In the center of the area, the morning light glinted off the dew-kissed vegetables and fruit as humans worked diligently, their movements precise and efficient as they harvested the bountiful crops. Looking around, I saw levels of floors above me, all converging here. “Is this a…mall?” I hadn’t thought of a shopping mall in years. The few remaining ones were mainly deserted before the war, and the rise of online shopping during the pandemic rendered them almost obsolete.
Jude nodded. “Silvertown Mall is what it used to be called, but now it’s our headquarters. It’s two floors, and each wing has its own community. Judging by the light, everyone will be waking up soon.” He pointed in three different directions. “The north end houses the people who grow and prepare food, the east side is home to all the healers, and the western area is home to our maintenance workers and technologists. We all have a part to play in our survival.”
“What about the south end of the mall?”
“Oh, wouldn’tyoulike to know?” Jude paused before laughing.
Was he flirting with me? What’s going on here?
With an irritating smirk, he pointed down the hallway we had just come from. “That’s the military wing, where all ourweapons are stored. It has the jail, the exit, and the entrance to the lower levels. The south wing is completely forbidden to everyone unless summoned.”
“So which wing of the mall am I going to be part of?” I prayed he didn’t say I was returning to the movie theatre to live in a jail cell.
“You’ll be in the south, so I can keep an eye on you. You’ll be locked inside a small room right next to mine. Wherever you go, I go.”
Well, it wasn’t a jail cell, but I was a prisoner all the same.
Almost as if a switch was flipped, people—humans—crowded the center of the mall. They scurried from each corner of the building, their footsteps echoing on the cold tile floor as they crowded to the center. Ragged and faded, their brown, green, and white clothes looked like they’d been scavenged from a dumpster. It looked like safety pins held their clothes together, while others had drab and faded colors splashed amid the dim tones. The cold from outside painted their cheeks a rosy pink, and their hair, tousled by the wind, framed their faces.
In Elysium, the vampires always looked like they had stepped out of a Vogue magazine, radiating an aura of chic, modern style. Yet, looking at these creatures, there was a noticeable difference from what I was used to. The unpleasant smells from the humans filled my nostrils, causing me to scrunch up my nose and try to discreetly mask my revulsion.
“Are you hungry?” Jude lowered his eyebrows, his mouth slightly open in a silent question, a furrow in his brow. “Err…do you eat food?”
A wave of fury washed over me. Were all humansthisstupid? “Even vampires eat food, idiot. We don’t just sit around and drink blood all day.” I knew my tone was harsher than expected, but his ignorance annoyed me.
He held his hands at chest level, his body language signaling me to calm down. “Chill, vampire boy, I’ll grab us some breakfast, stay here.” Jude pushed through the crowd toward a row of carts full of people grabbing the food on display.
I could run and try to escape. He left my side. Was this a trap? A trial to see what I’d do?
A flock of children pushed past me, their laughter echoing as they danced, their energy infectious. Vampires weren’t able to have children, but that didn’t stop us from trying. Turning seemed to mark the end of our fertility, as if our sperm and eggs died along with us. The early years of Elysium were marked by tragic struggles: countless couples tried for children, only to face the devastating consequences of miscarriages or infertility. Eventually, we accepted the harsh truth and just gave up trying to procreate.
The children’s laughter reached my ears; it sounded like magic bells floating through the air. Euphoria surged through me, a grin splitting my face as I watched them, their happy squeals and shrieks creating a symphony of delight. Their carefree innocence awakened something inside of me—probably the nostalgia of the children I once knew.
“Whoa, this is different.” Jude laughed, a bright, joyous sound, as he returned, holding a small, paper-wrapped package. “I didn’t realize you knew how to smile.”
Snatching the food from his hands, I shot a look at the man next to me, my heart pounding as I tried to regain my composure. I hadn’t seen a child in a long time, so their presence shocked me, but I didn’t want Jude to think I was going soft, so I tried to remember the gross things about children—the sticky, snot-filled noses and the smell of vomit on their clothes. My smile faltered, a frown tugging at my lips as I silently unwrapped the tasteless, grey-tinged food. “What is this?”
“It’s what we have every morning, a veggie, egg, and cheese bagel.”
A warm sandwich, about the size of my fist, lay nestled on the white paper. Its center displayed a muted layer of green, yellow, and orange. I scoffed. “No bacon?”
Well, this wasn’t Louie’s, that’s for sure.
Jude’s smile, a slow, crooked grin, turned towards me, one eyebrow playfully raised. “Bacon? Where do you think we have room for livestock? I’m sorry if this isn’t up to par with the fancy vampire complex.”
I liked someone who could volley with me, but I had to remind myself he was the enemy, no matter how attractive he was. These people kidnapped me. They took me from my home. From my dad. From Gabe. “But you have chickens for the eggs?”
“Nah.” He shook his head. “Our eggs aren’t real. The people in the north end of Silvertown found out how to make an egg substitute. It’s not good, but it’s the best we have.”
I stared at the sandwich in front of me momentarily, debating whether I wanted to eat the fake food. I was used to real eggs and caviar in Elysium, not the faux food the humans offered. It was no wonder they all smell terrible. I had to admit, I didn’t think I’d be able to muster any empathy for the people who kidnapped me, but seeing their harsh living conditions tugged at my heartstrings. How could someone live in such squalor and think it was okay? I guessed if this was how it had always been, a kind of numbness settled in, and people adapted. They didn’t know anything different.
In a way, they were a little like me.
Noticing my pensive silence, Jude chuckled once more. “Follow me, we have an appointment with a friend of mine.”
He waved me left, toward the west side of the mall, pushing through the dense crowd. The sounds of chattering and the smell of egg wafted around me. The people surged toward the mall’scenter, a sea of bodies pushing and shoving until the path ahead narrowed to a mere sliver. Walking behind Jude, I spotted a dented metal trash can nearby and silently snuck my half-eaten, cold, and slimy breakfast inside.
Chapter Thirteen
