SHADOWS

GEORGIA Suddenly, my eyes flew open. Where am I?” The question echoed in my mind as I turned my head from left to right, a woman probably in her mid twenties stood a few feet away chanting under her breath, blood trickled down her nose staining her lips, yet for some reason she didn’t stop, my gaze then shifted to the other strangers surrounding me, there was something strangely familiar about all of them, but I couldn’t place it, their hands were stretched out and there fingers were curled into tight fists as though they were praying for a miracle. Beside me stood the only man in the room, his eyes was closed, just as still as the others. What was going on? I tilted my head toward the chanting woman and before I could ask who she was, her eyes snapped open. “She is awake,” she announced and every pair of closed eyes flew open almost at the same time, they all rushed toward me.“Georgia……Georgia.” they kept calling the name repeatedly. But who is Georgia? Then it hit me, throughout all of this, I hadn’t taken a single breath, the moment I inhaled, air rushed into my lungs with such force that it felt like a storm tearing through my body. “She needs blood!” the man beside me practically yelled. One of the strangers immediately sprinted away returning with a pint of blood, she placed it in my hands and somehow my body knew exactly what to do, I started drinking, the first mouthful burned through me, my body felt stiff, almost lifeless, but with every swallow, warmth spread through my veins, by the time I emptied the bag, I already knew it wasn’t enough and the hunger in me only grew stronger without me saying a word, the man was already bringing another more pint. I drank them all, feeling stronger with every passing second. “I hope Hailey brought back the real Georgia.” one of the women whispered. “It has to be Georgia, she has the same hunger.” The man beside me seemed to notice where my attention had drifted. “Hey,” he said, pulling my gaze toward him, I stared at him, he was beautiful, familia yet completely unfamiliar at the same time before I could say anything, The woman i presume to be woman Hailey called him over, he left my side and walked toward her, seconds later I heard the rush of running water. He must have intentionally turned on the tap so I wouldn’t overhear their conversation. So instead, I focused on the other girls.“Georgia is our only hope now” one of them whispered. “Let’s be patient, with her, It’s not every day someone gets raised from the dead.” Raised from the dead? My heart lurched. I was dead? . . I searched my mind, desperate for a memory that proves that point but there was nothing, I tried listening in again, but it seemed they must have realized I could hear them. The room was completely quiet. I couldn’t take it anymore, I needed answers and before I even realized I had moved, my body shot across the room toward the man who had been standing beside me. The moment Hailey and the man noticed me, they stopped talking. “Who am I?” I asked. I already knew they had been calling me Georgia, but it was the only question that could capture the confusion consuming me but for some reason, Hailey’s eyes welled up with tears and she pulled me into a tight hug, she sobbed uncontrollably, and I could feel her warm breath against my skin. She is human. The thought echoed through my mind, her scent was intoxicating, the smell of her skin, the sound of her heartbeat, the blood pulsing through the veins in her neck, my eyes locked onto her throat and my fangs began to grow. I couldn’t control myself I needed just one taste, I lunged forward, sinking my fangs into Hailey’s neck, but before I could take a single gulp of her blood, the man beside me yanked me away. “Georgia, no!” he screamed, his voice rise with warning. But I couldn’t care less, my hunger had taken over, somehow, I knew I was stronger than him and with one swift motion, I threw him through the window, he crashed outside, which probably made him lose temporarily losing consciousness, I rushed back to Hailey, hust as I was about to sink my fangs into her neck again, the other strangers intervened. I could sense they were vampires too, but something about them felt different, they pulled me away from Hailey while she, still shaken, slowly raised her hands. I watched her lips move as she whispered a few words. Instantly, a warm golden light enveloped me, a strange energy coursed through my veins, and then everything went dark. ………. A few hours later, I woke up in chains, I kept trying to break them, I was at my wit’s end. I used every ounce of my strength and sped forward again and again, only for the chains to yank me back into place. No matter what I did, they refused to break, the chains were unyielding. As I lay there, helpless and enraged, the man and Hailey entered the room., the wound on Hailey’s neck had completely healed and I could tell she had been given vampire blood. One of them must have fed it to her. I didn’t know how I knew that. Just like I didn’t know how I knew I was a vampire, or why I seemed to know everything except who I was. The man looked at me with regret in his eyes. I didn’t like that look, I knew I had been brought back from the dead, and maybe that was what he regretted. He stepped closer. “Jason, be careful,” Hailey cautioned. The moment she said his name, a flood of memories crashed into my mind. I saw flashes of myself calling out to him. “Jason… Jason… Jason…” The memories disappeared as quickly as they had come, accompanied with wave of dizziness, i tried to fight it, but it was too late darkness swallowed me once again and as I slipped into unconsciousness, I could still hear Jason’s voice ringing “Georgia, Georgia “desperately trying to bring me back……