Thirst (13 page)

Peter put his
finger to his lips and gestured for me to follow him. He crept past
the wide open door, glancing left and right. His heart thudded
loudly in his chest, distracting me.

“Wait here,” he
whispered and headed toward what might have been the bedroom or
bathroom. The place was brightly coloured, a dramatic contrast to
the bar, but something bothered me. I couldn’t figure out what had
triggered the warning signals in my brain.

I jumped with
fright as something crashed to the floor in the room Peter had
entered. I heard him yell and raced after him. He was on the
ground, Becca on top of him. Her face was covered in blood. My
stomach did a flip as I realised it was Peter’s blood.

“What the hell?’
She whipped her head around at my words and showed her teeth. Her
eyes were so red that I had to double check to see if she had
fangs. She didn’t. But her very ordinary human teeth were covered
in blood from where she had bitten Peter’s shoulder. He was too
dazed to struggle.

“You crazy bitch”
I shouted as I lunged at her. She barely had time to get to her
feet before I collided with her. We rolled on the floor and crashed
into the corner of the bed. She was quicker to recover than me and
pinned me down. It took less than two seconds for me to get scared
at the sheer force of her strength. I could barely move. I was
getting pretty sick of everyone pinning me down with such apparent
ease.

Becca wrapped her
hands around my neck, moaning with excitement as my heartbeat
raced.

“You... monster,”
I said, gasping and desperately pinching at her hands to no avail.
My air supply was depleting rapidly, and her fingers were making a
good effort at crushing the bones in my neck. Not again. Peter was
still prone on the ground, Carl wasn’t around, and I was on my
own.

I tried to buck
her off me, but she gripped my waist tight with her knees. I kept
moving as much as I could to distract her while I desperately
reached out with my hands for something to use as a weapon. Under
the bed, my fingers brushed against something cool and metallic. I
struggled to grip onto it but finally managed to take a firm hold.
I pulled, but it was stuck on something. Black dots marred my
vision; I knew I hadn’t long left. With one last blast of
adrenalin, I pulled as hard as I could and felt a release. I swung
into the air and realised I was holding a hair
straightener.

My heart sank as
it barely connected, but the wire managed to whip around into the
air, the prongs of the plug connecting with her eye.

“Ow!” She howled
with pain, letting go of my neck to instinctively touch her eye
socket. Blood seeped from her eye, but I didn’t care. Air slammed
into my lungs making me want to retch, but I concentrated on
tackling her. The back of her head smacked to the ground as I held
her down. Peter stirred behind me, but I couldn’t turn to check on
him. Becca was much stronger than me, and I knew I couldn’t keep
her pinned for much longer. I had only one weapon—my fangs. They
shot out, but I hesitated, unwilling to commit.

I felt cold air
blow on the back of my neck and heard one word whisper in my
ear.

“Bite.”

Excitement
flooded through me. I shuddered as I sank my teeth into flesh. Her
skin tore easily. She tasted funny, but her screams of pain and
fear encouraged me to keep going. Instead of lapping, I sucked and
dug my fangs deeper into her arteries. I relished the feeling of
pure raw energy flowing through my system. As she weakened, I
became stronger.

“Ava, stop it!”
Peter shouted, but his words were dull behind the wall of power I
was creating. Becca’s heartbeat slowed, and the humanity inside
pulled me away from her.

“Oh, God,” I
said, horrified, even as I licked her wound and the blood from my
chin.

I covered my
mouth and looked up at Peter, appalled by how little I regretted
what I had done.

“Is she okay?” he
said, pushing me out of the way to check her pulse. “Why did you do
that?”

“You told me to
bite her!”

“You
wish.”

I remembered the
cold presence I felt and realised he was telling the
truth.

“Shit,” I
murmured to myself. “Eddie.” The cold air turned into a sharp blast
of icy protest against my neck. I rubbed it hard, trying to warm up
again. “Okay, sorry.”

“What are you on
about?” Peter snapped. Becca was too pale, but I could see her
shallow breaths, hear her slow heartbeat. Everything was louder,
clearer, more intense than before. The first time I had bitten
someone, I barely drank and was so freaked out afterwards I could
have sprouted wings and not noticed. This time I had drunk my fill.
Satiated for the first time in my life, I now saw colours on a
whole new spectrum. Performing the act of a dead creature had made
me feel more alive than ever.

“Her wound is
healing,” Peter said, in awe. “Did you do that?”

I shook my head,
unable to stay calm. “She bit you. What the fuck,
Peter?”

He shivered
noticeably and backed away from Becca—and me. “She jumped on me
from behind, almost knocked me out. Then she bit me and banged my
head off the ground. I must have passed out or something. I woke up
and you were on her.” He wrapped his arms around himself, his face
pale. “You’re all scary as hell, I hope you know that.”

Carl burst
through the doorway, ready to save us, presumably. He looked from
me to Becca, and I bit down a wave of nausea.

“Carl, you watch
Becca. Don’t let her leave. Or bite anyone,” I said, needing a
minute away from everyone.

I headed to the
bathroom to clean my face. Looking at myself in the mirror, I
noticed a pale red gleam in my eyes. I had to sit on the side of
the bath to settle myself. My whole body was buzzing with excess
energy. I’d done it—but not because I couldn’t help myself. I
looked at the silver cross. Red swirls of colour skimmed the
surface. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see. The hit of adrenalin
had faded away, and I was left with a funny, shaky
feeling.

I almost killed
Becca—but she might have killed me if I hadn’t fought back. She was
crazy strong, stronger than me until I fed on her. What on earth
had possessed her? She might be human, but she was acting like more
of a vampire than I was. Even her blood tasted funny.

I left the
bathroom and looked around for a reason not to join the others.
Remembering Becca’s red eyes, I inspected her kitchen. A serious
lack of food, but plenty of chilled blood.

“That’s just
weird,” I said to myself.

The cold presence
blew gently on the back of my neck as if in agreement.

“Ava! She’s
awake,” called Carl.

Becca was awake
alright, and mad as hell.

“Get your slave
off me!” she spat, reminding me of a hissy cat.

“He’s not my
slave. What’s with all the blood in the fridge, you
freak?”

“Blood?” Peter
said. “What the hell’s wrong with you, Becca?”

“I need it, okay?
Look, Petey, let me go. I’ll be good, promise,” Becca said, the
whine in her voice making me angry. She gazed up at Peter, her eyes
wide with innocence, but the dried blood all over her chin ruined
the effect.

He looked away in
disgust.

“Why did you
attack Peter? Did you know we were coming?”

Her eyes
narrowed. “I don’t have to answer your questions,
bitch.”

Carl shoved at
her. It was like having a guard dog, only better. She seemed to be
offended that he was the one containing her.

“I don’t feel
good,” she said in a tiny, pitiful voice. “You drank too much, you
silly cow.”

She
was
pretty pale. “I know,” I said, beating down panic. “Answer
a couple of questions, and I’ll take you to
hospital.”

“We can’t take
her there. She might bite someone,” Peter said.

“Just give me a
drink,” Becca snapped.

Peter recoiled in
unconcealed horror.

“I meant one from
my fridge,” she amended, but she looked thrilled by his
reaction.

“Okay, Peter go
and get some.” I told him, seeing I had to take the lead this time.
“Don’t heat it up.”

Becca glared at
me but didn’t argue.

I sat on her bed.
“Spill, Becca. We’ll feed you if you do.”

She rolled her
eyes with disdain, but when Peter returned with a bag of blood, her
face lit up. She licked her lips greedily. “They told me to watch
out for you. I was supposed to hurt you if I could. ‘Cos I can go
out during the day.”

“Give her the
blood,” I said. She ripped it open and gulped it down, barely
pausing to take a breath. Her eyes rolled upward with pleasure when
she drained the last drop.

“Why are you
drinking blood, Becca?” Peter had a funny look on his face, like he
was barely holding it together.

“No choice.” She
sighed softly, her eyes fluttering closed.

“Ava, I changed
my mind. She looks like hell; we have to take her to the hospital.
Fuck the blood bags, she might need a transfusion,” Peter
said.

“I don’t, just
give me another drink, and I’ll be fine.”

He got one, threw
it at her, and stormed out of her flat.

“What did they do
to you?” I asked her, disgusted by how eagerly she was drinking. I
hoped I didn’t look like that to Peter.

She shrugged.
“They’re turning me into one of them.”

“That’s not
possible,” I said, scoffing at her delusions.

“It is now. There
are these Spanish vampires, yeah? They kept testing on people,
trying to turn them, trying to figure out how to trigger the
change. Finally it worked on one guy. The rest all
died.”

“They figured it out? They can turn humans
into vampires?” So
not
good.

“Yeah, but it’s
pricey. Max reckons I’m a good candidate, so I get an injection
every week—he bites me daily. I haven’t changed yet, obviously, but
I’m close. I can feel it. I’m so thirsty now. I think I’d die if I
didn’t drink blood.

“Have you even
tried?” I said.

She ignored me.
The whole thing was insane; I couldn’t believe the vampires were
actually testing on people like that. Worse still, it sometimes
worked.

“Doesn’t it
hurt?”

She laughed
without humour. “Like hell. But it’ll be worth it. So what the fuck
are you then? What’s all the fuss about? You have fangs; you must
be closer to the change than me. Damn.”

She actually
thought I was like her. Sick to the stomach, I was glad when Peter
returned.

“Ava, I have to
go.”

“Can I get up
now, Petey? I’m sleepy.” Becca’s heartbeat was still slow. I almost
felt guilty.

“Let’s get out of
here, Ava,” Peter said.

I nodded. Becca
couldn’t be trusted. I picked her up, surprised by how easy it was,
and laid her on the bed. She was already dozing off.

“Wait a second,
Becca. Is Maximus coming after me?”

“He wants you
real bad,” she said dozily. “People in the day. Vampires at night.
Someone’s gonna get you.”

“You tell Maximus
to come get me himself. I’ll be at the bookshop, you know, the one
with the smashed windows.” I was pissed off, but her eyes had
closed, so I wasn’t sure if she heard me.

“Let’s go,” I
muttered, avoiding Peter’s eyes as we walked downstairs. “First
thing I’m doing when this is all over is get self-defence lessons.
I keep getting hopped on.” I tried to laugh, but Peter didn’t
respond. I sniffed the air and bit my lip.

“I’m driving,” I
told Peter at the car. He didn’t argue. That scared me more than
anything. “Think she’ll be okay?” I asked him, just to get him to
speak.

“Who cares?” He
moved to get in the backseat, but I stopped him.

“Wait,” I said.
“Carl, get in.”

I looked up at
Peter, almost too embarrassed to speak. “Don’t freak out, but your
shoulder is still bleeding a little. It’s kind of distracting, but
I think I can close the wound. Will you let me?”

He hesitated,
then nodded. I held him still and inched closer to his shoulder.
His blood didn’t call to me like Carl’s did, but it was blood, it
was going to entice me in some way. I ran my tongue over the slow
bleeding gash on his neck, feeling his pulse thud. He tasted a lot
nicer than Becca, sweeter. His scent reminded me of cinnamon. I
licked again and again, as the skin gradually knot itself together
under my tongue. For whatever reason, I could fix him.

He pushed me away from him roughly. I realised
then how close I’d been to him. We were both panting. Droplets of
sweat rolled down his temples.

“I need a drink,”
he muttered.

I followed
Peter’s directions and drove us to what turned out to be a tiny
pub.