After The Awakening | ONC 2023

Chapter Two

Xavier watched the officer hold the small hand-held device to the woman's neck as she cowered on the floor with two small children by her side. She flinched as the reader took a skin sample and analysed it. Her eyes were round as she anxiously waited for the result.

The screen flashed green and everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

'Head down the stairs and to the police blockade,' he ordered.

She didn't hesitate. Picking up her two kids, she hurried out of the room and down the stairs. Their test results would already be with the team downstairs and they would take care of the family from here.

'Clear,' he spoke into the radio on his shoulder.

'We're clear here,' Dylan's voice replied.

He and the two officers moved into the hallway, where he saw his partner. Her forehead creased in concentration. She looked up at him and inclined her head. They'd been working together long enough that he knew she wanted to talk, but without an audience.

Creeping up to the next floor, he motioned for his team of four to proceed into the two flats as Dylan ordered her team to do the same.

'You seeing what I'm seeing?' she asked him.

'You're referring to the lack of bodies?'

'That's exactly what I'm referring to,' she whispered.

'We've found four flats with residents in. Not a single person has been bitten.'

'We found three. Same thing. Not even a scratch. And these buildings don't have the panic rooms that the new builds have.' She pressed a hand against the standard wooden doors. 'It wouldn't have deterred a hungry vamp.'

'There's still seven floors left.'

'But this doesn't look like a feeding frenzy. So what the hell is going on here?' she asked.

Xavier ran a hand through his coarse, curly hair. 'There's still the workmen outside.'

'Four workmen. But eight vampires. You know as I do it wouldn't have sedated their hunger, and yet they didn't touch a single human as they made their way through the building.'

'Clear.'

'Clear.'

Two voices called in unison, bringing their conversation to an abrupt halt as their teams emerged into the hallways.

Xavier pointed to the stairs and his team moved upwards just as a volley of shots echoed from the stairwell.

'It's coming from above,' he said, locking eyes with Dylan.

'Guns at the ready,' she called to her team.

Xavier made his way up the stairs, his gun trained high. He swung his gaze, trying to take in everything all at once. The gun shots had ended but the sounds of a scuffle continued and his steps became more determined.

He paused when he heard the sounds of the elevator spark to life and shoot to the bottom of the building.

'That shouldn't be working? Elevators are disabled in the event of a code 287,' an officer said shakily.

Dylan was already on the radio relaying information to the ground teams in case they escaped out of the main entrances.

'We can't see any movement from the front doors. The elevator doors are still shut,' a crackly voice replied to her.

'Does this building have a basement?' demanded Xavier.

There was a pause before a sheepish voice replied. 'It's used as a storage place for the heating system.'