Ember Daughters

Fallen Queen

A thick, metallic smell hovers in the air. I bite the inside of my cheek. The blood tastes bitter, making my stomach churn in protest. Through a crack in the ceiling, a sliver of light caresses Elise's sobbing figure, and she reaches for the Sun's rays. Her skin sizzles and burns, leaving behind a raw wound in her palm before she pulls away.

I watch her blood as it hits the floor. Every drop sends a jolt through my spine, and I crawl towards the gathering pool. Feed, kill, repeat. The words burn me like a flame to a wick, and my finger smudges the sea of red.

Elise slaps my hand away. "Jem, we're not monsters."

I don't answer, but the pounding in my head screams for relief. Instead, I yank my arm out of her grasp and look away. The bite mark on my neck aches with a throbbing need.

My fingers trail over the dried wound, and I remembered the vision of crimson trailing down my skin. My blood took on a life on its own while it soaked my sheets. Eyes that gleamed rich shade of vermilion met my frantic gaze. They were the colour of my blood, a pure enigma of horror. I writhed and squirmed, but the creature's claws ripped at my stomach.

Fangs as sharp as a viper's dug into my skin again. "You're the one bound by blood. Remember, all I need is you, and I'll have the rest," the creature breathed down my neck.

"What do you mean?" I croaked.

"Wrong question, human."

Leaping from one rooftop to the next, he disappeared into the horizon.

Now, the wound on my neck hammers my throat, and I open my eyes to meet the six figures standing before me. We share the same face. Our jet-black hair cascades well past our shoulders. Our skin, like the shimmering reflection of Sun on water, glistens with the daylight until it burns.

None of us cares anymore. Rheya, Luna, Charis, Bianca, Syd, and Elise stare back at me, arms folded and eyes narrowed. The seven sisters of Victoria, locked in here by a mob that called us vampires and flesh-eating monsters. Over those few days, I understood what the creature meant. If I was bitten, everyone related to me would turn.

The smell of scalded flesh singes my nostrils and ignites everything within me. Blood. I need blood. My vision tunnels, and my knees buckle beneath me. A snarl scratches against my throat, and my teeth pierce my bottom lip. My veins are pitch black now, my limbs shifting and creaking out of place. Pain snaps in my bones while they dislocate and break until my consciousness dangles by a thread.

I feel something rough in my mouth. It tastes like raw flesh, but it reeks of the delicious taste of blood. It's one of those rats that we've been surviving on for the past few days cooped up in here. Their emptied bodies are piled up in a stack in the corner. I spit the carcass out and wipe my lips with the back of my hand.

More. I want more. Euphoria skips through my body, and my head stops pounding for now. Rheya rubs her hand over her face, raking it through her greasy hair. Her voice comes out raspy. "That was the last rat, little sister. How long can we last here with nothing else?"

She tips my chin to meet her silver gaze, "In that case, we always have each other right?"

I gulp as the others circle me, fangs bared and their claw-like nails tracing the skin on my neck. Luna smiles sweetly before her neck snaps, and she falls to the ground in a blubbering mess. With tears streaming down her face, she cries out. Black bile spills from her mouth. Her limbs extend until she towers over us by at least three heads. Just like me, her veins are black, and it dyes her pale skin the same colour.

Her head turns back into place, like having her neck snapped was nothing. Feral vampire. Run, my child, and don't look back. The words are drilled into my head, and that voice sounds familiar. I turn on my heel and run. Charis and Syd grab my hands and push me ahead, the clarity in their eyes returning briefly. "Forgive us, Jem." Charis groans as the wildness claims her again.

I nod grimly. They release their grip on me, their hands falling limp at their sides. My feet patter on the ground. Every breath punishes my lungs, and the frigid air scrapes against my throat.

Suddenly, I can hear everything. The distant sound of heartbeats and snarls, the whirring of electricity, and the insects scuttling through the walls.

Everything comes at me, and the noises meld together. All I know is that I won't stop moving. A claw scratches against my back, a low growl sounding in my ears. "You should've left some for us, little sister. It doesn't have to be like this," Rheya breathes. Her feral claws dig into my back. Wincing, I force my legs to pump harder. The tunnels fly by in a whirl, but I'm still not fast enough. They're gaining on me. The sound of footsteps and heartbeats tortures my eardrums.

I'm racing down the tracks, the metal vibrating beneath me. It groans, and I pick up the sound of a train as it screeches a few stations away.

Bianca emerges from the end of the tunnel, the shadows carving a hard line over her features. "I held off the rest. T-They won't bother you anymore..."

Dried blood coats her body and soaks through her clothes. She holds Luna's bracelet, twirling it nervously between her fingers. "Remember us, Jem." She tosses me the keepsake between heaving sobs.

A flash of light appears, followed by a chugging sound. Bianca shoves me away, and she disappears beneath the train.