The Hunters Saga #2: The Wolfsbane Rubies

Chapter 16: Be Still My Unbeating Heart

A/N: Hey!! :D Sorry for the wait, you guys ^_^ This chapter should make up for it ;) News: It's ALL in Henri's POV! :D Hope you all enjoy and thanks for reading <3 Oh, and WARNING: may be a little graphic in some places (this IS Henri's POV after all) :/ Sorry...

Chapter 16: Be Still My Unbeating Heart 

   She didn't scream when I tackled her, pushing her roughly to the cement of the empty sidewalk. She didn't scream when I wrenched her head back and drove my sharp teeth right into her jugular. She never screamed, even as her life was ripped away from her. 

   I released my hold on the girl as soon as she went limp. She dropped to the ground with a muffled thump. I wiped my mouth of the blood, smearing it all over. Even after feeding, I still felt hungry but... not for blood.

  Toni...

   I shook my head at myself, mentally cursing as I got to my feet. That damn hunter had put her trust in a vampire – one she barely knew – over me. Pain twisted like a stake in my chest, and if I'd had a heart, it would be breaking. Instead, I felt empty and detached. Depressed, one would say, but anger and fear fueled me to forget Antoinette Drake.

   At least temporarily.  

  She'd done something no one had done in centuries. She'd broken the Mark. I could always rewrite her wrong by...

   No, I couldn't do that, I told myself as I moved further down the street, hunger still pushing relentlessly at my body. I usually ignored the need, as I'd practiced it for a very long time, but tonight... I didn't give a damn about humans. They were bred from betrayal and seduction. They thought they understood love, but they had no idea.

   No idea...

   And Toni was no different. 

   I shook my head again, as if to clear it. I couldn't ignore the urge to rip countless throats out before dawn came. My conscience was long deceased, after all. I sighed, scoping the streets for another victim. It was only 11 at night, but I'd already slaughtered five humans, all women, all alone. Most had been teenagers. Stupid teenagers with alcohol in their systems. Not that it lessened the taste of their blood. I had targeted a few that were adults, the ones that couldn't get as far if they tried to run. They were the easy kills. I'd had nothing but those tonight so far. 

   Each and every victim I drained hadn't seen danger and death right in front of them. Most had frozen, not even thinking to run before I pounced. Others had thankfully ran, but I'd still caught them. They were no match, anyway. The chase was what vampires lived for. It got the blood pumping better through the body, was my assumption. 

   Something moved behind me, and I jerked around, coming face to face with a woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She had dark brown eyes hidden behind red-rimmed glasses. She was a little shorter than Toni, and her shoulder-length brown hair – combed straight – made me think of the hunter I'd been pursuing. The woman's eyes widened to the size of saucers when she saw me, covered in blood. 

   "Oh my God, are you hurt, Sir?" she immediately came closer, but I growled and pushed her backward before she came to close. "S-sir?" she stuttered, then her eyes glazed over as I glared into them. "What's your name?"

   "Julie."

   "Alright, Julie," I whispered, keeping direct eye contact. "Are you going to run?"

   Even while under my compulsion, Julie kept staring at the blood on my face and clothes. "Who-who's blood is that?" 

   "It's not mine," I stated simply, quickly taking the woman's shoulders and drawing her closer.