When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

Questions barreled through her head. Where was she? How did she get there? She sat up and stared blankly at the wall. The last thing she remembered was seeing an old man pulling over to the side of the road. Then everything went black.

Val closed her eyes and returned to the present. She had to find out where she was and what had happened. But that wasn’t going to happen in bed.

Taking a deep breath, she moved to get up, but was instantly struck back by a flaring pain on her chest. She pulled down the front of her shirt and froze.

A roman numeral five, surrounded by smaller characters in some unknown language, was marked onto her skin.

Panicked, she frantically swiped and scratched to get them off. The pain intensified, and the heat quickly spread to the rest of her body. Then it was gone. Instead of burning, she was left with an all-encompassing emptiness.

Gluttony Incarnate.

The words hovered before her eyes, then burrowed into her mind. She calmed. She had no idea what they meant, but they felt as familiar as her own name. But what did that feeling even mean?

“Oh my god, what is happening?” Val slammed her palms to her temples and clenched her eyes shut.

“Oh my god, will you please calm down?”

Val whipped her head to the left and saw a girl about her age standing in the corner, buttoning her shirt. The name Avia flashed in Val’s mind, followed by the word Wrath. She was wearing tight fitting charcoal pants and a black blazer with floral imprint. A bleeding heart was stitched across the left breast pocket.

Val straightened herself back into to a sitting position and stared at the girl. “How long have you been there?”

“The whole time,” Avia said, straightening her tie. “You were too busy freaking out to notice.”

“Where are we?”

“Le Ciel’s infirmary. Didn’t you get the info rush?”

“Avia!” a loud voice boomed. “You’re awake! And not… on fire.” Both girls turned to the ceiling to find a man, late-twenties at most, hanging upside down from one of the light fixtures by his hands and feet. Shoulder length dreadlocks swayed freely in the air as he rocked back and forth from his inverted pedestal. Black tattoos of illegible symbols swam down his olive brown arms like they were alive.

Avia squinted for a moment before recollection crossed her face. “Vladimir Dracule the Fifth, heir to the Eastern Kingdom. The Sin of Lust.”

“Indeed, I am,” he said with a smirk. Val noted his accent. Her first thought was English, but there was an earthier quality to it. Perhaps, Romanian undertones. “I see the clothes are to your liking,” he added, nodding to Avia. “I knew you’d look good in black.”

“Yeah, they fit great. But question.” She crossed her arms. “How did you know what size underwear?”

“Well, anyone could give a simple estimate,” he said eying her over. “But, honest to gods, I had nothing to do with your clothes. I just dropped them off for the tailor when you got here. You passed out when Zadkiel took you out of the pod.” He innocently placed a hand over his heart and lowered his head.

Avia was clearly about to object but was cut off by sudden movement on his arms. In the blink of an eye, his tattoos had stretched to envelop his entire body in swirling darkness. Before either woman could react, he had sunk into the shadows between the light fixture and the wall. Seconds later, he was back, rising from the ground to stand beside Val’s bed.

“And you must be Valentina.”

Val jumped, her eyes having still been fixed to the ceiling. She wanted to run but couldn’t make her body move. His dark eyes were welcoming, but she could feel the predatory gaze beneath; watching, just waiting to make its move. Her eyes then locked onto his smile—and the two elongated canines grazing his lower lip.

“You seem confused?” he asked after a moment.

The shock had finally set in. “V-v-vampire,” Val managed to get out, shrinking back against the headboard. It was like someone had pressed Play, allowing the fear and panic to crash down again.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her,” Avia sighed. She flipped the hair out of her face and walked over to them. “It’s like her Mark’s not working.”

“Hmm…” Vladimir reached for Val, then stopped.  He looked down at her trembling frame and offered a gentle smile. “Valentina, would you mind showing me the Mark on your chest? I need to figure out why you don’t remember.”

Val had no idea how the two were connected, but she obliged. She gave him a small nod and lowered the corner of her shirt. Vladimir leaned close and scrutinized the lines and symbols.

“Oh,” he finally muttered. “One of the lines is crooked; I had to rush the Marking to avoid getting bit. Michael will have to fix it.” He shrugged, then casually lay down next to her. “What about you, Wrath?” he asked, turning to Avia.

“I’m good,” she said with a shrug. She then leaned against the bedside wall.

“Perfect... Another thing for Zadkiel to lord over me later.” He turned back to Val. “My screwup is probably why you’re only having fragments of information flash around your head. They feel like old memories coming back up, don’t they?”

Val nodded while scooting toward the other end of the bed. A gleeful smile broke across Vladimir’s face as realization dawned upon him.

“It’s okay, I don’t bite.”

It would have been reassuring if his fangs weren’t clearly visible as he spoke. Her eyes darted around the room. There had to be a closer exit than the door. At the very least, she needed a weapon to defend herself.

“Much,” he added, clearly amused by her unease. “But I must admit,