First chapter to Crime Bites!
Once you have finished reading, please take a moment to tell me what you think of this chapter.
All views, opinions, and critiques are welcome! =]
June 20, 1976
In a village on the coast of Africa, two interns from England raced down a red dirt road, laughing and yelling at one another in glee.
"You're slower than a snail, Brianna!" said Ivy to her newly befriended roommate. The girls had just come to the country a few hours ago, and were gushing with energy despite the long flight. Both were volunteering for different church groups, to help educate the children in the village; neither girl had known the other before this trip.
"We'll see about that!" challenged Brianna, picking up her speed.
Night came, and the village quieted. The girls were still restless. They decided to go for a walk, not wanting to disturb either of their church groups, they quietly snuck out. Brianna had smuggled a bottle of Vodka, and shrugging at Ivy's shocked expression, said defensively that there was nothing wrong with it if you have only a little. They ended up sharing, and began to talk, unconsciously passing the bottle after each joke, after each story, after each secret had been spilled clumsily over. They walked the coast and talked, walked and talked, walked and talked, until finally their jaws became sore and the bottle was bear dry and they couldn't count the miles they had walked .They looked at the water, at the reflection of the moon and the moon itself hanging in the sky. They saw the fins of sharks in the water and became chilled by the sight, the fins circling, silent killers waiting. Goosebumps crept up their necks and they shivered. To break the sudden silence, and not knowing any other way to do it, they laughed, loud and shrill. They laughed all the laughs that there were; they laughed nervously, which then turned into a booming sort of laughter until they couldn't stop, and they were just two drunk girls laughing their hysteria out under a moon by a sea of sharks.
They then, slowly, stopped. They landed in the sand, from exhaustion, and starred up at the sky. The waves crashed and there was no other sound but the waves and their breathing, the relaxing in and out, in and out, in and out...
It was all so confusing when it happened. There was a loud thump, and men came and dragged the screaming girls into the darkness, carried them away into the sea. Ivy was too drunk to fully realize what was going on. All she knew was that they were in trouble. A man held her slumping figure. She looked at the grimy faces that shown in the moonlight, at least twenty men were roaming, working the ship, drugging and chaining unfamiliar girls and taking them down to the cellar, drugging and chaining, drugging and chaining...She saw one man holding a needle in his hand. It came closer and closer and was probed into a vein on her wrist....
Brianna transformed into a wild animal , fighting her captors with a vengeance. Men ran to her, trying to inject her with the drug to knock her out, but her flailing limbs moved too neurotically to give her the full amount of the injection. There was nothing, but the water of silent killers all around her, she could still see them circling, as if they were following her and Brianna wherever they went. Drunk and terrified, Brianna reacted violently to the men. She punched and kicked and bit and spit and clawed them. She got one of the men's eyes, and blood ran down his face, as he cried out in agony. That was all they needed from her. One had said, "She's too wild, we can't have her on here. The money isn't worth her trouble." They were far from inland now, Ivy could barely see the coast, and as they picked the screaming and kicking Brianna, she saw the circling killers right before they dropped her into the sea. She could still hear her screams as the water turned red and her drooping eyes swallowed her into sleep...
Suddenly, there was light.
The smell of sweat was gone, so quickly that the torn rag was ripped violently from her mouth. The smell of the sea overwhelmed her, and she could hear the crashing of waves on the side of the ship, rocking it, as though she were a baby in a cradle. She saw the haggard man, looking down upon her, grimacing. His filth covering every inch of his face, which became shadowed by the sparse sunlight that seeped into the cellar that had been her dungeon. Her captor. The words did not seem real, as if she were listening to some horrid tale of a tragedy by one of the villagers. It's nothing more than a dream, she thought, nothing more...
"Get up! You think I have all day?" The filth covered man hollered at her, kicking her side. With a yelp, she forced herself help quickly, her chained hands challenging her coordination on the swaying ship.
He grabbed her elbows and maneuvered her to a staircase, which led to the glorious light.
Freedom, she thought naively.
They were in some sort of horrifying market where humans were cattle.
There were people being bought and sold.
She was taken up to a platform. The man who kicked her held her from behind, even though she was handcuffed. Different languages were spoken, but she knew. She knew exactly what was happening.
Oh, God...
It took two minutes for her to be sold. She was then rushed off the platform, the filth covered man handing her over to a cleaner, but no less meaner looking man who took hold of her. She, along with about six other girls around her age, were taken to a hotel. Two were French and the rest African. The French girls could speak English as well, and Ivy found out what they were being bought for. "Trafficking," one of them sobbed. They were now locked in the dirty hotel room; there was no fire escape from the three story building. A guard stood, emotionless, watching them by the door. He did not say a word.
Ivy leaned against a wall as she sat on the floor, trying to recollect the events of how she had gotten here, to this crazed city where people were sold casually in the market. It was a living nightmare. She did not know what country she was in. She remembered she was drugged several times, whenever she began to stir on the ship. She thought of her parents and younger sisters in England. She thought of poor Brianna...
Two stout men came in and told each girl to take a shower and was escorted to a different room, wearing evening attire. Quickly one girl after another took their clothes off and went to the bathroom. The men watched them. One woman refused to take her clothes off in front of them, and holding her down, they did it themselves. Ivy looked away. When it came her turn, she did it without conflict, distracting herself with the features of the hotel, one burnt out light bulb there, one moth hole on that curtain. One man gave her something soft, but she didn't notice it. She shut the door to the bathroom and sighed. The water felt good to her skin, but she still hurried herself. She put on a red dress and walked out to the hotel room.
One largely built guard was only left to escort her. He smiled at her, and she shivered. He grabbed her waist. He started kissing her, murmuring to her. She slapped him. Rage filled his eyes and she shrunk away, but it was too late. He took a knife out, and slashed her. She screamed, but he covered her mouth. A slash to her arm, a few to her legs, one final, long gash down her back. She fell, her body going into shock. Blood stained the cheap carpet. She looked up and noticed fear in the man's eyes, fear of what he had down. He looked insane to her. She saw him take out a needle, different to what she had seen the other men use on her. Different color. It's poison! She grabbed it with quick agile reflexes, and she saw the shock on his face right as she stabbed him in the throat with the long needle. A gurgling sound, and he fell. Silence filled the room. She grabbed a gun he had attached to his belt and ran.
She heard women screaming behind closed doors. Her feet were bare, but she did not care. She ran and ran and ran until she was out of the hotel and into the street. Her body was covered in blood, but no one was in the street to notice her. She heard voices and rushed to a nearby alley. Blood flowed fast from her wounds, ever so fast and rapid. Her vision was darkening, even though her eyes were open, and her breathing was slowing. She saw a figure in the darkness. It ran to her, but not in the way that she should be afraid of. It was a speed of urgency, like a paramedic would through the streets. She saw his face. He was pale, dead looking, and the most beautiful person she had ever seen. He looked her over, as though he were contemplating something, looking panicked.
"Don't even try," said Ivy. The man looked shocked at her speaking.
"You're not dead?" he asked rhetorically, for it was obvious she wasn't.
She laughed a little, "Barely." She couldn't breathe anymore.
"You're going to be alright," he whispered to her. She didn't believe him, but was thankful she was at least not dying in the presence of one of those monsters.
He leaned in, and she almost thought he was going to kiss her.
And then, a piercing, so subtle on her neck for the agony everywhere else made it seem she imagined it. But then there was an indescribable amount of pain and she screamed. She felt him pick her up.
Then they were gone.
Present day, New York, New York
Ivy, snuggling in her bed, was abruptly awaken by the sound of the boys hollering downstairs. "Could you keep it down?" she yelled. They continued their chants. Probably watching stupid football, she thought sourly. She gave up and threw the blanket off her. Stretching her arms, she looked at the room through her cat-like eyes. It was rather messy, albums of all her Indie music, books of classic literature flung here and there, and an endless amount of blood packets from last night. I was bizarrely thirsty last night, she pondered. The apartment shook when the team made a touchdown. "Guys, the neighbors are going to get mad again!" Puffing, she stomped out of her room. Stupid James and his stupid super strength.
"Rogan, can you please tell your 'brothers' to calm down a notch?" Ivy asked.
Rogan, glanced up and smiled widely at her. Her dead heart thumped in her chest.
"Fine, Ivy, if we must!" Rogan faked his irritation. "Come on guys, listen to the lady."
James, Rhett, Kain, and Everett all side in unison. Ivy smiled, triumphant. "You better be on your best behavior, your girls told me last night on our Hunt that they're coming over. If you're not nice to me, I'll tell them I have to take late shift at Randley's."
"NO!!!" they screamed.
Ivy roared with laughter, and mortified, they turned scarlet. "Don't worry. But we'll probably get a Call, you know. Friday is notorious for crimes in the city," Ivy said. "At least we can buddy up," said Rhett, missing his girlfriend Jaquline. Ivy rolled her eyes, but smiled.
"I better go, it's turning dusk already," she said as the boys went back to their game, more quietly now. "You don't even wait for a Call, Ivy," Rogan said, looking concerned. Ever since what happened to her in Africa, right before Rogan came and saved her from dying, she had never been the same. Besides being a vampire, she feels that her sole responsibility is to save women from what she had to endure. She shook her head in response to Rogan. "I want to," she shrugged. He smiled sadly, understanding, and looked at her seriously, "Be careful." She nodded and left their apartment.
One of her powers was night vision. She could also see the body heat of living things, which can become confusing when you live in a city as crowded as New York. Luckily, she can transition her vision with ease; most vampires have this ability. As all vampires are, she is abnormally strong and fast and had superior senses to humans, but unlike most, she has one power that helps her more than any, which lets her stand out from the norm of her kind; she can become invisible.
Each of them have a single category in New York. They split neighborhoods up, and search in that particular area. Of course, New York is too big for just ten vampires, including her "brother's" girlfriends. There are several vampires that protect the city, not to mention all the other Protectors. But vampires are still considered to be 'villains' to some, even though they have been protecting the city for nearly fifty years. Rogan had been a vampire for only a year before he bit her, and he was bit by some ravaging newborn. Rogan wasn't saved as Ivy was, but if Rogan hadn't been there right at that moment, she wouldn't be here today and was thus deeply loyal to him. Of course, she wasn't sure how she feels about immortality, looking like the same seventeen year-old as she did thirty years ago. Time is strange, she thought. Ever since Rogan had taken her in, she had been falling for him more and more, but felt like she can't feel this way, thinking it could become too complicated. She sighed, not knowing what to do of the matter.
The cars whizzed by as her mind became muddled with thoughts, but then she was shaken from her reminiscing when she heard heavy breathing and a rapid heartbeat in front of her. She sped up her pace, her fangs coming out and, glancing to see if anyone was looking, became invisible. Yep, she thought, as she peered down an alley at a rugged man pressing a pretty young girl against the brick wall of the building. She grabbed his soldiers, and threw him down. The paralyzed woman was perplexed by the scene of her pursuer throwing himself backwards, however, she asked no questions while she ran out of the ally.
I was really thirsty, Ivy thought. She held down the squirming man and covering his mouth, and drank deeply. When she was done, she threw the dry body in the garbage bin, knowing a waste employee will find the corpse tomorrow morning. She felt know guilt, knowing that this man was wanted for two murders and three sexual assaults. He got what he deserved, was Ivy's feelings to her kill. Not that I do this often, she thought. Only to the most extreme threats. Not to mention I was hungry. She saw in the sky the letter V, it's smoky lining swiveling in the starlit sky, the sign which indicated the need for help from her and the rest of the vampires. She ran with her inhuman speed to the police station where she knew she would meet the rest of her family.