Vamplayers Read Free Page B

“Let me guess: the bedroom tripped you up again?”
    I nod. “I just don’t get it. I mean, how many times have we trained, all of us, to clear the bedroom door first? And every time I forget.”
    Cara frowns, pulling her hand away to stack dishes on her tray. “I don’t think Dr. Haskins wants us to pass the Simulation.”
    Alice groans.
    Cara goes on. “Think about it. If we move up to Savior status, where will Dr. Haskins find some new Sisters? You know nobody here respects us, so why would they want to be us?”
    Alice shrugs. “You could have a point.” She snaps her collar. “We are pretty badass. Am I right?”
    We high-five, but my heart’s not in it.
    “What does that mean then?” I say. “We’re doomed to be Sisters forever?”
    “Dang,” Alice says, leaning back in her chair. “I thought you enjoyed our company. Would it be that bad hanging with us forever? Even if it does mean being Third Sister for all eternity?”
    I smirk.
    She smirks.
    We get it, Alice. We get it: you’re First Sister.
    “It’s not you I want to get away from,” I kinda lie. “When I started this job, I thought it would be temporary, you know? ‘It’s only for a year or two, Lily.’ That’s what Dr. Haskins told me on my first day, remember? And now, six years and who knows how many schools later, I’m no closer to being a Savior.”
    “I know I’m ready to move up.” Cara rubs her hands against her narrow, tapered waist. “Not for nothin’, but this body was made for one of those red leather jumpsuits, feel me?”
    We share a laugh, even Alice, who would be the first to dive into a pool full of holy water if Cara ever became First Sister.
    I smile, picturing Cara, Alice, all of us in matching jumpsuits, those precious crossbows dangling from our black leather belts.
    We grow silent, strutting through the halls in our fantasies, until Alice says, “What’s a few more years of being a Sister anyway, Lily? Look how long it took you to become a Sister. Twentysomething years? That’s got to be some kind of record.”
    “Hush, Alice,” Cara says, offering me a sympathetic look.
    But it’s nothing I haven’t heard before. “So I’m a slow learner. What can I say? I mean, it’s not like—” My pager goes off, and I groan.
    Cara and Alice instinctively flinch as their pagers go off as well.
    We look at each other before quickly cleaning up our trays.
    Pagers can mean only one thing: a new assignment.
    If only I’d held on to one of those stakes from my Simulation, I’d impale myself right now.

Chapter 3
    C ara and I stand apprehensively at the door to our dorm suite, but Alice is absolutely brimming with excitement.
    She rushes ahead of us to open the door as if she might find a fully decked out Christmas tree and dozens of presents waiting. “Finding out where we’re going is the best part, you guys,” she says cheerleader-style and dashes into the room first. She grabs the leather dossier resting just so on our coffee table.
    “Am I the only one who thinks it’s creepy the way they always deliver those things while we’re out of the room?” I say.
    “What?” Alice flops onto the couch and luxuriates in opening the file first. “Would you rather they hunt us down in the cafeteria and hand it over in front of all those would-be Saviors?”
    “I guess not.”
    It’s not that I’m embarrassed to be a Sister, let alone Third Sister, ie the puniest, least respected student on campus. It’s just that everyone at the Academy treats us differently.
    Like when we get an assignment, it’s all cloaks and daggers, hush-hush, super spy Jason Bourne stuff, you know? All of a sudden, without any warning, someone drops off a file in our room and we pack up and ship out without any fanfare or hoopla.
    But when the Saviors get sent out on a mission, look out! It’s all bells and whistles and practically a ticker tape parade. Most of the school empties out to watch the elite of the elite get into their rock