21. Fiella
Iawoke sometime later to a strange clacking sound, as fast as a hummingbird’s wings and piercing in the calm of the shop.
What in the realms…
I slowly sat up, determined to figure out what that sound could possibly be.
It didn’t take me long to find the source. Redd was laying on his cushions a few feet away, curled in on himself, and his teeth were chattering like he was freezing to death. A steady stream of blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth and onto the floor from where his own fangs had punctured the flesh of his lip.
I sleepily rubbed my hands over my arms and didn”t feel any goosebumps. It wasn’t that cold. Unless…
I crawled over to him to investigate. He hardly even seemed to notice my approach. He was clutching his throat and his whole body was wracked with tremors.
I froze. I had seen these symptoms before and had felt them myself when I tried to stretch my time between thirst tonics.
This was bloodlust–the raw, animalistic, murderous state that a vampire could slip into if thirst wasn’t properly taken care of.
I took a deep breath to shed my apprehension.
I grabbed his shoulder, gently shaking him to get his attention and to wake him from his trance.
“Redd, hey, snap out of it. You’re hurting yourself; you’ve got to relax.” I shook him a little harder. “You’re okay. You’re just a little thirsty.”
Redd surprised me by leaping at me, faster than I’d ever seen him move. Faster than I’d seen any creature move.
He slammed into me like a battering ram, launching me onto my back and trapping me with his knees pinning my hips and his hands latched onto my neck. My breath whooshed out of me at the impact. Luckily, I had my own cushions to land on, or my brains would’ve been scrambled.
I bucked and flailed, trying to get the feral vampire off me. It was no use. I was strong, but I was no match for him at that moment.
He was a hunter, and I was his prey.
His eyes were hazy, unfocused, his sclera black as the night sky. A wild creature with nothing but blood on his mind. His primal instincts taking over. The monster creeping in.
He bared his teeth, letting out a primal snarl that made me shiver, my heart speeding into a gallop. His fangs elongated in threat, promising to drain whoever they sank into.
He leaned forward, his eyes never quite making contact with mine. Slowly, so slowly. His weight pressed me in the ground. My lungs struggled to pull in air. I fought against the instinct to fight him, to inflict damage, to flee no matter what it took.
He was lost in the bloodlust, but I still didn’t want to hurt him.
My vision darkened at the edges. My galloping heart was the only sound in the silent room, a deafening bass drum.
As his face brushed the side of the neck, he inhaled deeply and seemed to shake some sense into himself. His body tensed on top of me, his muscles freezing. I counted down the seconds. My lungs screamed for air and my thoughts began to swim.
Ten.
Fifteen.
Twenty.
His hands finally loosened their punishing grip on my neck. I greedily sucked in air as his fingers relaxed one by one, his thumbs brushing over the column of my throat in a strange, gentle caress. He exhaled in a harsh huff, blowing my loose hair back off of my face.
He was shaking from restraint, practically vibrating with the effort it took him to keep his fangs out of my jugular.
“Fiella…” His voice was a strangled, half apology and half plea.
His eyes met mine, his pupils blown so wide they blended into the darkness overtaking his eyes. Not a hint of brown to be seen.
How long had it been since he had taken any thirst tonic? Hells, he had to be absolutely suffering. Has he been in pain this whole time? No wonder he was so… grumpy.
Vampires didn’t drink from other vampires unless they were closely bonded, and my instincts rebelled at the idea, but this seemed like the right time to make an exception.
It was a necessity. Nothing more, nothing less. Redd just needed some blood, and then he would be back to his normal self.
I couldn’t stop the feeling of warmth from spreading through me from head to toe. I had drunk from partners in the past, sure, but I had always regretted it. Relationships were never the same afterwards. I had never allowed anyone to drink from me, though.
I knew what was probably going to happen. I knew that the second his fangs pierced my flesh, I would probably crave more. I knew that something wild and foreign would ignite in my blood, would burn through my flesh, and would convince my own fangs that they needed a taste as well.
The thing was, I didn’t care. I didn’t care what would happen, I didn’t care that this was something frowned upon, I didn’t care what any of the aftermath would be. I just wanted to ease Redd’s suffering, to give him some relief.
And maybe, I also wanted to satisfy my own selfish curiosity.
He would do the same for me, if the situation was reversed.
Silly, stubborn vampire. Should’ve drank the blue-hair thirst tonic when I offered to share.
I took a deep breath, pulling the air all the way to the very base of my lungs.
“It’s okay, Redd, just do it. Bite me.”