Token Vampire (Token Huntress Book 2) (11 page)

T
ythian was only there for a mere second, a glimpse that his existence ever lasted. We were surrounded by dry and dying foliage. The mist poured around our ankles and cockroaches infested the crevasses that were in the ground. I could sense that the pollution was thicker here. The sun rose from the corner of the Earth, it was now dawn. The sensation of it crawled over my skin. I wondered if this irritation from the sun would always be there. I questioned how severe it might be if I were fully vampire instead of only half. I looked at Yolo’s slender shoulder’s from behind, in his woman form, was he still affected from the sun rays?

              “It will take us two hours at human pace, to reach there. Don’t act out of character, this is the border I found that they didn’t keep surveillance on, their weakest corner. It is a lot larger than you would expect,” Yolo explained in his sweet womanly voice. “Follow my exact footsteps, Ellie, there are traps for vampires specifically around this area. If this goes sour, and when you walk through their security gates, the alarm goes off and you are found out to be vampire; you must deal with it on your own accord. I can play naive, but don’t ruin what I have built here.”

              “Wait,” I said, pausing and trying to remember the façade I would now face as the human woman named Ellie. “What is your name again?”

              Yolo smiled charmingly, he was in fact a beautiful woman. “I am Jenn Cadolwadt: engineer and specialist at the Human Activist and Regaining Existence Movement. And you Ellie, have suffered amnesia and the only thing you feel comfortable with or can connect with your previous life is that you are good at sword play and crossbow shooting.”

              “Why don’t we have weapons now? Won’t they find it suspicious if we walk here? What if we get attacked?” I asked, pushing aside a tree branch and following Yolo’s fast pace. I noticed that he, or I mean, Jenn, was following a manmade trail.

              “Don’t worry about being attacked; there are enough booby traps around here to contain Sabers or stray vampires. We have only ever had two incidences of our own kind being taken. This entire field is a weapon for the humans. Besides, I always walk upon dawn, which reduces concern for being attacked. Although once, I only had to step twice to my left and the Saber was snagged within netting and thrown into the air.” I looked into the high trees. The dead looking trees didn’t seem as if they could support such action.

              “As for my living domain, it is somewhat unquestionable. There are a few other humans who were once outsiders such as myself, and slowly incorporated into leading roles. Some decided to live within the compounds; I however did not, for obvious reasons. Although it is a terrifying world, freedom is still an option. Don’t get me wrong, I have had many male members gloat about how they could protect me and such,” Jenn said. She flicked her hair over her shoulder smug like. It was hard for me to remind myself that this was still Yolo. Sometimes I saw his personality shine through, but then other times I had to confirm that he was truly the master at pretending to be human. “But I don’t need such. My results as an engineer are highly praised within the compound and they assume I have a system set up at my own compound. I was raised in the technology era, and it surprises me by how little the later generations know. I praise them for their efforts, a lot have self-taught or learnt from generations before. As far as I understand, the compound was created, a little over two hundred years ago. Since then it has been formed as a safe haven, but also a prison for vampires. The humans have learnt from them, simply by watching and examining them. I assume that this is due to wanting to retaliate against the Vampire Council. But, I can’t yet confirm. I am not within the political hierarchy. However, if you can learn a lot from their military sector, it will be an absolute gain,” Jenn said looking behind me and giving me the thumbs up.

That was the part of Yolo that came through, I imagine for only me to see. “It has been within the last fifty years that they have adjusted those methods and began experimenting on both vampires and humans. For example, Whitney, Tythian’s familiar.” He let the words linger in the air, so I could absorb that awful fact and truth. “I help within that department, well my expertise does. It’s disgusting watching it, but I can’t make one single movement unless informed by Cesar, that we will take the entire establishment down. But why, I say, when the Council can do it themselves. When I linger around the border in my usual form, I can sense others around. I think it is being closely watched. And as far as Cesar is concerned, if others are interested, so should we.”

              I continued following his footsteps along the very narrow manmade path.

              “You want to see if this is suitable for your friends,” Jenn said, pointing her chin higher. “My advice is, do not bring them here. They are obvious Hunters, because of their eyes. I think for certain, they will become nothing more than an experiment. But if there is a glimmer of hope, I do hope you find it.”

*

As Yolo predicted, it took us about two hours walking, the pace irritated me. I acknowledged Yolo’s superiority in his patience. With Hunter speed, I could have been there within minutes. The sun was now bearing down, which agitated me. I could feel my fangs wanting to slip out and snarl at the sun, as if it were following only me.

              I focused my eyesight in front of us, ignoring the irritating pain. I could hear shuffling of feet, there were people ahead. They couldn’t notice that I had superior sight, smell and hearing. These were the only things as a Huntress I could rely on within this human compound, without giving myself away. I struggled to get through the pollution. There was so much mist that rose, even around my head. It usually wasn’t so thick; this was clever and set as camouflage. I approached a very tall fencing. It reminded me of the layout to my old Hunter Guild. The fence was tall and shrouded with the mist and plant vines. The haze crept up the cemented halls, stagnating around its enormity. It was so much higher than the Guild’s.

              “Please grab my hand Ellie,” Jenn said, and held her hand out to me. “You can trust me, it is safe here.” I grabbed her hand and allowed her to lead me. In any other circumstance, I imagine no human would be able to see. Jenn grabbed a hold of rope, which led us onto a very thick piece of metal. I still had to pretend to be blinded by the mist and unable to see.

              “Try to grab hold onto the rope on your left Ellie, and watch your footing, this can be at times rough,” she mused. I did as she said, pretending to miss the rope next to me a few times. Ellie grabbed a piece of rope that was lowered over her head. With a large tug and a moment later of waiting, the piece of metal slowly began to lift. We were being escalated up the cemented wall. The higher we got the thicker the mist seemed to get and then suddenly, as if revealing a whole new world, the mist vanished. I peered over the tall wall, which was higher than even my own Guild’s. Two men pulled down on levers, which had slowly elevated us. They both looked at me skeptically.

              “It’s wonderful to see you back safe Miss. Cadolwadt, who do you have with you?” One of the men asked. They were heavily guarded in metal. I tried to hide the snicker, as if such armor would protect them from vampires.

              “Yes, my guest here has suffered from amnesia. I found her on my return to my home and have looked after her since. I’m shocked she wasn’t attacked by Sabers while she was lying down, unconscious. I call her Ellie.”

              “She will have to go through the scans and you will have to advise Mr. Richard,” the man said. He returned Jenn’s smile, obviously she had her own techniques of flattery and manipulation. I wondered if Yolo had a laugh about how he could wrap these full grown men around his finger. How unsuspecting of them.

              “I will, thank you,” Jenn smiled, stepping off the platform and onto the cemented wall. All around the circular large wall was enough room for three people to comfortably walk along. I was surprised to see so clearly now, after the extent of the mist was below and cascading against the wall. “This way Ellie.”

              “I will escort you, Jenn, we have had a few attacks while you were gone. It is always safer to be precautionary,” the same guard said. “Lower the escalator,” he commanded to the other guard.

              “From vampires?” I asked inquisitively. It wouldn’t seem like such an odd question, from someone who would have been recently educated on vampires. Jenn gave the guard a nod in reassurance.
              “I apologize, Ellie, I only told you of the vampires. There are other creatures within this area, specifically. In the old world, when war broke out, a lot of radiation and miasma were caused. We use this as our guard up higher. Here we are safe, and if we don’t stay too long in the mist we are fine. Within the compound we are also fine. However, there were animals from the human world that were affected. They have in a sense reformed or adjusted to their surroundings. The guards on patrol must wear such heavy armor, because the animals sometimes try to invade them. A few of our own have been picked off and eaten.”

              I looked between them, in what I imagine to be an expression of shock. I was surprised to hear this, Yolo hadn’t informed me sooner.

              “What form of animal is it derived off?” I asked, wondering if I would be able to relate to the memory of the creature, or if I had even made contact with its breed before.

              “There are a few,” the guard said openly, as he continued to escort us on top of the wall. “The one’s we have issues with most are a form of rodent. However, because of them it also helps with the sabers, as a sort of repellent. Although no match for the sabers, I have once seen a pack of them take down a lone saber. They can efficiently look after themselves.”

              I had never heard of such mutations on creatures, exactly in what part of the world were we? I looked down at the uneven cemented ground, and then over to my left where there was a thick metal. I could not see anything that was within the human compound from up here. It seemed to be a large dome concealing and protecting the inside. Along the wall, I had now seen three harpoons. I assumed they were used in defense against enemies and the rodents, if they tried to scale the walls? It reminded me much of the tactics Cesar, used. Better to keep a few enemies close, then the real ones closer. How egotistic, yet clever at the same time. The humans presumed they could handle and kill the animals living around them, more than the monsters that lurked and waited to destroy this compound.

              “The roofing is a thick layer, it helps us conduct more electricity when we eventually have thunderstorms and such,” Jenn said, educating me as we walked.

              “You make it sound so simple,” the guard said, as he strolled behind us.

              “There are only a few things, Ellie, can understand and recall, so I like to inform her in such a manner. However, I have found she is good with handling a sword and bow. I will take her to the military sector after I give her a tour. I hope Sydney will be able to find use for her.”

              “He won’t just add anyone,” the guard grumbled. I could tell already within this sector, that there was a hierarchy approval, even within the combat section- of which I was not concerned by. I could test the limits of showing my skill, but to such a weak extent that they wouldn’t be suspicious of my human self. But combat was what I was most impressive at, no matter what form I pretended to be in.

              “You are grumbling again,” Jenn teased. We approached cemented stairs, where Jenn permitted the guard to leave. She gave me a wavered look, which advised me that we were approaching the scan. The remaining question lingered between us, as to whether I would be perceived as human, huntress or vampire. I wasn’t sure how their scan worked, but if only physically, I was recognized as human. I had already thought of my missing heart to be of concern. But, Yolo had previously mentioned that with my mother’s gift, a replacement of sorts was made. So, within the scan, it should still look as if I had a proper heart pumping and circulating my blood.

              I followed Jenn further into the rocky foundation. After twelve steps in, one of the doors behind us had been closed. Low lights illuminated from the ceilings. It reminded me of the Council, they didn’t use flames or candles, this was electricity. On my left was a well-lit white room, which had one male and female, who sat with items I had never even seen before. Was this what they called technology? The male typed vigorously on the board below his fingertips, and continuously looked up at a screen. Was this a computer?