My Blood on Your Lips, Your Money in My Bra

Chapter 19: Becoming a Monster

My grip on the arm tightened as I began to tear through the skin of the wrist, trying to rip open more veins and bring more of this delicious, exotic blood to my tongue. It worked. A wave of the red substance flooded my mouth, some of it spilling from the corners of my lips as the rest slid down my throat. I sucked at the source of the blood feverishly, pulling more and more of it from this creature's veins. I fell backward, dropping from the sink to the hard tile floor, but I refused to release the arm. It was just so good...

"Elyria!" a female voice screamed out of nowhere. My eyes snapped open, pain registering in my mind a split second later. I felt blood in my mouth, warm on my tongue, and an immense pain in my left wrist. I removed my teeth from my arm and yanked the limb from between my teeth, watching in horror as blood dripped onto my chest.

Wide-eyed, I looked away from my arm, finding Eli standing to one side of the bed and Kyrianna on the other side, on the floor. Both were watching me, but the female was clearly more panicked than the male. Eli looked a bit worried, but not at all afraid.

"Elyria...?" the vampire said questioningly, looking from my face to my bleeding wrist and back again. A hint of hunger flashed in his eyes, but it faded quickly enough into the worry that had been there before.

"Is this really so terrifying?" I asked after a moment, confused. Waking up to someone gnawing on their own wrist would be creepy, I knew, but...did it really warrant that everyone leap away from me in fear?

"No, but this is," Kyrianna replied softly, holding up her right arm for me to see. There were cuts on her fingers and a clear bite mark on the back of her hand.

"I...did that?" I queried, my eyes drifting slowly from her injuries to her frightened eyes. She nodded. I let my gaze drop to the floor before her. "Oh..."

"It's all right," she assured me as she got to her feet. "It was just an accident."

I nodded, deciding against telling her about my strange dream. That would only make things worse. "Did I do anything to you, Eli?" I asked, now turning to the vampire.

He shook his head. "No."

"That's good," I said softly while swinging my legs over the edge of the bed. I let my elbows rest on my knees, burying my face in my palms. Blood dripped down my arm and onto my leg, but I ignored it.

"Are you all right?" Kyrianna questioned softly, taking a step closer to me.

"Yes," I answered, "I'm fine." I got to my feet and looked at her wounded hand. "Would you like some help cleaning that up?"

"No, thank you. I think I'll just take a shower. That should do the trick, right?" I nodded, and she offered a weak attempt at a smile. She then turned to Eli. "Where did you put my clothes?"

"On the couch," he answered simply.

"Okay. Thanks." And with that, she left Eli and me alone, even closing the door behind her. I figured she'd noticed the hunger in his eyes earlier and realized what would probably happen without her in the room.

I laid back on the bed the moment the door was shut, sighing.

"I guess you were able to sleep after all," Eli commented as he sat on the bed beside me.

"Apparently," I muttered.

"Are you sure you're all right?" the vampire asked cautiously after a moment.

"No," I answered flatly. "I had a dream that I drained Kyrianna and ripped your head off so I could drain you, too."

"And that you tried to drain yourself?"