What Do You Do ...?
#1 - ... If You Slip From The Tightrope?
I walk a tightrope between worlds.
Born insignificant and innocent in a tiny town in Washington.
When I was sixteen I was sliced open and my body was changed,
Six months later I killed my first vampire, and I've been doing it ever since.
:-:-:-:
Another cold drop of rain made its way down the gap between my neck and jacket, sending a shiver down my spine. I rolled my fingers around the edge of the hole, gripping tight as I leaned over to peer into the darkness.
"Maybe I should.." Rozz pulled the knife from her belt, spinning it in her fingers as she used her teeth to slide down the zipper on the arm of her jacket.
"No!" The zip dropped from her lips quickly as I snatched the knife from her grip. Her eyes wide as she glared at me, a disapproving snarl at her lips. "Waste not, Rozz." Slowly, considerately, I returned the knife to its place at her hip.
Rozz cut herself like blood was going out of fashion. The first time we used our own blood as vamp-bate had been a complete accident; one everyone had labelled completely fucking colossal. If a brainy vamp ever got a hold of mine or Rozz's blood, then they may be able to find out how the anti-venom worked, and that would be seriously risky shit.
But then one night Rozz's life changed for ever. Who am I shitting, that night my life changed forever, that night I became the stable one. After that night my orders were always signed of with "and for fucks sakes keep and eye on Rosalie," whereas before Rozz would get the same endnote about me. Since that night Rozz cut herself for the buzz. Her body was covered in the thin, long scars whereas I just had a few zigzags up either forearm. Rozz cut her thighs, wrists, hands, chest, anywhere that'd bleed. She didn't care. Her body wasn't hers anymore; it hadn't been since that night. Now her scars just acted like a ladder up her body, leading up to the dead look in her beautiful eyes. I'd cut myself a thousand times, let every bloodsucker on the planet come sniffing if it'd bring the life back to those eyes.
"It could be nothing. Some weird-ass cult or kids doing dumb shit for kicks. It was kids right?" Rozz's nimble fingers whipped to her back pocket and were already running across the keypad of her handheld when she lifted it before us both so we could watch the video of the reason we were both here, in the cold, crouched over a goddamn sewer.
The video showed the same place we were at now on account of the camera mounted less than fifteen feet behind me. There weren't many places not on a constant feed anywhere in this city, and this one just happened to be on mine and Rozz's turf, so the three guys who hopped into this hole at 3:47 yesterday morning were our responsibility.
This video shouldn't have bothered us the way it did. The main purpose of our cameras were to look for one thing and one thing only; a specific kind of pigmentation in the irises that screamed bloodsucker.
The picture was grainy and black and white, the camera too focused on looking for that red to bother with much other colour. These guys didn't have red eyes. The video might just be showing us shadowy caverns where their eyes would be, but there sure as hell was no red. So why the fuck were Rozz and I crouched in the rain, by this son of a bitch manhole?
I blamed the big guy. Of the three of them he was the tallest, widest; biggest, and the way he threw across that cast iron cover like it was made of polystyrene sent a warning buzz up my spine. Not only did people not go into sewers unless they had a screw loose, but it took a crowbar and a lot of back-strain to get them there.
He planted his feet where I crouched now, waving his hand ceremoniously into the darkness and bowing as he ushered the two men who accompanied him to proceed. The picture quality sucked, but these three didn't look too old; early twenties at the most.
The one who dropped through the hole first could have been no more than a couple inches shorter than the big guy, though his frame was far leaner. He approached with his hands connected behind his back, something upright, almost soldierly about his walk. His hands didn't break from behind him when he dropped; there wasn't even a break in his step. He just dropped in. People don't just drop into manholes. People scramble. People lower themselves and shit it as they stare into the darkness, not knowing when their feet will touch solid ground again.
The third guy was shorter and leaner still, but he dropped in the same confident fashion. Then the big guy rolled in too, pulling the manhole roughly into place after him. A second of stillness passed before with a quick jerk, the manhole was ushered into its position from below.
When the video ended Rozz peered further over into the darkness; a lock of her golden hair dragged along as she craned her neck and it dangled in the air, almost shimmering in the dark street.
"It's gotta be about eight feet deep, Izz. You wanna tell me how 'kids' positioned a manhole cover eight feet up?" I sighed. I didn't need this tonight. Rozz was in one of her darkest moods, one where she was an unparalleled danger to herself. Completely fucking reckless and impatient.
"There's a ladder up the wall." She snarled, rolling her eyes like me pointing it out insulted her. I fucking hated how she got like this. It's not that she didn't notice the steel rails embedded in the concrete, she just didn't want to see them. She wanted to believe that despite all the evidence on the contrary, there were bloodsuckers down there. Part of me couldn't blame her. It'd been over two months since our last kill, and that had only been one newborn. Newborns were no fun. Their behaviour was too erratic for them to be anything but an effortless job. And Rozz got a special kick out of teasing Newborns.
The last one had been one we'd had to chase through the woods after it went on a blood-thirsty rampage in the city; killing four. I liked the chase; it was the only thing a Newborn was good for, after that it got disorganized and pathetic. When we caught up Rozz got that hungry look in her eyes and a lethal grin across her lips. She'd sliced across the top of her left thigh before I even saw her knife move.
As usual the newborn went batshit. And as usual Rozz looked happier than ever as she watched it lose its fucking mind over her. She didn't flinch as it shot towards her. She didn't flinch as I vaulted onto its back, bringing it crashing and snarling to the ground less than five feet from where she stood.
Every Lumina knew it was more of a strain to get a newborn vampire than most others. Despite the fact we'd each been cut open and engineered to match vampire strength, Newborns were in a league of their own. As I knelt on this ones back, digging its writing body into the mud as its black eyes devoured Rozz, I knew that if the little fiend ever used its fucking brain and focused on me for a split second, it could've thrown me off and sucked Rozz dry. Of course it would have died anyway; as soon as the anti-venom in Rozz's blood took over. But getting a Newborn to stop feeding was impossible. They'd burn where they stood rather than stop mid-meal. "A little fucking help, Rozz!" I'd murmured through clenched teeth when she just continued to stand there, the blood flowing down her leg as she grinned. She chuckled, ran one of her gloved fingers across the wound before bringing it to her lips and sucking, her eyes not moving from the demon beneath me. Fucking reckless bitch! Sometimes she scared the shit out of me. Sometimes I wanted to throw her up against a wall and beat the shit out of her. I wanted her to wake the fuck up and realise what she'd become. I wanted her to stop treating her life so impassively. The bitch knew she was all I had in the world. She knew I needed her. And she didn't give a fuck anymore.
She'd just rolled her eyes when I grunted at the Newborns increased movement beneath me. Then she took one long step. The smile dropped from her lip as the heel of her boot smashed down on its neck. With her long, delicate fingers she bent down and pulled the head from its body. As I stood and disassembled the rest, Rozz giggled before the fire she'd quickly created. "Nice one, Izz." I just rolled my eyes, falling to my knees beside her so I could apply the bandages I always carried and stop the bleeding from her thigh. Fucking reckless.
"Come on, Izz. What've we got to lose?" She rocked her body beside me, nudging me playfully. I closed my eyes and took a sharp breath, my only answer a pursed smile as I let my body drop through the hole.
I landed crouched. Rozz's body landing beside mine a moment later. Even in the dark I saw her grin. Alarm bells went off when she smiled like that. My brain screaming reminders of the boss' constant order "And for fucks sake keep an eye on Rosalie." Screw that! I had both eyes on her all the goddamn time these days.
I turned quickly and leapt onto one of the high ledges of the ladder, extending my arm and dragging the manhole cover into place. When I dropped back down Rozz shone her torch in my face as I stuck my tongue out and murmured,
"See, the ladder!" She giggled, throwing her arm around my shoulder and planting a kiss on my forehead. Adrenaline was Rozz's ecstasy. The threat of danger or excitement battered away at the cancerous dark that at all other times set about drowning her.
We set off down the tunnel, our breathing falling into the same pattern it always did when we were on a hunt. When she inhaled I exhaled and vice versa. That way we never missed anything. We couldn't smell venom. Not like vampires can smell blood. They can smell it as it courses through your veins. But each vampire has a smell we've been trained to notice when they get close enough. It draws you in, intoxicates you. Well at least that's what it's supposed to do. It just seems to make me and Rozz mega pissed.
"Shouldn't it fucking reek down here?" Rozz's icy voice echoed in the darkness.
"I don't think it's a sewer. More like a service tunnel or something." We walked in silence, Rozz's hand in mine as she gripped it firmly. With Rozz's adrenaline rushes came her insecurities. There was always a little window before and after a kill where she'd hug me, play with my hair, be like the playful little Rozz I'd met when I was a kid. But as she clung to me now it was fear. Nobody touched Rozz anymore. She couldn't bear to be touched after what happened to her. The only exception was me, and that was something I always left entirely up to her. Rozz wasn't scared of Vamps. The way she acted around them was testament to that. There were other things that haunted Rosalie.
She dropped my hand when the tunnel twisted and the sounds from our feet making contact with the ground changed. Rozz dropped to a crouch and pointed her torch to the floor. The concrete had changed to steel beneath us. Rozz ran her fingers across the detailing, shuffling further away as she made out what it was.
It was a door with a huge spin-lock in the centre. It creaked and groaned as Rozz twisted it quickly. I'd barely had time to take a breath before she pulled at the side-handle and threw it open.
Light flooded the tunnel.
As Rozz peered in, that grin spread across her face again. She turned to me slowly and whispered,
"Somebody's home." She leapt down quickly and I jumped after her. "What is it?"
I raised my body slowly and scanned the room. The walls were a white tile, dirtied with age. Around ten feet up the white was cut by one thin strip of blue. Above us the ceiling arched, before falling again into a full circle until it flattened at the floor. At the peak of the circular room ran a series of lights. I took a few steps forward to stand beside Rozz, and pointed towards where the concrete floor disappeared, replaced by lines of rails a foot below.
"It's a tube station. Or at least it was." London had many of them. No longer needed, appropriate or safe, so they were left. Closed off and forgotten.
Rozz strode further in. She ran her fingers slowly across the walls and breathed deep. This place sent chill down my spine. The way the bright, acidic light flooded the area we stood in now contrasted eerily with the impenetrable darkness of the wide tunnels at either end.
I held back as Rozz walked around, her eyes narrowed as she scrutinised every inch of her surroundings.
An electric tingle pulsed across a side of my exposed neck as a something cold passed across it. The sensation caused me to suck a sharp breath through my teeth. My eyes rolled slightly at the scent. Intoxicated. Fuck!
I pivoted and crouched quickly. Nothing. All I met was the rest of the platform behind me before it disappeared into the black tunnel.
"Izz?" Rozz called from behind me. I span my head quickly, pushing my finger to my lips to silence her.
"Yes!" She dropped to a crouch with a hiss, a predatory anticipation spreading across her features.
Ever get that feeling you're being watched?
You can be completely alone and you're senses will scream at you to pay attention, because somebody's out there.
My senses weren't so much screaming it, rather raging through me, shaking the knowledge into every muscle, every limb.
I stared down the tunnel and into the darkness, primed to notice even the slightest movement. Nothing.
I shifted my weight to the leg behind me and arched my back. The movement added a new area to my peripheral vision. And there he was, crouched stone-still in a gap between the steel rafters across the roof. He didn't shift, didn't even breathe, he just stared at me. With golden eyes. I stared back, and watched as he inhaled. His eyelids fluttered shut and his jaw hardened. When his eyes peeled open again they were wide. I knew the look he gave me then, it was the same look that Newborn had in its eyes when I brought its body to a sliding halt just feet from the flow of Rozz's blood. He wanted me. In a split second I saw his body begin to tremble with that want, those golden eyes still burning into mine. Golden eyes, what the hell?
His gaze shifted quickly across the room. Rozz had noticed. As I turned to her I watched as her hand disappeared behind her back, swinging forward again with a firepod between her fingers. She launched the silver orb in the direction of the rafter, only for the vamp to drop down before it hit and start running down the tunnel. I threw my body out of the way and pulled up the hood of my fire proof suit as the firepod collided with the tiles, exploding in a mass of orange flame. The flames still billowed as they searched for something to spread to, when Rozz threw herself through them, throwing her feet into the concrete as she chased the vampire. Fucking reckless.
I coughed through the smoke as I emptied a can of firefoam on the flames that clung to random debris across the floor. Rules were rules. Firefoam had become mandatory since Newton started a mini forest fire when we were in Australia, all for the sake of one Newborn. Fucking idiot.
I dropped the canister and took after Rozz. Dragging myself up the ladder we'd come down in one leap. In the darkness of the tunnel I could just make out the rapid tempo of Rozz's heels smashing to the ground in her chase and her screeching and seething in aggression. Rozz hated it when they ran. It was a chance she never got.
A small shot of grey light appeared before me as the vampire shot through the manhole onto the street. Thank god it was 4 am, the streets would be deserted. Rozz could have been in Central Park in the summertime and she wouldn't have stopped this chase now. Fucking reckless.
After what felt like an eternity in the dark I pulled my body to the surface, never letting a break fall in my step. Ahead of me Rozz still ran like her life depended on it. And shit, the vampire she was chasing was fast.
I followed them as they sped in the distance towards the bridge, pushing my legs harder when I noticed the headlights. If Rozz got spotted now we were both dead. Before he could come close enough to being seen the vampire disappeared over the side of the bridge. I veered left and saw him running across the stone ledge that adorned the side. I gritted my teeth and whispered,
"Don't you fucking dare follow him Rosalie Hale."
She did. She vaulted over the edge with her aggressive speed. I began to feel the burn in my hamstrings as they protested the way I was stretching my legs, getting maximum distance from each stride. When I reached the bridge I swung over the side without hesitation, my target no longer some mysterious bloodsucker, but my idiot best friend.
Their two outlines were barely visible in the fading light, but I saw that a decent distance still remained between each of us. Rozz was getting tired, I could tell. That was something our operation couldn't resolve. We all still got exhausted.
"Rozz!" I called her as I stopped, leaning against the side of the bridge, wrapping my arm through a pillar as I gathered my breath. Vampires had got away before. It fucking sucked, but it happened. And golden eyes, what the hell?
"Rozz, stop!" Her body was just a shadow in the distance, but I saw it wobble. Then I saw it fall forward. Then I saw as her head made contact with a corner of one of the pillar bases. Then she just fell. Limp.
"ROZZ!" Her body span twice before it made contact with the river below us. By that time I'd ran mid-point in the gap that had been between us, and dived into the water.
Fuck it was cold.
I broke the surface. Praying with my tired muscles for new energy as I pushed through the current to where she had fallen.
"ROSALIE!" I went back under. Vision was impossible in the murky water. I pushed through it, my fingers clawing in the darkness. When I resurfaced I was in a completely different place, facing the wrong way. I fought the burning tendons in my arms and forced them to move me in circles as my eyes scoured the water for Rozz. The rain was falling heavier and the sky was dark. I could see nothing.
"ROZZ! Fuck! No. Rosalie!" Hot tears made their way down my cheeks as my body quaked in a mixture of gut-wrenching panic and sheer chill from the water.
That's the thing when you walk a tightrope between worlds.
There's always the risk you'll slip, fall and spiral into darkness.
Then where will you land?
V Magic things happen when you click that there button V
