Blood Lust (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Revelations

Too preoccupied to eat, I skipped breakfast and headed straight for class. I fiddled with the bandage on my hand while crossing the bridge, my mind buzzing with all the new information I'd obtained.

It had only been four days since I arrived on Lachlan Island. And since then I've been: assaulted, seen more blood and violence than I'd ever seen in my whole life, and I found out that vampires were real. Oh, and not to mention the shock of finding out I'm the descendant of a vampire.

How can so much shit happen in such a short amount of time?

Heaving an exhausted sigh, I stepped inside the middle academic building, only to realize that I didn't have any school supplies.

"Damnit," I mumbled under my breath. "Wonder if I have time to grab my book bag?"

With all the chaos of the past few days, I hadn't had a chance to buy any books for class. But I did have some paper and pencils.

That had to count for something, right?

Deciding it was best to at least show up to class with note taking material, I turned to head back to my dorm... and crashed right into the door.

Or, so I thought.

I sucked in a harsh breath as warm liquid soaked my sweater and spattered my face. Addled, I glanced down, trying to hold the wet fabric away from my body when I felt myself pale.

It wasn't coffee or soda staining my once pristine canary yellow sweater--it was blood. Deep crimson, metallic-scented blood. And there was a lot of it.

"Audrey," Duke was staring down at me, caramel eyes wide with alarm. Then, they changed. In seconds he went from looking bewildered to hungry, before finally shifting back to normal. "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

I swallowed down the sudden lump in my throat, and nodded. "I'm okay. Are you?"

I hadn't seen him since he held me after... I shook my head, unwilling to think about his savagery from yesterday.

"I am truly sorry," he mumbled, his gaze turning down to a crumpled paper cup on the floor.

My brow furrowed. "About the shirt? It's really not a big deal, Duke. I can always change clothes."

I was actually more concerned about his shirt. Like mine, it had been bloodstained during our collision. But his top wasn't something casual like mine; it was part of his uniform. He couldn't just throw it away, and no amount of bleach could return it back to its former immaculately white glory.

I hope he doesn't get reprimanded for it.

He shook his head, and smirked, like he was enjoying some private joke. "Come on, let's get cleaned up."

Stooping over, he picked the cup up off the floor, and led me outside.

~~~

Seeing as how we were both covered in blood, Duke thought it best for us to go to the laundry room to clean up.

Once inside, Duke strolled to one of the dryers on the right side of the room and opened it.

"Here, you can borrow one of my shirts." He handed over a grey thermal, then turned to fetch another work shirt for himself.

Thanking him, I walked over to the huge industrial sink next to the washers and carefully slipped the sweater over my head.

Luckily, I was wearing the camisole from earlier as an undershirt. And luckier still, it somehow managed to barely get any blood leaked onto it.