Bloodlust

Bloodlust Chapter Two

Chapter two: Nightmares

Thunder claps. Misty, gray fog. A dead buck at my feet. Red everywhere-the color, not blood, I hoped. But there it was, seeping out of the gashes torn in the buck’s flesh. My teeth grew, as I bit my tongue to keep from rejoicing. Black goo filled my mouth-only afterwards did I realize it was my blood. If I could have sucked up all of the warm, liquid blood inside my body, I would have. But strangely enough, some small part of my body told me not to.

          Instead, I jumped from the oak trees branches on which I stood and landed firmly on my feet. Sharp points grew at my fingertips, as they greedily tore more flesh from the buck. Finally, when all but the throat lay undamaged, I bit in.

“AAAGGHH,” I awoke late at night screaming. “VAMPIRE,” I repeated over and over, until I heard Ben’s slippers clacking on the wooden floor. He circled his arms around me as best as he could; letting me cry until I fell back asleep.

          When I woke again, it was nearly dawn. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore, what with the strange dream I’d just had. Vampire. Hunting. Lighting in the dark night. Trees raised high into the air, cutting into the howling wind. Blood. My lean body crouching over a dead buck. BLOOD!!! And I’d licked it up as if my life depended on it. Humans don’t drink blood; vampires do, so why did I?

          Plus, vampires are nothing more than fictional creatures that are believed to have lived at some point (well, only crazy people believe that, but still there are people). I’m a nonbeliever, obviously so I have no idea why I would even dream about being one. But wait, what if my dream meant something important? I once had this friend named Vicky and her mom was something that resembled a psychic and her mom had been giving her lessons on how to do things like read peoples palms and identify dreams.

          She would always go on and on about the dreams she kept having about totally insane stuff and she could almost always relate them back to simple, daily stuff. Like for instance, she had this dream that Big Foot came into our math class and ate the teacher. Yeah, her interpretation was she hates math and the teacher should never be heard from again. Pretty crazy stuff, huh?

          Then again, it was only a dream, I told myself over and over, as I prepared myself some breakfast. While trying to busy myself with heating some eggs and bacon on a frying pan, I made mental notes of things to do before we left. The flight that Ben and I were taking was leaving at nine, so I needed to first finish packing.

          As I waited for my breakfast to cook, I tip-toed back upstairs to my room. Clothes were strewn across the shabby room, most with the tags still on them. I tended to wear a pile of the same clothes every week so it’s not like I needed them all. Still, I grabbed some random shirts and jeans from the floor and stuffed them into my duffel bag. A Beep, Beep, Beep from the stove warned me that my eggs and bacon were done, so I flew down to the kitchen.

          After scarfing down a huge helping of food, I checked packing off on my mental checklist. Quickly, I moved onto the next task. The house, which was practically in shambles-despite my efforts to clean it-would be left alone until someone could extend enough common courtesy to buy it or at least rent. Throwing my dishes into the sink, I grabbed the container of liquid soap and began washing.

          Ben was sound asleep in his bed when I came upstairs to fetch his bags. I loaded my car with both mine and his bags. It was still dark outside, and I don’t know how I managed. The only light that could be seen was from the moon, hanging overhead in the black sky.

          Not once did I stumble or trip over a rock or even my own two feet. I moved swiftly and gracefully through the driveway and back up to the front porch. I collapsed in the old couch’s soft cushions, as I finished folding the clothes from the drier and packed them into a box. Another thing I needed to do today: drive to the post office.

          Nothing but early morning weather reports and reruns of cartoons that no one ever watched was playing live. I muted the television, until I saw something flicker across the screen. It appeared to be a wolf, but it seemed slightly altered. The long fur-covered body stood on all fours, just like a regular wild animal should. But then, like a bull or an unbroken horse, it reared up and transformed.

          Fangs shot out from the mouth, blood dripping at the tips. Claws grew; the body transforming from beautiful to thin and stocky. It seemed to have taken the form of a man, but more like a werewolf caught in the middle of the transformation.

          I cried out in terror, although it was just digitally enhanced, like in those Harry Potter movies. The throw blanket I’d draped around me fell to the floor in my haste. I shoved my fist inside my mouth to keep from waking Ben, while I slowly slid off the couch onto the floor. But the damage had already been done. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and carried his baby blue blanket in the other while stumbling down the stairs.

          I held him in my arms while I made him a bed on the couch, and brought him some breakfast. But as I sat down with his food, I noticed he’d already drifted back to sleep. The rain had stopped pounding so severely. Instead, a light drizzle fell from the sky in its place.

          Now, the television was playing some old horror movie with that little blonde boy, Haley Osment or something. I clicked it off with the remote and fell back onto the floor. My cell phone sat in the back pocket of my pajamas. The screen buzzed to life as I read the text from my friend Harley.

Harley: Wuz up, A? U still leavin?

Me: Duh. Where else am I gna live?

H: Um idk. I bet my rents will let you live with us :)

I had to laugh at that. Her parents would never let me move in with them in a million years. Not that they didn’t like me. They just thought I was too much of a handful, not to mention Ben would be with me wherever I went.

Me: It’s fine. Maggie seems rly nice.

H: Wutev A. I’ll visit u sometime + we’ll catch up.  K?

Me: Ya. Sounds gr8.

H: :) hang in there, Lex. Graduation will b here b4 u no it.

Me: That’s wut I’m afraid of

I deleted that message and tried again.

Me: :) Do u want 2 stop by b4 I leave???

H: Ummm, wut time is ur flite?

Me: 9

H: K. B there in 10.

I shut my phone and lay back down. The glass-overhang allowed me to see the moon still brightly lit in the early dawn sky. It began to move behind the vague sun, and then it vanished. Dusk had been broken.