Sorry You Had To Bleed

Chapter 10 - The Vow

          The blood that I had taken from Bradly dripped down onto the concrete. It splattered and splashed on everyone and everything around it. It felt absurd, having bitten someone that wasn't on my own accord. When I saw the terror in his eyes, slowly fading along with the life that I had drained out of him, it sparked something inside me. I could feel Fang getting stronger by the second. Every time he did, I lost control of more than just my body. My thoughts, my emotions, my ability to even remain conscious. They were all being taken away as I held Bradly's neck in my fist. I heard his bones crush, and his heart comes to a stop. It was then that the control I had feared of losing came back to me, and all at once. For a moment, it was me who was breaking his neck. It was me who was the one enjoying the pain that I had caused him. For a moment, it was me who killed him.

          How could I live with myself? The thing I feared most just happened all too quickly. This wasn't me that killed him; I have to remember that. I don't know what will happen to me, to Daniel, to Bradly. 

          I'm sitting on a fallen tree, just inside Lake Sylvia. It was far enough that no cars could shine on me, but close enough to where I won't get lost. I had to run away from the scene. What was I going to do? I couldn't possibly turn myself in. They wouldn't believe me if they heard me say that I was a vampire. Besides, even if they knew the truth, I'd be locked up in the CIA's basement for the rest of my short life. 

          I heard footsteps coming from the left of me. I growled out of instinct and shouted: "Who's there?". when I heard the heartbeat, I knew that it was Daniel. When I saw him come out of the bushes that were hiding him from me, I calmed down and pouted. I put my head down and didn't pick it up. No matter how much I wanted to, it wasn't going to happen. 

          "You can't just run away like that," he said. He came up closer to me and waited for me to scoot over so he could sit down. When I did, I kept myself down and pointed to the ground. "It was a mistake, Matt." "I killed someone. I did the thing I swear I'd never do, no matter the circumstances. It was not just a 'mistake', it was everything but a mistake.".

          I picked up a rock that was near my foot and threw it as far as I could, hoping to get rid of the anger that I felt for myself. "Did you want to kill Bradly?" He asked me. His voice was shaky. He might have still been scared, but I can also infer that he's trying not to provoke me. Honestly, I feel I might snap at any moment. I need space, and this isn't what I had in mind. "No, I didn't." "Then it was a mistake." I looked over at Daniel with my eyes that glowed a pale yellow in the moonlight, staring directly into him. I wanted to yell. I wanted to scream my lungs out at him and tell him to go away. I kept my cool, but the next time won't be so easy to control. "I could have just gone straight home. I didn't have to be there." I said. "We had every right to be there. It's only when Bradly started to get physical that things got messy. You saw what he was doing, don't you? It was a basic self-defense move!"

          "Basic defense or not, I still killed someone. Not only that, I drank their blood." The words felt so wrong coming out. Daniel put his hand on my back, and I almost retaliated. I kept my growls to myself and let him get closer. I needed the attention more than anything. He hugged me, and at that moment, I feel a warm streak run down my face and onto my shirt. Am... am I crying? That's new.

          I don't think I can go back. I don't think I can go back to staying at my place. With people finding out about Bradly's death, it isn't safe for me to be near campus anymore. My life is crumbling at the seams, and I haven't even finished school yet. "I can't stay here," I said. "What?" Daniel asked, worried. I pulled away and looked around us and sniffled. wiping my tears and the snot that I was trying to keep inside my nose. "I can't stay at St. Jester. They'll find out that I killed Bradly and they'll throw me in prison! I don't know what will happen to me if I can't get the blood I need. What if I become a rabid animal? What if-" I felt Daniel's finger across my lips. He's looking at me with a confident look on his face, and I'm patiently waiting for him to say something. "You can stay at my place. I have an extra room." "Are you sure, Danny?" "I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it.".