Tainted

Chapter 3: Her Brother

I quickly jump back on my feet. She carries a surprised look on her face. Taking the moment to glance at her, I spot a silver dog tag around her neck. Anne. Her name is Anne. Pouncing like a leopard, I attack her jaw while pinning her to the ground. Stopping my attack causes me to get a good look at her. Tears flood her eyes and blood covers her face.

“You’re human?” I question.

I could tell she’s human by one of her contacts being out of line.

“You’re sick. You know that, right? Whose blood did you have to drink to convince them? Who did you have to kill to make your act believable? Who did you have to betray to gain their trust?” I pause to get a look at her.

Anne’s jaw begins to turn purple.

“Answer me!” I yell while shaking her.

“I’m sorry! This was the only way that I could survive!” She claims.

I stand up and look around. No guards saw me attack her.

“And you know what’s the worst part? You still treat your own race horribly.” I point out.

She takes the time to stand up. I messed her up badly. Tears glide smoothly down her face revealing her regular tan skin color. She used make up too. Pretending to be a vampire is really smart, I’m not going to lie.

“P-Please don’t tell anyone.” She begs.

“Is everything okay here?” Tatiana questions.

I look back at her. Walking away from Anne, I look down at my knuckles. They burn from the attack. Freshly cut flesh hangs to expose a line of new wounds. Blood covers most of my hands. Bleeding is a bad thing to do here. Who knows how many vampires could lose control! Tatiana grabs my arm and begins to guide me to the pod. I can tell that my blood bothers her.

“Right in here.” She informs.

Two guards stand outside of a metal based room. One of them opens the door. I enter the room baring caution. The door slams shut causing me to flinch. Through the door’s iron bars I can see Tatiana licking her fingers. Looking around the room, I see the man that stepped on my foot and a young girl with identical features to him. Same blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes.

They stare at me as if I was an alien from outer space. I look down at my white dress. Blood stains overpower the white color. My flower remains its untouched pure white. I sit down on the cold stone floors of the room. The girl lays on the lap of the man.

“Cooper, do you think they’ll kill us?” She whispers.

He chuckles at her response. His name must be Cooper, or Subject 302 if you want to call him that. Cooper lightly strokes the girl’s hair. He kisses her forehead.

“Just go to sleep Natalie.” He orders.

Natalie closes her eyes on command. She appears to only be fourteen years old. It must be horrible to have this kind of life at such a young age. Cooper’s eyes glimmer back at me through the darkness of the room. I look down to see a blanket covering Natalie. It is quite cold in here, especially with a dress on. My shivers cause Cooper to stare even more.

Closing my eyes, I find myself instantly falling asleep. I wake up to the screams that rung in my ears. Looking around the room, I notice that the noises must have been in my head. Cooper looks at me alarmed. His sister still lays sleeping on his lap. Damp sweat invaded my face. It was just a nightmare. Cooper looks at me. He raises his eyebrow.

I look down to see Cooper’s jacket draped over my shoulders. He must’ve given it to me while I was sleeping. I glance up at him and smile. I mouth the words Thank you and he lightly nods. Leaning my head on the wall causes me to realize the fact that this is real. I’m in a metal box with vampires guarding it.

I didn’t catch the slightest amount of sleep since I woke up. I watched as Natalie’s eyes opened to the comforting sight of her brother. She instantly smiles. He kisses her forehead to greet her.

“How’d you sleep?” Cooper asked.

“Good, how about you?” She replies.

“I slept fine.” He informs.

Their conversation was interrupted by a guard opening the door. He gestures for us to get out of the pod. I gladly walk out. The pod is so small! The guards lead all three of us into another room. The whole time Natalie stayed by her brother’s side. You could tell that she feared the creatures that surrounded her.

The guards opened up a door to what looks like a lunchroom. People. Actual people, as in humans. I’ve never seen so many of them since the outbreak. We are lead to a bad area of the lunchroom.

“Insert your arm into the slot.” One vampire orders.

“Will I get it back?” I question.

“Hopefully, if it cuts correctly this time.” He mutters.

I carefully slide my hand into a metal slot. A cold cutter presses down on my wrist. I can feel the blood leaking from my arm. When I removed my arm from the slot, the blood instantly spills on the floor.

“Owwww!” I yell while shaking my arm.

“Don’t worry, it will get numb.” The vampire pauses. “Next.”

Natalie carefully places her arm inside of the slot. Once her arm comes out, tears flood her eyes from the pain. Cooper takes hold of her and pulls her into a hug.

“It’s okay, see the pain is over.” He says while trying to comfort her.

What kind of world is this?