He's Come Undone

Chapter 8: What's That Smell?

                                 ~ ETHAN ~
I've been at Sommerville 5 and 1/2 weeks now. I've been counting down the days. I haven't spoken to my mum the entire time; I don't even know if she's okay. But that's alright.

So that I can be the first to tell you, college is way better than high school. First of all, you have a friend the second you arrive (in the form of a roommate). They give you meals. And you just spend your time doing whatever. You don't even have to go to lectures.
But I do. Otherwise I'd be depressed again.

I've gotten much closer with Macy, Tomi, Dex and Lucas. They've probably become my best friends - especially Mace. Now that she knows about everything, she's so helpful. She even brought me a tub of goat's blood when I was feeling upset a week ago. I didn't ask where she got it. I don't know if I want to know.
The urges are getting stronger. I feel so hungry, and at the same time, I just need to sink my fangs into someone. Just to see how it feels. The urges ring through my head, they beat through my blood.

                            ~ CORNELIUS ~

I hope he's strong enough.
He was always stronger than me.
I hope he can get through it.
I never meant to hurt him.
My boy.
My sweet, sweet boy.

             
                                ~ ETHAN ~

I walk over to Tomi's bedside and nudge him awake softly.
"Stop napping you heffalump. It's dinner time." I say, turning around once his sleepy eyes open and lock onto mine.
"This is becoming a thing," are his first waking words.
"What's becoming a thing?" I ask from the bathroom as I lean down to drink water from the tap.
When he doesn't respond I turn to look at him, and see he's walking towards me. I freak out a little bit and jump out of the ensuite, in case he discovers my lack of reflection. He gives me a weird look as he walks past me to enter the bathroom.
"Claustrophobia," I lie. "Anyway - what's the thing?"
"Me: waking up, with your pale assed face shaking my body around." He jokes, baring his teeth at the mirror and brushing furiously.
"You're the one who sleeps 14 hours a day." I say.
"Hey - that's not fair. I get up earlier than you do." He says with a mouth full of toothpaste, pointing a stern finger at me.
"Okay, I'll give you 13." I laugh, getting my shoes and sitting on my bed so I can pull them onto my feet.
Tomi comes out of the ensuite and stands in front of me, arms crossed over his chest.
"Ready?" He asks.
"What, you're going to wear your pyjamas to dinner?" I demand as he walks to the door.
"Ahh, Ethan! They're not pyjamas unless they're sold as pyjamas. These are simply clothes that I sleep in." He says as he opens the door and stands to the side, gesturing for me to walk through it first. I do.

                                          ~

I'm lodged in my normal spot between Dex and Mace. The cafeteria is serving pizza today, and I'm so hungry I can't wait until later this evening to eat in privacy. I take sneaky bites whenever Dex turns around to face Lucas, chewing with my hand covering my mouth.
"... but that goal you got! My god! If that doesn't show Blondie who's the real man, I don't know what will. I feel like coach is starting to regret putting him on forward - do you get that feeling?" Lucas is talking about their game today. Apparently, Tomi played brilliantly, but I'm not surprised. He's been training so much, and (not that I've been tracking them) his muscles have begun to peek out from under his clothes. I look at Tomi sitting across the table from me, and I smile inwardly. He's so humble.
I look around the room, at the other students.

Then, all of a sudden, it happened. I felt my stomach do a flip inside me. I almost double over, turning to Macy.
"Mace. Mace, I smell blood. It's coming from somewhere in here! What do I do?" I ask her quickly, quietly.
This has happened before - week 2, I think. The smell of blood set me off, and I lost control. Macy understands the urgency immediately.
"Shit, Ethan! Go outside! Quickly!" She whisper-shouts. And I stand up and do what she says, storming towards the hallway. My vision blurs a little, and I hear Tomi asking her if I'm okay from the table.
My stomach keeps doing flips inside me, and I feel my saliva thicken. No, no, no. I think, rushing out of the doors into the hallway. Then the smell intensifies. I look on the other side of the hall, and I can feel my head go fuzzy, matching my vision.
If I get closer... just to smell it. The door to the kitchen is open. My mouth swells up.
I'm going.
Going.
Going.
I stalk down the hallway, towards the open door, peering inside at the commotion. A man stands near the entrance, with no one else around him, holding a cloth against his bleeding hand. I can already taste the metallic sensation of the blood, and I let my swollen mouth drop open.
I'm gone.
I reach a quick hand out and grab the man, pulling him out, back into the hallway with me. He struggles against my firm grasp, shrieking, but the commotion in the kitchen is louder. More important. It feels like we are distant. The man goes limp. I don't know what I did. I lift his arm up to my mouth.
I am draining him.
It tastes so good.
This is what has been missing.
This whole time, all I needed was this.

                                ~ MACY ~

I'm worried about Ethan, but I can't do much but look back and forth in between the door and the table. He's been gone about 12 minutes.
"Macy. What is wrong?" Tomi asks me, noticing how restless I am.
"No, it's nothing. I just... I don't know where Ethan went." I reply, trying to look calm by taking another bite of my pizza. I don't even have an appetite.
"Do you want to go look for him?" He asks me, leaning across the table so he can look at me. I'm not fooling him.  I nod.
"Okay, c'mon." He says, standing up from his spot. I follow his lead, but I'm not even properly standing up when a blood-curdling scream rings through the dining room. It sounds like it's coming from the hallway.
We look at eachother, and like everyone else, run towards the scream. We are stuck in the crowd, rushing through the doors, all crowding around to get a better look. I'm not tall enough to see it over the crowd so I tug on Tomi's sleeve and ask him what it is.
He looks down at me, and his eyes look different, distant.
"It's one of the chefs. He's... he's dead." Tomi stutters, visibly shaken.
I feel my body go cold.
Where is Ethan?