Bloodlines: Dark Embrace

Chapter 5 - Feeding Time

Marcus jogged towards the unconscious man, his bare feet not making a sound as he crossed the grassy plain. He glanced back to see me standing still, he immediately halted and turned around to run back to me.

"What are you doing Lad? We've got to go! We have to make this quick, before any of the townsfolk are out and about." He said, slightly annoyed. I just stood, speechless. I was too scared, I couldn't kill another, I just couldn't.

"I can't kill him." I said, worriedly looking at the ground.

"Listen, I know precisely how you feel. I was scared of the exact same thing." Marcus said, making me look at him, questioning what he said in my mind. "Aye, I was so scared at first. I thought I'd end up killing him, draining the blood from him and then continue onto killing everyone near me. But trust me, it's easy. The first time I drank I was worried and nervous. But I was in control, my body reacted and told me when to stop and when I knew it was enough, I pulled away. No killing spree, no one dead, just a man that woke up feeling a bit woozy. That was it, nothing more. It's practically the same for all of us and you'll be no different. And remember, I'll be there for you, nothing bad will happen." I nodded slowly and with a new found confidence we both began to stride towards the man.

As we approached the man we both peered left and right, making sure that no one would make an appearance. It was still dark but even in such darkness I could see clearly and I knew that no one was out at this time. I looked to Marcus, waiting for him to make some sort of a move.

"The feeding is for you mate, I've already had mine a few days back. All you have to do is slowly sink your teeth into his neck, you should just know where on his neck to sink your teeth into. It'll be like walking, you don't have to think about doing it, you just do it, and then the blood should just start flowin'. Take what you need, you should know when to stop and if not, I'll pull you off him. Don't worry about this, lad."

I warily approached the man. When I was next to him I laid my hand on his neck, I had no clue why but it felt right. I could feel his pulse and as I located the major vein I bared my teeth and moved forward to sink them in. I suddenly withdrew, the revolting stench from the man almost made me vomit. I looked to Marcus and pulled disgusted a face.

"He smells bloody disgusting." I said, pulling a face while saying,"And I think he's also left a gift for us in his underwear which makes the smell so much better" I said sarcastically.

Marcus chuckled quietly and then said, "Just use your nails then. That's probably safer and you won't have to be close to him for as long."

I examined my nails, they looked black in the darkness, emphasizing their sharpness. I moved my hand over to the man's neck again, slowly scratching my nails across his skin until I found the vein once again. I put very little pressure on two of my fingers and they almost immediately pierced the skin. Before blood could begin to spurt everywhere I darted forward, enclosing my mouth around the small wound on his neck.

The blood tasted so sweet, like some sort of exquisite treat I would get as a child.

"Whoa! Slow down! You've taken enough of his blood already." Marcus said a few seconds later, tugging back on my clothes a little. I took deep breaths and looked at the now open wound, blood slowly trickling down and off the man's neck. Marcus stepped in front of me and put his middle and index fingertip on the wound.

"What're you doing?" I asked. "He's clearly already bleeding, there's no need to make another cut."

"I'm not taking his blood. I'm sealing his cut, we don't want him to bleed to death, do we?" Marcus replied.

"How're you going to do that? You... You're going to make him a vampire?" I asked with worry.

"Heavens, no!  Vampires also have some... Powers, I prefer to call them special abilities though. One of those special powers is the power to heal. We take the pain of the person or animal and make it our own, as we do this, whatever wound they have heals. So, I'm going to take the pain he feels and heal his wound."