Bloodbank

Twenty Four

The bunker was deserted. 

Scott led the way, descending down the same concrete staircase we had gone down only a week earlier, with Nathan by our side.

Each step echoed across the empty bunker, my thoughts on the body of my friend that lay on the surface above us.

As soon as my feet hit the bunker floor, I beelined for the bedroom, desperate to rest for the day of travelling ahead of us. I walked straight past the kitchen, with furniture still strewn into disarray and the ventilation shaft open from a week ago. I pushed the memories from my mind, desperate to think of anything else, until a hand grabbed my wrist.

"Why is it so difficult for you to not announce your rare blood type to the entire world?" Scott started, wheeling on me, pinning me against the wall and staring me down with his impossibly green eyes, "that's the second time this has happened, I would've thought you would have learned by now. This is what I get for hanging around with stupid humans, I told you to stay at the house but instead you go around bragging about your blood so that any vampire with good ears - which is all of them, by the way, comes after you and I have to protect you."

My mouth fell open, eyes searching the floor for a place to look that wasn't at him, which was difficult as he surrounded me, open palm pushing me against the wall and the other by my head. "I fended for myself just fine out there."

"You wouldn't have had to do that if you had kept your mouth shut-"

"Why should I have to hide any more? Don't we want Mason coming after us?"

"We want Mason, not the entire city! This should have been easy, now I have to look behind my shoulder at every turn!"

"I'm sorry it's so difficult looking after me, maybe you should leave me to it. I can kill Tenebris by myself," I felt my throat begin to constrict, my eyes water. But I held back the tears, angry or sad I couldn't tell, and stood my ground.

"I've sacrificed too much for you to leave now."

"So let me save you the trouble. Hand over the poison."

"My entire team is dead. Tenebris is after me. I can't have my old life back. Because of you."

I pushed him off of myself easily, and his hands dropped to his sides, his glare laced with venom. Shaking my head, I moved past him to one of the single bunk beds, ignoring the two we had pushed together. I slept alone for the first time in a week, peaceful and dreamlessly.

*****

I awoke. Scott was still asleep, on the furthest bunk from me. Clearly, an apology was out of reach. For both of us.

Approaching him carefully, I first checked that he was fast sleep, and then began to rifle through the bag at the foot of his bed. He was a soundless sleeper, which felt unnatural and unnerved me, however his sleep appeared deep enough. I searched the entire back pocket of the bag, and then found what I was looking for in a smaller pouch, tucked away. Extracting the bottle, I took the poison in my hand and made my way to the bunker exit.

It was true; he'd sacrificed a lot for me, but I could do the rest alone. His words had stung, a bruise I was still reeling from, and he was right about a lot of things. But with the poison in my hand, the lighter in my pocket, the valuable blood running through my veins, and the confidence that I had taken down a vampire by myself, I could finish it. I just had to find the flower outside, but I figured there wouldn't be too many flowers in a desert. And my luck hadn't seemed to run out just yet.

As I opened the door to the outside, sunrise approached, the pink and orange sky breached with sunbeams, hitting me in the face. I squinted, and then basked in the glow, the warmth reaching my skin pleasantly. A deep breath, and then I stepped out, back into the desert, alone.