Requiem for Blood by Alexandra Hope Page A

problems. Noah's the one who's been sneaking human food into the colony and I don't know where he's getting it from but I know he hasn't gone outside the gates. He has no appreciation for the Vampiric world he lives in!” She sighed and shrugged, rolling her head toward Mar. “Where did Olivia disappear to?”
    “I'm not sure. It's not hard to get trapped in the bowels of this place, it's large and unfamiliar to her.”
    Natalie nodded her head in agreement then changed course.
    “What about that boy?” she asked.
    A wicked smile crept upon Mar's face as she looked at Natalie above the rim of her glasses. “His blood is perfect.”
    Dr. Patel joined their conversation, interjecting his own comment. “That boy's blood...I think that it's the one, unfortunately it's only a bag and I don't know how much is needed for the experiment.”
    Mar pressed her palms together and pushed the finger tips to her lips. “We need to find out more about him. What was his name again?”
    “Troy Evans,” Dr. Patel replied as he sifted through his paperwork.
    “Maybe Olivia could do some recon for you?” Natalie suggested, shrugging her shoulders.
    “If only I could find her. I do not know where that child has disappeared to.”
     
    ****
    Olivia was outside the recreation center, the wind blowing her hair over her eyes as she watched Troy from the shadows. He was sprinting down the street, despite having just given blood, and as soon as he approached a short wall of a building he scaled it. He ran across it and as he approached the edge, he swung his arms back and thrust himself forward onto another roof. She had never seen anyone move as fluid as he did, not Felicity or Noah. She had been slightly impressed as she watched him disappear into the night.
    She knew it wasn't wise but there was something about the night, something in the air that spoke softly to her, beckoning her to the beach. It had to be about seven o'clock, she figured as she looked up at the sky. The beach was empty when she had finally arrived, her legs buckling beneath her as she staggered onto the beach. She plopped down on the rocks, leaned forward and watched as the waves heaved back and forth, crashing against the rocks and slithering back. The moon reflected on the water, speckles of gold and white dancing in the dark blue ripples. She couldn't see her reflection but the moonlight had cast a shadow of her figure when the water calmed its terse and violent tide. In the black shadow, she thought she saw color filling it, a palette of white and brown crinkling and folding in the waves. Eyes peered up at her, hollow and ominous as they stared.
    “Mother?”
    She thought she heard a sound behind her and broke free of the grasp of the distorted image, blinking and then looking to see nothing more than water below. She didn't turn her attention to the sound as she was still lost in what seemed to be a reflection of her. It was her mother's face that had been staring up at her, but she didn't know how to respond or what to think. On more than one occasion she had been told by many people that they saw every bit of the Matriarch in her, which would naturally be a compliment. Her mother was the strongest woman she knew; tenacious, cunning, strong-willed, and skillful, there weren't enough words to describe her and yet, she knew those things did not exist within her. There were another set of words used to describe her, words only those who wished to be cast out of the colony would be stupid enough to utter, kids who had no sense of the compassion she held. Some, like Noah, abhorred the Matriarch's evil disposition but still held nothing but respect for her so that left her more than a little curious as to what part of the Matriarch they saw in her.
    She kept her body forward and took in the scent of the ocean. An hour had to have passed but she couldn't believe that she had spent that much time there. It made sense though as it was a place someone could easily lose