Buried

Chapter 7

Briefly:

This chapter was originally going to be part of another, but due to length, I separated them. Therefore, this is still a pretty information-heavy chapter. Some of you may like that, and I apologize to those that don’t. But I want you all to get attached to this world I’ve created, and to do that, I have to thoroughly explain its inner workings.

The action will pick up in chapter 8 and even more in chapter 9.

Vote…comment…and point out the nasty mistakes, please.

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7.

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“So I know this is the time you probably ate dinner as a human, but for us it’s breakfast,” Gabby stated, leading me downstairs towards the mess hall.

She had given me a quick tour of some other key places of the HQ, such as the workout room (one of three, apparently), the gigantic living area, a library, and a couple other offices. There were many other rooms that would be relevant to my training, she’d said, but it wasn’t up to Gabby to show me those.

We’d met several other vampires along the way. All seemed to be between their late teens and early thirties. They’d been friendly for the most part, although some were more wary than others. A couple had the same confused look Zack had when he met me, and I wondered if their Spirits were also reacting to mine. I couldn’t wait to find out more about her, for she remained very quiet save for an annoying comment here and there.

We entered the mess hall, and I guessed there were at least three-dozen vampires already in there. I tried not to shrink away; I was never one for crowds. Fortunately, most of them didn’t really notice the newcomer’s entry. The curtains were open now, and I could see the stars twinkling in the night sky over the green grass outside. Waves of sound and chatter washed over my ears in a near-deafening roar. My enhanced senses would still take some getting used to.

For the most part, it seemed so…normal. Like we were at a less-formal version of a military training camp, not that I’d ever been to one of those, but that was the closest analogy I could think of.

My idea of normalcy went straight out of the window when a sudden aroma washed over me. I hadn’t been hungry before, and Gabby said it was normal to not be hungry immediately after Turning; in fact, some vampires were extremely nauseous in the beginning as they adjusted. But when the tantalizing scent wafted into my nostrils, it felt as if I had been punched in the gut.

My stomach clenched up, and I felt saliva already pooling in my mouth. My hands immediately balled into fists as I inhaled as deeply as I could. The smell was….amazing, and addictive. I couldn’t get enough of it.

Before I knew what was happening, I felt something slide out of both my top and bottom gums. I winced, uncomfortable with the sensation. Tentatively, I raised a hand and confirmed what I already knew: I had fangs. Two on top, and two smaller ones on bottom. The teeth were sharp, although not nearly as long as I was expecting; in fact, they felt almost like baby teeth. Positioned right in front of my canines, they must have been sheathed in my gums all along.