Chapter Text
The large, Victorian house ebbed with atmosphere. Coloured lights flashed in the windows through the thick curtains. The back door was propped open and people spilled out into the night, bringing the atmosphere out with them. From inside the walls came screams of pain and pleasure.
The house was positioned in the centre of forty acres of land. A single, winding road led from the nearest sign of civilisation out to the residence. All around the edge of the estate, thick woodland grew like a defending wall. Electric fences sneaked through the trees, tripping anyone who dared attempt to penetrate the estate. On the edge of the land, a gate manned by two guards controlled the entry and exit of visitors. To gain access to the land, you would need to provide ID and agree to wear a tracking device.
It was one of the reasons why I’d come over the fence.
It had been a year and a half since I had been kidnapped by Louis. He and his gang of night-walkers had used me as a sex toy, but somehow feelings had developed - I was now convinced it had been nothing more than Stockholm Syndrome. I still felt like it was my fault Tom had kidnapped my night-walkers in the first place. He’d tried to turn me just so he could kill me in front of Louis, but something had gone wrong with the procedure. It was presumed that I hadn’t survived the change - few humans actually do.
They were wrong. I’d woken up the next morning, lying outside Tom’s house where my carcass had apparently been left for scavengers, and found myself a night-walker. The sun didn’t burn me. In fact, it felt just as soft on my marbled skin as it had when I was a human. All night-walkers received an individual ability, and mine seemed to be sunlight-resistant. I’d sworn to get my night-walkers back, even if it meant killing Tom. For a while, I’d stayed close to Tom’s mansion, becoming stronger and perfecting my new abilities, but I’d never entered the mansion.
Then the world had collapsed around me. Humans were beginning to realise they outnumbered the night-walkers, and had begun to band together to rid the land of the vampiric presence. Rumours came from all ends of the country about small groups of humans rising up and killing night-walkers.
They called it the Sunlight Slaughtering.
The rebellion had grown and humans were reclaiming the country. Night-walkers had been slaughtered during the day with silver stakes while they were defenceless. At night, the bodies were piled up in the city centre and set alight; a warning to surviving night-walkers. The only reason I hadn’t been killed was because I didn’t die. I could walk among the humans, and as long as I kept pace with them they believed I was human too.
I’d watched as the renegade army marched to Tom’s house. They’d planned this attack for two months straight; I’d sat in at the meetings, held outside at noon. Some of the human servants Tom had captured had deserted their usual daytime jobs to rebel against their masters. I didn’t blame them. Tom had been a real dick to humans.
Their plan looked as though it would fit my timeline perfectly. I could get into the house in all the chaos and rescue my night-walkers before they were staked. It was a risky plan, but I’d manage it.
My plan was foiled before it had even started. One of Tom’s servants spoke up about Louis, asking if they were to be killed too. At that time, it had been months since I’d laid eyes on any of my night-walkers, and according to the servant all five of them had been broken into submission. It scared me.
The human in charge said he’d do something about it, and the meeting was disbanded. It wasn’t until the next day that I learned exactly what he had done.
The humans had gathered together in small groups, but a vague form of government had emerged from the ruins of the country. What used to be London had already been completely rid of night-walkers, and humans now ran the territory they had taken back from the old parliament buildings. The country’s self-appointed leader was Hunter Everett, a young man who had taken charge the moment he’d seen the opening for a leader. Most of the time, Everett stayed in London, but he’d finally left the city.
He’d shown up at the next meeting, eager to help with the destruction of Tom. His plans had alarmed me and ruined my own: he wanted Louis. Most of the renegades were too shocked to protest. Everett went on to explain his desire. He’d heard that Louis and his night-walkers were the most powerful in the country and he wanted to put them “in their place.” I’d seen through his cover story immediately. In owning them, Everett would be in a position of power; nobody would want to challenge him and his pet night-walkers.
The humans had raided the house before I could get in. Tom and his night-walkers had been dragged out into the street just as they began to breathe and had their frozen hearts ripped from their chests with silver stakes. They had been burned on a bonfire on the lawn behind the mansion.
My night-walkers were also dragged from the mansion - and immediately chained with silver. I wasn’t able to see them before they were tossed into the back of a van. Everett announced he was taking them “off our hands,” and would imprison them in London. He and the van had left almost as soon as the dawn rose on the town no longer plagued by Tom and his minions.
I followed my night-walkers down to London, slipping past the security measures around Everett’s house. For months, I’d camped out in the woods, always too terrified to enter the house - I’d most likely be shot on sight. Normal bullets wouldn’t harm me, but as soon as the guards realised that they’d pull out the silver ammunition. I wouldn’t make it out alive.
So I’d stayed in the woods, feeding on any human that dared come too far into my claimed territory. I wasn’t even sure my night-walkers were still alive.
Music floated from the house into the forest. My ears twitched. In the new age following the Sunlight Slaughter, bands had formed. Humanity was recovering so quickly it was almost as if the night-walkers had never existed. They had technology again. The night-walker era had merely been a bump in the road for them.
I shrank back against the nearest tree as two humans stumbled into the forest. They were obviously a couple, hands all over each other, and they dropped to the ground inches from where I was standing. I looked away as he began to peel her shirt from her body, exposing the pale skin beneath. The scent rising from them, a mixture of sweat, arousal, and blood, made my mouth water. I’d already drank today, and tried to limit myself. My worst fear was that I would end up like Tom, treating humans as though they were nothing but blood banks.
I was becoming sick of this party. I was sick of the two humans pawing at each other on the ground - didn’t they have any self-respect? There were perfectly adequate beds inside - and I was sick of Everett showing off his ‘pets’. I knew what they did in that house during a party; it was torture at its worst. Screams reached my ears even as the thought passed through my mind. A pale ribbon of scent wafted around me: night-walker blood. This party had to end.
I looked up at the sky. A fat raindrop landed on my forehead, running down my nose and dripping down to the ground. All at once, the heavens opened and the rain came down in sheets. The human couple near me began to swear and hurriedly put their clothes back on. I watched as they ran towards the house, following all the other humans who were making for shelter. The back door was left open, and even though the garden had been cleared the party continued inside. I could still hear the screaming.
I fled from the screams and the scent of blood.