Revelations

The skyscrapers looked monstrous up close, towering over Eliza like odd-looking giants. The insidious silence slid like a snake into her consciousness, sending shivers of fear down her spine. It was difficult for her to imagine millions of people in this ghost city, a shell without anything inside.

Being born into a world that didn't belong to your race anymore and growing up in fear from creatures meant only to be in fiction was a nightmare, twenty-four hours a day. It was a cycle, constant fear during the night, and foreboding during the day. As a child, Eliza had heard her parents be torn to shreds by these fiends, and she had known without hesitation that she was next.

Until she was rescued.

She gritted her teeth, forcing back the sudden rush of memories. She needed to focus. A large silver cross hung around her neck, the last two bottles of holy water filled her front pockets, and she had a gun full of wooden bullets at the ready.

Eliza drew in a deep breath, swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat. The cool breeze whipped at the strands of hair that had come loose from her ponytail and the bite mark on her neck began to itch.

Come on, pull yourself together, she thought.

She had fought and killed countless vampires. They weren't as powerful as so many old novels had made them out to be. They were inhumanly beautiful, of course, to lure their victims. But they were parasites, leeches, hardly invincible creatures.

But being alone, without anyone to watch her back, Eliza felt vulnerable and afraid. Her fear could probably be smelled insantly by any nearby vampire. It was like a raw, exposed wound, one that was easily noticeable to a vampire.

Eliza was careful not to walk in the open streets as the city stared down at her, its gaze unwavering.

She took a narrow side road, searching. She didn't have much to go on. When she'd inquired after their destination before the attack, she discovered one thing only. “George Street.” So now she had to search for a sign, for anything to go on that would lead her somewhere safe.

The eerie silence cloaking the city was more than a little unnerving. Eliza wasn't sure when something was going to jump out of the shadows, fangs bared and eyes burning with bloodlust.

A flash of memory came back to her, during the fight that had left her the only survivor. She remembered that familiar, pale face of the man she had trusted with her life. But when she looked into those eyes she knew that there was no soul left, no humanity.

Patrick Hawke was gone forever. And he had taken down everyone in the safe house. Except her.

A sudden surge of fury rose up and Eliza gritted her teeth. Patrick was dead to her. If she ever came across the vampire wearing his face... she wouldn't hesitate to shove a stake through that unbeating heart.

Or would she?

Eliza suddenly regretted the rash decision of leaving. She should have gone the opposite direction, toward the country where most of humanity was hiding out. But for how long? How long were they going to last?

Just then, she felt a presence behind her. She spun around, gun drawn and pointed outwards. Her eyes shone with rage, fear, and some kind of insanity.

“Do you have a deathwish?” came a silky smooth voice. “Or are you just plain stupid?”

Eliza froze when she saw a vampire slowly appear from the shadows. He was young-looking, with the appearance of a man in his early twenties, with spiked blond hair and grey eyes. The slow, measured way he moved screamed predator and alarm bells were ringing inside Eliza's head.

“Why are you alone?” Eliza asked coldly. “Do you long for death? Again, that is.” Her thumb hung casually onto the pocket of her jeans. She was ready to pull the holy water out at any moment.

She couldn't feel anything else around, at least, nothing close enough to hear the two of them. She hoped. She was usually good at sensing these things, but those vampires were reborn with such extended senses that she couldn't really hope to catch up unless she lost her soul and took up a liquid diet as well.

The vampire took a step forward, but he said nothing more. He was attired in dark blue jeans and a white muscle t-shirt, over which he wore a black leather jacket. On his feet were motorcycle boots and the vampire had two piercings – one in his eyebrow and one in his ear. It was clear that he didn't work for the vampire who seemed to own the city.

“Have you heard anything about a vampire attack just outside the city?” Eliza asked.

“What Devanik and his minions do in their spare time is no concern of mine,” the vampire responded.

“Devanik?” echoed Eliza. Now why did that name sound so familiar to her? But that was besides the point. She wasn't meant to socialise with vampires, she was supposed to kill them.

“Screw this,” she muttered under her breath. As quickly as she was able, she aimed and shot the gun.

The vampire was faster. He dodged the bullet with a grin, and rushed her without a moment's hesitation. Eliza stood to the side so that he missed by a hair's breadth. She reached into her pocket and felt the holy water, a glass bottle about the size of the palm of her hand. Her fingers closed around it and she smiled grimly.

She pulled the bottle out and dodged another blow from the vampire. He wasn't exceptionally trained, possibly a newborn who hadn't been a vampire for more than a year.

She watched with disgust as the teeth of the vampire glistened in the moonlight, and his eyes turned a blood red. Eliza could tell that he was hungry, that he hadn't eaten for days. The city was running low on humans.

Vampires could survive forever without food, sure, but they would be quite akin to skeletons moving about, weak and blindly searching for sustenance.

“Bloodsuckers,” she spat, as if the word itself was repulsive.

She held the bottle behind her back, and carefully unscrewed the lid so the vampire didn't suspect anything. The two of them stood inches apart, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Eliza heard a slight pop as the cap loosened, and she held her head high. “Come and get me,” she hissed.

The vampire lunged for her, eyes blazing with hunger. With that, she brought the bottle out and spilled the contents over the creature's head. There was a sizzling sound, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air and Eliza turned up her nose.

She watched the vampire howl and shriek with fascination, as steam rose from the face and neck.

Making the decision that she should leave, Eliza turned from the injured vampire and rushed off down the alleyway. She tried a couple of doors but they were either locked or boarded up. A couple of times she heard a low growl from any undead residents of the abandoned shops and offices.

She felt something coming and anxiety rose up in her. She tried another doorknob and the door squeaked open and a cloud of dust greeted her. The musky smell hung in the stale air and Eliza gently shut the door behind her. Just before a huge force threw itself against the door.