Bloodlines of Shadows

Awakening the Hidden

"Argh," Max shouted, jolting me out of my reverie.

I opened my eyes, darting them immediately toward the sound. Max stood, a dagger hanging from his chest as he stared intently at me, clenching his fist with every hint of pain etched on his face.

The smell of his blood lingered in the air, thick and intoxicating, making it difficult for me to breathe.

“What are you guys doing to me?" I managed to ask, walking over to where Max stood.

“No hard feelings, baby girl, you are not the one hurt. Don't you think it's right for you to help the one that’s hurt?" Kiara said, with a smirk on her face, staring intently at me.

“Yeah, that’s right. Max must be in pain," my brain registered.

Walking over to where Max was, I couldn't take my eyes off him. It was like the blood was pulling me closer against my will. “It's delicious," I heard something whisper inside me.

I stuck out my finger to where the blood was gushing out. Something about it was absurd—not just that it was intoxicating, but also that the color was darkish and glowing, like wine, the color of an actual wine.

The blood on my finger somehow made its way to my mouth, and it felt like the best thing I had ever tasted. With a primal hunger and a foreboding force, I plunged my canines towards Max's chest, and he couldn't help but yelp in pain as he resisted pushing me away.

The dagger fell from his chest, grazing my face as it did. Max suddenly became heavy, collapsing into my arms.

With one look at Kiara's face, I could tell she was shocked. She threw me away from him with force, he fell on the ground with a thud and my back struck hard against the gigantic wall that seemed to close in on me.

“What have you done," she screamed shrugging Max's shoulders as his blood filled the whole place.

Still recovering from the pain, the smell of the blood drew me close, as I pushed Kiara away from Max's side, plunging my teeth into the hole I had created before, seeping his blood, the taste like an old wine from a cellar.

Caught amidst my refreshment, I felt a sharp pain in my neck, and it all went blank.

****

Hey, wake up" a familiar voice cooed, dripping with a mix of fear and anger.

My eyes fluttered open, the room around me a haze of shadows and flickering light. I blinked rapidly, struggling to clear my vision, and found Kiara standing over me, her face twisted in a mask of fury. Her eyes blazed with a fierceness I had never seen before.

I knew how cunning and provocative she was, but this was way beyond what I thought. The look on her face screamed nothing but death, the shadows and flickering light making it more horrific.

"Where am I?" I croaked, my throat dry and raw, with a metallic taste of blood and my head pounding with confusion and a lingering pain behind my neck.

Kiara stepped back, allowing me a full view of my surroundings. I was lying on a cold, stone floor, the walls around me damp and foreboding, like the bowels of a forgotten dungeon. Chains hung from the walls, clinking eerily, and the air was thick with the stench of mildew and blood—metallic and sharp, it assaulted my senses.

"You're in the dungeon of the castle," she replied, her voice icy. "After what you did to Max, I had no choice but to bring you here despite the consequences. The king and the sorcerer will be here any minute. We need to know what you are real quick before you become uncontrollable and drink us all up."

Fragments of memory crashed into me, sharp and painful. Max's blood, the primal hunger, the taste that had driven me to madness, what lay in me that wanted more of that taste. "What happened to Max?" I asked, my voice trembling, barely more than a whisper.

Kiara's eyes softened momentarily, a flicker of sorrow breaking through her anger. "He's alive, but only just. Your... transformation was unexpected, violent, and weird."

"Transformation?" I echoed, trying to sit up but finding my body weak, every movement a struggle against an unseen force.

"Yes," Kiara said, pacing like a caged predator. "You’re not just a vampire. You’re something ancient, something powerful. And now, we have to figure out what to do with you before you hurt anyone else."

"What do you mean by that? What are you talking about?" I asked as a sudden feeling of anger erupted through my veins.

“You are not what we thought you were, Jenna. You are more than what we think you are. You are worse than us. Your transformation is absurd, it's something I have never seen before. I am a decade vampire and all through the life I have spent I haven't seen anything like that. It was too much for me, I had to bring you here," she said, standing far away from me. Despite the icy look she wore, I could still smell her fear.

The gravity of her words hit me like a physical blow. "What have I become that even Kiara can't explain?" I whispered, the reality of my situation dawning on me with a chilling clarity. Fear gnawed at my sides.

"That's what we need to find out," she replied, stopping her relentless pacing to stare directly into my eyes. "I can't give you the answers you need about what you are, but first, you need to regain control. You need to understand the power you wield and the danger it poses. You can ruin everything and everyone you love if you don't let us figure this out for you."

Her words were a cold, sobering reminder of the bloodlust that had consumed me, the uncontrollable urge that had overtaken my very soul. I needed answers. I needed control. Not knowing where I could get them from ate deep into my heart. “I wish this was all a dream like the others," I muttered.

"You've been having dreams about this?"

"Well, yes. Not really about this but a woman keeps telling me that I must change a wheel before I end up being like her," I responded, with my head in between my legs as I had successfully sat up.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," I said before her response, my voice steadier now, infused with a desperate resolve. "Help me, Kiara. Help me understand what I am and how to control it."

She nodded, a determined glint in her eyes. "We will, but it's not going to be easy. With your dreams and your transformation, I think it will help make it easier. Others will see you as a threat, who will want to destroy you. We have to move carefully if your survival is your priority."

As she spoke, my mind trailed off. The weight of my new reality settled over me like a shroud. I was no longer just a girl, the girl I desperately wanted to be, going to bars, drinking, and dating without having to watch over my two half-sisters. No longer merely a vampire that was manageable. I mean, I could still be able to control myself and still keep my friends.

I was now something more, something dangerous. I have to stay alone so that no one gets hurt. What will be my fate? What have I become? I questioned myself again, the harsh reality making me cry.

"First things first," Kiara said, pulling me to my feet with a strength that belied her slender frame. "Let's wait until they get here. Let's know what you are."

"No, Kiara, you can't let them get to me. They will kill me. Remember you said some people will see me as a threat. What if they see me as a threat?" I said, tears streaming down my face with full force, blurring my vision as I held her hands.

The door cranked open...