The Lost Girls (Chris Cerulli Vampire Story)

Chapter 23

It only took them five minutes to kill everyone at the bonfire party and all I could focus on was keeping myself up in that tree. I used my leather jacket to cover my nose, attempting to block out the scent of blood in the air. When Danielle and the others finished them off, they tossed their victims' bodies into the fire. 

"No!" I screamed as I clung to a tree limb, using everything in me to not give in and at the same time I screamed from the shock of what I was seeing. 

My hold suddenly slipped away and I fell into the dirt. I panted as sobs tore through my entire being. I turned my head in the direction of the sound of the girls coming back over the hill and of course the first person I spotted was Danielle. A second later the three other girls joined her at the top as they stared down at me. It was eerie how quiet it was now, the only sound was the fire crackling heavily behind them.

Danielle let out a contented sigh, "It's been so long since we've done that. I've missed it." 

I gaped at their blood-soaked faces wordlessly, how could they be alright with doing something like this?

She continued to speak, "So, now you know what we are and what we are capable of. And you know what you are." 

I shook my head frantically, "No, I'll never be like you. I won't hurt people the way you do." 

That seemed to amuse her as she smiles while telling me, "But you'll never grow old and you will never die. Wouldn't you like to be able to live like that?"

"How can you call this living?" I demanded as I sat up.

Her playful expression dropped and she glared at me. "Well, you can call it whatever you like, but don't think I didn't notice the way you were struggling. Soon you won't have any choice, the thirst will make it for you in the end. You aren't like Chris, you don't have the type of self-control." 

I rose to my feet shakily, but my tone remained firm. "I won't do it."

She strolled down the embankment and began circling me like a predator sizing up its prey. Blood still dripped off of her chin and I wondered if she could hear my heart pounding in my chest.

A devilish grin curled her lips, exposing more of her fangs before she spoke, "You can deny what you are all you want, but you will eventually feed."

"Chris won't let me get to that point." I assure her.  

"Are you truly under the impression that you can do what your darling boyfriend does? You know that he's dying, don't you? Is that what you want for your life? To have to hide away from the living from the fear of losing control? To waste away into nothing, when you could have eternal life?"

I clenched my jaw, refusing to answer her. 

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but I won't allow you to do that. The only reason I allow Chris to exist the way he does is because he's useful to us. Not to mention good at it. I can't give you the same sort of pass, you would end up drawing too much attention to the rest of us."

"Then just turn me back." I seethed, hoping that if she did as I asked, I could do the same for Chris.

She slowly shook her head at me, as if I was a misbehaving child. She wiped some of the blood from her mouth, leaving behind a rust colored stain on her skin and I decided then that she is truly the evilest thing I've ever seen.

"It's not as simple as you seem to think it is, Ashlyn. Certain people would have to die for things to change the way you want them to."

I was becoming fed up with having this discussion and I still had no clue where Chris was. My voice was sharp as I warned, "If you're implying that you are the one that has to die, that can be easily arranged."  

Her laughter, as always, reminded me of tinkling bells. Her blood matted hair slid off her forehead slightly as she tilted her head back while continuing to chuckle. "You shouldn't be making empty threats like that, but just so you know I'm not the person you would need to kill."

"And I'm guessing that you won't tell me who that is?"

Danielle appeared to be considering something as she paused her movement and bit at her lip. "I'll make you a deal, if you'll hear me out. I will have it arranged where you can be returned to being a human again, but I need you to do something in exchange for me first."  

My eyes turned into slits as I cautiously questioned, "What would that be?"

"Kill Chris for me."

"W-what?" I stumbled in a stupor.

"Prove to me that you really want to go back. Find a way to kill Chris, and I'll make you normal again." She says this like it's the most casual conversation to have.  

"But why? Didn't you just get done saying that Chris is useful to you?"

"Yeah, I did, but that doesn't mean I absolutely need him. To be honest, I feel like I've gotten a bit lazy with my feeding habits. I figure it would be the perfect motivation if I don't have Chris around to do the dirty work anymore."

"How can you just joke around about this?!" I cried out. 

She giggled, "I guess because it doesn't matter to me as much as it does to you."

"Well, you can go fuck yourself." I shot back and stormed over to my bike. 

Before I could get on it, Danielle was in my face and her tone was cold as she spoke, "Either you do as I tell you or I'll just kill him myself and then I'll kill your family, slowly. And maybe just for kicks I'll kill his family in front of him first. All of that blood will be on your hands."

All I could was stare at her in utter bewilderment.

"Just think of it this way, Chris planned on dying from this a long time ago. He was just waiting for death to take him when you showed up, so you'll just be doing him a favor by ending it quicker. So, what do you say?" She asks and holds out her small pale hand to me.

I shakily took her hand and she firmly shook mine as I whispered, "Alright, I'll do it."