Darren:
Terror eats at me, but there is nowhere to go. I'm stuck on the spot, her finger pointing at me.
"I want him as a vampire." Those are the words I heard. Did I hear them right? My mind is filled with images of Frank, of the creature that burst from those robes. I shudder. Black scales, beady eyes and venomous fangs sinking into the soft flesh of his neck. Draining his blood. That is a true monster.
And then the transformation. He became a vampire, a creature of the night, one of those beings we set out to hunt. Were they all human once? I saw surprise in his newly red eyes, before he was swallowed whole by this creature. This snake. The one that calls himself master.
And the girl. She drank from Frank without hesitation, without pause, just like the vampires of the stories. Yet I couldn't peel my eyes away, couldn't turn from her. An unfamiliar feeling in my stomach, mixed with my fear. Despite it all, I had a desire to protect. Although I'm not sure she needs protecting anymore. Looks like it's me who'll need protecting.
The hissing voice of the master fills my mind. "Of course, Alesco. As has been foretold. He was the one in your vision was he not?"
He, or it, waves a lazy arm in my direction, but the hooded head does not look round. I stare at the black robe, at the ebony arm. Where do those arms come from? A snake has no arms. I shudder at the thought. My mind wanders back, away from this dark and pressing place, back to my home and family. So much to take in, so much I can't get my head around.
"You have seen the the future." The master says." We shall call a gathering, so all may watch his transformation, and then we shall go to war."
"Yes, master." She says, fixing her eyes on mine for a moment longer. What vision are they talking about? What future? Her yellow gaze is piercing. I feel my heartbeat, recently slowed, pounding hard and fast again, I feel heat rising in my face.
"Come, Alesco."
The master waves an arm and bars descend from the ceiling, screeching and scraping on the old stone, moving towards the ground. We're trapped again, but this time we are trapped together. At least what's left of us. The image of Frank haunts my mind, the fear, the tranformation, the blood smear that remains of him.
"Damn this!" Says Jack, as the master and girl, Alesco, disappear around the corner, out of sight.
"What in the damnest hells is that thing?"
I can't bring myself to speak, I'm not sure what to say. Jack is pacing the hallway, boots crashing heavily with each step, his deep breathing fills the air. He's scared, I hear it in his voice. Hells, I'm terrified.
"How do we get out of this?" Andrew says. He's sitting up now, though still on the ground where he fell.
"No idea." I say, managing to speak. It's more of a croak that comes out. "You feeling ok?"
"I'll live." He says.
"Not for damn long at this rate." Says Jack. "You heard that monster. We're all food and batteries! Food and batteries. And somehow we are the damn key to them rising up and taking control!"
He's right. And she wants me as a vampire. Oddly, I'm feeling something strange, beneath the terror, beneath the worry and pain and anger and grief. It's hard to place. I'm confused, maybe I'm still weak from my injuries. It almost feels like desire.
But no. Why would I want to be a monster, a blood drinking night dweller. Something I've been taught to hate and to fight. To catch and to turn. Must be the lack of air. Same reason I feel she might need protecting. Foolishness.
But then again, are they only monsters? My mind flashes back to the hunts, to the vampires we turned, to their speech and the looks they gave. To John's mum and all the others trapped in those cells. I think of the Director. Perhaps we're the monsters.
"We have to do something." Percy says. His voice is quiet, the fear is obvious though he tries to hide it. I look at him and see sweat on his brow, a slight tremble in his hands.
"This is your fault!" Andrew says suddenly, pointing at me. "You and your stupid ideas. Letting the vampires go in the first place! Did you see that monster? See her drinking from Frank? You killed him!"
Those words sting. A mixture of anger and guilt surge in me. Anger at his accusations, guilt at the truth of his words. If not for me he would be alive, if not for me we would not be here, if not for me things would be normal.
Andrew steps towards me, a bit shaky on his feet, fists clenched at his side. "And now they're going to make you one of them! Pretty damn lucky, wouldn't you say? Pretty damn convenient!" I hear the sarcasm in his tone as though he thinks I set this up, as though I arranged the whole thing.
The anger rises, overtaking my shame, my guilt. I step towards him, fists clenched. "What are you saying?" I say, voice raised.
"You know exactly what I'm saying. You lead us all here to die and you become an immortal creature of the night, stronger. One of them. You're a traitor!"
I step forward quickly, fist flying. He reaches to block it, but it's a feeble attempt. He's still weak from being thrown back by the master. I swing my fist again and it collides with his cheek. He stumbles back, but Percy jumps forward and catches him. The anger has given me new strength, my injuries are forgotten – at least for now.
"Your boss Mike!" I shout at him. "Where's he in all this? You accuse me but you worked with him. How do I know you didn't organize this yourself?"
Andrew says nothing, but Percy shakes his head, still holding Andrew steady. "We don't know what the hells happened to him, we don't know anything about him. He rarely has anything to do with us, until now. There's another guy that keeps up with the day to day of the director's guard. Mike's usually invisible."
He sounds sincere. And for all our differences, right now we are all in this together, a bunch of human beings trapped in the cellar of a talking, walking snake with magic powers, surrounded by a lot of hungry vampires. We're going to have to work together.
Andrew sneers at me. "Go ahead, monster! Kill me like you killed Frank."
"Enough!" Jack roars. Andrew glares at him, but says nothing more.
"It's no damn use fighting each other, we need to find a way out ofthis place." Jack says, putting a voice to my thoughts.
He's right. We are our only chance. No one's coming for us, there's no one to save us. So we'll need to work together. I step towards Andrew again. Jack puts a hand on my chest to hold me back.
"It's ok." I say, extending my hand.
"I'm not a traitor, and I want to get out of this as much as you." I say to him. He looks down at my hand and back to my face, flicking between the two as though deciding what to think.
I wish it was completely true. But there's something simmering beneath the surface, beneath my logical thinking. Some longing to feel the strength. To feel what it's like to be a creature of the night. To be next to her. My mind wanders to her fangs, to the way she drank the blood. I imagine her fangs piercing my neck.
What the hells is happening to me? I pull my attention back to the here and now. I'm human. We need to get out of this. These guys depend on it too, it's not just me.
Andrew shakes my hand grudgingly. "I'll get you back for that one of these days." He says, looking at me. I look away, wondering if my eyes betrayed anything of my hidden thoughts.
"Save your threats of vengeance 'til there's a point. At this rate we'll all be dead tomorrow." Jack says. "We need to do something." He walks to the bars and closes his hands around them. I see him straining his arms but the bars don't budge.
"What's down there?" I ask, pointing in the opposite direction. The corridor stretches out into darkness and it's not clear where it ends.
"Guess there's only one way to know." Percy says. He's let go of Andrew, who looks a little steadier now. I see a bruise forming on his cheek and feel another pang of guilt.
"Let's go and see then. No point in hanging around here." Andrew says.
I step forward and we walk down the corridor. It starts to dim immediately, the only light left behind in the single suspended orb. I'm reminded again of the Director. His lights were similar. I can't help but wonder if there is some sort of connection, some sort of link. But what link could there possibly be?
The darkness gets deeper, the shadows growing as we move slowly along, peering into empty cells. I sqint my eyes but can't see an end to the corridor. The darkness grows faster and I can't see the walls anymore, can't see anything where the cells should be except holes of deeper darkness. I look at Jack on my right, but see only a shadow.
"I can't see a damn thing!" He says, stating the obvious. I reach out for the wall and run my hands lightly over the dusty stone as I walk.
"Really?" Says Andrew. "That's strange." His voice is dripping with sarcasm.
I hear something up ahead, like a shuffling sound. It's faint but it's there. I stop walking. Someone walks into my back and curses loudly. "What's going on?" Percy says, he sounds annoyed that I didn't give him any warning about stopping.
"There's something up ahead." I say, my voice barely more than a whisper.
We've all stopped now and I squint my eyes again, trying to make out something. There's nothing there but gloom and darkness. I hear the shuffling again, like dragging feet, louder this time. "Hear that?" I say.
"We're not deaf." Andrew whispers. "Just blind."
"What the hells is it?" Jack asks.
"I'm not sure I want to know." I say. The noise is louder now and seems to be getting closer, though there's still nothing visible. It seems to have multiplied now, like there's more of whatever it is. It sounds something like sand paper against the stone floor.
Then it stops. I can almost feel the silence that fills the air. All I can hear is my own breathing and that of the others. My heart pounds in my ears, the thumping noise sounds like a warning. Almost like a chant, run, run, run, run.
Hissing fills the darkness, loud, incessant hissing and the shuffling starts again, faster and more frantic, whatever it is still invisble but moving towards us.
"Run!" I shout, turning around and almost knocking Percy to the ground in my attempt to move. He runs and we all run, picking up speed. The light shines ahead and we move quickly towards it's welcoming rays. But there's nowhere to go when we get there, I just hope whatever is coming stays in the dark.
Percy slows and collides with the bars, stopping his run. I manage to stop just behind him, panting from the running and the fear. I spin around and look into the gloom. The sounds of the chase have stopped, but the air is thick with hissing. I see them now, on the border of the light and dark, slithering shadows, lots of them, packed tightly, upright and hissing. Snakes.
Fortunately they've stopped and it seems the light is keeping them at bay. It doesn't do much for my trembling legs.
As if on some unheard command the snakes begin to retreat, back into the darkness beyond. Their slithering and hissing diminishes and silence falls again.
"Well we sure as damn aren't going that way!" Jack says.
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