Bleed

Chapter 6
Save My Soul
I wasn't sure how long I'd been in captivation, but it felt like another eternity. I was starving & thirsty when suddenly, the door opened. Behind him, I could tell it was starting to get dark again as the sun rays were dimming through the windows. A different man was holding a tray of food & a cup of water.
"Uh, food & water. Figured you'd want to fill up." he said, handing it to me.
"Uh, thanks, I guess." I said, quietly sitting there not bothering to reach for it.
"You gonna take it?" he asked me, confused. I sat there for a minute, mind racing before I grabbed the tray, smacked him across the face with it, & kicked him in the stomach as he fell to the ground, trying to catch his breath. That was my chance to get out and I took it. I tried to quickly, but quietly creep through the halls. It was pretty empty wherever I was. I finally reached what looked like the main door & quietly opened it. Looking outside, the coast was clear.
"Stop her!" I heard someone yell from behind me. I ran away as fast as my feet would take me. I still wasn't sure where I was, but I had to keep going. I would figure it out eventually. I could hear lots of footsteps behind me, running to catch up. I ran faster, harder, farther into some woods nearby. I found a fallen log up ahead & quickly hid underneath it & covered up with leaves & twigs before they got too close. I laid there for maybe about 45 minutes. I saw them, heard them walk by, looking everywhere for me.
"I don't see her, boss."
"How did you let her go? She is a fucking human, Trent! You are pathetic."
"Sorry, boss."
"Get out of my sight. Get back to headquarters. We'll start mapping out the areas nearby & split into groups to find her. We cannot let her get back to The Fallen. They will destroy us if they find out where we are." Then I heard their footsteps walking away from me. I waited another twenty minutes before standing up & brushing myself off.
"I have to get back to Zack & tell him." I said, hunched over with my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath. I started walking deeper into the woods. It was so dark. I couldn't see anything. I felt my way through the woods, grabbing trees & branches to guide me through the dark. Finally, I saw street lights. I ran towards the light & I had made it to Brooks Street. I was about a mile away from my old apartment. I started walking down the street, wondering how I would find Zack & the guys. I stopped in a gas station & grabbed some snacks to take with me. I was starving & so scared. I sat on the curb & ate while my mind raced some more. Looking up, I noticed the stars were in the sky, the moon was full, & the air was cold. I shivered a little bit before getting up. I started on my journey again & walked a couple blocks before looking around where I was.
"I think that's her." I heard a voice say behind me. All I could think was to run.
"Stop! Zoe, it's me!" I heard another voice say. I stopped & turned around. It was Zack, Brian, & Jimmy.
"Zack! I am so glad to see you!" I sighed, running to him & throwing my arms around his neck & kissing his cheek before blushing & backing up.
"Well, I'm glad to see you, too, Zo." he grinned, blushing.
"Where were you? What happened?" Brian said, worriedly.
"The Bleeders kidnapped me. They drugged me. I don't really know what they did to me, where they took me. I thought I was gonna die in there." I cried, wiping away tears.
"Look, let's get back home first, then we'll go over everything when we get there." Jimmy said, putting an arm around me.
"Good idea." Zack agreed as we all started heading back to headquarters.
"I thought we would never find you." Zack whispered.
"Were you worried about me?" I grinned, nervously.
"Well, yeah, you're one of my friends now." he said, cautiously choosing his words.
"Is that the story we're going with?" Brian nudged him, knowingly
"Quit it, ya fucker." Zack said, annoyed, punching his arm.
Once we made it back to headquarters, Matt was sitting in his chair, facing the fire, just staring into it.
"We're back." Jimmy said, cautiously.
"Good." Matt said, flatly.
"We'll be in my lab." Jimmy replied, ushering us all in. Closing the door behind him, he started asking me all kinds of questions.
"Do you remember where they took you? How did you get back to the street from the woods? What did they do to you?"
"Jimmy! Chill. One question at a time here," Brian said, looking at Jimmy then focusing his gaze on me. "look, we know you went through hell just now, but is there anything you can tell us about what happened back there? Can you remember anything?"
"Well, I think I had walked out to the tree out back & was just looking up at the sky when I heard voices. I felt a sharp pain in my neck, woke up in a cold, dark room & I don't remember much after that. At some point, shortly before I escaped, some guy brought me some food & water. I smacked him with it & escaped, but just barely. I think his name was Trent by the conversation I heard nearby, but I can't be for sure." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair, nervously.
"That's better than nothing, I suppose." Jimmy said.
"We're just glad you're back, safe & sound." Zack said, seeming somewhat distanced with his hands in his pockets, looking at the floor.
"Maybe not everyone, but we'll deal with him later." Brian sighed.
"He'll get over it. He has to." Jimmy said, looking at them & then back at me.
"We're gonna have a war on our hands before too long." Johnny chimed in.
"I hate to say it, but he's right." Brian said, hanging his head.
"What are we gonna tell Matt?" Zack asked, curiously.
"Dude, Matt already knows. He may not have said anything yet, but I fucking guarantee he knows. He's good at shit like that. If we don't figure something out soon, we are so screwed. They could find us, they could find our home & destroy us where we stand. I don't know about you guys, but I am not having it." Brian said, standing up straight & putting his hands on his hips.
"Hey, Brian can I talk to you for a sec?" Jimmy said, grabbing his arm & pulling him into the hallway.
"What the hell man?" Brian asked him, shocked.
"She's been bitten or drugged with vampire blood. Did you see her neck?" Jimmy asked him, wide eyed.
"No. No. Really? Fuck. Well, what do we do now? Matt will go ballistic, Zack will be destroyed. There's a lot of moving pieces here, man."
"No, shit. I don't even know if she knows. She's being awfully calm for someone who might be turned. And she might not even be, but that mark on her neck doesn't look like it's healing well."
"Well, they didn't exactly give her the five star treatment, Jimmy."
"Even so, it should be showing signs of healing & instead, it's going in the opposite direction. I need to do some tests."
"What are you gonna tell her?" Brian asked him.
"I don't know yet. I have to proceed with caution here. This is an extremely delicate situation now." Jimmy said, before they walked back in to join the rest of us.
"Hey, Zoe, do you have recollection of what may have happened to your neck?" Jimmy asked me, cautiously.
"One of them told me it was a tranquilizer. Do you think he was telling the truth? I mean, I feel okay. Should I be worried?" I asked him, worriedly.
"No, not at all. I'm just going to run some tests & see if maybe there's any traces left of what it was in your system."
The rest of the day was spent on edge, waiting for Jimmy to finish his tests. The results would take a couple of days & I was not a patient person so, of course, I paced the house constantly throughout those two days.
"Will you sit down?" Zack asked me, worriedly.
"How can I? I don't know what they drugged me with. What if there's something wrong with me now?"
"Hey, stop. Calm down, breathe. Look at me, everything is going to be okay. No matter what, we will figure this out." Zack said, holding my face in his hands.
"Easy for you to say." I rolled my eyes, frustrated. I walked away & went into my room to try to sleep to no avail. I couldn't sleep, barely ate, couldn't really sit still. Then the day finally came. I was sleeping in my room after being up all night when Jimmy knocked on my door.
"Hey, I need to talk to you about your test results. You up for-" "Yeah, let's go. Now. Come on." I interrupted him, nervously pushing him out of the way & heading to the lab. He followed me in & sat in a nearby chair beside me. He looked very worried.
"Zoe, I have some...disconcerting news. The liquid they injected into you, it was blood. Vampire blood."
"So that means that I'm a vampire, too." I felt all the air escape me & my heart dropped into my stomach.
"I'm sorry, Zo."
"Do the others know?" I whispered, terrified, mind racing.
"Not yet. I thought you should be the first to know. You will have to tell them at some point, though. I mean, after all, you're gonna have to stay here. You can never go back & I can tell them or you can. However you want to do it."
"Don't say anything yet. Let me process this first, then I'll deal with it. I don't know how yet, but I'll figure it out." I sighed, struggling to comprehend the reality of my situation.

Notes