Silly Little Games

Chapter Thirty

Damien opened the doors of the castle, looking out at the empty and broken world that was on his doorstep. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone walking towards the castle. He could smell them already and knew they were human. His fangs grew in anticipation; it would be nice to have some fresh blood instead of stored. He waited for the poor human. His eyesight wasn’t amazing but he could tell that it was a guy and was injured and bleeding. The human finally reached the doors of the castle and looked at Damien pleadingly. “Why should I let you in?” he sneered at the broken and bruised human.

“Because I know something you really want to know and the whereabouts of this information” the human replied, looking up at Damien. “I spoke to Leila, told her where Aphra’s old house is and know for a fact she went there. Name’s Tommie, by the way” he added, looking up at the confused vampire. Damien nodded and let him into the castle and then shut and bolted the castle doors behind him. Tommie limped down the hallway.

“If you are friends with Leila, why would you cross her to tell us this information?” Damien asked, looking at Tommie. “Surely, that’s like betrayal or something to her, she won’t ever trust you again.”

“Yeah well it’s human instinct to do whatever we can to survive. If telling on her keeps me alive, then I will. It’s every human for themselves out there” he replied confidently. He staggered into one of the large living rooms and sat down on the sofa to be met with the prying eyes of Drella, who was sitting opposite him. She looked at him with confusion but also hunger and flashed her fangs at him as a warning.

“Why is there a filthy, broken-boned human in our living room?” she asked, “brother dearest” she added, faking a sweet smile up at Damien. He rolled his eyes and offered Tommie a glass of water but he refused, pointing to his chest and explaining it hurt when he swallowed. However, for the first and probably only time in his uneventful life, he thanked the vampire for his offer.

“So you were the leader of the human side?” Damien asked, suddenly intrigued concerning the mysterious human that suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Tommie nodded. “Sounds interesting, tell us more” Damien smiled, looking at Drella in the corner of his eye. She smirked knowingly at him.

“I grew up in a family constantly affected by vampires. My grandmother was abducted by them just before I was born and we never saw her again. That’s when my father started to full on hate vampires, and it rubbed off on my I guess. I trained in the army and when they announced war they put me in one of the positions in charge” Tommie explained.

“So you’ve wanted revenge, almost? From what it sounds, you wanted to fight because of what happened to your grandmother” Drella asked, looking at her book still as she spoke and not looking at Tommie. He nodded slightly and shrugged; he had never really thought about it, it may have only existed in his subconscious.

“I guess so, I can get angry easily” Tommie replied, looking at the more uninterested of the pair. “Like, really easily. I almost killed someone when I was at school. That’s why everyone thought I could deal well with people that we were supposed to hate; my family background was nudging me into the leadership job anyway. I just have a strong dislike for vampires” he added.

Drella scowled and looked up at Damien, but knew that in that tiny brain if his, he had a plan that involved Tommie. Maybe he could get this human, who knew me, to assassinate me, or turn/kill me. Damien nodded. “How would you feel about doing us a favour?” he asked, looking at the inquisitive human that was contaminating the room with the smell of fresh blood.

“What sort of favour?” Tommie replied with a question, looking up at Damien.

“Well, we can offer you health and immortality, but all you have to do is kill somebody for us” he replied with a subtle smile, feeling his fangs grow within his mouth. Tommie seemed to stop replying and started thinking. Drella looked up and watched him, almost like she could see him weigh up the pros and cons in his head, all the cogs working like a well oiled machine. In the end, Tommie nodded.

Drella appeared next to him and sunk her fangs into his neck, drinking heavily at the liquid she adored so much. The blood spilled over her cheeks as she drained him and Damien watched in envy and anger. He had done all the work and still couldn’t enjoy the bonus to it. Drella pushed in her venom and pulled away, licking the blood from her lips and laying a passed out Tommie down. “I thought we agreed that whoever lures in the prey, gets the reward” Damien growled. “Anyway, we can get him to kill Leila now”

While they were arguing, I was completely oblivious to the whole thing. I liked being oblivious to things; Living in my own little world was far better than the war ground I was camping on. That was the strange thing about vampires, they’re very clean. The grounds were void of running water so I was starting to smell a bit by now, but staying alive was my number one priority. No vampire without a death wish would go near me.

I stared up at the stars. They were my only company. I wondered if those who I had lost along the way were watching me through my day to day struggles. Even Trent would be there now, having arguments with Brian over which band was the best like they did in the house, and I smiled at the memory. I would always have to calm them down. I missed cooking; I never thought I would actually say that, but I did.

Maybe there was a part of me that just wanted to be up there with them. I wouldn’t have to keep fighting anymore. I was the last human on our side that was still alive but the fight I began with had withered away. I felt like an empty shell of a person. I packed up the little stuff I had and tied the arms of my coat around my waist. The sun was still beating down over Victus and it was burning my skin from the intense heat.

Word had reached me that Tommie had been turned, seems that the gossip spreads fast here. I knew that the news was a sign of something, maybe the final white flag of defeat. I’d given my world the best I had but it could never have been enough. As I walked and trekked towards the castle, I dropped my possessions one by one. My stakes, my letters, my photos and my necklace.  I didn’t need them anymore, not where I was going.

As I reached what used to be the castle gardens, a group of vampires appeared in the distance. Either the heat is getting to me or my mind decided now was the best time to hallucinate. They disappeared as soon as I blinked. I shook my head a few times and walked forwards, only to bump into someone. I blinked. “Tommie?”

He looked at me with a certain glint in his eyes that I hadn’t ever seen before. He had a small smirk pulling at his lips that only reminded me of cruelty and suffering. He wasn’t the kind hearted person I knew, oh no, he was him but with a completely different personality; like a monster hiding in human skin. You could pretend all you wanted but the monster will always shine through, because an ugly personality spoils a perfect appearance.  

I looked at him confused but still kept my distance as I stumbled back away from him. “Tommie? What’s wrong with you?”  I asked, shaking like a leaf in a cold winter wind. He laughed in response which gave me a glimpse of fangs. He was a vampire, and had betrayed the whole of humankind. He had given himself over to those who belong locked up or killed.

“Nothing is wrong with me; I’m just different in a better way” he replied and sauntered around me in a predatory-type style. He stalked around me like a lion circling its prey. My heart began to beat at an extremely rapid pace and I started to hyperventilate, even though I was desperately trying to calm down.

“Oh, there’s no use in trying to calm yourself down, I have a job to do” he smirked, taking a step in and making the circle smaller. I looked up at him with tears in my eyes. The wind stopped. The sky turned dark. Even the stars flickered. “I’m going to kill you” he whispered in my ear and I scrunched up my eyes.