Bloodlust

chapter nineteen

-19-

 

I wake up the next evening. I didn’t dream at all during the day. It feels like no time passed at all. I feel refreshed. I go over to the dresser and look for a change of clothes. I’m surprised when I see all my clothes in the drawers. James had to have gotten them for me. Which means he knows that my dad kicked me out. He wouldn’t have gotten my stuff without reading that note. I grab a change of clothes and head to the bathroom. I turn on the shower and feel the water. It’s weird because I know the water’s cold, but it doesn’t feel cold. I get in the shower and I mess with the temperature for a bit. I make the water what would normally be unbearably hot and I don’t feel hot. I just know it’s hot; it feels like my body is adapting to the temperature. I set the water back to cold and my body temperature goes down. It’s equally cool and freaky how temperature doesn’t matter.

I finish up my shower and I put my clothes on. I feel a little more like my old self but I can’t shake the feeling that I’m lying to myself by trying to be what I was.

“Ready to go?” James asks me when I come out of my room. He’s wearing jeans and a black peacoat. He looks at my outfit and hands me a grey peacoat.

“Seriously?” I ask him.

“It’s cold outside,” James says. “You need to dress like it’s cold.”

“Fine,” I say as I slip the jacket on.

“Another thing too,” he says. “If you try anything, I will drag your ass back here.” He hands me a packet of blood and I drink it quickly. “It’s a Friday so there are going to be a lot of people outside,”

“Okay,” I say. I’m glad that he’s taking precaution.

“Then let’s go,” James says as we leave and go outside. I can smell so much blood. There’s prey everywhere waiting for me to hunt it. James pats my shoulder reassuringly. I close my eyes and hold my breath.

“You can do it,” he whispers as we walk outside. I clench my fists and try as hard as I can to avoid everyone. I want to kill them all. I’m a predator and surrounded by prey but I can’t feed off of any of them. It’s frustrating and so tempting.

“Anthony?” I hear a familiar voice say.

“Shit,” I whisper as I turn around and there’s Scarlet with Jeff, Alex, Drew and a few other people. James is right there. If anything bad happens he’ll get me out of this. I look at Scarlet as I take a cautious breath, and she smells amazing. My body tenses to strike at her and I have to try as hard as I can to not lunge at her, kill her. I want to kill her; she’s prey. But I can’t because she’s my friend.

“Hi,” I say weakly and they all come closer and start talking.

“Where were you?” Scarlet asks me.

“We though you were killed!” a random friend of Scarlet’s says. “People keep dying and you went missing!”

“I almost went insane!” Scarlet says and a few other people start talking but I can’t listen. They keep getting closer to me and I get more and more tempted. My prey is coming to me like moths to a flame. But they’re not my prey; they’re my friends. “You should come with us!” Scarlet says. “We’re going to the movies.”

“It’s on me,” Jeff says as he smiles at Scarlet. They’re both wearing gloves so I can’t tell if they’re wearing rings or not.

“Yeah,” Alex says. He looks at me strangely, probably because I look so different.