Edward stood from the chair and went back upstairs. Richard was straining at his bonds but he stopped when he saw his cousin. His eyes were bright red. "What's happening to me?"
"How do you feel?" Edward asked. He untied the cords and Richard sat up.
"I feel like I'm burning," Richard groaned.
"It'll pass," Edward replied quietly.
The other looked up at him, his eyes widening slightly. "What did you do?" He demanded.
"I did what I had to do to save you."
"I should be angry with you, cousin." Richard's words sounded almost like a growl. "But I am starving."
"Come with me." Edward led him down to the kitchen and opened up the ice box. He pulled out a flask and handed it to Richard. "Drink that."
Richard unscrewed the lid and sniffed at it. "What is it?"
"Blood." Duh.
Richard took a sip and his eyes closed, eyebrows rising, a look of total ecstasy crossing his face. He drained the flask of its contents as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He ran his tongue over his lips and sighed. "Fuck- is there more?" he asked eagerly.
"Oh—uh, yeah." He opened the ice box again and pulled out another flask. Richard fairly ripped it from his hand and gulped down the contents. A moment later, his head whipped to the side, blood splattering on his shirt. "What was that?"
"It's just people."
"But I—I can hear everything." Someone crying, a baby snoring, two girls gossiping... "It's so strange."
Edward nodded. "I thought I was losing my mind at the beginning."
Richard tilted his head back and let the last few drops of blood from the flask drip onto his tongue. He let out a sigh.
Edward watched him closely. Something was off, but he couldn't put his finger on it. "Until you can learn to control the hunger, you can't go anywhere."
"What?" Richard exclaimed. "But the party— I said I'd go!"
"You cannot be serious."
"I want to go!"
"Well, you can't. Not in your current state."
"It isn't until next week," the blonde argued.
"No."
Richard growled at him and crushed the flask in his hand before throwing it across the room. It struck the wall and fell to the floor as he turned on his heel and stalked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
Edward sighed and rubbed his brow.
The next few days were torture. Richard was sullen and angry, only leaving his room to eat. The few times he saw his cousin, he would glare at him and growl, "you ruined my life."
Eventually the night of the party rolled around and Edward had stubbornly maintained that Richard was not allowed to go. He picked up a book and sank into an armchair to read, a cup of tea next to him. Upstairs in his room, Richard was pacing, the sounds coming from the party making it difficult for him to focus on anything but that and the gnawing hunger in his gut. He glanced out his window–the williams' house wasn't far, he could go for a little while and be back before Edward even knew he was gone.
He opened his window as quietly as he could and quickly dropped to the ground outside, landing silently in the grass. He slunk through the shadows, taking care that Edward didn't see him if he happened to look outside.
