Symbol

I always ran into the same people in the hunting grounds… The Opposites only allow vampires to hunt in certain places, and of course they are guarding every part of the wall. (The hunting grounds is just a mere forest, miles long, filled with animal life chosen particularly for vampires. The forest is surrounded by a wall, which has Opposites standing on top and below. A hunting ground is the most guarded part of Earth other than Containment).

I waved to Alex, a close friend of mine, once I saw him. He didn’t acknowledge that he saw me in anyway, which was understandable. He was drinking, completely focused. I stopped and bit my lip as I saw him. His dark purple eyes looked frenzied, like he’d be depriving himself of any blood. I thought of the last time I saw him… his eyes were purple there too. One time they almost looked red. Why was he doing this to himself? He was restless, even for a vampire. The shadows under his eyes were almost as dark as the night sky. When he stood up, I could see his eyes were a blue-purple color. I walked up to him, making my concern obvious.

He had black hair which went down past his ears and covered his eyes most of the time. He was wearing his usual outfit, dark navy blue jeans with a plain black T-shirt. He raised an eyebrow at my expression.

“What?” He asked. I rolled my eyes.

“You’re thirsty.” I said plainly. His eyebrows pushed together.

“I… was.” He spoke slowly, deliberately emphasizing each syllable. My teeth ground together.

“I haven’t seen your eyes blue in months now, why are you putting yourself in so much danger?” I snapped. He took a step back and raised his hands defensively.

“Whoa, just because we’re not all constantly thinking about our thirst doesn’t mean we’re dangerous.” He said defensively. I walked past him.

“Not according to them” My words were tangled in a hiss.

“Well, in case you hadn’t realized I don’t give a fuck about them.” Alex snapped.

“I noticed.” I said, glancing up at the wall. I could see six Opposites watching. A shiver ran down my spine.

“Look, I need to talk to you, about something else, but not here. There are too many of them, they might over hear.” He whispered. His voice sounded rushed, filled with excitement. But there was a sense of urgency as well. I raised an eyebrow, nodding once. He nodded, and was gone.

I found Alex sitting in my home waiting for me when I got back. He almost made me jump. It wasn’t in a vampire’s nature to be jumpy and nervous, but given the circumstances…

“Okay, what is this all about?” I asked. He stood up and looked over my shoulder, out the hole which I called my window, and through a crack in the wood before speaking.

“We’re leaving.” He eventually announced. I froze. I knew what he meant instantly.

“You can’t leave.” I managed to say through unmoving lips.

“Yes, we can. And I want you to come.” He demanded, taking a step closer to me. I swallowed hard, soon feeling sick to my stomach.

“Alex…,” I whispered, emotion finally finding my face as I fell onto my coach, “Vampires have tried…”

“No, they haven’t tried anything. They just ran, without a plan, nothing. We, we have a place to run to, and we’re ready to go whenever. I don’t want to leave you here though.” He stated. A million questions swarmed my mind, making me dizzy. I hadn’t realized they were spilling out of my mouth…

“Who is this we? Where will you go? You can’t defend yourselves against the Opposites! Did you hear about what happened early today at the airport? Haven’t you read about what happened to vampires who tried to runaway from the system? Have you completely lost your mind? Do you have any idea what you’re risking? And what about Aaron!?” I was close to shouting. I was on my feet, my hands curled tightly into fists shaking with fear. He only picked up on the last question…

“Aaron!?! You’re still friends with that… that… thing!?” He was shouting. I didn’t bother hesitating before I slapped him across the face, hard. So hard he lost his balance. After rubbing his face a few times, he acted like I hadn’t done anything.

“She’s my best friend, and she’s not a thing just because she doesn’t have venom instead of blood.” I hissed. He closed his eyes, his face apologetic.

“I’m sorry… but it’s dangerous for both you and her to be hanging out together. Don’t you know this?” He asked softly. Yes, yes I knew this. It was dangerous for her in case I lost it and attacked her, but I knew that wouldn’t happen. I’ve trained myself too much to lose control. It was dangerous for me in case the Opposites found out, I’d probably be sentenced to death… It isn’t right for a human and vampire to be friends. According to everyone but Aaron and me, It went against nature.

“I don’t care.” I said. Those reasons meant nothing to me. Aaron was the only human to stick by me even though we were a bit different. Not even my parents cared about me when I was turned… Alex snapped his fingers in front of my face, for I had become lost in thought.

“You can’t stay here.” He said. He was pleading now. But I knew he was right. They were leaving, there was no changing that. After they left, all remaining vampires would be captured, questioned and probably killed. I would be a fool to stay. I swallowed once before whispering through paralyzed lips;

“Okay.”

Alex rushed over and yanked me into the tightest hug.

We’d both been in containment together, being cell neighbors. It was on our seventh year when my cell had been taken over by a newborn, and I was moved into Alex’s cell. That was common, roommates, once you’ve reached 7 years of age (once you’ve been turned, your previous age vanishes and is replaced by how long you’ve been, what everyone calls, affected by the plague).

Thirteen Years Ago, Containment Cell #143

During these years, I could only think about my parents. My grades were dropping… my father was disappointed, my mother was never interested in me in the first place. In the beginning, I tried hard to impress them, but my grades never changed the look in their eyes. So, when I was a junior in my second semester, I was gave up. I made this decision overnight, and I never looked back. My grades dropped faster than I expected, and I found myself looking at three F’s and four C’s. I merely shrugged, my mother slapped me across the face, my father screamed all night. The next thing I remembered were the cold hands grabbing me and throwing me out the window – no, carrying me out the window. I didn’t struggle, I thought I was dreaming. Then the pain started. One on each hand and one on my neck. It made my transformation faster… it only took a day. I remembered the venom… it felt like a blade in every vein, cutting… slicing… I remember screaming, and then silence… all that was after that was thirst.

“Hi.” A voice said, it was baritone, obviously a guy was talking. Going over these memories in my mind, I hadn’t noticed that the Opposites had moved me. It was in about five seconds, anyway. They were just as fast as we are. I almost jumped when I heard the voice, but I stayed where I was. Lying on my stomach near the entrance to the cell. The window in the very top corner of the room just happened to be shining on me. I stayed there… lying in the sunlight, with no thought on my mind other than what my parents were doing, and if they even knew.

“My name’s Alex.” The voice said again, it sounded closer. Right next to me, really. I didn’t need to pretend that I didn’t hear him nor cared, for it was simple. I didn’t care.

“What’s your name?” The voice, who called himself Alex, said. This caught my attention.

“I think it’s… Kaya.” I whispered. I was surprised, I hadn’t spoken once since I’d been in here. That also made me think… Alex laughed.

“So I guess you’ve only been in here for, what, maybe six years? Yeah, I guess not all of your memory has come back yet. I’ve been in here for ten, I remember everything of my past. What do you remember of yours?” He asked, obviously sitting. I hadn’t realized until later that he was trying to get me talking. The Opposites never talk to you, they just don’t care about you. When really, after going through a venom transformation, you need to be talked to, otherwise you lose your sense of everything, and eventually go mad.

“Parents…” I whispered. Alex laughed.

“I’d rather forget that word, and I’m sorry to say that you’ll probably be saying the same.” He said, “So what else do you remember? What are you like, what do you like to do?” He said, and eventually I could feel myself again. I saw my view of the world, I saw who I was. After so many hours, Alex had me sitting upright and talking about my past. We both spent the rest of our time in Cell #143, and we were both released into the same town.

The same town, the same place to stand here as Alex nearly hugged me to death. He was excited, thrilled. I knew I should be too… but, what about Aaron?