City of Whispers (City of Whispers #1) (15 page)

It looked as if the city had been building a stop on
the corner opposite the wine bar. There was a gaping hole in the ground. Had it
been completed, I could have taken the subway right from work to the wine bar
even in the coldest winter months. Maybe I would have gone with Desmond… I
shook the thought off and tried to focus on the task at hand.

We hid ourselves among the construction equipment, but
I felt uncomfortable being so close to the hole. I didn’t need my sixth sense
to know with one hundred percent certainty that the subway tunnel was teeming
with vampires. We moved back into the corner of two buildings where something
was less likely to sneak up on us.

We weren’t there five minutes when a female vampire
showed up. I assumed she was Rosario.
She was pretty and looked very human. Her skin was tan, but had the same pale
undertones that reminded me of Desmond. Her eyes literally lit up for a moment
when Seth shone his light in her direction. They were brown with gold, like
yellow reflectors, like the eyes of a cat, or a wolf. To top it all off she
smiled at Seth, flashing a serious set of fangs.

 “Hey honey,” she called out. She spoke in a low,
hoarse voice. “I’m so glad you came back. Who else did you bring?”

Seth looked sheepish. “No one, they’re just a little
afraid.”

Rosario
pouted. “I thought you said people listened to you. I
even brought someone new to meet you.” Although her voice carried the signature
vampire rasp, she sounded almost human.

Another vampire stepped out of the shadows. I swear to
God I don’t even know where she came from. I had never seen a vampire appear
out of thin air before and have never seen it happen since, so she must have
come from somewhere, possibly that nasty hole in the ground. She wasn’t as
pretty as Rosario,
but she wasn’t bad either. She had red hair and eyes that were a little too
green. She looked wilder.

She reached out to Seth and he moved away from her.
She grinned, her teeth glistening in the moonlight. “I won’t hurt you,” she
whispered. “You’re just too bloody cute.” I thought I detected a trace of a
British accent.

Seth turned pale and Rosario grinned wider and touched the redhead
on the shoulder. “Not the most appropriate word-choice
Keira
.”
She turned to Seth. “Now you just come on in when you feel comfortable.”

“I’d rather stay outside if you don’t mind.” At least
Seth had enough sense not to follow two vampires into a dark building.

“Whatever you want, honey,” Rosario said. She sat Seth down at a little
table outside and she and
Keira
walked into the wine
bar and lit some candles. They brought out the candles and an open bottle of
wine to Seth and sat down with him. Several windows in the building were busted
and I wondered how the wine had escaped the looting. Maybe everything happened
too fast, and there were still hidden gems in the city waiting to be found.

Seth began to drink a glass of wine. The more
comfortable he became, the more comfortable the vampires became. They began to
stroke his arms and pet his hair, but drunk though he clearly was, he never got
too close to their mouths.

At one point he appeared to be engrossed in a conversation
with Rosario.
Keira
slid her hand up his thigh and I started to worry
things were going to get a little too kinky.
Keira
put her tongue out to lick Seth’s neck. I felt a nasty feeling in my gut, but
the moment her tongue touched him, Seth jumped out of his chair and spilled his
wine all over himself, staining his beige shirt a deep red.

Keira
and Rosario both smiled. I think Rosario tried to force a laugh, but it came
out as more of a cough. Seth seemed suddenly sober and got up to leave. The two
vampires tried to persuade him to stay, but he had clearly had enough, and they
let him go.

He walked quickly back to his building, always looking
around him to make sure he wasn’t being followed and nothing was waiting for
him in the shadows. He only lived a few blocks away so we followed him. He
arrived safely and we turned around to head home. By the time we arrived at my
apartment I was exhausted and crashed into bed. I dreamed of camping in the
woods and laughing wolves with green eyes.

17

The next day, we debated whether or not to tell Seth that we had followed him.
I didn’t want to say anything because I thought it would just make him more
determined to prove he could be the great ambassador to the vampires. James
didn’t want to say anything because he thought Seth was a prick. Scott and Beth
waffled. We asked Naveen to give it a rest for a day. In the end, we didn’t see
Seth that day so we were spared the decision.

I didn’t care for Seth, but as the evening approached
I began to feel more and more uncomfortable with what I had seen the night
before. Those she-vampires reminded me of the way my cat had liked to play with
lizards, batting them around and finally biting their tails off before growing
tired and letting them go. Except that my cat was well-fed; she had no need to
eat the whole lizard.

I decided to head to the wine bar early and stake out
a spot to watch Seth and his vampires. As much as I loved Beth, I didn’t want
to tell her. I didn’t want her to try to come along again and I didn’t want her
to worry. I told her I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to turn in early. Then I
told James to make Beth dinner and make sure she didn’t see me leave. He seemed
eager to help her out. He asked if I wanted company, but I told him no. He knew
I could take care of myself.

Before I made it to Park Avenue,
I knew someone was following me. It was too early for vampires, so it had to be
human. But then again, sometimes I doubted my vampire knowledge. Becoming too
complacent about them had gotten me in trouble in the past and I didn’t want to
start making mistakes again. I walked another block, then ducked behind a
corner. Whoever was following me wasn’t being very stealthy. I soon heard
footsteps and then my name, “Ailis.” It was Scott.

“Jesus you want to scare me to death?” I was both
relieved and annoyed.

“No, but I didn’t know you had left. As soon as I
realized you were gone I knew where you were going so here I am.”

“I should have known you’d follow me. I didn’t want to
put anyone else in danger. James should have kept you at home.”

“You know he couldn’t and he wouldn’t, and be honest,
you’re glad I’m here.”

It was true. I smiled, and then turned away.

“Let’s go before it gets dark,” I said, already
walking away.

Scott bounded after me. I was very glad he was there.

We couldn’t find a good spot on the ground. I wasn’t
going anywhere near the unfinished subway stop and I didn’t like the spot from
the night before. It was too easy for vampires to detect us and there would
only be the two of us with our backs against a wall.

We climbed the fire escape onto the roof of a low-rise
apartment building nearby. Our view wouldn’t be great if Seth went inside the
wine bar, but it was better than exposing ourselves to everything on the
ground. We crouched low on the roof and watched the sunset in the distance over
New Jersey…over
civilization. I smiled when I caught myself thinking of New Jersey as civilization.

The sunset was still so beautiful, despite the new and
terrifying creatures I now associated with it. Scott reached over and put his
hand over mine. I wasn’t sure what to do. I knew my face was redder than the
sun that had just set, but just then we spotted Seth. Scott squeezed my hand
and then reached for his crossbow.

Seth looked more confident than the previous night.
Maybe he’d had a few drinks before coming out this time. Rosario and
Keira
appeared almost immediately. They seemed more
confident too. They had a nice table set up outside the wine bar with candles
and another bottle of wine.

“You still didn’t bring us anyone else?” Rosario seemed genuinely
sad.

“Hush, we don’t need anyone else, isn’t he sweet
enough for both of us?” replied
Keira
, pouring Seth a
generous glass of wine.

They cooed and petted him for nearly half an hour
while he drank his wine and began to loosen up. I couldn’t hear everything they
said from my spot on the roof and I started to wish I hadn’t come for this
re-run. Then I started wondering how we were going to get down from the
building. I realized it hadn’t been such a smart choice after all. Our only way
down was past dark abandoned apartments and I felt we were in a vampire
hotspot. There could be any number of them just waking up for their breakfast.

I didn’t want to speak, so I started gesturing to
Scott and making faces so that he would understand my concern at our
foolishness. He frowned and suddenly I was flat on my stomach and Scott was
completely on top of me with his hand over my mouth.
What the
hell?
I remember thinking.
These bloody vampires have made him lose his damn mind
too...

But then I saw that three male vampires had appeared,
probably from the gaping hole in the ground that was the unfinished subway
stop. I felt like my heart stopped for an instant. One of them was Desmond.

There was no need for Scott to pin me down or put his
hand over my mouth, I wouldn’t have moved or made a sound for a million
dollars...not that a million dollars meant that much anymore. Still, I felt a
little more secure with Scott holding me like that. I could feel his warmth,
feel his heart racing, smell the little beads of sweat I knew were starting to
form all over him, and hear his shallow breathing as we both tried not to make
any noise. Life was comforting at that moment. Scott was very much alive, and
the three newcomers were very, very dead.

Desmond and the other two males were serious from the
get-go. They weren’t there to play around with Seth and that was incredibly
obvious from their purposeful strides and the hunger in their eyes. They were
practically salivating. It was probably obvious to Seth as well because he
seemed to shrink back toward the wall, as if he thought he could become a
chameleon and blend in. The three male vampires walked up to Rosario,
Keira
, and Seth.

“Sweet of you to make me breakfast, ladies,” Desmond
growled. The other two males hovered a few feet behind him like hungry sharks.

“Don’t ruin our fun, he’s not for eating.” Rosario playfully pushed
Desmond back, but he grabbed her wrist.

“You shouldn’t play with your food, sweetheart.”

“I said he isn’t food, let us have a little fun,
Desmond,” Rosario
said defiantly.

And then God help us there were more. They were coming
out of that hole in the ground that the city workers hadn’t secured before
running away...or becoming vampires themselves. I heard the fire escape below
us creak, and I looked down to see vampires coming out of the building. I could
feel them moving around beneath me, their hungry, bloodshot eyes focused on
Seth. Some were creeping down the fire escape and others were coming out of the
building’s front entrance.

None were as human-like as Rosario,
Keira
and Desmond. These other creatures were reminders of
what vampires really were. They had yellow eyes and deathly pale skin. Even
from my perch on the roof, I could see that many had long dirty fingernails,
like claws. I could hear their ragged breathing, I could smell their foul
breath. How long had it been since they had had fresh human blood?

I remembered what Desmond had told me about the people
in the subway tunnels, and shuddered. I still didn’t know if he had been
telling the truth. I couldn’t know what they kept in the tunnels and the
abandoned buildings, but even if they did keep a supply of blood, that was
factory farm flesh by now. Seth was fresh free range blood, fortified with
expensive red wine and fear.

Seth stood up, keeping his back against the wall.
“Please, I don’t want trouble,” he stammered. “I just thought we could bridge
the gap between humans and vampires, we can all stop this senseless killing.
Don’t be mad.”

Desmond grinned. “Bridge the gap between humans and
vampires? Tell me fool, did you ever bridge the gap between yourself and the
pigs? Or yourself and the chickens, or the beef cattle? Are you a vegetarian,
sir?” His British accent made him even creepier.

“No, no,” Seth stammered as he reached for something
in his back pocket—a knife—Christ, just a plain old switchblade. “But that’s
different, we can talk, we have things in common, you used to be human—”

“Used to be human!” I couldn’t see Desmond’s fangs
from the roof, but I didn’t need to. I could picture them, pearly white in the
moonlight, ready to tear Seth’s neck open. “And now we’ve evolved, we’re
superior beings, and you’re a food source, nothing more.” He stepped toward
Seth and Seth brought his knife around. Desmond ignored it. “Tell me
friend
,”
he practically spat the word, “did you ever know a woman called Ailis?”

I swallowed hard and felt Scott’s grip tighten over my
mouth. “Yes, yes I know her, what do you want with her?” Seth seemed eager to
please.

“What do you mean you
know
her? She’s dead. Or
did she turn?” Desmond seemed irritated.

Seth looked confused. “I must be thinking of a
different Ailis, the one I know isn’t dead or a vampire. I saw her yesterday.”

Desmond was furious. “You clearly know a different
Ailis. I knew an Ailis and I turned her into a vampire—or else she’s dead.”

Keira
was grinning as if she found this amusing. Rosario made one last
effort to stop what I knew was inevitable. I wondered if Seth knew, or if he
thought he would somehow get out of this one.

I’ve always wondered if it’s possible to feel with one
hundred percent certainty that one is about to die. When Desmond bit me I was
terrified, I told myself I was going to die, but I never gave up. Deep down, a
part of me wouldn’t let me throw myself in the river. I had gone to Scott and
gotten help. I had lived. It must be evolution—we keep that hope alive until
the very end so that we’re ready for any small window of opportunity to avoid
that which seems unavoidable.

Rosario
stepped in front of Desmond, but he brushed her aside
and was on Seth in an instant. He grabbed Seth’s arm that held the knife and
crushed it against the wall, ripping into Seth’s throat simultaneously. It made
me ill to think that I must have looked the same way when he attacked me, so
vulnerable and so mortal.

Seth cried out and then his cry became a gurgle. I
didn’t want to look but I couldn’t turn away. I was afraid that if I closed my
eyes the vampires would be on me. Scott’s hand was still over my mouth and he was
holding me so hard I thought he might break my neck.

Desmond offered Seth to Rosario but she refused and slunk away to a
corner, crossed her arms, and glared at Desmond. He allowed
Keira
to drink for a moment and then jerked Seth away. “He’s not dead yet. Let’s
share a little before we cut his head off. I don’t want a sniveling
prat
like him to become one of us.” He began to drag Seth
back to that God-forsaken hole in the ground, toward the other waiting
vampires.

Scott pushed my head down and slid over so that we
both lay flat on the roof. The hell-hole’s entrance was facing in the direction
of the building we were on and we couldn’t risk peering over the edge of the
roof and being seen while the vampires turned in our direction. But I could
hear them, and I felt as if I could see right through the building onto the
street. I could envision them tearing into Seth’s body, staining their horrible
pale skin with his bright, dying blood.

After a few minutes, the city became quiet, but we
didn’t dare lift our heads to see whether the vampires had followed Seth’s body
into the hole or left to look for other prospects. My body was beginning to
ache from lying in one position for so long. I felt drops of water landing on
me—it was starting to drizzle.

Despite the possible danger, I became impatient after
half an hour. I poked Scott and pointed up. He shook his head and gestured for
me to stay down, then peered over the edge himself. He gave me a thumbs-up and
we silently crawled to the other edges of the roof to peer over and evaluate
our surroundings. There was not a vampire in sight, so we moved back to the
fire escape.

I started to move toward the edge and Scott grabbed my
shoulder, shaking his head violently. I ducked. “What is it?”

“I’m going first,” he whispered. “We don’t know if
there are still vampires in the building.”

“I think there are, but not many.” I could feel them,
just as I had felt them when they were coming out to watch Seth, but I didn’t
think there could be many left.

Scott scowled. “Maybe we shouldn’t risk it at all, but
if we do I should go first.”

I heard thunder in the distance. The rain was growing
stronger. It reminded me of the last time I had encountered Desmond. “Look, I
don’t want to stay up here all night. If they do find us up here we’ll be
trapped. Anyway, you know as well as I do it’s better for me to go first. You
have my back. I can’t climb over the ledge onto the fire escape with two
stakes, I need a free hand.”

Scott looked frustrated, but he didn’t argue.  He
climbed up onto the ledge with a stake in each hand. I climbed up as well. My
plan was to hold onto the ledge with one hand and quietly ease myself down so
that I could check the window and see if anything was inside. Once we were on
top of the fire escape we would each be able to hold two stakes and walk down
the stairs.