001.

Dawn’s POV:

I pushed my hands deeper into my pockets as the winter wind blew against my face, biting into my pale skin. I winced when it blew again, almost peeling off my chapped lips. My full ginger red hair was tied into a ponytail in the way I liked it and my attention was drawn to the massive black mansion which stood high into the sky like something straight from a horror movie.

I hated winter. It was the time when the vampires ravaged the city the most. It was their season… one that was just as cold as they were.

To them, we humans were nothing but slaves… or food. They ruled by night, while the shifters, mostly the werewolves, ruled by day. That was the new reality of earth ever since the fourth world war.

“Dawn!” A voice cut through my thought, forcing me to turn in its direction. From a distance, I saw my friend, Autumn, waving at me with her long wavy hair floating around her as the wind blew at her.

“Autumn!” I yelled back,

“C’mon, you can’t stand there all day. It’s getting late and the creepers will be out in no time!” She chastised.

That was all I needed to hear to get moving. One quick look at the sky and I realized that she was telling the truth. It was fast getting late and we were still far from our underground bunker.

Oh, humans lived underground… in secure bunkers to keep away the vampires at night. My father says that when they just began to rule, humans lived on the surface. We always went home early, locked ourselves in… until they began to break into our homes, killing us even in our sanctuary.

At the thought, I broke into a full sprint and Autumn, my ever so wise friend, began to run beside me. We didn’t stop until we arrived at our bunker and slipped in, securing the numerous locks into place before jumping down the ladder to join the rest of our family.

Every family had their own bunker but Autumn lives with my family because she’s an orphan. Her parents were killed by shifters.

“Thank God you’re back!” My mother exhaled as soon as she saw us. She had her hand firmly on her chest and her eyes as wide as saucers as she regarded us.

“It’s late… you both came home too late today!”

“Mom… we’re sorry!” I cried while Autumn watched on.

She knows that we take her as one of our own. She knows that we love her but sometimes, I cannot help but think that she’s scared of us. Scared that we might throw her out if she misspoke, so she never talked back whenever she was being yelled at nor put up an attitude even when offended.

Mom shook her head; “it's a full moon tonight… you know what it means to the werewolves and the vampires. Please be careful next time.”

As soon as she said that, I gasped. I hated full moon nights with a passion. I hated the growling and howling… the still air and how everywhere felt like it was being haunted. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts and settled between Dad and Autumn on our small dining table.

“Where’s Logan?” I asked, looking at the empty seat at the end of the table, “…isn’t he joining us for dinner tonight?”

My mother eyed his empty spot and sighed dejectedly. “That kid… he’ll be the death of me,” she whispered but loud enough that we could all hear. “I scolded him earlier because he asked me to get him an expensive book at the library. He’s been mad at me ever since.”

Logan was my younger brother and the menace of the family. I nodded after listening to Mom’s words but still, I couldn’t bring myself to dig into the food even though I was hungry as hell. Feeling restless, I dumped my fork into my plate and got up.

“Where are you off to?” This time, it was my Dad who asked and I didn’t even turn around as I answered;

“I’m checking up on Logan!”

No one said anything after that. No one had to. I rushed through the dimly lit hall until I arrived in front of Logan’s door and knocked on it. For the first few minutes, I tried to delude myself into thinking that he was probably still mad and wouldn’t want to open the door but when there was still no response even after I had called out to him several times, I began to panic.

Without a thought, I pushed the door open and stepped in, gasping when I noticed that he wasn’t in his room. He wasn’t in the toilet… neither was he in his closet!

Glancing at the clock on the wall, I shook when I realized how late it was. It was almost 10:00pm, meaning it was dark and the vampires were probably out.

Breaking into a run, I ran to the dining area and when I did, everyone looked up at me almost at the same time. The small smiles on their faces and the chatters on their lips died as soon as they regarded me. Even Dad sprung out of his chair.

“What is it?” I don’t know who asked because all I could hear was the sound of my blood rushing into my ears.

Tears streamed down my face and without bothering to wipe it off, I cried; “Logan isn’t in! He’s not in his room and I can’t find him!”

As soon as the words left my lips, everyone was thrown into a panicked state. Father rushed to Logan’s room to check if what I said was true… and mother, she began to sob.

I, on the other hand, couldn’t sit here crying when my brother was probably afraid and alone somewhere so without thinking it through, I rushed out of the dining area and climbed up the ladder leading out of our bunker whilst ignoring the panicked screams and cries from my parents.

To ensure that no one came outside with me, I fastened the locks from outside the metal door and turned away.

However, as soon as I did that, I immediately regretted my action because the first thing I saw when I looked behind me to the now darkened night was a pair of red eyes glaring back at me.

I didn’t bother to see the rest of the body. I didn’t even care as I broke into a sprint whilst hoping that whatever it was doesn’t come after me.