Ash (5 page)

I followed him out of the long hall. We passed a dozen doors. My pretty
cool, black ass-kicking boots clanked against the black and white checkered linoleum
floors. At the end of the hall, Ryder opened two double doors which led into a
nice waiting room. A beautiful, extremely well-coiffed female vampire sat a
reception desk, talking on the phone. There were closed-door offices scattered
to the left and right.

Ryder led me to a door marked “Orientation
.
”

He opened it and I glanced inside. It was empty of people. Just a
few desks.

His expression was unreadable as he gestured for me to step
inside. “This is where I leave you,” he said. “I will send Jose along to get
you acquainted and give you a tour.”

Oh. I tried to school my immediate disappointment. Ryder was the
only somewhat familiar person I knew here. Along with disappointment, there was
also panic and nerves fighting to spill from me. Guess I couldn’t rely on Ryder
any longer. It was probably best he left anyway. It would just make things
easier all round if I didn’t go all Stockholm on this ash, and start falling
for my captor. He was lethal in more ways than one.

“Thanks for…”
Not letting me kill my mom
. And so many other
things.

He stared into my eyes again and I saw him inhale deeply, the
silver of his eyes pulsing. Clearing his throat, he nodded. “Welcome to the Hive,
number forty-six. Try to stay alive.”

He turned on his heels and left.
Number forty-six?
Asshole.
I let the door slam behind me before turning to sink into the closest chair.

An hour later
and I was still getting the tour of this crazy place. Jose, the Hispanic ash
who had been my guide thus far, was like a robot on crack. He spoke rapidly,
mostly about all the Hive facts I was supposed to give a shit about.

“So, like I said, the Hive is a master of ingenuity. Eighty
stories. Twenty are dug deep into the earth. The other sixty tower high above,
as you have seen from the city. There are shutters on all the upper levels so
the vamps don’t burn up. They stay closed at all times during daylight hours.
As soon as night hits, then the entire Hive opens up and comes to life.”

I was following him aimlessly, trying to ignore the crazy stares I
was getting. Apparently the rumor mill was already in full swing. They all knew
a freakin’ unicorn mythical ash creature was amongst them and they all wanted
to get a look. A few full-fledged vampires had passed us – and I’m not gonna
lie – when their strange energy brushed against me, my heart started hammering
in my chest. Those bastards were so creepy. They barely walked – more like
floated.

“This is the floor.” Jose stopped and I walked into his back.

“Ooof.” Whoops. 

He glared at me and then went back to robot mode.

“This is the most important floor of the Hive. Level eleven, feeder
and blood storage level. Every vampire and ash has a feeding schedule and a
preferred feeder. Or if you like the bottled stuff, that’s fine too.”

He pulled out a tablet and looked down. “You’re O-negative. I’d
suggest for pure taste you stick with that blood type, but you can drink any
sort. Hmm, I see here you have been cleared for six feedings a day. That’s a
lot.” His brow creased. I craned my neck to try and see what else the tablet
said about me. He shifted it out of sight, turning it off and slipping it away.

He straightened, and continued the tour. As he opened the doors on
the feeder room, the distinct copper scent assaulted my nose and I felt that
burn in my gums again. Somehow I knew my fangs had lengthened. It felt like
when my chocolate addiction kicked it. Blood now smelled as delicious as melted
chocolate, the kind humans dipped their strawberries in.

Humans
. Oh man. I was already
drooling over blood and separating myself from humans.
Not good
.

Jose checked me in with the ash receptionist, a large, beefy,
black-haired male, with really dark caramel skin. Beautiful like all ash.

“Well, this is the end of the tour. By the time your feeding
session is done, I will have your room assignment ready.”

I was trying not to salivate as I looked at the open glass
refrigerated cases behind the guy at the desk.

“Feeding session?” Shit, just hand me a few of those bottles and I
was good. No session required.

“Your requested feeder is waiting in room seven,” front desk ash
told me.

Requested feeder? Had Ryder set something up for me already? No
way was I actually ready to feed from a human – I wasn’t sure I was ever going
to actually bite into a person like they were a freakin’ apple. I was just
opening my mouth to give a definite “Hell no” to the guy behind the desk when
it hit me, a familiar scent. Under all the liquid chocolate was my bestie.
Right … my requested feeder. Tessa, you crazy bitch.

“Thanks!” I opened the fridge, moving along the shelves until I found
the O-negative shelf and grabbed a bottle.

“For later,” I said, before bolting down the hall. The doors were
all numbered, and as I dashed toward number seven, I lifted the blood bottle
and inserted my fangs into the two holes perfectly placed in the lid. The burn
in my mouth increased as the canines fully extended, piercing through the
seals. It was like they could sense the blood. I chugged the liquid down as
fast as I could. I wouldn’t talk to Tessa thirsty. She would not heal like
Ryder. As the splash of deliciousness coated my tongue, I tried not to moan.
Moans were strictly for chocolate and orgasms. Not blood.

I slowed as door number seven appeared, and after removing the
bottle and making sure all the blood was gone from my mouth, I burst through.
My body immediately gravitated toward the warmth in the room – I was a damned
predator now, and already my body was attuned to stupid blood – but I forced
myself to focus on the fact that this was my best friend. I drank in the sight
of her. Finally, something that felt familiar and like the old Charlie.  

Tessa looked like shit. Her makeup was smudged, her blond curls
wild.

She stood as I ran to embrace her, but when we were about two feet
apart her eyes widened and a rich, cloying scent wafted from her. I halted a
foot from her. I’d smelt this heavy scent before, when I had been afraid. Tessa
was scared of me.

Her eyes scanned over me rapidly. She was cataloguing all the changes.
The blood I’d just downed was working its magic, and I knew my eyes would be
shooting out all kinds of swirly ash vibes.

The smile slid off my face. I wasn’t sure what to do. You know
shit’s real when your best friend for most of your life is afraid of you.

“Hey,” I finally said. My eyes fell. I stared at my shiny boots. I
really, really needed Tess to be my normal and annoying best friend right now. I
was pretty sure I couldn’t handle one more disappointment this week.

As if she’d sensed that need, I felt a hand touch my cheek, and as
I raised my head, a smile spread across her haggard features. This time she
didn’t hesitate to pull me into a bone-crushing hug.

“Sorry, your eyes freaked me out. They’re kind of really fucked
up, Charlie.”

I relished the brutal honesty this girl could dish out. “You don’t
look so hot yourself,” I countered.

She pulled away. “Yeah, that’s what happens when your best friend
turns into an ash and gets taken to the Hive.”

I sat down and took a deep breath. “Tess, I am so, so happy I got
to see you this one time, but that’s all this can be. It’s not safe here. If
you sign up as a feeder, others could use you.”

She sat next to me and threw across her biggest bitch game-face.
“I’m coming here every week. Every. Single. Week. If I get fed on, then so be it.”

She was daring me to counter her. I couldn’t. I was selfish enough
to know I needed her.

“I might not last a week,” I whispered, thinking of the rumors.

She put an arm around me and said, “Tell me everything.”

And I did.

After talking with Tessa, I
reluctantly pulled myself from her side and returned to being an ash. I got my
bunk assignment from the receptionist. I was feeling all kinds of tired after
this shit storm, and was pleased to find out that ashes still slept. At least I
might have an escape from my newly discovered life during sleep. The
receptionist had passed on a message from Jose, telling me how to find my room.
Apparently I now had no escort. Which was fine with me. I found the right
hallway no problem, level forty-four, room twelve. My card swiped open the
door, and after seeing the room was empty, I collapsed into what was hopefully
my bed and passed out.

A scratching, thud noise
had my eyes flying open.
Instinct pushed me to sit
bolt upright, frantic.

Standing on
the other side of the room was a gorgeous, tall, buff guy with dark espresso
skin.
We
locked gazes for a few extended moments. I was awake enough then to hate on him
a little for his ridiculously long eyelashes – wasted on a man, for sure – before
deciding to speak and break the silence.
 

“Hi,” I
squeaked. I should have realized I’d be sharing a room with a guy. There were
no girl ashes.

He didn’t
hesitate to cross the room and extend his hand. “I’m Jayden, hottest chocolate
ash up in this bitch.” He did a flamboyant hand gesture for added measure and I
cracked a smile. I had impeccable gaydar, which was definitely not required
with Jayden. I instantly liked him and realized that those eyelashes were
probably very much appreciated by this particular guy.

Shaking his
hand, I introduced myself. “I’m Charlie.”

“Girl, you
have the entire Hive in a frenzy. Female ash. Crazy stuff.”

I cleared my
throat. I was thirsty and not for water. “Yeah, well, no one is more surprised
than me.”

He stiffened
then, his rippling muscles freezing in place. “Your eyes look a little hungry.”

Breaking his
statue-like pose, he crossed the small room and opened a little refrigerator
before tossing me a cold bottle of blood. “It takes a while to get the guts to
feed from a human. I’m assuming you still like blood of the bottled variety.”

I caught the
bottle midair and nodded, wasting no time popping my fangs into the lid. I was
able to contain my excitement better. It wasn’t that the blood was less
orgasmic – it was all kinds of amazing – but I was gaining a little control
over my reactions.

“Thanks.”

He nodded and
took a seat across from me on his bed. Our room was tiny. Like closet small.

“Wow, they
really roll out the red carpet for us, huh?” I gestured to the room, which held
two beds, the refrigerator, and a door to what I assumed was an adjoining
bathroom.

Jayden smiled.
“This is shitty temp housing for the newbies. If we survive the culling, we get
proper cribs.”

My face went
slack. Okay, yes, I had heard rumors, but here it was confirmed, the
culling
.
Defined in the Webster’s dictionary as “Killing a bunch of motherfuckers off.”

Jayden
noticed my shock. “Oh my God, honey. They didn’t tell you?”

They hadn’t
told me shit, but I wasn’t going to tell him that yet. He moved and sat next to
me, his warmth strangely comforting. I barely knew this guy, but for some
reason I was getting legit and genuine vibes off him. There was a sense of
nurturing about him, and that made me trust him.

“Tell me
everything about this culling,” I said, letting my eyes fall on his pretty
face.

His huge arms
nearly ripped the seams of his shirt as he shifted back to lean on them. He
cleared his throat. “Should
have
known
those bastards would keep you in the dark. Look, I really don’t want to be the
one to tell you this. Basically, vampire-human sexual relations are illegal, so
we technically shouldn’t be allowed to live at all.”

That much I
did know. And something told me the worst news was still to come. Come on,
don’t draw it out. Hit me with it.

“But the
vamps allow a small number of ash to integrate into the Hive each year. In two
weeks there will be a culling … a series of fights to the death, all of which
takes place over seven days. First we fight individually, and then when the
initial weak are weeded out, it moves on to team fights. All of the new ash
must fight, and if you survive, you get to become a member of the Hive. Yay.”
He ended the last part with fake bravado.

I released
the breath I had been holding. Well, I’ll be damned, the rumors were true.

Jayden went
on: “There’re lots of rules and traditions that go along with it. There’re
sponsors that pay for training, and a ranking system that says whether or not
you fight first or last, and who you’ll team with if you make it that far. All
of which can be the difference between life and death. You might be happy to
know that rumor has it you caught the eye of Lucas. He’s on the Quorum. I
haven’t figured out yet if…”

He trailed
off and I was wondering more about who the hell this Lucas was. How many freakin’
vamps had I encountered in my bloodthirsty crazed days here?

My stomach
growled. Odd. I didn’t feel thirsty, it was actual hunger that panged me. This
felt much more like my old days of being a food whore.

Jayden’s
smile quirked even higher. “Believe it or not, we still need to eat one human
food meal a day, especially when healing.” He jumped up. “How you doing with
this? Wanna curl up and die or are you ready to give this a try?” Those ash
eyes sparkled at me. “The way I see it, you have two options right now: try to
commit suicide, or come grab some food with me.”
There was barely
any silver in the black of his eyes. “
I know which
option I’d
prefer. I’m not much for blood on my clothes, and I would
hate to clean up your dead ass.”

I laughed, an
actual real laugh. If I did need to be in this shithole and fight for my life,
I mind as well keep my spirits up.

“Food,” I
said, and stood.
“I’m not one for giving up. I’m the life
and lemons sort. As long as there is tequila too.”

“Amen to that, sister.”

I hadn’t been kidding, I
was not one to give up. I would push all the information down to my deep dark
place and pull it up later when needed.

After taking a quick
shower and slipping into a new jumpsuit – I had like ten #46 suits in my side
of the box cupboard – we left our room and went down a long hallway. I
memorized the route as we pushed through two double doors and into a huge
cafeteria. As we stepped inside, the noise hit me first, followed closely by
the multitude of scents. My senses were kicking into overdrive, and it actually
took me several long moments to deal with the overwhelming stimulation to my
body, filtering it all out, compartmentalizing so I didn’t start freaking out.

There must have been over
a thousand ashes in there. And at some point after my entrance, the noise
started filtering away, until every single one of them had stopped what they
were doing and was staring at me.

Holy cracking ash babies.
I
was frozen in the doorway. Unable to move, but at least finally not drowning in
the sea of sensations.

Jayden broke the tension
by giving me a push forward. “Hurry, or all the good food will be gone.” His
tone was all casual and relaxed, despite the fact there were still thousands of
eyes locked on us. Jayden was one cool gay dude.

I took a tentative step
into the room. My olfactory sense was smashing me with information, like it
knew somehow how to catalogue the smells. I knew one thing for sure: they were
all ashes. I scanned the crowd, trying not to linger too long on any one group.
There were scary faces in here. But all beautiful. It’s like any human or
offspring affected by the vampire virus were smoothed out or something. All
flaws just kind of sculpted away. Don’t get me wrong, each still had completely
individual features, all unique, but the flaws were non-existent.

I took a tentative step
after Jayden, and it was then my eyes locked onto a familiar dark head. Ryder.
He was sitting on the left side of the large cafeteria-style room with a group
of big, badass-looking ashes. I noted that his table seemed a little different from
the others. They were sat further apart than the rest of the tables; there were
six of them, silently watching me; they all wore black clothing, army style,
and all had identical cold and menacing expressions. They were the sort of ashes
I would never want to find myself in a dark alley with. Ryder was no exception,
except … there was just something else a little more about him. Or maybe I was
actually developing some sort of weird Stockholm syndrome since he had saved my
ass, twice.

Deciding there was no
place in this room to act like a weak ash, especially since the newest culling
participants would be looking for kinks in my armor, I just jutted my chin
high, showing no fear. I thought I saw a flash of something in Ryder’s eyes,
but all he did was give me the slightest of nods. I tore my eyes away and
continued to follow Jayden into the room. Then, just like that, everyone went
back to what they were doing.

The food was set up in a
low row of serving trays. Jayden hurried along first, and I followed slower,
grabbing a few bits before settling on a black bean burrito. Hurrying to catch
up with my roommate, I noticed his plate and I arched an eyebrow at him.

“Christ, are you feeding
the entire Hive?”

His plate was piled high
with hummus, chocolate cake, nachos, bacon – everything was just on top of the
other and smashed together in some disgusting concoction of flavors.

Jayden laughed, his black
eyes twinkling. “I like you.” He hip bumped me.

We found our way to a
section in the back that was marked off behind a velvet rope.

“What’s with the special
seating?” I asked, sitting down.

Jayden glanced back at
the main part of the room. A serious look came over his face. “No one wants to
become friends with us until they know who is going to survive.”

Right. Awesome. I suddenly
wasn’t hungry. Depression settled over me like a thick blanket.

“You don’t have anything
to worry about,” he said. “The shit you pulled with Ryder, you’re probably a
top pick.”

Ryder … was he talking
about me breaking his ankle? How was that special? All new ash were strong,
weren’t they?

“Top pick?” I mused
aloud.

He popped a piece of
bacon in his mouth and moaned. I gave him an odd look.

“Like I said in the room,
the night before the culling starts we get ranked. The top picks fight less. They
get to sit out a lot, and some of them only fight once or twice before the team
event. The vamps like the weak to get killed off first.”

“Well, shit, that’s
depressing.” I took a bite of my burrito. A flavor explosion played over my
tongue and I moaned. He burst out laughing at my expression.

“Your taste buds are
enhanced. Every meal is like sex in your mouth,” he told me.

Someone slammed down
their tray across the table, glaring at us. “Quit acting like best friends,”
the new guy spat. “You’re all going to be at each others’ throats in two
weeks.”

Jayden threw a chip at
him as my stomach sank. “Calm down, meathead,” he said.

Maybe this new guy was
right, I shouldn’t be making friends. I glanced at Jayden and he smiled. Shit.
Too late. I kinda already went and liked my roomie. I’d just have to worry
about it if and when Jayden and I fought. For now, Jayden and I were on the
same team.

I ate half of my burrito.
The conversations had dried up in this section of the ash hall. Mostly everyone
just stuck to themselves and threw around lots of glares. After thirty minutes
of this, I dropped my plate onto the return tray and said goodbye to Jayden. I
needed some alone time, and if I remembered robot Jose’s tour correctly, he had
said the roof had a jogging track.

My room hadn’t had any
jogging clothes, just the jumpsuits, so I decided to just head up and hope for
the best. Luckily, as I made my way upstairs, there was a supply room just
outside the gym and running area. A female vampire, who was not very friendly
at all, hooked me up with some running shoes and clothes. Probably didn’t want
to get attached to an ash who was most likely going to be killed in the first
round of the culling. Or she was a bitch. Either one.

Fifteen minutes later I
was running on top of the world. Sixty stories in the air, it was glorious. The
freezing wind slid through my hair and my feet pounded on the track. I could
see the whole city from up here! The Columbia River divided Oregon from
Washington. I had officially found my new favorite place. If my entire world
had to fall apart, then this was something in the glass half full part of my
life now. I pushed harder into the run in awe of my new speed and strength. As
I angled myself for the turn, someone whipped by me on my left.

“Number forty-six…”
Ryder’s voice sailed by as he blurred past. He was doing the seamless graceful
thing, his movements controlled and strong.