Resentment

Part 18

Jade POV

Freedom. I couldn't quite believe it. At the lawyers announcement everyone began filing from the room as if it wasn't some sort of joke. Beatrice picked up David; he hung limply like a ragdoll.

I tried to step away from the wall and stumbled as my knees tried to give way. I had been hanging up for a long time. Jamie caught me and pulled me up into his arms without comment. I didn't want to appear weak in front of all of the unknown people, but I didn't have a lot of choice. It was a struggle to keep my eyes open, let alone consider walking any distance. Without blood for an extended time, my body had been unable to properly heal from the abuse it had sustained. I was pretty sure there was a lot of damage, even breathing was painful.

The journey out of the building was a blur. I faded in and out of consciousness as Jamie carried me to the lift and up towards the exit. I faintly noticed the lawyer collecting a small bag of the various possessions they had taken from us when we entered.

I knew the instant we were outside. I tilted my face up towards the faint drizzle that fell, liking the feel of it on my face. The cool, clean, fresh air hit me and I inhaled deeply despite the pain it brought. It was a relief to smell something other than blood and terror. There was however a lot of other surprising and slightly alarming scents. The predominant one was vampire, a lot of vampire. Distressed I pulled myself back to reality.

The first thing I realised was that there was a lot of sound. Voices, a lot of voices. Tilting my head up as far as I could manage I surveyed the scene. Beyond the gates to the facility, crowds of people filled the space as far as I could see. At first I viewed them with trepidation, but after a moment I realised that the shouts were not angry, they were joyful. These people were happy about our release. Examining faces I could see that a great deal were human, but further back blending in I could also see many faces of my kind. Abruptly I focused on those who were right at the front and my heart leapt before suddenly I felt the icy tendrils of fear. Surely they weren't safe? Anna waved excitedly, whilst Chris stood by her side protectively, eyeing the nearby guards with distrust. Felix stood looking impassive behind them.

"What is going on?" I murmured to Beatrice who paused nearby, still carrying David.

"I will explain later." She whispered back, "just go with it for now. It's safe."

I swallowed a little nervously; I wasn't used to having so many eyes on me. I much preferred to be in the shadows. The more animalistic part of my brain wished I had the strength to just run away and avoid the entire situation. As it was, I gritted my teeth and waited for it to be over so I could sleep.

The guards accompanied us as far as the perimeter, but as soon as we were through the gates they stopped, letting them slide shut behind us. We were alone with the crowd.

Beatrice stepped forwards and raised her voice. "Thank you everyone for your support. We will answer all of your questions first thing in the morning. But, as you can see, the captives have been severely abused and injured. We need to give them some time to recover first."

To my surprise, the people parted respectfully as Beatrice moved confidently forwards, clearing a path for us. Jamie followed closely behind her with me, and Mr Smith and the cameramen brought up the rear. I heard him murmuring quiet assurances to people that all their questions would be answered soon enough. I noted that Anna and the two vampires fell in a few steps behind everything, quietly following in our direction.

As we walked we neared an opening to a large plot of land, a field. Large squares and domes broke the space every few feet. I frowned before I comprehended; trailers and tents. The large crowds of people were slowly filtering away towards various structures. The vampires disappearing into the shadows.