Pure

I am lying on the floor of the forest and above me is a never ending canopy. As far as I can tell it has small partings where light shines through. My vision is so foggy that I can't even walk in a straight line.

I wonder how and when I got here, why I was in a place I had never been before. I do not recognise this land, do not see any familiar places, nothing that reminds me of anything in particular.

There is a sudden movement in the bushes behind me. I whirled around to find myself staring at a mirror. My eyes were bright red! My dress ripped down the side to reveal a long slender leg, which looked nothing like my own. My neck had 2 small round holes in it and my teeth were elongated.

What had happened to me?

The last thing I remember was entering the school hall at my prom. The new student, Jeremy, asked me to dance. Jeremy came to our school last week as an exchange student from Canada. Every girl has been swooning over him ever since he came. His hair is a light brown with natural blonde streaks through it.

So, he asked me to dance and then a black out. And then it all comes back, my eyesight had returned better than ever and my sense of smell was so strong I nearly fainted from the sickening stench of rain.

Abruptly, I could feel a pang of pain in my stomach. It feels like intense hunger. I think back to what my years of girl scouts taught me about survival in a forest. I searched through the scrubs and luckily there are some non-poisonous berries hanging from the frail branches. I pluck a few and eat them. My body strangely rejects the berries.

There's a rustle in the leaves above me and before I know it I was climbing up the tree. My hand extends outwards and in my hand sits a squirrel the size of a football. And then its head is in my mouth. What am I doing? I try to stop but despite all my efforts, I cannot break from this horrific act. Surprisingly, it tastes good and filled me as if I was a glass and this poor, defensive, juicy, succulent....squirrel was the liquid. It is the best thing I have ever eaten.

My appetite is oddly satisfied. I can now actually think clearly.

After I danced with Jeremy, we went outside to talk. We walked down one of the many dirt pathways on the school grounds; he held my hand and took me under a gazebo. He kissed me on the cheek and I felt something hard trailing down to my neck and...

'Ah!' I scream out in agony. My neck has started to pulsate and I can hear my heart beat loud and clear.

My head is pounding and all I can see was black, a blackness that is unwavering.

I was in this state for what felt like days but in reality was probably more like hours. When I awoke I was on the floor in the foetal position. A blood curdling scream escaped my mouth before I could stop it. I felt like a turtle retracting into its protective shell.

Then Jeremy dropped from one of the tallest trees and with the strength of a thousand men he lifted me up and cradled me in his arms. He then started to run and run he did. He ran so fast that it was all a blur. It reminded me of when I had first awoken in this darn forest. Not only was everything blurry but I was so confused. How were we running this fast, why were my eyes red, what happened to my teeth, how did he survive the fall from a tree so tall that it could have touched heaven?

But no matter how hard I tried to think my train of thought always came full circle to how hard and chiselled his chest was against me.

His eyes bore into mine as we stared into each other's eyes drinking in our love of each other. The coldness of his chest strangely comforted me while I enveloped myself in his scent. He smelt of fresh cassia.

We came to a sudden stop and we were at a small cottage big enough for two. I looked up and saw a reassuring and soothing face that was picturesque. He opened the arched door and carried me over the thresh hold as if I were his new bride.

I wondered why, all of a sudden, I had fallen hopelessly in love with this near stranger. And yet, his almond eyes comforted me, his arms held me tight and his cold breath tickled my ear. This new student was obviously not all he seemed at first.

He took me over towards the large luxurious couch and gently placed me down and sat next to me. His broad shoulders showed no sign of struggle with carrying me all this way.

'Who are you really?' I asked feeling out of place even though his aura was calming and reassuring.

'I'm Jeremy. You know that,' he answered my question in the literal form.

'Ok let me rephrase that... What are you?'

'Oh...' he answered a little deflated 'I'm, I'm a vampire' he stuttered

I went into a state of unconsciousness. When I awoke, I was in a different room in a purple bed. I kicked off the covers to reveal my dress was gone and instead was a dress small enough to be a handkerchief. I stood up and wrapped the cover around me and opened the door. When I stepped out I was overwhelmed by an aroma. I did not recognise the aroma, but it smelt familiar.

I found Jeremy on the couch with two large cups, one in his hand and the other containing a straw on the coffee table in front of him.

'Hello' Jeremy said as if nothing had happened before.

'Hi... so, was I dreaming or did you say that you were a vampire?'

'You weren't dreaming. Just don't faint again,'

'And why was I in a forest?' I asked

'Ebony, I took you there after you turned so that you did not kill a human,'

'Do you hear how crazy you sound?'

'I know this must sound weird but trust me it's true,'

'How can I trust you? You turned me into a vampire!'

'But my princess you do not understand I did not turn you into a vampire, I just awakened your senses'

'What do you mean "awakened my senses"?'

'Oh no, I seemed to have said too much,'

'Oh there is no "oh no", you tell me the truth and the whole truth so help me god'

'Well ok, you are a pure blood which means you were born a vampire'

'If I was born a vampire why was I not eating humans throughout my childhood?'

'Because, you see, pure bloods need to be bitten by another vampire after their 18th birthday'

'Are my parents vampires too?'

'Yes, in fact your mother and father are the king and queen'

'How old are they?'

'Your mother is 152, and your father is 176,'

'And how old are you?'

'Well I'm not as old as your parents, I'm only 43, but I was turned at 19,'

'And why do my parents look like their "ages"?'

'Because some pure bloods age to about their ages and others stop aging at 19. Well enough of that lets have something to eat!' he said as he handed me the extra mug.

'What's this?' I asked looking down at the cup filled with red liquid.

'Type b-, it's pretty rare if I say it myself,'

'What?'

'Blood, try it. It's good,' he said then taking a sip of his blood.

'Where is it from?'

'Don't worry it's been donated, of course they didn't know it was for drinking,' he took another gulp.

I reluctantly put the straw in my mouth and sipped. I got such a high off of the blood I could see why Jeremy was guzzling it down. The blood tasted even better than the squirrel.