Mesmerized | ✓

15

Yuli couldn't pray his eyes away from one of the students preparing for his performance. He made weird noises with his mouth and breathed in a very obnoxious way. But it wasn't what caught Yuli's attention. What his eyes were fixed on was a vein pulsing on the side of his neck. He thought that he could see the red liquid somewhere underneath all the skin layers. It was making him salivate.

He had been so focused on spending time with Candace, on getting to know her and trying to prove her once and for all that he wasn't a heartless jerk that he hadn't been able to find an opportunity to feed. Yuli knew that he was running on fumes but all he needed to do was survive the performance and then he would even let Carl find him some homeless person. It would be fine because it would be blood and any blood would do at this point.

In the meantime Yuli kept shoving various sweets into his mouth, be it chocolate bars, lolly pops or any other kind of candy. It didn't do much to stop the chilling sensation from spreading through his body but it did let him occupy himself with something other than his desire for blood.

"Oh, don't tell me know that you're getting nervous now." Candace said patting him on the back in a friendly manner. Yuli jumped at the touch which made the girl chuckle. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't." Yuli said biting loudly into a bright yellow lolly pop and also watching the guy he had his eye on walk up the stage. It meant that they were up next. "And I'm not nervous."

"Right." Candace said fixing her gaze on the piece of candy in Yuli's mouth. She was wearing a simple black dresses that hugged all over curves perfectly and her hair was tied into a high ponytail which gave her a more elegant look. "Ugh, I shouldn't be in such a good mood, should I?" She asked looking around at all the other people who had serious, solemn faces.

"No, you have every right to be excited about a performance." He said doing his best to smile and not to give off a vibe that he was dying. Humans were annoyed and therefore hard to deal with when he was satisfied but now, when he was starving it was especially hard not to show how annoyed he was getting with them. Candace, as pretty and as essential to his plan as she was, was no exception.

"Maybe." She said. "But I still feel kind of bad, you know? That poor girl is dead."

Yuli had to use all of his willpower to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he gave Candace a brief hug. "Well, don't feel bad. Focus on the song. We're up next." He needed to keep himself composed because if he played his cards right Yuli could fulfill his plan even tonight, well before the deadline. He could then stop pretending to be someone he was not. He could go and start a life that he wanted to have.

Eventually it was their turn to perform and so they walked onto the stage with Candace holding her guitar and Yuli with nothing but his voice to enchant the crowd. He scanned the gathering of people with his eyes. His gaze landed on two older people sitting right in the front holding hands and with tears rolling from their eyes as they watched Yuli and Candace.

Further in the crowd Yuli noticed Carl. His whole face lit up when he saw Yuli and the boy would surely laugh at him if it weren't for the excruciating pain in his whole body. The rest of the people in the crowd he didn't know. And he didn't care to know them.

Candace smiled softly at him and started playing their song. They both sang and Yuli watched as the crowd became absolutely infatuated with his voice. The room fell completely silent and even the sad faces of Alice's parents relaxed and the tears stopped falling. It was as if Yuli's voice could heal them from their misery. It took a lot out of Yuli to sing like that, to hold this effect over the people but he wanted the attention. He wanted them to love him.

Throughout the performance Yuli kept glancing at Candace and smiling softly. He knew that his voice had some kind of effect on her even though it wasn't as strong as on all the other people. Candace also smiled at him with a dreamy look on her face. During their practices, when he sang, she would often close her eyes and just listen to him, refusing to sing herself until she'd had enough of him.