Frenzy (The Frenzy Series Book 1) (4 page)

The room was empty, save for the colorful shafts of light being cast all over from the sun on the intricate stained glass windows. The flapping of wings overhead startled me, and I jumped forward and into the nearest pew. Doves made a nest in the bell house and a wide crack in the ceiling exposed the beams overhead. The small, steel bell swayed back and forth overhead. I hadn’t heard it ring since I was a child. It only sounded when someone or something dangerous breached our boundary—and only if someone could make it here in time to sound the alarm.

The door opened and closed behind me and the boards groaned again. It was Saul Daniels. I sighed. He was one of only a handful of people my age. My mind spun. I knew he wasn’t dating anyone, unless it was a very recent thing. If I wasn’t accepted into the rotation, maybe he would want me instead. I made sure that my hair was braided nicely this morning for Mercedes, but now it would work to my favor.

He stood in the row behind me and I smiled brightly at him. “Saul, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

He nodded, narrowing his eyes and brushing a too-long piece of light brown hair out of his eyes. “I think I’m even more surprised, especially given the events of this morning.” No doubt he had been at the farewell. Everyone was.

“Thank you for coming,” I muttered, turning around in the pew and facing the altar.

A warm, strong hand found my shoulder. “May I sit with you?”

I scooted over to make room for him and he settled beside me with a sigh. “I’m really sorry about Mercedes.”

“No one’s sorrier than I am. I had applied for the rotation because Mercedes did it two weeks before, but my blood floated so she made application. She was a great hunter.” I sniffed, trying to stop the tears from welling up in my eyes.

He placed a comforting arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. “She was. I wasn’t with her that night, but I went out with her once before.” Saul paused, both of us watching the dust motes flurry through the colorful rays in front of us. “Why are you here?” he asked in a gentle voice.

For some reason, I was having trouble with my masks of late. I couldn’t lie to Meg, and now found that I couldn’t lie to Saul either. I’d known him all of my life. We were the same age and ran in the same circles, but had never been close. Maybe it was the gravity of the day, the farewell, or the thoughts that spun in my mind of how to get Mercedes back, or maybe I was losing it, but I told him. All cards were placed on the table. “We need the food. I need the extra rations.”

Swallowing my pride with a huge gulp, I stared forward.

I could almost hear his brow furrowing. “You’re going hungry, Porsch?”

“Yes, and at the same time, not exactly.” I tried to smile through tears that wouldn’t be held back. How did you tell someone that yes, you were starving, but that your parent still intended to deny you what little portion of food you were relying on?

I began to laugh. From somewhere dark, it bubbled up. “I either need a husband or I need to get into this rotation.”

“Or what?” his voice rumbled.

“Or I’m going to cross the border and find food myself.”

He blew out a tense breath. “Not a good idea.”

“Not many options available to me, Saul,” I said shortly. He nodded and startled at the sound of someone slamming the door open behind us, and then of people filing in. The three Elders were scattered among the intruders, shaking hands, nodding excitedly, with smiles stretching over their faces as though nothing in the world was wrong with this arrangement. Nothing at all.

Saul leaned over and whispered in my ear, “You know there will be a night-walker here, right?”

My eyes widened. “What?” Saul nodded. “I didn’t see them when I applied the last time,” I whispered back.

“You didn’t make it far enough into the process.” His blue-gray eyes bored into mine. I’d never been close to a night-walker. I’d seen them from a distance, across the invisible border that the townspeople erected all those years ago, and I knew that one accompanied every rotation party that crossed the boundary. They were supposed to protect the humans from the Infected, although if I ever found the vampire who failed to save my sister, I would run a stake straight through his heart. There are only a few in Blackwater. It has to be one of them. “Just thought I’d warn you in case you didn’t know.” In case Mercedes didn’t tell me, he meant. And she didn’t.

The doors slammed closed behind us and everyone found a seat, with the exception of the Elders, who stood regally at the front of the room. There were ten others besides Saul and me. Only five were needed.

Three entrants were surprisingly old, three of the oldest men in the Colony and also among the most respected, other than the Elders, of course. Maybe their blood would float.
Maybe mine would.
How would they hunt? Their legs bowed and their hands shook with palsy.

One woman and man were my parents’ age and lived on the other side of the Colony. Mary and Timothy Brown. They held hands and smiled as if this was a normal part of their day. They had only bore one child, and he was married and already in his own home. They didn’t need the extra rations.

“You know how this works?” Saul asked, brows knitted with concern.

“Mostly.” I straightened my back.

“Five people will be chosen. Each person will be assigned to a vamp, maybe two. Their numbers fluctuate for some reason.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Two?” Saul nodded. “Mercedes never mentioned two. Actually, she didn’t tell me much at all about the feedings, just about the hunt itself.”

He leaned in. “She was trying to protect you.”

Now no one could protect me.

Elder Yankee stepped forward and explained the process. Each of us would need to cut our fingers, letting the blood pool. A healthy drop would be placed into a clear vase of water. If it floated, you were automatically eliminated from the culling.

“Culling?” I whispered.

“They’re harvesting us.”

That was sick, but eww. It was true.

Elder Yankee, a tall, slender man with peppered hair, continued. “If your blood is healthy, you will be assessed for physical agility. Based upon those findings, we will choose the five needed for the supply. Those who are chosen will get double the rations during the two-week rotation and will have to leave the Colony each night to hunt. We need meat. We need meat so desperately. You all know this, so I cannot stress to you how important your job will be if you are chosen.” Thick truth filled the air, pushing out every sound but roaring silence.

“We, of course, will go into greater detail if you make it past the first obstacle. Please form a line.”

With that, everyone shuffled from the pews into the aisle, waiting their turn in line. As I suspected, the three most elderly persons were disqualified quickly. They were anemic, like I
had
been, like I prayed I wasn’t now. Their blood floated. Having had no meat in weeks, it was no wonder that our bodies lacked iron. And why did the blood-suckers need iron-filled meals anyway? Couldn’t they go hunt meat for us and then we would have enough food and be tasty, too?

I folded my arms over my chest, ignoring the tugging of the sleeve on my forearm as it rode up too high, unable to fit any farther up my arm.

The dismissed left the hall immediately, shuffling out with conceding smiles. I wondered if they just came to hang out or if they really relished the thought of being vamp food. A shiver crawled up my spine. Saul and I were next. He motioned for me to go ahead of him, so I stepped forward. Elder Beckett smiled, his wiry, white eyebrows curled like caterpillars, making him seem less scary. “My dear, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be here, what with Mercedes falling so recently.”

“I want to be.”

He stared at me and pondered my words for a moment. “Would you like me to do it?”

I nodded, biting my lip. This was going to suck. I closed my eyes and held out my right forefinger. A zip of lightning and it was all over. When I opened my eyes, a tiny cut was present and blood was pooling inside the fissure. I squeezed the end of my finger and hoped with everything in me that my blood would be good enough this time.
Please sink.

Holding my finger over the vase of bloody water, I squeezed a fat crimson drop into the pool and watched. My heart stopped. It hung in the water, neither floating nor sinking. I looked at Saul, who was too focused on the drop to acknowledge me. I looked back and finally, finally, it began to sink ever so slowly to the bottom of the vase, leaving a pink-tinged tendril streaming behind it.

Four of the ten of us were anemic. That left six to fight for five spots. The odds weren’t nearly as bad as I imagined, but of the six who were left, all were physically fit for the most part and seemed to be at the top of their game. I wasn’t out of the woods yet.

In addition to Saul, there was a middle-aged couple who lived a few streets away from me, a familiar-looking man who looked to be around thirty, and a boy who had to be his son. Surely they wouldn’t send them together. What if the unspeakable happened? Maybe I did have a chance.

Elder Beckett ushered the four who were dismissed to the door, thanking them for volunteering and urging them to please come back next week to apply. As quickly as he pushed them out the door, a large wooden door behind the pulpit swung open and through it entered a night-walker. He was tall and muscular but lithe, even in his movements. His hair was dark, but not completely black. It was the color of the soil, of the silt that stained the black water. His skin was pale and he was young, or at least he looked it. They were all rumored to be hundreds of years old.

When he strode into the room, it was as if he owned it. Every eye was on him. He kept his features passive and stepped toward the Elders with an extended hand, which they accepted with smiles. “Thank you for coming, Roman,” Elder Yankee and then Elder Brown said in turn.

The night-walker smiled at the men who ran our Colony. His teeth were perfect pearls, and I gasped when I saw his fangs. They were longer than I’d imagined and looked sharp on the ends, needlelike and dangerous. My gasp drew his attention and his eyes locked onto mine. They weren’t red or black or weird at all; they were brown-black, like his hair; beautiful, framed by sooty lashes and brows.

The vampire turned his attention back to the Elders, who asked us to come forward. As silly as it seemed, they asked us to balance on one foot and then the other. We jogged single-file around the perimeter of the room. No one faltered. If this was the test for agility, no wonder people were being caught by the Infected. It would take more than a jog around a room and basic balance to avoid the newer ones, especially.

We were asked to line up at the front of the room. I didn’t miss how the three sets of rheumy eyes looked at me. Yellow-white mixed with pity and dismissal. They were going to send me home. I clenched my fists, pressing my lips tightly.

Saul nudged me. “How soon do you need a husband?” he whispered.

“As soon as possible,” I admitted without looking at him. I was still staring holes into the old men in front of us.

Clearing his throat, Saul said, “Let’s do it. Marry me.”

My mouth gaped open and I tore my eyes away from the Elders. As my gaze slid toward Saul, who was standing to my left, my eyes made contact with the vamp’s. The night-walker shook his head once, almost imperceptibly. Then he said something to the Elders to which only they were privy, followed by the shuffling of feet and clearing of throats. “This is quite unorthodox,” one muttered, but I was too busy watching the vamp to pay attention to which Elder had spoken.

“Well?” Saul questioned with a nudge.

Elder Beckett began talking. “It seems we need six for this particular rotation. You’ve all been accepted. Report to the pavilion tomorrow morning before sunrise for the first feeding. If you’re new, please take one of the papers on the table at the back of the room. It will explain the process and expectations. Tomorrow night, you will all leave the Colony together and go on a hunt to find food. Get some rest. You’ll need it.” After Mercedes fell, the hunts were cancelled. We needed to find meat. We
would
find meat! I would help!

I turned to Saul, who was smiling. “You’re in!” He picked me up and spun me around, my dress whirling around my legs. My laughter mixed with his as I hugged his neck. Maybe being married to Saul wouldn’t be so bad after all. He was handsome and obviously kind, but why would he agree to such a crazy proposal?