The Silent One: Whispers of War (Book 2) *Undergoing Editing*

Lust For Blood

(Sophia's POV)

At first, Alice spoke to me about wanting to see Claire, but then something happened. Something I can't explain. She collapsed before me. I yelled her name as I struggled to open her cell door. Once I finally found the key to open her cell, I rushed to help her, but I slipped on her bloody vomit. Before I could fall, I quickly gained my balance.

With her ginger hair covering her face which is also soaked in blood, she lies in the vomit. I rushed to her side, lifting her into my arms. I cradled her body close to mine. She was so cold, colder than usual. In light of my belief she was dying, I knew I had to act fast.

I decided to take her to the attic, which Kane had remodeled into a small hospital for his sick and injured hybrids along with the other vampires of his clan. Claire was there too. The bitch was forced into labor because she refused to drink from another human. She is having complications from what I can tell from the screams coming from her room.

Every time she screamed, Alice jerked. I couldn't tell if it scared her, or what caused her to jerk on the bed. All this confused me. There hasn't been a vampire baby since Kane and I were children. There were still complications even then. If you weren't a pure-blooded vampire, pregnancies were risky. As most of our kind was wiped out during the raging wars between the different creatures and the humans who hunted us.

We've had to turn willing and unwilling humans into our kind to replenish our kind. Conceiving a child let alone a pure-blooded vampire hasn't happened since Kane took his father's throne, and the clan split up into separate groups. That's when everything changed.

I was torn from my thoughts when Alice started bleeding from her nose and mouth. The once-white bed sheets were now stained dark red. I quickly stood up and ran to the door, before calling for Kane's two henchmen, Zane and Lucas, to come into the room. The two of them work at a hospital in the town below the hill we live on. That's where they steal blood bags for the growing clan to survive on, lowering the number of people and lives we take to quench our thirst. As soon as they met me in the doorway, I moved out of the way so they could see Alice's condition. They quickly rushed to her side, as I paced the white and black checkered tiled floor. I was so confused about what was happening, my mind and heart raced.

"She needs to feed," Lucas said.

"Are you sure that's all that's wrong?" I asked as they hooked her up to an IV bag full of blood.

"Yes, but this blood won't be enough," Lucas said.

"She's losing too much blood!" Zane yelled while checking her stats.

Claire screamed again, and Alice's body jerked as if she was having a seizure. I held her hand and she stopped. Zane and Lucas had strange looks on their faces. I knew what I had to do.

"You must take care of Claire," I demanded.

"Kane will be angry if Alice dies," Lucas said.

"She's vital to this clan," Zane said.

"Get out!" I yelled at them.

I could see my reflection in their white, almost completely opaque eyes. My eyes changed from green to fiery red. They knew what I would do if they disobeyed me. After all, I'm the reason they have to wear colored eye contacts to blend in with the humans. They hurriedly left the room, and I was left alone with Alice. The fate of her life rests in my hands.

I took the necklace from around my neck. It looked like a triangle, with one edge extremely sharp. I slid it across my wrist and held it above her mouth. A few drops hit her lips, slid through her teeth, and onto her tongue. The next thing I knew, her lips were pressed against my wrist. While her eyes are still closed, she continued to feed vigorously from my wrist. It felt empowering and weakening at the same time. It was electrifying. Lust came over me. This is a type of bloodlust. What could this mean?