shining the light right into the face of the stranger. Who didnt wince. Didnt even blink. I scrambled back, nearly tripping over the arm Id stepped around, bringing my knife up before me. The stranger remained where he was, though his eyes, blacker than pitch, followed me as I retreated. I kept both the blade and the flashlight pointed in his direction until I reached the edge and tensed to bolt into the shadows.
If you run, youll be dead before you take three steps.
I stopped, heart pounding. I believed him. Gripping my knife, I turned around, staring at him over the bodies of the dead, waiting for his next move.
There was no doubt in my mind. I knew what I faced, what stared at me across the tunnel, so still he mightve been a statue. I was down here, alone, with a vampire. And there was no one who could help me.
What do you want? My voice came out shakier than Id wanted, but I planted my feet and glared defiantly. Show no fear. Vampires could sense fear, at least thats what everybody said. If you ever ran into a hungry bloodsucker alone at night, not looking like prey might give you an edge in surviving the encounter.
I didnt believe that, of course. A vampire would bite you whether you were scared of him or not. But I wasnt going to give him the satisfaction, either.
The vamp tilted his head, a tiny movement that wouldve gone unnoticed, save the rest of him was so very, very still. I am trying to decide, he said in that same low, cool voice, if you are a simple scavenger, eavesdropping on the conversation, or if you are about to scuttle off to tell the rest of your clan I am here.
Do I look like one of them?
Then you are a scavenger. Waiting until your prey is dead to feed, instead of killing it yourself.
His tone hadnt changed. It was the same, cool and detached, but I felt myself bristle through my fear. Anger, hate and resentment bubbled to the surface, making me stupid, making me want to hurt it. Who did this murdering, soulless bloodsucker think he was, lecturing me? Yeah, well, thats what happens when you let the cattle starve, I snapped, narrowing my eyes. They start turning on each other, or didnt you know that? I gestured to the dead mole men, scattered at my feet, and curled a lip. But Im not one of them. And I sure as hell dont eat people. Thats your thing, remember?
The vampire just looked at me. Long enough for me to regret taunting him, which was a stupid thing to do from the start. I almost didnt care. I wouldnt grovel and beg, if thats what he was looking for. Vampires had no souls, no emotions and no empathy to appeal to. If the bloodsucker wanted to drain me dry and leave me here to rot, there wasnt anything I could say that would stop him.
But Id give him one hell of a fight.
Interesting, the vamp finally mused, almost to himself. I forget, sometimes, the complexities of the human race. Weve reduced so many of you to animalssavage, cowardly, so willing to turn on each other to survive. And yet, in the darkest places, I can still find those who are still, more or less, human.
He wasnt making any sense, and I was tired of talking, of waiting for him to make his move. What do you want, vampire? I challenged again. Why are we still talking? If youre going to bite me, just get on with it already. Though dont expect me to lie down and take it. Youll have a pocketknife shoved through your eye socket before Im done, I swear.
Amazingly, the vampire smiled. Just a slight curl of pale lips, but in that granite face, he might as well have beamed from ear to ear. I have already fed tonight, he stated calmly, and took one step backward, into the shadows. And you, little wildcat, I suspect you have claws you wouldnt hesitate to use. I find I am in no mood for another fight, so consider yourself lucky. You met a heartless, soulless bloodsucker and lived. Next time, it might be very different.
And just like that, he turned on his heel and walked away into the darkness. His final words drifted out of the black as he disappeared. Thank you for the conversation. And he was gone.
I frowned, utterly confused. What kind of vampire killed four people, had a cryptic conversation with a street rat, thanked the street rat for talking with him, and then walked off? I swept the flashlight around the tunnel, wondering if it was a trick to get me to lower my guard, and the bloodsucker was lying in ambush just ahead, laughing to himself. That seemed like something a vampire would do. But the tunnel was empty and silent in the flashlight beam, and after a moment, I picked my way over the still-bleeding corpses, hurried to the ladder and scaled the tube as fast as I could.
Aboveground, the city was silent. Nothing moved on the streets; the crumbling stores and houses and apartments lay quiet and dark. Overhead, looming above everything, the vampire towers glittered in the night, cold and impassive like their masters. It was still the predators time, this silent hour before dawn, and everyone was off the street, huddled in their beds with their doors and windows barred. But at least on this side of the Wall, the darkness didnt conceal savage, mindless horrors that had once been human. Here, the predators were more complex, though just as dangerous.
A cold wind blew down the street, stirring up dust and sending an empty can skittering over the ground. It reminded me of what Id left behind, on the other side of the Wall, and anger burned its way into my stomach, killing the last of the fear. So much food! So much wealth, to have to leave it all behind. The thought made my gut boil, and I kicked a rock into a dead car, the stone clanking off the rusty frame.
I had to get back there. No way was I going to huddle behind the Wall, eating cockroaches, fantasizing about shelves and shelves of real food rotting away in someones basement. One way or another, I was going to return to that place and reclaim what Id lost.
But right now, my stomach was full, I ached from my fall, and I was damn tired. The flashlight beam shone weakly in the darkness, and I clicked it off, not wanting to waste valuable battery life. I didnt need artificial light to navigate the Fringe, anyway. Slipping my single prize into a back pocket, I headed for home.
OH, MY GOD, youre alive.
I gave Stick a disdainful look as I slipped into my room, kicking the door shut behind me. He scrambled off my mattress, gaping, as if I was a hallucination. Whats that look for? I frowned at him. And why are you here, anyway? Have you been waiting up for me all night?
You didnt hear? Sticks eyes darted about, as if someone could be lurking in the shadows, listening. Lucas didnt tell you?
Stick. I sighed and collapsed on the mattress. I just got back from a rather hellish night out, I muttered, putting an arm over my eyes. Im tired, Im cranky, and unless someone is on the verge of death or the vampires are breaking down our doors, I want to go to sleep. Whatever this is, can it wait till morning? I need to talk to Lucas, anyway.
The vampires were out tonight, Stick continued, as if I hadnt said a word.
I removed my arm and sat up to face him, a chill crawling up my spine. His face was pale in the shadows of the room, thin mouth tight with fear. I saw them. They were going from sector to sector with their pets and guards and everything, breaking down doors, going into peoples houses. They didnt come here, but Lucas moved us all into the basement until he was sure they had moved on. I heard I heard someone was killed trying to run away.
Was anyone Taken?
Stick shrugged bony shoulders. I dont think so. They just came through, went into several buildings and left. Lucas said they were looking for something, but no one knows what it is.
Or someone. I thought back to the vampire in the tunnels below the city. Was he part of that search party, exploring the underworld for whatever item the bloodsuckers wanted? Or was he the mysterious thing they were all searching for? But that didnt make much sense. Why would the vampires be hunting one of their own?
And if they were, why couldnt they do it more often?
There are rumors of a citywide lockdown, Stick went on in a low, frightened voice. Curfews, guards, area restrictions, everything.
I muttered a curse. Lockdowns were bad news and not just for Unregistereds. There had been two in the past, once when gang warfare swept through the Fringe, clogging the streets with dead bodies, and once when an infestation of rabid rats created a citywide panic. Lockdowns were the vampires last resort, their answer when things got out of control. Everyone was required to stay in their homes during curfew hours, while armed guards swept the streets. If you were caught outside during lockdown, they would shoot you, no questions asked.
Allie, what are we going to do?
Nothing, I said, and he stared at me. I shrugged. Nothing tonight. Itll be dawn in a few hours. The bloodsuckers will go back to their towers, and nothing will be done until this evening. We can worry about it then.
But
Stick. I. Am. Tired. I rose from the mattress and, taking his elbow, steered him to the door. If Lucas is still up, tell him I need to speak to him tomorrow. Its important. Really important. He started to protest, but I firmly pushed him over the threshold. Look, if you want to stay up and worry about vampire hunts, you can do it for both of us. Im going to sleep while I still can. Wake me when its dawn, okay? And before he could make any more excuses, I shut the door in his face.
Collapsing on the mattress, I turned my face to the wall and closed my eyes. Sticks news was troublesome, but Id learned that worrying about things you couldnt change was useless and just kept you from getting sleep. Tomorrow, Id talk to Lucas and tell him about the food cache Id found, and he could convince the others to go after it. Before the city went into lockdown, of course. Working together, we could probably clear that whole room in two or three trips and not have to worry about the coming winter. Rat was a dick and a bully, but he was part of my crew, and we looked out for each other. Besides, it would take a single person forever to clear that place, and I didnt want to be in the ruins any longer than I had to be.
With plan firmly in mind, I dismissed all thoughts of that nightof rabids and manhunts and vampires in the sewersand drifted into oblivion.
CHAPTER 4
Allison, Mom said, patting the cushion beside her, come up here. Read with me.
I scrambled onto the threadbare couch that smelled of dust and spoiled milk, snuggling against her side. She held a book in her lap, bright happy animals prancing across the pages. I listened as she read to me in a soft, soothing voice, her slender hands turning the pages as if they were made of butterfly wings. Except, I couldnt see her face. Everything was blurry, like water sluicing down a windowpane. But I knew she was smiling down at me, and that made me feel warm and safe.
Knowledge is important, she explained patiently, now watching an older version of me from across the kitchen table. A sheet of paper lay in front of me, marked with scrawling, messy lines. Words define us, Mom continued, as I struggled to make my clumsy marks look like her elegant script. We must protect our knowledge and pass it on whenever we can. If we are ever to become a society again, we must teach others how to remain human.
The kitchen melted away, ran like water down a wall, and turned into something else.
Mom, I whispered, sitting beside her on the bed, watching the slow rise and fall of her chest under the thin blanket. Mom, I brought some soup for you. Try to eat it, okay?
The frail, white form, surrounded by long black hair, stirred weakly. I couldnt see her face, though I knew it should be somewhere within that dark mass. I dont feel well, Allison, she whispered, her voice so faint I barely caught it. Will you read to me?
That same smile, though her face remained blurry and indistinct. Why couldnt I see her? Why couldnt I remember? Mom, I said again, standing up, feeling the shadows closing in. We have to go. Theyre coming.
A is for apple, Mom whispered, falling away from me. I cried out and reached for her, but she slipped away, into the dark. B is for blood.
Something boomed against the door.
I JERKED AWAKE, THE DOOR TO MY ROOM still rattling from the sudden blow. On my feet, I glared at the door, heart pounding. I was already a light sleeper, hypersensitive to footsteps and people sneaking up on me while I slept, so the first bang nearly made me jump through the ceiling. By the fourth, I had wrenched the door open, even as Lucas was pulling his fist back to knock again.
Lucas blinked at me. Dark and muscular, he had large hands and a curiously babylike face, except for his thick, serious eyebrows. When I first joined the group, Lucas had been intimidating; a serious, no-nonsense figure even as a twelve-year old. Over the years, the fear had lessened, but the respect had not. When our old leader started demanding a food taxa portion of everything we scavengedLucas had stepped in, beaten him to a pulp and taken over the gang. Since then, no one had challenged him. He was always fair; survival was his priority, regardless of feelings. Like me, hed watched members of our gang die of starvation, cold, sickness, wounds, or just vanish off the face of the earth. Wed burned more friends than anyone should ever have to. Lucas had to make hard, unpopular decisions sometimes, and I didnt envy him the job, but everything he did was to keep us alive.
Especially now that the group was so small. Fewer people meant fewer mouths to feed, but that also meant fewer bodies to hunt for food and to protect us from rival gangs if they ever got the notion to invade our turf. It was just the four of usme, Rat, Lucas and Stick, not enough protection if Kyles gang decided they wanted us gone. And Lucas knew it.
Lately he confused me. Wed always been friends, but this past year his interest in me had changed. Maybe because I was the only girl in the group, maybe something else; I didnt know and I wasnt going to ask. Wed kissed last summer, more out of curiosity on my part, but he had wanted more and I wasnt sure if I was ready. He hadnt pressed the issue when Id stopped him, saying I needed time to think about it, but now it hung between us, unresolved, like a big flag. It wasnt that Lucas was ugly or undesirable; I just didnt know if I wanted to get that close to someone. What if he disappeared, like so many of our kind did? It would just hurt that much more.