Revolution

Carrie

I couldn’t believe this. I rode in the back of a stinky bus for 7 hours to come see Bryce. We hadn’t seen each other in almost three months because of his new job. He promised me that if he took this job, we would find a way to do the long-distance thing.

Just a year, he said.

That was all he needed to make a name for himself in the company, and then he could transfer back to Phoenix.

And I was the idiot that believed him.

I was the idiot that thought I should use one of my very few sick days and turn a three-day weekend into a four-day weekend, with the help of Labor Day, so I could come and see him. Not that he had made the effort to see me since he left. Even though he promised to drive down every other weekend.

I rode the hot, dirty, overfilled bus all night. The creepy old man next to me drooled all over my shoulder. I cleaned myself up in the bathroom at the station, trying to not look like I rode a hot, dirty, overfilled bus all night. My long hair had been braided all night, thankfully keeping it out of the path of drool. I relished in the feeling as I took it out. The blonde waves looked pretty good, in my opinion anyway. With that done, I caught an uber straight to Bryce’s place.

I was there by seven. We could have at least had breakfast together before he headed off to work.

Bryce and I danced and flirted at a few parties together during college. It wasn’t until our last year that I finally agreed to go out with him. He sure was a persistent sucker.

Every now and then he would try to push for more than I was willing to give, but he said it was because he loved me so much that he sometimes lost control. I knew that was a lie, but I was hoping it wasn’t that much of a lie.

See, I have this weird gift, one that runs in my family, well, sort of. We all have our own unique talents. I always knew when someone was lying to me. When there was something not quite right about a person. When they were hiding something from me. I just didn’t know what it was.

As much as I loved, or at least cared about Bryce, there was still something off. So, I wanted to wait. I hoped, in time, I would either get over it or find out what it was.

Guess I knew now.

I knocked on his apartment door, at seven freaking a.m., and some hoebag answered it.

She was dressed in nothing but one of his t-shirts. One I bought him actually. It was gray, with a green saguaro cactus on it. The words across the top and bottom said, “there is no place like the desert.” I wanted him to remember where home was. Where he belonged.

Now this cheap floozie was wearing it.

“Can I help you?” She didn’t seem very happy about me being there either, but probably assumed I just had the wrong door.

If it wasn’t for that shirt, I would have been hoping for the same thing.

“Yes. You can tell me who the hell you are?” I was feeling more than a little irritable from the long night, I didn’t handle it as well as I should have.

“Who’s at the door, sweetheart?” A voice I recognized all too well, called from the back. Pretty sure steam came out of my ears.

I pushed her aside roughly, knocking her off balance. “I’ll tell you who, Sweetheart.” I answered him, my voice filled with the venom I wanted to spit at him.

Why couldn’t my ancestors have passed down the power to spit acid? That would be awesome right about now.

Bryce stuttered to a stop, walking into his larger than I expected living room. It was certainly larger than what he had in Phoenix. He was wearing nothing but boxers, with a shocked and freaked out expression.

We then had our biggest, and final, fight of our relationship.

At first he tried to come up with excuses. His Sweetheart eventually moved to stand next to him. Confused but obviously planning on standing by her man.

When he realized that wasn’t going to work, he went on the offensive. He got tired of waiting, of being celibate, which was a lie. I didn’t need my extra senses for that. He had already tried the whole “nothing happened” and the “I swear this was the first time” crap on me.

Now, those I felt were flat out lies.

Sweetheart was a co-worker, the boss’s daughter actually. They met his first week there and she was basically living with him now. He even had the nerve to say if I had put out even once this may not have happened. I ripped the necklace he had given me for Christmas last year off, the one I wore every day, and threw it at him.

I called an uber, choosing to wait on the sidewalk, and went back to the bus station. Unfortunately, the buses between LA and Phoenix only ran at night. I couldn’t say as I blamed them. People have been known to get sunburned while making that drive during the day. Through their windows. We didn’t need a bus overheating from the drive and get stuck on the side of the road either.

I booked my ticket, and then tried to get comfortable in one of the worn-out cushioned chairs. Sleep was nowhere near an option in a large room filled with strangers, so I kept my eyes on the tv hanging in one corner.

A lot of people were doing that actually. The volume was off, so it took me a few minutes to catch up based on the captions on the bottom of the screen.

50 dead overnight, Sacramento. 100 dead overnight, San Diego. 52 dead overnight, Los Angeles. 27 dead overnight, Fresno.

I jumped when the volume turned on randomly. I turned, along with most of the other waiting passengers, to see the station manager standing behind us, remote in hand. His eyes were glued to the screen, not paying any of us any attention.

“As of 7:15 this morning, every freeway and highway leading into Northern California has been destroyed. Casualty numbers are not available for release at this time. Residents in the cities are claiming to have heard a jet followed by the explosions. Officials have so far refused to answer any questions or give an official report.”

I gasped in complete shock.

“All over California, we are seeing a continued rise in what can only be assumed are gang related deaths. These attacks have been steadily growing over the last few weeks. From the beginning to now, one thing they all have in common are the two holes found in the neck of each body. Police are calling it a “calling card” by a new gang or terrorist group. This group seems to be attacking the entire state of California. Wait…hold on… reports are coming in now. Car bombs have recently been set off in front of the state capital and many other government buildings in Northern California. There is no word yet as to survivors.”

As the reporter began rehashing events I had heard nothing about - probably due to my preferring to not watch television and rarely listened to live radio - the other waiting passengers began talking amongst themselves.

I heard the word vampire thrown around multiple times.

My chest immediately tightened, and I started gasping for air. When was the last time I had a panic attack? Five years ago?

The sun was still up, making it safe, so I ran outside, bent over, and heaved.

Both my parents were strong believers in the supernatural. My mother had the talent of clairvoyance, my father could read people’s minds when he wanted too. I landed somewhere in the middle with my ability to sniff out a lie, so to speak.

I didn’t actually use my nose. That would just be ridiculous. What was I, a dog?

Five years ago, both my parents were killed in what the police called a random mugging. When I identified the bodies, I noted the two small holes on their thighs.

Yes, I know, the bodies were usually more covered than that, but the coroner was a friend of my dad’s, and he knew my family wasn’t exactly normal. He was nice enough to let me look for odd markings.

I didn’t point them out to him. The cops didn’t think anything of the little holes as someone had also shot them in the chest. Why? How the hell should I know? I wasn’t the cop. Just the cop’s daughter. My dad had put his talent to good use.

Once my breathing evened out, I sat on the ground outside, trying to figure out what to do. I rarely went out at night in general, something else that always irritated Bryce. I never felt comfortable telling him about my family ancestry.

Why was I with him for so long? I honestly didn’t know the answer to that.

He was sweet most of the time and acted like he cared too. Maybe I was that sad desperate chick looking for a connection. Learned my lesson on that one. Will not be making that mistake again.

My stomach started grumbling, reminding me that I had not had anything to eat since dinner the night before. I had no interest in the bus station food, also known as two-year-old sandwiches in a vending machine. That probably wouldn’t go over well with the remaining twist in my stomach.

Everything I packed and brought with me was in my backpack. For some stupid reason I thought I would finally cave to Bryce this weekend, so I hadn’t brought much with me.

Maybe I was just naive.

I wasn’t a virgin. At least I didn’t think I was. When I was 17, my boyfriend at the time said he had gone all the way in. I felt gross, sticky, stuff all over me, but there had been no pain like my mom told me there would be.

She was never one to hold back details on anything she deemed important. You should hear the bedtime stories I got as a kid.

Anyway, there had been no pain, in fact, I hardly felt him at all. It took me a while to realize the moron had been a bit premature and then lied to save himself some face. My little gift was still growing at the time.

How far in did they need to go for it to count as taking your virginity?

Whatever, not important. At least, not right now.

That had also been the night my parents died. I was late meeting them for dinner at our favorite place, because I may or may not have been doing something else. Needless to say, I went through a self-hate/guilt phase for a while.

With my one and only bag securely strapped to my back, I looked down the street the station was on, seeing if there were any close options. Down the right looked a little busier and had more colorful buildings. Down the left looked a bit shady.

I chose to go right.

I walked half a mile before I came to a Del Taco. Chicken tacos sounded good, so I went inside. I hung out there, munching on the yummy crinkle fries for a while.

The employees were all talking to each other and looking at videos on their phones. I didn’t want to watch or hear any more of it. I just needed to kill time until my bus left at eleven tonight. I still had about twelve hours that needed to be murdered.

I walked down the street a little further, browsing various stores. I debated getting a souvenir, but I decided my broken heart (or was it my pride?) was enough for this trip. I would prefer to forget this whole thing ever happened.

I thought about calling my friend Clarise and telling her what happened. But she would be busy teaching third grade right now. I picked up a new novel, something else I hadn’t brought, thinking I was going to be in bed all weekend, and a sudoku book.

I made my way back to the bus station around three, giving myself plenty of time before the sun set. I looked at the tv once, the volume still on, more deaths were being verified. I tuned it out and opened my book.

It was supposed to be a happy story, something lighthearted. I hadn’t realized it was a romance. I growled at myself for my stupidity.

I shoved the book in my bag, thinking one day I might actually want to read it, and pulled out the sudoku. This was better. Mind numbing even.

That got old after an hour though.

I plugged my phone into a wall and sat on the floor, opening my Netflix app. Nothing sounded good there. So, I switched to my Amazon Prime, realizing I probably could have saved money and read one of the hundreds of books on my TBR list, on my kindle unlimited app. Or one of the dozens that I have checked out on my Libby app (no night life leaves a lot of time for reading).

I blamed my overly tired brain.

I giggled, out loud, when my eyes fell onto the perfect movie I could watch. Boyfriend Killer. Turned out it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, but it was better than a chick flick.

By the time the movie was over, the sun was showing the first signs of going down.

My heart rate picked up speed, and I frantically began looking for something else to watch. I had finally settled on the show Psych - those two idiots were always good for a laugh - when the floor shook, and my ears rang from a loud boom. People all around me screamed and ducked for cover.

Now, I had never been in an earthquake before, but somehow that didn’t seem like what this was.

“Attention, viewers at home. Police officials are calling an immediate curfew. Everyone needs to be in their homes ASAP. If you are not close to home, go somewhere with cover and get yourself off the streets. We’ve just received word that bombs were dropped minutes ago on the 10, 15, 14, 101, and 405 freeways, as well as some city buildings. Again, police are saying to get inside and take…” the tv screen turned to snow as we felt another shake.

Our power was still on. There wasn’t so much as a blink in the lights.

Did they take out the news station?

I crawled around the wall I was leaning against and looked out the windows, with the other fifty people in the room, and watched fire and smoke reaching up to the sky. Many people screamed with shock when a few of the tall buildings started collapsing in on themselves.

Was this all vampires? Or were there really terrorists, or gangs attacking California?

All over the bus station people were screaming, yelling, and sobbing. It wasn’t helping me try to keep my brain functioning like normal. The bus station manager stood on a chair and hollered until he had everyone’s attention.

“All buses are canceled. With the roads being blown up, it’s not safe to leave, nor can we really go anywhere. At least not in the dark. If you know someone nearby, I suggest heading there. If not, you are welcome to stay here until morning. Maybe we can get on the road then.”

I started crying myself now. I was trapped here. Possibly in a city full of vampires. This was the last place I should be.

My parents weren’t the first ones in our family to die from their bite. It had happened many times in the past. Mom always told me the magic in our blood called to them. She tried to explain why to me, I was sure it was in one of her stories somewhere, but by the time I hit puberty, I thought she was ridiculous.

And then I turned sixteen and started being able to tell some of my friends were using me. I had more than a few admirers on the football team. I may have gained a few trust issues after that. Especially when I realized how many of the guys weren’t actually my friends either, they were just hoping to be the one to finally get me in their beds… or their back seats… or under the bleachers.

Was it any wonder I had trust issues? I kind of hated my gift sometimes. It carried a bit of a double-edged sword.

A good portion of the people ignored the stay indoors rule from the police and took off to try and find family and friends. Maybe half a dozen, give or take one or two, remained. I found a corner and tried to hide in there. As the world grew darker, with the exception of the fires, I had a harder time breathing. I needed air, and the dusty station was not helping.

I told myself I would stay near the door. That would be safe.

Yeah, I couldn’t lie to myself either.

I crept out one of the back doors that led to the loading area and sat against the wall next to the door. The top half was glass, but the bottom half was brick. I took slow deep breaths, keeping my ears open for someone coming from down the street.

I wasn’t listening in the right direction.

“Welcome, to Sunny Los Angeles everyone. Where the weather is a constant balmy seventy degrees and the sun always shines.” A semi-deep voice shouted gleefully from behind me.

“Except for at night.” Another voice added with a deeper giggle.

“Yes, and we rule the night. Actually, we rule it all now.” They both started laughing at their stupidity.

I turned carefully, trying to keep my head down as much as I could and peaked over the brick portion. I saw two badly dressed men. They looked like they could have been any man really. Movies always got it wrong.

They weren’t any paler than everyone else - unless they hadn’t fed in a while. These ones had a slight tan. They also didn’t have permanent red or gold eyes. And they certainly couldn’t walk in the sun. Sparkly skin or not.

One of them licked his lips hungrily as he looked around the station. “We got us a buffet in here is what we got.” The other just laughed along like the idiot he obviously was. “I’m so glad we got this detail tonight. Hmmm. Where to start, where to start. Ah. Yes. You, young man, look like you have just what I need to get me through the night.”

The vamp slowly started stalking over toward a muscular man, one who probably liked working out. The man took a few steps back, putting more distance between them. It didn’t matter.

Movies did have the speed down.

They may not be as fast as Edward Cullen, but they were still faster than humans. The second the vampire’s fangs sank into the man, the other vamp blocked the front doors.

And here I thought it was safer inside.

I sank back below the window, my legs frozen in fear. I could hear the people screaming from the other side of the glass. Men, women, and a few kids.

As the vampires made their way closer to the back door, I put my fist to my mouth to keep from screaming out loud. I was biting down so hard I started to break the skin. I had enough sense in me to pull back just a touch.

The last thing I needed was for them to smell my blood out there.

I jumped slightly when I heard a voice up close.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pretty full right now.” A dark chuckle sounded.

“Me too. But I smell something sweet that makes me want dessert.”

“I smell it too, but I don’t see anyone else in here. I bet they just didn’t taste as good as they smelled. We probably got them already. Besides, we need to get moving. Lucas’ orders were to clear out the main street tonight.”

“Eh. There isn’t much left. The other two teams should have cleaned up most of it by now.” The voices started fading away again. “If we hurry though, we can get to Deac’s bar before he closes up for the night.”

“I thought you said you were full?”

The dark chuckle sounded again. “Who said I was going to feed? He has some mighty fine donors who are up for more than just feeding. Besides, that smell has my sweet tooth foaming. All these guys were sour and salty from the fear.”

“Yum, that does sound good. Wanna split one? We each spend five minutes releasing, while the other feeds off the dopamine.”

“Sounds good to me. I don’t think I could fit more than that in me right now anyway.”

Their voices trailed off and soon I heard the sounds of the main door opening and closing in the silence.

I didn’t know for sure how long I waited, sitting absolutely still, listening to any noises coming from inside. It wasn’t until I heard movement down the road that I finally peaked inside the bus station again. It was a slaughterhouse in there. Dead bodies laid all over the room, some closer to the doors than others, as though they had tried to make a run for it.

When the noises grew closer, I opened the door and crawled inside.

I crawled along the wall, not trusting my legs to hold me, moving toward the ticket counter. I crept behind it, and nearly screamed at the same time as someone else. They were screaming so loud they would attract attention.

I hurried over, moving at more of a hunched run this time, before dropping again and covering her mouth with my hand.

“Sh, sh. It’s ok. They’re gone.” The screams were lowering but the girl was crying loudly. “I know you’re scared. But I really need you to stop making noise. I heard someone outside. We need to be as quiet as possible, so they keep going. Alright?”

The girl, who had to be in her teens, nodded and worked to stifle the tears. I moved my hand off her mouth and held her close, letting her use me for comfort. With her crying silenced, we could hear as the laughing approached. We waited with bated breath as they opened the door I came in through only moments before.

“Looks like Chris and Chris had some fun. They love to make a mess.”

“Yeah, smells like they had quite a feast too. Do you smell that? Hmm. I wish we had made it here first. That smells divine.”

“You think there is any chance they left some behind? Look at my pants!” The vamp laughed. “It smells so good; it’s making me hard. Which one of these humans do you think it was? Oh, it doesn’t matter.”

We heard the footsteps move further in. I lightly placed my hand over the girl’s mouth again as a reminder.

“This one looks pretty good. Still warm too. I’d say an hour, maybe two since they left.” I closed my eyes tight when I heard zippers.

“Yeah, I like this guy. He looks big and tough.”

A loud thunk sounded behind us and material was moved around. My eyes shot open as we heard something metal sliding across the tile floor, a belt buckle dragging on the hard floor. A large pair of pants slowed as it ran into the wall near us.

“Ah, yeah, there we go. Tell you what, freshly dead are some of my favorites. They are still warm enough to not freeze my balls off, but dead enough that their muscles don’t constrict. It’s nice and tight. Almost like a virgin.”

They both started making sounds that I never wanted to hear again but knew I would be hearing them in my dreams for a long time to come. When they finished, they didn’t bother dressing the bodies back up again. Thankfully.

Because if they had, they would have seen us.

One cursed loudly, which made us jump after the somewhat quieter moments. “It’s nearly midnight. We need to move it. Lucas will be mad if we are late reporting back.”

“Yeah, alright.” The one who preferred the freshly dead said disappointedly, as though he had been hoping to stick around for a while.

They had barely left when the girl started to speak, I pressed my hand harder to her mouth and shook my head. I made her wait at least ten minutes before I removed my hand.

“What did they do to the bodies?”

“Something very perverse.” I didn’t want to tell her. For all I knew, she knew those people. They could even be her parents. “My name is Carrie. What’s yours?”

“Raya.”

“Nice to meet you, Raya. Were you traveling somewhere with your family?”

She shook her head and pulled away from me, repositioning to sit shoulder to shoulder with me. “No. I work here. I was manning the booth when the bombs hit. Mr. Robertson said it wasn’t safe for me to leave and said I should stay here until tomorrow. He offered to drive me home. He said he would have taken me tonight, but he didn’t want to leave all the passengers here alone.”

“Was Mr. Robertson the station manager?”

She sniffled and wiped her nose. “Yeah. Do you think he got away somehow? Like we did?”

“No, sweetheart. I saw him just before I saw you. Were you hiding back here the whole time?”

She nodded. “Yes. I had been out there, lying on one of the benches. But I heard my phone ringing. I figured it was my twin, Layla, worrying about me. My phone is under the counter. I was barely starting to answer it when the doors opened. What about you? Where did you hide?”

“I was having a panic attack and needed some fresh air. I figured if I stayed near the door I would be ok. They were right behind me talking, I thought they were going to find me for sure.”

“Where were you taking the bus too?”

“Home. I’m from Phoenix.”

“Why were you here?”

I didn’t want to talk about it, but the actions and distraction seemed to be helping the girl calm down.

“I came to surprise my boyfriend. He just moved here for a new job. Turns out I was the one who got the surprise.”

“What happened?”

I grimaced at the memory. “His other girlfriend opened his front door, wearing nothing but a shirt that I bought him before he left.”

She gasped in dramatic shock. I talked to her for a little longer, until she started yawning. I promised her that I would keep an ear out, so she could sleep, her head on my shoulder. Eventually I fell asleep with her, my head falling on top of hers.