Vicious Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Olivia Rivard
find you again.”
“Enough!”
I stood in between them and silenced everyone. I looked into Lea’s eyes, and she softened just enough for her warm eyes to return to normal. Her back was still up though. She wasn’t going to lie down, not for me or anyone else.
“Lea, I agree with you. This is not over.”
She softened further. I did too. The last thing I wanted to do was fight her. I knew I would lose.
“Right now, let’s decide what we do next. We need shelter. We need a life.”
Lea tensed again.
“War is coming, and you know it’s true. This isn’t the end. They are not just going to let us go.”
“Again, I agree with you, but look at us,” I said as I swept my hand around the room. “We are worn and dirty and beaten.”
The scent of sweat and desperation was in the air. It was thick between us.
“We need to settle down somewhere and get our bearings. We need a life.”
“A life? How on earth do we do that? Look at us, we’re monsters!”
“But we don’t have to be. We don’t have to be what they made us.”
“So then what do we eat? We feed on blood, Anna. They made us to kill. What do you expect us to do? Drink rats in the sewer?”
“If we have to, but no more killing. We don’t have to do what they trained us to do. We’ve gone weeks without eating at a time.”
Lea stared at me skeptically.
“Skulking in the sewers and eating rats. That’s your solution? And you call that dignified? You call that a life?”
“I call it surviving without killing people.”
Silence leaked into the room. I knew that opinions on this were divided. I’d always known that, and now was the moment of truth.
“Listen, we don’t all have to agree. We don’t even have to all stay together. I’m going forward with a different life, a life where we don’t kill. If you agree with me, then we can set out together at dusk.”
“And if we don’t?”
“Go on your own way.”
That silence came again. It was the kind of silence that only made an appearance when huge decisions were being made. To my surprise, Harris spoke up first. He was against the far wall cradling frail, little Chloe in his arms.
“We are going at it alone, Chloe and me. Sorry, Anna, but what you are asking is hard, and settling down somewhere makes us feel trapped. I’ll feel better if we can move around and stay on our toes.”
I nodded.
“Understood, Harris. Promise to keep in touch?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, I’m not subscribing to this self-sacrificing lifestyle you are trying to sell,” spat Lea.
“I’m not surprised.”
“We are what we are, Anna. Nothing can change that. No amount of pandering will make us human ever again.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“I don’t know, do you?”
“Lea, I know what I am. I know what I’ve done. I have just as much blood on my hands as you. I just don’t want any more.”
“I won’t go hungry, Anna. I won’t. I want to live. We all deserve to live and have what we want after what we suffered. Anyone here agree with me?”
Bridgette and Jackson stayed in the shadows like they always did, but they made themselves visible at Lea’s side. I knew they would go with her, they always did. I nodded. We didn’t say anything else that day. We just waited around for the dark to come so that we might go our separate ways.
The money was disbursed evenly between us, and when the last glimpse of sunlight winked out behind the clouds, we walked out into the wide new world. The air seemed crisper somehow, like I thought an apple might taste. Chloe and Harris went one way, Lea and her group went another. The ones that were left went with me, off into our new lives together with my dirty folder in hand.
Chapter Six
Howard
Howard Mitchell plopped heavily onto his overstuffed, oversized arm chair in his study and flipped on his television out of habit. He had no desire to watch anything in particular. He looked lifelessly at the screen, and all of the images
“Enough!”
I stood in between them and silenced everyone. I looked into Lea’s eyes, and she softened just enough for her warm eyes to return to normal. Her back was still up though. She wasn’t going to lie down, not for me or anyone else.
“Lea, I agree with you. This is not over.”
She softened further. I did too. The last thing I wanted to do was fight her. I knew I would lose.
“Right now, let’s decide what we do next. We need shelter. We need a life.”
Lea tensed again.
“War is coming, and you know it’s true. This isn’t the end. They are not just going to let us go.”
“Again, I agree with you, but look at us,” I said as I swept my hand around the room. “We are worn and dirty and beaten.”
The scent of sweat and desperation was in the air. It was thick between us.
“We need to settle down somewhere and get our bearings. We need a life.”
“A life? How on earth do we do that? Look at us, we’re monsters!”
“But we don’t have to be. We don’t have to be what they made us.”
“So then what do we eat? We feed on blood, Anna. They made us to kill. What do you expect us to do? Drink rats in the sewer?”
“If we have to, but no more killing. We don’t have to do what they trained us to do. We’ve gone weeks without eating at a time.”
Lea stared at me skeptically.
“Skulking in the sewers and eating rats. That’s your solution? And you call that dignified? You call that a life?”
“I call it surviving without killing people.”
Silence leaked into the room. I knew that opinions on this were divided. I’d always known that, and now was the moment of truth.
“Listen, we don’t all have to agree. We don’t even have to all stay together. I’m going forward with a different life, a life where we don’t kill. If you agree with me, then we can set out together at dusk.”
“And if we don’t?”
“Go on your own way.”
That silence came again. It was the kind of silence that only made an appearance when huge decisions were being made. To my surprise, Harris spoke up first. He was against the far wall cradling frail, little Chloe in his arms.
“We are going at it alone, Chloe and me. Sorry, Anna, but what you are asking is hard, and settling down somewhere makes us feel trapped. I’ll feel better if we can move around and stay on our toes.”
I nodded.
“Understood, Harris. Promise to keep in touch?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, I’m not subscribing to this self-sacrificing lifestyle you are trying to sell,” spat Lea.
“I’m not surprised.”
“We are what we are, Anna. Nothing can change that. No amount of pandering will make us human ever again.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“I don’t know, do you?”
“Lea, I know what I am. I know what I’ve done. I have just as much blood on my hands as you. I just don’t want any more.”
“I won’t go hungry, Anna. I won’t. I want to live. We all deserve to live and have what we want after what we suffered. Anyone here agree with me?”
Bridgette and Jackson stayed in the shadows like they always did, but they made themselves visible at Lea’s side. I knew they would go with her, they always did. I nodded. We didn’t say anything else that day. We just waited around for the dark to come so that we might go our separate ways.
The money was disbursed evenly between us, and when the last glimpse of sunlight winked out behind the clouds, we walked out into the wide new world. The air seemed crisper somehow, like I thought an apple might taste. Chloe and Harris went one way, Lea and her group went another. The ones that were left went with me, off into our new lives together with my dirty folder in hand.
Chapter Six
Howard
Howard Mitchell plopped heavily onto his overstuffed, oversized arm chair in his study and flipped on his television out of habit. He had no desire to watch anything in particular. He looked lifelessly at the screen, and all of the images