Master of Vampirism (Part #2) ✔️

Chapter 6: Moral Relativism 2.0

Tuesdays and Wednesdays I worked at the Statistics department in the IT firm not far away from campus. The job was stupid, transferring written results into the computer. But they all hated doing it because it was utterly mind-numbing and I was surprisingly good at it.

Give me enough blood and my concentration never wavered. Not to mention I never really got tired. And they paid me by results and not by time, which was a plus. I planned on finding another job, though.

I closed the program at 10PM, ready to head back to campus. I was hungry and I wanted to grab a quick bite before I had to do my Botany homework. I didn't like hunting alone, though, so I sent a message to Ian.

Hungryyyyyyyy!

I left the building and headed down the street. The night was chilly, but I found it comforting. Being a vampire changed my perspective of temperature. I could handle high and low temperatures better than humans.

Still, I put on the leather jacket, too short to cover my kidneys, as a pretence of normalcy. The light pink dress I had on lifted due to the light breeze and my Jimmy Choo boots clanked against the asphalt.

Ian answered after a couple of minutes.

Busy.

I frowned at the letters. First, he blew me off because he had a date and now he left this cryptic, cold message that I didn't particularly enjoy. This was the third night in a row.

Blowing me off again?

You don't need me to grab a bite, Chlo.

Sure, but meals are better shared.

I felt stupid sending messages like these. It was a change in our dynamics. Ian usually answered immediately and he was more than happy to share a bite with me. It kind of became our thing. Him blowing me off felt wrong.

Next time.

"Barbies it is, then." I murmured out loud and continued down the path.

The streets were surprisingly empty and dark. A familiar chill crept through my spine as I remembered the way it sometimes felt walking down empty, dark streets.

That's when I heard a muffled scream. I stopped in my tracks, put my ear to the ground and tried to locate the sound. It wasn't near, but my vampire hearing was strong.

Another muffled groan, scared, panicked. And quieter. I turned on my heel as fast as I could and ran in the direction the sound came from. It was somewhere behind me.

I followed the sound to the web of dark alleys between buildings. Soon, I was able to hear the ragged breaths and muffled kicking. A visceral need to hunt awakened within me as soon as I smelled the blood.

But there was no fear in me, only excitement.

I slowed down and approached the alley the sounds came from.

A woman, in her twenties, was pushed against the wall. Her elbows and knees were scratched, that was where the blood came from. A huge, bulky man held her against the wall, one hand over her mouth and the other roaming between her skirt. She trashed against him, tried to push him away with her legs, but he was too strong. Tears glistened on her cheeks, but she made no sound anymore.

Another man stood next to him, a wicked, predatory gleam in his eyes. He was holding a knife.

The desperation I would have felt before settled in my heart for a second, but then I remembered. I remembered what I was.

My Jimmy Choos clanked against the stony road as I approached, a wide smile on my face.

The woman was the first who noticed me. And she shook her head, as if telling me to walk away. A pang of anger clenched my heart. Both men looked at me then, stopping for a mere moment.