Bitten

Chapter 1

This is it.

The last time I'll see home; see my family.

I tried to stand confidently but between the rain and the smoke of a train track I wasn't fooling anyone.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Haley?" My father asked clutching an umbrella in one hand and my mother in the other. It has been raining all day and I tried to pack as light as possible. I wasn't going to need stuff where I was going. And when you come from a family of eight every little bit counts.

"We can find the money. Don't do this for us", My mother begged.

Time to put on my brave face.

I smiled as big as I could and hugged both of my parents for the last time. "I'll be fine. It's an honor to go to Therap".

I just threw up a little on my lie.

The train blew its whistle. I heard the conductor call for last-minute passengers. We hugged for a second longer and I pulled back to commit my parents faces to memory. My mother was pale as moonlight with dark brown eyes and long silk black hair. She was thin not on purpose, but from years of working as a maid. My father was tall and had the same chocolate complexion as me. He was strong from working on our hog farm and had a lifetime of calluses on his fingers.

I didn't want to, but I stepped back into the train pulling my backpack tight around my shoulders. "I love you".

That's all I could say before I burst out into tears. I turned around and climb the train stairs not waiting for their response, but already knowing it in my heart. I quickly make my way through the busy carts full of other people that also had to say goodbye today. Some old some look younger than me, but all are to be present and accounted for from the Census.

I found an empty spot towards the back of the train next to a little girl who couldn't be older than ten. I recognized her from my village but I didn't know her name. She was preoccupied coloring in her notebook. I sat down at the window seat and waved goodbye to my parents. And once the train started to move it took off like a bullet. Come this time tomorrow I would be in Therap and a thousand miles away from Evian.

As the train really picked up speed the lights were dimmed and small televisions lowered themselves down from the center aisle so everyone could see. The TV clicked on and the train became dead silent.

A woman came on screen she was classically beautiful with flowing golden curls and ivory skin. Her eyes were piercing green. But it was her mouth that held my attention; perfect red lips framed in front of vampire fangs. She sat at a dark wooden desk surrounded by darkest with a fire roaring behind her. She was dressed in a fine black silk dress dripping in diamonds.

"Greetings, my fellow citizens, it is my greatest honor to extend welcome to you Chosen few".

I call bullshit on that.

"Some 1500 years ago, mankind and vampire came together to rebuild this great nation against the revenants which still plagued us to this day. It is because of this long-lasting friendship..."

How many times are we going to hear this story? If you heard it once you've heard it a thousand times. Mankind was trying to fight the zombies. Mankind was losing, the vampires came out of the shadow and now they protect us for a small fee. Every 20 years we have to restock their blood banks. Every family unit had to give one person for the Census. The only problem with that is people don't come back. I've heard rumors of what can happen. Some vampires like to keep humans as slaves or pets. Or some get completely drained.

I didn't know what was true.

All I knew was if you didn't participate in the Census and someone turned you in, your whole family could go missing.

I wish I knew what really happen, the vampires stayed in their society and the humans stayed in theirs. Which I was fine with.

Until today.

I wanted to stay hopeful. But every second I was away from home I could feel my spirit slowly starting to be crushed.

There was nothing I could do now but sit and wait. Tomorrow I'll have my answers.

I tried to get comfortable in my seat resting my head against the cool glass. A scream pierced through our train cart like an air raid sirens. The first cries were undoubtedly terror, the cries of one with eyes locked wide and every muscle rigid. The next were of pain, garbling and pitiful. I whipped my head to the front cart only to see a splatter of blood cover the door.