Revelations

Eliza gasped, and frantically backed against the door to keep it from bursting open. She mentally scolded herself for not killing the vampire. She had to admit that she enjoyed watching them suffer after they had been the cause for her life to become a living hell. For everyone’s lives, really.

The dust hung in the air, and coated all of the old furniture. Cobwebs hung on chairs, and in the corners of the abandoned store. The shop appeared to have sold porcelain dolls, and each doll stared curiously at her as she glanced around for an escape, their dust-covered eyes enquiring. They were dressed up in delicate dresses of velvet, silk, and cotton. Pale pink, red, royal blue, and yellow coloured the gowns while countless dolls had broken faces, arms or legs. One had a single eye which seemed to burn right into Eliza and see her for who she really was.

The same thought raced through Eliza's mind as she felt the vampire throw itself against the door. Stupid Eliza. Stupid, stupid!

She had made a mistake in coming here, she knew it, but she also knew that everyone in her 'family' as she called it was headed this way. It had to mean that there was another surviving group of humans close by. She had that hope to cling to in the dark and lonely nights, until she either died or found someone.

Time seemed to move achingly slow. Eliza knew she wouldn't be able to hold the door for much longer and she withdrew the gun from her pants and flicked off the safety. She’d had it with these stupid vampires and their bloodlust. Sydney had gone to hell since she’d last come here, ten years ago. The clan leader of this city had certainly taken over.

The door couldn’t take much more pounding, and Eliza was surprised at how sturdy it was despite its age. Forty years ago, people didn’t make things to last. It was all mass-produced and carelessly constructed.

Eliza stood away from the door and waited for it to burst open. She casually checked her ammo to make sure it was full before pointing it at the door. She couldn’t miss the heart. That was crucial.

A moment later, the door crashed to the floor and a cloud of dust rose from where to door slammed down. The frame was splintered and broken and there was one piece perfect for staking if Eliza got herself into trouble.

Without hesitation, she aimed and fired before the vampire had a chance to advance on her. He froze, looking down at the wound the bullet had made in his chest. The two of them waited in anxious silence for a few moments. Then the vampire smiled.

Eliza widened her eyes and fired off another round, cursing herself for missing the heart. She disliked all the noise she was making but couldn’t help it. This time she got the heart, by some miracle, and the vampire howled in pain before he exploded in dust.

Now, someone had to have heard that, Eliza thought irritably.

In the distance she heard an unearthly growl and swore under her breath. She flung open the door to the shop and fled into the main street, panic rising up in her throat in the form of bile. The gun was still in her hand as her feet pounded on the asphalt of the road, feeling vulnerable in the wide open space.

She didn’t know how long she had to find a hiding place before all the vampires in the area would find her. She pushed herself further, muscles straining with the effort to go faster. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead and a nauseous feeling came over Eliza. The memory of that massacre, all those dead innocents, stayed fresh in her mind like newly spilled blood.

“Just survive,” she panted as she ran. “Just make it through.”

She had been taught over countless years that the only thing that mattered was survival. Her survival. It was difficult enough in this world to ensure your own safety, let alone that of another person’s. And Eliza, like an idiot, had tried to protect everyone. She was trying to be a hero. She felt like a fool.

She had know idea if anything was following her or, if something was, how far behind they were. But she wasn’t going to take any chances. She needed to hide.

Eliza spotted an alleyway off to the right and decided that it was best to keep off the main roads. She may as well have been running about in circles and screaming “I’m here! Come kill me!”

Have you forgotten everything you’ve been taught? She thought with a considerable amount of disgust.

Something was following her. She could feel it. If it was just one, perhaps even two vampires, then if she swerved into an alleyway she might be able to kill them. She had plenty of bullets, but she wasn’t going to waste them. If she could avoid getting into a fight with one of the creatures, she would. Firing off more rounds would just draw more vampires.

Making her decision, Eliza turned off and into the alleyway. Her heart sunk when she realised it was a dead end but she quickly assessed her surroundings and spotted a metal ladder on the left, possibly leading to the roof.

She risked a glance over her shoulder and noticed three vampires in the distance. They were fast, too fast for her to ever get up the ladder and out of sight in time. Besides, they had already seen her and there could be more on the way – She would have to stay and hope that she would get lucky. But she wasn’t exactly a superhero. She had little chance of defeating these vampires and getting away before others came.

Eliza hadn’t wanted it to end this way. She would have preferred dying with the others – she didn’t want to go alone.

She raised the gun and aimed at the closest vampire. She drew in a lungful of cold air, held it for a moment, and then let it go. Then she fired.

The vampire’s body was flung back with the impact of the bullet. The sound resonated throughout the cool, night air. The silence shattered around them. The vampire disintegrated. The two others growled with rage.

Eliza fired again. The second vampire went down.

She raised an eyebrow. “I’m better than I thought.”

But her moment of triumph was gone. A handful of other vampires were advancing upon her. They seemed to have come from nowhere. A squeak, somewhere between a scream and a totally misplaced laugh escaped from her lips.

So this was it. Her final moments. It wasn’t how she’d envisaged it. She was kind of hoping that she would die of old age, surrounded her grandchildren. But in a world like this, that was the fairytale.