The Thirst of the Cursed

ONE

It was so peaceful here. If only he could stay here forever. But he'll have to go back, for if he didn’t, they would notice his absence. Reluctantly, he got up, running his hands through his hair. He didn't want to look back. 'It's okay. You'll have to come back next week,' he thought. He always needed to make sure he had a full stock because his sudden urge overpowers his thinking & he didn't want to kill anyone. That wasn't even on his 'not-to-do list'. He was a vampire, not a murderer. Forcing his thoughts towards getting out, he found the bridge, walked over it, and turned. The Wavering Woods were the only reason why he came to King Cross College.

***

He hurried back to the campus, successfully unnoticed, for no one cared about him and the ones who did were nowhere to be seen. He went up to his locker and was taking out his books when a playful, boyish voice said, "Boo!” in his ears. 

Rolling his eyes, he turned around to face his best friends, Harry, the Mature One, and Mark, the Playful One. "Really! That was supposed to be scary?" 
 
"Exactly! I told you, Mark, you'll never be able to scare Sam," said Harry, smirking. 

"No worries. Every dog has its day," said Mark, trying to imitate a serious face. "And one day you will be scared.”
 
"And that will be the day I die," replied Sam, with a satisfied smile. 
 
"Oh, and by the way, did you guys complete the electronics project? I didn't have time. I just did it yesterday, when you guys were sleeping, so that Mark won't disturb me," said Harry, frowning in worry. 

"Oh, just shut up, Harry. Yours will be the best, and by best, I mean the best in the class," snapped Mark, who was now frantically searching his bag for the project. 

"Ahem! I think I am the best here." coughed Sam, playfully. He received two hard blows on his head. "Ouch, that hurt." 

***

Sitting in electronics, even with his friends, was boring. Mainly because Harry was too serious about his studies and so, was busy taking notes, while Mark, who would've been a good distraction, had disrupted the class and had now been made to sit in the front. So, Sam took out his laptop and phone, played songs on the laptop through his earphones and started recording the lecture on his phone. Suddenly, after some time, his insides started burning. His head jerked up; he knew this feeling too well. He needed to go, now. But if he left, Harry and Mark might get suspicious. With every thought, his stomach burned even more. He finally stood up and asked, "Professor, may I use the washroom?" 

"And why, may I ask, Mr. Samuel Johnson?" asked Professor Jacobs, peering through his glasses. 

"Umm... Because I drank a lot of juice last night and it's trying to find its way out," retorted Sam. 

Professor Jacobs bit his lip, amused, and said, "Here's your pass. Please do the needful." 

Sam snatched the pass right out of his hand and rushed out. However, as soon as he left the classroom, he went to his locker first. He took out some black bottles, and ran to the washroom and inside a cubicle with the bottles which were filled with the blood of rats he had collected in the Wavering Woods. Once done, he covered the bottles carefully in newspapers and  threw them away. He then rested his head on the cubicle wall, sitting on the floor. 

And suddenly, without knowing, hot tears started flooding his eyes. And soon, he was crying. 'What was my fault? That I helped her? For that?' he thought. After some time, he controlled himself, wiped his tears, and washed his face. He went back to the class, gave the professor a small smile, and went back to listening to songs, not knowing that Harry and Mark were watching him closely, concerned.

***

After the bell rang, Sam rushed out towards his lockers. "Hey, Sam, what's wrong?” Harry asked in concern. 

He replied, "Umm... nothing?" his one eyebrow raised. 

"Don't joke, Sam, we know something's wrong. When you came back from the bathroom, your eyes were red and puffy," said Mark seriously. 

"Also, you rarely leave the class," pointed out Harry. 

Sam was flabbergasted. He couldn't tell them, he just couldn't. He sighed, “Guys, you're overthinking this. I just had to pee and as I came out, I sneezed a violent sneeze. That's it. Trust me.," he added when they looked unconvinced. 

"Fine. If you want us to believe that, we will, buddy," said Mark, putting his hand round Sam's shoulder. 

"We are always there for you, man," said Harry, patting his shoulder. Sam looked into Harry's dark brown eyes, gave him a small smile, and turned away. He couldn't bear to think what would happen if they got to know his truth.

***

It was 2 spaces in one, which meant he had at least 2 hours free. He knew he'd have to spend at least 1 hour on his own, for both Harry and Mark had spares the second hour. He didn't want to go back to his hostel, it would bore him. He didn't want to go to the Wavering Woods, it would depress him. He finally decided to go to the library. Out of all the places, he found the library the closest to home. And he didn't go there to study, like Harry did, not like Mark, listening to music and doing nothing. He went there to read a book, to lift a page and enter another world. To love the world that was never his own. To forget everything. And that’s what he did.

***

All three of them walked towards their hostel. It was at a fair distance from their campus. Both Harry and Mark had joined Sam by the second hour and forced him to go to Starbucks. There, they had fun drinking coffee, with Mark pulling out practical jokes on random people. After some time, they were joined by Ginny, Harry's girlfriend, who was Sam's good friend too. They had ordered their coffee: Sam took a chocolate Frappuccino, Harry asked for a latte, Mark, a cappuccino, while Ginny went for an espresso. They dropped Ginny off and were now presently walking towards their hostel. As soon as they reached their form, Sam ran to his room and put his black blood-filled bottles in his cupboard in a secret cubicle. He also drank a bit of it so that he won't crave it later. He came out and sat with Harry, who insisted that Sam and Mark should study with him. 
"Buddy!? You want us to study!? On a weekend!? Nope. Sorry, not happening," exclaimed Mark. 

"But if you postpone everything to the last day, you'll panic and eat our heads,” said Harry, calmly. 

"I don't...." started Mark, but was cut off by Sam, who said, "Look, whether you do that or not, which you do, is not the point. Harry's right. We shouldn't postpone. We'll study for one hour and then watch a movie. Okay?" 

Seeing that the majority was not in his favor, Mark slumped down in a chair, saying, "Okay fine. I accept defeat. We'll study, but only for one hour." 

"And seriously,” said Harry threateningly.

***

After an hour, after many struggles to study with Mark, they finally sat down to watch a movie. They chose to re-watch Captain America: Civil War as it was their favorite. Mark kept shoving the popcorn onto Sam and Harry, while they kept shoving Mark out of the sofa. At the time of the airport fight scene, all of them forgot to fight and watched gleefully, like 12-year-old kids. At the end of the movie, Mark brought some drinks, and it became a kind of boy's night out. They all drank and danced until they passed out.