I stared at the Lightbloods. They began to draw weapons from their weapon belts. There were daggers, throwing knives, complicated looking guns, and even swords. I looked at Will and Luke. To my horror, Will was taking out a dagger, his gaze never leaving my eyes. His usually warm and fun-spirited eyes were cold with betrayal. "No..." I whispered so softly I doubted anyone heard me.
"She's evil! That's no Lightblood! She's a Darkblood! She planned the attack on the Infirmary so she could find the Imperium!" Shouted a Lightblood with brown hair and glittering red eyes. I backed away slowly until my back hit the cabinets. I was trapped.
Suddenly, a Lightblood woman threw a throwing star at me, aiming for my throat. It would have hit me if I don't move quickly away. What? Since when did I have amazing reflexes? I moved quickly and dodged everything. A short sword was thrown at me, but before it could puncture my heart, I caught it by the hilt inches away. I surprised myself. But now I had a weapon. I raised the short sword, not even knowing how to use it. But it felt familiar in my hands, like I've used it my whole life. I jumped up on the table and I raised my other hand and gestured for them to come to me. I was not afraid. I was a Darkblood.
All at once everyone ran to me. I looked at Will again, his dagger raised and his bright eyes blazing with anger. Luke was nowhere to be seen. I swung the blade in my hand, wounding a Lightblood in the shoulder and I kicked at another's hand, knocking away his oddly shaped sword. My blade had been licked at the top with white blood. I didn't want this. I don't want to kill these people. I couldn't. Hoping my amazing new abilities would help me, I leaped. I leaped over the group of Lightbloods and landed on the other side of them, where the door was. Right when they started toward me, I pushed open the door and ran as fast as I could. I felt an odd hunger for battle. Part of me wanted to run to avoid bloodshed and part of me wanted to turn back and face them. I ran upstairs, hoping to get out as fast as possible. I saw the front desk and knew I was close. But before I could get my foot up the first step, a figure swooped by and blocked my exit. He had impossibly bright blue eyes.
"Luke, please," I said softly, "I don't want to hurt anyone." He looked at me with an unreadable expression. I heard footsteps getting louder and louder. Luke still didn't say anything or move. "Luke, move!" I yelled, trying to shove him out of the way. He was much stronger and heavier, so he didn't budge. He caught at my wrist, making it impossible for me to move it. My heart beat rapidly in my chest. My gaze moved from his eyes to his neck, where the faint beat of his pulse taunted me and made me lick my lips. I really didn't want to do this, but it was the only way.
I lunged forward, sinking my teeth surprisingly easily into his neck. Luke yelled out in pain. His blood tasted sweet and just made me want more and more. It felt like drinking water after being so dehydrated. I noticed Luke's skin was turning into an odd color, so I forced myself to stop. I licked my lips and teeth and felt a stinging pain. All my teeth were unusually sharp. I didn't care though. The blood gave me a boost of energy and I kicked Luke hard. He let go of my wrist and doubled over. I shoved him violently out of the way and ran with astonishing speed up the stairs just as the Lightbloods came into the room. and I was back in the alley from before. I licked the white blood off my short sword, poking my tongue, but I didn't care. I thrust the short sword in my belt and ran in a direction I didn't know and everything seemed amazing. The blood was amazing. While running around Los Angeles, I knew only one thing: I needed more blood.
******
It's been a week since we lost Alissa. The other Lightbloods and I have been looking for her. The only clues we had were the newspapers for missing people all over Los Angeles. Some bodies were burned and others were covered in blood. But they all had vicious punctured in their throats. The paper said they were animal attacks, but we all know it's Alissa. I couldn't help but blame myself. If Luke and I hadn't captured Dahlia and Lena and killed the other guy and freed her, none of this would be happening. We have no choice but to kill her.
The only thing that made it weird and unlike all the other Darkbloods I had killed was because of her eyes. She still had bright green Lightblood eyes. And she had Lightblood and Darkblood abilities. But it's impossible to be a mix of both. But that won't stop me. She's a Darkblood either way and she must be stopped.
The last clue we got about Alissa's whereabouts was a newspaper about a young couple that had been attacked. They survived, but all they would say about the attack was that a girl with glowing eyes tried to eat them. Of course, no one believed them. We sent around a dozen Lightbloods there, including me, and a few stayed at the Infirmary.
We don't usually chase Darkbloods around like this; if they escape, they escape. There are always more to hunt. But we believe Alissa is part of a larger group of Darkbloods who want the Imperium. We think the attack on the Infirmary last week was a distraction so she could look for it. The Imperium is a huge gold box hidden here full of Lightblood strength. Whenever a Lightblood dies (and that happens a lot) their Lightblood bracelet gets put there. But our Imperium has only the bracelets of the Lightbloods who live in Los Angeles. We all get one when we're born. Mine's a simple white, gray, and black yarn braid. Every Lightblood has white and black yarn, and the third color depends on the color of their eyes. The bracelets are where our strength comes from, and they can only be crafted by certain special Redbloods called Crafters that know about us. They make our bracelets and potions. The bracelets cannot be cut or pulled off; they only come off when the wearer chooses to quit hunting or when they die, and the bracelet can only be pulled off by another Lightblood. And Alissa doesn't even have one but she still has Lightblood abilities.The Darkbloods have tried to get their hands on the Imperium for years. It would give them Lightblood abilities. Of course the box is protected by hundreds of spells that only Lightbloods know how to reverse, but that won't be too hard for a Darkblood to torture it out of them. And we're not going to let Alissa and her Darkblood friends get their hands on it.
******
I raised my head and took a breath of fresh air. I tossed the dead body I had just drained of blood aside and went back inside the bar to get my drink and the drink of the person I had just killed. I went back out holding one glass in each hand and dunked the contents over the body. Then I took out a lighter from my pocket and threw it on the body, scorching it. Before I had come inside the bar, I had copied the invisibility spell I saw Luke do before we went in the Infirmary. I had a drink or two without anyone seeing me and then I saw Rayna sitting all alone, and I took her outside and had quite a big meal drinking her blood. I wiped the scarlet blood from the corner of my mouth and reversed the invisibility spell. No one noticed me pop into view. I walked away without looked back at the burning body hidden behind the trees.
I have decided not to stop drinking blood, because once I stop I start to go back to my old self. So kind and not wanting to hurt anyone. But I don't want to care. Because once I start caring again, I stop doing what I want to do. And I like to do what I want.
I walked the streets of LA without a care in the world. I was a Darkblood Lightblood hybrid. Stronger than both. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a girl around my age walking alone. I breathed in her scent. Rose perfume and blood. Sweet, delicious blood. I covered us with another invisibility spell and felt my sharp teeth coming in. I held her by the shoulders and threw my head back, ready to sink my teeth in. Before I could though, a strong hand grabbed my shoulder and threw me back. I staggered and looked up. Will.
He gave me a cold, menacing grin. I returned the look. He threw himself at me, taking out a sword meant for decapitation. He pinned me to the ground but before the blade could touch my skin, I kicked him off me, disarming him, and rolled onto him, so now I was on top. I laughed darkly. I drew out my short sword from before and held it at his throat.
"If you want to live, I suggest you tell all your Lightblood friends to leave me alone," I said poking his skin with the blade. White blood sprang from where he had been hurt and I licked my lips at the sight of it. But I did not remove the sword.
"Actually if YOU want to live, then I suggest getting off my friend," said an unfamiliar female voice. I turned my head, giving Will enough time to get away and take my short sword from me, putting it in his weapons belt and retrieving his other sword from the ground.
The person standing above me looked about my age, but several inches taller. Her straight jet-black hair reached her shoulders and her glowing hot pink eyes glared at me. She reminded me of Charlotte, from the natural beauty to the clothes. The girl wore a black crop-top with spaghetti straps and a plunging neckline and black leather pants and short black high heeled boots. Her hot pink acrylic nails held a gun that was raised to the same level as my forehead. I could see that on her arm was an invisibility spell. Her pink eyes flashed with loathing. I had nowhere to run now.
Before I could say anything, Will broke the silence by muttering, "she's here. We got her," into a peculiar looking device and continued to tell whoever he was talking to where we were. I was about to get up and try to escape unharmed, but before I could do that Will's hand seized my shoulder and he put a dagger against my throat with the other. Now I was really trapped.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright white square take shape on a nearby wall. A portal. Lightbloods with various glittering eyes flooded out. I struggled to move against Will but he only gripped me harder.
A Lightblood with silver eyes and black hair came up to us first. "Kill her, son," he said to Will. The resemblance was clear; he was Will's father. There were murmurs of agreement.
"No," said a deep voice. All the Lightbloods turned and saw a man in a black suit. He had gelled back black hair with streaks of silver and violet eyes that looked at me thoughtfully. "No," he said again. "Let's take her to the meeting chambers."
"But sir-" Will's father protested, but the other man held up a hand to silence him.
"We shouldn't get rid of her just yet. She is a very interesting case you see, a mix of Lightblood and Darkblood," said the man. He was probably in charge of them all.
Two adults, one man and one woman with dark skin and brown eyes that's weren't bright, took me from Will and each held one arm, walking me to the portal. They stepped through with me and after a moment of seeing nothing but white light, I landed in a cold stone chair. The man and woman who carried me here took my arms again before I could escape and put them on the arms of the chair and bound my wrists to the chair with leather buckles. I moved around and tried to free myself, but my supernatural strength didn't help me now. I saw the other Lightbloods appear and take seats at one side of a long table in front of me. The chair I sat on was attached to the floor and had pieces of gold built into it.
"Gold weakens Darkbloods," informed Will's father, noticing my struggles.
I stopped moving and looked around the room for the first time. It was huge and high ceilinged. There were no windows anywhere (probably meaning the place was underground like the Infirmary) and the room seemed very well lit even though there were no lights in sight. The long, dark table stood in the middle of the room and had several high backed chairs. But the chairs had been put on the side facing me now, so all the Lightbloods could see me. The chair of stone and gold that I sat on was on a platform elevated by two small steps. There was nothing else in the room other than a stone statue of a knight holding a sword, like the painting in the Infirmary. The thing that bothered me most was the black and very faint white stains all over the chair I sat on; Darkbloods and Lightbloods were tortured here. I tried to hide my horrified expression and stared blankly at the Lightbloods in front of me.
A woman with blond hair and bright pink eyes like the girl with the gun from before stared at me menacingly. "What should we do with her, Scott?" She asked the man with the violet eyes.
The man, now known as Scott, never took his gaze off me. "I just have a few questions first, Johnson. Do be patient," he responded. "Now, what's your name, little girl?" He asked me.
I stayed quiet. I would've spit on him if I was close enough. Unfortunately, the Johnson woman was able to answer.
"Alissa Wood, sir. She's Jia and Daniel's daughter," she responded.
Scott's thoughtful expression didn't change. "The Redblood Lightblood hybrid, now the Lightblood Darkblood hybrid. Interesting!" He said. "Who do you work for, Alissa?" He said leaning forward in his chair.
"No one," I responded.
"No one? Not . . . Say Lorenzo Whitworth?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No one. I don't even know who that is."
"You see Alissa, I think it's the better decision to answer truthfully, but there are always other ways to....convince you," Scott said with a grin.
A shudder passed through me but I forced myself to act unafraid. "Do all you want, but my answer is going to stay the same. All I know is that I was taken by people and they made me drink some poison. Then I get introduced to this Lightblood Darkblood world and now I'm a mix of both. The attack on the Infirmary was not my doing, and I don't know what the Imperium is or whatever you think I want."
Scott had an unreadable expression on his face. "Lily, can you get your daughter and her friends so they can tell us what happened?" He said to Johnson. She nodded silently and left the room swiftly.
While she was gone, I saw Scott and a the man with red eyes that I saw before in a quiet but heated argument, most likely about me. Soon Lily came back with Will, Luke, a boy with dirty blonde hair and shimmering gold eyes, and the girl from before with the gun. So Lily was her mother.
Scott turned toward them. "I've asked you here to explain what happened from the moment you met Alissa," he said.
Luke began speaking. "We were tracking down Dahlia and Lena for you and once we got them and killed the other guy, Kylie and Jayden brought them back to you. Will and I stayed to make sure no one else was in the house, and we found Alissa. Her ankles and wrists were tied to the bed and she looked horrible. We saw she was a Lightblood so we took her back to the Infirmary. She really didn't know anything about our world and we had to tell her about it; It's not like her mom would've wanted her to know because she chose to marry a Redblood and quit hunting Darkbloods. But unless her father was a Darkblood, which even her mother wouldn't do"—The blonde boy smirked at that—"and Alissa is a magical miracle since Darkblood Lightblood babies are stillborn, then Alissa wasn't always a Darkblood. Meaning she was turned into a Darkblood. Which is impossible. So we shouldn't kill her. We should find who did this to her." When he was done the people seated at the table stared, but Will was the first to speak.
"Actually, I disagree."
"You do?" Luke asked, quirking up an eyebrow.
"I do," Will continued. "She may be part Lightblood, but she's also part Darkblood. She is still a threat to us all. She bit Luke and you can't just forget how many people she's killed in the last few days! Newspaper after newspaper about dead people from young teenagers to adults. Young teenagers! She can't get away with that because of her eyes and Lightblood abilities, she acts like a Darkblood so she should be treated like a Darkblood. I say we kill her!"
At that, the was an eruption of voices. There were people agreeing with Will and people agreeing with Luke. The room was full of people arguing about whose side they took and people chattering about what they think.
"SILENCE!" Cried out a strong, clear voice. The talking died down in seconds and everyone turned to Scott. "I believe we must put it up to a vote: Keep her alive for questioning first and then welcome her as a Lightblood and train her to control her bloodlust, or treat her as a Darkblood and finish her off like all the others. We will meet again in three days to see which choice got the most votes. Let us see what the final decision will be." And with that, everyone at the table stood up and left. The meeting was over.
The same man and woman who took me before unbuckled the leather straps and took my arms again. I went down a stone hall with torches on the walls and different smaller hallways that branched out on both sides. We finally took a turn and went down several flights of stairs and through big double doors that revealed a big room with cells lined up on the walls. I was thrown in one and the ex-hunters locked the door and left. I got up to a sitting position. Three days. Just three days and my life is over, or a new one begins. I closed my eyes and let sleep come to me.
I was outside. Dead body after dead body tossed aside or burned. I just needed more blood. I didn't care about the number of people I killed. I didn't care about anything. I just needed more. I looked down at the girl I had just killed. She had very long light brown hair and baby blue eyes that were glassy and unstaring. There was scarlet blood from where I bit her. She had a necklace with a small red jewel hanging from the chain. I knew that face all too well. It was Elena, my best friend since the third grade. But I didn't care that I killed her. I suddenly heard a soft banging noise. I looked up and around. It got louder. And louder. Louder.
I sat bolt right up on the cold stone floor. I was sweating, though it was very cold. I closed my eyes. I killed people. I murdered people and I didn't even care. But not Elena. I didn't kill Elena...did I? I would die if I knew that I killed her.
"Finally you're awake! My hand started to hurt," said a faintly familiar voice. My eyes flew open and I turned my head. Kylie was standing outside the cell. She had the outfit from earlier, but this time she didn't have the gun, thank God.
"What do you want?" I snapped. I was not in the mood to chat.
Kylie shrugged. "Im bored."
I stared at her incredulously. "You came here to talk to a prisoner who you aimed a gun at earlier because-because you're bored?" I asked.
The other girl nodded. "Yes," she responded plainly. "Though it looks like you didn't want company."
"Of course I don't. Especially not from you. You want me dead anyway, so are you just here to make fun of my impending death?" I asked bitterly.
"I never said I wanted you dead," Kylie said. "I actually came here to say that I'm going to vote for you to stay alive. But maybe I should reconsider." Her tone changed in an instant from fun and cheery to annoyed and angry.
"Sorry. But maybe you shouldn't try to get close to the girl who's about to die in three days. And don't you have other friends, Will and Luke and that blonde boy?" I said, still bitter. This wasn't the time to be nice.
Kylie rolled her eyes and shook her her head slightly, swishing her short black hair around. "Yes, but Will is acting like an ass, I don't know where Luke is, and Jayden is always making stupid jokes. And besides, you're the only normal girl my age here," she said.
"So are all your friends except Will voting for me the live?" I asked.
"Yeah. We want to give you a try and I think you'll be a good Lightblood. You were pretty good that time with the sword," Kylie responded with a smile.
"So do you live here?" I asked.
"Yeah. This is where Daron Scott, the Lightblood leader lives. And everyone like his second in command or other people in the Lightblood government and their families live here too." She said. "So, do you have a boyfriend?"
I felt myself flush and immediately looked down to hide my face. I probably looked terrible with a face flushed black. "No," I said without looking up.
"What is it?" Kylie asked, clearly noticing my odd behavior.
"I probably look so weird like this face since my blood is black."
"Oh, I forgot about that! Come here, we use a spell that make us look like we have red blood from the outside. But when we bleed, Redbloods see red and Lightbloods see the real color," Kylie said.
I brought me head up and walked closer to Kylie. "Here," I said as I thrust my arm in the space between two cell bars.
Kylie stared at my face and made an odd face. "Are you sure no one did the spell before? Because your blood look red from the outside already. It doesn't look black at all," she said.
"What? No . . ." I said. "Maybe my mom did the spell when I was younger?" I suggested.
The other girl nodded. "Yeah, that's probably it. Listen, I have to go before they notice I'm gone. See you later. Bye!" She left the room swiftly, closing the door softly behind her.
A ghost of a smile appeared on my face. I was actually making a friend here. I went to sleep that night thinking of the three days I had until the final decision. I closed my eyes, thinking about what would happen if they chose to kill me. I prayed that they wouldn't.