Beautiful Fighters - an original vampire story (15+) (SAMPLE ONLY)

Classfied info

Half an hour spent cooped up with the other Argist Academy recruits in a locked classroom did nothing for my mental wellbeing. Everyone speculated on who had escaped, how they had managed it and where they would head.

Straight for my former home at the Garshake Estate and all the unvaccinated kids there would be my answer. I fiddled with my phone. No signal. If a vengeful vampire was on the rampage, particularly if the escapee was the one I suspected, I needed to let Sharon and my one-time neighbours know.

I knocked on the door that had been locked from the outside. "Let me out!"

Kyle opened the door eventually. I wasn't the only one demanding answers. Two of the other students I shared classes with had siblings who were not vaccinated. An escaped vampire would be desperate—stupid enough to risk swooping in on the first compound or estate they found seeking out the kids whose blood wouldn't poison them because they hadn't been immunised at birth.

"You don't need to worry!" Kyle threw his hands up. "We've sent out patrols to every compound or estate in the city and Vampire Security know of the threat."

Had they known earlier? Robin mentioned a security risk when I'd asked about the chains on the bus.

"What about those outside of the city?" I asked. Few people lived out with the city boundaries as you weren't offered the same protections. But the poor and desperate, struggling to afford city rents and the money needed to pay for Vampire Security protection, had little choice.

Kyle shook his head. The Academy didn't have enough Argist agents, so it was likely that was where the escaped vampire would head first. Relief made me exhale a breath I hadn't realised I was holding, guilt striking me a second later. Okay, so the vampire was unlikely to rampage through the Garshake Estate but a dilapidated compound outside the city boundaries might find itself hosting an unwelcome visitor.

"Who escaped?"

Kyle ducked his eyes away. "Classified info, sorry."

The other students accepted it, filing out of the room. Not me. I shut the door, positioned myself in front of it and folded my arms.

"I'm not moving until you tell me."

"C'mon, Maya! Need to know basis and all that."

"Piss off."

He let out a huge sigh. "Okay. I'll see what I can do. Come with me."

"Where?"

He refused to answer, making me trail after him through the corridors that criss-crossed the building's ground floor. I'd only ever been in the rooms on the first floor and the canteen. Kyle's pass got us through countless barriers, the Argists we encountered raising eyebrows when they saw me, but not stopping us.

"Here."

We'd come to a section of rooms off one hallway, half walled off, half glass so you could see into each one. At the far end was yet another training room. Five agents sat in chairs in a half semi-circle. The door opened.

"Maya! What a lovely surprise!"

Gregor Firth. His eyes did that customary top to tail sweep before settling back on my chest. Gregor had been the one to suggest I enrol at the Academy. He worked with final year Argists. After Nell, the Argists' leader, he was considered one of the lead authorities in mind control techniques. Way, way, way above the level I was at, and even Kyle. I'd watched Gregor's videos online over and over practising the methods he recommended.

Even though I surrounded myself with male eye candy, Gregor was A-lister film star meets male model. His teeth dazzled you. His sandy-blonde hair begged you to run your fingers through it. His eyes promised any number of filthy prospects if only the two of you were alone.