The Human Condition

Five

It was nearly midnight when the loud banging on our door had us clutching our weapons and bravely standing behind it. Mandy reached out to open it but I pushed her hand back, who knew who was there. Had we been followed home?

"Who is it?" I called out, glancing at Mandy who was pale and holding her knife up proudly. I wasn't sure if she would be able to actually to use it but if needed to, I was willing to find out.

"Lucy it's me, Owen" We both breathed out relieved and Mandy opened the door, keeping the lock in place the door swung open as far as the chain would allow.

"What's going on?" I stood behind Mandy peering out at him in the navy uniform the Night Watchers wore and as his eyes met ours, he began to calm down.

"I saw you talking to those guys this morning and after your questions I was so worried you'd gone there tonight" Turning he leant his back against the wall by our door and nodding to Mandy she undid the chain and we ventured out to stand with him.

"Really?" Mandy looked at me cautiously and so I asked the obvious question.

"What happened?"

"There was an attack, the vamps got out and made a real mess. I was so worried you girls were going to be at that house I came straight here to check"

"But wouldn't the people in the house be safe, the vamps can't go in uninvited" Mandy's guilt was all over her face, we let them out and we were responsible for this.

"They couldn't go into the house but they were already underneath it. The ones that got out locked the basement entry to the ring and anyone left in there" His eyes glazed over as his lips pressed tightly together, "Fucking weak bastards. Leaving them down there to die like that! I don't blame the vamps, the whole set up was bound to fail eventually and the cockier they got the more likely it was to happen"

Owen didn't like what they did, but he was right. Self-preservation kicked into the humans like it had the vampires, who were the real monsters in all this? "Mr. Stephenson, what's going to happen now?"

"I don't know Mandy; I am on my way there with some of the others to see what we can do. We don't want word of this getting out. It will only make things harder on both sides. I'm just glad you girls are ok" He hugged each of us and after telling him to be careful we headed inside.

"If we were still there, we'd have ended up like those poor people. Luke did us a favor" Mandy put away the knife and I left the lighter by the door after ensuring it was locked.

"I know"

"Lu, maybe we can trust a vampire?"

"No. I don't think we can trust anyone we don't know" Yet in my mind I knew we couldn't even trust the ones we did.

Who knows how many people are dead because of what we done but what would have happened to those vampires if we hadn't got them out. Should we care?

"He's your family, he was looking out for us" Mandy defended. I knew she had a point but knowing that family member then went on a killing rampage didn't sit well.

"Yeah, what about all those people who died?"

"Well, they kind of deserved it"

"Nobody deserves to die like that" We stared at each other for a moment, knowing we were both right and that's just how messed up this whole situation was. "Mandy, I'm sorry. You're right. They weren't people that died tonight; they are just as fucked up as the vampires are"

"You're right too. Since when did death loose its meaning? We talk about it as commonly as we talk about shoes or going to work" Mandy came over and hugged me and the tension had gone between us.