Shadow Embraced (Haven Academy Book 1) [Completed]

Chapter 14

I have no Idea where I'm heading, just so long as it's away from here. Talon found out, and it can't be long until everyone knows the truth. I mean, she hates me anyway, and I don't think what happened in that room helped improve her opinion of me.

How am I going to get out of here?

A loud ringing erupts inside the main building. I'm not going to wait around and find out if it's a regular 'get-to-class' bell or a special 'let's-hunt-the-Dhampir-and-bludgeon-her-with-sticks' alarm.

Choosing the way out is easy, through the process of elimination. The tall gate surrounds this place, and there's only one way I've seen that gets out without having to climb. I'm sure the gate is electrified anyways, or has some other hazardous booby trap to ensure the little prisoners remain contained. I head across the dark fields and for the trap door I know is somewhere near the chapel.

Once inside, I start running. I've only ever been down here with Daemon, so I have no idea where I'm going. At each turn, I don't slow down, I just keep powering ahead. My breath comes out in erratic gasps and I try not to panic. I hate being underground. The dirt-filled air makes it hard to breathe.

When I arrive at a dead end, I see the same rock formation that all the other exits have and I start to climb, pushing the hatch open at the top.

Pulling myself into the cabin, I look around. It's not like the other one. This one is just an empty, decaying room. Not seeing a point in hanging around here, I walk outside.

The scenery is identical to all the other places in this town of long-forgotten death. Numerous trees crowd the roadside. Crumbled ruins litter the greenery. Several decades of disuse are enough for nature to claw its way back. Trees rupture the remains of fallen houses. Vines and ivy swarm every available surface. Even the roadway is under attack from the insatiable plant life.

I need to find something that will help me. I start running deeper into the town, passing more and more buildings that have managed to survive, through either sheer luck or maintenance from enterprising students. Some look almost whole, except for gaping holes in them where trees manage to take hold. A good chunk of Main Street shows signs of partial repair over the years as if someone wanted a dramatic set for some play.

I stop and rest on the steps of what may have once been a bank, darting my gaze around at all the abandoned buildings. I hope there will be something inside that can help me.

A metallic dish sits on top of a distant house. It looks like a homemade satellite receiver; maybe I can use something in there.

Approaching the tattered storefront, I peer through a gap in the boarded-up main window. Piles of rubble that might have been shelves in a past life lie on the floor. A sapling in the centre of the room struggles to draw light from breaks in the ceiling above. Sitting on the counter in a far corner is a sprawling computer system comprised of more spare parts than Frankenstein's monster. Cables trail in a chaotic mess up the walls, an electronic parody of the ravenous ivy strangling the town. It's not the sort of thing I want to be messing around with.

I almost give up and move on, until I spot a pile of discarded mobile phones stacked on a nearby table. From a distance, some of them look new. One of them might be usable, and it would be very nice if something went my way for once.

I rush through the door and fumble around in the mound of phones, jabbing as many power buttons as possible. A couple gives a brief flicker before dying, but most stay dead. One springs to life, a little pink flip-top. It has only a single bar of life left, but with some luck, that'll be enough to suit my needs.

I hold it tight with both hands and start to dial Dad's number. What am I doing? What will I even say? 'Hi Dad, sorry I haven't called you, but I've spent the last couple of weeks pretending to be a vampire and I'd really like to come home now.' Yeah right, like that'll work.