The Immortal Rules (14 page)

“Why?” Stick crept forward. His chin trembled; he was near tears. “Why can’t you just stay? Do you hate me that much? Am I that pathetic, that you can just leave me alone to die?”

“Stop being dramatic.” I half turned, embarrassed and angry, both at myself and him. Kanin was right, I should never have come here. “You’re not helpless,” I said. “You’ve been Unregistered just as long as me. It’s time you learned to fend for yourself. I can’t help you anymore.”

“No, that’s not a reason,” Stick protested. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Why are you keeping secrets? Don’t you trust me? We never kept anything from each other before.”

“Stick, leave it alone.”

“I thought we were friends,” he insisted, leaning forward. “No one here likes me, no one understands me like you. I thought you were dead! But now you’re back, and you won’t tell me what’s going on.”

“All right!” I turned to face him fully, narrowing my gaze. “All right, you really want to know why?” And before he could answer, before I could reflect on the absolute stupidity of my actions, I opened my mouth and bared my fangs.

Stick went so pale, I thought he would faint. “Don’t scream,” I told him urgently, retracting my fangs, knowing it had been a mistake the second I showed him. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m still me, just…different now.”

“You’re a vampire,” Stick whispered, as if he’d just figured it out. “A
vampire.
”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “I was pulled down by rabids and would’ve died, but a vampire happened to be in the area and Turned me instead. But the other vamps are looking for us now, that’s why I can’t stay. I don’t want them to come after you, too.”

But Stick was edging away, every muscle in his body tight with fear. “Stick,” I tried again, holding out my hand. “It’s still me. Come on, I’m not going to bite you or anything.”

“Stay away from me!” Stick’s frantic cry finally roused the others around the fire, and they looked toward us, muttering and rising to their feet. I felt my lips curl back, my fangs lengthen, even as I gave my old friend one last, desperate look.

“Stick, don’t do this.”

“Vampire!” he shrieked and lunged backward, sprawling in the dirt. “Vampire, over here! Get away from me! Help! Someone, help!”

I growled and drew back as the group around the fire leaped to their feet, shouting and cursing. Stick half ran, half crawled back to the fire, shouting and pointing in my direction, and the rest of the camp exploded into terrified chaos. Screams of
“Vampire”
echoed through the warehouse as the small group of Unregistereds scattered to every corner of the room, diving through windows and shoving each other aside to escape. Stick gave one last cry and fled into the darkness, out of sight.

The noise from the panicked Unregistereds was almost deafening, stirring something primal within, something that urged me to give chase, to slip into the crowd and start tearing out throats. For just a moment, I watched the humans scramble to escape a predator they didn’t even see, who could kill them before they knew it was there. I could sense the terror, smell the hot blood and sweat and fear, and it took all my willpower to turn away, to draw back into the shadows and leave them alone. They fled before me, but in the mass confusion, I slipped through a window, and I didn’t look back until the howls and screams of terror had faded into the night.

* * *

H
E
WAS
SITTING
AT
THE
OFFICE
DESK
when I crept back down the elevator shaft into the hospital. I didn’t see him in the reception area or the halls, and thought I was home free as I tiptoed back to my room. But then I passed his office door.

“Did you enjoy your time with your friend?”

I winced, freezing midstep. Kanin sat behind the desk with a stack of files, scanning another document. He didn’t look up as I slipped warily into the room.

“I had to,” I told him softly. “I had to know if he was all right.”

“And how did that work out for you?”

I swallowed hard, and Kanin finally put down the paper, watching me with unreadable black eyes.

“Did he scream?” he asked calmly. “Did he curse you and flee in terror? Or was he ‘understanding’ and promised nothing would change, only you could see how terrified he was?” I didn’t answer, and Kanin’s mouth twitched in a humorless smirk. “I’m guessing there was screaming and running.”

“You knew,” I accused. “You knew I would go after him.”

“You aren’t the most pliable student in the world.” Kanin didn’t sound amused or angry or resigned. He just stated it as a fact. “Yes, I knew, eventually, you would seek out the last remnants of your old life. Everyone does. You aren’t one to listen to advice you don’t agree with—you had to see it for yourself. That said…” His voice went cold, and his eyes glittered in that blank, terrifying stare. “Our time together is drawing to a close. If you disobey me again, I will take that as a sign that you don’t need a teacher any longer. Is that understood?”

I nodded, and Kanin’s expression softened, even if his voice did not. “What did the boy say?” he asked. “After you showed him?”

“Nothing,” I said miserably. “He just screamed ‘vampire’ and ran. After everything I did for the ungrateful little…” I stumbled to a halt, not wanting to think about it, but Kanin raised his eyebrows, silently telling me to go on. “I knew him for years,” I growled. “I shared my food with him, looked out for him, stood up for him when he would’ve gotten his ass kicked—” My chest felt tight, and I crossed my arms. “And after all that…” I paused, not knowing if I wanted to cry or rip a door off its hinges and fling it through the wall. “After all that…” I tried again.

“He still saw you as nothing more than a monster,” Kanin finished.

With a cry, I turned and drove my fist through the wall. The plaster flew inward, leaving a six-inch hole behind. “Dammit!” I slugged the wall again, feeling it give way with a satisfying crunch. “I was his
friend.
I was the only thing that kept him alive, all those years of picking up his slack, all those years of going hungry so he wouldn’t starve!” I slammed a fist into the wall once more, then leaned into it, feeling chalky plaster against my forehead. My eyes burned, and I squeezed them shut, willing the pain to go away. “He should’ve known better,” I whispered through clenched teeth. “He should’ve known
me
better.”

Kanin hadn’t moved, letting me rip apart his wall without comment. Finally, he rose, coming to stand just behind me. “Did you tell him where we were?” he asked in a low voice.

“No.” I shook my head against the wall and finally pulled back. “I didn’t…wait. Yes, I might’ve…mentioned the hospital. But he doesn’t know where it is.” I half turned, looking up at Kanin, who watched me gravely. “He wouldn’t come looking for it, anyway,” I said, hearing the bitterness in my voice. “He’s too scared to leave the hideout most of the time, much less the sector.”

“You’re still being naive.” Kanin rubbed a hand over his eyes, stepping back. “Stay here. Don’t leave the hospital. I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going?” I said, suddenly on edge. A thought entered my mind, and my stomach went cold. “You’re not…going after him, are you?”

“No,” Kanin said, pausing in the doorway, and I sagged in relief. “But I need to set up alarms around the area. The few already in place won’t be enough, I fear.”

“For what?” Frowning, I followed him down the hall. He didn’t answer, and I gaped at him as I realized. “You think Stick will tell someone,” I guessed, hurrying to keep pace with his long strides. “That’s not going to happen. I’m telling you, Kanin, you don’t have to worry about that. He’s too much of a coward to go to anyone.”

“Perhaps.” Kanin strode into the reception area and stopped me at the desk. “And perhaps he will surprise you. Wait here. Practice your sword techniques. Don’t leave the hospital grounds, understand? After tonight, you won’t be able to go anywhere without triggering an alarm unless I’m with you.”

“I still think this is pointless, Kanin.”

The look he gave me was pitying. “Maybe it will be as you say. Maybe this boy will surprise me. But I’ve lived far too long to leave anything to chance, particularly when it comes to human betrayal. If there is nothing to lose, and even very little to gain, you can almost count on it. Now, give me your word that you won’t try to leave.”

“What if I need to go outside?”

“Either stay here or leave now and don’t come back. Your choice.”

“Fine.” I glared at him. “I won’t try to leave.”

“Forgive me if I don’t take your immediate word,” Kanin deadpanned in a cold voice. “I want your promise. Do you swear?”

“Yes!” I bared my fangs at him. “I swear.”

He nodded curtly and turned away. I watched him shimmy up the elevator tube, trying to work my way through a jumble of swirling emotions: anger, frustration, disappointment, hurt. One second I hated Stick, and the next I could almost understand his instant terror. I despised it and thought it sucked, especially after all I’d done for him, but I could understand. After all, he’d reacted to a vampire appearing suddenly in his home. If he’d suddenly disappeared and shown up as a bloodsucker, I might have reacted the same way. Or I might have attempted to see through my knee-jerk reaction and actually tried to talk to him, for friendship’s sake. I didn’t know. I
did
think Kanin was overreacting, setting up alarms and forbidding me to leave the hospital when there was no need.

Only when he was gone did I remember the strange vampire I’d met in my old room earlier, the one with the dead eyes and terrible smile. I considered climbing the shaft and hurrying after Kanin to warn him, but I’d just promised him I wouldn’t leave the hospital. Besides, Kanin was a big, capable vampire. He could take care of himself.

I practiced my sword drills, thought of Stick and what I could have done differently, and wandered the halls, waiting for my mentor to come back.

But Kanin did not return that night.

Chapter 9

I jerked awake, hissing and baring my fangs, the nightmare ebbing away into reality. I’d been dreaming, for the first time since I’d become a vampire, about dark tunnels and twisting corridors and something terrible lurking within them, stalking me. I remembered the cold fear, sensing the unknown evil drawing closer, and then a blinding flare of pain as the creature finally pounced, though I never saw its face. It was enough to wake me up, and upon reflection, I thought it was very strange. How did the dead dream, exactly? I’d have to ask Kanin about that.

Kanin.
Rising, I grabbed my sword and hurried to his office, hoping I would see his calm, efficient form sitting behind the desk with a stack of documents, as always.

The office was empty. Nor was there any note on the desk, telling me my assignments for the night. I prowled the halls, peering into every room, every corner I might’ve overlooked. Nothing. No sign of him anywhere. He was truly gone.

For a moment, I wondered if he had left on purpose, if last night, he’d had no intention of coming back. Had he gotten tired of his stubborn, moody, impossible student and decided it was time to be free of her? I shook my head. No, Kanin wasn’t like that. He was cold, unsympathetic, jaded and sometimes scary as hell, but he was not a liar. If he wasn’t here, then he was out there, somewhere. Was he hurt? Captured?

Dead?

Stop that,
I told myself. Just because Kanin wasn’t in the hospital was no reason to panic. Maybe he was in the tunnels, setting up traps or alarms. Or maybe he
was
somewhere in the hospital still, in a room I hadn’t checked or…

Wait. There
was
one more place I could look.

At the bottom of the stairs, the red metal door groaned and swung open reluctantly as I pushed on it, revealing a long corridor. I caught a glimpse of a broken security camera mounted above the red door and another at the end of the hall. As I slipped into the hallway, the door groaned shut behind me, closing with a bang and plunging the narrow space into darkness.

My new vampire sight let me see even in pitch-blackness, however, and I made my way to the end of the hall, where another door was set firmly into the wall. It was stainless steel, barred from the outside and heavy enough to stop a train. It didn’t have a normal handle or doorknob but a wheel set in the very center, rusty with age.

What were they keeping back here?
I wondered, turning the wheel to the right. It spun reluctantly, then with a faint hiss, the door swung outward.

Past the frame, I stepped into yet another dark, claustrophobic hallway. Only this time, large windows ran along the wall, looking into isolated rooms. Though some of the windows were smashed and broken, the glass was extremely thick, and more than a few were still intact. I looked closer, and a chill skittered down my spine.

Thick steel bars ran vertically across the windows, like cages. The doors on the rooms were the same thick, heavy metal, and they all locked from the outside. Within each room, the walls were white and crumbling, but I saw gouges in the tile, as if something had clawed at it, all the way down to the metal beneath.

“What the hell is this place?” I whispered.

My voice slithered into the room, unnaturally loud in the silence. The darkness seemed to reach for me, trying to draw me in. I could smell blood and pain and death, worked into the very walls, seeping from the cracks in the floor. Movement flickered at the corners of my eyes, faces peering out of the glass, ghostly images of things not there.

My skin crawled. Whatever had happened here, whatever secrets lay beyond those doors, it was something I didn’t want to uncover.

There was a thump on the stairwell, soft footsteps padding into the corridor.

I shivered with relief. “Kanin,” I called, striding up to the thick metal door. It was halfway shut, and I pushed it open. “Where the hell have you been?”

And the vampire with the terrible smile grinned down at me.

* * *

“H
ELLO
,
LOVE
,”
THE
VAMPIRE
PURRED
, smiling as I backed away, drawing my blade as he eased into the room. “What a surprise to run into you again. Some little birdie has been lying to me.”

I kept my blade between me and the vampire, circling with him as he prowled the edges of the room. His eyes weren’t on me, however, but rather staring blankly at the walls and glass windows lining the hall. “What are you doing here?” I growled, trying to control my fear. “How did you find this place?”

“Ahhhh…” the vampire breathed, the air rasping through a windpipe that hadn’t been used in years. “That is a fine question, little bird.” He reached out and put one pale claw against the glass, pressing his cheek against it. I noticed a splash of old, dry blood on his neck, as if something had slashed at him recently. “Did you know these walls will talk to you? If you ask them. They’ll tell you their secrets, though sometimes you have to beat it out of them, yes. Sometimes it was necessary.” He straightened and turned to me, his eyes empty black holes in his smiling face. “Where’s Kanin?” he asked in a patient, understanding voice. “Tell me now, and save me the trouble of pulling off your fingers.”

“He’s not here,” I said. The vampire didn’t look surprised.

“Not back yet then? I must’ve hit him harder than I thought. Very well, we can wait for him. I have all the time in the world.”

“What did you do to him?” I snarled.

He chewed a fingernail, ran a tongue along his thin lips, and smiled at me. “Have you ever filleted a fish?”

“What?” God, this freak was creeping me out. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“No? It’s quite easy.” There was a flash of metal, and the vampire was suddenly holding a thin, bright blade. I jumped; he was so quick I hadn’t even seen his hand move. “The trick is to start skinning them as soon as you pull them out of the water, before they have a chance to die. You just slip the knife beneath the flesh and pull…” He demonstrated with the blade, making a long, slow cut in the air, “and the skin peels right off.” He looked me in the eye, and his grin stretched wider, showing fangs. “That’s what I did to Kanin’s last little fish. He screamed, oh, did he scream. It was glorious.” He waggled the knife at me. “I wonder if you will be so obliging?”

My arms shook, making the sword tremble, and I squeezed the hilt to stop them. I could barely move, frozen with a terror unlike any I’d known before. An image came to mind before I could stop it: a body hanging from the ceiling, raw muscles exposed to the air as it writhed and screamed in agony. I slammed that thought away before I was sick.

“Why…why do you hate him so much?” I asked, mostly to keep him talking, to buy myself some time. My voice wavered, making me furious with myself. Dammit, I could not show fear in front of this psycho. I bit my cheek, tasting blood, and that was enough to rouse the demon inside. My next words were stronger. “Why do you want to kill him?”

“I don’t want to kill him,” the vampire explained, sounding surprised. “That would be too good for Kanin. Surely he’s told you. What he is? What he’s done? No?” He chuckled, shaking his bald head. “Always keeping your spawn in the dark, hmm, old friend? They don’t even know why they must suffer for you.” He moved toward me, and I jerked backward, muscles tightening, but the vampire only crossed the room, running his fingers down one of the metal doors. He was no longer smiling, his face as empty as a blank sheet, making him a thousand times more terrible.

“I remember,” he mused, his voice a cold whisper in the darkness. “I can’t ever get it out of my head. The screams. The blood on the walls. Watching everyone around me turn into those
things.
” He shivered, curling his lips back, and suddenly his resemblance to the creatures in the ruins was unmistakable. “They stuck me with the same needles, pumped the same sickness into me. But I never turned. I’ve always wondered about that. Why I never turned.”

My eyes flickered to the exit, judging the distance between me and the heavy metal door. Not enough time. Psycho vamp was probably just as fast as Kanin, which meant he was much faster than me. I’d have to buy myself more time, a few seconds at least.

Keeping one hand on the sword, I slowly reached down, into my jeans, and closed my fingers around the familiar handle of my knife. Pulling it out slowly, flicking open the tiny blade, I cupped it in my palm, hiding it from view.

“But I know now.” Psycho vamp turned, and that awful grin was back on his face. “I know why I was spared. To punish the one responsible for our pain. Every scream, every drop of blood, every strip of flesh and shattered bone, I will revisit upon him tenfold. He will know the pain, and fear and despair of every life within these walls. I will scour the earth of his blood, I will raze his lineage from existence. And only when his screams and the screams of his offspring replace the ones in my mind, when I can no longer see their faces and hear their cries of anguish, only then will I grant him leave of this world.”

“You’re a freaking psychopath,” I said, but he only chuckled.

“I don’t expect you to understand, little bird.” He turned toward me fully, fingering his blade and smiling. “I expect you only to sing. Sing for me, sing for Kanin, and make it a glorious song.”

He lunged at me, coming in fast and catching me off guard, even though I was expecting it. I swung the katana at him one-handed, aiming for his neck, but he slithered aside, stepped within my guard and slammed me into the wall. My head struck the glass, and I felt something crack beneath me, either my head or the glass itself. Before I could react, a cold, dead hand clamped around my sword arm, threatening to snap it, and the point of a blade pierced my jaw.

“Now, little bird,” psycho vamp whispered, pressing his lean body against mine. I tried throwing him off, but it was like steel cables, pinning me to the wall. “Sing for me.”

I bared my fangs in his face. “Sing yourself,” I hissed and thrust my free hand up, jamming the pocket knife into one crazy black eye.

Psycho vamp screamed and reeled away, clutching his face. I sprang from the wall and rushed for the door, but I hadn’t taken three steps when the vampire’s scream turned into a chilling roar of fury that made my hair stand on end. Fear made me quick. I reached the exit and lunged through the opening, dropping my blade and spinning around to push it shut. I saw psycho vamp racing toward me, his face a mask of rage, fangs bared, eyes bloody and murderous, and shoved hard on the door. It groaned as it swung shut, and I wrenched the wheel to the left, sealing it tight as a thunderous
boom
echoed from the other side.

My arms shook as I grabbed my katana and backed away from the door. It was strange; I felt my heart should be pounding a mile a minute, my breath coming in short, panicked gasps. But of course, there was none of that. Only the slight tremble in my arms and legs showed how very close I had come to death again.

Another hollow boom against the steel door made me wince. How long would it be before psycho vamp got out? Could he get out? If he did, he would be coming for me, no question about it. I had to put as much distance between me and murderous psycho vamp as I could.

I took another step back, turned to flee, and ran into a body in the hallway.

“Kanin!”
I nearly fainted with relief, putting out my arms to steady him. Kanin staggered back a step, leaning heavily against the wall. He looked even paler than usual, and his shirt was stained with dried blood. His own. “You’re hurt!”

“I’m all right.” He waved me off. “It’s old. I’ve already fed, so don’t worry about me.” His eyes scanned the hallway, narrowing to slits. “Did Sarren come down here?”

“Sarren? You mean psycho vamp with the messed-up face? Yeah. Yeah, he did.” I jerked my thumb toward the steel door, just as another thud echoed down the hallway, followed by a desperate screech. “Friend of yours, Kanin? He seemed very interested in peeling my skin off.”

“You’re lucky to be alive,” Kanin muttered, shaking his head, and I thought I heard the faintest note of admiration in his voice. “He surprised me last night. I didn’t think he would find me here so soon.”

“Are you all right?”

He shook himself, pushing off the wall. “We have to get out of here,” he continued, staggering away. “Hurry. There’s not much time.”

“You think Smiley can get out of there?” I glanced back at the door. “Really? It’s like two feet of solid steel.”

“No, Allison.” Kanin looked back at me, his face darkening. “Your friend went to the authorities this evening. He told them that two unauthorized vampires are hanging around the old hospital grounds. The Prince’s men are coming. We have to move now.”

I stared at him in horror, hardly believing what I’d just heard. “No,” I said as he turned away, walked back down the hall. “You’re wrong. Stick wouldn’t do that to me. That’s the one rule everyone understands—we don’t sell each other out to the bloodsuckers.”

“You
are
a bloodsucker now.” Kanin’s voice echoed back, dull and weary. “And it doesn’t matter. Someone tipped them off, and they’re on their way. If they catch us here, they’ll kill us. We have to get out of the city.”

“We’re leaving?” I hurried after him, feeling my stomach twist. “Where are we going?”