Reborn by Blood (2 page)

With little else to do, I lay back on the bed and waited in abject misery for Beth to arrive. My time was running out. I could feel each and every fragile second of life fall away as the day wore on.

The claims Sebastian had made, while incredible, seemed all too real. The pain in my jaw had subsided as the headache worsened. A dull ache filled my muscles and joints and every movement was agony.

If I had the will to do so, I could raise my hand to my brow and feel the slick sheen of sweat that lay upon my fevered brow. Though to do such a thing would take more energy than I felt I could muster.

I was dying. Again. My breathing was shallow and my throat was sore and dry, oh so very dry. I wanted to drink, no I needed to drink. I needed to drink all of the water in the world and still I knew somehow, that it wouldn’t be enough. It wouldn’t slate my thirst.

An insistent banging came from my front door and I refused to open it. I wouldn’t call out and answer when she called my name. The buzzing of my phone as it vibrated against the floor was easily ignored as one more minor irritant as I floated in a sea of agony.

It had been a mistake calling her. I could feel it now, the growing thirst, the need to drink of something. Someone.

The very idea was repulsive and made all the more so by how much I wanted to do it. I wanted to drink the blood, the very thought of it made me salivate as my heart beat faster. I wouldn’t though.

I refused to do it. Not for any altruistic or moral reasons, but out of spite. That bastard Sebastian had done this to me and I had no intention of letting him win, letting him be right. Vampires weren’t real and if they were... I would not be one of them.

As the aching lessened, the dull pain starting to fade away I realise that I must be close to that time, that crucial moment where I would have to have killed another person or I would die myself.

The thirst was still with me, a yearning for something that I refused with every shred of will I possessed. The pounding that had been behind my eyes all day had slowly quietened to the occasional small thump of pain.

I pulled myself to my feet and staggered across the room to the kitchen sink. I barely made it. Only the thought of being found dead on the floor in some undignified position kept me upright.

A turn of a tap and sweet, cool water flowed out. I cupped my hands beneath the stream and let the water caress my fingers as it found its way through my poor attempt at blocking it, before I doused myself.

It felt good, it felt incredible. The coolness of the water was a balm that I needed, it helped me concentrate. I grabbed a mug from the draining board filled it to the brim with the cool sweet water before bringing it to my lips and gulping it down.

The water stayed in my stomach for less than a dozen seconds before forcing its way back up and out, to splatter into the sink as I heaved. I wiped the last of the vomit from my mouth with the back of my hand. My thirst had, if anything, grown greater.

With a click the lock on my front door opened and I jerked upright in alarm. No one had a key to my place, other than my landlord and me.

“Yo, Ray you better not be naked in there” Beth called before walking in.

She had a short crop of blonde hair that was showing dark roots. She had stunningly pretty blue eyes and a body type that could be politely called curvaceous. She carried her car keys in one hand and her ever so precious mobile phone in the other.

If anyone could be considered my best friend it was her, I loved her for her free spirit and quick wits. She was smart and resourceful and utterly without shame or conscience. She glanced around the room and grinned as she saw me leaning against the sink.

“Whoa, you look like shit.” She said.

“Stay back” I gestured weakly as she started to walk across the room to me and she paused, looking confused.

“What’s up? You sick?”

“Something like that.” God, she smelt delicious even from across the room. I could hear her heart beating in her chest. Thump, thump, thump.

“Too much beer.” She said with a shake of her head. “Eurgh... you been sick?”

“Oh god, get out” I said, “Seriously get out and lock the door.”

Everything was fuzzy and out of focus, everything except the large vein that was pulsing in her neck. Her pale skin was emphasised by the black vest top and jeans she wore. She always wore black, just one of her preferences.

“Stop being a prat.” She said as she crossed the room to me. I tried to swallow past my painfully dry throat as I raised a hand weakly to ward her away.

“Please Beth, just leave me.” I said.

“No chance. This looks like more than a hangover. What’s up?” she asked.

I shied away from her touch and stumbled across the room towards the door and the blinding sunshine that was streaming through it. The pain would be a blessed distraction from the thoughts of ripping open her throat that I was currently enduring.

“Ray, what the hell... watch out.” She yelled behind me as I collided with the teenage boy standing in the doorway.

He had dark hair that was cut short, a round face and he was wearing the uniform of the Chinese restaurant that my flat was above. I recognised him from the shop, he was the son of my landlord.

His scent was unmistakable even beneath the body wash and cologne that he was wearing. I grabbed his collar and pulled him forwards. He stumbled and yelped as my head lunged forward and my new fangs sank deep into his neck to strike the vein.

The scent of copper filled the air as I instinctively drew his life blood through my fangs. He struggled in my grasp as the pain registered but to no avail as I held him close with a strength I had not known I had.

A thousand, thousand lights exploded in my mind as the dark, thick blood filled my mouth. It was warm and revolting and the most incredible taste and sensation I had ever experienced. I drank deeply, more and more of his blood leaving his veins as I attempted to prolong the ecstasy as long as possible.

With a sense of loss I released his bloodless body and let it fall to the floor. I ran my tongue around my lips in search of more of his blood, more of his taste, more of his life. I wanted to scream with pleasure, shout out my joy for the world.

“What the fuck...” said a voice behind me.

I turned to see Beth with a strange look on her face as she stared at first me and then the corpse that lay on my floor.

As I followed her gaze I realised just what had happened. Despite all of my determination not to become a Vampire and my refusal to take a life, I had been unable to resist the urge within and the result of that lay at my feet slowly cooling.

“Damn.” I said.

Chapter 2

“What the hell did you just do?” Beth asked in shock.

“I couldn’t help it” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“I think I’m a Vampire.” I said sheepishly as I tried to avoid her gaze. It felt ludicrous even saying the words.

“A Vampire” flat and cold tone, disbelieving. “You just killed a guy and you are trying to tell me you’re a fucking fantasy creature.“

“No wait...” I began and then ducked as the mug she had thrown smashed against the wall beside me. “Wait!”

“Get out of the way Ray” she yelled as she raised another cup menacingly.

“Please, Beth you have to believe me. I didn’t mean to do this.” I said with a gesture at the corpse beside me. “I tried to tell you not to come in here, I couldn’t control myself.”

“You’re serious?” Beth said thoughtfully as she hefted the mug in her hand. She looked as though she were considering throwing it.

“Yes I am. Please, I need your help” I pleaded.

“Well I suppose you’d better tell me what happened and as much as I love you mate, if you are lying I will be calling the police.” Beth threatened.

“I woke up this morning with some guy in the room” I began.

“The guy you left with last night? Tall guy in a suit?”

“Yeah... you saw me leave with him?” I asked and she nodded, “Didn’t you think that was a little strange? Why didn’t you stop me?”

“I just thought you were hooking up with him.” She said.

“Why would I be hooking up with him? I’m not gay.” I sputtered a little, “You know I’m not gay.”

“Hey, I just figured you were trying something new.” She said as she chewed thoughtfully on her lip, a habit of hers that was quite endearing. “So that guy was a Vampire?”

“So it would seem. He told me that he made me come back here” I stressed the word ‘made’ “Then he told me that he had killed me and had to make me a Vampire to bring me back to life.”

“Why would he bother?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why would he bother bringing you back to life, why not just kill you?” She asked.

“He didn’t say.”

“You didn’t think to ask him?”

“I didn’t believe him” I said, “He had just told me that he had killed me and made me into a Vampire. I thought he was a nut job and just wanted him out of my flat.”

“Ok, so what else did he say?”

“He said that if I didn’t feed on someone within twenty four hours I would be dead for good.” I looked at the dead teenager, “I didn’t intend to do that.”

“So you have to kill people and drink their blood?” she asked as she continued to chew on her lip.

“No, I only had to kill the first person. Apparently now I can just drink little bits and be ok.”

“You aren’t going to drink my blood are you?” she asked with a glance at the dead teen’s remains.

“I don’t plan to. I mean, when you came in I was pretty far gone. I was dying... now I feel quite good. Great in fact.”

“Well that’s something I suppose.” She said, “So you’re a Vampire huh?”

“I guess I am, yeah.”

“What does that mean exactly?” she looked at the corpse, “Aside from the obvious.”

“I’m not sure. I tried to go out earlier and the sunlight nearly blinded me and when I put my hand in the sun it burnt a little bit.”

“Like fire?”

“No, more like sunburn.”

“Can I see your fangs?” She asked.

“I don’t exactly know how to get them out.” I said a little uncomfortably. “Are you going to call the police?”

“Probably not.” She said as she returned to chewing her lip.

“What about...” I waved at the dead teen.

“Yeah we probably need to move him” she said with a sigh.

“Does it bother you?” I asked, “I just killed someone.”

“Not really, as long as you aren’t going to kill me we should be fine.” She paused and looked me in the eye, “You’re not going to get all weepy and guilty about it are you?”

“I don’t think so.” I said with more than a little confusion.

In truth I wasn’t bothered by the death of the teenager. A boy I had met several times and even spoken to on occasion. A part of me knew that I should be bothered by it, but when I tried to pin that thought down it vanished.

As far as I could tell, I was much the same as I had been a day ago in all other respects. It was just that while a day ago, the thought of a dead body being in my room would have freaked me out more than a little, now I couldn’t find it within myself to care overly much.

I could feel no guilt over my actions and even though intellectually I knew that should bother me, it really didn’t.

“We should move him out of the doorway at least” Beth said.

“Yeah good point. No one knows he came up here did they?” I asked as I grabbed the boy’s arms and dragged him into the room. I had to squint against the sunlight that was still streaming through the door.

“His car’s downstairs and he was unloading some stuff for the shop when I arrived. I’m pretty sure he was alone.”

“Right, so we need to get rid of his body and any sign that he came up here.” I said.

“Yeah, maybe shift his car too.” Beth added as she leant back against the worktop and watched me, still a little wary.

“Well I can’t go out till it gets dark. I can barely see out there.” I pointed out.

“I’m not shifting his body for you while you sit around here. We’ll have to wait until later.”

“Should we... you know, wrap him up in something?” I asked.

“I suppose we could put him in a couple of bin liners and tape them together. You got any?”

“No.”

“What about a blanket or even a towel?” Beth asked as she looked around the room.

“The only sheets I have are the ones on my bed” I pointed out.

“That’s nasty. You need to get more sheets mate.”

“Yeah, I’ll get right on that as soon as I can.” I said, “Straight after I dump the body of the teen I just murdered and as soon as the shops open at night.”

“No need to get upset, it was just a suggestion” she said with a low laugh. “So what can Vampires do then?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well in the films, Vampires are immortal and can’t go in churches and stuff.”

“Yeah, I have no idea.”

“You have no idea?” Beth repeated as she looked at me with her head tilted to the side and a slight smile on her face.

“How the hell would I know?” I asked plaintively, “I know he was stronger than I expected and moved damn fast.”

“That’s a start at least. We can find out if you’re immortal later.” Beth said with a wide smile that worried me as I considered just how she planned to find that out.

I paced anxiously around the room as I waited for the time to slowly pass. I tried to avoid looking at the dead body on my floor. I had no desire to go to prison for murder and someone would miss him.

“Have you tried dark glasses?” Beth asked.

“What for?”

“Well you said the sun was blinding, so maybe it won’t be if you are wearing shades.”

“I don’t have any shades.” I said and resumed my pacing.

“If I remember right, I have some in the car.” Beth said as she strode to the door, “I’ll check.”

“No wait...” I began before breaking off with a curse as she opened the door and the sunlight flooded the room. “Yeah thanks for that.” I muttered as she closed the door behind her.

She returned five minutes later with a pair of glasses and a wide grin.

“You can’t expect me to wear them. I’ll look a right prat.” I said.