The Queen of the Night

Chapter 2

I took my temperature for a third time today, the phone was at my ear and I had two blankets and a comforter hiding me from any light that tried to shine into the room. "It's no longer 103. It's 105. I'm so not coming in today." This cold still felt odd to me. My whole body ached with a burning like what I felt last night but when I pushed the blankets off it was too cold and breathing was a lot harder than it should have been but I chalked it up to pure nonsense and the remnants of an anxiety attack. However, there was no denying that the fever was real.

My manager sighed. "Okay, okay fine. I'll talk to you later. Feel better soon," he hung up without saying anything more, not that anyone should expect him to, he was never one to talk very much.

I didn't get out of bed. I didn't feel hungry. I fell asleep. Shortly after I was asleep I felt something stop but I didn't bother on checking what it was. I didn't breath in icy air anymore and I didn't feel cold. The heater must have kicked on, my thoughts echoed. I stopped feeling the bed under me. I was awake but I wasn't awake. I saw myself lying on the bed in the darkness of night. I lay on my side, my chest never moved. I watched my body turn blue and panic settled over my spirit.

It's just a dream! Just a dream! I told myself. Go to a doctor when you wake up! I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I woke up to the sound of breaking glass and someone shushing them but I no longer had that out-of-body feeling. I felt hungry but this was a hunger I've never felt before, like I've never eaten anything my entire life. I tried to move but it felt like lead weighed down my body.

A girl who couldn't be any older than thirteen walked into the room. She was so pale that the moonlight bounced off her skin and made her glow. She had one deep green eye and one deep red eye. "Shh, shh, you're okay." She knelt down and put two fingers on my neck. "It takes some adjustment." She continued. I looked at her clothes. They were white and looked almost like nurse's clothes.

I opened my mouth to speak but no sound came out.

"Don't try and speak, okay? I'm Nalia, a nurse." She explained.

"You done yet?" An impatient voice called. "I wanna catch the bastard that did this!"

"No! I told you this would take time, Alec!" Nalia's voice was so soft that her scolding didn't at all intimidate. She reached into a bag like one that a doctor would carry around in cartoons.

"I told you, Alec!" The voice pierced my ears and it hurt my head. My face scrunched up with pain. "I told you to send people! God, if I'd have sent Nalia earlier this could've been reversed in no time! I'm so stupid!"

"Would you quiet down? The yelling is neither comforting to her nor is it pleasant to any of her neighbors." These voices were familiar but I couldn't think about where I heard them. "Our hearing is very sensitive!"

Nalia rolled her eyes and walked to the door and shut it so their voices were muffled. She helped me to sit up and held a cup full of thick liquid to my lips. "Relax and just drink, okay?" She urged as she tipped the cup so that the liquid dribbled into my mouth. It had a sweet stale taste. "Sorry, it isn't as hydrating or as sweet as fresh blood but we don't exactly have any other means of getting blood to you." Nalia explained. Soon I could feel warmth flowing through. "Do you remember how to breathe? In and out. In and out. Do it with me."

I followed and copied her breathing but it felt forced. My chest felt heavy with lead and it didn't feel natural. I had to be conscious of it.

"You're doing great," Nalia smiled and let me go slowly to see if I could sit up on my own. "Breathing will help you to speak but that's the only use it has for us."

I opened my mouth again and this time I could speak. "Who are you?" I spoke slowly as if it were my first time.

"I told you my name. I'm Nalia."