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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MADS
Well… this isn’t good.
It’s like when a wild lion chooses to trust you, you know it’s because it’s so far gone it doesn’t have the life left in it to eat you.
I move quickly and wake him only when I feel strong enough to feed him. It’s taking a toll on me, having my blood drained this often. Even consuming blood isn’t fixing everything when he’s taking more than I can get from these animals without killing them. A few times I’ve heard the vampires looking for us and have pressed myself against a tree, trying to remain quiet and keep them from noticing us.
Ender hasn’t said anything in a while now, so I’m not too concerned that he’ll make a noise.
And when I feel like this is starting to become endless, I stumble across the dirt road the vampire mentioned. I don’t want to get too close to it, in case they’re traveling along it, but I speed up in the hope of reaching the location.
When I see a building coming into view, I slow down. Ender’s not going to be pleased if he wakes up and finds that I’ve wasted all of his effort to get away just to go right back to the building we’d been held in.
Ender is confident that if I waltz into it, I’m going to get immediately slaughtered, but I’m pretty confident that if I don’t, he’s going to die.
Now the question is… do I take him with me or do I leave him out here?
They would likely assume if I was coming here, I’d go for a vehicle, not want to get in the building, right?
“Fuckity fuck fuck…” I whisper.
Well… let’s see what happens.
I quietly move toward the building, well aware that it might not even have anything inside that I can use. Hell, it might have that horrifying vampire inside. They might throw me a little welcome party and commend me on how stupid I am to waltz right in uninvited, but if I don’t do something, Ender is going to die.
When I step close to the window, I listen. There’s really no reason for anyone inside to be trying their hardest to be quiet. And the building is quite large. If they’re in a different area, they might not even hear me enter.
Slowly, I lower Ender to the ground. He doesn’t stir at all, which concerns me greatly. I push on the edge of the window and find that it gives. It’s really not surprising. These vampire types seem to think they’re above everything.
With the window up, I reach back down and try to carefully hoist Ender through it. This is rather hard with the jingly cuffs that restrict my movement, but I slide him through and follow after him.
If they brought me to this building, they brought me here for a reason. They didn’t come for Ender. No. They came into my hotel room for me. Ender was just a bonus this Abel person seems quite pleased to have. They wouldn’t take me to a different location hours away for no reason. They would take me where they needed me, which is how we ended up so far from home.
I keep moving, not quite certain where I’m going. When I reach a room filled with boxes, I slow down. Hoisting Ender up a bit higher, I peer into a box and realize that luck is with us on this fine day.
Now, I just have to find a way to use that luck.
I have my doubts they’d assume I’d be dumb enough to come back here, and the place seems fairly empty as I move through it until I find the very room I’m looking for. I carry Ender over to a table and lay him down on top of it.
Then I shut the door and lock it before sliding a cabinet in front of it. It’s not like it’ll stop vampires, but it could hopefully give me more time, even if only a second. I hurry over to the containers stacked in the corner and search through them until I find the items I need. I grab the powder and pour it into the liquid just as I hear a noise outside of the room.
I freeze, terrified I’m going to make a sound. I hold the vial carefully, but the contents have to be stirred together. They can’t sit like this or I’ll have to start over.
As quietly as I can, I slowly roll the vial.
I’m not even sure if this will work, but hopefully it does something. Footsteps sound outside the door. They’re getting closer. If they try to get in here when I’m not ready, this will all have been for nothing.
“You smell that?” a man asks.
Fuck.
The voices alert Ender and his eyes snap open. I quickly shake my head and he looks at me in confusion before glancing toward the door, likely wondering what the hell I’ve tossed him right into.
“That is odd,” a woman says outside it.
I can’t move or these fucking shackles will alert them that they’re right.
“I think they’re in here. Contact Abel,” the first voice says.
Ender’s look is enough to show me his disbelief over the fact that we’ve ended up in the very same spot he fought so hard to get me away from.
I nod at the gun I’d set on the counter.
He moves so silently it’s like he doesn’t move at all as he slides off the table and grabs the gun.
“Open it,” I mouth, but evidently, he doesn’t understand what that means.
I try pointing with my finger, but even such a small motion causes the slightest clink.
“Open it,” I mouth again.
He fumbles with it, making me realize he doesn’t even know how to open it.
“I think they’re in here,” the man outside the door says.
“That’s really fucking bad if they are,” the woman grumbles. “I’m not going up against Ender alone. Fuck that shit. You watch the door and I’ll get the others.”
“I’m not fucking watching the door. You watch the door.”
Ender finally pulls the magazine free. I try to mime breaking it and he’s as lost as ever. I’m pretty sure he’s tempted to just throw the whole thing at me and call it a day for fucking up his life.
“Break it,” I whisper.
He snaps the magazine in half, and I decide that I really should have been more specific.
“A single cartridge.”
He pulls a round out and I nod vigorously as he finds a narrow metal rod to puncture it. I wave him over and carefully take it before slowly pouring what they use to make the bullet lethal into the vial. Simple as that.
“I fucking heard someone. I heard them,” the man outside says as I decide that at this point, I need to just make this quickly and stop caring about what noise I’m making. I rush past Ender and set the vial down on the counter.
“What the fuck are we doing in here?” Ender snarls. “They’re going to kill us.”
“You’re nearly already dead. I told you, we’re keeping you alive,” I say as I start opening every drawer I can until I find a needle. I draw up the liquid from the vial and look over at Ender.
“You’re going to inject me with the shit that nearly killed me? If you want to fucking kill me, chop my head off.”
“I know it sounds really weird. It’s lethal alone but mixed like this, the components work with each other. Trust me. It’s that you can’t handle one of the components without the others.”
“Have you ever tried this before?” he asks.
“Well… not… straight out of a round, but it’ll work,” I assure him.
“Absolutely not.”
I rush him and he pushes me away. Even half dead, he’s unbelievably strong and I’m immediately shoved back. “I’m wasting precious time. Trust me.”
“I don’t trust anything about this,” he says, but when I come at him again he doesn’t move. It strangely makes me feel good that even if he acts like he doesn’t, he really does trust me. I stab him right in the heart with it before pressing the plunger.
He jerks back as I toss the needle so I can concentrate on my next set of plans. I hear multiple people running down the hallway while I turn the burner on.
“It fucking burns,” Ender hisses.
I send him a reassuring smile. “It’s fine.”
“Fucking hell, this feels worse than what I was shot with.”
“You’re fine.”
“I sure don’t feel fine.”
“You’re very much fine.”
I can hear them outside the door and realize that there are far too many of them. I bet there are at least fifteen or twenty.
In a low voice, I tell Ender, “When that door opens, I need you to run. That’s all we’re going to do. We’re going to run, okay? Don’t fight them. Don’t hesitate. If you turn right, there’s a window there. Get through it. Got it? Say you got it.”
“I’m fucking dying over here, and you think I have the energy to run?”
“Drink some of my blood if you need to,” I say.
“What are you doing over here?”
They slam against the door as I burn my hand on the open flame. Having my arms chained together really is quite the inconvenience.
“You going to listen?” I ask.
“Probably not.”
“If you want to see Rylee, you do what I say.”
“Fine, I will.”
“No hesitation.”
“You’re not as fast as me, so why would I be the one running?”
“I’ll be fine.” It makes me feel good that he cares about me, even with how prickly he is.
They slam against the door again, this time breaking it almost immediately.
“Get ready to run.”
“Are you ready to run?” Ender asks. For a man who pretends not to care about me in the slightest, he seems quite concerned.
“Sure am.”
“You don’t look ready.”
With another slam, the door is driven inward, and the cabinet goes flying.
“Go!” I say as I pretend like I’m running for the door. It gets Ender moving before I turn back and crank the heat up higher before pouring the rest of the concoction I’d stabbed into Ender’s heart into the syringe. I barely manage to get it injected into myself before they flood in. A vampire slams into me, driving me against the counter before smashing my head against the glass door. The door shatters and shards rain down on me.
My hand just narrowly misses when I reach for what I need, but I’m too far away and I can already see the liquid bubbling over. I ram my elbow into the side of his face as another one hits me, but it shoves me closer to the bottle I need. I grab it, but I can’t reach the fire, so I throw the bottle above the boiling concoction where it smashes into the cabinet and I watch as the powder rains down.
Some of the vampires turn after Ender, but those who go for me aren’t planning on letting me out of their sight.
But that’s alright… I’m going to be the last thing they see because the moment that powder gets to the temperature I need it at, I’m going to be the very last thing they need to worry about.
I slam into one of the vampires, shoving him back as I try to get through the door. There are too many of them, though, and they’re pushing me back into the room. If they were smart, they wouldn’t want to be anywhere near this room. One of them hits me hard enough that I slam into the wall. He grabs me by my throat and lifts me off my feet as I try to kick him off me.
I really fucking suck at this. Maybe I should stop taking yoga, which I’m not very good at, and take something with a bit more of a punch.
The man is ripped off me and I look up, catching Ender’s eyes.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask in alarm as blood sprays over me when a man goes down thanks to Ender’s sword. “You have to get out.”
He grabs me and I’m thrown through the window as the entire world around us shakes when the building explodes. Ender slams me to the ground and covers me with his body, pressed tightly against the side of the building while debris rains down on us.


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
ENDER
Past
“Come now,” Abel says as he pats his leg.
I’m kneeling on the floor, shaking as metal shackles weigh my limbs down.
“Aren’t you hungry?” he asks, but my eyes are fixated on the man across from me, not the monster who has terrorized me for so long.
“Ender, what have they done to you?” the human asks. “What is this monster?”
My shaking worsens as I stare at my brother who I haven’t seen in so long. Has it been weeks or months? I don’t even know anymore. Time drags in this room where I have nothing—no windows, no freedom, nothing to look at and nothing to look forward to when the only thing that visits me is the monster standing behind my brother. While time has stopped for me, it isn’t stopping for him.
“Ender, you have one fucking job,” Abel says as he stands.
“Get away,” I plead.
Abel’s sour face makes me think he believes I’m talking to him, but I’m not.
“Get away from him,” my brother Tomás says as he rushes for me.
I have dreamed about seeing him again. I’ve wanted nothing more than to see my family… but not like this.
“No, Tomás, stay back, please,” I beg.
I try to crawl away. I’ll even willingly go into that fucking box again. He needs to stay away from me. Terror rips through me, but I’m so weak from lack of blood. I’m so hungry. I don’t know how many days it’s been since I’ve fed. Weeks, even. I can’t keep going like this and Abel knows it. He’s pushing me because I refused to listen to him.
“Ender, you are no longer in control of your life, and you need to realize this. I am your maker. I have molded you into the perfect being,” Abel says as Tomás slides between us.
“Stay away from him,” Tomás warns as he backs over to me. He grabs me, trying to pick me up, but I can’t even stand anymore and my legs give out, dragging us both down. I’m just so hungry and tired and the darkness is constantly there.
“Save me, please,” I beg as I desperately grab on to him. And I know I’m being so selfish, begging him to go away while begging him to save me in the very same breath.
Tomás tries pulling at the chains that hold me down, but if I can’t break them, there’s no way he can.
Tomás, in his desperation, turns to Abel. “What do you want? Do you want money? We don’t have much, but we’ll give it to you. Tell me what you want in exchange for my brother.”
“In exchange? I don’t know. I rather like him. He’s quite resilient and talented. If only he’d listen better, he’d be perfect. Would you exchange yourself for him? Would you live in darkness until you lose all hope? Would you beg and cry and plead like him until he agrees to do as I’ve asked? Would you give in faster than he did? Or would you break immediately like all of the others who came before him? See, I have something special here.”
Tomás nods. “I would exchange myself, so please, let him go.”
I shake my head, terrified Abel will take Tomás from me. “No, no, no. He’s lying, he’s lying. He’s a liar. Run, please. Brother, I beg you, run.”
Tomás shakes his head. “I won’t leave you.”
“You will die if you stay here. Please, Tomás. Please.”
He grabs me, desperate to free me, but it just puts him closer to me. He has blood on his clothes and an open wound on his arm, and the smell is driving me mad.
“Shh,” he says as he carefully shields me, but it’s not Abel I’m worried about.
It’s myself.
“I’m so hungry,” I whisper. “I’m so hungry.”
He jerks and pulls at the chains as Abel watches in amusement.
Abel starts laughing at the display. “Ender, you know there’s only one way this is going to end. Why drag it out?”
“I will not hurt him,” I say, and I can’t tell whether I’m telling him or myself.
Abel walks closer, and I know he’s going to cut my brother in the hope that more blood entices me into killing the person I love most. I cower back as Tomás stands before me, ready to protect me, but he has people at home to protect. A young daughter and a wonderful wife. And he has absolutely no idea what kind of monster he’s facing.
The moment Abel gets close, I push Tomás back and tear into Abel with my nails. I can feel his skin giving and blood dripping out. The chains keep me back, but it’s enough that I simply cut him open.
Anger sweeps across his face as he moves so quickly that I can’t avoid him grabbing me by the throat. He lifts me off the ground, my feet dangling as though he wants to remind me that I am nothing compared to him while he cuts me open like I’d done to him. But unlike him, I don’t have much blood left to lose.
“Sometimes I just want to fucking kill you,” he says as he throws me into that black box the chains are connected to and slams the lid shut.
“No, no, no,” I plead as I claw at the metal walls. I can feel the tips of my fingers turning bloody from it, my nails ripping back.
I can hear Abel leave but I sense my brother still outside of it.
“I’ll get you out.”
“Please run,” I beg. “Please. Please run.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“He’s trying to make me kill you.”
“You’d never kill me.”
“I can’t control myself. He did something to me. I can’t… you don’t understand. He’s not human, Tomás. You saw how fast he moved. He’s not natural and he’s made me into a monster. Please listen to me.”
I can hear him pulling and banging against the box, but for the first time, I realize that maybe being locked in here is best if my brother is out there.
Hours stretch on into days as the madness slowly takes me. I’m not even sure how much longer I can live like this.
“Ender, talk to me,” Tomás begs. “Ender, please… talk to me.”
I don’t know how to find the words.
“Ender, please.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper.
“Why are you apologizing? There’s nothing for you to apologize about. This man is fucked up. He’s a monster.”
“I’m so sorry,” I repeat. Maybe if I could kill myself it’d solve everything. But would he take my brother in my place?
It’s almost as if Abel is reading my thoughts because he returns.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I say, my voice growing desperate.
“Move aside,” Abel orders, and I hear Tomás jerk back with a cry. Did he hurt him? Did he touch him?
Rage eats inside of me.
“Do you want out now?” Abel asks as he opens the box and light spills in. I don’t want it; I want to stay in the darkness.
“Please, stop hurting him. Please let him go with me. I beg you,” Tomás says.
Abel just chuckles as he walks to the end of the room where he will sit and wait like he did last time.
Tomás reaches in for me, but I curl up tighter.
“No, don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me.”
My sweet brother, trying to help me, trying to save me, and I’m so close to destroying him.
“Come on. I’ll get you out. Come on,” he urges.
“Ender, give in to your nature. This is what you were meant to do. Stop fighting it.” Abel’s mocking voice surrounds me.
Darkness is eating at me as I can smell blood drifting down to me.
“Stay away. Stay away,” I snap, shoving him back. I hear him hit the ground and a pang of regret hits me. “Please. Tomás, run.”
Darkness is creeping around every corner. It’s reaching me as I see that a drop of his blood has landed on the dirty floor of the box. There’s already dried blood and scratches coating it, but all of that is my blood or the blood of the person before me.
I lick the drop of blood, driven mad by the taste. I’m so hungry. So hungry.
“Ender, kill him.”
That voice is all there is left. There’s no way out.
Yes, I must kill him. Everything is better when I do what I’m told. Yes, if I listen, the darkness isn’t as bad. I don’t hurt as much. Everything is better. Yes, everything is better now. It’s all fine now.
“Ender…” Tomás whispers.
I tear back and choke on the blood. It’s in my mouth and as I try to spit it out, I see it running down my brother’s throat. How long have I been drinking from him? When did I even attack him? What have I done? “No, no, no,” I whisper as I reach for Tomás, but he’s not moving. My name was the last word on his lips, the terror on my face the last thing he saw. He’s not…
“No, please. I’m sorry. Please. No…”
I squeeze him to me, begging that I’m wrong. Begging that he’s still alive. What have I done? I really am the monster, not Abel. I’m the one who killed him. He didn’t kill Tomás. I did.
“If you’d listened, he wouldn’t have died,” Abel says. “I would have let you keep him. Like a little reward for you.”
“Save him. Please. Save him.”
“He’s dead. I can’t save the dead. You killed him. He’s dead because you refused to listen to me.”
I can still taste his blood in my mouth and it makes me sick. I spit it out but what does it solve? My brother is dead, and he died by my hands. I am the one who killed him. My hands are shaking. All I am is a monster.
Abel walks over and tips my chin up. “You have one purpose and that is to kill. Do you understand?”
Something breaks in me as all of the fear, the pain, the sadness just tears apart inside of me.
I slowly lower Tomás to the ground and crawl back to the darkness of that box. The darkness is the only place I can escape. I curl up and stare at the wall I once fought to get out of and now welcome because in here, I don’t have to be afraid of myself and what I’ve become.
“You don’t need emotions, you don’t need ties to others. Any person you ever try to love again, I will make you kill them as you’ve killed your brother. Your only purpose is the removal of vampires. You will kill the true vampires and those who I’ve not created. Anyone who stands up to me will find death by your hands. You’re unlike the others. You feed off their blood because you are here to reap the lives of those who might stand in my way. That is your only purpose. Do you understand that now?”
I never move or speak as he stands over me. Eventually, he must tire because I hear him drag my brother’s body from the room. For hours, it’s all I can hear.