
golden crisscross of colours across his pupils. “What do you think
I should do with him?”

I stare at the burning candle for inspiration, before
turning back t
o him. “Um…give
him a warning?”

Lexus regards me for a moment,
his steady eyes locked on mine before putting the
folder he was holding aside and picking up a new one. “I have
something important to tell you.” He stares at the folder in front
of him for several seconds before placing it atop of a neat pile.
He places both his arms behind his head, interlocking the fingers
of his hands, and leans back in his chair. He studies me with his
emerald green eyes for several long seconds.

It’s in these rare moments that you can see how young
he was before he was turned. His skin is smooth and flawless, and
his eyes are intelligent and wise. There is a youthful quality
about him, e
ven though he is
centuries old.

“
There have been some issues. And I have decided
to assign you two Artico Destroyers as your escorts until the
matters are resolved.” He falls si
lent and waits for my reaction.

“
What kind of
issues?”

His expression remains carefully neutral when he
says, “The new escorts have b
een assigned for your safety.”

I toss his words around in my head.
This issue must be big if he is
assigning some of the elite Articos as my escorts. And the only
thing this big could be a threat from the outside. I look up to see
him nodding, confirming my suspicions. So the threats could be from
any four sources.

First
, from the
Balderush Vampires up North, who have been known to never be
content with what they have. One was caught the other week trying
to sneak past the border; apparently he was after blood supplies
and was sent by his superiors to locate where we kept our blood
banks. Not quite sure what became of him, but Lexus later assured
me that he was tossed back over the border with a letter of warning
for his superiors.

The second thr
eat is from the Kron Vampires down South. They are known for
their betrayal and greed, and in the past, they have conspired
against both the Artico and Balderush Vampires. They are always
lurking in the shadows, waiting and prowling for a golden
opportunity to strike.

The third threat is from the E
ast; no one knows what even exists there anymore.
Some say it’s just abandoned deserts. Others say large masses of
humans populate the lands. Many tend to believe the latter, but all
those who have ventured east are never seen again. It is as though
they disappeared as soon as they arrived there. Lexus is certain
humans reside there, hidden and safe from external
threats.

The final threat is from the Shadow Zone; a strip of
land known as ‘No Vamps territory’. Some say mutations exist within
the desolat
e ruins of the
Zone. Others claim predators reside there who are best left alone.
A cloak of impenetrable darkness surrounds the Zone, which
according to Lexus was the result of radiation explosives, hiding
what-ever is within from view.

“
Elis and Maxwell will be your
escorts,” Lexus interrupts my wandering
thoughts. He looks over my shoulder, and I follow his gaze to see
them entering.

I glance between them. The Destroyer sporting the
beard is holding my school bag in one hand. His jawline is set
hard, and the muscles of his arms strain against his Destroyer
uniform. Although not as muscular as
the other Destroyer, the blonde Destroyer is lean and
exudes power and confidence. I find myself wondering how old and
powerful he really is.

I nod my head and turn back to Lexus, who is now
staring at my pocket. I
realize I still have my hand hidden in there.

“
Jake, wash the stain off. Make sure it is
completely erased,” Lexus says
, glancing up at me.

I nod, with a dip of my head, and change the subject
to something less bloodless. “What you filing through?” I ask,
inclining my head at the masses of fo
lders neatly piled on his desk.

“
Evaluating the city finances,” he says, his eyes
drift
ing over his littered
desk. “Then I have the food supplies to analyze.” It takes me a
moment to realize I’ve been dismissed.

As
I turn to
leave, Elis and Maxwell glide to one side, giving me access to the
door. I glance over my shoulder at Lexus, and a grin begins to form
across my lips, “Catch you later, dad.”

I laugh as one of his
eyebrows arch up.

It happened when I
was five.

We lived in the country side, isolated and away from
any other living humans, who my parents told me existed somewhere
out there, somewhere in the wilderness, living in groups and
societies. I used to ask them, why can’t
we visit them? Some day we will, they used to
reassure me.

My dad harvested the crops in the summer; his
blonde hair glowed under the sun’s
rays as he worked during the days. “Want to help me?” he always
said, with his blue eyes twinkling and a bright smile radiating
across his face.

My mom tended to the chickens and kept the house in
order. Her short wavy hair always managed to fall into her eyes,
and she always laughed when I pointed it out a
nd suggested she should cut it.

Every day I ran out into the fields, inhaling the
scent of pine wood and blossoming flowers. I careened along the
lush green grass, smiling as the wind rushed against my skin and as
crisp air weaved its way through my lungs. I breathed in the life
around me, cherishing every moment, cheri
shing every second of my life.

During the days we were free. During the
n
ights we hid under the
cottage.

It was a happy life. I remember vivid details as
though it was only yesterday. I remember the first time I touched a
chicken. I remember the first time I climbed a tree, and couldn’t
get back down until my dad lifted me off the branch I was gripping.
I remember the sweet cakes my mother used to make. I
r
emember my father’s rich
laugh.

We were content.
We were together. We were happy… until they came.

I heard stories from
my parents of creatures that lurked in the darkness, hiding and
moving within the shadows. My parents told me during the days we
were mostly safe from the creatures, but during the nights we had
to hide. I was young then, and such stories kept me entertained. I
thought that’s what they were; just stories, until the night of my
birthday.

It was past sunset and my father was outside, locking
the chickens in the barn. My mother was leading me downstairs, and
into the basement to sleep. We had had a long day, celebrating my
fifth birthday, opening presents, and eating cake. Halfway down the
basement steps we heard the noise. It was like nothing I had ever
heard before. I had hea
rd
wolves howl out in the woods, but this was different. It was a high
pitched, ear splitting growl. And it was close.

My mother froze and her eyes widened. I didn’t
understand what was happening,
but I knew something was wrong - that we were in danger. I was
too scared to speak. My mother grabbed my hand and almost dragged
me down into the basement. She took me to a secret hideout
location, built under the floorboards. She hugged me one last time
before lifting me down into the darkness.

Hot tears flowed along my face. She didn’t meet my
eyes when she told me to stay quiet and still. She told me she
loved me. She told me not to open the lock, no matter what I heard
or what happened. She told me if she didn’t come back, I should go
through one of the tunnels, which lead
to the other side of the woods and into a cave we had
once visited.

I wanted to tell her she had to come back for me. I
wanted to tell her nothing was going to happen. I wanted to
tell
her I was scared of the
tunnel, but no words came out of my mouth. The last I saw of her
was when she closed the trap door, blinking back her tears, and
engulfing me in darkness. I just stood there, looking up at the
place where her face had been, until the savage snarls had me
backing into a corner.