She was pretty, with large turquoise eyes and long dark hair. Physically, I’d been attracted to her as soon as I saw her in that sauna. Her looks had only made it harder to control myself around her. That was one of the reasons I’d darted so quickly from the room.
But I’d realized only afterward that saving her in that rose garden had been a way of helping myself. I’d been so shrouded in darkness recently. I’d murdered so many people—more than I’d even been able to keep count of—and my bloodlust was still as strong as ever. Taking this girl under my wing was helping me keep my head above water. Her blood not being tempting in the slightest, she reminded me of what it was like to not feel like the devil personified around someone who happened to be weaker than me.
And now, if I dared to believe that we might be close to being invited out on a hunt, my escape wouldn’t be possible without her.
I cleared my throat. “You’re welcome,” I replied. “Shall we return to my place then?”
She nodded and took my hand again.
As we entered the elevator, I asked, “So where are you from originally?”
“New York,” she replied. “You?”
“California,” was the easiest answer I could give.
“Vampires… To become one, you get turned? Who turned you?”
Admitting that it had been my father would only invite another slew of unwanted questions. Besides, I still didn’t know this girl well enough to trust her—certainly not enough to reveal my true identity. So I gave her a similar answer to the one I’d given Jeramiah when he had first asked me.
“I came across a vampire one night—I was attending a friend’s beach party. Apparently he thought of me as an easy target. He drugged me and when I woke up… I was this.”
She gasped. “My God. Why do vampires do that? Turn people? What’s the point?”
I shrugged. “Guess they want to increase their kind.”
“How did you get here? To this place?”
“I met Jeramiah and some of his companions in Chile.”
I could see that she was still in a state of shock. None of this had fully sunk in yet.
“Did you have any idea about the existence of supernaturals before coming here?” I asked.
“I mean… I had seen footage on the TV, but I never believed any of it. I just thought it was some kind of elaborate hoax. Do other supernatural creatures really exist too? Witches? Dragons?”
“I don’t know about dragons,” I answered, surprised. “But witches, werewolves and ogres certainly do.”
She looked dumbstruck.
Reaching my door, I pushed it open and we walked inside. I looked down at her as we stood in the entry hall. “Are you hungry?”
She bit her lower lip. “I probably should eat something. I was invited to join that group of half-bloods for a meal, actually… But in case you couldn’t guess, I didn’t get far into it.”
I smiled. “I don’t really have anything, uh, suitable for you. Unless you like the idea of drinking blood?”
“Blood?”
“Yes. I drink human blood.” I thought it best to just tell her upfront.
Her mouth dropped open. “That’s all you drink?”
I knew that my answer would only disturb her about her sister, but she would find out sooner or later. “That’s why vampires kidnap so many humans. A few of those they capture are turned into half-bloods, and the rest they keep down in the basement… I’m pretty sure they’re all for blood.”
“Oh, no.”
“How old is your sister?” I asked.
“Six.”
She needed to eat something or she would get sick. I had to think of something to comfort her with or she’d have no appetite for anything.
“If your sister is only six, I think she might be safe for a while. They have gone to the trouble of kidnapping her, they might even wait until she’s grown to maturity before thinking about taking her blood…”
Of course, they could also have kidnapped her for her tender young blood. But River didn’t need to hear that now. I’d scared her enough already.
“Michael said that she wouldn’t be harmed,” she said, her voice cracking.
“Then maybe my guess is correct…” I needed to change the subject. “You’re actually in luck. Unlike vampires, half-bloods can consume regular food. You don’t have to drink blood.”
“Thank God.”
“I don’t have any regular food in my own fridge, but…” I thought about where the best place would be to get some food for her. Then I remembered my neighbor who’d been friendly to me recently—Lloyd. He’d said that I could come to him if I needed something.
“Come with me. Just a few doors down, Lloyd, my neighbor, has a half-blood staying with him. He should have regular food.”
She nodded, though she still looked petrified.
We headed for the door, and just before I opened it, she took my hand again. The idea that she got comfort from me brought me warmth. That I was still capable of experiencing emotions like this was in itself comforting to me.
I stopped with her outside Lloyd’s apartment.
We didn’t have to wait long after knocking. He opened the door and the moment he saw me, he smiled.
“Hello, Joseph. You’ve been keeping to yourself a lot recently, haven’t you?”
“Yes. Until now, actually…” I gestured toward River. “She’s my new half-blood friend. I realized that I have absolutely no food for her in my kitchen. Do you have some to spare?”
“Yes, plenty. Come in.”
We stepped inside and he led us to his kitchen—which looked pretty much identical to mine. He gestured toward the fridge and looked toward River. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“River,” she replied, even as she kept close to me.
“Beautiful name…” He looked back at me. “Would you mind seeing yourself out after you are done? I was actually in the middle of something.”
“Yes, of course. Thank you,” I said.
I took a seat at the kitchen table and watched as River opened the fridge and scanned the shelves.
Food. It felt like an eternity since I had last tasted it. While a part of me yearned for it, the other part was repulsed by the idea of putting anything but human blood in my mouth.
Judging by the ingredients River was picking out, it looked like she wanted to make herself some sandwiches. She gathered a loaf of whole wheat bread, cucumber, lettuce, cheese, and some kind of pickle. After she was done, she closed the fridge door.
“Finished?”
“Yes.”
We left Lloyd’s place and headed back to mine. I took a seat again at my kitchen table and watched as she went about preparing sandwiches.
She worked in silence, and then sat down at the table opposite me and began eating.
I watched her expression as she swallowed.
“This is weird,” she said, as she stopped chewing. “Food. It tastes… different.” She dunked a spoon into the jar of pickles and dolloped more into her sandwiches. “Everything tastes more… tasteless. It feels like it needs more salt or more… something…”
“I guess that’s because you’re halfway to being a vampire.”
“Do you know a lot about half-bloods?” she asked.
“More than you, I’m sure, but not a lot.”
She adjusted her shirt to reveal a tattoo—the same black cross that we all bore—etched into her right arm.
“What is this?” she asked.
“I don’t know. Everyone who enters The Oasis seems to get one the first night they’re here.”
“I tried to ask Michael about it, but he was cryptic.”
Marilyn had also given me no clear answer. I’d put it down to just her being drunk. But I hadn’t bothered to ask anyone else about it. I had been so focused on how to escape this place.
After River had finished eating, and chugging down a whole jug of water, we went into the living room. Sitting down in the comfortable
armchairs, we continued talking. She began asking dozens of questions about vampires, half-bloods and the world of supernaturals. I tried to answer them to the best of my ability without giving away too much personal information. I also deliberately skirted around the topic of immortality because I felt it would overwhelm her.
The excuse I’d given to Jeramiah for wanting River—that she was newly turned and so we had much in common—had been something that I’d thought of on the spot. But it turned out to be true. Although I’d been surrounded by supernaturals all my life, from the very day of my birth, being a supernatural myself was still so new to me.
When she asked me whether she could ever turn back into a human again, assuming we managed to escape, I didn’t know how to answer her. Of course, I knew that there was a cure for vampires, but half-bloods? That was uncharted territory. I hadn’t even known of the existence of half-bloods until I’d met Jeramiah. Discovering a cure to vampirism hadn’t been easy, and had come about after dangerous experimentation. I just answered her honestly.
Then she began to shiver.
“You’re cold?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Feel free to use the sauna,” I said.
She stood up. “No, I’ll just get myself a blanket.”
She walked out of the room and returned with a thick duvet. I guessed she had found it in one of the spare rooms.
She took her seat again in the armchair and wrapped herself in it. She shuddered. “This cold. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
There was a knock on the door.
River looked panicked. I wondered who it could possibly be. Leaving her in the living room, I made my way to the door and opened it.
There was no one there. I looked left and right, but the veranda was empty.
But then my eyes lowered to the floor in front of me. A backpack had been placed in front of my doorway. I bent down and picked it up, then made my way back to the living room.
River was standing waiting for me, the duvet still draped around her shoulders. Her eyes widened as she spotted the backpack in my hands.
“That’s mine,” she whispered, taking it from me. “Who brought it here?”
“There was nobody outside,” I replied.
“I left this in Michael’s apartment. I wonder why on earth he’d bother to bring it back to me after everything…”
She sat down and unzipped the bag, pulling out a vial of clear amber liquid and then a black fabric bag. Loosening the bag, she revealed that it was full of gold coins.
“In Michael’s place,” she said, looking tense, “when I woke up after being drugged, this bag of coins and this vial of liquid were waiting for me in his bedroom. There was a note left with them. It said that these were gifts for my mother and my brother. Michael said they were gifts from The Oasis. Why on earth was I given these? How do they even know about my family?”
I stared at the two objects. I was just as clueless as her.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I have no idea.”
She put the backpack down and looked at me. “When do you think the next hunt will be?”
“There was one recently. It could be a week or maybe longer until they go on one again. There doesn’t seem to be a set schedule.”
She moved closer to me, the blanket trailing behind her on the floor.
“Please, help me locate my sister. Even if we have no way of saving her yet… I just need to see her.”
I looked down into her desperate eyes and heaved a sigh.
“Okay. I’ll help you.”
Chapter 14: Ben
After promising River I would try to get us down to the basement, I now had to figure out how.
I didn’t need to examine the lock again to know that I wouldn’t be able to break through it without damaging it. It was far too complicated a lock to pick.
No. We had to find a smarter way to do this.
River took a shower while I thought, and by the time she’d finished, I’d come up with a plan.
She stepped into the room, dressed in new clothes—a crisp white blouse and cotton pants.
“Any ideas?” she asked anxiously.
“Yes. We’re going to need to pay another visit to Jeramiah.”
She looked confused, but didn’t ask questions. Perhaps by now she trusted me enough.
We left the apartment and headed to Jeramiah’s place. When I knocked on the door, an ebony-skinned half-blood girl opened it.
“You’re here for Jeramiah?”
“Yes.”
She looked over her shoulder and called back into the apartment. “Baby, it’s Joseph and his new half-blood.”
Jeramiah approached the door. He had a smirk on his face. “We’re seeing a lot of each other today.”
“I won’t take up much of your time,” I said. “I’ve come to request a visit to the basement.”
“Why?”
“I know River can help me cope with one human. I want to see how I cope surrounded by crowds of them. If I do end up accompanying you on a hunt, I’ll need to be prepared for this.”
I was surprised by how easily he agreed. “Yes, that’s not a problem. But I will send someone to accompany you. You’re permitted half an hour only.”
Half an hour. I hoped that would be enough time. It would have to be.
Jeramiah called back into the apartment. “Lucretia.”
Lucretia—his new girlfriend, apparently—walked back to the door.
“What?”
“I want you to accompany Joseph and his girl down to the prison. I’ve given them permission to walk around there for thirty minutes. You don’t need to accompany them down. You can wait in the room upstairs if you prefer—just make sure they have returned after half an hour.”
“Okay,” she said, eyeing us. “I’ll be with you in a minute. I’d like to get something to do while I’m sitting there.”
Jeramiah disappeared back into the apartment, while River and I waited for Lucretia. She only kept us waiting a minute. She arrived holding a cosmetic bag and slipped out the door.
We descended the levels of the atrium and arrived in a familiar room, where the entrance to the basement was. She pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the lock, then pushed the door open. The smell of human blood was overwhelming. I reached for River’s hand and breathed in her scent. Together we descended the steps, leaving Lucretia at the top, where she sat down in one corner and began to file her nails.
Arriving in the first prison chamber, we began walking from cell to cell. The cells’ doors had windows, but they were fixed quite high up and River was too short to see through them. So I scanned all the windows first, and if I saw either a young man who fit the description of her friend, Hassan, or a girl who could have been her sister, I lifted River up to the window so that she could peek through.
We traveled from chamber to chamber, careful not to miss a single cell. When I had last been down here, I had been in more of a hurry, and although I’d run fast, I’d barely scratched the surface of the number of prisoners down here. After scanning six entire chambers with River, I was beginning to wonder whether half an hour would indeed be enough time. Especially because I felt the need to keep stopping and breathing in River’s scent in order to keep myself sane.
Finally, at the end of a row in the seventh chamber we passed by, River breathed, “That’s him. Hassan.” She was pointing to a young man curled up in a cot.
She banged on the window pane. Apparently he was fast asleep.
She banged more loudly. “Hassan! Wake up!”
The man stirred finally. His expression was that of utter shock as he gazed up at us through the window. He shot to his feet and hurried toward the door.
“River?” he gasped, his Middle Eastern accent thick. He pressed his hands against the glass. “Can you get me out of here? Please!”
River looked up at me. “Is there no way we could take him upstairs? We could hide him in your apartment.”
/> I shook my head. “I wouldn’t risk it. We still don’t know how we’re going to escape, and his life could be in more danger than if he just stayed here.”
Hassan’s body was trembling. “This place is a nightmare,” he said.
“We’re going to come back for you,” River said. “I promise.”
“When?” he asked desperately.
River looked up at me, then back at the young man. “I don’t know. But… as soon as possible.” She leaned closer against the glass. “Do you know where my sister is?”
He shook his head sadly. “I have no idea. I’m so sorry.”
River swallowed hard. “Okay. We’re going to have to keep looking for her. Just… try to keep yourself well. I promise I’ll come back as soon as I’m able to.”
He looked devastated as we left him and continued walking along the corridor.
“Lalia?” she whispered. “Where could she be?” Then she began to shout out her sister’s name. “Lalia! Lalia! Where are you?” Her voice echoed around the prison.
I gripped her shoulder. “Don’t shout,” I said, my voice low.
We sped up, moving faster past each of the cells. We didn’t have much time left. We were on our thirteenth chamber of humans and we still hadn’t found her.
“My God. Where is she?” River looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown.
I gripped her hand hard. She needed to keep a cool head or there was no chance of her being reunited with her sister.
And then I spotted a little girl with long brown hair, two doors along. She was lying on a cot along with another girl who looked in her late teens.
I gestured toward the door and, holding River by the waist, lifted her up so she could see through the window.
“Lalia!” she gasped. She slammed her fists against the window.
The little girl stirred on the mattress, then looked toward the window. Her round young face looked dumbstruck, as though she was in a dream. Then she leapt up and rushed toward us. She was far too short to reach River’s level. But her small hands banged against the door and she cried out her sister’s name. “River! Help! I want to go home!”
The older girl in the cell with her woke up and moved toward Lalia. She wrapped her arms around Lalia’s midriff and picked her up so that she could be level with her sister.