Quinn Hallows - Alive Like Us

CHAPTER ONE

T wig stared out of the caves mouth, his sensitive nose wrinkling at the stench of impending death wafting from the human hed brought, and wondered what terrible force lurked amongst the thick, snow-covered wood. His masters brittle maps had said the humans called this place Minnesota, and the enormous lake that bordered it was Superior. It was one of their last strongholds, thanks to the natural boarder of the lake, Canadas gleaming steel wall, and the thick forest in which they hid like roaches .

And then there was the demon who defended them, one who knew the secrets of the all-powerful Omegas . The demon that Twig, like so many before him, had come to kill.

Last summer, hed been in his masters study when the only surviving crusader had returned. The poor thing had been without human sustenance for so long shed reverted back to one of the cursed onesa primitive, walking corpse that humans call Infected. His master had managed to piece together an image from her rotting memories ; a vision of a lake, a forest and a bent, rusted sign that read Canadian boarder 123 miles. From that, his master had deduced the location and Twig took his chance. If he destroyed the demon, his master and all the other Omegas would have to accept him as an equal.

The human whimpered, curling into a tight ball at his feet. She was a fleshy female, larger than most of her kind. Hed chosen her because she was young, strong and wild-caught, not like the dead-eyed specimens born and bred on the farms. Her teeth were good too. Nonetheless, shed been a burden ever since hed stolen her.

He checked to make sure his face was covered, then nudged her cheek with his foot. She frowned and shifted, the pile of leaves rustling beneath her. Her hair had grown out during their months-long journey and now reached her rounded shoulders in a chestnut cloud. He hadnt bothered to shave itwhat did it matter to him if she got infested with fleas or lice or all the other nasty things humans were so prone too? The two small wounds at the base of her throat beckoned him.

Wake up, the boy toed her ribs with his boot. The girl flinched. I said get up. He nudged her again, harder. Her eyelids shot open as if shed been shocked, which made him feel better. Her eyes were as dull as the brown buttons on her mangy fur coat. Although the hunger burned inside him, he decided against feeding. She was too weak.

She dragged her feet under herself, the chains on her ankles rattling. Hed stolen her before her feet had been cut by her original captorsa good thing, considering the arduous trip was not without its risks.

She stood, slowly, as if she were eighty years old instead of the young adult he assumed, given her near-perfect teeth. She braced her hands against the wall to keep from falling over. He picked up her leash and headed for the caves entrance. The cord snapped taut. Such insolence.

I could kill you, you know, he warned softly.

And then what? Starve? she asked, then mumbled something that sounded vaguely like ugly leech.

He pounced on her without thinking, a snarl ripping from his throat. The surprise force sent her sprawling onto the rocky floor. He scrabbled up her torso, no longer caring if she survived the feeding or that his hood had drooped onto his small, uneven shoulders. His fangs descended and he felt the warm rush of lifeher lifepump into him.

Wait. He sat up, his lips warm with her blood as a single realization pierced through his frenzy. Shes not moving. Shed always fought him in the past. Had he killed her? That would not be ideal. He hadnt seen a single human in weeks. He needed to keep her alive so he could feed on her blood at least a little while longer, until they made it to the crumbling human civilizations that were rumored to exist near Lake Superior. Otherwise hed end up like the last crusader. Dead .

He sniffed the air, following the scent of her blood. A thin, dark line trickled from her ear. She mustve hit her head when she fell, the stupid cow. He listened for her pulse. It was faint . His fangs retracted. What was he supposed to do now? He was too small to carry her. The female heaved to her side and threw up. Gross.

She wiped her mouth. Where are we going? Are we almost there?

He bared his teeth at her, both annoyed and relieved she was alive. Know your place, food .

The girl rose, slower than before. She shuffled forward, swaying from one side to the other as if she were drugged. The chains between her arms and legs rattled with each drunken step. It was going to be a long night of travel.

He paused once they left the mouth of the cave and sniffed the air. All he could smell were trees and cold and the faint rot of the cursed ones whom the humans dismissed as merely Infected, who were lying dorment beneath the snow. He could hear the Infecteds' subtle pulse, waiting to be awoken by either the warmth of spring or a more advanced one of their species. Like Omegas. Or him. His master had never believed he could do it, but he was wrong, and Twig had practiced his psychic control over the crused ones in secret for years.

All in good time. His lips curled into a semblance of a smile. The demon would be on the lookout for sleek, powerful Omegas, not nasty little servants like him. It was probably the main reason why he still had a head on his shoulders, this deep into the human terrority.

He jerked the womans leash and chuckled when she stumbled.

They trudged through the snow, heading deeper into the forest. Pine and birch shot up all around them like silent giants, blocking out the starless sky. The ground grew firmer beneath their feetthe remanants of an ancient highway long since abandoned. They passed the skeletal remains of a small town, which amounted to piles of sticks and curls of rusted metal.

After nearly two-hundred years of war, disease and death, so little of the human world remained. It was for the best, though. A new, more advanced race had arisen from its ashes and soon the entire country would fall under its control.

All thanks to me. If he succeeded where all the others had failed, hed have a new life waiting for him in the West. He wouldnt be just another deformed servant anymore. Hed have everything he ever wanted. A silvery mansion perched on the ragged cliff overlooking the sea. Humans brought to him whenever he desired, and a mate to share them with. A far climb for a servant born on a scientists lab table.

Others had come before him. Proud knights whod paraded through the city on their way to kill the demon. Twig had watched them through the narrow, greasy window of his basement apartment and liked to imagined their beautiful faces being stomped in the mud by the very monster they were sent to defeat.

He hoped their Final Death had been as lonely and cold as the hovel he lived in.