Captive

Chapter 2

Ella

 

                We try to fight. Of course we try to fight, though we know it’s no use. Gun shots ring out uselessly, people scream, maybe I’m screaming, I’m not entirely sure. I’m flailing in a vampire’s grip; I know that because I can see my arms and legs flying out around me as though they aren’t a part of my body. My eyes are darting frantically until they settle on Charlie. She’s looking at me, and her look of horror and grief break my heart. She tried, we both tried, to keep ourselves safe and alive, but it didn’t make a difference.

                "Charlie," I whisper, my voice sounding foreign and distant.

                As I stare into Charlie’s blue eyes, I wonder what she’s thinking. I’m thinking ‘what if we are the last free humans alive, and now the vampires truly have won?’ And then I start to feel tired and weak, and I know they must have started drinking my blood and that I’m suffering blood loss.

That’s what my life has come down to. Nothing.

Casey

 

                5:46pm finally comes around, and I’m out of my bedroom, down the stairs and out the front door within seconds. Lockie doesn’t come out to say anything, because there’s nothing he can say after four years of the same routine. I’ll spend the night out somewhere alone, probably in a park or at the beach. I’ll imagine the sun warming my skin as I’m about to run into the surf, my friends and I having a great time and checking out the hot chicks as they walk past in their bikinis with their golden skin glowing.

                In reality I’ll just sit in that park or on that beach for nine hours doing nothing, speaking to no one. I’ll pine over a life lost that I can never get back, and continue to be a disappointment to my big brother.

                That’s what my existence has turned into. Nothing.

Ella

 

                My eyes fly open and I inhale quickly. I feel cold metal against my cheek and I try to move to see where I am, but I can’t. I suddenly recall the night’s events, and realise my worst fears have come true. I’ve become a vampire.

                A loud pounding fills my head as I begin to panic over this realisation. But immediately I know this not to be the case, because the pounding in my head is my hammering heart. I’m still alive, but now I’m not sure if this fact scares me more than the thought of becoming a vampire. After all, there are only a few options for humans who run into the un-dead. You either die as an immediate meal, get turned into a leech yourself, or you end up in a blood farm.

                I try not to think about my impending future living in a blood farm and assess my current situation. I now know I’m tied up, and that’s why I can’t get up, but I can move my head around enough to see my surroundings. I’m being contained in a large wire cage in what looks to be a warehouse. I concentrate lower and realise I’m not the only human in here. The rest of my small group is here, I can see Jack and Mara, and when my eyes settle on Charlie my future doesn’t seem so bleak. It’ll all be ok as long as Charlotte is with me.

                “You awake sunshine?” a man’s gruff voice pulls my attention away from my sister’s still form. He’s staring down at me through the wire, his face contorted into a grimace, and I can see his fangs.

                I begin to thrash to see if my bindings will give, though it’s all in vain. But I continue to thrash about anyway, screaming every horrible word under the sun.

                “Oi, O’Connor!” the man above me calls out. “Get in here and sedate this one. She’s going crazy!”

                The threat of sedation only makes me more panicked, and I flail about even more. The one named O’Connor and the gruff voiced man enter the cage and bend down beside me on the ground. O’Connor pulls out a syringe while the other one pins me to the ground. He’s so much stronger than I could have imagined, I can’t move a muscle with him on top of me.

                “Dose her up good,” he says as O’Connor draws up the needle. “Nobody’s gonna want to buy damaged goods.”

                I barely feel the prick of the needle as it enters my system, but I can’t help but feel a chill spread through my body as I try and decipher what the vampire meant when he spoke about 'buying damaged goods'. I don’t have very long to worry about it before the drugs begin to take effect. My head lolls to the side and I see that Charlie is awake and staring at me.

                I see her mouth move to form my name silently. The look she gives me is one I’ve seen before, the day our parents didn’t come home.

Casey

                I walk home from the beach as slowly as possible. I have nothing to rush back to. As I reach our house, I stand outside the front door, watching the horizon for the coming sunrise. I enjoy entering the safety of the house at the last minute. It’s exhilarating; the orange rays of the sun peeking over the horizon, ready to reduce me to nothing but ash.

                Suicide is something I’ve thought about a lot over my four years of being 19, but I’ve never been brave enough to actually carry it out. Being a walking corpse is bad, but I’m even more scared of what will happen next if I die again.

                As the sun begins to show itself, I rip the door open, rush inside and slam it behind me, leaning on it for support.

                “You’re an idiot.” Lachlan’s standing in the kitchen staring at me. He’s only wearing a pair of board shorts, and I can see fresh bites and scratches on his chest, neck and arms.

                I roll my eyes, pushing myself off the door and head into the kitchen. “Are they gone?”

                Lachlan stares at me, and I can see pure disappointment in his eyes. “They’re gone. Not that it has anything to do with you.”

                I scoff. “Nah, I just live here.”

                In a second he’s flown across the kitchen and I’m pinned beneath his arm against a wall. “That’s right. You live here because I let you. Don’t you ever forget that.” His face is just inches from mine, and I can smell human blood and alcohol on his breath. After slamming me into the wall again, he lets me go. “Get out of my sight.”

                As I walk silently up to my room, I wish he’d never changed me into a vampire. I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling for the next 40 minutes, until I hear Lachlan making his way upstairs. He knocks on my door, something he only does when he knows he’s done something to upset me. I know there’s no use ignoring him or telling him to get lost, so I invite him in. I sit myself up as he enters, and he sits down on the bed too, handing me a glass of blood. I try not to look too desperate as I take it from him, but I’m starved. Lachlan looks at his glass with dissatisfaction. Its human blood, but it was taken a few days ago and has been refrigerated. Though it’s been years since I’ve had blood straight from a human, I can still remember how insanely good it is. Better than this stuff I’m drinking now.

                Lachlan takes another sip, and then looks at my blackened window. “Things are gonna change around here. I’m gonna change and you’re gonna change. It’ll be better.” I’ve got no idea what he’s talking about, but I nod, because I know I shouldn’t do or say anything else. “I’m gonna make it up to you, right mate? I'm gonna take care of you.” His free hand grips my shoulder, and I look at it as though it’s a foreign object I’ve never seen before.

                But I have seen it before. The same gesture he used many years ago, on the day when our parents didn't come home.