Indulgence (232 page)

Mid-lunge, I was aware my mouth was open and venom dripped
from my teeth. My stomach swelled with a burning that quickly turned to desire
that clawed its way up my throat. A horrific, ear-splitting shriek spilled out
of my mouth. I could feel I was about to reach my target and the thought of my
teeth sinking into her neck was more than my body could handle. I cocked my
head for the kill.

Something wrapped around my waist, stopping my forward
momentum and my pursuit of my prey. I came slamming down against the stone
floor but felt no pain. My mind was on one thing and one thing only. Her scent
filled my nose and created such desire that I trembled for her blood. The venom
circled with excitement in my belly and my mouth watered for just the slightest
taste of her, but the burning in the back of my throat wanted more – it needed
to be quenched.

I sat up but couldn’t see a single solid object. Nothing
around me had a defined shape; everything had been reduced to bits and specks
of color. I inhaled deeply, searching for her, and caught a whiff. Her scent
was quickly disappearing but I could hear her voice. “What’s happening?” she
asked. “Allison isn’t feeling well but she’ll be okay,” a male voice responded.
Their voices were growing more distant; she was moving farther away from me. I
couldn’t let that happen. I had to have her.

I dug my nails into the stone and lunged forward but was
stopped by a solid object in front of me. I was trembling. I needed to have her
and I needed to find her. I couldn’t even imagine what her blood would taste
like but I desperately wanted to find out. I tried to move again but was
stopped. Vincent’s face appeared before mine. Although everything else around
me was a swirling pool of color, Vincent’s face appeared with perfect clarity.
I breathed shallowly, not understanding what he was doing or why he was
standing in my way. I shoved his shoulders but he didn’t move. I couldn’t hear
her anymore. I shoved again but Vincent drew closer. He appeared to be saying
something to me but I couldn’t hear him. My mind was consumed with the need to
find
her
!

I opened my mouth but words escaped me. I looked over
Vincent’s shoulder in an attempt to signal that I needed to go. But instead,
Vincent wrapped his arm around my waist and held me securely in place. I
couldn’t understand what he was doing or why he was keeping me from my mission.
Then I saw his mouth open and the tips of his fangs emerge. Then I felt it.

His cold teeth pressed against my neck. I was dumbfounded
for only a split second but before I could fight back his venom was in my
system and began paralyzing me.

The sensation of his teeth penetrating my skin wasn’t
painful; in fact, his mouth on my neck felt quite pleasurable. The sensation
reminded me of a lover gently kissing his lover’s neck. But that warm sensation
lasted momentarily. I gasped for breath as I felt two icy cold spots sting my
neck under the warmth of Vincent’s mouth. The two spots merged into one cold
spot and then spread like a spider’s web over my neck. The coldness crawled
over my face, them my shoulder, then over my chest and immobilized my
breathing. I felt it wrap around my waist and up my spine and then down my
legs. It felt as though I had just plunged into a frozen lake and my entire
body was in shock.

I gasped for air, my eyes wildly scanning the room searching
for some explanation as to what was happening to me. I kicked my legs but it
did nothing to free me from my attacker. I could hear murmuring around me but
it was barely audible. The coldness intensified and it now felt as if every
cell in my body was freezing individually. The iciness finally settled in my
stomach as my eyes frosted. My body was a solid piece of ice.

My vision was blurred and my hearing muted but I could
faintly hear some voices.

“Vincent, no!” a male voice shouted.

“What in the hell are you doing?” another asked.

“You can’t! She never consented,” a female shouted.

Somehow, the coldness was getting even worse, like I was
naked in a blizzard and pieces of snowy ice were striking my flesh. My toes and
fingers stung with what I imagined would be frostbite and the sensation spread
through all of my appendages. The pressure at my neck disappeared and I fell to
the floor. I heard a door slam and more scuffling. I couldn’t see what was
going on nor could I make sense of the voices. The room was black and spinning.
Then, I couldn’t see or hear anything at all.

I didn’t know how long I lay frozen. It could have been
hours or days or a century. Though my body was a cold, hardened block, my mind
was still aware – painfully aware – of my frigid surroundings. I couldn’t hear
or see anything so my mind could only focus on the stinging bitterness. It was
incomprehensible. I didn’t know if this was what it felt like to be buried
alive in an avalanche or to be locked in a meat freezer. All I knew was that it
wasn’t enjoyable in the least. Every part of my body tingled with a burning
coldness and there was nothing I could do about it other than hope it would go
away soon.

And then, something shifted in my core. The solid mass of
ice slowly began to melt, splinters of ice now swirling in the warming liquid.

Slowly, the iceberg in the pit of my belly began to liquefy
and the gentle warmth starting to emanate from my core was welcome relief. The
warmth leisurely spread over my chest and through my arms and legs. As my body
began to thaw, a new tingly sensation overcame me; it felt like I was dipping
my chilled limbs into warm water. The cold had been completely replaced by
warmth, to the point that I almost felt normal. My mind was conscious but I
still couldn’t move, talk, hear or see.

I lay there, trapped in my comatose state, enjoying the
welcome warmth. It was comfortable, almost like sitting on a beach, the sun’s
rays putting me to sleep. This serene feeling lasted for some time, or it at
least felt that way. My senses were completely blocked so I had no
comprehension of time. Then, the heat began to intensify. I felt it first in my
core, like a hot sun in the middle of the universe. My core became hotter and
hotter, almost unbearable. Just like the cold, the heat began to spread over my
body, but more rapidly than the coldness. It ferociously launched through my
chest, down my arms and was particularly painful on the left side of my neck
like I was being stabbed in two distinct spots. The heat shot in the opposite
direction down my legs. The pain was indescribable; it was as if scalding water
was being rammed through my veins with a fire engine hose.

The heat rippled through my body. I could feel it circulate,
always seeming to end up at my core where it picked up more heat to spread
throughout my body. The heat escalated to an inferno. I was boiling from the
inside and I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Just when I thought it
couldn’t get any hotter, it did. The pit of hell was festering in my stomach,
its flames scorching every inch of my body.

I heard a wail. It was the first sound I had heard in what
felt like an eternity. It sounded like the source of the sound was in terrible
pain and I had to wonder if it came from me. If it wasn’t me, the pain in the
noise reflected the torture I felt. I started to faintly hear other sounds.

“Hold her down.”

“I’m trying but she’s boiling hot!”

“She might be coming through.”

“Get her something to drink.”

My body started to convulse, violently contorting in
unnatural ways and something was attempting to restrain me. I could feel my
limbs shaking and trembling and thrashing about but this pain paled in
comparison to the immense heat.

There was sudden relief in my stomach as the heat backed off
a few degrees. As my scorching hot blood returned to my center, it was replaced
with a cooler blood. It spread over my entire body giving immediate relief. My
body transitioned from inferno, to blazing, to hot, but a hotness like nothing
I had ever felt before. The convulsions stopped.

My eyes sprang open. Lorenzo was above me, hands on my
shoulders as he straddled my chest. He was apparently the restraint I had felt
earlier. Pressure eased from my legs and then I could see Felix peering over
Lorenzo’s shoulder. Marlo was on my other side. I could see her lips moving but
I could barely hear what she was saying.

My breathing was labored. I wasn’t sure if that was due to
Lorenzo sitting on my chest or because of the ordeal I had just experienced.

“Wha…what…what happened…” I stammered.

“Lorenzo, get off her; she can’t breathe,” a muted male
voice commanded.

Lorenzo removed himself from me and cautiously backed away.
I tried to lift myself but had little strength. Marlo laid a hand on me and
said something. I closed my eyes and focused my energy on speaking.

“What in the hell was that?” I struggled to ask.

I heard light chuckles, then Marlo scolding her brothers.

“Allison, how are you feeling?” Marlo asked, her head above
me observing my face.

“I…I’m not sure.”

“Listen to me. You have to drink this. It will make you feel
better,” she said.

I nodded my head weakly. Felix held up my head as Max rushed
to my side with some sort of liquid concealed in a shiny flask.

“Drink,” Max instructed.

The thick, cold liquid hit my tongue, washing away the heat.
If a fire hose was pushing fire through my body before, this drink was
certainly helping to squelch the fire. It slid down my throat and took the heat
with it. The reprieve I felt was most welcome. If I could have grabbed the
flask myself I would have chugged all of the sweet liquid.

“Easy now,” Max said as I drank. Once in my stomach, the
relief spread over my body. I felt almost functional, still weak, but I could
sense my strength returning.

“You’re going to be fine,” Max reassured me.

I finished off the flask and lay back, wiping my mouth with
my arm.

“Can somebody tell me what happened?” I asked to no one in
particular.

I opened my eyes and saw four blank expressions peering over
me – Lorenzo, Marlo, Max and Felix. The last time I saw these four, we were at
the Halloween party but the costumes were now gone, replaced with everyday
looking clothes.

“You, uh,” Felix started, trepidation in his voice. “Um, you
have been…”

“Transformed,” Max finished. “Spit it out Felix. She would
have figured it out sooner or later.”

“Transformed?” I questioned. My mind drifted to thoughts of
my most recent nightmare. The incomprehensible heat I felt, like I was standing
in the middle of Hell. And before that, the frigid misery I endured, like I was
standing in the middle of Antarctica. Then flashes of Cain and Ina came before
me, both withering on the ground in pain as they were…transformed.

“But how?” I questioned. “I never consented. I mean I knew I
had no choice, but I wasn’t ready. Not now,” my voice trailed off. I wanted to
cry yet no tears welled.

Marlo sat on the bed next to me. “Vincent changed you,” she
stared into my eyes.

I stared back, searching Marlo’s face for answers. Her eyes
were different. They were pallid; not the typical dazzling lavender I was used
to. I expanded my search of her face. Her cheeks were sallow and her skin
appeared drained of what little color she normally had.

“Vincent?” I questioned. “Why? Why would he do that?”

“At the Halloween party, you almost attacked Jenna,” Marlo
said.

“I did what?” I exclaimed with what little energy I had.

“Almost,” Lorenzo said. “I got Jenna out of there before she
could suspect anything. I told her you weren’t feeling well.”

“So she’s not hurt?”

“No, she’s fine and she didn’t suspect a thing.” Lorenzo
assured me.

“But why would I have attacked Jenna?” I asked to no one in
particular. One of the brothers was about to respond but I cut him off. “Oh
Lord,” I sighed. “My symptoms. Vincent was right, you all were right. My
symptoms got the best of me, making me attack my best friend...” I trailed off,
almost not believing what I was saying.

“Vincent feared that we would kill you because of the almost
attack,” Marlo stated. “Without thinking, he bit you and transformed you.
You’ve been out a few days going through the transformation.”

I gasped. This was not how I wanted this to happen. I knew I
had to consent at some point, but at the very least I wanted control over the
time and place and wanted to be able to say goodbye to Jenna even if she didn’t
realize it was goodbye. I would have told her I was traveling the world with
Vincent and she wouldn’t see me for some time. That lie seemed believable. But
Vincent took that away from me. How dare he! How could he have done that? What
a selfish bastard to take it upon himself to transform me into a vampire
without my consent.

He transformed me
, I thought.
He transformed me
.
I tried to let the words sink in but it felt so unreal that I was now part of
the damned, one of the living dead. I paid particular attention to my body. I
wiggled my toes and moved my fingers. Other than feeling weak, I really didn’t
feel much different.
He transformed me
, I thought again.
I’m a
vampire
.

“I’m a vampire,” I whispered. My companions didn’t say
anything as my new reality set in. But the more I thought about Vincent’s
selfish actions, something dawned on me. He may have damned me but he had
actually saved me. I knew that by not immediately consenting, I risked the sort
of thing that almost happened. I took the chance that my symptoms would worsen
and I wouldn’t be able to control myself. And that’s precisely what happened. I
had almost attacked Jenna. Something had triggered the venom inside of me and I
hadn’t been able to control myself in her presence. Who knew what would have
happened had Lorenzo not gotten her out of the room in time. And who knew what
Jenna really saw and if she had believed I simply wasn’t feeling well. I almost
exposed their secret to a mortal, breaking one of their rules which should have
resulted in my death. But Vincent intervened and saved me from that death
sentence. He saved me! I was still here! Although I wasn’t technically alive
any longer, it was better than the alternative. Wasn’t it?