Breath of the Midnight Reaper

I sat under the shade of the grey tarp, picking at the dead grass under my legs. The over 18 fighters were just finishing when I heard a voice yell to me.
“Harriet! Harriet, come here! You have to see this!” I flicked my head around to see Max, my best friend, screaming at me with flailing arms. Max was gay and the only other feminine person in the complex. Not many girls survived the apocalypse and this compound was the only one in the area to have a girl at all.
I made my way across the field, the grass crunching under my feet to meet Max. He grabbed my hand and began running toward a row of run-down houses across the road from the field. “Max! What are we doing?”
“Trust me you just have to see it!” We ran between two houses and slowed down just before we reached a large tin shed. Max put his finger up to his mouth and I nodded in agreement to keep quiet. He motioned for me to follow him around the back of the shed where there appeared to be an open door. Quietly we snuck through the door and straight away, the smell hit me. It was foul. Like nothing I have smelt before, but I had heard of it. In lessons and in books, and suddenly, panic ran through my veins like poison. I know this smell. I looked at Max in shock. He should know this smell. He’s trained too!
“Max what are you…” then I saw it. Its head was down and weak metal cuffs bound the flaking flesh of its arms. Suddenly, its head shot up and pure evil radiated from its eyes. I turned to run but a hand grabbed onto me and I screamed. Another hand went over my mouth and I turned my head.
A large muscular man held me tight. “Shh!” he snapped, “We don’t want any attention now do we?” I raised my eyebrows. What was he on about? …don’t want any attention? Of course we want attention, there was a live vampire right there in front of me! It could lash out and attack any of us at any time, and there were no swords anywhere! I nodded and the man released me. I looked over at an exasperated Max. He just shrugged.
“What are you doing in here?” I looked at the man. “This goes against everything we’ve been taught. Catch and Kill… you know, the most basic and only motto we live by? Not to mention that thing could lash out at any time!”
The man was just about to explain when another figure appeared out of the darkness. His face was still in the shadows but his voice seemed oddly familiar when he spoke. “Harriet, Harriet, Harriet.” I looked over at Max for support but he seemed oddly incapable of doing, well… anything. He looked so far off the planet that not even a new eyeliner pen could bring him back to earth.
I whirled around as I felt something brush my shoulder in the darkness. No one was there, not even the muscular man from before. The only two notable people I could see were Max and the shadowy figure across the room. “Who are you? And what are you doing?” I screamed.
“Silence!” All of a sudden a strange feeling cam over me, and my lips began to tingle. My throat ached and my tongue burned. I tried to scream but I couldn’t move my mouth. I felt my eyes widen in horror as I glanced around the room frantically looking for someone to help me. There was no one. “Harriet,” the voice boomed, “You should not have come here.”
I was so confused, it’s not like I wanted to be here, it’s just that my stupid friend had decided it would be a good idea to sneak in on some weird vampire cell, and disturb the inhabitants. The vampire in the corner thrashed against its chains and I jumped backward away from it. “Don’t be scared Harriet, the shackles are stronger than they appear.” The voice said. Who was it? His voice was so familiar.
I tried to talk again but the muscles of my mouth didn’t work. “Something on your mind Harriet?” the shadowy figure stepped forward. His dark hair fell across his eyes. My own eyes widened as I realised who he was. The boy from The Falls. Half of his mouth turned up into a wicked smirk and the muscles in my face seemed to relax. I knew I’d be able to speak now, but I was speechless. Who was he? What was he doing here?
“My name is Larkin Bray. I am from The Falls, where we are taught to fight and kill any mutated creatures that have arisen from the apocalypse. We were the most powerful of the compounds until we found out about you. You could be the reason our population will survive, Harriet Iris Elspeth.” I still didn’t know who he was, where he was from or how he knew my name, but what I did know was that this situation was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.