Death Bite (Peterick)

Chicago, 1954 Part 2

Pete's POV:

It's weird to think about how abruptly life can end whether you take it yourself or something else takes it from you. I didn't care which happened to me as long as I was rid of this Earth. Fate decided otherwise. I remember only patches of things but not enough to understand. Blurs of what I thought to be faces appeared before my eyes, and yet I couldn't describe how they looked like.

Their voices echoed all around me, too many overlapping each other at once. My brain was gradually expiring. Memories flashed quicker than light throughout my head, and I relived each one slower than the next. It was as though I was stuck in this constant loop of surreal sounds and blobs of things my mind was unable to process. Surely, I was dying until something, something piercing sharp, jolted through my neck and sent a rush that maneuvered throughout my veins.

The slide show of my life ended only for something else to replace it. This substitute was indescribable. My entire body was under attack, but I was immobile, paralyzed. Maybe I was dying all over again. Then almost as quickly as it started it was done,, and there was a quiet darkness. The experience was far gone, only a nightmare in my subconscious thoughts. My first and only feeling when I awoke was a deep longing which was caught in my throat in the form of a burning sensation.

That black sheet of darkness lifted from my eyes, and I saw rows of iron bars that surrounded where I laid. My throat was calling for something to tame the flaring, and so I sat up, strangely without any difficulty. I was in a cell of some sort.
"Look who's awake," an unfamiliar voice said in a taunting tone.
The darkness concealed all faces and only showed their figures looming behind the bars, gawking at me like I was a circus act. I growled in agony, desperately trying to free my wrists from the chains I was imprisoned with, as I was reminded of the flame in my throat.

"Hello, Peter," one from the group came forward and knelt down to my level. His black eyes seemed to burrow into my soul.
"The name's William. Welcome to the Dandies."
"LET ME GO!" I screamed, the burning growing with every passing second.

"The newbies are always so dramatic. Tsk. You must parched," William chuckled to himself tapping the rings on his fingers against the metal. The clank was the only sound in the room apart from my grunting.
"Your friend, Gabriel, is in good hands. You'll see him later. For now you need to control yourself. You're too dangerous."

I slammed my back against the cement floor, groaning for the pain to stop.
"You must be wondering what happened to you, correct?" he asked.
I didn't reply, only moaned for relief. He continued.
"It's a tricky thing to explain but in time you'll know. Just resist the urge."

His words meant nothing to me, and I only struggled some more.
"If you calm yourself I'll help you."
I stopped moving after some time, finally defeated, and this William cautiously opened the cell door. He approached me, his cold hands wrapping around my forearms. His touch was ice cold so much so I jerked away from him.

"You'll get used to that."
He motioned for someone to come in with him, and the sour stench of blood filled my nose, exciting my new found senses.
"This one's a couple of days old, but I'm sure you wouldn't mind," William told me before the body of a young girl was dropped in front of me, but I felt no remorse. Only thirst.
"Go ahead," William uttered.

I didn't understand. I raised a brow, and he nodded in encouragement.
"Feast. You've earned it."
This desire for blood. What was I? My fingers met the newly formed canines on my gums.
"Am I...am I a vampire?" my voice was hoarse, but he heard me.
"You think?" he smirked, a smug look spread across his face.

My throat was killing me at this point, and I was surprised I hadn't just eaten the girl already.
"What did you do?"
"Saved you. Don't worry. You can kiss my ass later," William replied.
I moved the dead girl's long brown locks to the side, revealing a pale neck. I glanced at William a moment before stabbing her with my teeth. I sucked, the urge finally winning me over. Her blood was stale and old from decomposition, but I wasn't being picky at this point. The desire grew stronger the more I drank. It wasn't until nothing more was coming through that I realized how long I had been going for. I immediately pulled away, horrified at what I had done.

"Oh God. I-"
"She was dead anyway. You're acting like you murdered her in the first place," he laughed,"Come on. I'll show you to Gabe."
The group dispersed, allowing me to follow him out.
"Who was she?"
"Some homeless kid," William replied, nonchalantly.
"You're- you're sick."

"And here I thought you were going to be grateful for the meal," William smiled his stupid smile again, "You've got a lot to learn here, Peter."
"How do you even know our names?"
He shoved my and Gabe's wallets into my hands, answering my question, and we entered a hallway. We walked a few doors down, and then he opened one. Gabe sat on a bed, perfectly fine. A few scars and bruises decorated his skin, but it looked more like he fell off a bicycle than crashed his car.

I ran over and threw my arms over him, pulling him uncomfortably close.
"I thought I lost you," I said, tears gathering in my eyes.
"I thought so too."
William watched in the doorway, rolling his eyes.
"I'll come back and show you two the ropes around here. Meanwhile, enjoy yourselves," he closed the door, and I sat down on the twin bed across from Gabe.

"So...this is unexpected, right?" I said to break the silence.
"Yeah. I guess."
"What's wrong?"

"Everything. I know William saved us but what about Erin? What about your family? They're not going to find any bodies at the scene, and they'll assume we've gone missing. Once we don't turn up they'll think we died, and then they'll hold memorial services. Within a few years, our families will mourn, but then they'll forget about us, Pete. I've gone over the possibilities in my head a thousand times over. We're alone."

I grabbed his hand and squeezed it, "Then let's be alone together. We can stay young forever."
"Don't you wanna age? Everyone we ever loved and cared about is going to grow old before our eyes while we drink blood and stay out of the sun. Jesus, Pete, it sounds like a nightmare."
"We can't do anything about it now, can we? We just have to accept it."

Gabe sighed, tossing himself back onto the mattress, "Accept that our lives are practically over?"
"Well, yeah, but we can start new. Do you know what this means, Gabe? All the mistakes we made in the past, all the things we didn't like about our old lives, we have an eternity to change it."
"But what if I was perfectly content with my life, hmm? What now? Am I supposed to forget about the woman I love like what we had for each other was nothing?"

I understood his pain, but my feelings were different. There was no one I would miss except perhaps my younger siblings. Although, we weren't close it would be saddening to move on without them, but I would never miss my parents. They pressured me into a life I never wanted, especially my father.
"Y'know, I was going to kill myself," I told Gabe, and he lifted his arm from his wet eyes to look at me.
"What?"

"That night. On my birthday I was going to put a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger. I had everything ready, but you called me to go out."
He sat up, an expression of betrayal appearing on his face, "So you weren't planning on telling me?!"
"Well it's not exactly something I wanted anyone to find out about."
"For fuck's sake, Pete. Finding you in your apartment would've been a better way?"
"You don't understand. My life was all wrong."

He grabbed my shoulders, his claws digging into my bloody shirt, "Suicide is just a permanent solution for your temporary problems. If you would've said something I could've helped you. If you weren't happy, Pete, you should've just told me. I can't imagine living on without you. Erin is one thing, but you're like my brother. There's no way I would've last a second with you gone."

He hugged me, and we stayed like that for a while, neither of us moving, just hugging.

"We're in this together....forever," Gabe whispered.

A/N: This update is long overdue and I apologize a trillion times over. I don't even have an excuse other than shit happens in my life so I choose to be lazy and avoid everything.