This is a story I came up with a long time ago. I never went far with it, but maybe I'll give it another go.
Lauren Ray Sawyer is smart, determined, and deadly, but also different. When her mother was nine months pregnant with her, she was attacked by a vampire. Her mother died, and it was a miracle they were able to save Lauren. She was raised with a group of hunters, and as she grew, she learned that she was different from every body else. She was faster and stronger than most. She grew faster than any normal child. Soon, she became the most notorious hunter around.
Everyone knew her name. Most respected her. Others despised her. But as long as they stayed out of her way, she didn't care what they thought about her.
Chapter 1
I pushed the doors open, my heart in my throat, and nervousness in my chest. We finally did it. We finally caught an Alpha.
I was quite proud of the group. We worked hard to accomplish this, seeing how there is only four Alpha vampires in existence. One for each faction. Four Alphas for Vampires, Werewolves, and Witches, although the Witches have nearly gone extinct nowadays, and the wolves were just a nuisance.
It was the Vampires that everyone has a problem with.
Most were out of control, draining whoever they wanted, whenever they wanted, and had a bad attitude along the way. Although I can't talk crap too much, I was one of them too. But only part of me was. The rest was all natural human.
I walked through the cement halls of the old prison my group was camped out at. It was cold, and unwelcoming at first, but you get used to it.
"David!" I yelled, listening to my voice echo down the halls.
Anger boiled inside of me when my shoe stepped in a big pile of mush. I looked down hesitantly at what my food was planted in. I rubbed my temples in frustration. How many times do I have to tell them to clean up after their hunts! They might be fine living with dead vampire remains everywhere, but I sure as hell wasn't.
"Lauren," David called back. "Come check this out!"
I wandered down the hallway and walked into our 'science' room. This was where we came up with our weapons, made bullets, or any other half baked science experiment one of the guys comes up with.
I met him in the middle of the room by one of the lab tables. "What am I looking at?" He held up a silver bullet with a pair of tweezers.
"Dude, it burns them after they're dead." He dropped the bullet in the hand of a dead vampire. It sizzled as it burned through the dead flesh. The smell gradually came up to meet my nose, and I gagged.
"Dear God, that's the worst," I pulled my shirt over my nose, But David just stood there like an excited child.
I raised my eyebrow at him. "You're mad scientist is showing through."
He smirked. "Oh, you ain't seen nothin' yet hun."
I turned away, walking towards the door. "Oh, and clean up after yourselves! The hallway is horrible," I yelled back at him over my shoulder. What kind of a first impression would blood and guts give people? I sighed. Sometimes I think hunters are worse than Vamps.
"Yes, mom."
I smirked. I opened the door to our makeshift living room. The guys had set up a small TV and a sofa In what used to be some sort of an office. I plopped down on the couch next to Mason, and stole his bowl of popcorn from him. He frowned at me, his blond hair was messy, and his dark eyes looked angry.
"Did you guys get anything from the Alpha?" I asked in between handfuls of popcorn.
All I got in response was an irritated grunt. I turned and looked at him in disbelief. Mason prides himself at being the best at his job, which was getting information. This vamp must be something else if Mason couldn't crack him.
"Damn. The great Mason couldn't crack the Alpha," I teased. "Is he really that bad?" He stole the popcorn back from me, and popped some in his mouth.
"It was a complete waste of my day," He said resentfully. I looked at him in shock.
"A day?" I asked in disbelief. "Isn't your record time like, five minutes?"
He glared at the TV screen. "After a couple of hours, I thought I was getting to him. Or he made me think I was getting to him. and then the next thing I know, he just starts laughing, like I hadn't even touched him. It was like he was messing with me or something."
I turned my gaze back at the TV. "Damn. Guy must be something, then."
"He sure is," He mumbled. "You're welcome to have a crack at him if you want."
I pursed my lips. I did want my shot at the Alpha, but I didn't want to make Mason feel bad about not cracking him. "Maybe I'll just go try for a little bit."
He laughed. "Good luck."
I got off the couch and headed out the door to the basement. Is this Alpha really that big of a deal? I mean, everyone has their breaking point. You just have to find it. But if Mason couldn't find it, could I? I hoped so. I had a reputation to uphold.
I finally reached the door to the basement, which was guarded by Chase and Roman. Chase was short, but he made up for it with his personality. He had shaggy blonde hair that went down to his ears, and too many piercings to count. Roman was tall, dark skinned, and was pretty intimidating when he wanted to be.
"So," I started. "Is it really as bad as everyone says it is?" Maybe they would have a different opinion than the others.
They both laughed. "You better have some tricks up your sleeve if you want to put a dent in this guy," Roman said.
Chase nodded his head. "Ya, poor Mason spent all day down there, and came up more pissed then he went down."
"Ya, I noticed." Hopefully I'll have more luck than Mason did. I opened the door, and walked down the narrow staircase into the basement. I wondered what he looked like. Old? Young?
I turned the corner and entered the room. I was actually kind of nervous. We've never caught an Alpha before. I had to stay focused, and not let him get to me like he did with Mason.
I put on my scary face, and turned towards the Alpha. He was tall, but it was hard to tell, since he was sitting down. He had broad shoulders, a strong build, and dark hair.
"Visiting hours are closed, sorry," He said sarcastically. I could already tell he was going to piss me off.
"It's a special occasion." I walked over to the table beside him, where all our weapons were laid out. "Mind giving me a hand with this?" I asked, running my fingers over the blades.
"You know, I would, but I'm kind of tied up right now. Maybe later."
I turned towards him. "Well, you got a preference, then?" I picked up one blade from the table. It was smooth and razor sharp.
"Quick fast misery," I put the blade down, and picked up a different one. "Or slow, agonizing pain?"
He looked down, contemplating. "Well, I picked 'quick fast misery' with the first guy, so I'll go with 'slow agonizing pain' with you." He smirked at me. "I like to switch up my routine."
"As you wish" I said. As I walked past, my eye caught on my .45 lying on the counter. Now, she packs a punch. I walked over to he counter and picked it up.
"Actually, we're all out of slow, agonizing pain." I stood in front of him, pointed my gun at him, and shot him in the stomach.
"But we have plenty more where that came from." I set my gun down on the counter, looking at my weapons like a painter looks for brushes.
"That tickled," He said. "But you're going to have to try a lot harder if you want to get anything out of me."
"Don't worry," I said, rolling up my sleeves. "We're just getting started."
About an hour went by, and I swear I had used every single weapon in the basement at least twice, but all he did was crack jokes and sarcastic comments. I wiped my hand across my forehead, but just ended up smearing the blood even more. Holy water, silver, nothing seemed to make a difference. Was I going to end up just like Mason? I didn't want to walk upstairs empty handed, and disappoint everybody.
I turned towards him in frustration. "Okay, I am not leaving here without something. So you can tell me where all the Vamps are, or we are going to spend all day and all night down here."
He looked at me, equally as frustrated. "You know, you could have just said please."
I glared at him. " I swear to God, I'm going to cut your tongue out!" I paced back and fourth across the room.
"I think that would be kind of counterproductive on your part."
I closed my eyes, trying to think of something else. Some other way I could get him to talk. I calmed myself down. I couldn't get worked up like Mason did. I would never get any information like that way.
"Gosh," He said. "Why are hunters so stubborn?"
My jaw dropped, and I glared at him. "Me? Stubborn? You are the one who is refusing to say anything!"
He scoffed. "I told you. All you had to do was say please."
I walked over to him, struggling to control my anger. I grabbed the arms of his chair and got dangerously close.
"Please."
He smiled, but otherwise didn't say anything. I got up and started walking to the stairs. Maybe I just needed to take a break. I can come back later when I had some more ideas, and when I've calmed down.
"South Orchard Street," He said.
I stopped in my tracks. There is no way that he told me where they were because I said please. Absolutely no way. Not when I spent all that time trying to get him to tell me!
"Are you serious?" I asked. There is no way. Not after all that.
"Deadly," He said. There wasn't a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Its a nest of about 30 vamps. You should be careful."
"Why tell me now?" I wondered why he didn't bother to just say something earlier. We could have been done hours ago.
He shrugged. "I wanted to spend some quality time with you," He said. The sarcasm was back in full force.
I didn't waste any time. I headed up the stairs to tell everyone. But right before I reached the door, I felt the slightest vibration through the floor. I listened closely, and I heard the faintest sound of gunshots in the distance. Someone had broken in.
I ran back down the stairs and grabbed my gun. We have traps set by the doors, so that if any alarms are triggered, a small explosive would detonate. That must have been what the vibration was.
"Trouble in paradise?" he asked as I looked for smaller knives to tuck in my boot.
"I wouldn't call it paradise." I walked back over to the stairs, when a bigger blast went off that nearly knocked me off my feet. I grabbed the counter for support.
"That was big," I mumbled. What the hell was that? A bomb? Who the hell would set off a bomb?
"You might not want to go up there," He said.
"Why not? I've killed plenty of things before." It's true. I could defend myself against almost anything.
"Because there's a lot of people up there with a lot of guns. And sorry, but none of them are your friends."
My breath quickened. There has to be somebody left. They can't be dead. I rubbed my temples. He's probably just trying to mess with me.
"I'm not lying. If you want to live, you should stay down here." I shook my head. I'm not abandoning my friends and hiding down here. I can't, and I won't. Why was he trying to convince me to stay down here, anyways?
I walked up the stairs to the door. Whoever did this would have hell to pay.
Welcome to Steemit @ryan-ashley :)
Make sure to participate in this weeks giveaway to get known in the community!
Here are some helpful tips to get you started:
Ryan, this piece was fast-paced and entertaining from beginning to end! I really appreciate the succinctness of your prose, and your take on vampires was quite refreshing.
At the moment, my partner and I are hosting “Cryptails”, a digital narrative contest. This week’s theme is “technological-horror”, and I believe you could write an amazing story on that topic. We would be thrilled to read an entry from you. Consider this a personal invitation = )
All best,
Jean
Thanks! I'd love to participate in your contest. Just to clarify, would I be just writing a story (that meets your guidelines, of course), or am I incorporating anything else into it? Thanks!
I'm really glad to hear that, Ryan! Yes, just follow our guidelines and write a story about "technological horror". Remember that you can interpret "technological horror" in any way you want! If you have any other question (or even if you want to discuss your ideas or talk about your process), don’t hesitate to leave a comment in the contest’s page.
I’m really looking forward to reading your entry!
Okay, thanks Jean! I'll see what I can come up with.
Welcome to Steemit @ryan-ashley!
I'm a bot-helper, and I'm created to help. Congratulations on the registration on Steem - you really like it here!
Unfortunately, I can not make an upvote of your record - my steem power is still small. But in the future I will come back and do it. If you like me, make an upvote of my comment and follow me.
Your upvote will allow you to give more money to new users, such as you. Let's make Steem better together!
I follow you, and I hope you will follow me.
All the money I earn will be donated to charity.
Steem on!
Congratulations @ryan-ashley! You have received a personal award!
Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard!
Participate in the SteemitBoard World Cup Contest!
Collect World Cup badges and win free SBD
Support the Gold Sponsors of the contest: @good-karma and @lukestokes
Congratulations @ryan-ashley! You received a personal award!
You can view your badges on your Steem Board and compare to others on the Steem Ranking
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:
Vote for @Steemitboard as a witness to get one more award and increased upvotes!