Succumb

Chapter Two

Kayla

"You what?!"

"Calm down will you?" I reply irritably, focused on cleaning my room from the slumber party. My friends were fairly thorough in cleaning their stuff, but they weren't perfect. I find a candy wrapper and put it in the grocery bag that already had a bit of trash in it. I stand and walk to my bathroom.

Mason follows me, refusing to let up. "You bit her? God, Kayla! How could you?"

I make loud chomping sounds, just to annoy him. I mean, if he is going to bother me, I may as well return the favor.

I didn't expect him to grab my shoulder and turn me around to face him. "Mace-!"

"No, Kayla Maria." Oh shit, he's really serious. He almost never uses my middle name. "You can't just go around Turning people! What will Mom and Dad say?"

I'm too stubborn to give in that easily. "Mason, relax. They don't have to know."

"How can they not know?" He opens his mouth to continue his tirade.

I interrupt. "Easily. By not telling them."

"Don't be a smart-ass, Kayla." Mason glares at me, his eyes burning. "This isn't a joke. This is serious. Did you even ask her?"

The guilt that has been haunting me since last night creeps up again. "Well, no, but-"

"But what?! Kayla, why would you ever think it is okay to Turn someone without asking the family, much less force Turn someone! You did it against her will!"

"Goddammit, Mason!" I finally shriek, enraged by his accusation... probably because it hits so close to home. "I love her!"

"...What?"

Tears of embarrassment and frustration burn in my eyes. I force them back, along with the lump forming in my throat. Mason is visibly startled, which only makes the sense of embarrassment burn brighter. "Dammit all, Mason! All I've ever been able to do since I've met her is think about her. All about her. She is the one person I want, ever. And she cares about me too! I can sense it! I'm a goddamned succubus, I know how people feel!"

Mason hesitates, then takes a big breath and a step back. He no longer looms over me and I feel a wave of exhaustion rise over me. He's not done though. "Regardless, Kayla. You should have asked."

"I know, Mason," I reply, putting a hand on my forehead. "But I can't change that I didn't."

"I know, I know," Mason says. He runs a hand through his hair. "So, what are you going to do now?"

My heart slowly stops pounding from our confrontation. "I wish I knew, Mace. That's why I told you. I need help."

"Do you have a plan?" he questions, putting his hands on his hips.

"First, we need to get her and convince her that vampires are real."

\|---|/

I wake up again and groan in frustration. My alarm clock reads 3:27 AM. I keep waking up sporadically, unable to fully sleep due to my nervousness. The more time passes, the more I wish I hadn't bitten her. My best friend.

I didn't tell Mason it was Liz, but I think he knows anyway. I mean, who else would I spend enough time with to fall in love with? My cheeks blush as I think of what I said yesterday. I meant every word of it though.

Speaking of being a vampire... I stand up and go to the kitchen. My feet make no noise as I pad down the hallway. The chill of the stone gives me goosebumps, but I ignore them. I listen for any of the others in the house. The silence persists, but that doesn't mean they aren't about. Most of them are probably awake anyway, given our predilection to nightlife. I only sleep at night because I go to high school.

Though none of my friends I had over last night knew it, our house (though most would describe it as a mansion) is full of other people besides my parents and brother. This place has long housed our kind, for a good two centuries at least.

My thoughts are distracted when I reach the kitchen. I open the fridge and find some of our bagged blood. I grab a small one and will my fangs to grow out. When they puncture the plastic bag, I quickly leech the blood from it. I am careful to keep from spilling anything, though I need not be. Unlike vampires are often depicted, we don't get blood all over anything. Blood-drinking is a very clean process unless the vampire wills it not to be. And the vampire would rarely do that - it would waste the blood.

I hold the shriveled bag when I'm done and look it over for any missed drops. The bag is perfectly clear and looks as though nothing had been in it in the first place.

"Kayla?"

Luther appears in front of me from the shadows. I am too used to vampires suddenly coming out of nowhere to be startled any more. "Hello, Luther. How are you?"

"I am well, Kay-la." He says my name with each syllable distinctly enunciated. "What a surprise to find you awake at this hour. Do you not have school in the morning?"

"Aye." Being around some of the older vampires makes me talk like them too. "I was just getting a snack."

Luther nods sagely and says, "I should feast as well. It has been many days since my last meal."

"You should eat more," I say with a nod. "Get some blood in those veins."

He waves me off. "I do not require it, Kay-la. I am aged and do not need to ingest as much as you young folk. A tap here and there between slumbers is more than enough to keep me alive. The world is less interesting after you have lived through the rise and fall of empires."

"If you say so, Luther." I put the plastic bag into our recycle bin and sort of bow to the elder vampire. "If you'll pardon me, I must sleep."

"Of course, Kay-la." He bows back and turns toward the fridge to feast.

I head back to bed, but of course I still can't sleep right.

How can I tell Liz her whole existence has changed forever?