The Blood Rite

Chapter Six

The room Ruby woke up in was cold.

The walls were stark white. It was a small room with a sturdy metal door directly in front of her feet. She groaned, her head pounding as she pushed up to her elbows.

She was lying on a morgue tray.

Ruby's blood went cold, her heart dropping. Why was she on a morgue tray? Was she in a morgue? Her eyes shot to the door. Was she about to give a morgue worker a heart attack?

At that point, she hadn't so much as turned her head, so when someone's breath hitched from beside her, Ruby jumped.

It was Catgirl. Her blue eyes were bouncing wildly from corner to corner, her chest rising and falling quickly. The black shirt and poofed skirt she'd worn were torn and bloodied, one of her feet bare of a heel and her charcoal face makeup smeared with crimson.

Those wide eyes found Ruby. "You," she croaked.

Ruby's heart sunk. "It's just us," she said, more to herself. The room was only big enough for them.

Her eyes filled with sudden tears and the girl shoved herself up with surprising ferocity, "What the hell happened? Where is everyone? Where are we?"

She didn't know. Ruby's lips twisted. She had no idea how to explain to the girl what happened. She barely knew herself. It was impossible for Ruby to wrap her head around. Curiosity sparked and Ruby glanced down at her stomach. The fabric of her dress was torn and bloodied but there was no metal jutting from her.

"I don't know."

The Catgirl was hyperventilating, "I feel weird. Why am I not injured? Weren't we in a car crash? Where is Sadie?"

The door to the room tore open then and three different men entered. Ruby and the girl immediately shot back on their tables and closer to each other. The man in the lead was the one who had changed her but the other two were unfamiliar to her.

The vampire she knew, he had to be in his thirties with shaggy blond hair, smiled at them and said, "Good morning, ladies."

"Who are you?" Catgirl huffed, "Where is Sadie?"

Ruby's heart squeezed painfully as the image of the dixie chick's dead body raced through her mind. The man didn't have any qualms though as he said, "All of your friends are dead."

Catgirl's eyes went wide. The tears poured over then.

Ruby whirled on the man, "There were no other survivors?" Please, she thought, please don't be dead.

"None."

Everything crashed down. Or at least that's how it felt as the air escaped her. Talon was dead. Talon. Her Talon. And Lexi, and Rex. And even Beau. Stupid, stupid Beau who caused this by driving like an idiot but whom she still had cared for. And then there was Sadie, someone she didn't know and who she had never spoken to but who Catgirl had obviously loved. They were all dead.

Ruby's own eyes stung. She wouldn't cry. She blinked and took deep breaths until they were gone. Focusing on the fact that they were now surrounded by three strange men, or vampires, she shoved all thoughts of her friends away. Focus, she told herself, focus on the fangs.

It was easier said then done when Catgirl was sobbing beside her.

"Now that that is out of the way," said the man coldly, "it is now time to introduce you both to vampire society."

"Vampire?" Catgirl asked, choking on her tears.

"Yes," he said. When he smiled, his fangs were made even more menacing in the sharp lights. Catgirl inhaled sharply and the sound was too similar to the one she'd made just before they crashed that Ruby was forced to calm herself all over again. She started shaking.

"So you see, you both are vampires now. I saved your lives so now please do me the honor of helping me stick to my schedule so I don't lose my head."

Ruby's gut churned, "Can you give us a minute? We just woke up."

"Yes, and your fangs aren't in yet. You don't have a minute. If we don't hurry along, both of you will drop dead."

"What? Why?"

He let out a long sigh, "I don't have time for this. Bring them." He snapped his fingers and walked out of the room.

With that single command, one of the vampires lunged for her.

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