A Vampire's Gift

I was tired. Shit , I was breathless. My legs ached and I felt how every time my feet touched the concrete my leg muscles contracted giving me impulse to continue forward. The cut on my forehead throbbed , leaving a thin line of blood running down my temple to my chin . I was exhausted . I had been running for at least 15 minutes, non-stop with a great speed, through alleys and deserted streets.

I suddenly stopped in a completely deserted road except for the dim light of a streetlight, and held my breath , putting myself rigid and noiselessly. I listened.

Nothing . No steps were heard or voices , there weren't even the nasty lights of the cars . It was all dark and soundless.

And for the first time since Dylan died , I smiled.

I laughed .

Although it sounded muffled and breathless, it was still laughing . I had made it.

"I did it!"I gasped in short breaths .

It hurt how fast my heart was beating against my rib cage. It was the only thing filling the night , their rhythmic beats ringing in my ears like drums. My whole body felt numb and sore, but with a half smile on my face , I looked up at the stars and was grateful to have been able to escape.

With the sleeve of my dirty hoddie y cleaned the blood that had ran down my forhead, from the small wound.

Then I remembered the weight I had in my other hand.

I look at my hand and smiled even more. It had a brown bag of worn paper , filled to the brim clenched in it. I opened it to check if there were all the things that I had taken. With a sigh of relief, I counted that everything was there. Four loaves of bread , a box of milk, chicken , soup, 4 apples and one of my greatest and most forbidden loves. A bar of chocolate. Complete. A voracious hunger came and I quickly find something to calm it down. I took an apple and I couldn't  help but let out a little moan of pleasure as its sweet juice spread through my mouth when I bit it .

A little juice fell from my mouth sliding down my neck , but I didn't  care , I just concentrated on the sweet taste feeling my mouth.

I love fruit.

I Looked around, searching for any sign that someone was following me, but nothing , empty, silent. I continued walking towards my house , the bag hanging heavily on my right hand , and the apple in the other.

I walked slowly muttering a song my mom used to sing to me by the desolate streets of NY, or what was left of it. I walked a few minutes in silence , chewing my apple and thinking how close I came to be trapped. If I end up in jail , surely no one will bothered to find me, I'll probably be sell cheap for one of these creatures and would have to live as a slave, doing service and being the blood cattle for those monsters .

A shiver ranned through my body

And who cares about me if I'm taken? No one, I have no one.

I threw the apple as far as I could , resulting in a ' Planck ' as a response, the sound abnormal in the stillnes and silence of the night.

I don't  like stealing. I hate it in fact , always feeling that pression  in the chest of concern of what would happen if I am caught is not a very pelasent feeling, but it is a necessity. I work, you can consider that that is the only thing I do in life . I do most of the heavy stuff in William's mine , they take advantage of me because they know I need money. But ... why do I work in a mine if I am a girl? Well lets say I do not look like one. My hair is as short as an average teen boy's hair , but now it had grown more than I wanted and could get almost to shoulders. Not having the time to cut it I always wear a dirty jokery to hide it. With the dirt and grime that's always spread on
my face , no one can distinguish my face features fine. Although I look much younger, shorter  and thin than normal boys my age, nobody really gives a damn about it, if they even notice me thats it. Everyone  is more concerned with their own to pay attention to a malnourished boy ... I'm just another face in the darkness and grime. Also they think I'm Dylan, my brother. The unfearest  thing of all is that they  don't give me enough money for what I work for, but in reality nobody gives you much these days. We work for vampires , as all of this filthy world , and lets say that they are not very giving. To top it off with the cherry on the side , my ' adoptive parents ' snatch me how little I earn , saying it's what I need to give them for living under their roof  and keeping my secret.

Bullshit.

A shriek broke the silence like a sharp knife and made me freeze in my track .

Thinking it was just a cat or my imagination , I tried to calm down and breathe deeply. I looked to the side, trying to see beyond the darkness. The sky was stained black with no stars or moon to illuminate ... the only thing interrupting the dark shadows of the street was the faint glimmer of a streetlight in one of the nearby alleys.

In a few seconds later, another shriek was heard louder.

I stood frozen, my breath coming in short breaths now . I closed my eyes not knowing what to do, just trying to control the panic that came to me.

What the f*ck was that?

A minute passed and I was still in the same position. I was just a few blocks from my destination, but I could not move, the scream still echoing in my mind like a bizzarree broken record.

"Please" again a desperate female voice broke the silence, making me open eyes instantly.

I licked my lips and swallow saliva. The voice came from the illuminated street alley . It was just a block away from me. I thought of running and getting away from there as fast as possible, it was the     wise choice but something held me there and I couldn't move my legs, I was literally frozen.

'Go away' Whispered the conscious part of me 'you have to go home , it's not your fault that the girl went to venture alone at night'

Isn't it what I was doing? I imagined what was happening to the girl, putting myself in her place. I closed my eyes again hearing her desesperated  cries for mercy.

"Please let me go" she sobbed

I licked my bottom lip again and exhale.

I tried to think of the pros and cons of the choice I was just about yo make as I looked into the alley and then to the street I would have to take to get where I was going. I closed my eyes, something that I always do to think better. My free hand formed a fist so hard that my nails pierced my palm.

Pro: I could save a life.

I opened my eyes , I dropped my hand and looked again into the alley.

I walked quietly to a dumpster near there and hid my paper bag behind it, freeing my right hand.

Con: I could make matters worse, as I always do.

After I breathe deep several times to calm me down I started to walked towards the alley where the chaos came. Slowly and quietly. All my years of moving quietly in the dark, were really usefull.

Pro: If I didn't go, I will be all my life thinking that I could have saved a life.

I remembered the last thing Meredith had said when I was going out to work this morning:

"You shouldn't stay so late there in the streets investigating , that's stupid , you will only achieve  to get killed. Curiosity killed the cat, Katrina" said her raspy voice, bouncing in my mind and becoming a whistle echoing in my ears.

"But satisfaction brought it back" I whispered into the darkness

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