Eternally Dark

chapter 17: She's dead

“Food court,” I said, filled by a wave of sudden hunger, from being around all these people. Without hesitation the three of us set off in the direction of the food court. The whole walk there I constantly had to drag my gaze away from people’s necks, mesmerised by the faint movement as their heart pumped blood through the veins lying just beneath the surface. James bumped my shoulder with his,

“You okay?” He asked, watching me carefully. I gave a quick nod, though he still didn’t seem convinced. A girl bumped into me, clearly not watching where she was going, her sent filled my nose, making my struggle worse.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, before continuing off into the bathrooms. I watched her as she left, unable to pull my eyes away. The three of us joined a line to a pizza place,

“Hey I’m gonna go to the toilet,” I said to James, giving his hand a squeeze before letting it go and heading off in the direction of the toilets. Surprisingly other than the girl who had bumped into me I was alone. The girl was standing at the far end of the room washing her hands, I took an involuntary step towards her. She flicked her attention to me then back to her hands. I took another step towards her, out of the corner of my eye I noticed that my eyes were taking on a red colour, it deepened with each step I took. She looked back to me and opened her mouth to scream, but I flashed across the room, covered her mouth with my hand and sank my teeth into her neck. This was nothing like drinking from a blood bag, this was so different. Having drunk from a blood bag, had filled me, sustained me, but now it seemed like only a tiny taste of the power and enjoyment, taste and strength that I could have. The girl tried to scream but my grip on her mouth tightened. I pulled her closer to me, tightening my grip on her, with no regard for the amount of pain I was clearly causing her. It felt like no matter how much of her blood I drank I still needed more, I felt addicted to it, I needed to have every last drop of it. The girl’s pain, fear and want to live only made that need grow. She tried to pull away from me again, but I easily held onto her. I lifted my head from her neck for a second just long enough for me to give the girl a fighting hope, before I bite back down.

“Elizab-” James walked around the corner of the bathroom, “No! Elizabeth, let her go!” I ignored him, enjoying as the last thread of the girl's life slipped away. Her body relaxed against me, my hold the only thing stopping it from falling to the floor. I let go of her, letting the body collapse to my feet. I looked to my right, and studied myself in the mirror. My eyes had turned that blood red all other vampires had naturally, blood covered my mouth and chin, soaked my clothes and splattered my skin. No! I took in a single shaky breath, and as I exhaled it all my strength left me. I let myself fall to the floor. I scooped up the limp lifeless body, and began to rock back and forth. Tears streamed down my face, as I sobbed,

“No, no, no.” I repeated, over and over, “No you’re not dead!” I sobbed. My whole body shook. I killed someone! God, I killed someone and enjoyed it! I pushed the body off me and moved back as far away from it as I could. It, I had made her an it! I shook my head, hugging my knees to my chest.

“Liz,” James said, taking a step towards me.

“No, stay back!” I half yelled and half sobbed. I’m a monster!

“Liz, it's okay,” I shook my head. How could it be okay? I’d just killed someone. “It was an accident,” He took another few steps towards me, then crouched down at my side, I turned my head away from him. He placed a hand on my shoulder, then moved it under my chin, forcing me to look at him.

“Let me help you,” I nodded even so slightly, and burst into another fit of tears. James pulled me into him, holding me close while I cried. I’m a monster! I killed someone! I repeated it over and over in my mind.

Someone tried the door of the bathroom, and when it didn’t open they called in, “Hello? Open the door!” I pulled away from James and stared at the body on the floor. We couldn’t let her in, but if she stayed out there more people would end up coming. James stood up, and walked over to the body, ever so calmly, and picked her up. The body disappeared in his arms, and James continued on. He grabbed a couple handfuls of paper towels and began to mop up the blood from the floor.

“Where’s the body?” I asked in a half whisper.

“The morgue. Her family will be contacted, and told she was in an accident.” He finished cleaning the blood off the floor and looked to me, “Stall,” he nodded to one of the empty stalls -the one at the end- without questioning him, I forced myself to my feet, and stumbled into the stall locking the door behind me. I closed the lid of the toilet and turned around, sitting down. I heard as James unlocked the main bathroom door, and a woman in high heels rushed past him into one of the other stalls. I unlocked the door and walked out, James took my hands in his and teleported us. Home? Lieya jumped up from the chair she was sitting in at my desk.

“Oh my god! What happened?” She gushed running over to us. James let go of my hands, and walked over to the drawers, he pulled out a random shirt and pants. He chucked them on the bed, disappeared into the hallway, returning a second later with a wet hand towel. He closed the bedroom door, all without saying a word.

“What happened?” She asked again. I opened my mouth to speak, but only ended up crying again.

“Lieya, I’ll explain in a minute, just let me get your sister cleaned up.” James said, taking hold of my hand. Lieya sat back down at my desk, while James sat me down on my bed and cleaned the blood off my face, neck, arms and legs. Once he was done, he picked the clothes up and handed them to me. I looked down blankly to them,

“I killed someone,” I whispered, this time managing not to cry.

“I know,” James whispered back, “And we’ll talk about it, but first you need to change.” I absently nodded and stood up, James turned around pulling his phone out. Slowly I changed into the clean clothes, what I’d done playing on repeat in my head.

“I found her,” James said, his phone pressed to hide face, “Just head back I’ll take care of her,” He nodded and hung up. Now changed, I collapsed to the floor, crying again. I pulled my knees to my chest, and hid my face in them. James placed a hand on my shoulder,

“Liz,” he said, pulling me into him,

“I killed someone,” I sobbed, “I-I” Lieya crouched down in front of me, confusion and worry clear on her face.

“What happened?” She asked, instead of answering I just shook my head.