Zone Zero: Redemption (Book 2 of 3)

Chapter 6

Driving in the back of a van with blackened windows causes my anxiety to sky rocket. I have no idea where I am or where I am going. All I know is that my hands are bound tightly behind my back and there are two vampires in the front seat.

The driver is a round man with jet black hair and acne scars while Julius lounges lankily next to him.

I gave up screaming for help when I was forced inside a small airplane with twelve seething vampires. I was dragged out of that same plane only an hour ago and thrown into the back of this van.

I pull my knees up to my chest and bite my lip so that I won't cry. If I start crying I know that I won't stop any time soon.

Images flash through my mind and I try my best to push them away but the same moment keeps replaying in my mind.

Julius standing tall over me, giving off a silent signal to have me taken away and as I am being dragged through the dirt kicking and screaming, an almighty brawl takes place. I arch my back to see behind me and witness vampires running toward where I last saw Alex, only to be flung backward on arrival. At least thirty vampires all crowd him as he takes down each one trying his best to hold them off for long enough to get to me.

I can sense his hysterical need to provide me with safety and he will stop at nothing to do so.

I screames his name both out loud and silently fpr hours but I never heard a response either way. He is lost to me now.

The van comes to a halt and jerks me out of my memory and back into the present. Wherever I am to be taken, I have arrived.

The van door slides open and showcases the overcast day it is. I can only guess that it is sometime in the afternoon since it was barely morning when I was ripped from Alex.

I let my eyes adjust to the new visual stimulus as Julius grabs my elbow and drags me out of the van. The sky is so dark with clouds that there is no way of telling where the sun is. A perfect day for vampires.

My attention quickly strays from the sky and lack of sun to what stands before me. An amazing gothic castle, over centuries old, stands tall against the countryside. Its pointed roof tops are complete with the odd gargoyle and is nothing short of spectacular. The stone work has been washed with centuries old dirt and now stands more of a blackish brown than a proper grey. A wooden bridge is set to usher me inside the gates of this triumph to architecture and for a moment, I forget why I am even here. This place is nothing short of spectacular.

A sharp tug on my elbow from Julius brings me back to the here and now and I stumble forward, managing to catch my balance before face planting.

I look on in awe at the castle and try to think of where in the world I could possibly be but come up short. I have no way of knowing, which means that Alex will have very little chance of finding me.

I stifle a tear and hold my head up higher. No tears today.

As we cross the wooden bridge, a female figure takes shape as she saunters toward us. As she comes closer I manage to take her in entirely and am oddly thrown off by her demeanour. She is average height but stands even taller due to six inch red and black heels that buckle at the ankle. She wears a tiny black dress that finishes only inches from her hip and if she were to bend over, I know I would see the colour of her underwear. Her hair tumbles around her elbows in swirls of honeycomb and chocolate and I feel an instant envy toward her. She is picturesque.

As the distance between us comes to a close, she stops as though at the end of a cat walk and places her hands on her hips. She inspects me from head to toe and then turns to Julius.