Turned

Chapter 1

Whatever Sarah Freeman was thinking before she was stolen by the vampire, she couldn’t remember. All she knew was the deep wrongness of the thirst in her throat.

Sarah turned. She looked into the eyes of the handsome vamp who’d Turned her. He was really tall and muscular, with copper hair and blue eyes.

Sarah swallowed and tried to control her strange thirst. “Who the heck are you?” she asked, surprised that her voice was so calm.

“I am Calvin,” he responded. His grey eyes were like a midday storm. “Do you know what you have Turned into?”

“I do,” Sarah said, squaring her shoulders and glaring at the tall vampire.

“It’s not a surprise. Most of our kind know as soon as they Turn, though you did find it out a bit quicker than most.” He played with a strand of her hair. She tried to ignore the fact that her heartbeat had sped up at his voice, and that her cheeks were burning as if she was embarrassed.

“You are now a fledgling vampire, my dear, until your human bloodlines fade into your vampire bloodlines. You will be so for 7 more days, unless you’re a fast grower. During that time you will crave more for blood than you have craved anything in your life. If you drink it, you will be much stronger.”

Sarah felt a thrill of fear at his words. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him- she could tell in her gut that what she wanted wasn’t a medium Sprite. She just didn’t want to give into her desires. She didn’t want blood.

My mind doesn’t want blood, her intuition disagreed. My body- everything in my soul- does want blood.

She knew her desires wouldn’t fade- at least, not until she either drunk blood or died.

Either one would suck.

She stared into those ominous blue eyes. “So, Calvin. Why’d you Turn me?”

“Each vampire has seven humans which he or she is Bound by blood to. Three of those humans will be found and Turned. Four of them will die.” He paused, obviously not wanting to scare her, and continued quietly. “The three who Turn will be eternally Bound to these humans. It may be as friends, lovers, partners, family. But the three and the vampire’s Bond must never be broken. Ever. If it is, they will die.”

“So I’m Bound to you forever? Are we gonna be, like, soul mates? Because I already have-” Sarah shut up as she realized she didn’t have a boyfriend. Johnny, her ex, had broken up with her a couple days.

That was why she’d decided to go to Club Inferno. She’d wanted to get away from the terrible pain of the breakup. She’d been listening to music, texting her best friend Angie, and then-

“Aaagh!” she shrieked. Why did it hurt so bad to remember? To feel again?

“It will be easier to remember when you’re a full vampire,” Calvin said.

“What, you read my mind?” she asked, a little scared that he could read it.

“I picked up on your emotions. I felt that you were reminiscent. I know it doesn’t appeal to you, but all vampires are gifted with this ability,” Calvin said.

“I understand.” She did- she felt it, felt that it was right, down deep in her soul. “So are vampires undead or is that just a myth? What powers do we have? What can we do?”

“Well, as I said before, we drink blood. Our digestive systems reject the carcasses of animals that humans eat because blood is the only thing that is nutritious to it. We have a multitude of powers, like superhuman speed, strength, agility, and flight. We can call mist to us and hide. We cannot be in the sun, or we will burn up and die. Well, fledglings can- there is still humanity in their veins. We sleep during the day and wake during the night. We do not sleep in coffins- that’s a ridiculous myth. We are all separated into two classes- Nightwalkers and Daywalkers.”

“Daywalkers? But I thought you said that we couldn’t go out in the day,” Susan said.

“An influx of us can not only be out in the sun, but stay awake and sleep during the night like a human,” Calvin said. “Daywalkers are marked by their startlingly green eyes. They may have golden eyes as well. Only trust vampires with green and blue eyes.”

“Blue?”

“Nightwalkers can have either blue or grey eyes.” He paused, obviously wanting to omit the truth. “The grey and gold eyed lot of us traffic with the Dark and are evil. Never trust a vampire by these eye colors.”

“Okay.” Sarah swallowed. She was trying to quench the burn in her throat, but she couldn’t. It seemed to be getting stronger by the minute.

She realized she hadn’t yet looked around to see where she was. She was in a dark, quiet room with no lights on. She could see Calvin really well. Maybe supervision was one of the many vampire powers he’d mentioned.

“Where am I?” she asked, getting to her feet quicker than she would have had she been human. “What is this place?”

“It’s the Inferno’s basement. They have been closed for a long time. I brought you down here so you wouldn’t be heard screaming from the pain.”

“Pain? I wasn’t in pain,” she said, frowning.

“Yes, you were. You just don’t remember.”

“Can we get out of here?” she asked, glad to change the subject- she hated pain.

“Sure. I am sure you are itching to be aboveground. All vampires have this urge.” He smiled, looking so handsome her heart warmed instantly.

“Okay, c’mon,” Sarah said, following the tuxedo-clad vampire up the stairs. She held his arm and he led her into a world of death, disaster, and blood.

Always blood.