Rise of the Phoenix (The Phoenix Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

The thirst for blood built, and a slight ringing filled Phoenix’s head. She had become like a diabetic in need of insulin. She whirled and sank her teeth into her guard’s neck. His scream wasn’t from pain; rather it was shock. She had never fed on another vamp. The blood wasn’t warm like a human’s; it was more lukewarm. Drinking the blood of a human was like drinking a cocktail; you had to wait for the buzz. Drinking from this vamp hit her like a shot of heroin. It skipped her veins and impacted her brain instantly, and it was twice as potent.

Without questioning or second-guessing, instinct told her that the guard could be tossed aside like a rag doll, and she did just that. She released his neck and tightly gripped his shirt. She raised him above her head and threw him. A man of six feet and pure muscle flew a couple feet and hit the block wall.

Phoenix wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked down at him with satisfaction. He didn’t make a move. The once arrogant stance of her guard had been replaced with intimidation. He knew the power she had attained from drinking his blood.

As she turned, she caught sight of him getting off the floor and quickly reaching above his head to hit a red emergency button with the palm of his hand. Above her, an alarm pulsed through speakers. For a split second she glanced up at the ceiling speaker and then she ran for Adam.

His fight wasn’t easy; this battle could go on and on. Catching Adam’s attention, she motioned with her head for him to turn the guard. As her mate moved to his left the guard followed, exposing his back to her. Clinching her fist, Phoenix made contact with the guard’s kidney. Her knuckles sank deep into his lower back and she felt the bean size organ crush. As the guard’s knees buckled from the pain, Adam’s boot made contact with his jaw. He fell backward, his head hitting the cheap, tile floor with a sharp crack.

“Let’s go,” Adam said immediately grabbing her hand and dashing for the hall of nightmares. Just as they turned the corner they saw a squad of military personnel waiting for them at the other end of the hall. The troops marched toward them in full armor, gun’s ready to fire. Quickly changing direction, they took the hallway to the right, but again found their passage blocked

Turning back toward the last exit they came to an immediate stop. As they stood in the middle of three converging hallways one set of troops parted and a vamp in a business suit walked toward them. She was poised. Her blond hair cut just above the shoulders and bangs covering her forehead. She held her head high as she walked, but her face show that she would brook no nonsense. The clicking of her black high heels on the floor were perfectly synced.

Stopping just short of Phoenix and Adam she spoke. “My name is Nan.” Her voice was sure and strong, feminine, but not light. “And I don’t need this shit.” Her arms went up and back down in a stiff motion as she said “shit.”

Nan clutched her hands behind her back and let them rest on the curve of her ass. She began to pace in the small space they were standing in. “This is not a democracy nor a rebellion.” She stopped and looked slightly over her shoulder at Adam and Phoenix. “You will maintain a level of dignity here or be exterminated.”

“Dignity? Is that what you call your little side show of experiments down the hall?” Phoenix chided.

Nan took in a deep breath and squared her shoulders and began to pace again. “Experiments are a necessary part of science.”

Phoenix began to speak again and Adam squeezed her hand. When she looked up at him he gently cautioned her with his eyes.

“Guards take her to the female barracks and the gentleman to the male barracks,” Nan said stepping back to give the troops room to approach.

As two troops took hold of Phoenix’s arms she tried to pull away, but the strength she had attained by drinking vamp blood had diminished.

Adam looked in her eyes as the guards took hold of him. “It will be okay.”

All she could do was shake her head back and forth as he was escorted away. A single tear fell down her cheek as he stole one last look at her over his shoulder.

“Let’s go,” one of the guards said jerking her by the arm.

“Get this mess cleaned up,” Nan said pointing to the blood on the walls as her heels retreated down the hall of nightmares.

Phoenix continued to look behind her as she walked until Adam was completely out of view. Crumpled on the floor lay the guard they both attacked.
We actually killed him
. She turned and walked willingly with her captors, her mind swimming. As the guards unlocked a white door with a small glass window her forehead crinkled in thought; it was possible to kill other vamps, but you had to ingest their blood to do it.

The door opened with an unsettling creak. Inside the room was pitch black, all except for a pair of bright green eyes. The guards shoved Phoenix inside and slammed the door. She spun around catching the handle just as the lock clicked. She tried to calm herself by taking in slow deep breaths; she had to keep her fear at a bay.

A breeze tickled the back of her neck and the light burst on. Phoenix gasped and turned around clinching her fist.

“Sorry,” a soft voice said just as Phoenix’s knuckles made contact with a cheekbone.

The girl stumbled back, eyes wide. “Well, it’s nice to meet you too.”

Phoenix stood there waiting for the revenge. She kept a fierce look on her face and her fists up.

“Yeah, okay. I think we need to start over,” the girl said half rolling her eyes.

Phoenix relaxed her stance. “Hey, I’m sorry about that. What’s with the dark, spooky atmosphere?”

“In case you haven’t noticed it’s after midnight and I was sleeping. Damn guards, they refuse to use any manners and actually turn some lights on for a gal.”

“Oh,” Phoenix said embarrassed for her behavior.

“I’m Cloud,” the girl said sticking out her hand.

Shanking her hand firmly, Phoenix introduced herself

“You’re totally new, huh?”

“Excuse me?” Phoenix replied.

“Your mutation hasn’t really begun. I can tell.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Once you are fully mutated you’ll see. You can sense other vamps and how strong they are.” Cloud raised her hands into the air and waved her fingers ominously, giggling.

Phoenix let out a breathy laugh. “How long have you been here?”

“Only about six months,” Cloud replied taking a leap across the room and landing on a twin-sized bed on the other side. Its frame gave a screeching protest before it bumped against the wall. She had on flannel pajamas and her hair was cut straight as an arrow just above her shoulders. It was jet black, which made her neon green eyes look even brighter. Her face was perfectly smooth like a porcelain doll, on which she wore no makeup. She was a perfect, petite girl.

“How old are you?”

“I’m seventeen.” She picked up a magazine from the floor and flipped through it. “You can say I’m pissed I didn’t get to go to prom.”

Phoenix chuckled. The girl’s voice held anger, but her face, which was glancing at an old Seventeen Magazine prom edition, was full of wonder.

“How long have you had that?” Phoenix said sitting on the other bed and pointing.

“They have a library here. It’s full of proper books and magazines that were printed before the bombs.”

“Proper books, huh?”

“Yeah, there are no stories about war or revolution.”

“I bet.” Phoenix breathed deep and ran her fingers through her hair. She bent and unlaced her boots, then tossed them at the foot of what would be her bed. Twisting and cracking her neck she sighed. Looking around her new accommodations she wasn’t sure if it was the creepiest place she had ever seen. The walls were white and hanging on them were pictures of happy families having cookouts. All the lawns were perfectly manicured and all the houses were bright colors. “The perfect image of a happy America, she muttered.

“Huh?” Cloud said looking up from her magazine.

“The pictures. What bullshit.”

“Yeah so much for freedom of choice, right.” Cloud changed directions. “Did you know Jonny Depp had a love of clowns?” Her eyes were buried in the magazine.

Phoenix shook her head and lay back on her pillow.
God, Adam, don’t let them find out who you really are.

“I wonder what it would be like to date someone who filled their house with clowns?” Cloud said flipping the page.

“Honestly, I could care less, but the more you talk about random crap the more I forget about what I’m feeling,” Phoenix said staring at the glaring white ceiling.

“That’s the point. I don’t want to think about where I am. I would rather stare at hotties from the past.”

“Night, Cloud. You can tell me about your name tomorrow.”

THE HARD MATTRESS and old down filled pillow left Phoenix’s neck crimped. She sat and moved it back and forth until it felt normal. Sighing, she walked to the small bathroom to splash some water on her face. Though she had slept, her night was filled with dreams of losing Adam. Now that morning had come, or at least she assumed it was morning since the room was windowless and pitch-black, she felt panic and a racing heart.

Her hands trembled under the warm water as she held them cupped catching the stream. Splashing the water on her face did nothing to calm her nerves. Her hands gripped the sides of the sink and she leaned against it.

A slight knock at the door caused her to jump. She opened it to see Cloud standing there with puffy eyes and black hair standing out in every direction. She had slid her feet into giant puffy slippers that had teddy bear heads on them.

“It’s all yours,” Phoenix said.

Phoenix sat on the edge of her bed and slipped her boots unto her feet. As she laced them a loud speaker crackled to life. “Breakfast will be served in the main dining hall in an hour.” The voice was female and very stern.

Cloud came out brushing her teeth as she spoke. “You better get a move on or all the good muffins will be gone.”

Phoenix waited for Cloud to perfect her look, watching as she slid into skinny jeans and a white T-shirt. And then after a second of digging through her belongings, she pulled a pair of pink ballet slippers onto her feet.

“Nice shoes,” Phoenix said.

“They were my mom’s. It’s all I have left. I guess the Gestapo decided that pink ballet slippers didn’t signify rebellion.”

“Great, what are they going to make me wear?”

Cloud giggled. “Nothing that you look bad ass in, that’s for sure.”

The main dining hall was large and filled with hundreds of vamps. Just like her living quarters, the walls had images of perfectly happy people, nature, and pristine homes and neighborhoods. Three rows of tables ran down the center of the room and never seemed to end. People filed through a cafeteria line filling their trays with food and drinks. The room was silent with the exception of the clatter of forks against plates and the sliding of trays. Heads were down and focused on their food. Tons of hair styles could be seen around the room. The typical comb to the side worn by older men, balding crowns, blond, brown, red, black, long, short, spiked and buzzed off, but Adam’s disheveled locks were not among them.

Phoenix followed Cloud through the slow moving line and poured herself a cup of coffee. Her tiny roommate filled her tray with a large blueberry muffin, juice, and bacon.

“Get a tray and some food,” Cloud said looking at the coffee cup Phoenix held.

“Not hungry,” she replied scanning the room again.

“Listen, they watch us all the time. Get a tray and fill it.”

Just as the words were spoken a guard with a machine gun walked by. His eyes fixed on Phoenix and he stared at her for several seconds. Quickly she grabbed a tray and piled it with food. At the end of the line were plastic containers with only spoons. She slid one out and twirled it around. “Nice.”

“Knives and forks can stab,” Cloud said pulling on Phoenix’s shirt to move her along.

As they walked through a row of tables Phoenix could see people watching her. Their heads never raised, but their eyes followed her. Halfway down the isle she saw the top of Ben’s head. There was enough room for her to sit across from him. She slid in and Cloud filled the space beside her.

“Ben?” Phoenix whispered.

Cloud nudged Phoenix’s arm and the hard clap of a guards boots approached them and passed.

“Ben,” she said as quiet as she could.

When the older man raised his eyes to her she gasp. There were as emerald green as hers.

“What happened? Where’s Vera?”

Ben wiped his mouth with his napkin. “They ripped her right out of my arms.” Tears filled his eyes and his bottom lip began to quiver.

“Eat,” Cloud whispered urgently. Another guard approached, paused but moved on when Phoenix bit down on a piece of bacon. Ben looked down and hid his tears.

“The glass room you were in. That stuff they sprayed on you. Did that turn you?” Phoenix asked Ben sliding her hand across the table and taking his.

He nodded.

“Have you seen the others?”

“A few; their keepin us separated most of the time.”