Only Human (16 page)

‘
Aecia?’

They are lowering their weapons
, and I recognise that voice, can it be? Is it my, my MOTHER!’

‘
Mother, you are alive! I’ve been so frightened, where’s father? Zak?’

‘
I am here child and Zak is safe too.’ Wrapped in my parent’s arms, I am almost forgetting my friends, they must be terrified. ‘It’s ok, it’s my family, and they won’t hurt you.’ Anne has stepped closer, but not Sebastian, Orianna and Lupe. I am so stupid, all they know of Vampires, is that they strung them up and drained their blood. Their trust will take my parents many months to earn. I have so many questions as usual, but this is outstanding! I haven’t even looked at the other Vampires, are they my clan? No I don’t know them, but they are here with my parents, and they are not eating us, so they must be good.

‘
Come child, all of you, we will get you through the safety gates and bring you to the centre. You must be hungry; your uncle has kept us supplied with food and water.’

‘
UNCLE! He is here?’

I am fit to burst with excitement and relief, I mustn
’t forget the others though as they are tiptoeing nervously behind me.

‘
I promise you Orianna and everyone, this is a good thing. You all know Uncle and he is a Vampire, he saved you didn’t he. If you don’t trust them yet, it doesn’t matter, because you trust me don’t you? I will trust them for all of us, for now.’

This second room is larger than the first
, and they are unlocking the door to a third, and carefully locking each room as we go. There are sacks of soil and seeds, potatoes, and so on, in this third room. The fourth room has weapons, similar to those they are carrying, which reminds me that I want some for my group, because they look AWESOME.

‘
Father, what do the cannon guns do?’

‘
They produce UVA rays, similar to sunlight, that seriously burn any Vampire under their glare. If it is held for more than a full minute on the victim, the result is fatal.’

‘
Wow that is amazing, it’s a pity the ancient Humans didn’t have such a weapon.’

‘
Do you not know who you are speaking to child? I am disgusted that you disregard your heritage so easily. You were born of Vampires and you are Vampire, it is just your appearance that is different, and it is a mask. Inside you are full Vampire and you will learn to respect that fact, at least when you are in my presence.’

‘
But father, how can you say that, when the Vampires themselves, have discarded your theory as useless? Obviously they believe that I am human, or they wouldn’t have drained my blood.’

‘
That was merely a punishment, and it was only temporary, they would have released you when I explained the situation to them.’

‘
Oh, is that so, well how come you are in hiding then, and not currently in conference with the Elders?’ Amica, my father has just struck me for the first time in my life! I am in total shock! I don’t understand what is happening to him. He knows how I was treated by the Vampires at the Ordinatio, and yet he defends them. He has lost his home, his job, his clan and his liberty, and he still defends them. Does he have to die by their hand before he actually admits what they have done? Suddenly, I feel another painful loss in my chest, my father is not my hero, my protector, the example I would follow to shape my own life. He is just another Vampire, and he is wrong.

Sebastian has his bow and arrow
, and is staring angrily at my father, his eyes speaking volumes more than his speech ever could. The girls are linking my arms, and wearing much the same expression, except for Anne, who is in conversation with my mother. They are opening the final door that will lead us into the centre of this incredibly complex haven for Humans. The wonder of this place has been tarnished by my father’s aggression, and my sadness is communicating to my friends. I don’t want that, I will pull myself together Amica, for their sakes.

As the thick, steel door slowly swings open, the light is streaming in through it. Somehow, the creators of this place had managed to connect to electricity and I am impressed. The size of the room is as a small warehouse
, and resembles a large submarine canteen. There is a small cooker, cupboards, and even a sink with running water. Yes, those Humans prepared well in advance, for the worst possible outcome of The Great War. There are about ten single mattresses laid on the floor on the other side of the room from the kitchen area. Seven coffins lie on the same side of the room, but a few feet apart from the mattresses. Zak must be sleeping with mother in hers. I was expecting to see my Uncle Rauul, the second the door swung open but there is no sign of him.

‘
Mother, where is Uncle, you said he was here?’

‘
No Aecia, you presumed he was here when I mentioned him earlier. He is not at the moment, but he will be here shortly. He found this place for us you know, with the help of a contact he has at the Ordinatio.’

Mother looks as flushed as any
Vampire can get, which is a kind of beige colour. It is her upset face, but she has not mentioned the incident with father and neither will I. She is too loyal and respectful to berate him in front of me, but I don’t doubt he will suffer her wrath at a more appropriate time. I have overheard mother’s wrath on a number of occasions, and it is not a pleasant experience. The way I am feeling at the moment, hopes she will smack him in the mouth! I’m sorry friend, I don’t really mean that, he’s my father, but he does need to be snapped out of his denial and my mother is excellent at doing just that. Oh I can see Zak and he’s walking, he is WALKING! ‘Zak, come here, it is Aecia. Look at you, you big grown up boy! No, don’t run, oops, up you get, I’ll come to you.’ How could I ever have been annoyed with this little cutie? ‘OUCH! No, don’t bite me Zak.’

I don
’t care friend, he’s chewing on my arm, but I don’t care. I love him, and the loss of Leandra, Baran and Garok, has taught me to appreciate and cherish the precious people left behind. I haven’t even had the time to nurse those wounds yet, and neither have the others, but they wear it on their faces like a chapter they have yet to read.

‘
Mother, I have to tell you, there is a Sanguis in the tunnels and it was fighting with Garok, you remember Garok? Well, he was bitten, even before the tunnels, in the forest. There were two kinds of monsters in the forest, one with pink skin and blue eyes, and the others had skin that was blackened, as if it had been burned, and red eyes and…’

‘
Aecia stop. You are talking too fast, what is a Sanguis?’

‘
You don’t know?
Disembodied voice
told me that was what it was called, and I just presumed all adult Vampires knew of them.’

‘
Disembodied voice
? I know that Sanguis means ‘blood’, you are telling me that you saw a ‘blood’? You aren’t making a lot of sense. The other creatures in the barren lands, what are they called?’

‘
I don’t know, they were small, miniature and deformed, almost like living gargoyles. We only saw glimpses of the ugly, kind ones, and they just watched us. Then we saw plenty of the ugly, evil ones, and one bit Garok, and now he is some kind of a monster too.’

While I am busy confusing mother
, I can see Lupe and Zak playing together out of the corner of my eye, he has fangs and she is a Clone, and they are playing? From the look on his face, he is bedazzled by her, and not even attempting to bite her when she catches him. Have you ever heard the term, ‘stop playing with your food’ Amica? Yes, I see you joining in with them, and laughing. I can’t believe that thought even came into my mind in these critical times, I am weird.  It has given me an idea though; if the Vampires actually met the Clones, and saw what they were really like, surely, at least some of them, wouldn’t see them as food? If they formed relationships with them, they couldn’t eat them surely?

‘
AECIA!’

‘
What?’

‘
You were talking to me, and you just stopped for no reason. What is wrong with you child?’

‘
Oh, I’m sorry Mother, I can’t seem to focus on anything lately, my mind keeps churning up stuff and I get distracted. Everything seems unreal, what is happening is too crazy to be real. Do you understand what I mean?’

‘
I knew that these nights would come upon us. Since the night you were born as you are, I have been waiting for you to be discovered. A secret like ours is too gigantic to keep forever.’

‘
Oh mother!’

I have never seen her so vulnerable and upset. I have never even seen her cry
, but her lips are trembling, and there are glistening, red tears filling her eyes. I am holding her now, and I will make her see that everything will be all right in the end, and it will friend! We will make sure that it will! Something has just occurred to me!

‘
How is Uncle getting in here? If the tunnels are the only way in, he will be attacked by that Sanguis, and the thing that used to be Garok!’

‘
It is ok Aecia, there is another way in that he always uses.’

‘
Where is it?’

‘
Uncle is very secretive, he operates on a, ‘need to know’ basis, and all I know is that when he arrives, he is wet.’

‘
A, ‘need to know,’ basis. That sounds like him, he has told me nothing of the Rebellion, and come to think of it, he has never told me of this place.’

‘
His associates work on the premise, that everyone will be captured at some point. No, ‘one person’ should be privy to all the information at once. If they were captured, the Rebellion would be destroyed.’

‘
That makes sense. Are you part of it mother, the Rebellion?’

‘
Yes, of course. I want peace between Humans and Vampires. There are alternative ways for us to feed, more difficult and less enjoyable, but we are not the savages of old. We should be evolved enough now to practice some self-control. I have not ingested Clone blood since the night of your birth.’

‘
But I have seen you with the clan drinking.’

‘
Animal blood and synthesised extract Amica, you are not the only actress in our clan.’

‘
Mother, I feel like I hardly know you, but I love you so much!’

‘
And your father! Don’t forget your father!’

‘
Why? He hates me and all Humans! He only loves Vampires!’

‘
Don’t be so childish Aecia; you must see by now that life is not black and white! There are a million shades of grey in-between. Your father has kept your secret as I have; he has worked to pay for a roof over your head and put food on the table. He would give his life for you and Zak, and he deserves your love and respect. Just because he doesn’t understand the Rebellion and what it is trying to achieve as yet, doesn’t mean he is against it. He knows I have been involved for many years, but he never asks me to stop, or tries to sabotage my involvement. You will honour your father for who he is, or you will have me to deal with!’

Wow friend, I never knew my mother liked my father that much! Who knew?
Not me or Zak, who heard them argue over the price of those new shoes, or which of them had lost the car keys this time? Their favourite gripe was when father stripped rooms to re-decorate but got fed up half-way through, and started ripping up floorboards to put down new wood. This was typical; he would get bored of one job and go on to another without finishing the first. I don’t think I’ll ever marry; there are too many sizzling silences and half-done kitchens.

‘
Sweetheart.’ I know that voice, it is Uncle, and he must be behind me.

‘
UNCLE! You’re here, how did you get in? How did you know that we were here? It’s lovely to see you!’

‘
Questions, always questions, come here you!’

‘
Ugghh, you’re dripping wet, did you swim here? Yes you did, you swam here! The lake, did you…’

‘
Sshh, you are far too clever. We don’t want everyone to know now do we?’

He is glancing upwards and I can see ano
ther man-hole in the ceiling that I never noticed before. It is camouflaged but I can just see the indentation of the hole, ingenious, but I still don’t understand why everyone here can’t know. No matter, Uncle is here and I feel safer already!

Someone is in the kitchen area, one of the
Vampires I don’t know, and he is creating an appetizing aroma. I’m starving, we all are. I’ll just go and see what he’s up to.

‘
Ha ha, that’s it, is it?  Hi and bye when your stomach is giving the orders?’

Did
Uncle say something Amica? I’ll catch him later when I’ve eaten some of this spicy concoction, whatever it is. ‘Orianna, Lupe, Sebastian, come and eat!’

Anne is with father now, talking, and she doesn
’t seem interested in the food, she never really eats that much anymore anyway. I really don’t like her and I should, friend. You don’t either, I feel it, but I don’t know why. Don’t care anyway, at the moment I just want to eat.