The Dracula Index - Vampire Epoch//01

49 - Mell

So, with the map in our possession, we switched off the lights and locked the cellar door before meeting up with the boys at the pipe heap, just as they finished moving the picket. Edie was there with them, which was a surprise. I had begged her not to leave Hospital House.

"I need this more than anything," she told me the moment I came close.

I wish she had stayed inside because this was the first opportunity that Crevan had to be alone with her since they had been pinned and she ran for the wasteland. I hadn't noticed the way he was looking at her. Roz told me about the look after we had separated them and Luther Priest was trying to calm Bryne down. Apparently, he was staring at her with sort of an untamed hunger. I was close enough to hear when she murmured something back and Crevan grabbed her by the arm. Then he threw her against the pipe heap and tore her shirt. Crevan smacked his hand against her neck and latched himself to Edie before yanking her face to his. Had her neck broken in that moment, I would not have been surprised. There, he planted a forced kiss against her lips. She squealed and bat her fists against his thick arms, but he was too strong for her. All of us were concerned for Edie, but more so about the noise they were making. Bryne, being stronger than Crevan in every way, stepped forward and pushed him off her in a single thrust.

As Crevan backed away, Bryne advanced on him with a finger outstretched. "I will take you to the Neverdowns faster than you can scream for help. You hear me?"

Crevan found his balance and bumped into Bryne's heaving chest, his voice a heated whisper. "Edie was pinned a Bearer. She belongs to me. It's my right to claim her."

Roz was holding Edie back, but now Felicity had to stop Roz from jumping Crevan. Mouths were being covered, shouting was silenced, and Luther stepped between them to beg for peace.

"Claim her?" Bryne scoffed. "We're hardly out of school and you already think you're an Elder."

"You're jealous. Admit it."

"The only reason you were pinned a Breeder and I wasn't is because I played dumb my whole life. The job you have provides nothing to the camp. I would be a General for ten lifetimes before choosing to be a Breeder. You, my friend, are nothing but a host for the ingredients of life."

"That's enough," Oscar said softly, as he lowered the looking glass he had at eye level. "You're making too much noise. The Watchmen are moving. We have to leave. Now."

"But we're here. We're all here."

Luther pulled Bryne back as Crevan smirked in his direction. Then Felicity spoke.

"If Edie tries to leave, I will scream. She cannot go into the wasteland in her condition."

"We go back. Agreed? We have the map. The night was a success, but it's over.

Rufus spun on Crevan. "Return the key before they find it missing. I'll keep the map in this pipe here," he said, sliding it into one of the thinner in the heap. "Never-hour. Tomorrow. We return, crawl through the pipe heap, and enter the wasteland. It's dangerous out there. I know that more than any of you. You leave all this behind, or we die. Do you understand me?"

We were nodding, in awe of the person we were seeing before us. Rufus was not usually the most sound mind, but he had brought us all back to reality and I was thankful.

Now, I'm in the toilet room of bunkhouse for Generals, and I'm ready to read the next passage in privacy. We've taken so many risks, hoping to find a solution down this narrow path of thinking. I hope these next letters bring me closer to what I need to know.