The Vampire Council

Deric hadn't been kidding; the whole of Elthon looked like it had been hit by an apocalypse. The streets were empty, cars stranded, and everywhere was silent. I stared up at my house; the door was ajar, a clear red flag. I wanted to go inside and ensure everybody was safe, but I was afraid of what I would find.

I thought about my mother's call. I prayed she was safe. But why wouldn't she be? Bill should have been there to protect her; he had promised he always would. Hadn't he?

"Are we going inside, or should we just keep standing out here like a bunch of idiots?"

"You could always go in first."

"And leave you behind? What could I possibly do with myself if something happened to you?"

"Darling, cut it out."

God, I wished I had ended up trapped with anyone else but Deric. He was crazy and so annoying. He seemed to find everything funny, but I knew from the very beginning that he was an a******. He had tried to bite me once—that was something I would never forget. Biting was my biggest fear, after all.

I took a deep breath, summoned all my courage, and approached the front door of my house. It looked exactly as I had left it—well, except for the bloody footprints leading upstairs.

"Oh my God!" I screamed. Why the hell were there bloody footprints in my house?

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Deric was by my side in seconds, a protective hand wrapped around me.

I definitely didn’t expect him to be protective. It wasn’t like we were friends. Maybe Silas had offered him something as payment for keeping me safe—that had to be it. But none of that mattered now. Not with bloody footprints on the floor that hadn't been there before.

"Look at that," I said, pointing.

"Oh, I see it."

"That wasn’t here when I left. Who do you think they belong to?"

"Probably your mom," Deric said casually, like we were talking about the weather and not the possibility of my mom being murdered.

"The blood smells similar to yours," he added. "Just a little... unappealing."

"Mom," I whispered, fear gripping me. I pulled away from Deric and ran upstairs, following the footprints.

"Kerry! Don’t just run off like that! What if someone is still in the house? Are you so stupid that you can’t keep yourself out of danger?" he yelled after me.

I glared at him. Who the f*** cared if someone was waiting? My mom might be dead. What could be more important than that?

"I could have protected her," I muttered. "If only I had stayed home."

"This has nothing to do with you," Deric snapped. "Even if you had stayed, do you think you could have stood your ground against one vampire? Let alone multiple?"

"Does this mean my mom is dead?" I whispered.

The thought alone made me feel like breaking down. I already lost one parent. I couldn’t stand losing another.

"Vampires don’t kill humans unless necessary," Deric said. "The worst thing that can happen is we feed on them. If they die, we die. We need them to survive."

"Don’t lie," I countered. "You don’t need humans to survive. Not when you can feed on animal blood."

"Don’t tell me you actually believe that s***." Deric chuckled darkly. "Kerry, we never could. It’s like humans living on water only—it’ll keep you alive but won’t sustain you for long. Why do you think your brother was at my bar that night? Didn’t he make you believe the blood in your fridge came from livestock? Vampires don’t survive on animal blood. That’s just what the government wants you to think."

"Then where does the human blood come from?" I asked.

"Feeders," he explained. "Humans who volunteer to serve vampires—mostly for material things. Humans love money. They’ll do anything for it."

I thought of the countless times I saw that red substance in the fridge. I always assumed it was animal blood. Bill had assured me of it. Was that all a lie?

"Why do you keep saying 'they'?" I demanded. "You’re one of them."

"I won’t deny that."

"Then why are you helping me?"

Deric could have turned me over to the other vampires. Silas wasn’t even here to protect me, so why was he still helping me? What did he hope to get out of this?

"Don’t tell me it’s because Silas asked you to. There has to be something you want."

"You don’t trust me at all, do you?" he smirked.

"Have you given me a reason to trust you?"

He took a step closer. I tried my best not to back away.

"I’m not doing this for myself," he said. "There’s something different about you. You’re not like other humans. You’re a light that draws people in. Your brother, your friends—they’re all drawn to you. You’re... special."

I blinked at him, stunned. His words caught me off guard, and despite myself, I felt my cheeks heat up.

"Or maybe," he continued with a grin, "it’s just your blood. Your blood smells amazing. Too bad we’ve got an apocalypse going on, or I might have taken you on a date and made you my personal feeder."

Creepy. This guy was definitely as bad as I thought. Maybe even worse.

"So my mom isn’t dead?" I asked, desperate for reassurance.

"No," Deric said. "The council probably wiped your stepdad’s memory. He wouldn’t have had a hand in this revolution. They’re likely keeping her as a feeder somewhere in the city."

"And Silas?"

Deric’s expression darkened. "Silas is going to be the problem."

Before I could respond, a loud banging echoed from downstairs. Someone had kicked the door open.

Deric pulled me into the nearest room—my room. He shoved me into the closet. My legs gave out, and I fell on my ass.

"Stay quiet," he hissed.

The footsteps, growing louder, stopped outside the door. Someone entered the room. Deric tensed.

"Just what the hell are you doing here?" a familiar voice demanded.

Silas.