The Way You Bleed

Seventeen.

Climbing out of a window with a broken wrist isn’t easy. It ruins any chance you have of being able to balance properly and while it wasn’t a long fall, taking the force of my drop on my good shoulder and rolling didn’t work out how I planned either.  From the window Mandy was calling me every curse word she knew while Cam tried to calm her down and he wasn’t having much luck.

My sense of smell had found the living to tempting, I had to get out otherwise I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from feeding on Cam or Mandy and she couldn’t afford to have that happen thanks to what I had already taken earlier.

The plan I had was easy enough. Get to the shed, find the axes we left back there and then go on a rampage but the fresh scent of fear, warm with promise of a blood source distracted me and my body responded to its first most dominant urge.

Feed.

In any emergency situation the first rule is to check yourself, make sure that you’re ok. If you’re not – how can you help others and with this logic I made chase but I wasn’t the only one who had located the donors from the second floor. Seeing Andre he was no longer friend, he was competition and our instincts were taking over. It was these times and moods, where I had no choice but sit back and let the creature do what it wanted. Like Owen and his wolf, you’re only along for the ride. He hated the bloodlust, the urges to kill where as I automatically wanted it too. It was a hunger with no limits.

With my body minutes away from complete collapse, I wasn’t being picky. I didn’t have time and shoving Andre away, I grabbed the guy at the end of the group and sunk my fangs into his neck like a cheetah taking down a zebra. He was bigger than me and in the fall we tumbled awkwardly but my hold was never broken despite the waste of his liquids as it spurted against my own neck and chest.

He was dying, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel any remorse. I needed his life to recharge my own, to give my friends some kind of chance at keeping there’s and not stopping his limp form was neglected in search of more. Their screams and sobbing was as good as a light being on in the dark while trying to work out just where they were planning on running to was beyond me.

The sheep kept fleeing despite one of the girls and too desperate. Running had been their mistake as it only made our senses more alert and primitive.

A life for a life.

Leaving the survivors to keep on running, their fear continued to drive them away. If I had been human, would I have tried to fight? They were so keen to turn a blind eye, stay within their bubbles – did they even know how to defend someone that wasn’t for their own benefit? Had they been close, friends or relatives? When Mandy and I first met Darvid no one stood up for us, no one wanted to interfere or assist. Except for Curtis and I know he was the reason why we didn’t die that day. These humans didn’t have a Curtis to stand up for them, but it didn’t matter now.

I stripped off my once clean shirt, back to the torn and stained fitness crop top. The blood was turning flakey on my skin and the hope of a shower once this was all over was just one more motivator.

When this was over. When we’d all survived.