[book one]
The game was simple: A contest comprised of three unique challenges, designed to test a human's strength physically and mentally, their personality compatibility, and their chance of survival.
The prize was excruciatingly tempting: The ch...
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THE SOUND OF soft sobs shattered the quiet of the morning.
Sophie rested against the trunk of an ancient tree, its scratchy bark pressed against her back. Her head ached and her mind was still somewhat dazed with sleep. It had been a while since she had really slept hard. Vampires didn't need as much sleep. Above their head, daylight spread across the sky, mingling with fluffy clouds. The sun hurt her eyes; its light was almost unbearably bright. She rubbed at her eyes and listened to Aubrey cry.
"Aubrey?" she called softly.
A sniffle sounded. Then Aubrey coughed and responded with a raspy, "Yeah?"
Sophie tried hard not to frown. She moved away from her makeshift bed, standing and climbing onto Aubrey's branch above her. Aubrey watched her with glassy red eyes. Dark bruises cupped said eyes and her cheeks were splotched with red. Aubrey moved her legs, hugging them close to her chest so Sophie could sit in front of her. Sophie watched her, concerned, and asked, "Did you get any sleep?"
Aubrey shook her head. She stared at the rugged bark in front of her, her stare hollow. "I can't...I couldn't sleep. Not when I know that Wolfe is locked up in that...that chamber."
Fresh tears trickled down her cheeks. She lifted her hands and wiped at them. Sophie clenched her jaw and glared at her hands. The events from last night flashed through her memory. They had both been so close to freeing him, to helping him escape. But then the Headmaster had intervened.
It made her blood boil. Tormenting Wolfe, and training to use the other students as foot-soldiers in a war that they didn't know to exist. The Headmaster needed to be stopped.
Sophie's memories moved even further back into the past. She remembered her first day at Redstone Academy, and the bitchy way in which Aubrey treated her. And Wolfe. She'd ran face-first into him on her first day, scattering all his papers to the ground. He seemed so irritated. So blissfully unaware of his fate. Things had changed so much in only a few months.
"How long have you known Wolfe?" Sophie asked.
A shaky sigh escaped Aubrey, followed by a small laugh. She reached up and ran a hand through her hair, brushing a lock behind her ear. "I've known him since he first started working at the academy," she answered. Her dead eyes shined with something unnamable. "It was kind of funny, because he thought I was a teacher at first. I was the only one who would really talk to him. I was intrigued by him. He was an outsider, with knowledge of new the new technology in the world. He kind of taught me the basics with a laptop."
Sophie arched an eyebrow.
Aubrey sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Naturally, it didn't take long for me to learn the layout. And even though I excelled at it, I continued to play dumb just so he would teach me more. It was so stupid."
A small smile stretched across Sophie's lips. "Did he ever find out?"
"Oh yeah," Aubrey snorted. "It didn't take long for him to realize that my knowledge of computers far surpassed his. It was cute while it lasted though. I'm just surprised that he didn't stop talking to me completely after that."
