Vampire Thirst (25 page)

One night, she didn’t take the compulsory glass of milk that every kid had before bed. After the lights went off, she remained wide awake, while all the other girls had gone into a deep sleep. Suddenly, a group of men burst into the room, followed by her headmaster. No one woke up. It was at that moment that Sam realized something really wrong was taking place at the orphanage. Her headmaster talked to the men for a while, discussing who would be
the ones
that night, as if the girls were cuts of meat at the supermarket. After a few minutes, the choice was made and one of the men walked toward her bunk bed. Sam froze. She pretended to be asleep, forced her limbs to stop shaking. When the man reached down and took her friend from the lower bed, she managed to breathe again.

But her relief was short lived. When the bulky man stood up, she opened her eyes just a crack and saw his face. He wasn’t human. His skin was green and rough, like a lizard’s; his eyes were far apart and yellow with black vertical slits for irises. It took every ounce of control to keep from screaming. The lizard men took five more of her friends away. Sam never knew what happened to them, because that night, she ran away, as fast as she could.

She managed to hide in the streets for a while, but there was no safe place for a young teenager in London, even in the early 1940s. One day, she was rummaging for food in a dark alley when three tall boys showed up. They pushed her around, kicked her, and held her down. In the midst of her panic, something triggered inside her. It was a rage Sam had never experienced before. It was so powerful that it choked her. It grew, then it morphed into pure electricity. The first boy to die was the one on top of her. The other two let go of her wrists and tried to run. She bolted after them and caught the slowest one from behind. He shook violently, like a fish out of water. His eyes went wide, then the smell of burnt flesh saturated the air. His skin melted right in front of her. The other boy started screaming, paralyzed by terror. Windows were opened and the police were called. She was arrested, then locked up in an asylum. Dr. Burvis’ asylum.

The sliding doors at the lab suddenly burst open and Phillip walked in with a smug smile stamped on his face.

What in Hiad is he doing here?

Then two razbians entered, dragging an unconscious prisoner between them.

No, no, no!
Sam could not believe her eyes. It was Hikuro! His hands and wrists were shackled by silver chains, his feet scraped on the floor, his head dangled like a heavy pendant.

How did that happen? Where were the others?

“Hang him up,” the draco ordered to the guards.

Sam’s heart thumped wildly in her chest. She had known Hikuro would come after her, but not alone! It was still daylight outside, which meant the others hadn’t come with him. Damn it! He wasn’t supposed to be impulsive.

Sam had to do something. It was her fault he had come alone, so it was her responsibility to get him out. If only she could control her powers…

“Watch him,” Phillip barked. “I’m gonna find Burvis.”

The two razbians finished tying Hikuro up, then sat on one of the desks, chatting about the latest cricket match.

Now was her chance. She slithered closer to the ventilation grid.

Right. Breathe in, breathe out. Focus on the chains. No, focus on the razbians! Hikuro’s chains later, kill the Razbians first. Make their heads grow, just like the candle, then hit them, hard, on the forehead. Maybe the throat is better. No, the forehead, definitely the forehead. Shit, they moved. Start again. Breathe in, breathe out….Foreheads…Now!

A second before Sam ignited her fingers, the razbians moved again. Her electric blast hit the weird dentist chair on the far side of the room, several feet away from the razbian’s forehead.

Fuck!

The machine caught on fire instantly, calling the guards attention. The fire alarm went off, drawing even more guards in.

Great.

“What the fuck happened here?”

Sam froze. That voice. She didn’t need to look. She knew who it was.

Dr. Burvis.

He wore his usual white coat. His mousy-brown hair had long seen a stylist; his dark eyes exuded danger.

“Put the fire down at once, you fucking morons,” he shouted at the guards, who promptly extinguished the small fire. “And kill the fire alarm!”

Phillip was right behind Burvis, like the weasel he was.

After the commotion was over, Dr. Burvis pulled up a chair and sat in front of Hikuro’s hanging body.

“Wake him up.”

One of the guards took a hose and watered Hikuro down. He came to consciousness with a start. Sam’s heart sunk in her chest.

“So, Mr. Hikuro, I am very impressed with your little trick,” Burvis said flatly. The same way he used to open their torture sessions after her escape attempts.

Hikuro didn’t reply. He just glared at both men.

“I knew you’d come sooner or later, vampire, but I must admit, I’m quite puzzled. The sun still shines, and yet, you are here. How so?”

He knew we were on to them?

Hikuro kept his silence. Sam swallowed dry.

Dr. Burvis gave a short nod to one of the guards, who then went to the computer and pushed a button. The thick silver chains shimmered just a second before Hikuro was hit by a surge of electricity. His whole body shook violently in response, but he kept his mouth shut. A whiff of burnt flesh reached Sam’s nose.
Oh, Gods!
She covered her mouth with both hands to stop her own yelps.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Dr. Burvis said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I developed this little device a few months ago, when Yerik was still wasting his time and our resources trying to create a new race of perfect soldiers.”

Dr. Burvis stood up, then went to the computer himself. The guard vacated the chair immediately. Burvis took his time analyzing something on the monitor. “Hmm, interesting flux you emanate, Mr. Hikuro,” he finally said. “Such high levels of fluctuation are usually only reached after the second of third shock wave.” He leaned back in the chair and crossed one leg over the other. “I wonder why. Would you care to share with us where you’ve been?”

Hikuro lifted his head up, slowly. Even through his half open lids, Sam could sense his rage toward Dr. Burvis. But the effects of the shocks were clearly wearing him down.

Dr. Burvis pushed the damned button again. And again. And yet again. Each time, Hikuro just glared back at his torturer. Not a sound escaped his mouth. Dark patches started to show on his alabaster skin. Oh, merciful Soartas, he was being burnt from the inside out! Sam had had enough; she had to do something. Now.

She glanced across the room. There were two razbian soldiers, plus Phillip and Dr. Burvis. She’d have to hit Burvis first, then the two razbians. If she was lucky, Phillip would run away, like the coward he was, which would give her just a few minutes before he came back with reinforcements.

“Impossible!” Dr. Burvis’ shout brought Sam back from her planning. “No one has ever managed to endure such levels of shock.” He got up and walked to Hikuro. “Would the explanation be connected to your little friendship with my Angel?” he asked, just inches from Hikuro’s hanging body.

Angel.
Sam cringed at the mention of her old nickname. How could he know it?

Hikuro opened one tired eye.

“Yes, you do know who I’m talking about, don’t you?” Burvis asked. His voice carried the dangerous tone of a mad scientist on the verge of a new idea. “She’s the only one who could have protected you from me. Tell me how she’s done it.”

Silence.

Sam was glad to see Burvis didn’t walk back to the computer to hit the fucking button again. But the breather didn’t last long.

“OK,” he said, “Since you insist on keeping all answers to yourself, let’s work this out together.”

He walked to the side cabinet and hit a switch. The back wall lit up, revealing a new chamber beyond it. Another one of those weird dentist chairs sat in the middle. Several cables connected the device to generators distributed throughout the anteroom. “When you destroyed Yerik’s facility in New York, you found the new bullets we’ve developed. I knew you would find us here; well, I was actually hoping you would – you can’t imagine how frustrating it is to achieve such a breakthrough in science with nothing but chipmunks to show it to,” Burvis added, pointing lazily at Phillip. “Now that you’re here, you will help us accomplish the next phase of our project.”

“Put him on the chair,” Dr Burvis said to the two razbians.

No!
Sam had to stop him. Hikuro would never survive the procedure.

 “Apologies for not being able to stay for such an event, Burvis,” Phillip said, buttoning up his Armani suit. “But I am needed somewhere else.”

Burvis just waved his hand in dismissal, and Phillip disappeared through the sliding door.

The two razbians unshackled Hikuro and carried him across the room. Burvis walked ahead to the other desk located opposite the see-through wall. A couple of prisoners in the glass cages flinched when he passed by.

Sam kicked the grid open and jumped out of the ventilation hole. The two razbians turned around, startled by the unexpected sound. She lifted her hand up and called her energies forth. A massive cannon of light burst out of her palm and hit the first guard squarely in the chest.
Shit, too much energy.
He was thrust across the room and crashed against a cabinet, then landed, charcoaled, on the floor. The second guard dropped Hikuro and lunged toward her. Sam was quite worn down from the first blast, but she managed to gather enough power to swing a side kick on his jaw, then followed it with another front foot to his nose.
Two down, one to go.
She turned around and found Dr. Burvis calmly perched on the desk. His hands came together as he clapped loudly.

“Bravo, my dear. I’ve always thought you were my best creation.”

Chapter 4

“Welcome home, Angel.”

“I’m not Angel anymore, Dr. Burvis. I’m far from the young girl who used to piss her pants every time you came into the room.”

Sam’s mind was racing – much in keeping with her heart beat. Her hands were itching to connect with that round face of his. But first, she needed answers. Then she’d get Hikuro out of here. He was still immobile, in the same spot where the razbian had dropped him.

There was no time to waste.  

“What are you?” Sam asked, going straight to the point. “You’re not vampire, nor dragon.”

Dr. Burvis lifted a thick brow at her. “Oh, but there are so many other species in the world, my dear.”

“I’m not your dear.”

“The fae, for instance, is a creature that has been very underappreciated by history,” Dr. Burvis carried on, ignoring her remark. He crossed his wrists on his lap, just like a professor answering a student.

So infuriating.

OK, Sam could play that game. In the corner of her eye, she checked that the razbians were still as dead as she had left them. Good. It was just Dr. Marquis de Sade and her. But may the Soartas strike her twice if she was going to underestimate the prick.

She placed her feet apart, ready for anything, watching his every mili-move.

“So, what you’re saying really is that you don’t know what you are.”

“I know what I am, my dear. The real question is, do you?”

“I know I’m not your dear.”

“When you fled my institution, I wept. I truly believed you had potential, that you were the one.”

“Yeah, the
one
guinea pig that survived your tortures.” Sam’s blood boiled in her veins. Did he really think she would get distracted by the cheap “you’re the one” crap?

“Experiments,” Dr. Burvis corrected her calmly. “The world has always benefited from experiments like mine, my dear.”

“I’m not your freaking dear,” she growled.

“How do you think the digital world was created? Military research and the quest to win wars,” he added, answering his own question.

Yeah, whatever. “I don’t care who funded the invention of the Internet, Dr. Burvis. I care about the thousands of people who are still suffering by your hands,” Sam replied, pointing at the three glass cages in the room.

“That’s the price of evolution!” Dr. Burvis banged a flat palm on the desk.

Sam gasped with the sudden burst of violence, but quickly recovered. “That’s the price of a fucked-up mind with a lot of time on his hands,” she retorted between clenched teeth.

“Do you think it’s been easy for me?” Burvis rose from the desk and took a step forward. His eyes became as cold as ice.

Sam held her ground. He was still a good ten feet from her.

“Do you think I don’t know what it’s like to be the guinea pig?” he asked again. “I was the first! And I had to endure years of precarious research before I found someone to fund my work.”

Bingo.

“Who? Yerik?”

“Ha!” he scoffed. “That vampire could barely keep his own vices, let alone fund a majestic initiative like mine.” He took another step.

“That’s close enough, Burvis,” Sam warned, lifting her out-stretched palm at him. The voice in her mind screamed for her to kill the S.O.B., but Sam held her energies in place.

“I am a miracle, Angel; we both are. Can’t you see it?” His tone was almost pleading.

Sam realized he truly believed he was the world’s salvation. What a freak.

“You were behind the experiments on the orphans too,” she said, after connecting the dots.

He clapped his hands. “Bravo, my dear. That’s when I first met you. And then, when the cops told me about the strange girl who claimed to have electrocuted two boys, I knew the Soartas had answered my prayers and had brought you back to me. So I used my contacts to ensure you came to my mental institution.”

“You son of a bitch,” Sam breathed. She was nauseated by his little tale.  

“Come, come, my Angel, you can’t deny the many upsides of my experiments.”

“Upsides? You tortured and killed little girls!”

“Only the weak ones,” he corrected her. “You mustn’t forget that because of my work, we became virtually immortals – you and I. We don’t age the way normal humans do. We age much slower, almost as slowly as vampires do.”