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I TOSSED MY MOTHER her pills and grabbed a bag of chips as she switched on the small television that was perched in our broom closet of a living room. It wasn't much but in New York City for two humans it was a hell of a lot, and it was what I gladly called home. There wasn't any other place that I would have rather been.
"Honey?" My mother looked up at me and her tired eyes met mine. "Can you move Dad out of the way so we can see the whole screen?" She gestured toward the simple silver urn that sat proudly on the TV stand.
I nodded and carefully slid it aside more before taking my seat again. I glance over at my mother. She was clearly already feeling a lot better with the help of the medicine, but even a blind man could see that her disease was getting worse. Her cancer was spreading and there wasn't a damn thing that I could do about it and that was what tore me up the most. The vampires I could fight for her. The looters and rioters I would take on without a second glance. But how do you kick stage four cancer's ass?
The television automatically clicked on and the government sanctioned station took over. There was no use trying to change it because for the next 24 hours the broadcast that was happening live would play on a loop until all of the summoned reported in for their intake. It was required that every non-supernatural citizen watch the broadcast. Every human in New York's sleep schedule was fucked anyway so most of us tuned in without a bother even though it was on in the wee hours of the morning. Being a human you learned to adapt fast to whatever kept you alive. Sometimes that meant going for a grocery run at noon and sometimes it went staying awake all night like the supernaturals did. We did whatever worked best for us.
Behind me there was a rapping on the dining room window. I turned to see the invicta mob boss tapping his fingernail lightly on the window. His ugly smile still clung to his face but his eyes and nose were red and he had a gash in this cheek from clawing at his face trying to force his lungs to work again.
"Just leave it Scarlett. It's not worth the time."
I shrugged and got up from the couch and made my way to the window. All I was missing was the long and outdrawn speech. It was the same every five years anyway from what I'd heard. I made my way to the window and tapped my fingernail against the glass too just to piss him off.
He looked at me seriously and cocked his head to one side. "You want to open the window and invite me in."
I let my eyes space out and focused on the faded city lights out in the distance. "I want to open the window and let you in." I said in a monotone voice as I made my way to the window and wrapped my fingers around the handle. "Not!" I laughed in his face. "You and I both know that you can't oblige me while I'm in a house that you haven't been invited into. No invite means no brainwashing, better luck next time bud." I let out a genuine laugh and relished in the look of pure fury in his blazing eyes. He pounded his fists against the window but the glass held up. I breathed a sigh of relief that my father had us install the shatterproof windows throughout the entire apartment. It really was an investment that paid off in the end. I silently admired his dedication to ripping me limb from limb. I couldn't think of anything I wanted enough to free climb a five-story building to get.
I grabbed a drink and found my place back in the worn-down leather couch that we had inherited from the previous renters. "Did I miss anything important?"
"I don't know." Her lips pursed together tightly. "They just announced that in a few moments that they were going to share with us some new rules about the Vampire Trials, and who it's going to affect."
I didn't think much of it. At twenty I had only ever lived through a history of 3 matches. There was still a lot about the customs and why the hell it actually took place to learn for me.
I pulled my snow white hair out of my face and into a low ponytail before tossing another chip inside of my mouth. My stomach churned as I watched the live broadcast. It was the first one that we'd ever had to watch without my father and that stung more than anything. He hated the trials. He despised them with a passion, but why wouldn't he? As the leader of the biggest underground human resistance organization the trials went against everything he believed in.
Since the beginning of the great takeover when supernaturals came out of hiding and overthrew the humans the city of New York had been divided into three different triads. Each triad was ruled by a glorified vampire overlord called a governor who basically got to do whatever he wanted. With the rise of vampires to power things got crazy with vampires killing whoever they wanted whenever they pleased and the human population dropped drastically which wasn't too good for the vampires who needed human blood to survive. As a counter measure the governors introduced laws on when and how vampires were allowed to feed but when that wasn't enough to keep both populations at bay the trials were what they came up with. It's a sick and twisted way to get humans to kill each other, pit the different triads against each other, and let the vampires get a little power trip in the process.
Each year three candidates from each triad are chosen and they have 24 hours to tell everyone they've ever loved goodbye and head to Trials Manor to prepare to die. Only one person comes out alive, and their triad is the one that will be spared from the free for all slaughter that makes it legal to kill any adult male for a twenty-four hour period. The other two triads are out of luck.
When I was younger I didn't fully understand it. It was something that had happened for my whole life, so I didn't know the difference. It sounded like a horror story, something out of a late night movie, but now it made me feel like I wanted to puke every time it came to mind. It was barbaric, it was sadistic, and it was sadly one hundred percent real.
The commencement ceremony finished and the three vampire governors walked onto the screen. They each wore fancy black suits, designer no doubt, with matching ties. Even through the television screen they reeked of wealth and privilege. They stood tall with their heads held high, enjoying every minute of their power no doubt.
But I had a feeling that everything wasn't perfect in their lives. Over the last few years there had been reports of more and more vampire retaliations. The vamps didn't like the rules, and with the introduction of the magical drugs into their systems they were finally bold enough to say it. Every day there were more and more stories of vamps breaking the no killing in daylight rules, luring people into dark alleyways and vampire clubs away from the stinging touch of the sunlight only to rip them apart.
I smiled smugly, enjoying imagining how horrible they must feel watching their twisted empire crumbling piece by piece. I knew if my father hadn't been killed in the last purge five years ago he would have been smiling too.
"Welcome everyone to the twentieth annual summoning ceremony." The governor of my triad, triad three, took the podium. "Twenty is a big number, one that our ancestors only dreamed of seeing. But here we are, one hundred years later."
The crowd of rich vampire socialites cheered and whooped, but I knew that there wasn't a single human watching whose lunch didn't threaten to come up just at the sound.
"We have heard the cries of our people. We know you're discontent. There isn't enough blood to go around in the blood banks, and there aren't enough donors to keep up with high demand." The governor sighed.
"Donors? You mean human blood bags that you oblige to dedicate their lives to being drained." I seethed, talking to the television.
My mother turned to me and sighed. "Scarlett, you sound like your father."
I groaned. My mother was the kind of woman who was sweet- too sweet. She was a what happens is meant to happen kind of woman. She always had been but it was kicked into overdrive with her cancer diagnosis. She always hated when my father tried to buck the system, it made her uncomfortable. But at some point in time she must have agreed with him otherwise I never would have been born. I wondered where that version of my mother lay, somewhere deep inside sheltered inside a cocoon of this versions worry and fear.
"This is why we've decided to make some changes to mark our hundred-year reign. These changes will take place immediately and I believe that they are important to both the supernatural and human populations in order to keep the peace between all. In the beginning these changes will be hard to adjust to. They'll be different but we believe that the harmony is worth the discomfort in the long run."
The two governors that stood behind him nodded and the crowd went wild before they even knew what the stupid changes were.
Sheep. I snorted in my mind.
"That's why, starting today we are making an amendment to our traditional rules. As of this moment men are not the only ones who will be summoned to partake in the trials. The names of every able-bodied woman from each triad over the age of 18 have now been added to the summoning pot."
My heart sank into my shoes.
"What? No. They can't do that. Can they mom?" My head whipped in her direction and a wave of panic swept over me.
"In the days of equality, yes they can sweetie."
"No. That's bullshit!" I jumped to my feet. Her composure was only making the decision burn worse.
"Language Scarlett."
I balled my hands into fists and huffed.
"And respectively, during the purge woman are now added to the penalty free list as well."
My mother and I turned to look at each other. Now the look of worry and horror spread to her face too. "All men and women over the age of 18 will be penalty free."
"Killable, he means. All adults. What the hell!" The room spun and I felt sick. It couldn't get worse. None of it could possibly get worse.
I lowered myself into the couch and phased out the rest of the opening speech. I didn't need to hear the details. The details didn't matter. All I cared about what the thousands of people who were going to be dead soon. All the orphaned children who would grow up in the broken system only to be forced to relive the same trauma every five years. It was insane.
"Scarlett." My mother pulled me from my thoughts. "They're starting with triad three this time."
"What?" I turned to the TV in confusion. "They start with one. They always start with one! What the hell are they doing?"
I watched as the assistances carted on the large metal spinner onto the stage and used the crank to spin it sifting all of the slips with names on them together.
The governor pulled a slip of paper from the container and a fake smile graced his lips. "And what do you know, we have our first female contender. Scarlett Johnson from triad three, you have been summoned."