Mushroom Blood

Chapter 6: Change

Chapter 6

Change

            I could feel the hypodermic needles burying into my skin. I could feel the blood being sucked out of my veins. With all the things I could feel… I didn’t feel much pain. I could think. I could function. But when I looked into the mirror across the room and I got scared. I was definitely changing. I could see my olive skin turning just slightly paler; my long, dark hair was getting thicker and longer. The only thing that scared me was my eyes. What were once chocolate brown were now a pale blue-gray, and rapidly getting lighter.

            Mom stepped away and analyzed me. “How do you feel?”

            “Tired,” I really was. All of the nutrients had been sucked out of my body.

            “Here, baby, come here.” she sat on the bed and cradled my sickly body like I was a newborn again. I guess I sort of was. Instead of breast feeding me, she held my head by her throat. “I know it’s not as good as human blood, but it will give you energy. Drink.” And I did.

            The taste… that is something to talk about. Even though it was a vampire’s blood, it tasted better than anything I had ever tasted as a human. Better than my favorite chocolate; better than any steak. Better than anything! It had such a deep, seductive taste that made you want more. It almost turns me on. I felt more than energized after drinking blood; something that I would have never even thought of doing when I was human.

            When I finished drinking from my creator for all intent and purposes I looked up at her. She looked as if she was going to cry, but she couldn’t. She knew she had saved me from a horrifying future… and I was grateful; even if I was a horrifying, nightmarish creature.

            I couldn’t stop staring at the mirror in our tiny bathroom; I stayed there for who knows how long. It was just like my delusions; my hair was even thicker and longer than it had been when I was human and my skin was flawless. My eyes looked dead. But I felt invigorated! I felt as if I could take on the world.

            But I also felt a slight pain on my throat. As I looked into the bathroom mirror, I saw two little red holes in my skin where Mom bit me. I wondered if they would scar or heal. I didn’t want to be excluded from the human world because of being a vampire. I didn’t want to be marked.

            That night was the last night of sleep I ever had. And to be honest, the most frightening. My nightmares were things of horror. Dark, shadow-like creatures with red, slanted eyes grabbed me and tore me apart over and over again. I screamed, yet no one came to my rescue. Along with my screams there were other screams. I did not know where they were coming from, but I knew they were facing the same torture I was. There was fire all around me; blazing, red fire. This was the worst nightmare I had ever had; I was going to die in this dream. I had never died in any of my human dreams. And this one felt so real!

            But suddenly, the two boys that I kept dreaming about showed up. Lambert and Reece were running toward me. I screamed at them to stop, but they didn’t listen. They kept running. Running toward me and these horrible shadow men. Running, running, running. They kept running but couldn’t get to me. They weren’t moving.

            That was when the shadow men noticed them. I heard one of them hiss, “Leave the girl, she won’t run.” That one started floating toward Lambert and Reece and the rest followed. One floated over me and I was overwhelmed with the stench of dead animals… or was that the smell of rotting human corpses. I vomited blood. I screamed again, but Lambert and Reece didn’t stop. The shadow men were almost there.

            “Lambert, Reece! Run away!” But it was too late. They got to them and threw both of them to the ground. They grabbed the boys with their disgusting arms and dropped them by me. “No,” I whispered. All they did was look at me and then back at the shadow monsters. The shadow men took Lambert first. They broke him up into bloody pieces and ate them. Lambert was gone! My best friend was dead. Then they turned back to Reece and I.

            “The male is like her. Let them share the same fate,” said the leader of the shadow people. I had to watch as they tore off every one of his appendages. He was screaming, I was screaming, and all the other unknown people were too. We were drenched in blood, but I wasn't attracted to this blood, I was disgusted. Yes, I was going to die.

            The shadow people picked up all of our parts and threw us into the fire together. Then darkness encircled me, and I died.

            I woke up with a jolt. When I realized I was still in the hotel room I laid back down and breathed deep, slow breaths. I felt like I had been drenched in water. I looked down at myself and noticed that I had sweated red-tinged water all the way through my nightshirt and pants. My hair was sticking to the back of my head and face. As I started to calm down my mother spoke. She was sitting cross-legged on the end of my bed.

            “I’m so sorry, Alexis. What just happened to you will never happen again. I didn’t know that they were the same. I dreamt that you were there when I dreamt that horrible dream.” She then looked at me with sullen eyes, “I really am sorry.”

            I breathed in deeply, “It’s ok, Mom. You didn’t know that would happen to me,” she moved over to me and gave me a hug.

            “You are strong. I love you.” She looked at me, “Vampires can love.”

            “Love you, too… thank you,” I really was thankful. I was glad that I wouldn’t be facing the fate that most people in the U.S. would be facing in the near future.