Barrier

Ara's POV

I wasn't going to go down without a fight. I thought this as soon as I knew the significance of Tessa's smirk geared towards me. Luca, the vampire trainer, was explaining how the weekly rumble worked, and I knew if Tessa had a chance, she would choose to challenge me.

"Listen up, recruits! Especially the new greens," Luca was saying with a smug look on his face. All the other recruits with different colored shirts turned to look at anybody with wearing a green shirt. They all had superior looks on their faces.

"Every week, we have a rumble to determine which one of you will be going to the developing wing, and which ones become…well, sustenance." Luca said with a glint in his eye.

"You will fight the other teams. Don't be ashamed if you lose today, as it is your first rumble. And the other teams have been here for much longer."

He made eye contact with each one of us in green shirts, with a look like he actually cared about us. "We vampires aren't complete monsters. We want you to succeed down here, and have a real chance of joining our ranks. So today, you'll try your best, and next week, I'll watch each of you for real."

He turned, and the false care was removed from his features. It was replaced with a sneer, as he looked at the other recruits that were not wearing green. "As for the rest of you… You know the drill. Lose your fight, and you might not make it to see the end of the day. We vampires are always thirsty."

As he said this, dozens of vampires walked in. Some as bulky as Luca, I assumed were trainers for the other recruits.

There were vampires of every ethnicity, and every culture. They floated in with such grace, some of my teammates mouths fell open with awe and admiration. For me, I felt only fear. What had they traded in return for beauty, strength, and that grace. "Allah, help me." I accidentally whispered out loud.

Luca turned to look at me. When he smiled at me, he looked like a serial killer. I felt the hairs on my arms raise. He was about to say something to me, when he was interrupted by a commanding voice.

"Many of you have been with us since you were children," The fiery red headed leader of the vampires, Adrian said. He looked at the two recruits in white. They were in what looked like their forties.

I hadn't noticed, but there weren't any other recruits in white. I wonder what happened to the other recruits who came in with them at that time. I looked back at Adrian. He seemed to have all the vampires eating out of the palm of his hand. Even Luca, the vampire who wasn't the most serious outside of his occupation as trainer, stood straight and had an adoring look on his face as he stared at his leader.

Adrian looked to be in his late twenties early thirties. He spoke like he was trying to sound like he was American. I couldn't quite put my finger on where he may have been from. He stood at around 6' and he had a lean build. The thing that scared me the most about him was his eyes. The corners pulled up, like he was a cat, and he had full lips and high cheekbones. I imagine if he was born in my time, he would have had the features to be a runway model.

But there was something else. When he spoke, there was a slight undertone to his vocals. Like a hum…it drew me in. It drew everybody in…was I the only one who noticed this? It was intoxicating, like everybody had to listen to him. Almost like ignoring him, would make me physically sick. I looked around the room, and everyone had their eyes on him…Except Tessa. Her eyes flickered between his face and mine.

"William and Rachel," Adrian continued. "You two are the only ones left in Team White. Today, you will be retiring your colors." The recruits in white, whom I now knew as William and Rachel, looked at each other with hope in their eyes.

"There is only room for one of you to join our ranks, so you will fight each other... now" Adrian finished, his cat like eyes, pulling up in an unnaturally sinister way.

Rachel looked at her companion, William, who had been with her for the last thirty years of her life. She had tears in her eyes. "You deserve it," She said. "I won't fight you."

Adrian and the other vampires looked on with impatience. From where Tessa stood, I saw Whitney and his clipboard with a knowing look. Like he's seen this before.

William lunged at Rachel, tears streaming down his face as he mouthed "I'm sorry." He threw her to the ground and put his meaty hands around her throat, as she just smiled up at him, and let out a strangled, "it's okay."

Tears were streaming down my face now, and I tried to frantically wipe it. Reaching in vain for my hijab that I knew was not there. I did not want to be seen as weak, or an easy target, so I took deep breaths to steady my hitched breathing.

Then all of a sudden, William stopped. "She deserves it, master" He said to Adrian. Not meeting his eyes. Rachel was gasping for air, "What are you doing, kill me! You're so clo-"

"No!" William screamed back at her. They both looked at Adrian in resignation. They called Adrian Master, like they were slaves. The only other people in the room, who noticed something strange about that word, were my teammates in green. Everyone else looked on like it was normal to them.

We all knew what was coming next. From across the room, I saw Whitney smile.

"Clio?" Adrian called out to a female vampire with resolve

A tall brunette vampire strutted out. She was gorgeous; she was what people would call fat. But the way she moved, would make any runway model jealous.

"Yes," She said in an accent I couldn't quite place. Adrian continued, "Take William and Rachel to the developing wing."

Shock and silence for the recruits followed. The vampires somehow already knew this was the outcome.

This "fight" reminded me of the first day of training when several recruits on my team lunged for the dummy head for a chance of living, whilst, I and a few others would not degrade ourselves. That day, we were told to be loyal. Perhaps, that's why they both made it. Though it was tempting to reach the end of the journey, just one of them, they would rather die together.

Adrian was smart. To make everyone think that we were a family, and that being loyal to the family, meant everlasting life. I knew better.

William and Rachel hugged one another, sobbing. They had both made it, and were heading to the developing wing. Two vampires came and embraced them.

I realized then, that these two vampires must have been in their team when they arrived. William and Rachel would be changed in their forties, but these two vampires looked very young. One of them, a boy, must not have been older than fifteen. And the other, a girl, looked like she was in her early twenties.

Out of all the fifty recruits they took off the street, only four made it to the developing wing. I suddenly felt very overwhelmed. I wanted to just quit, because I knew there was no chance of me actually making it. I wanted my hijab to shield me. To create a barrier that would keep me veiled from the outside world.

As Clio, the tall curvy vampire led William, Rachel, and their two vampire friends down to the developing wing, Adrian began to speak. The strange hum was back in his vocals, commanding silence and respect from everybody in the room.

"We have some new recruits this week." All the vampires turned to look at anybody in a green shirt.

Adrian continued, "Today, we will all be observing. I will now call out which colors are going against the other." I held my breath as my eyes met Tessa's glowing green ones.

"Blue against orange. Red against yellow," several recruits started sizing up their opponents as the surrounding vampires in the stands started taking bets.

"Black against brown," Adrian continued with the hum back in his voice, silencing everyone once again. "Purple against pink. That leaves green against silver." Adrian concluded.

Tessa looked disappointed. I felt only relief…until I saw the silver team. They all looked like personal trainers. There weren't even any females on this team. What happened to them, I'll most likely never know, but I all of a sudden wanted to go up against the purple recruits.

"Green! To me!" Luca called. We all shuffled over to him. I noticed that the other trainers were doing the same with their teams. Setting game plans and sizing each other up. Luca looked nervous. I realized this was also a test for him as well.

"Silver team has been here for two years. They haven't had anybody fail for the past two months, and it's looking like they're all going to the developing wing. But remember what I taught you. Don't worry about size, use their momentum against them. Us-"

He was talking so fast, I couldn't quite remember everything. I made eye contact with a recruit in silver. He winked at me. I quickly looked away.

"…five minutes before the fight begins" Luca finished. My teammates started stretching. I excused myself to the restroom to gather myself.

I splashed water on my face and closed my eyes as I tried to gather myself. I felt a slap on my behind, and I whipped around.

It was the guy from the silver team who had winked at me earlier.

"I'll go easy on you if you were to give me a little something." He said with his cold blue eyes.

I was so angry with how casual he was. How dare he touch me. "Stay away from me," I said, my timid voice not matching the fire that was raging inside of me.

"Don't be difficult," He said. "I think you and I have a lot in common." He said as he quickly tried to overtake me.

Something happened then. The last couple weeks came back in such a blur. I felt the fear of not knowing where I was when I first arrived, the resentment at not being able to wear my hijab, the anger that I everyone saw me as insignificant and worthless. I was furious that I could not block out the secret memory of a family friend taking advantage of me when I was twelve…and now it was about to happen again.

Something exploded out of me, like a sheer vaguely green shield. It launched the silver recruit across the bathroom, and there was a sickening crack. I stood still in shock and anguish. The recruit didn't move.

"I'll take care of this," said a voice. My head whipped up and I met a pair of red eyes. Whitney.

Had he seen everything? His face was a mixture of relief and anger. Relief when he looked at me, and righteous anger when he looked at the silver recruit.

"I didn't mean to, I- " Whitney interrupted me. "Tell no one. Do you understand? And when you are fighting today, don't use that shield. Go I'll take care of him. I'll say I got thirsty."

I shuddered. I had no idea what happened…only that I felt free. Like this shame that had been inside me since I was twelve, was starting to heal. And it happened with that burst of energy. I don't know how I did it. I did remember in the beginning when I arrived, they said they were looking for people with gifts.

I wonder how many vampires had gifts, and what they were? And now that I had one, could I bypass the entire process and just become a vampire….and plan my escape?

Whitney seemed to read all of this in my eyes. "Beware," He said.

"Not every vampire down here wants somebody stronger than them. Go out now, and tell no one." His slightly tinted pink blonde hair that was parted and gelled down was starting to curl up from the humidity in the bathroom. He looked me dead in my eyes. His own pleading with mine to listen to what he was saying.

I pondered on what he said, and came to the conclusion that he may be right.

As I began to walk outside the bathroom, I saw my reflection in the mirrors. My body was racking with dry heaves. I stopped and gathered myself.

I turned and took one last look at the silver recruit, whose name I would never know. Just lying there with his neck twisted in an unnatural way, and knew this day would replay in my head for the rest of my life.