Chapter Twelve
1786 Words
Tired doesn’t even begin to cover the lethargy flowing through my veins. Still, I feel the overwhelming need to follow him.
I need to know more.
I need to be a part of something bigger than me.
I also need to know what has happened to my friend, Kat.
Semion says she’s okay, but how can I take the man’s word? I barely know him. I’m also being bombarded with so much information, my mind isn’t sure what to focus on first.
Kat. Kat comes first.
I race to my bedside table, the cheap phone still there and waiting uselessly for me to use it. Kat tried to get me to subscribe to a better provider, but I’m always too concerned about affording such an extravagant item when it’s not a necessity.
Now I’m wishing I had listened to her, if nothing more than to text her and ask if she’s okay.
I have her number though, and upon punching it in, I can only pray she will answer.
“Please reload your prepaid plan to complete your call.”
The automated voice has me chucking the cheap hunk of crap across the small apartment, the pieces shattering against the wall by the front door.
I am so done with studio apartments and prepaid cell phones.
Without wasting another moment, I run to the small closet in the corner of my apartment and attempt to pick out something a bit more impressive than the sweats I am currently wearing.
Skin-tight jeans? Check.
A kickass top that shows just enough of my curves and cleavage? Double check.
I stand in front of the mirror, wishing to the Gods I didn’t feel the need to think about my appearance. Society puts way too much value on looks these days, and I just play right into the hands of petty people when I focus on it as much as I do. Still, the mere idea of meeting others like Semion has me wishing my raven hair could be more tamed and my breasts lifted a bit better with a too-expensive pushup bra.
No time to waste though.
I don’t take a second glance in the mirror before I grab my wallet and fly out the front door, not even bothering to lock it. Only a few seconds pass as I make my way to the major street in front of the club to hail a cab.
The one thing I could always count on in this city—creepy cab drivers were practically crawling the streets at all hours.
It’s odd to feel the beat in my chest as I climb into the yellow taxi and holler out the address of the nearest park. Odd because I haven’t felt the thrum of a heartbeat in so long, the sensation takes me off guard and I have to keep repeating to myself that it’s a normal feeling.
Yet I feel anything but normal. Hell, I’m about to seek out a clan of vampires. If that’s normal, the world isn’t what I thought it to be at all.
“Normal is overrated,” I mutter under my breath.
“What was that?” the cabbie asks, his eyes peering at me through the rearview mirror like all cab drivers do.
I shake my head. “Sorry, just talking to myself.”
He nods in understanding. It makes me wonder just what kind of characters these taxi drivers end up encountering on a daily basis. Do they ever wonder if they have a vampire in their midst?
A laugh escapes me before I have a chance to hold it back. It’s the second time in a week I’ve allowed myself to laugh. The feeling is so foreign. I don’t think before looking around, an automatic reaction to make sure no one caught me in the act.
Silly, I know. But the random occurrences this past week have me shook beyond what’s considered normal.
Not another word is spoken between the cabbie and myself when he finally drops me off at the park entrance leading to the walking trails that go through the forest. It was daytime when I made my way out of this mess, and I actually might have a death wish with the idea I can find this stupid cave in the night.
My sense of direction is f****d up even in the most optimal sun positions. I can just imagine myself going around in circles when I have nothing but the moon to guide me. The thought would be almost humorous if it weren’t so true.
As I creep through the woods in an attempt to find the cave, each and every sound has me jumping around the tree trunks in fear of what could be lurking in the shadows. Oddly, I’m not scared of the supernatural—vampires especially. After all, I am purposefully seeking them, needing to see Semion again, if for no other reason than to get more answers and to figure out what the hell he did with my friend.
If I have to be honest, I’m scared of the normal—the hungry, wild animals of nature that can take me out with one single swipe of their teeth.
I was once that hungry. Hungry enough to devour the next blood-filled person who might cross my path. Hungry enough to consider the fact that I’m cursed… or was cursed.
I’ve spent my meaningless existence thinking I’m plagued with something unexplainable, something that kept me from having a loving family like most other children. I watched with bated breath as my classmates in the orphanage found families of their own, all while I was cursed to stay with the nuns who saw me as nothing more than a canker sore.
Yet now, here I stand in the middle of the woods, a fog gathering around my feet as I walk, wondering how the hell I manage to get myself into these predicaments. It’s an odd feeling not to work for once in my life. Instead of basking in the glow of being human again, the curse finally lifted from my body, I’m seeking out the same lifestyle I’d just left.
The lack of hunger coursing through my bones makes me feel vacant… like I’m missing something.
I’ve spent my life in a rather meaningless existence, and now that the curse has finally been lifted, I feel empty inside. It’s as if my curse was the only thing that has been giving my life any sort of meaning. The curse was the only thing that gave me a reason to continue existing.
Of course, I figure all this out after the curse has been taken from me.
I want it back.
And, clearly, I’m willing to traipse through the woods to get it.
I have to roll my eyes at my own behavior. I finally have my freedom and instead of enjoying it, I’m seeking the same shackles I once wore just a day ago.
However, finding this cave is proving to be more of a challenge than I initially thought it would be.
Still, something Semion said stuck with me, and I try to think back on how I could possibly utilize the information he served to me on a platter.
Humans are completely unaware that there are vampires around every corner.
If they’re everywhere, then I damn well should be able to lure one out of hiding and find the cave. I remember just how hungry I used to be, my mouth now watering at the mere memories assaulting me as I continue to walk aimlessly through the forest. I used to hunt for meals that would satisfy me, going as far as stripping just to make enough money to buy the best and most delectable steaks on the market. Now that I know better, it seems silly I would go through such painstaking steps just to be fed.
Now that I know better, I’m certain I can lure one of them out.
Using the moon as my only form of light, I feel along the ground for something sharp—anything that might cut the skin and cause me to bleed.
Blood will bring them to me. I am certain of that. Blood drives them—brings out their basic instinct of survival.
I need to put myself in the same situation that would have drawn me to my prey just days ago.
If they’re hungry, they’ll need blood.
I need to bleed.
A white, triangular piece of stone glints in the moonlight, and I nearly dive to pick it up, worried it’ll disappear from sight if I don’t hurry and grab it.
I examine it, my mind reeling with the promise that I can draw blood and attract my own kind to me. The edges are sharp, but not quite sharp enough to make a slice… not unless I dig deep.
My mind immediately registers the possibility of pain, that which my body hasn’t had ever since I was stripped of my curse. It’s possible I’m way too much of a sissy to even allow myself to bleed.
Isn’t that just dandy—a recovering vampire who is afraid of pain. Go f*****g figure.
Before I decide to dig the dull stone into my skin, an idea forms, causing me to stop in my tracks.
“How can I be so stupid?” I ask myself.
I have a nail file on my key ring, and while I didn’t lock my door when I left the apartment, I still brought my keys out of habit.
I’d never killed anyone before my former foster father in the parking lot last night, so the sight of my own blood as I slice the nail file into my hand has me feeling queasy. It makes me wonder how I was ever attracted to such a thing.
Oh, God… I killed him.
I can’t wrap my mind around the idea that I actually took a man’s life, even if that man was evil incarnate. But according to Semion, I’ve taken two lives. Although that Rune guy looked to be in pain before I passed out, I still have doubts he’s dead.
Still, here I stand, in the middle of the woods, acting as bait. I need to bring a vampire to me… maybe talk him into leading me to the cave so I can find Semion and get some answers.
“You’re far away from home, little girl,” a voice says from behind me.
I spin around, my face only a few inches away from his.
I can’t even manage a gasp of breath before he’s on me, sinking his teeth into my neck.
- Writer
