The Price of Blood

Chapter 23

PART 2- AFTER

Bradley's POV

We grab her when she blacks out. Seven pairs of hands, longing to suck her blood. It pours all over her and becomes too much for Kevin to bear. He growls angrily and pounces on Lauren, who does not open her eyes. Jake flashes him one quick stare and he jumps off, whimpering.

"Do you want to attract attention to yourself asshole?" asks Jess furiously.
Kevin looks at her angrily, but does not reply.
"What time does the truck come?" pipes up Kelly.
"It comes when I tell it to come." Jake replies shortly, his cold cruel face deep in thought and obviously not wanting to elaborate on what he had said.

I decide it is best to just shut up. I instead stare at Lauren, her green eyes closed and her arm limp by her side. The blood was now trickling down onto her white shirt, soaked in sweat from when she had been running. Her arms were red; not from the blood but from the sheer force that Nate and Kevin had held her with. She looked vulnerable, but she was strong. Strong enough to defy Jake. But unsuccessful. Just like the rest.

Lauren was apparently different. Jake wouldn't tell us why, out of every 11th grader in school, she was the one who had been chosen. Why she was special. She didn't fit in, not really. She was ordinary, got good grades. Why did we have to cause so much damage and kill so many people just to get to her? This was a question I found myself asking a lot concerning the activities of my eldest brother. But he never seemed to provide a proper excuse.

"Excuse?" demands Jake suddenly, wheeling round and staring at me, almost in disbelief. Shit! My MindScreen slipped for a couple of seconds. I must have been getting too emotional.
"Nothing." I mumble, "look Jake, the least we can do is stop pretending that I agree with what you and Jess do to people who you want to use."
Jake regards me with a look of respect, mixed with irritation.
"You're lucky you're my brother, and one of us..." he says finally, "otherwise, you'd already be dead."
The threat does not affect me, but I know it is the truth. For the cameras of everyday society, we all love eachother and get along really well. Behind the scenes, the loathing my brother and sister have for me is unquenchable. My parents hate me too. This I know, this I've always known.

We reach the front entrance and are almost out the door when we hear a shout from the other end, then a sound of rapid fire guns, which stunk of garlic. The bullets were made of minature stakes. Seems oldfashioned? The old ways always work. Nate snarls and himself and Rihanna run full throttle into the group of attackers. They break their necks with one quick blow to the head, and within a few seconds, they're all dead. I can't look at them, and instead try to not look how I feel; like a monster.

"Bradley? Get your arse over here. We haven't got all day." yells Nate and I hurry over, helping carry Lauren's body out of the door and towards the huge red truck parked outside. It has our crest on the side, huge and terrifying. I flinch at the site of it, knowing how many people have died in its name. We put Lauren into a chair, tie her up with ropes and put a gag over her mouth so that she can't scream when she wakes up. Jess stabs a needle into her finger and attaches it to a small tube, leading into a box at the side. The needle takes a small amount of blood each second, which is tested and written down. Don't want to be drinking the wrong blood type. You see, the most effective way to kill us is to give us the wrong food. Like with a dog. If it eats too much chocolate, it will die. If we drink the wrong blood type, we will die. It causes poison to build up in us and paralyses. Eventually, we starve to death.

Jake looks at me, the hatred still obvious and destructive.
"When she comes round, tell me." he says threateningly, "Or else."
I nod quickly, and he leaves the truck with the others. He knows I'm the only one who can resist the smell of blood for a long time. I'm the only one who won't kill her. I have at least some sort of self control. Watching her is strange and doesn't feel normal. Her eyelids; drab and heavy with specks of red dancing on the ends, her eyes; so peaceful, like a warm sea ready to quench all the anger I feel. Her hair; soft, yet strong in a high ponytail with a black scruchie; her fingers; fjlled with the anguish and grazed from when she hit the floor. Her shirt is now redder and the blood has finally stopped gushing out of her cuts. She looks eerily tranquil, but I know that will all change when she wakes up.

A large bang of the truck door signalls Kelly's arrival a few moments later. I quickly read her mind and without knowing, stand up in anger. She looks at me with an amused expression, before regarding Lauren with one of longing. I remove the needle from Lauren's hand, and pass it to Kelly, who doesn't even acknowledge me. She opens the box and begins to write. All is quiet for a moment, and then she speaks.
"O, suitable for all." she snarls, "that's good eh?"
She laughs as if she had told a good joke and then leaves.

The truck jolts and jarrs, and I know that we have left the main road for the winding ones through the Montana mountains. The tube from the reader jumps and twirls in the air, and the various rubbish on the ground shudders in preparation for the hugely icy and steep slopes that lead to the summit, the armageddon of all armageddons, and the end of the world as we know it. I try not to think about what is awaiting Lauren at the top. I do not want my dear brother inside my head again. A few more minutes pass, and with one final jolt, one of Lauren's eyes opens. I sadly let my MindScreen go and think about her being awake. In an instant, the door opens and Jake appears. He slams the door, smiles at me (almost) and then sits down beside Lauren, whose both eyes are open and who is struggling in her seat to break free from her bonds. I shift into the corner, trying to block Jake's raging thoughts from my head.

"Welcome." Jake begins, and Lauren just stares at him.
"A thank you would surfice..." Jess has already entered, carrying one of her knifes, which she twirls with her finger.
Lauren continues to stare, but her eyes begin to well up. My delightful sister grabs Lauren by the back of the neck, making her eyes flash with fear. I turn away.
"We only have one rule..." Jake says softly, "do as you're told, or die?"
Lauren indicates that she would like the gag to be removed so she can say something. Jake relents and removes it without a care.
"Guess you're just going to have to kill me then." she retorts bravely.

"I hoped you'd say that." Jake replies.