IZEL

The whole room was full of vampires, and the majority of them were Quearus and Supremes.

What in the world was going on?

I turned and began making my way back to the library, but my steps were cut short when two vampires suddenly exited a room opposite the library. I quickly turned around, entering the room closest to me. Fighting those vampires would not be a wise choice, not when the whole downstairs was full of vampires. The room I entered had been one of the empty rooms, but it wasn't empty anymore. It was full of people.

Humans.

They were seated on the ground, bound by their hands and legs, their mouths taped. I looked around dumbstruck, blinking as processed what I was seeing. One of the people muffled a cry for help, knocking me out of my frozen state. I approached them and ripped the tape off their mouth without thinking, making them groan from the pain before speaking.

"You-you're a Vanquisher, yes?" The man asked, "Please, please help us, please."

"What's going o—?"

Before I could finish my sentence, a vampire came from behind a wall. A secret room. As soon as it laid eyes on me, it didn't hesitate to attack. It dashed toward me, pinning me against the wall. I groaned at the impact of my back against the door but quickly grabbed my dagger from my hip holster and stabbed it through its head. Warm blood sprayed all over me and I pushed it away before I got any more of its blood on me.

"What's going on?" I asked the man as I wiped the blood from my face with my sleeve.

"We—we were taken from our villages," he told me. "They're going to kill us. They've already killed most of us and—" his voice broke, "they drank them in front of us. I don't—I don't know what's going on, they keep coming from behind the wall and taking us while bringing more through the door. Please, please help us. We—"

"I have to figure out what's going on first, I can't free all of you yet." My statement caused the people in the room to give muffled cries for help.

"Please, don't leave!" The man begged, his voice too loud for comfort. I tried to shush him but that was a futile act. "Please! Just help us! Please we don't—"

I picked up the tape and put it back on his mouth, receiving a surprised and pleading look from him. "Shh," I urged again, then dragged the vampire from the room and walked through the wall door into the secret room. Past the secret door was another long corridor, dressed in red, plush carpet, illuminated by some faint yellow lights. I hid the vampire under some fabric, leaving it in a dark section of the room before walking down the corridor.

I went down a couple of stairs and reached a mirror, but rather than seeing my reflection, I saw a ballroom. There were more vampires inside, there was food lined all around the room, and humans lined all along the walls, seated and tied up in plush chairs. Some were unconscious with their heads hanging to the side, while others were conscious, their eyes darting around and filled with horror.

Vampires were frequently speeding toward a human and drinking its blood. I noticed how one vampire wasn't leaving the human it was drinking from, even as the colour drained from the human's face. The human convulsed before going still, and only then did the vampire leave it alone and go back into the centre to talk with other vampires. It had drunk the human dry, it had drunk the human to death. Within seconds, the human was removed and a vampire entered through another hidden wall opposite the one I was in, coming out with a new human and tying them up.

I was going to be sick.

I stumbled away from the mirror. I knew they couldn't see me, but I couldn't watch any longer. They were drinking humans like wine. Their blood was part of the menu of whatever was going on here.

I got out of the secret room, knowing another vampire might come to take another human from this passage. I went through the wall to the room full of humans. All heads turned, expectant, but there was nothing I could do for them. Even if I freed them, there was nowhere they could go. They couldn't run out the door, that wasn't even an option, not even for me. I was in just as much trouble as they were. I didn't know where to go, or how to get out. I was trapped in a building full of vampires drinking human blood. I couldn't just stay in hiding though, I had to find a way out, there had to be a secret room that led outside.

"Does anybody know any secret rooms that can help us escape?" I asked looking around at all of them. One person among them nodded her head and I removed the tape from her mouth.

"There's one in the library." She said.

"The library?" When she nodded, I said, "can it get you all out of here?" When she nodded again, I began cutting their bounds one by one. "Don't remove the tape. Any accidental sound from any of you will get you all killed."

Once they were all free, I slowly opened the door and peeked through. Satisfied it was clear, I furtively walked to the library, made sure it was clear, and then signalled for them to exit the room and follow the woman into the library. I followed behind them all, but before I'd descended the spiral staircase I suddenly stopped, remembering all the other empty rooms. Were they all full of humans too?

I had to check, I couldn't leave them all here to die.

The woman told me there was a lever disguised as a book on a tall, oakwood shelf, that made the shelf revolve, creating a direct passage outside. With that, I rushed out of the library and opened the door to one of the rooms that had been empty, and for sure, it wasn't empty anymore. It was full of humans too. 

I cursed but began cutting them free, telling them what I was doing and where they needed to go. I did the same thing in the other rooms and once they were all out, I followed behind them but then stopped when I remembered the other wing. It was a copy of this wing, so the empty rooms on that side could be full of people too, people that I couldn't leave behind.

Facing the right wing, I soon realised that I couldn't simply run across to the other side, I'd be seen. The only way was to go to the library and use it as a mode to get to the other wing. I'd go down the spiral staircase, cross to the other side of the room and go up the spiral staircase on that side so I'd end up in the right wing. 

I turned, intending to make my way back to the library when I saw a door ahead of me inch open, making me pause in my tracks. I wouldn't have been able to pass it and make it to the library without being spotted, so I quickly entered the room closest to me, slowly closing the door so as not to make any sound.

It was one of the conference rooms. Luckily, there were no humans or vampires, but just a long table in the centre of the room and a series of tech stuff at the back. I rested my ear against the door, waiting to hear the vampires walk past so I could know it was clear and leave.

I heard their footsteps approaching, but rather than receding, they stopped. Right outside the door. They were conversing outside the door but I wasn't able to make out their words, only muffled voices.

How long were they going to be there?

After about 5 minutes, I decided it'd be best if I looked for a hidden door in here so I could hopefully escape, retreat to the library, save the other humans and flee with no complications. I looked everywhere, behind all the pictures hanging up, felt against the walls and the carpet but found nothing. I made my way to the shelf against the wall, if there was nothing there then I'd have to wait out the vampires. I started gently pulling back all of the books and moving around all the artefacts that were resting on the shelves.

Nothing.

There were no secret passages in this room. I'd fiddled with everything but—

The shelf suddenly began turning. It was slow and silent, which was a relief. The secret door opened up to reveal a small room filled with... firearms?

What exactly happened in these meetings that there needed to be guns hidden behind a shelf?

Guns were rarely used because of how loud they were. Sure, they could kill a vampire but they would also attract other vampires, and reloading could get you killed, thus the reason why swords were widely preferred over guns. I picked up one of the guns and analysed it. The metal felt cold in my hands, and it wasn't as light as it looked. The shelf began turning again and I stepped back before it shut me inside.

Well, there was no escape. There may have been a trapped door, but it was no use for me.

I made my way back to the door to check if the vampires were still there but the handle suddenly came down before I'd even reached the door.

They were coming in here.

I launched myself under the table just as three pairs of feet walked into the room.

Crap.

"I haven't drunk so much blood in forever," exhaled a vampire in satisfaction.

"Yeah, well, enjoy it, soon enough we won't have any more blood to drink," said another vampire whose voice was chillingly familiar.

"Oh yes, there'll be no more humans soon enough," laughed the third vampire.

They continued talking about blood and humans for what felt like forever. My butt was starting to hurt because of how long I'd been seated on the floor under the table. I was tempted to jump out and attack the vampires, but I couldn't see their eyes so if they happened to be Quearus' then I'd probably end up dead.

My back began aching because of my position, so I slightly shifted but it would have been better if I had been patient and stayed in my position until they'd left because as I was shifting my position, my forearm cut against a nail that was out of place under the table. The vampires had begun making their way to the door, but when I saw one of the vampire's steps halt and heard it sniff, I realised that that nail hadn't scratched me, it had drawn blood.

"Can you smell that?" Asked the vampire, sniffing, "I smell like blood."

"You're craving blood so bad that you can even smell it now?"

"Now I want more blood, I'm going to get some."

Two sets of feet left the room, but the other remained. It suddenly stopped sniffing, and I assumed it was going to leave, but it didn't. Instead of leaving, it bent down, looking under the table and as soon as its cold eyes met mine, my heart dropped.

The vampire was a Quearus, not just a Quearus, it was the Quearus. The one I'd pinned between a wall with my sword, the one that had tried to stab me, the one that hated my guts. Before I could get my hands on a weapon it grabbed my legs and dragged me out from under the table, leaning over me and pinning my hands to the ground.

"We meet again," the Quearus said with a wicked grin. "I think I'm just meant to kill you now."

"Or maybe I'm meant to kill you," I said, despite being the one pinned to the ground.

The Quearus chuckled, a dark and humourless sound, "you want to die a slow painful death, don't you? What are you doing here anyway? Are you here for the Blood Feast?"

"Blood feast?" I echoed, not bothering to hide my horror.

"You're welcome to join, I'd love to be the first to drink your blood," the Quearus said, leaning down, revealing its fangs as it came closer to my neck. 

My hands were pinned against the floor so I wasn't going to be able to grab any weapons. Its cold breath sent chills down my spine, but I did the first thing that came to my mind. I lifted my head and brought my teeth to its neck before it reached mine, and I bit. Hard. I felt the skin squish between my teeth and liquid pour into my mouth.

The Quearus yelped, loosening its grip around my hands, which was all I needed. I released its neck then pulled both my hands out of its grip and unsheathed my dagger from my waist holster and aimed it at its head, but it caught my arm before I hit it, and it squeezed my wrist making me release the dagger, which I managed to catch with my other hand and dug it into its ribs.

The noise that escaped the Quearus satisfied me in a sick kind of way. 

I kicked it off of me, crawled back, away from its reach and stood, grabbing the gun that I had tucked away and aiming it at the Quearus. The Quearus pulled the dagger from its ribs, stood up and had the nerve to smirk at me, despite the gun aimed at it. I had no doubt killing it with a gun would be easier and faster than using a sword.

The Quearus snickered, "Shoot, go ahead, inform the whole hall that there's a human with a gun, go ahead and attract all the vampires to this very room." 

That caught me off guard. I hesitated to pull the trigger, and that hesitation cost me. The Quearus suddenly grabbed the gun from my hold. 

"You didn't want to shoot? Fine, then I'll shoot for you." I held my hands in front of my face as it pointed the gun toward me, and shot. The bullet nicked my ear, hitting the wall. I held my ears, a shrill ring sounding. It hadn't killed me. "You're welcome."

The Quearus tossed the gun then grabbed and pulled both my feet, and my back slammed against the ground with a thud. It dragged me across the floor but I held my hand out and just managed to grasp my dagger before it dragged me out the door and tossed me down the grand stairs into the large room packed with vampires.

The chatter immediately silenced as they took in the scene.

Pain shot through me with each step I rolled down and by the time I reached the ground my body was aching, my head spinning and my ears were still ringing. I made to stand but stumbled several times before I could remain on my two feet.

I winced with each quick breath I took, but couldn't control my breathing because of the panic that ran through me. I was surrounded by vampires.

I heard the Quearus chuckle from above the steps. I sheathed my dagger and replaced it with my sword as I forced myself to stand straight and turned around, surveying my surroundings. There were too many vampires to count, too many Quearus' to count. They all formed a large circle around me, watching me as if I was an animal in a cage.

The Quearus slowly descended the steps and joined the circle. "Shall we play?"

There was a chorus of laughter and chatter before they all placed whatever things they were holding down and focused their attention on me. Everyone just stared at me, but a vampire suddenly sped toward me, thrusting me to the ground. I groaned but still managed to get up only to be shoved by another vampire, hard enough that I slid all the way to the edge of the circle. Another grabbed my foot and dragged me back into the centre.

I hated being dragged, I wasn't a damn rag doll. 

I got it now though, I'd caught on to the game they were playing. I slowly stood, ignoring the aches in my body. I took one deep breath, ready to take part in the game. 

There was only one objective—don't die.