Bloodbank

Fifteen

The woman's eyes looked like glass, staring straight at me as Scott began to drink from her neck. I started to yell, pushing him off her before falling back onto my knees.

"You didn't need to kill her -" I sobbed, "She was just like me s - she was from the bank and needed help."

Nathan came running in, his arm around me in an instant as I sobbed into his shoulder.

"You wouldn't understand. I was thirsty." Scott murmured a reply, already reaching back for more, "it was instinct."

I sensed Nathan shaking slightly, noticed his eyes on the woman's neck. In the few hours I'd been with them I'd already forgotten they were predators, and this was natural for them.

I stood up, wiping the dirt off my dress and walking away. They had to feed. I didn't have to watch.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, closing the door so I wouldn't have to listen, but not before I saw Nathan, too, going in for a taste.

In the main room of the bunker, I wiped my eyes clean of the tears roughly with the heel of my hand. I had to get used to this if I was going to live with vampires. Exhaling shakily, I turned to the kitchenette, where Nathan had already began prepping some tinned vegetables and cooking pasta for me to eat. Pushing the thought aside that he was drinking someone's blood in the adjacent room, I turned the stove off and strained the pasta. Mixing it in a bowl, I ate the heartiest meal I had in months: at the bank they'd merely given me what would give me the nutrients, which usually meant a beige smoothie of flavours that shouldn't ever be put together, but this actually tasted good. I felt a rough hand on my back, too engrossed in my meal to hear him approaching.

"I thought she was going to hurt you, Ebony," Scott whispered over my shoulder. I wanted to hate him so much, but I loved the way that my name rolled off his tongue. Turning around, his strong arms pinned me against the counter.

"I get it. You were hungry. I just wasn't expecting it," I shuddered. His hand brushed against my cheek, pulling his lips to mine.

The taste of the tomato was still in my mouth, but now it mixed with the blood in his, flavours mixing as our tongues battled for dominance. My leg raised around his, inviting him to stand closer until he had me on the counter, dress raising above my thighs.

Then, Nathan walked in. 

We broke apart, my feet stumbling onto the floor. I dragged my dress down. Scott's green orbs stared into mine, before flitting to Nathan.

"Yes?" He asked, frustrated. Nathan smiled awkwardly. 

"Thank you for the food," I cleared my throat.

"It's no problem," Nathan sat at the table, patting the seat expectantly, "now I think we need to hear how Scott escaped that."

I promptly sat opposite Nathan, but Scott stayed by the counter, grinding his teeth, annoyed.

"I don't think you do need to know that," Scott glanced towards me.

"Yes, we do." Nathan's tone shifted, sounding more like a threat. Sometimes I forgot that he, too, was a vampire and was probably equal in strength to Scott. Sighing, Scott resigned and sat next to me.

"He's working for Tenebris." Scott said. Nathan's knuckles turned white on the table, "and he thinks that Ebony belongs to him."

"Sorry-" I interrupted, "who is Teneribeef?"

"Lord Tenebris." Nathan replied, "one of the most wealthy and powerful vampires around. He practically owns this region."

"And he won you at the auction," Scott finished. I began to realise the gravity of my situation, that it wasn't just Mason after me, but apparently an influential vampire lord, and all the resources he might have.