30 Nights

12

EDRIC

I know that Max will jump out of the window first so I'm not surprised when I see his body plummeting down. The four vampire guards jump up about ten feet to catch him before placing him carefully on the landing mat.

I imagine for a moment if it was my family in the games and how we would all act. Tobias would jump out the window first. You get to look the bravest by going first but actually, it's the weakest option. It's far more nerve wracking to watch people jump out in front of you and stand there waiting for your turn. Not to mention that if something was going to go wrong then it's more likely to happen the first time. Peter would refuse to jump and my father would find some way to wriggle out of jumping without looking a coward. And me, I'd probably jump out right after Tobias.

Max is getting up and is being helped off the landing mat. A couple of guards walk him over to stand over the other side of the street with us. He gives me a cocky smirk as he walks by.

"Your little princess looks like she's gonna puke up there," he sneers. I don't give him the satisfaction of a response. I wonder how terrified she is feeling. She is so young and so unprepared mentally for this. The other three had an idea of the types of tests and not only that, they really want to be immortal. She has just stumbled in and is only here to keep her family safe and to stay alive. And that's different mindset.

I see Tom falling down next. He doesn't scream, neither did Max. They have both shown bravery and constraint in how they have jumped. Of course, we wouldn't let them die in the second test. And deep down they must all realise but there is something powerful about being human and jumping off something as high as this.

On the one hand, you feel the pull of gravity wanting to suck you down to the ground. But on the other, every instinct is telling you to step back and get somewhere safe. The human instinct to survive is strong and automatic, so to being able to jump off such a high building shows immense control. And more than that, it shows me that a human really does desire this.

In all the games I've seen, if someone doesn't jump then they don't really want this. One way or another, something always happens in the games to rule them out. And no-one who has refused to jump has ever won the games.

"You mustn't lose your credibility as games master because of this girl," my father croaks beside me. "The other humans are already looking down at you."

"One comment from an arrogant human male doesn't mean I'm losing my edge," I say, looking across at Max. I think of the battles I've fought and the fights I've won with my bare hands. He wouldn't have lasted five minutes fighting me when I was human.

"Will she jump?" Tobias asks, shifting closer beside me.

"I don't expect her to. She didn't choose to be here. She's young and scared, it's a lot to handle," I say.

"Then she shouldn't be in the games if she can't take part," my father hisses.

"We've been over this, Victor," I say slowly to avoid showing the anger that is flaring inside me. "She doesn't deserve to die without a chance. She knows about us now, the rules are that she joins the games."

"But you're hardly treating her like a typical contestant," my father snaps.

"And how many human lovers has Tobias here had? And some of those were not even in the games."

"Oh but I'm always careful brother never to reveal fully what I am," Tobias smirks.

"You're the gamesmaster, you should be more neutral," says my father so quietly that no-one but me can hear him.