Bloodlust (The New Order 3)

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 

Candice

The lights in the elevator were bright and it was irritating me. But far more than that was the mirrors that were on every side of the wall. I couldn't look at my reflection.

The image I was seeing was making me feel sick.

I closed my eyes and rested my head back, leaning against the wall as the elevator door closed. There was a ping before the elevator started moving, going up and up.

The sound was deafening.

But more than that was the scent that was lingering. It was making me feel odd, more than I should've.

I opened my eyes and looked at Gideon who stood opposite of me.

His face had reverted back to normal and now, he was staring down at the floor, his head slightly bent. But it didn't look like he was taking notice of the scent as much as I was.

Or maybe, he was doing a great job at pretending not to notice.

The scent was faint, but it was there, and it was enough to make my head spin. I craned my neck to the side, trying to get a whiff of it, to see if I could identify it.

There was no doubt in my mind that the scent belonged to a werewolf and it made something inside me rattle.

Maybe, it was just my hunger. Maybe, I was craving for the taste of their souls or their blood because there were no werewolves in this city. We made certain of that.

"What is it?" Gideon asked a moment later.

I glanced at him, "I'm not sure."

His eyes met mine. There was a hint of understanding there, like he knew what I was feeling and that it was the same for him.

"Tell me."

"It's odd," I shrugged, shaking my head. "But I'm not sure."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The elevator reached the top floor and the ding of it made me snap straight. I followed Gideon out and onto the hallway and before I continued him down to the apartment, I looked over my shoulder for a moment, looking behind at the other apartments that were there.

There was nothing out of the ordinary, but still, something didn't feel right.

"It's just the hunger," Gideon said, unlocking the door and stepping inside. "You should've have some fresh blood. It will keep it at bay."

"It's not that," I replied, looking at him before getting inside. "I think it's something else."

I stared ahead into the apartment which was the same as it had been, as we left it. Nothing was out of place and everything was quiet.

"Then, what is it?" He asked, coming behind me after shutting the door.

My eyes trailed over the window, at the parted curtains, the sofa and at the open kitchen before I narrowed them to the ground. There was one thing and then there was this other thing—I wasn't sure what I wanted to tell him.

Both or none?

I had a sharper sense of when werewolves were around. I could sniff them out in minutes, mostly because my whole life revolved around hunting werewolves in one way or another. I drank their blood for the longest, I knew their scents, I knew their patterns and behavior, and I knew when I was dealing with a werewolf.

But that wasn't the only thing that was bothering me.

"I saw him," I whispered, finally turning around and facing Gideon. "Knox. Back at the rave. Only for a moment. I know it wasn't him, but he was there, and I felt it. It was like a hallucination, or maybe I was imagining things, but he was there."

"He's not," He said, stepping closer to me. "He can't be."

"I know. But now, I'm sensing a wolf nearby. I don't know if it's real or if it's not. Or if it's just the hunger or something else, but there is something here."

Gideon was quiet for a moment with his brows furrowed. He took a glance around just as I had done.

"There are no werewolves here. I'm certain of that."

"But what if there are?"

"There aren't. We have been going out for over a week now and if they were any, we could've easily caught onto their scents. And we haven't."

"But now, it's happening," I whispered, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

He placed his hand over my shoulder, running it down my arm gently.

"Then we will leave from here if they are any. There's nothing to worry about. It's fine."

I opened my eyes and nodded, hoping he was right.

"Go drink some blood. Maybe that will ease your nerves." he suggested, directing me to the freezer in the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'll do that."

I walked over to the kitchen and opened up the freezer before staring down at the bags of blood in the corner. Human blood. Which was fine considering I no longer desired blood but rather something much worse. But there were instances where I could control the craving with blood, by feeding the vampire within me than the darkness I had become.

I grabbed one out of the freezer and placed it aside on the counter, waiting for it to get a little warm.

"I'll go take a shower before the sun starts rising," Gideon said, putting his wallet and the keys on the table in front of me. "Will you be fine alone for a while?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine."

"Good."

He disappeared into the bathroom and closed the door. I grabbed the bag and bit into the corner. The blood flowed into my mouth, cold and stale, and it didn't taste good. It tasted horrible and it was hard to swallow but I knew I had to do this.

Once I was done, I tossed aside the bag and walked out of the kitchen.

In the silence, I could hear the shower running inside his room and for as long as I heard it, I remain seated on one of the couches, staring at nothingness.

It wasn't until I came into this building that the darkness inside of me grew in an alarming rate. I could feel it, I could almost imagine the satisfaction it would give me to kill, to have someone's soul. And while those desires flowed every day and every night, they were so much stronger today.

Suddenly, a knock landed on the main door, and I froze.

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