Their Master

We can’t be the Last

I held my breath as I peeked out the window as carefully as I could, knowing that if I accidentally made the drapes move, they would be on us like moths to a flame. I couldn’t let that happen… too much was at stake—too many lives were at stake.

I saw no one on the street, and no movement even near the river that flowed across the way from our home, but that didn’t always mean that there actually was no one around. I pushed my neck up to its longest extent but still saw no one around. I sat back down with far less care as I breathed a long sigh of relief. We’re safe another day.

I quickly went to the stairs hidden by an old painting of my grandfather, pulled it back, and rapped my knuckles in a mundane rhythm from an old Irish tune. Instantly my family came up the stairs, happy to be out of the cramped space below the house. My little sister giggled joyfully as she bounced from room to room, glad to stretch her legs, but also glad to know that her older sister was still alive. See, I never went down with them. My mother always hated that I would stay upstairs as a guard while the rest of them waited safely downstairs, but I wasn’t about to let them all be found…

It happened once before.

My father had assured us that staying underground would be perfect, that no one would ever look for us there if we all stayed together in one place. I still remember the sinking feeling inside my chest the day we heard the footsteps above us. I quietly warned my father that we should get out the back, but he was so sure we would be ok that he waved his hand and told us to sit. Perhaps it was because I’ve always been far too independent for my own good, but I didn’t listen and went down the small tunnel on my own and checked to see if anyone was at the end—there was no one. I came back just in time as we heard the bookshelf move.

I was able to get the majority of my family out of the little room… all except my father. Tears ran down his cheeks as he looked at me so apologetically, “I’m so sorry Jarah… protect them please.”

“Dad… there’s still time.” I whispered to him, pulling on his hand. He shook his head, pushing my hand away.

“Go, Jarah!” he urged, and his tone made me run. Just as I got to the door at the end of the tunnel, I heard the voices moving down the stairs to my father, and I stopped moving.

“There’s one down here!” the first voice called excitedly.

“There must be more,” A low man’s voice said.

“I’d rather die than become one of you!” my father shouted at them, pulling a knife to his neck.

I heard a rustling before the snap preceding my father’s final squeak like a mouse caught by a snake. I heard a horrid sound that I knew to be the monsters as they sucked the life out of my father. I tried to cover my mouth, harshly aware that these monsters could find me at any moment if I made even one sound. I quietly pulled my feet to my chest and wrapped my arms around them as I made myself as small as possible.

“Done.” The man had said as I heard my father’s body drop to the ground with a sad thud. I felt my tears begin, and I sensed one sliding down my cheek. I could distantly see the man lift his head suddenly through the others’ cheers. He raised his hand and I felt my eyes widen, “Stop!” He bellowed to the others and they seemed to cower.

“What is it Master?” one of the others asked.

He began walking towards me, and though his face was covered by shadows, I would never forget the outlines of his face. And as he came horrifyingly close to me, I held onto those pale green eyes fiercely in my memory. I wanted to remember the eyes of the man who had killed my father and was about to kill me. They were beautiful eyes, and I was sure they were on an equally beautiful face—but isn’t that how they took control of our world? They were beautiful. They were extraordinary. They were vicious…

I felt myself falling prey to those eyes, so I closed mine quickly, hoping that he would not see me.

I couldn’t hear anything, so I opened one eye to see him standing right in front of me. He looked at my open eye with a slight smirk that I could barely make out in the darkness. I felt everything within me deflate as I let my body relax, knowing there was no point any longer to stay hidden from him—he saw me.

“Is anyone else down there, Master?” one of them asked from the staircase.

The man had briefly looked at the others before looking back into my eyes that refused to be fearful. He grinned with pride, though I didn’t understand why he was proud, and I realized that I would never forget that smile as he shook his head and began walking back to the others. “There is nothing back there. We should leave… no one is coming back here.” He said, offering me one last reassuring nod before he went up the stairs with the others.

We could’ve left our home then, and honestly, I’m sure my family thought I was insane for allowing us to stay. But when that man looked at me, so obviously aware of my existence in that corner next to the door leading to safety, I knew that he had no intention of coming back to my home.

I was 13 when it had happened… but even now, 6 years later, I still remember the look he had given me. I probably didn’t even need to keep checking out the window before letting my family upstairs every day, but just in case that leader was taken out, I didn’t want to in danger. As it was, even if I heard something while they were upstairs, they all knew to go downstairs immediately.

But they didn’t seem to mind. In all honesty, how many others could say they were able to stay in their homes for the entire duration of the Vampire Takeover?

I was happy to have protected my family over the years… but maybe part of the reason I always waited upstairs was because I wanted to see that man again? To my knowledge, Vampires didn’t let people go, and though I didn’t trust him, I wanted to see his face again, though I knew I wouldn’t. Most Vampires didn't go back to the same houses they had been to before, especially since they tend to travel in large packs, but those were assumptions we made when the attacks began. It had now been 8 years since they first started the takeover, and in that time, I heard fewer and fewer screams. Humanity was dying out, and for all I knew… maybe my family and I were the last?

Something I did know for certain though, was that I was getting tired of the routine. Every day: go to bed around 11:00 am. Wake up around 6:00 pm when it gets dark. Sip coffee as my family went back into the downstairs hideaway, and wait…. Then when dawn approaches, I began checking the windows for movement before letting my family upstairs once again.

I was tired of just waiting for the day they’d find us… I wanted us to be able to live life without worry. But, most of all—the one thing I wanted but would never say out loud in fear my family would judge me—I wanted love. For one moment, that Vampire with the pale sage green eyes, paired with that unexpected smirk, popped into my mind…

I shook my head as I looked away from my reflection. I was being ridiculous! I was thinking about a Vampire fondly… and not just any Vampire, but the one who had killed my father! I tried to make myself feel anger towards him, but all I could think of was the mercy he had shown. I was just lonely… and I needed to get over it. This was my life now.

“Mama, can I go outside yet?” Posy, my younger sister asked.

My mother tilted my 7-year-old sister’s chin upwards, “Not yet, my love. It isn’t safe yet…” Posy had been conceived soon after the Vampire outbreak had begun, and she was too young to remember my father or what the world was like. Though Posy had never gotten to see life before this, I think she was lucky because she had no expectation of what life would ever be like again. All she really wanted was to go outside, but she could live without that because she always had.

I wished I could have her innocence… but when I was her age, I was watching Disney movies, dreaming about my Prince Charming. I always expected a happy ending, and now all that was left for me was a world filled with Vampires and rubble. I closed my eyes for a moment as I quietly walked to my room and shut the door. No one bothered me the rest of the day, and though all I wanted to do was sleep so I could go to a world outside of this one, slumber would not meet with me yet.

How cruel that I could not even find solace in my dreams.

For the first time in years, I allowed myself to cry silently as I looked out my window. I just wished and prayed that, somehow, I could be given hope. I lay my head on my pillow and, finally, slumber overtook me.

The next few days went by like all the others over the past 6 years, and I felt my entire being shouting inside. I was tired… I didn’t know how much longer I could stay in this house. And after four more days, I finally lost it.

My sister was crying about something, and my aunt was bickering with her husband, and there was just too much noise. “Shut it, will you!” I shouted. Everyone looked at me in surprise and I quickly looked away. I never said anything, so they were more than a little surprised.

My mother came over to me and touched my shoulder softly, “Are you alright Jarah?”

I looked out the front window longingly, “I think I should go to the storehouse today…”

“It’s too dangerous!” My aunt said worriedly, listening in as always.

My mother met my gaze, “Do you really think that is necessary right now?”

I closed my eyes tightly and nodded, whispering, “I can’t be in this house another minute… I’m going to explode.”

I peeked back up at her and she smiled affectionately as she kissed my forehead, “Be careful.” She said softly.

“Theresa! You are going to let your daughter go out on her own? What if they see her? She could bring the whole lot of them down on us.”

My mother shook her head, “Leave her alone Gretchen.” My aunt went to speak again but my mother raised her hand and shook her head, “Now hurry, Jarah, and get out of here before it gets too late or too cloudy.” I smiled as I hurriedly collected my things and went down the stairs to our back entrance.

Vampires, similar to the old legends, did not generally venture out into the daylight. I had seen one once go out in broad daylight, but her skin began looking like it was going to melt off her limbs. By that point, she ran into a house nearby until dusk. So, I knew I was safe, but I always made sure to pay attention to my surroundings. Before I opened the door, I listened at the edges to see if anything dangerous was outside. I heard nothing, so I went out into the daylight.

My skin instantly felt hot under the sun, but it felt so nice. I took off my jacket and walked down the center of the street. I hadn’t gone outside in over a year, and that is just too long to be inside a house with four other people, especially when you can’t stand half of them. The fresh air was intoxicating as I began to skip down the road happily. I was being too careless, but for the moment it just didn’t matter. Even if I was caught and a Vampire sucked me dry, at least I was able to be free first.

A happy giggle left my lips as I began to sprint to my old store, “Ya-hoo!” I howled, my carelessness going so beyond the extreme. I was totally aware that I was acting insane, but for the moment I just didn’t care about anything. I needed this… I needed to not be the responsible one for once.

But just as my happiness was reaching a high, I felt something strange inside my chest twist. I stopped moving and looked around but saw nothing. I quickly ran behind a nearby building and squatted behind a bush. “I know I heard something, Derek…” a young woman hissed, though I couldn’t see her. Her voice was pitchy and wisp-like.

“I heard it too, Derek!” a feeble man’s voice proclaimed excitedly.

“And you think I’m deaf?” The man who must’ve been Derek said. I recognized the voice instantly and I felt my entire body go numb, “I heard it too, obviously. I care not.” He said in an annoyed tone as he came into my sightline.

I tried not to breath as the shocked tears rose in my eyes once more—he was just as beautiful as I remembered, maybe more. Could I really be looking at him? He always seemed so unsympathetic to those following him, yet to me he had been so kind.

“But Derek…” the woman whined again. She had light blonde hair and dark eyes. Actually… they all had dark eyes—except Derek. I realized that maybe he really was different than the others somehow.

Derek gave her an irate look, “It’s not as though any of you are hungry. We have enough food to last us three human lifetimes.”

“Maybe we miss the chase?” the woman continued, and the other two men with him nodded.

Derek shook his head, “Then perhaps you should chase each other like stupid little children!” he thundered, and they all began to cower. His command was incredible. He began to rub his temples, “Just leave me for awhile…” he said more calmly, “I need to think, and you are all as loud as a wild pack of dogs.” He continued tiredly. “I will meet you at the house.” The three of them nodded to him, taking hands, and they began walking back the direction they had come.

As soon as the three Vampires had walked away, Derek went to the nearest building—mine—and slid to the ground, his head hitting the building. I could see him only a few feet away, “I’m so tired of being alone.” He whispered… and he sounded surprisingly human.

I was so afraid to move or breathe. Though I’ve never forgotten him, it’s not as if I ever thought he would remember me. And considering he was vulnerable now, it was probably not the moment to step forward—I wasn’t that stupid.

My legs began to shake from holding my position for so long, and I knew I couldn’t stay like that much longer. I bit my lip fearfully when I saw him look up, his body suddenly tense. Before I could even think of moving, he had somehow turned himself and pulled the bush back to look at me. His expression was vicious as I fell to the ground in surprise, but his gaze quickly softened as he looked at me more closely.

He pushed by the bushes and knelt beside my quaking form, “Six years later, and yet you are still getting yourself into trouble?” he said with that same smile that was burned into my memory.