The building was on fire? Had someone blown it up? Was that bang I'd heard before an explosion?
The smell of smoke intensified as we ran through the darkened hallway. Suddenly Sam stopped and turned to me, holding something in his hand. He grabbed hold of my bracelet-covered wrist and pressed whatever he had in his hand against the metal. It buzzed and contracted before opening up, falling to the floor. I stared at my wrist, rubbing the tender skin; two small puncture wounds were visible on the underside of my wrist. Wounds like these I had seen before, they looked just like vampire bite marks. My eyes traveled and met Sam's. Even in the dim light I could see his inhuman eyes, watching me closely.
"Emily we have to keep moving," he urged and I felt my feet taking off again. The smoke thickened, making me cough and with a hand I covered my mouth and nose. I guess the rebellion had begun, I thought vaguely as we rounded a corner, only to come to a sudden halt when we both noticed something blocking our way. Well, someone.
Two very angry looking vampires stood shoulder to shoulder and practically wall to wall. One had a large gash on the forehead, but there was no blood. I guess when your body wasn't functioning like a human anymore, the blood stopped flowing.
"Shax's prisoner stays here traitor," the vamp growled, but it only made Sam step in front of me, shielding me from sight.
"Over my dead body," Sam replied, his voice stone cold. I didn't feel like reminding him that technically his body was already dead, so those words were kind of useless in this situation.
I coughed from the smoke I was inhaling and I desperately tried to get my breathing under control, feeling my lungs burn in the process. I registered movement from the corner of my eye. One of the vampire guards had charged against Sam. I felt myself inch backwards, but suddenly everything in front of me was a blur. With an inhuman vampire speed, Sam and the guards engaged themselves in a fight. I couldn't tell who was who or what was happening. I took another step backwards and felt my breathing starting to calm down, though it was more raspy than before. I bit my lip, trying to make out what was happening; clearly Sam was an experienced fighter since he could fight off two other vampires at the same time without them getting to me. But he shouldn't have to fight alone.
I swallowed and coughed slightly from the soreness of my throat, but pushed the unpleasant feeling away and focused on taking deep breaths, trying to find the source of my energy. After a few tries I spotted something inside me. There. A flicker of blue light danced inside me and I mentally reached out, trying to grasp it. I heard someone groan and looked up to see Sam lying on the floor. I was out of time.
I grabbed onto the string of light and felt it run through my body, down my arms and filling up both my hands, making my fingertips tingle with a pleasant delight. My hands kept filling up until I thought they were on the brink of bursting open from the sudden pressure.
I raised my hands, holding them up in front of me, pointed at the two vampires who were watching me with apprehension. It was then one of the vampires noticed my bare wrist.
"She doesn't have her bracelet!"
Both of them charged and just when I thought I couldn't hold back anymore, I felt the penned up energy leave my hands and I let out a feral cry as two small blue bolts emerged from my palms and immediately combined and formed one ball, and I watched as it hit the wall left of the two vampires. Both of them had stopped in their tracks, possibly stunned, and they looked at the scorching burn mark around the small hole in the wall that had appeared from impact. Even I had to stare at it. I had done that. I looked down at my hands in awe.
Suddenly a growl made me snap my head back up and I saw one of the vamps coming towards me and survival instinct once again took control of my body. I was still connected with the internal energy that coursed through me and keeping my hands up in front of me, I took a little better aim and still felt shocked when the bolts pushed through my skin and formed one ball of radiant blue light.
The blast firmly knocked me off my feet and the last I saw was the energy ball hitting the attacking vampire squarely in the chest and the next thing I knew, I hit my head on something hard and my vision blackened.
"Emily! Emily, wake up!" The voice calling me was urgent, and familiar. I groaned as I tried to sit up, instantly reaching up to feel the back of my head, wincing in pain as I came in contact with the sore skin. My eyes flickered open and a blurred face was inches from mine. I gasped and pushed backwards, scrambling to get away until a hand wrapped around my arm, forcing me to stay. Then I realized it was Sam.
"You woke up," I said, staying in place now. He smiled at me and got me to my feet. I swayed a little as I found my balance, but Sam didn't let go of me until he was sure I could stand by myself.
"I was about to say the same thing," he smiled, "it'll take more than those two goons to take me out," he mocked and I looked behind him, seeing two limp bodies lying on the floor.
"What happened?" I asked, still trying to figure out how I was still alive.
"You got knocked out by your own power," Sam said with a smile playing on his lips. How could he be having fun in a situation like this?
"I guess I don't know my own strength," I croaked, "which I don't actually," I continued and was awarded with another smile from Sam.
"The other vampire?" I asked, and his grin actually grew a fraction wider.
"I got to him in time before he got to you." I shook my head, but stopped as it pained my skull to do so. I gently rubbed the back of my sore head and knew a lump would be making its way out of my scalp soon enough.
"If you're able to walk, we really should get the hell out of here," Sam said and I nodded. Smoke was still coming in from every direction and I my throat was clenching up again. Sam noticed and grasping my hand he tugged me along down the corridor, passing the two vampires, and I fought the sudden urge to really kick them when they were down.
"Are they.. Are they dead?" I hesitantly asked as we walked by, my hand feeling oddly clammy in his cold one. The vampire I had hit with my power lay motionless with a whisper of smoke emanating from the hole in his chest whilst the other vampire seemed to, quite frankly, had lost his head. I realized now that my question was redundant. Even vampires couldn't survive something like that.
"They won't be bothering us again," he muttered as we made our way through the maze that was the hotel. I kept expecting to see other guards, or even Shax himself waiting around every corner, but I was always able to breathe a sigh of relief whenever we rounded them. It seemed like we were alone, but sometimes I could hear faint commotion from somewhere above me. When asked about it, Sam tensed his shoulders, but didn't turn around.
"Nox and the rest made sure they were kept occupied enough for us to slip out unnoticed."
A powerful tremor shook the whole building, causing debris to crash down around us, but Sam expertly maneuvered us around everything. That was when I noticed we were out in the lobby again, at the front of the hotel. Glancing at the boarded up entrance, I could make out a deep red golden light coming in from the outside. The sun must be going down. We definitely had to get out of here before it did, or I had a clear thought that this city would be crawling with these bloodsuckers. Sam let me down several flights of stairs, and I didn't even bother trying to remember the route back, because I seriously hoped never to come back to this place again. But a nagging feeling at the back of my mind said I wouldn't be so lucky.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked as we stalked down a scantly lit hallway, I could tell we were underground which was then I realized I was alone, in a dark hallway going who knows where, with a vampire who had just ripped the head off another vampire. Was I going completely insane? Ever since Nox had found me, everything I thought I knew about life and about myself had been turned upside down. I was discovering this completely new side of myself and about my past, about my father. An angry thought entered my head, but I willed myself not to think about him. If what Nox had told me was true, then I hoped never to talk about him again. I focused my eyes on the back of Sam's red sweatshirt as I followed him blindly through the darkness.
That was another thing that had changed drastically; my view on vampires. All my life I had been brought up to hate these undead beings that came and stole our world, pushing humans off their throne and cast them down on the ground as worthless cattle to be fed on when wanted. They were everything worth hating in this abandoned world and the blame was all on them. Yet, here I was, following a vampire through the dark, trusting him to lead me to safety.
"Do you trust me, Emily?" Sam asked as a reply to my question. Before I could reply he came to a halt, and I stopped behind him, watching as he pushed aside something heavy looking, revealing a doorway that led into something even darker. Sam turned, and I could barely make out his face.
"Well?"
My mind was racing; less than a week ago I was armed and ready to fight for my life and kill any inhuman creature than came across my path. I would risk my life to protect my two best and only friends, but look where that got me. I hadn't even been able to raise a fist before those two people that meant everything to me had been taken away for good, by creatures that shouldn't even be alive in the first place. And now I was asked if I trusted one of them. These thoughts whirled around inside me like a frantic hurricane.
But looking at Sam and looking back at all that had happened these past few days, which by the way, felt like months instead of days, I had come to the conclusion that my mind had been too narrow when it came to vampires. I would never be able to forgive Nox for what he did to Dennis and Johan, but that didn't mean that I couldn't try and understand his intentions that lay behind. He had spent all those years, since I was little, trying to protect me from the clutches of Shax, and even now, when everything had seemed lost, he kept trying.
Even though Shax might have been onto him, he didn't give up. Taking out my friends might have been a little over the line in terms of keeping up appearances, but he did what he felt like he needed to in order not to be questioned of his true intentions.
Sam grabbed hold of my arm, snapping me back to reality. He let go of me, but kept it outstretched, palm upwards, waiting for me to make my decision.
"Emily?"
I stared into his crimson eyes, and for the first time I didn't associate the color with blood; what I saw was strength and willpower unlike none I had ever seen before. I doubted I'd ever come to understand these undead creatures, but I knew now, by looking into the eyes of a man who had freed me and shown me kindness, that red eyes wasn't necessarily a bad thing to posses. Which was why my answer to his question was also something I'd never thought I'd hear myself say.
"I trust you Sam." I reached out and grabbed his waiting hand. Sam kept his face composed, but he still looked pleased and relieved. He turned and pulled me along into the darkness. Inside he let go of my hand, and it was so dark around me that I didn't dare move a muscle, afraid of what could happen if I did. I saw the dim light from where we had come from as Sam swiftly closed the entrance, shutting off any possible source of light, shrouding us in eerie blackness. He grabbed my hand again, startling me a little by his cold touch, but I didn't say anything.
"Follow me." He said and I obeyed obediently as he started walking, knowing I didn't really have any other choice now. We walked straight ahead, our footsteps, well mainly mine, echoed around me, letting me know were were definitely in a small space. The place reeked of mold and old age, and I started breathing in through my mouth instead, avoiding the revolting stench. I felt afraid to speak, but curiosity got the better of me;
"Where are we?" I kept my voice to a whisper, knowing Sam had no problem in hearing me.
"We're in a hidden tunnel system that runs all around underneath the city. They're in an addition to the metro," he paused, probably sensing the next question that was on the tip of my tongue; "The metro is a train system that runs underground, taking a person from one place to another, avoiding the car traffic above ground." I nodded, not even knowing if he was looking back at me. I knew about cars, but train was a new word, though, if it was a way of transportation, I knew it had to be big. Sam continued as we walked; "The vampires built it as a way to travel during the day, before the takeover, they still use it, but not as much as before." A chill engulfed my body and Sam must have felt it in my hand, because he squeezed it reassuringly; "I won't let anything happen to you Em, you're safe with me." His words relaxed me, but only so much. I really didn't want to meet any vampires whilst being down here. Especially since I had no clue how my powers would act up if I tried using them again. I should really learn how to. But it's not like there was a teaching facility for that kind of stuff.
Onward we went; two times Sam changed course and took us down another path, making me realize that it was all probably mapped out like a maze, with intersections everywhere, all leading in different directions. I shuddered at the fact that if someone got lost down here, someone who wasn't a vampire, then they'd have a hard time finding their way back up to the surface. It suddenly made me think about what I was stepping on. So far, it had only felt like solid concrete, but could there be bodies down here? Stop thinking about it Emily, I told myself, trying to rid my mind of all the gruesome pictures that my imagination conjured up.
"So," I then said, trying to distract myself; "Where exactly are you taking me?" Sam didn't break stride as he responded; "There's a lot of abandoned buildings in this neighbourhood, places that Shax hasn't bothered with for years, and I prefer to be close to the hotel if Nox wants in contact with us." I noticed he said if and not when. Optimism wasn't in play here, reality were.
"Do you think he'll be able to do it? Take down Shax." I felt him squeeze my hand again, a little harder this time which made me flinch and he immediately eased up, but I squeezed it back, letting him know I was okay.
"Nox is pretty clever, he always has been, but taking down a King like Shax will not be an easy task, even if we do have a lot of support from other vampires. We can only hope that all this power throughout the years has gone to his head and made him lazy and not pay close enough attention to the people closest to him." I thought back to the not so pleasant private meeting with the King.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Sam," I said solemnly and relayed all the details of what Shax had told me, about the rebels he suspected and a possible uprising. Retelling it made me picture his face again; his cold hard eyes still haunting me whenever I closed mine. When I was done, Sam spat out a few curse words, even letting a small growl slip from his lips.
"I hope Nox knows what he's doing," I added and just then Sam came to a halt. He stopped so suddenly that I walked face first into his back. I grunted and finally let go of his hand to rub my now sore nose. I inhaled and his scent from his hand filled my nostrils, making my stomach flutter in a weird way.
"Sorry," Sam said, "but we're here now." I looked up, still not able to see a thing, but I heard Sam shuffle with some things and then there was light. I stepped forward, wanting to get out of the darkness. We emerged from the tunnel and climbed up a steep ladder. Coming through a door I finally got a chance to look at my surroundings, which I could only describe as being a chaos, and don't even get me started on the smell. Stuff was everywhere; overturned furniture lay scattered around, chairs, tables, big shelves. Most of the things I laid eyes on were nothing I had ever seen before, so I stayed close to Sam, following him further into the mess.
Garbage littered the floor and I had to be careful where I stepped. It was a huge open space, a high ceiling was above us, and I could just make out some windows at the far end. I walked over to a weird looking object; it was square and only inches thick. It lay in a thick cover of dust, but I spotted a name of some kind and wiped it free; Son-i.. Son-e.. Sony? What on earth was that? It didn't look like to be of any use so I hurried along to where Sam was standing between two long, metal shelves. They extended a long way before being broken up by a gap, then continuing on. In fact, several of these shelves were placed with an equal amount of space between them, all the way down to the other end of the room. Most of them were empty, but a few things lay scattered on there.
"Sam, where are we?" I asked, because as fascinated with this place as I was, it really didn't seem like a safe hideout.
"One of the few places that are safe - Walmart!" He grinned, but if it was a joke I really didn't get it.