Page 4 of Heathens

“Me? Why should I have to–”

I drop my can of gasoline on the ground, rip my pistol out of my jacket and fire at his feet. A deafeningcrackechoes through the room and Luke leaps into the air, hissing at me.

Bullets might not mean much to us, but they’re still a bitch to deal with in high enough volume, and like Theo, very few of us enjoy the prospect of being a bloody pulp while we slowly heal. The more serious among us, however, come prepared. My bullets are made of silver, with essence-of-garlic packed into the hollow point for good measure. Like so many things, humans figured it out first and we get to take full advantage of it.

Sure, there are the classics like decapitation or direct sunlight. Those are still effective, but there’s something to be said for the elegance of a bullet.

“Open it,” I snarl through clenched teeth.

Theo takes a step forward, but I stop him, placing a hand on his chest.

“Very kind of you to offer, but it’s not your job.”

Luke glances between us, clearly panicking as I level the gun at his head.

“One more chance, Lukie: be a good boy, and open the bag.”

DOMINIC

Rene's Lab

Myshoetapsoutan impatient rhythm against the tile as everyone stares at Luke crouching in front of the bag, psyching himself up. He reaches for the zipper and slowly starts the unveiling. His hand is trembling. It’s so quiet that I can hear the wind rustling the trees outside.

I rub the back of my neck, trying to rid myself of the icy feeling that’s shooting down my spine. This could be a trap, and I could have just fucked us over. Big time. I glance at Theo, whose eyes are fixed on that bag as the slow sound of the zipper opening gets louder and louder. He looks like he wants to scream as he runs his hand through his hair.

The moment of tension is short-lived, however. As the bag opens, Luke lets out a relieved sigh, holding up a small vial of red liquid.

The others look to be a mix of relieved and confused. I’m immediately transfixed.

“What the fuck is that?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” Luke murmurs.

I stride over to him and take the vial from his hands.

“Dom, be careful,” Theo warns.

“Thank you for your concern, it’s noted.”

Theo’s always ready for the worst, but if I listened to him, we’d never get anything done. I unscrew the cap while the other three watch on with bated breath. Theo has his hand on his gun while Luke backs away, eyeing me with trepidation. Mateo hasn’t stopped chewing his fingernails.

I close my eyes and sniff at the liquid: copper and iron.

I grin.

“It’s blood,” I whisper, my mouth beginning to water as I raise my voice. “Just blood, boys. You can relax.”

“You don’t know that,” Theo hisses. “Put it down. We need to figure out what this place is for.”

I take another whiff. There’s the copper, and the iron again… but there’s something else, something chemical that I can’t quite place.

Theo‌ is already walking around rifling through papers and looking up at the formulas on the chalkboard.

“So what’s the report, Einstein?”

“I don’t know,” Theo replies. “But I have a feelingthatshit is the whole point.”

“Yeah, you think they’re producing it or something?” He ignores me as he rustles more papers.

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