LOGINCaius’ POV Caspian poses the question with feigned amicability, a strained smile spread across his venomous lips. The malice behind his words is not lost on those bound around the table; no one stirs. The vampires do not deign him their attention, and the humans merely blink in response. Kieran clenches and unclenches his fists beside Caspian, and I feel his sadness morphing into a most unpleasant blend of fear and angst.Nonplussed at the lack of reaction, Caspian hums under his breath before nodding towards the guards. On his silent request, they react as one, moving to their designated captive and ripping the tape away from their lips. Various grunts and groans follow. The smell of blood fills the tainted air as layers of skin are physically torn away from the humans’ chins and lips. Rebecca and the two men beside Mathews try to spit away the blood, but Mathews licks it up, swallowing his own blood without a flicker of emotion crossing over his features.Whether done out of sh
Caius’ POV The whispered words, so soft and broken, slip past my impenetrable skin cells and reverberate against my bones. A chill follows thereafter, a foreign feeling. Oddly human. Perhaps a macabre foreshadowing of what’s soon to come – the experiences I will surely have once I am forced to take the serum.Caspian’s small mouthpiece picks up my human’s voice and carries through the chamber of hell. Beneath his sacrifice is a backdrop of agony, the cries and pain of humans and vampires alike weighing down the air like a living nightmare.This is no longer a war. A war implies two sides fighting against one another. What started as a war has turned into a massacre of two species, entirely. Caspian works his jaw tighter and tighter. He doesn’t anticipate this response. If he truly knew anything about my human, though, he would have expected this. Self-sacrifice and a bleeding heart are unique characteristics of my human, both his greatest weapons and biggest downfalls.“You’re not
Caius’ POV It saturates the air and seeps into the walls, branding the moment with an invisible tattoo. Years from now, the ghosts of today will whisper their vengeance to generations to follow. Forever trapped, forever haunted within this realm of hell. Their pain bleeds into their cries, the very essence embodying the demon of dismay. Humans, Secondaries and Vampires alike beg for their lives. Mostly, however, they beg for death. My eyes scan the wide expanse, looking for a way to escape with my human. Familiar blood scents intertwine with the unfamiliar. Some of Naman’s followers are among those being held captive. I smell Naman’s distinctive flair coagulating in their blood. I also smell Mathews, the human leader of this uprising. I cannot locate him in the dim light; there are too many bloodied faces and bodies. But I know they are here, rotting and clutching to their own form of life. There are too many prisoners for this to have happened so quickly. Far too many. T
Caius' POV Vampires and humans alike smell death. Their brains process how it reeks of decay, rotting flesh, bowel movements, and lost hope. They all shy away from it, their inevitable ending. As a vampire, I can also sense the coagulation of blood, how it changes from a vibrant, warm flow of life to a chilled liquid with no purpose. That very smell is with me now. It settles just below my nose, curdling into an immovable presence, so pungent I can almost taste it. The further I move away from the lab and down the hallway, the stronger it becomes. The radio hisses against my hip. No updates have been given since departing from my dearly beloved. It is doing me more harm than good at this point, so I click it off. Faint shouts and cries of pain whisper in the distance. I carefully follow the sound, but the way it bounces and echoes against the walls causes bouts of disorientation to their source. It’s as if the very walls are taunting me. My frustration builds. The tunnels bre
Caius’ POV Humans are fascinating creatures. Though genetically separated from other mammals, they share a number of similarities. In this instance, it’s in the way they experience the emotion of fear. Like animals, when humans are in danger, there is something in their genetic make-up which produces hormones and forces their minds into a state of panic. Their thoughts pose a single ultimatum: to act or run. To flee or fight.Guard One fought and lost. If Nate follows his footsteps, he will lose too. I tip my chin up, sensing the way Nate’s brain processes the emotion with an obvious hesitancy. Unlike his counterpart, he wants nothing more than to flee. Every twitch of his limbs and tremble in his voice makes that clear.Unfortunately, I need him.For now.My fangs elongate and Nate backpedals. He worries he’ll be my next meal. If I had any sense of humor, this may cause me to let out a genuine laugh. As if I would waste my appetite on a man who reeks of dread and piss.I widen m
Caius’ POV Droplets of water trickle down the slabs of manmade walls, finding homes within the cracks of their foundation. The gentle whiskers of rats sniff along the corridor in search of scraps of food. Even in stillness, there is movement. There is life.I close my eyes and blend into the shadows, melting into the darkness. I am stone and nothing. My thoughts are silenced as I tap into the soulless creature within me. It’s where vampires are meant to live, meant to thrive. It’s been centuries since our kind has crawled out from the ashes - not to be better, but to be equal.I hone in on my senses and am keenly aware of just how much the human world has weakened me. My thoughts have overtaken my senses. My feelings, what little I possess, have overpowered my judgement. It is not wrong. Such is the nature of becoming conditioned. Yet it goes against the grain of my DNA, against my immortal being.“...to hold them.”Voices echo through the corroded pipes above me. Feet shuffle. T
Caius’ POV The presence of his breathing rattles me, it's a constant reminder of the presence of his essence. I watched as he filled his lungs with air for survival. I watch as he breathes in my essence, filling himself like an appetizer after a long meal. The drop of blood slipping down his bot
Kieran’s POV.I stare deep into Caius' red blooded eyes as fear curls around my chest, curling around it so tightly I barely have the strength to breathe. The variations of colour in his eyes makes my entire being tremble from deep within me. And I know the reason behind this colour. He's hungry
Kieran’s POV.Three days later, sliding my finger lazily across the carpet in search of my drink, I frown as I bring it to my lips. There's not so much left, so I'm forced to lap the froth caked around the rim. Beau plays his piano in the background and once in a while, he scribbles down notes acr
Professor Evans is one of the youngest lecturers in the academy. And that makes it easier to be able to confide in him. He understands young adults and sees things from our own point of view. And that’s one of the reasons he is my best history lecturer to ever exist. He turns sharply from the pul







