Page 140 of The Diary of the Vam'pir Jacques

“Everyone is here. The guards captured the rest of you earlier. They tried to rescue you but got caught instead,” Amelia explained.

“Including mother?” Mihal demanded.

“I assume Inka was captured earlier. She never answered the call,” I replied.

Mihal gritted his teeth. “Then who’s left?”

“Just me and your father,” Amelia said.

“Then we are all doomed,” Mihal snapped bitterly and turned away to face Julius.

I sighed at the anger and hatred in Mihal’s voice, but that didn’t matter. I couldn’t leave Vam’pirs here to die or be experimented on, no matter what they thought.

“Who they are?” Amelia asked, ignoring Mihal’s pessimism.

“Some type of secret government branch. They boasted the government was unaware of their existence. I think they are working outside normal procedure,” Julius answered.

“Thanks, we’ll be back,” Amelia said and motioned for me to continue.

I crawled until we came to the air vent above the main chamber. James remained in a cage, and he wasn’t alone this time. In a cage, there was another body curled into themselves, making it hard to distinguish their identity. However, there weren’t many staff or guards present. The others, I imagined, were out searching for us. There were two armed guards at the door, and they held guns.

This time, I saw the weapons clearly. At first, they resembled typical guns. However, I could see that they held some sort of electrical pack. The barrel was longer, and they seemed quite bulky, difficult to aim quickly, I surmised. That gave me an idea.

“Amelia, I’ll kick this vent out and make a run at the guards. The right one’s mine; the left one’s yours. Then hit the scientists before they press an alarm.”

Amelia nodded.

I kicked and sent the vent flying.

The guards spun around, but it was too late. Amelia and I were on them. I wrenched the gun out of my target’s hand and backhanded him with my arm. The bastard went flying and hit his head with a sickening thud. Movement caught my eye from the corner of the room, and I ducked. The shot flew wide, and I stalked the scientist that had fired upon me.

Amelia killed the second guard and had begun to round up the remaining scientists. They were sheep and horror was etched on their faces as they realised just what they were facing. I caught the scientist that had shot at me and broke his hands.

The fool screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

“Jacques!” Amelia gasped, and when I turned, I saw Ana in the cage.

Ana looked like death warmed up and couldn’t even lift her head up.

“Keys!” Amelia demanded, and a frightened woman threw them.

Blow the keys.

I ripped the door off and picked Ana up. Ana weighed next to nothing, and her lips were pale.

Gently, I laid Ana down on the floor and glared at the scientist, whose hands I had broken.

“How long ago did she last eat?”

“I…I.”

“How long?” I shouted.

“Five or six months.”

Months? Horrified, I stared at him before fury took over me. Beyond reasoning, I dragged him forward and fastened Ana’s lips onto his neck, but Ana was too frail to drink.

Cursing, I held him by the scruff of his neck and bit into his wrist. Blood spurted, and I opened Ana’s mouth and allowed the blood to trickle in. Ana’s colour returned a little, but she remained weak.

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