The Shadow of the Simulacrum

Chapter 27: Rats

Content Warning:

The next chapters contain horror scenes with graphic descriptions of blood that may be disturbing to sensitive readers. Additionally, there is a graphic description and a scene where the protagonist eats a rat. I want to make it clear that this action is inappropriate and should not be replicated in real life. Themes of vampires and blood are explored intensely in this fantasy fiction. 

Thank you for your understanding.

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Alone in the house, Sarah felt an immense emptiness within her. She needed her aunt to reassure her that everything would be alright, but Joanna wasn't there. She locked the door behind her after Jesse had dropped her off, feeling disgusted and terrified of herself. Finally away from that miserable creature, she told herself. Determined to stay shut away out of fear of harming others.

The young brunette knew she needed to quell this terrible hunger. She gorged on snacks, desperately trying to calm the sensation, but nothing helped. She emptied every cupboard in her kitchen and the refrigerator, scattering food and drinks everywhere. Torn packaging, scattered crumbs, and spilled liquids created complete chaos. Her hands trembled, and her breath came in short gasps, as if she hadn't eaten in days.

Looking at the mess she had made, she felt increasingly ridiculous. Her kitchen, once a familiar and comforting place, was now a battlefield. Food scraps littered the floor, drawers were open, and shards of broken bottles glittered among the debris. Tears welled up, her mind sinking into deep distress. How had she ended up like this? She felt like a stranger in her own body, consumed by an insatiable thirst she did not understand.

On the brink of breaking down in tears, an irresistible smell filled her nostrils. Her now heightened senses detected a tantalizing scent outside. The smell led her to the trash cans at the back of the house. A dead rat lay on a trash bag. She hesitated, battling nausea, but the scent of blood was too tempting. Her fangs appeared, her eyes turned yellow, and despite the disgust and shame, she bit into the rat. The rodent's blood helped her feel a little better, but she knew that this brief respite would not last.

After tasting the rat's blood, a passable but far from satisfying taste, Sarah was overwhelmed by an even deeper despair. The thirst continued to gnaw at her, insatiable, while guilt and disgust over what she had become suffocated her. A solitary tear slid down her cheek as she thought about Jesse's betrayal—the man who had promised to protect her but had condemned her to this monstrous existence.

Eating a rat, out of sheer necessity, seemed to her the ultimate humiliation, a cruel punishment for having trusted that vampire. She felt trapped, shackled to a life she had never chosen, and each bite plunged her deeper into an abyss of shame and self-disgust.

...

The next morning, she awoke with an atrocious hunger. The sensation was so intense that it felt as though her insides were burning. As she opened the curtains, the sunlight immediately seared her skin. She let out a cry of pain, quickly crouched down, and shut the curtains in a hurry. The burn marks disappeared in less than five seconds, but the pain persisted. She had completely forgotten that she could not expose herself to the sun, and fear overwhelmed her.

Terrified at the thought of harming others, she decided to stay at home. Realizing that not all the windows were closed, she began to crawl around, shutting them one by one. The house was soon engulfed in the oppressive shadow of the drawn curtains. Her hunger persisted, a dull and constant pain eating away at her from within.