After a few silent arguments that they’re clearly blocking me from, Kasen leads me down the steps, and I don’t turn back to look at Malcolm or Beckett. If I do, I might break seeing their concern, and right now, I’m tired of being afraid. I’m tired of hurting, and I’m tired of... everything, really.
Life’s so fucking unfair and we’re expected to simply be grateful that the hand we were dealt isn’t as bad as someone else’s. It negates not only our suffering, but everyone’s until universally, we’re convinced to accept our lot in life so we don’t fight for more.
I don’t want more, can’t handle another fucking thing being thrown at me. I just want people to actually give a shit and try to save other people from going through what I did. That would be the real miracle; getting people to care about anyone besides themselves.
Shifters have that sense of community though. Mages put on a cynical front, but they want that too. Maybe we need to erase the term ‘basic human decency’ from the dictionary and acknowledge that human behavior isn’t something that should be emulated.
The trek back to the creek is made without a word, only the wind whipping through the trees, the crack of thunder, and our hasty footsteps across the forest floor keeping it from being completely unnerving silence. The ten military men scan our surroundings constantly without a blip of emotion to the point I honestly envy them. They know how to flip the switch and compartmentalize. They know how to ignore the trauma until it’s safe to break down. I’d give my left tit for that ability right now, because as I stare at the hole I know we need to crawl into, my entire body locks up for a few seconds.
“You don’t need to do this, angel,” Kasen murmurs, snapping me out of my paralysis.
“Yeah. I do.”
Naturally, four of the strangers go first to clear the area, and once Kasen realizes it’s a decent drop, he insists on going before me so that he can catch me. Not a single person bats an eye at him striding around in the buff, and it hits me how different people can be raised.
I was raised to question every decision and still fail the societal standard of expectations, and everyone else in this cavern was raised to embrace who they are without shame, even in a world where most people despise them.
Six men take the lead with Kasen and I in the center, the other four behind us. Any time the tunnel splits off, I gesture towards the path we need to take. The only sound comes from our footsteps and the trickling of water, giving everything the ominous feeling of walking to the gallows. When we finally reach the central chamber and pool, I turn to the tunnel that the first vampire appeared in, watching Beck and I sleep.
“That one, I think,” I whisper while pointing. “We didn’t go down it, but I’m ninety percent sure that’s the way.”
They nod, and two of the men behind us join those in front as it becomes apparent we’re wading into uncharted territory. We follow it around a curve before it takes a sharp decline. With a steadying breath, we head into the oppressive darkness, leaving the faint, glowing water behind. I shamelessly tighten my grip on Kasen’s hand and step closer to him. My thundering heart beat might give our location away, but there’s nothing I can do about it, and I release a slow, relieved breath when I realize that I’m not alone in that.
The others might appear unaffected, but that doesn’t mean they are. They’re just better at hiding it than I am, but there are certain tells where our body simply betrays us despite our best efforts. And right now, there’s no hiding the sound of their rapid heartbeats either.
Several flashlights click on, mounted to the sides of their tranquilizer guns, and illuminate the tunnel. A man in front raises his fist, signaling for us all to stop. He gestures for two men to follow him around the next bend and after several shots, one returns to beckon us forward. We step around a few slumbering vampires, and if they’re still in the nest while the rest are out, and this deep nonetheless, they must be here for a reason.
A final line of defense.
I’m not sure what I expected to see, but it wasn’t a set of milky eyes trained on my face the second I rounded the corner. Even with all of the threats in the room, those eyes stay trained on me as if tracking my movements, despite the fact he’s clearly blind, or at least close to it after two hundred years trapped underground. He doesn’t need to see in the darkness when he can see through the eyes of those under his control, and with as much blood is coating me, there’s no way he can’t smell me.
Sallow, wrinkled skin is barely covered in filthy sweatpants and a stained t-shirt, but they’re not the torn rags most vampires run around in. His long, grey hair is a greasy mess that hands to his shoulders in matted tangles as he simply sits on a pile of old blankets, staring at us. But despite the unnerving coloring of his eyes, he doesn’t stare blankly. It’s like he’s watching, waiting for the inevitable and choosing to face his fate with his head held high.
A warning sound rumbles through Kase’s chest as he pulls me closer into his side, tucking me slightly behind him. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
One of the men behind us grunts. “Preaching to the choir. Never gets easier, but it’s like this one’s already given up.”
Vice whistles low. “Damn, I bet if I brought Evie this one, she’d let me try that thing after all.” Kasen and I give him a look that questions his sanity while one of the men to our left snorts.
“Live test subjects give his girl lady boners,” he explains.
Vice cocks his head as he stares at the unflinching original. “Most of them go down swinging, but this one may as well be asking us to put him out of his misery.” He shakes his head with a sigh and withdraws his handgun from the holster on his hip, passing his tranq gun to the man behind him. “But Ash would lose his shit if I brought an original home. Guy owes me one, that’s for damn sure,” he grumbles, aiming the gun directly at the ancient vampire’s forehead.
He lifts his gun and fires, the shot echoing around the cave. My eyes widen, the original still sitting in the same space as before, but a chunk of rock missing behind his head.“He really moved that fast?”
“We’re leaving,” Kasen declares, not giving any room for debate on the subject. “You showed them where he’s at, but you’re just going to have to get your closure in therapy like the rest of us.”
Those unblinking eyes are still locked on me even as the original dodges another two shots, rolling to one knee with his foot braced behind him.
“Sounds fair to me.”
Without an ounce of protest, the men behind us part so Kasen and I can sprint back toward the tunnel. Shots ring out around us along with a steady stream of cursing. We make it all of ten steps before Kasen shoves me forward, shifting in a blink and using his bulk to intercept the vampire.
The sound that comes out of his maw shakes the cave as he lands a hit on the original, his claws tearing into the man’s cheek and sending him slamming into the side of the tunnel. He rolls at the last second, and the tranq dart that was fired at him goes sailing through empty air before embedding in Kasen’s paw.
“Oh, comeon!” I shriek in frustration, glaring at the men that fucking trained for this sort of shit.
I yank it out of Kasen’s foot and throw it on the ground. He doesn’t shift back, buying himself more time before he’s knocked on his ass due to his size. He shoves me behind him like a living shield, but even now, his movements are sluggish. It’s harder for the others to fight in the tunnel, the chances of someone else getting caught in the crossfire increasing with every passing movement. A few of the men shift while others draw wicked looking hunting knives, holding their own, but not making much progress on anything other than herding the vampire past us back towards the cavern with the pool and leaving us in complete darkness.
