Revelations

Eliza was entranced by the story. She sat on the ground with her legs crossed, her joy at the sunrise forgotten. “What did he have?”

Zachary was squinting up at the sun. “We should probably get moving if we expect to get anywhere before sunset.”

“We?” Eliza repeated. “Where are we going to go?”

“Well, I was kind of on a mission here. Finding intelligence and all that rot. But I suppose I should take you back to AVEA headquarters. That bite on your neck might get infected and you look as though you haven’t eaten in days.”

“Well, thanks, you look fantastic too,” Eliza said.

The corners of Zachary’s mouth lifted briefly in what only scraped by as a smile. “It would be great if we had a car or something to get there quickly, but that would draw attention so deep in the city. This place is vampire central.”

“Did you really expect to find that Devanik guy here? If he does live – reside – here, not that I really believe you or anything, he’s probably protected by a thousand normal vampires. I doubt he would ever leave whatever skyscraper he’s chosen to use as his fortress. All you’re gonna do is get yourself killed.”

“Well, If I’m careful...” began Zachary.

“Careful?” repeated Eliza. “They hear everything here. I’m surprised you made it this far.”

“Why? You did.”

“But I didn’t exactly expect to last this long.”

Zachary sighed. “Look, if you want to stick to that whole plan of getting yourself killed, that’s fine by me. It would actually save me some trouble, since taking you to headquarters would mean over a days’ journey on foot.”

“Don’t you have some way of communicating with them?”

“We’re too far in the city. There’s no way of knowing whether or not the bloodsuckers intercepted my call. Once I get on the outskirts, maybe I can get through to them on a secure line.”

“Give me a map or directions or something,” Eliza suggested. “I’ll find the way myself.”

Zachary sighed. “If you got turned all of that information would be given to the vampires. I can’t risk it.”

“What about you?”

“Cyanide tablet. I carry one everywhere. If I ever get into more trouble than I can handle at least I know AVEA’s location is secure.”

“It must have happened before,” Eliza said, frowning.

“It has, and we were unprepared. Now we have loads of countermeasures to protect against vampiric intrusions but we’ve also learned to be very careful. There are way more of them than us now. Did you know that before the takeover, excluding Ancients, there were only a couple of thousand vampires?”

Eliza twirled a twig around in her fingers. “No, I didn’t. I guess I can understand all that. We have to be smart if we want to maintain our existence.”

“I guess it couldn’t hurt if I took you to the edge of the city.”

“What about your ridiculous mission to find an Ancient?”

Zachary smirked. “I guess it’ll have to wait.”

Eliza stood up and brushed herself off. She squinted up at the sky. “We have plenty of time before dusk. How far do we need to get before you can call your AVEA friends?”

“Hurstville.”

“We better get moving then,” she replied. “I don’t suppose you’ve got anything to eat? I pretty much haven’t eaten in days.”

Zachary reached into one of his many pockets and procured a protein bar. “Don’t eat it too fast, you’ll be sick.”

Eliza tore off the wrapper and took a bite. It was the best thing she’d ever eaten. When she was travelling with her friends before, they had barely enough food to go around so at night all she would get to eat was perhaps half a can of baked beans or spaghetti. Not a big can, either.

Zachary waited patiently while she finished off the bar. He was scanning the skyscrapers with those grey eyes that never seemed to miss a thing. Then he whipped out a pair of binoculars and looked into the windows of buildings that looked as if they were all glass. Not exactly a prime hideout for a vampire, but as long as they didn’t come into contact with direct sunlight they were fine. Most of the glass was covered with drapes or smothered in black paint. Some had been smashed in, and were shabbily boarded over with wooden planks.

“What’re you expecting to find?” Eliza asked in between mouthfuls.

“Vampires are nocturnal, certainly. They have to be because if they come into contact with those harmful UV rays it’s barbeque time. But they aren’t stupid, and they know that we’ll seize any opportunity to get around while they’re off to beddy-byes. So they’ll have a few sentries on, here and there. They’ll be mostly concealed, away from direct sunlight, but they are there. It’s imperative that we do not walk out in the open or draw attention to ourselves. These buggers may be at a disadvantage now, but there are watchmen all over the city. Come nightfall, they’ll know our exact location.”

“How do you know these things?”

Zachary slipped the binoculars back in the case attached to his belt. “I just do.”

Eliza chewed thoughtfully. Then she seemed to realise something. “Before, when we met, you said you were a vigilante. But you work for AVEA. How does that work?”

“I’m more of a liaison. After that whole debacle with Devanik I decided to break free. I basically do what I want, now, but they said that if I find survivors I should contact them. We’re an endangered species now. Besides, they want to see that Ancient son-of-a-bitch dead almost as much as I do.”

“Wait... you want to try and kill an Ancient?”

“Sure. What’ve I got to lose?”

Eliza’s eyes were wide. “Um, your life!?”

“Right now, we need to find a reason to exist in this world,” Zachary said. “This is mine.”