Chapter 1

9 0 0
                                    

Chapter 1

New Orleans

Hayden stumbled out of the bar into a sea of people even more drunk than she was and that was saying something. Well, who could blame her if she’d spent the past few hours drowning her sorrows? She was dying—again—and she was damn sick of it.

The crowd carried her along, steering her toward nowhere in particular. Someone pressed up against her from behind and pinched her ass. Under normal circumstances she would have whirled around on the jerk and kicked him in the crotch. Now she didn’t even glance over her shoulder, preferring to let the revelers jostle her forward. The psychedelic cacophony of Bourbon Street after dark used to fire her senses with its sounds and colors. But it all seemed vaguely soothing tonight, the landscape of her hometown so blurred it was no more threatening than an impressionist painting.

She had the booze to thank for that. And the fact that she was starving for blood.

Dying for it, actually.

Eventually she’d make it back to the furnished one-bedroom apartment she’d rented off Jackson Square, at which point she would collapse onto the cheap sofa bed and drift into a dreamless sleep. Or try to. Sleep had been something she’d had gotten much of as of late.

Not to mention food.

Make that blood.

How long had it been since she’d fed? A week? Two? Like everything else, the days ran together and she couldn’t get a clear idea of how much time had passed since she’d turned.

Sixteen. The number inserted itself into the forefront of her brain, asserting its importance.

Sixteen days was a long time. Granted, she’d never spent much time around vampires before Valentin Grigorievich sank his teeth into her neck so she had no point of reference. For all she knew vampires could go months without blood, years even.

Based on her current state, she doubted it.

Ever since she’d left him the morning after he’d changed her she’d been getting weaker, paler, as if she were losing substance, fading away a little more each day. Her jeans slipped down over her hips now and her collarbone was alarmingly prominent. Her breasts—never her best feature—looked like the breasts of a prepubescent girl. A few more days and she could burn her bras because she definitely wouldn’t be needing them anymore.   

She didn’t feel like a vampire, she felt like a ghost.

How many more days could she go without blood? She’d thought eating regular food would keep her alive (such as it was) but that didn’t seem to be the case. Even steaks so raw they made her gag didn’t help.

Nothing did.

She had to have blood but she didn’t want it—couldn’t bring herself to drink the stuff—

and she didn’t have a clue how to get it. Vampires had fangs, she knew that much. But as far as she could tell she didn’t have any. When she ran a fingertip across the rim of her teeth they felt the same as they always did.

Maybe there was a kind of release mechanism, like the gas lever on cars. Well, if there was she’d sure as hell like to know how to activate it.  

You could call him.

No. Whatever happened, she was not going to cave. She was not going to call Valentin. Even if she might have been falling in love with him. Especially if she’d been falling in love with him.

You've reached the end of published parts.

⏰ Last updated: Mar 01, 2015 ⏰

Add this story to your Library to get notified about new parts!

Chasing EternityWhere stories live. Discover now