She started to choke, unable to breathe because of the overpowering smell of blood. It was too much, she didn’t want this scent. How could anyone live with this scent? And cold. It was so damn cold. She rubbed her arms, the chill in the room making her teeth chatter.
Hack. Hack. Hack.
Pieces of flesh flying in the air, and now the smell worsened. It wasn’t just the smell of blood. Now it smelled like decaying flesh—-
Zari backed away, trying to escape the smell, and bumped into something hard and made a rattling sound. Whirling around, she saw a ceiling-high shelf stacked with computer servers—-
Alexandru caught her before she fell to the ground.
Her eyes were wide with fright. “He’s a vampire like you,” she gasped. She knew she should be communicating quietly with him, but she was too weak, too disoriented. “He’s at the server room—-”
I understand. I will need to leave you. Will you be fine?
“Yes.” She could still see the bits of flesh falling around her like snowflakes, and she gagged as the thought occurred to her that all of it could belong to just one woman. Was she still alive when she was being ground to pieces?
Alexandru swore under his breath when he saw how locks of hair, dampened by sweat, clung to her too-pale face. Cupping her face, he demanded, Are you sure you will be fine? You do not look all right.
She lied, “Y-yes. I’m o-okay.” A vision was starting to show, and she didn’t want Alexandru around when it happened. She had a feeling he’d be overprotective and not let her do anything. A sense of urgency hit her, driving Zari to push herself out of her Master’s hold.
“Go. H-he knows we’re here now. You need to take him b-before he kills again…”
Alexandru grabbed her jaw and kissed her hard. “Stay put. That’s an order, pet.”
She managed a smile. “Yes, Master.”
And then he was gone.
She sank to her knees, shaking. Her palms hit the cold marbled floor and she started to see once more.
RED. RED. RED. RED. REEEEEEEEEEED——
The walls, the stairs, the ceiling – everything was painted in red, and it was all blood, the reason he killed was because he wanted to paint the town red, literally, and where best to start than home sweet home?
A dungeon at the bottom of the stairs, and inside it was the girl he had come to kill—-
Zari’s eyes locked with the girl’s.
Please, the girl begged.
THE WORLD SPUN AROUND her when she resurfaced, but she forced herself to stand, knowing there was no time to waste. Half-leaning against the wall, she made her way to the door. She headed to the end of the hallway, where a painting hung from the wall.
She took it off, revealing a secret panel. At the press of her fingers, the panel opened, revealing the stairway she had seen in her vision.
She gagged. Oh God, the smell. How could someone do something like this?
She didn’t want to touch the walls this time, forcing herself to concentrate on each step even as the world still shook and danced around her.
She counted the steps as she descended but the staircase seemed to be endless, its last step disappearing in the darkness. Terror gnawed at her like a hungry rat, but she forced herself to ignore it, telling herself she had to move faster—-
“Please.” That voice. It was that voice she had heard in her vision.
She missed a step, stumbling down the rest of the stairs. When she opened her eyes, she found herself right in front of the dungeon, its cavernous interior lit by a single lantern hanging high from the ceiling. A woman was huddled in the corner, her hair scraggly, and her skin dirty and scraped raw in parts.
“Are you okay?” she called out hoarsely as she crawled towards the door, unable yet to stand.
“Please.” This time, the whisper had turned into a moan.
She reached up for the door and found it unlocked, the door swinging open with a loud creaking sound.
Alarm bells started to ring inside her mind. Something was wrong.
Swallowing, she pulled herself up using the bars and took a small step forward.
A keening cry of hunger—-
Oh God!
Even before Zari looked up, she already knew what was coming for her and what she had gotten oh so wrong.
The woman in the dungeon lunged towards her, Zari barely managing to escape. Her tongue had been cut, her teeth all pulled out, which was why the man upstairs had to grind the flesh. It was the only way this woman could eat her meals—-
Zari tried to run, but the woman managed to catch one of her ankles. One strong yank, and Zari screamed as she fell. Her face would have smashed against the ground if she hadn’t managed to cover her face first.
The woman flipped her around, her incredible strength telling Zari that this was no human she was up against. An otherworlder as well, perhaps another vampire—-