I'm a shy girl. Well, I'm shy. And I am a girl. But I have to be classified as something other than a human. I'm a monster in books and nighttime stories. I'm called by various names; bloodsucker, vamp, fanged, and even night-walker. These names don't bother me though. I don't mind. In fact, I had said these names when I was a normal human girl.
Now, I'm stuck as a sixteen year old girl for eternity. All because I decided to get my butt killed. See, this is how it went. I, the quiet bookworm of a girl was walking across a cross walk when a drunk driver swerved around the corner and hit me. I flew through the air and landed in some bushes. I was close to death, bones broken, head gashed open, and a rib slowly stabbing into my heart every time I moved.
To my luck - or maybe not - a vampire strode up, attracted by the smell of my blood and the noise. He gave me a choice, to either die a mortal, or live as an immortal. This was my time to not be a normal, boring human. My nerdiness sprung to the surface and I chose to live in an undead state of life. He drank my blood until I was almost dead then made me drink some of his blood.
I then blacked out for almost a whole day then woke up in my room at my house. Hunger clawed at my stomach and I rose from my bed. He gave me a blood bag and before I knew it, I was ripping it to shreds and drinking every last drop. Events happened, I told my parents about my state of health with his help. Surprisingly, they accepted me and told me that if need be I could feed on them.
It had seemed that they were not surprised by the whole vampire thing but after awhile I dismissed it. Joan, the vampire who saved me and is my sire, began mentoring me on how to survive. Obviously, we could stand the sunlight, some of us just had allergic reactions to it. So, I still attend school, even now.
This all leads up to today in gym class. I sit quietly in the hard wooden bleachers, long brown hair falling in waves down my back. My thick rimmed glasses perch on my nose as I read my book quietly, jean covered knees propping the book up. I'm captured in the world of these fictional characters as they go on crazy quests and wield unimaginable powers when there is a loud thud and someone screams in pain from the court.
Looking up at the disturbance, I narrow my eyes at the crowd of people. Suddenly they disperse as Coach Ground runs to the group. "Dammit, get out of the way!" This is the first time I've ever heard Coach Ground curse. My heart, if it was still beating, would have kicked up and started ramming against my ribs, my breathing quickening in worry. But I'm dead. My heart doesn't beat, I don't breath. I don't do a lot of what I would have as a human anymore.
It's not until I make a conscious effort to breath that I realize that blood has been spilled. Now, this wouldn't be a problem any other time. Usually I can still the demon roaring and the Hunger clawing its way into my mind. But I haven't fed in almost a week and a half. This is a problem. My throat emits a low growl as Hunger rears its ugly head, the smell of the blood prompting my fangs to slid out of my gums.
Luckily, Wendy, one of my friends, was too enraptured by the scene to hear. My knuckles turn white as I clutch the book in my lap, watching as Coach carries of my classmates out of the gym court. Tom is his name, and his face is screwed up in pain, crimson staining into his shirt. My eyes widen slightly as they get nearer, having to take the hall right beside me to get out of the gym and to the nurse. The Hunger claws at my body, trying to come to the surface.
I can't let myself become the demon I've heard about. Before they can get any closer, I bolt from my seat, forcing myself to stay at a human speed as I sprint up the steps in the bleachers. I force my fangs back into my gums and start speed walking for the girls bathroom. It's not until I'm halfway there that Wendy notices that I'm no longer beside me and shouts for me. I go into a sprint again.
The smell of blood is still heavy in my nose, my dark green eyes sliding to the puddle of blood on the basketball court. My demon screams at me to hunt the human down and feed, to satisfy the Hunger. But I can't. Not in school. I'll have to wait until tonight. Joan was wanting to have another lesson on stalking anyway. I slam through the the girls bathroom door, letting out a deep sigh of relief that its empty.
I lock myself in a stall and force air into my lungs then back out. A part of my growls at the lost chance at easy prey while another cringes at the thought of attacking in full view of everyone. The horror pierces through me as I rest my forehead against the cold white tile of the bathroom walls. I stifled the Hunger and calmly exited the stall, running cold water through the faucet and splashing my cold, dead skin.
Wendy comes in just as I'm drying off my face, worry all over her face. "You scared the living crap out of me, Dawn! I thought you were getting sick."
I can't get sick. Only if I eat human food. I can feel nauseous but I can't actually get sick or have infections or the like. "No, I'm okay. Just a bit panicked. We've never had an injury that bad here before." I shrug dismissively. "What happened anyway?"
"From what I got," Wendy starts, raking a hair through her frizzy red hair, frowning as her fingers get caught in a knot. "Tom jumped over the rail and hit the ground rolling, breaking his forearm and making the bone splinter through his skin." She wrinkles her nose at her reflection, catching it in a mirror behind me.
She's never been one to care about her appearance, she just likes making faces in the mirror at herself. I thought this was adorable and funny, especially when I walked in on her sticking her tongue out at herself with her nose wrinkled and fanning her fingers out at either side of her head when I was still human. The freckled dork blushed in embarrassment. To this day I pick on her.
I cringe, even as the memory of the blood made the demon side of me growl with bloodlust. I needed to hunt tonight, no more putting it off. "Ouch. I hope he can recover." She shrugs.
"I'm sure he will. He's pretty strong when it comes to sickness and injury. I mean, the kid has gone through how many surgeries now?" She had a point.
"Oh well, let's just get back." We left the bathroom and went back to our seats.
By the end of the day I was ready for night to fall for my hunt. Joan greeted me at my front door, casually lounging on my mom's porch chair. "So, how was your day?" His feet were casually propped up on a cooler in front of him, hands clasped in his lap.
"Well, good. Hungry, but good. A boy in gym class was injured and bled a lot." All I get is a raised eyebrow, urging me to go on. "I left to the bathroom before I did something utterly stupid."
"Good. You kept a rein on yourself. And not only are we going to do another lesson in stalking and fighting, we'll also be hunting." He watched me closely. "We can't let you not feed for too long. You are surrounded by too many humans."
I nod. A part of me growled approval at his words of a hunt. His pale skin, like my own now, was bright against his black shirt and dark denim jeans. He grinned a little as he laces his fingers together and puts them behind his head full of light brown hair, strong muscles seen clearly through the thin fabric. His eyelids slid shut over his brown eyes. "Better get everything that you need to do done know. We have a busy night ahead of us."
I nodded my head and went inside, eagerly getting my chores done and waiting for the night to arrive. I was just ready to hunt.
