The Five Cursed Witches: Volume 2 - Crimson, the Witch of Night

Chapter 36 Night cap

Lamech

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I didn't stay in my room for long. I felt too happy about how the evening had turned out, too excited and exhilarated, and it made me greedy for more. We had eaten dinner and talked for most of it and it hadn't turned into a fight. Maybe, just maybe, there was a slim chance for things to turn out okay.

I knew one thing I ought to do though to create the best circumstances for that. I had to ensure that my hunger was as subdued as possible. It wouldn't do good if her scent enticed me too much so that I bit her at the wrong time. Words that Aideen had told me of Crimson's feelings came to mind. That Crimson thought I only kept her here for her blood.

The best way to prove that wrong was by not drinking it. Accidentally or intentionally.

I went to the kitchen a floor below, to where we stored all of the donor blood. Most of it was blood that had been donated to hospitals but that had expired before used so that the hospitals had to throw it away. Blood's shelf-life was considered to be 42 days. Many hospitals would however throw out the blood even slightly earlier than that.

The 42 days limit also didn't pose as great a hinderance for vampires as it did for humans. We could still drink the old blood and nothing bad would happen, the only consequence was that it wouldn't sustain us as well and could taste off. It was far from the life and death question that it would be for humans.

So we had deals with all of the hospitals nearby, which included all of London. Of course, the deals weren't exactly legal and only a handful of humans were aware of it. If any human that wasn't in the known would look into it, there was simply one company that the hospitals all employed to dispose of the old blood and a foundation, completely separate from the company, that made generous donations to the hospitals on regular basis.

This was one of many things that had been made easier with time. Before we had raised pigs and hunted for large animals in the forest to drain of blood to have as an alternative to drinking directly from humans. The animal blood had been alright, on the same standard as the expired donated blood. The main problem was that at times we wouldn't notice that an animal was sick. Depending on what type of sickness it had, the consequences could be severe. Never deadly, but could lead to the incapacitation of a vampire until all of the blood was out of the system, which could take up to half a year. The older and stronger a vampire was the longer it would take.

I had myself once consumed such blood. It hadn't even been much, but I had been completely out of it for four months before being able to function again.

That was a general rule with vampires, older and stronger retained the blood they had consumed for a longer period. That meant that I didn't need much, while for a newly turned, like Aideen, needed blood daily. What that meant in extension was that I truly still overflowed with Crimson's blood. However, I wanted to be absolutely on the safe side, and have some more.

I took out one of the bags, poured it into a cup, and heated it up slightly. Once done, I took the cup to go to my room, but the exit was blocked.

"You could have just told me if you're hungry," Savannah said. She had her arms crossed over her chest and looked at the cup with what seemed to be resentment.

"It's alright, Savannah. As I said before, I won't require your services anymore," I said and walked to leave, but she didn't move out of the way.

"You shouldn't drink that. I've heard the others complain about it. Fresh blood is much better for you." She reached her hand out, as if to take the cup from me. I moved it to my other hand, away from her.

"It is none of your concern," I said firmly and with authority. But she didn't seem to notice or care.

"But I know what you like, Lamech," she said and licked her lips slightly. "It'll be much more pleasant than drinking that."

She placed a hand on my arm and moved closer. I automatically took a step back.

"And I'm telling you that I'm not interested in that." I pressed my teeth hard together and took deep breaths. I knew that it wouldn't be good if I lashed out on her. The repercussions from that would potentially be far too great. It would be bad if the humans all became upset with me.

"But even if you don't want my blood, you have other needs also, don't you? Let me help you with those."

She once again made to move closer and I stepped back. She wasn't acting like she usually did and she had started to infuriate me. Most of the time she seemed docile and she had always just gone with the flow. Not expected more than politeness and kindness and understood limits and boundaries. But I guessed that had made me complaisant and I had feed from her for too long, had made her expect things that I wasn't willing to give.

"I'm sorry, Savannah, if I have given you the wrong impression. But I have no interest in that neither. I'm going to pretend that this conversation never happened and the best thing for you to do is to forget about any hopes you might have in regards to me. They will not come true."

She seemed stunned by my words and I took the opportunity to slide pass her and out of the kitchen. I just hoped that she had understood now and would give up. I definitely didn't want Crimson to find Savannah trying to make a move on me.