Getting above ground was like getting punched in the face. A soft breeze swept past and lifted the hair from my back. I inhaled the fresh air like it was the very first time. A mixture of gasoline and something salty I couldn't identify filled my nostrils, and I sighed with a sated smile. It may not have been the clean and dry air from back in the desert, but it was still better than the mouldy and confined air from the tunnels.
We were standing by a deserted street corner, tall, grey buildings surrounded us, making everything look the same no matter where you turned. Everything around me was vacated. Cars stood where people had left them back in the day, but the majority of them had been stripped of any valuables a long time ago. I didn't know what I had expected standing in the middle of a vampire city, probably that there'd be more vampires roaming the streets, but thankfully it was just me and the weird company of fangers I kept these days.
"What is that in the air? I've never smelt that before?" I asked Sam as we stood idly waiting for everyone to arrive up the wide staircase that led down to the metro station. Sam inhaled and smiled in my direction.
"That must be the ocean you can smell," he said, "the beaches of Santa Monica aren't far off in that direction." He pointed a finger down a street to my left.
The ocean. Growing up in a desert hadn't exactly given me many opportunities to see the vast sea I knew surrounded us all, one way or the other.
I'd heard about it, of course, but something big, wet and blue hadn't been on top of my to-see list. I don't think I even had a list like that. I'd always been too busy staying alive.
Growing up in a place like this, kids, or adults for that matter, didn't really have the freedom to fantasize about anything other than a vampire free world. But it was all just wishful thinking, and I didn't have time for such things. Not when my life was at stake.
I stayed close to Sam as the whole group formed a circle with us in the middle. All these vampires wanted to fight Shax as much as we did, and I couldn't help but feeling a little less hatred towards them. I knew by now that not all vampires were bloodsucking fiends. Okay they all drank blood and was cursed to a hellish life on Earth, but at least they tried to make amends, like protecting humans and saving their lives.
Was I actually talking pro vampire right now? Dammit girl, focus.
I zoned in on Sam as he explained the current situation to the group. He informed them on the state of the hotel when we'd left it, and the few times he'd gone back to check up on it. A couple of the vampires chimed in with other information they had picked up around the city; Shax had started keeping his men in a closer perimeter than usual, which had apparently meant that more than a few humans had up and left since their guards had been called back. That at least lifted my spirit a little.
They finished the briefing and everyone got ready to move out.
"I don't like doing this with a witch in our midst. I don't trust her." A voice complained from behind us and both Sam and I turned to stare at Charles who was leaning against a brick wall, arms crossed. He was eyeing me with an unnerving intensity, his red eyes penetrating mine, making me want to shudder. This guy was plain scary, and a pain in the ass.
"No one asked for you to come," I hissed in response, "you can run back to your little lair and we'll take on Shax by ourselves." My confidence level rose, which seemed to only agitate him. Charles pushed off the wall and Sam growled a warning as he stepped right up to me, leaning his unshaven, grimy face in towards mine. I wrinkled my nose at the smell coming from him, but otherwise kept my stance.
"I have my own personal reasons for wanting to take out Shax, and no little girl will decide that for me." He bit the air right in front of my nose, which made me flinch, causing Sam to push Charles backwards who simply chuckled.
"That's enough," he said in a low voice. Charles smirked as he backed away, arms up with eyes never leaving mine.
"Don't worry, I'll get off your back, sir." He spoke the last word like an insult, but Sam shook his head and turned us both back around, keeping a hand resting lightly on my back.
"Jackass." I muttered under my breath, not caring if he heard me or not. He probably did, but all the better.
"Let's move out people," Sam said in a normal voice, knowing that everyone around him, even the ones farthest away, could hear him as if they were standing right next to him. "No one enters the hotel without my consent." This little added order caused a couple of murmurs, none of which my average human hearing could make out, but from the look on Sam's face, he heard every one of them. He looked at me for a second before stepping out onto the middle of the street, a sudden aura of authority washing over him.
"Listen up people. I know you made the decision yourself to be here, but now that you're here you will have to do things my way. We cannot storm the place; Shax has guards in front of the building from the moment the sun disappears." He paused and immediately someone called out a question, "but how will we get in then, if not through the front doors?" Sam turned and faced the vampire and smiled knowingly. "We'll go underground, through several of the tunnels that run under out feet. The one Emily and I escaped from will no doubt have been barricaded, but there are others within our reach."
This seemed to satisfy the questioning vampire because he didn't say anything else.
I stayed right by Sam's side as we marched onwards, at a normal pace to start with, probably just so that I could keep up, but as the first hour went on people got more and more restless, so we decided to speed things up a little. After being issued a couple of orders including a meeting point a couple of miles down, the newly recruited vampires started showing off their real speed. A chill found its way down my back when I saw Charles blow me a kiss with his middle finger before taking off with a group of vampires.
"He gives me the creeps," I muttered which earned me a chuckle from Sam.
"I just don't trust him." To this Sam nodded with a more serious expression on his face. "Neither do I, but refusing him here would make things worse." I knew he was right so I kept the remaining complaints to myself.
"We should catch up to the others," Sam added, turning his back on me, crouching down in an all too familiar position. Another piggyback ride. I smiled in the dark and stood on either side of him before leaning down onto his broad back. Clasping my arms and legs around him I poked his cheek as a sign that he could stand back up.
"I bet you wish I could run like a vampire now huh?" I asked as I got more comfortable on his back. I felt the muscles under his skin move against my body and it sent shivers and tingles through my body. I'd never felt such a sensation before and I marvelled at what this vampire seemed to be doing to me, unintentionally it appeared.
"I don't mind you hitching a ride on me Emily," Sam said with a smile. He was as patiently as ever, waiting for me to get into the right position before he would chase after the others. "My back has never been this beautiful before you came along." I felt the heat rush to my face and was glad he couldn't see me.
Building by building passed in a blur and I closed my eyes to keep them from filling with water from the air getting in my face. About ten minutes later we came to a halt. I couldn't see any of the other vampires, so I assumed this wasn't the meeting point. Still, I jumped back onto the ground and stretched my legs. It was still early in the night so we had several hours until sunrise. I guess we needed all the time we could get.
As I stared up at a large sign that was plastered across a building, I felt the familiar stirring of a hungry stomach. I tried covering up the sound, but being a vampire with super hearing and all, Sam heard it.
"I don't know if I can find you any food right now Emily. I'm sorry, I should have looked around before we left." His expression was that of a shameful man, but I waved him off.
"It's not that bad Sam. I've dealt with worse. I can manage another day." Without food yes, but water? Perhaps when we got back at the hotel I could find some, unless it was all under lock and key? I put the sudden feeling of a parched throat out of my mind, and something else quickly filled its place.
"But what about you?" I asked, facing Sam with a worried look. "When was the last time you um, ate?" It almost looked as if he cringed at having me think about him drinking the blood of a human. Weirdly enough, after consulting with my inner self, it was more the prospect of him starving himself because he was with me that had brought it up. I couldn't have him go weak on me just before facing Shax. That was a recipe for failure right there. No doubt Shax was sitting somewhere comfortable right now, with both fangs in a human.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me." I stepped ahead and intercepted him, forcing him to stop.
"Tell me," I said. Sam sighed and reached up to run a hand through his hair.
"A couple of days before we left the hotel, why?" That was over a week ago. I hadn't really brushed up on my vampire nourishing facts, but it seemed like a long time not to have eaten.
"You should eat, Sam. We need you at your full strength. Nox needs you, I need you." The plea in my voice took me a little by surprise. I was pleading for him to drink the blood of a human. No, I knew what I asking even if I hadn't said it. Sam looked tormented as if he'd also figured out my intentions.
"Feed from me," I whispered, stepping closer to him, reaching up to move all my hair to one shoulder, leaving one side of my throat completely exposed. Sam stared at it for a moment, as if debating with himself, but then turned his head to the side, eyes closed. "Emily don't ask that. I won't feed from you." His voice sounded final, but I wasn't taking no for an answer.
I stepped right up in front of him, pushing the sleeve of my jacket up and thrust my wrist right up under his nose. He flinched back, but I didn't back down.
"I know you need to drink, so I'm offering it willingly to you. It's not like I'll transfer my magic to you like with that machine..." My voice dropped and I froze. "Will it?" Sam lifted his head, ignoring my pulsating wrist in front of him and stared at me. "No, it doesn't work like that." He said gravely.
I let out a breath and nodded. "Okay, then drink." I said, inching my wrist closer and closer. "I know you won't hurt me Sam." My voice was soft and reassuring and I finally saw a flicker of temptation in his eyes. They shifted from my face and to my arm and I could see the struggle he had going on inside of him.
"Drink."
He reached up and lightly grasped my arm, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty, but I held my ground, staying completely still. He bared his teeth and I couldn't help but jerk as his fangs burst through his gums. But before when I was scared, I was now mesmerized. Sam had completely changed my outlook on vampires, and I knew from the heated moments we'd shared back at Walmart, that I wanted those lips to close over my skin.
My heart was pumping furiously as he brought my wrist up to his mouth, his eyes burning with a mixture of hunger and passion held my gaze. As I felt his lips come in contact with my skin I actually sighed, and then the feeling intensified as his fangs penetrated my skin.
Oh what a feeling! Never in a million years would I have expected such emotions well up inside of me from a vampire feeding on me. Heat surged through me with blinding speed, covering every inch of me from the tips of my toes to the strands of my hair. I gasped out loud, unable to control myself. My eyes were glued to his, which were now half shut from pleasure. My other hand reached up to grasp his collar, afraid my knees wouldn't support me much longer.
The slight pain I felt wasn't a bad one; it was a passionate desire that seemed to have no end, nor did I want it to stop. In the back of my head I knew it had to stop or he would kill me, but for now, I welcomed the pain with open arms.
When I felt him pull back I actually moved my wrist forward, wanting to keep this amazing feeling inside of me. His fangs left me and I was panting hard. I felt his tongue graze my skin before his touch left me completely. I stared down at my wrist; it was paler than before, but the skin looked as if untouched. I lifted my head in question and Sam smiled sedately.
"There's anti venom in my saliva; it closes the wounds made by my fangs." I could barely nod in return. My whole body felt upside down, in a good way, though a little weaker than before. I guess blood loss did that to a person.
Sam was watching me with glazed and dull, red eyes.
"I've never felt like that before," I whispered. "I didn't want you to stop." I could barely speak I was so in awe. He watched me as if to see if I was pretending to be fine, but finally he smiled.
"I know. I felt it too."
We stared at each other, but I couldn't keep myself back any longer. I moved in and then my lips were on his. I moved them against his and after a second of hesitation I felt him respond. My hands grasped feebly for his hair, wanting him as close as humanly possible. His arms crushed me against him, but it was like we couldn't get close enough. The metallic taste in his mouth was odd, but with the way his lips and tongue moved against mine it was soon out of my head. I moaned into his mouth which only seemed to excite him further.
My head felt woozy after the blood loss, but I couldn't care about that, all I could think of was Sam and how much I craved him. I moved my hands from his hair and up under his shirt, feeling the cold hard muscles against my touch. When I tried lifting his shirt, Sam's lips stilled against mine. I stopped what I was doing and looked up at him. He was watching me with a clouded look on his face. He pulled away, leaving me with tingling cold lips.
"We can't, not here." His hoarse voice whispered, and that was when clarity struck; we were making out in the middle of a street, with dozens of vampires in close range. I looked around, but saw nothing but empty streets in every direction.
"They're about two blocks down." Sam stated, slowly returning to his normal self. I tried calming my heart rate down, but it was hard after being on such a high. It took me several minutes before it reassembled somewhat of a normal rhythm and with awkward nod between us we went in search of the others.
We found them scattered around a street corner and some of them turned to look at me with a knowing look. They knew! My face reddened, surprisingly still able to do so which somehow made me feel even more embarrassed. Luckily, no one commented on my sudden change of coloration; it may have had something to do with the stern look on Sam's face, and even I didn't want to go against that.
I stood to the side as he conversed with a few of the vampires, hearing them talk about the locations of the tunnel entrances and the positions of Shax's guards. I looked around the group of volunteers and noticed with unease that at least one was missing.
I went back to Sam and gently tucked on his sleeve. He shifted position and looked at me expectantly.
"Charles' not here," I muttered and Sam scanned the area to confirm what I had observed. The frown on his forehead was a deep cut right between his eyebrows. He thought his options through and glanced at the sky. It was still dark, but why wait until the last minute?
"Let's get to the tunnels people. Around the corner and through the basement of Lucky Change." People immediately fanned out and left us with no sound to trace their steps. I stared at Sam with worried eyes.
"Wherever he is, we need to get going Emily. Don't think about him."
I nodded silently as Sam began leading the way towards the store from which we would enter the underground tunnels.
We rounded the corner and I saw the shop just a couple of buildings down. The sign above the door was yellow and faded to the point of almost being unreadable. It looked ominous, but still I followed Sam.
As he opened the door and stepped aside to let me enter I thought I heard something behind us, but before I could even look back to check, Sam was hurled into the street, landing with a loud grunt, immediately surrounded by four vampires I didn't remember seeing in our group. I barely had time to call out before the door slammed shut in front of me and I was met with a sickening sweet smile that belonged to Charles.
"Hello Kitten," he drawled. I could hear the fight going on behind me, but I couldn't make myself turn around a look. I was far too afraid to let him out of my sight. Instead I focused inwards; finding that well of blue light I'd come all too familiar with over the short time I'd known it. I grasped for a strand, but a muffled cry from Sam made me lose my concentration. Charles took a step towards me, casting a glance at the struggle going on behind me and smirked.
"Looks like loverboy can't be there to save you this time, little witch."
I blinked and the well of light was gone. I couldn't bring myself to go searching for it again.
"Emily!" Sam cried out my name in utter desperation and it was like a blow to the chest. Tears blurred my vision, but I still couldn't turn around.
"Boss will be please to see you girl," Charles said with a sadistic smile. Before I could take another breath, he'd brought up his hand in which he held a slender metal looking object. It connected with my head and everything went black before I could hit the ground.