Chapter 23

It saturates the air and seeps into the walls, branding the moment with an invisible tattoo. Years from now, the ghosts of today will whisper their vengeance to generations to follow. Forever trapped, forever haunted within this realm of hell. Their pain bleeds into their cries, the very essence embodying the demon of dismay. Humans, Secondaries and Vampires alike beg for their lives. Mostly, however, they beg for death.

My eyes scan the wide expanse, looking for a way to escape with my human. Familiar blood scents intertwine with the unfamiliar. Some of Axel's followers are among those being held captive. I smell Axel's distinctive flair coagulating in their blood. I also smell Mark, the human leader of this uprising. I cannot locate him in the dim light; there are too many bloodied facies and bodies. But I know they are here, rotting and clutching to their own form of life.

There are too many prisoners for this to have happened so quickly. Far too many. Thousands are dead. Perhaps hundreds of thousands. Yet even more are waiting for their turn with the grim reaper. Florescent vials of the serum are being carted throughout the floor. They act as demonic lightening bugs, a final glimmer of translucent color before taking their next victim. The Secondary army isn't wasting time getting them dispersed. More vampires and humans are dying by the second.

"Why are they killing the humans too?" I mutter.

"They're giving them a choice," Leo answers behind me. "To die or to become subservient to the Secondary people."

His voice trails off, but his thoughts are aligned with mine. It appears most humans are choosing the first option, leaving this world of their own accord and clinging to whatever dignity that remains. Despite my own distaste for Mark and his followers, there is a level of respect knowing they refused to abandon their cause. They refused to live out the rest of their days as puppets to a man spun together with the fibers of evil.

"Welcome."

Reyo's voice booms through the underground dome. His gaze fixates on me as I squint through the darkness, identifying the black thread of a microphone pressed against his lower lip. Leo tenses before coming to stand beside me. Reyo's eyes flicker to my human companion, and he chuckles.

"I've been expecting you both for quite some time. Though Leo, I must say, you continued your act of loyalty to the Secondaries far longer than I anticipated." He waves a dismissive hand around the room of massacre. "Unfortunately, we had to begin without you. But please, do join me up here."

Neither of us moves. Footsteps shuffle in from behind us and Secondary blood fills my nose. A sharp point of a needle presses at my back, not hard enough to break the skin, but enough to give a warning.

"One wrong move, and you'll be at Death's doorstop faster than your vampire friend, Kelly."

"Regardless of my fate, you have just sealed yours," I whisper darkly. "Before the end of this night, you will die by my hands."

Tegan growls at the back of my neck. "I'd love to see you try, vamp."

Two, additional guards flank my sides. Each of them binds me in an individual cuff made of a metal I have never encountered before. It is heavy, and as soon as it connects with my skin, it begins to dull my senses and deplete my energy. The guards tug me forward. For the first time in my immortal life, I do not fight back.

Only one guard monitors Leo, and the six of us climb over a floor of dead bodies as we make our way up to the platform. The deeper we move into the pits of hell, the more my humanity slips away. I am dead, after all. Death incarnate. I was never meant to feel or experience emotions the way humans do. I was always willing to live peacefully, but I am of a different species.

It was not until I met my human and tasted his blood, the true blood of a Nirv, that I experienced humanity once again. With it came slivers of emotions, small bursts of happiness, jealousy, and pain. Bones crack beneath our feet as we traipse forward. Bloodied fingers claw at my calves and feet, silently begging for my help. Leo sucks in a ragged breath beside me. This is too much for a human heart to bear.

"It will be over soon," I say to him.

The guard between us snorts and shakes his head. One of the humans beneath his feet reaches for his ankles. It's a young man, no older than twenty. His crystal blue eyes seem to shine amongst the sea of blood. His dried lips part, and he mouths the word please. The guard doesn't look down. He shoos away the helpless touch before raising his boot and smashing it down with finality. Fresh blood spills around our feet as the man's skull folds in on itself, and the crystal blue eyes disappear.

"Your leader has been killing in this chamber long before you found us," I say aloud, knowing Tegan will hear me.

It is a statement, not a question. The stench of death is both old and new, and there are far too many prisoners for this to be a recent development. In reaction, Tegan forces out a harsh laugh.

"We never wanted to aid either side of this war," she explains. "We were content enough to watch on the sidelines as humans and vampires destroyed themselves in yet another war."

"Then why step in at all?"

There's a beat of silence, and in this moment of hesitation, I sense Tegan's reluctance. She hates vampires; of this, I am sure. However, when she interacted with my human, her emotions were genuine. She does not agree with this.

"Mr. Primary waited until the opportunity was right," she answers carefully. "When both sides were at their weakest. He moved our armies into the world, capturing vampires and humans alike. Vampires were given the choice to take the cure or be killed. Humans were given the choice to serve or to die."

I close my eyes as she speaks, focusing my remaining shreds of energy on discerning the emotion behind her scripted response. She speaks as if she is reading from a textbook. When humans do this, it is because they are struggling to hide their true emotions. A surge of anger and sadness follow in the wake of her words, overpowering her Secondary nature of practiced indifference.

She is a potential ally.

"As you can see," the guard says beside me. "There's too much pride in both species."

He kicks his bloodied boot at the limbs of a dead corpse. Based on the smell, this one was vampire.

"Considering the results of the 'cure,'" I say dryly, "vampires were never given a choice of life or death. They were just given the choice of the illusion of life or death."

Tegan presses the tip of the needle harder into my back. It breaks through my shirt and fights to cut through my dead, cold skin. Another warning. Our pace slows as Leo vomits. I feel his disgust and dismay as he wipes the sticky bile from his lips. The scene around us is of horror books and hell. On the small chance Leo makes it out alive, he will be scarred by these moments forever.

Reyo eagerly waves us onto the platform as we near. The guards hoist me up, leaving my chains intact. Leo follows a step behind me. I am only a foot away from Kelly's unconscious body. His fragility has not ebbed since I last saw him. Shallow bags of purple and blue hug his eyes. His bones poke out from his skin. What's left of his thick, chestnut hair has thinned and is knotted in clumps. I can hear his weak pulse fluttering as he breathes.

"As you can see, we have kept busy," Reyo says, gesturing to the sea of corpses.

He pauses and lightly taps my human's arm. I feel it against my own arm - a cold, possessive touch. The blood machine is still hooked up to my human's arm, but it is off. My human blinks slowly. His chapped lips part as he tries to focus on reality. Fury builds up deep within me.

"Ah, there we go," Reyo says with a slow grin. "Good morning, dear Finn. As promised, I have delivered on your request."

He takes a moment to point to myself, Leo and Kelly, showing us off like medals of honor which speak to his word. Finn winces as he straightens himself, squinting at all of us in disbelief. When his eyes level with mine, my empty chest begins to ache at the intensity of his emotion. Tears tug at the corners of his eyes, and he mouths my name like a whispered prayer. In his moment of pain, he still is my human of sheer joy, pouring his love into me.

Reyo sees this too, and his grin takes on a sinister glow.

"Finn," he says, and his voice booms across the city of hell. "As promised, I have delivered those you love most to say your goodbyes. But, as I am feeling most generous today, I am going to offer you one, final gift."

My human does not react to Reyo's voice. His eyes remain trained on me, those beautiful doe eyes now drowning in a pain well beyond his years. There's a yearning inside me, to take him into my arms and promise him a world after this. To promise to make it right.

"It is true," Reyo starts again, "that my plan on turning all vampires back to their prior form went slightly awry. But as a means to avoid the mistake of extinction, I am willing to keep one. Just one. Call it, a sole vampire survivor."

Reyo spins and points to the three of us once again. "Finn, Leo has turned his back on the Secondary population to aide your vampire. Your vampire, Bogdan, has committed acts of treason. And unfortunately, your friend, Kelly, is mere minutes from death. All are going to die. What I offer to you, however, is a chance to save one. Just one. Whoever you choose, I will allow to be turned into a vampire, or continue life as a vampire, and live out their immortality as the sole vampire."

My human's lips part and he coughs. Spittle and blood spray from his lips, and Reyo leans in towards him to wipe it away.

"But they won't be free, will they?"

My human's question is picked up on Reyo's mic, the innocence and love in his voice echoing against the walls. Reyo recoils, reacting with an audible snarl. Even when drained of almost all his blood, my human is solely focused on our freedom. On our happiness. And he knows; he knows that whoever he chooses will live a life far worse than any death. Even if Reyo promises them a life of freedom, the person of choosing will be kept as a prisoner, an immortal keepsake for eternity in hell.

"Choose, Finn!"

Reyo shouts, and his voice shudders the chamber. Rocks and pebbles fall from the walls. More screams break out around us. My human gives me a sad smile before looking up at Reyo and whispering his answer.

"I choose myself."