Authors: Jessica Sorensen
Darkness Falls
Table of Contents
Darkness Falls
Jessica Sorensen
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2012 by Jessica Sorensen.
First Paperback Edition: March 2012
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.
No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the permission in writing from author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.
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http://jessicasorensensblog.blogspot.com/
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Cover Design Mae I Design
DarknessFalls
—Book 1 of Darkness Fall Series
Copyedited by
http://www.editorcassandra.com/
Rule #1—Never go out after dark.
Rule #2—Always have a weapon in hand.
Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bit.
The sky is black, the streets are full of cries, and my clothes are drenched with either rain or blood. Maybe both. I’ve broken a rule and the consequences could be disastrous.
Rule #1—Never go out after dark.
The sky is thick with smoke that rises from the fires constantly burnt within the city walls. The broken buildings, lost in the dirt of disease, tower the sides of the debris-covered roads. Abandoned cars thick with rust and fragmented glass wedge the streets. I leap over the hood of one and swing a sharp right, dipping down into the underground tunnels, away from the dead city, away from
them
. But a hand grabs the collar of my shirt and I’m yanked backward.
My weapon slips from my fingers and clanks to the ground.
Another rule broken.
Rule #2—Always carry a weapon.
The monster snarls, fangs gleaming, drool dripping from its rotting lips. I squirm from its grip and dodge to the right, but another one appears, just as hungry. I’m cornered. I press my back against the concrete walls soaked with filthy water, which seeps deep into my clothes.
This is the closest I’ve ever been to one. My amazing speed and quickness makes it hard for them to catch me. Tonight, I’m off though. Tonight I’m worried about Maci.
It’s as dark as death, but I can still make out the blood dripping from the monsters eyes and the gaping wounds mapping its flesh. Its fangs tremble for my neck, desperate to devour—needing to feed. I search the ground for my weapon—I need my weapon.
But it seizes me by the shoulders and digs its fleshless fingers into my arms. My skin starts to give. If it breaks, I’ll be infected. I should be afraid—I should fear for my life. But I don’t.
I kick the monster between the legs, but it doesn’t faze. Maybe it’s not male? Male or not, I’ve pissed it off. It tips its head back and growls. Then its other arm springs forward and it clutches my throat. Blood pours from its eyes like rain from the sky. I ram my elbow into its chest, hard. But it barely budges. It’s a strong one.
They all are.
And humans are weak.
It dips its nose toward my neck and takes a deep whiff, like I’m a top grade sirloin steak. I whack it in the chest and kick it in the shin, refusing to give up. Finally, it loses balance and stumbles backwards. Not missing a beat, I skitter around it and swerve around the other one. Then I run.
But I fall after a few steps, my nose cracking against the concrete. I roll over and the monster hovers above me. The more blood that drips from its eyes, the hungrier it is. And this one’s eyes are pouring water like a rainstorm. It assesses me, death staring me in the eyes. Yet am I not afraid. I should be terrified, but I never am.
The monster’s lips part. “No!” It cries.
My blood freezes. I’ve never heard one speak. I didn’t think they could speak.
It turns from me and wanders back down the tunnel, the other one following closely behind.
I stay on the ground, my jaw slack with shock. Because vampires never EVER leave humans alive.
After the vampires vanish, I sprint down the tunnel as fast as my legs will carry me and don’t slow down until I reach the river. The Highers built the river around The Colony, and constantly dump
sodium chloride
into it, which is just a fancy word for
salt. The salt causes excruciating pain when it mixes into the wounds on vampires’ skin. It’s the one thing that keeps them away, the one thing that protects us from being overtaken with the blood thirsty disease.
I jump into the water and swim until I grow tired. Then I let the soft flow of the water carry me to the end of the river. I drag myself onto the cement platform. I’m tired and soaked, but the glass vial is still in my pocket and that’s all that matters.
“Open up,” I call out, spitting out water. “
Please
.”
The steel door swings open, and smacks loudly against the wall. Tristan steps out, hands in pockets, a shocked look on his face. “What happened to you?”
I push to my feet and ring the water out of my long, black hair. “Why are you guarding the door? I thought Bernard was on duty tonight?”
“He had some sort of meeting with the Highers …” His blue eyes skim me from head-to-toe and then his mouth sinks into a troubled frown. “I’m guessing everything didn’t go smoothly.”
I nod and step past him, ducking below the doorway. “The hospital we always get the medicine from was a mess … it looked like the vampires trashed it for some reason,” I say, which sounds strange because vampires usually won’t go near hospitals, but that’s what Monarch told me to say if anyone asked. And Tristan won’t question my lie. He is a strict rule follower and asking questions about things that might seem suspicious would make him a rule breaker.