A/N: Heyo. Sooo sorry for not updating in like... a few months. Hopefully this super long chapter makes it up to you!
Chapter 13 : Tasting Red Part 2
Continuation from previous chapter...
It wasn't long afterwards that we were standing someplace else.
My pink nightgown blew in the cold wind that whirled past us, the soft material tickling my ankles. Trees swung and groaned with protest, their leaves rustling in the night. I stared up at Father; his mouth was moving but his words were a tangled mess in my mind. My eyes flickered from him to the person sitting by themselves on a park bench at the other end of the park.
I could smell them. Human.
"I don't get it, Daddy. I have to b-bite that person?" I shook my head, sinking lower into Mother's embrace. Her arms were comforting, not as much as Alsa's but safe and warm all the same. "Me don't want to hurt 'em."
"And you won't, baby," Mommy soothed. She ran a hand through my long black hair that unlike hers, was more straight than anything.
"Your mother's right," Daddy agreed. He crouched to my level, tucking his short black hair behind both ears. "Listen here, child. All vampires, whether they be of Nobel Blood or not, have the power to alter time when they bite a human. This ensures a sense of security for our kind. Vampires can feed without the bitten human actually aware of our actions, therefore protecting our secret. Do you understand?"
I conked my head to the side. What?
Daddy sighed. "Think of it as slowing down time or perhaps, us vampires moving at such a dramatic rate that humans are unable to comprehend our actions." He paused for a moment, choosing how to best describe this. "Nikki, when a vampire goes to bite a human with the objective of drinking their blood, they are capable of calling on an ability natural to all vampires. This ability allows us to... slow time is the best explanation for it, so that it is perceived we never moved in the first place. For the human, it would feel as if time is moving at the same rate it normally does but in actuality it had been altered, or paused if you will, to allow us immortal creatures to feed without the human ever being aware of our deeper intentions." I listened to each and every word he said. For me, this was a foreign concept. There was so much I didn't know. "We are only capable of controlling time like this for a brief moment," Daddy concluded, "maybe a few seconds, but that is more than enough."
Mother's fingers entwined in my hair. "What your father is trying to say, Nikki, is that they never know you bite them. Or that you drank their blood. They don't feel anything and the puncture wound from your fangs heal within a few seconds. I promise that the experience is painless. You don't hurt them."
I nodded. Mommy said women were always right so this must be true too.
"Of course, there are exceptions," Daddy countered. I looked into his dark eyes, they reminded me of the black paint I would dirty my hands with at home. "Not all vampires behave this morally," he said.
"Yes, that is true," Mommy agreed. I craned my neck back, looking up at her and admiring the way her black hair fell around her cheeks in soft ringlets. "Not only do we possess the trait to alter time but we can also choose whether or not to use it." She held up a finger, as if to further state her point. "In other words, you can allow a mortal to feel your bite, Nikki. In cases such as these, the human is aware of everything happening; the existence of supernatural creatures, the fangs embedded in their neck -- to the human in that kind of shocking situation, it may feel as if they're life is draining away in one short but increasingly long moment."
The look in Alsa's eyes caught my attention. He was standing behind Mommy, looking a little... sad. It made me feel sad. Alsa never looked like that.
"Some vampires feed this way, Nikki. And you see, they don't worry about the human reporting our existence because..." she paused, glancing quickly at Alastair, "well because they are killed. They die, Nikki."
My eyes widened. Die? I knew what that word meant. When you hear of someone dying, it means you never see them again. I wouldn't be happy if Mommy died. Or Daddy or Alsa. I would be all alone. Always sad.
My bottom lip trembled. "Are there really vampires like that, Mommy? Vampires that like to hurt people?"
"Many vampires do not care what happens to the humans," Alsa broke in, his voice softer than usual. It had a certain emptiness behind it. "They choose whether or not to use the power we naturally develop, intentionally inflicting pain if they choose not to." He looked angry, his eyes aching with a pain I hadn't seen on him before. "The vampires that disregard this natural ability already decide beforehand that they wanted more than to drink the blood of a human; they wanted to drink their life."
My chest grew heavy, not from what I was hearing but because of the face Alsa was making. My prince wasn't allowed to make a face so sad and angry all at one time.
I walked over to him, tugging lightly on his trench coat. As if remembering I was there, the look on his face immediately disappeared, replaced by a gentle smile.
"Don't you go worrying about me," he all but chuckled. His hand fell to the small of my back where he rubbed soothing circles over the fabric of my gown. It warmed my skin and sprang goosebumps along my arms. "It's my job to worry about you."
I looked up at him with my bottom lip puckered. "Yeah but-"
He poked my nose to shush me and I giggled.
Mother moved beside Daddy, watching Alsa and I with the edges of her lips drawn up in a smile. She rested her hand delicately on her husbands chest while her head fell on his shoulders, her midnight hair cascading down their backs in loose ringlets. From the corner of my eye, I saw Daddy wrap an arm around her small waste, holding his beloved even more close.
Alsa and I were going be like Mommy and Daddy one day. No one could ever love someone as much as they loved each other. And that's what I wanted. Alsa better love me good, I thought humorously to myself.
After a while, Mother said to me and Alsa, "Alright you two, it's getting late," putting a halt to the game we were playing.
Daddy nodded in agreement. "Yes. Time to get on with it, child."
Laughing, Alsa returned my nose to its rightful place in the middle of my face. He was always taking my nose, holding it higher than I could reach. It wasn't fair that I was so much smaller than him.
"Nikki, the reason we came out here tonight," Mommy pointed to the women who still sat alone at the other end of the park. "We want you to go over to that human sitting alone on the bench. And don't worry, you'll know what to do when the time comes."
"Alsa come too?" I asked giddily.
Mommy shook her head. "Not this time, baby."
I glanced at Alsa who also shook his head. "Oh." So I really had to do this all by myself?
Sucking in a breath, I nodded once then ran off. My toes sank in the damp green grass with each step I made, reminding me of what they were expecting from me. I was nervous, ignorant. I didn't fully understand what they wanted me to do. Bite them? Drink their blood? What could urge me to do such a thing?
As I got closer, the scent of the woman only intensified. Human. The word drummed on in my mind. I was sure of it now. She was human, a lesser being, not one of us.
I came to stand behind her, the wind blowing ever stronger and overriding my senses with her enticing scent. It excited me, lighting a hunger inside me. Interesting. Who knew such a simple being could ignite such a ferocious spark.
"Excuse me," I said politely as I came to stand in front of the woman, my hands entwined behind my back innocently.
She was playing on one of those touchscreen phones Mother said were "the beginning of a new age", the bright screen captivating her full attention. She hadn't even noticed me, even after I spoke. Hesitantly, I poked her dark skin.
I presumed my touch had frightened her because she jumped, almost throwing that phone of hers into the air. Placing a hand over her chest she stared at me wide eyed, chuckled uncomfortably. I could hear the pounding of her heart; it was loud and beating so fast I thought it would break free from her chest.
"Honey, ya scared me!" she exclaimed.
I found it intriguing how much I had frightened her. It almost made me laugh. Vampires could sense when someone was approaching from hundreds of meters away. Humans were really dumb.
Beside the bench was a light post. It highlighted her features. I didn't think she was very pretty. She had strange coloured hair, a bright purple, which was tied back in a messy ponytail. It didn't match her brown eyes or black skin.
"Honey, what're ya doing out here all by yerself ? You're so young... where're ya parents? It's not safe ya know."
Her heart beat had begun to steady, returning to its slow rhythm. As she looked at me, I could see the concern and worry circulating her light brown eyes.
"Well," I mumbled, not knowing what to say. My eyes darted to her neck, honing in on a vein there that seemed to pulsate with each beat of her heart. I swallowed. "I don't know... Mommy, Daddy...drinking but no pain hungry."
I didn't know what I was saying, but it didn't matter either way. Is this how Mother said I'd feel? My mouth was warm, my throat parched. I wanted to claw at my neck. Her neck. That vein continued to pulsate under my eyes, running from her collar bone and disappearing under her jaw.
I'd feel something similar to this when Mother, Father or even Alsa returned in the dead of the night with a sachet of red liquid for me. It tasted ever so sweet and would satisfy the hunger I'd feel every so often. A hunger that didn't reside in only my stomach, but my whole body. My mind.
But this was different. I felt alive. Ready to pounce. Little Control.
"Hon, what's wrong?" The lady took my hand in hers.
Something lit in my chest, an energy I hadn't known I was capable of feeling. It mixed with my blood like a swarm of fish in a river, coursing throughout my entire body. I felt my heart pick up pace, my breathing growing ragged, hotter. I became aware of the tingling in my gums.
"Are you okay?" I could see a number of veins pulsing along her shoulders and neck now. Some larger than others. I was gripping her hand harder than I meant to and I was almost rocking on my heels.
This was hard.
Lifting my eyes to her warm brown ones, I willed for this hunger to subside. But it wasn't working. I didn't care about this human. I didn't know a thing about this human.
A human, that's all she was. And all I wanted from her was...
I titled my head. "Can I tell you a secret?"
The woman looked stunned for a second but lent forward anyway. "Sure." She inclined her ear to my mouth, twisting her neck.
My mouth at her ear, I hesitated before whispering in a secretive voice, "They promised it wouldn't hurt."
Taken aback, the lady turned her eyes to me. As if to ask me 'what?' her mouth opened but no sound came out. The burning sensation coursing throughout my body only intensified, something I couldn't explain taking over me. I felt my teeth -- my normal white teeth that looked just like every one else's, grow against my tongue; elongating to a sharp point.
They had never done this before. A tooth on each side of the top of mouth brimmed through my closed lips, reflecting in the moonlight. It was an unfamiliar sensation yet it also felt so natural.
The humming sensation in my blood built up to an undeniable pressure, to the point it was so overwhelming that I let it snap. The world around me seemed to freeze while I kept moving, my heart pounding in my eardrums.
This is what they were talking about. The natural instinct that allowed me to alter time. I felt it surge through my body and out. And I let it. I could choose whether to use it, whether I wanted to inflict pain or not on this human. I didn't.
I watched the woman blink as if I was watching something on screen in slow motion. Her lashes came down in a tedious motion, her eyelids clamping shut before opening to reveal her brown eyes once more. It was as if her heart had stopped. She had no pulse, I couldn't hear the rhythm of her beating heart. It was like she had suddenly been frozen.
Daddy's words resounded in my mind. "We are only capable of controlling time like this for a brief moment, maybe a few seconds, but that is more than enough."
He was right. It was more than enough time.
In a rush, I clutched her shoulder and surged forward, burrowing what little fangs I had into the crook of her neck.
She didn't make a sound, didn't flinch or twitch beneath my bite. She was unaware. Oblivious.
The sound of my fangs puncturing her skin sent chills down my spine. It was thrilling. Euphoria began as a glow in my stomach before sparking to life as a hot flame. I felt something warm on my tongue and sucked harder, nose crushed against the woman's shoulder and my eyes clamped shut. The warmth trailed down the inside of my throat, scouring my tastebuds not with pain but with an indescribable sweetness. It tasted better than anything I'd ever experienced in my life.
The liquid filled my stomach, warming me from the inside out. This tasted even better than the sachets of red liquid Mother, Father or Alsa would bring me. It was fresh, warm, addictive.
I could have kept sucking, drinking every last drop of this woman's sweet blood, but something told me to stop. A little voice at the back of my mind.
Maybe my time was up and it was a natural calling warning me that the human would going notice if I didn't pull back now. I felt satisfied, my body replenished. I didn't need more but I wanted more. It was like a drug, this sweet taste.
My eyes flashed opened. But I don't want to hurt her, my inner self reminded me.
I ripped my fangs from her neck, stepping back from her. I stood straight-backed in front of her, facing the woman with funny coloured hair. As soon as I did, the regular beating of her heart returned. She unfroze, looking around her with her eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
"I-I'm sorry. What was I just sayin'?" Pulling her hands from mine, she leant back on the park bench, clutching her head. "Whoa. I feel a little dizzy."
I peered at her with curiousness. It was fascinating, this power we had over the humans. There was blood smeared around the wound my fangs had made in her neck. I stared at it. Wasn't it suppose to heal? Then, right before my eyes, her skin fused together. Where my fangs marks were, only dried blood resided.
"Oh hon', you're bleeding!"
Her words pulled me back to the present. My eyes snapped up, focusing on hers again. She was staring at my mouth, a horrified expression splashed across her face. My fangs?! I clapped a hand over my mouth only to realise my fangs weren't there. I ran my tongue around my mouth. My teeth had returned to normal. I looked like a human, like her. Then why was she...?
Then I noticed the wetness on my chin and pulled my hand away to see my fingers dipped with blood. Red and shiny against the light.
"We need ta find ya parents," she said quickly. The woman reached a hand out to me and I probably would have let her touch me if not for the sudden crash that made my ears prick and my nose twitch. That smell. My head snapped to the side and before she could stop me I ran off, leaving her behind calling after me to stop.
The wind pulled at my hair as I ran. Along with it carried a scent I recognised immediately. A vampire. But if didn't smell like Mother or Father. It wasn't as strong, it didn't radiate power like we did. It was similar to Alsa.
But what caught my attention wasn't the scent of another immortal but the scent of a creature I couldn't place a name on. Neither human nor vampire. And I wanted to know what.
I slowed to a stop at the edge of the park. Across from me was a dark pathway that led off between two buildings. Another crash sounded. My curiousness was mounting, urging me closer. Like a cat stalking a mouse, I crept forward, careful of not stepping on anything that might make a sound.
I wasn't scared, only eager to learn what this unfathomable creature was. I could make out the outline of cartons stacked high against each side of the alley wall. It caged the darkness in. Everything was still, unmoving, but the stench of living beings was present. I knew they were in there.
Just when I was about to take another step, Alsa appeared in front of me, shielding me from whatever came smashing through the stack of cartons in that instant. Mother and Father appeared too in a midst of black smoke, there stance rigid as they watched what I did. Two bodies clawed at each other on the ground amongst a pile of splintered wood; a man and woman.
A heard the clatter of metal as something slid across the ground. It was a knife and it glinted brightly in my night vision. With a gnashing of fangs, the woman clutched it and wedged it between the shoulder of the man pinning her to the ground. He hissed in pain and in that moment of weakness, she kicked him off, throwing him through the air. They both sprang to their feet, but she was quicker, hauling him so roughly against the wall that it cracked. His head lolled to the side and he sank in her arms, the smell of blood filling the air as I saw dark red run down his temple. Hissing in his face, she bared her fangs.
"That is enough," Mother ordered.
The authority in Mother's voice made the female vampire pause, her eyes darting to the four of us.
"Imperials?" She sneered the words, as if it tasted horrid on her tongue. Throwing the man aside she stood to her feet.
Mother stepped forward. "Insolent." With a wave of her hand, she brought the vampire down on her knees. "You will address us as such, crazed beast. You insult our race with your lust for blood."
It was then that I noticed the pair of feet hidden behind a stack of cartons behind her. Is that why they were fighting?
"Our race?" The vampire laughed, trying to rise to her feet but to no avail. "You are not part of our race." Her eyes fell on me, half shielded by Alsa's arm. "A child Imperial?" The surprise was evident in her voice but was quickly replaced with distaste. "Breeding now that you know you're dying out?"
Mother's blue eyes clouded with anger. "How dare you."
Wind whirled around our feet, the air growing frigid. Stepping forward, Mother raised her hands in the air. The vampire's eyes widened as fear flashed across her face. She threw her head back, bellowed as the sound of bones snapping found their way into my ears. She was lifted off the ground by some invisible force, her back arching at an unnatural angle. Her legs kicked in the air, her cries of pain ceasing to chocked sobs as the air was squeezed out of her.
Daddy placed a hand on Mommy's shoulder. "Marisa, enough."
I tore my eyes away just as the vampire's neck snapped to the side and her legs stopped kicking. The sound of her body falling back to the ground made me wince.
"Marisa," Daddy said calmly, pulling Mommy against him.
"She would have told," Mommy whispered fearfully. "Emrik, they're not going to stop."
He smoothed her hair, whispering something I couldn't hear in her ear.
"And for... good reason," croaked a horse voice. We all turned our heads to the man laying against the wall. He was clutching the dagger jutting out of his shoulder, his breathing coming out in hot bursts. Clenching his eyes shut, he pulled it out in one fast motion, spraying blood across the ground. "With the power I just witnessed," he said breathlessly, "I'm not surprised everyone is afraid." Shakily, he pulled himself to his feet and glared at us with dark brown eyes. He's strong, I thought. "Tell me. What business do you have saving a Hunter?"
So that's what he was! My eyes widened in realisation. That's why I couldn't recognise his scent.
"We didn't save you," Father stated. "You just happened to be here."
"We're not that kind," Mother said.
"So what then? You plan to kill me too?" He gestured with open arms like he were readily asking them to take his life.
"We're not that cruel either," Mother admitted. "We don't kill unless justified, and that-" she pointed to the body I noticed earlier laying behind the stack of cartons "-is justification in itself."
"It isn't you're job to kill rouge vampires," he bit out, "it's ours as part of the Hunter Council." On weak knees, the man stepped forward and almost immediately his legs gave out. He sank to the ground again, more blood spilling from the wound in his shoulder.
My body moved on its own. I walked around Alsa and towards the man who was barely keeping himself from falling on his side. No one tried to stop me as I held a hand out to him.
He stared at it, his face unreadable.
Then he slapped my hand away.
Frowning, I held it out to him again. Is he stupid? I'm trying to help. Titling his bloodied face up, we stared into each other's eyes. His looked distant and cruel. Like he hated me without even knowing me. But I couldn't just leave him crawling on the ground. I shook my hand, motioning for him to take it.
Huffing, he pulled himself to his feet without taking my hand. This time, he didn't fall back down.
"Thanks," he mumbled gruffly to me.
For what? I didn't know.
The floor suddenly dropped beneath my feet.
I fell, darkness fraying the edges of the picture in front of me. The last thing I grabbed was the mental image of the stoic face belonging to the Hunter I didn't know the name to. Then everything disintegrated into nothingness.
I sucked in a deep breath, the air hitting my lungs with so much ferocity it made me cough and splutter.
When I could probably breathe again, I glanced around in panic. My eyes flicked over the porcelain sink, glass mirror, bottles of lotion...
My shoulders sank in relief. I was back in my bathroom.
Looking down, I realised I was clutching my finger tightly. That's right. It started bleeding... A shiver ran down my back. The warm water I poured in the tub minutes ago was now ice-cold. How long have I been sitting here?
I could remember everything. It made my head pound as I replayed it over and over again in my mind. Had I fallen asleep?
No. What I just went through wasn't a dream. It felt nostalgic, like I had experienced it once before.
A memory?
Gingerly, I picked up a lock of my hair. It was almost dry now. Looking over it, I twirled the lock between my fingers. White blonde. Not a midnight black.
So it was a dream.
I sank back in the bathtub. Yes. A dream. Of course it was. The existence of vampires? Hunters? That my family were beings other than humans.
The thought was ludicrous.
So then why was I feeling this way? Like something was missing from the puzzle. It wasn't real, Nikki. It wasn't real.
But it felt so real.
I clutched my pounding head. It hurt. It hasn't stopped hurting this entire time. But I'm fine. Because all of this isn't real, right?
I don't know.
Shaking my head to try and rid those insecure thoughts, I hauled myself to my feet. Instantly, I regretted it as my knees buckled beneath me and everything doubled. A squeal left my mouth as I fell back into the freezing water. It splashed everywhere; across the bathroom floor, over the walls and coating myself. I felt like I had been slapped; the water was as cold as ice. With clattering teeth, I held tightly onto the side of the bathtub to keep myself up, watching everything swing around me in distorted circles.
Then there came a rushed knock at the door. "Nikki? Nikki are you alright? Why did you scream?" It was Alastair. Just the sound of his voice seemed to ease the headache building behind my eyes. "Nikki, you've been in there for hours. What's wrong?"
Things were still spinning but slowly they were returning to normal. It was like getting off a roller coaster that went around in constant circles. Slowly, I pulled myself up and out of the bathtub. I grabbed a towel and still dazed, wrapped it around my shivering naked body.
"Nikki, talk to me." Came Alastair's worried voice.
I couldn't think straight. I couldn't form words.
"I'm coming in," he warned.
I grabbed the door handle just as he did and simultaneously, we opened the door. He stopped short upon seeing me standing there.
"S-sorry," I managed, my vision righting itself so that I could look at him without the world moving. "I'm fine."
It was then that I realised. That man, that Hunter, I knew him.
That was my best friend's father.
That was Klein Larson.
A/N: Step back son 0.0
So I don't know if this was crap? What do you think?? I'm pretty tired atm but really, really wanted to write something. I'll fix it up later if it's disappointing.
Published 13/02/17