Generation Gem

The Other World

I looked at the empty space where the cart had just been, my mind numb. Mel drained the last of the blood from her third bag and threw me a satisfied grin.

"Now that...was amazing."

I couldn't look at her. I kept thinking of what Jamie had just said to me. He wasn't a Ruby, an Emerald or a Diamond. He was a Sapphire. And apparently, so was I.

But nobody could know. If people found out, if the Rubies ever knew, I would be killed. I shook my head, not wanting to believe it was true. I tried to focus on what Mel was saying. I had to act normal. My life depended on it.

"It looked revolting. Three bags. How could you stomach it?"

She giggled, wiping her face for any traces of blood.

"It was lovely. Once you start drinking it, you can't stop. It's a need we have. I'm so thankful the afterlife exists because where else would we get the blood from?"

Now she had my attention. I turned to her in total disbelief.

"Excuse me? The blood is from the Diamonds? That's disgusting!"

"Well where else would it be from? They die, then their ghostly selves rise up from the bodies. And those bodies keep us supplied with fresh blood throughout the years. They do four intakes of eighteen year olds a year. Each graduation will roughly see about thirty thousand Pearl Eds go to The Diamonds. In comparison, us Rubies have an intake of around twenty-two thousand and The Emeralds between eighteen and twenty thousand. So it means we have plenty of access to fresh blood all year round. The authorities preserve some of the afterlife bodies until they need to drain them of blood, so we will always have an endless supply."

I made a gagging noise in the hope she would stop talking about it.

"I always thought the three generations got around the same intake. I didn't realise The Diamonds got so much more than us."

"It's because of the promise of family. Sometimes, the thought of having a family outweighs everything else. Didn't you learn anything at Pearl Eds?!"

We walked along in silence.

Everywhere we looked were varying shades of red rubies, houses, trees and funky looking vampires. Most Rubies we came across were lone vampires. In fact, since the moment Mel and I were pushed through the door, I hadn't seen anyone else together but us.

I tried to distract myself from what Jamie had told me and studied my welcome pack again. I didn't need to read it as every word was already imprinted on my memory.

"If we carry on in this direction for an hour, we could cover around five hundred miles. Apparently, there is a huge meadow known as "Rubies for Newbies" and people make their base on the meadow to sleep at night for a couple of weeks while they explore the generation in the daytime. Do you want to do that?"

Mel squealed with excitement.

"Yes, I've heard about that. Everyone just parties and sleeps in that meadow. There are several blood cocktails to try. It sounds like a great idea Cassie!"

I was glad that I was able to make someone happy. Now I had The Sapphire world on my mind, I felt nothing but dread and fear.

We made it to the meadow in less than an hour. The grass was a fiery red. Back in the human days, there was something called a football pitch where people played sport. This meadow was at least ten of those put together, it was huge.

This was the first place I had seen where Rubies were interacting with each other. Some were dancing, some were chatting and drinking and some were just fast asleep on the grass. Panic started to bubble up inside me. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all.