Insatiable

Chapter 9

"Thank you so much, Eleanor!" Mrs. Cricket's eyes sparkle after the check-up.

"See you next month!" The female vampire ruffles the hair of the eight years old daughter of Mrs. Cricket as she hands her a treat.

The mother and daughter left after nodding their heads. Ah, this is life. Eleanor just finished assisting Doctor Omelia, a pediatrician, into aiding children. The staffs in this hospital really adore the enchantress.

Everyone think she's a fine, young woman who loves children. What they don't know is, Eleanor is just using this job to suck the blood of children. There's nothing to worry though. She doesn't turn them into bloodsuckers, just like Lana, the kids here are only her blood bags.

Actually, she went easy on Mrs. Cricket's daughter today. Eleanor only sliced the little girl's wrist to drink. She even gave her a lollipop.

"Man, I'm on fire today!" Eleanor's so proud of herself that she thought this is the best day to celebrate. It's been two weeks since she semi killed Jimin, ever since that day,  Sage never showed himself again.

Eleanor is finally at peace.

This is Lana Mae! Leave a message! After the beep sound, she leaves a voice message to her roommate saying: "Hey, Lana! I want jello shots! Put some of your blood in it. See you in twenty!"

Lana's probably the only human being Eleanor can tolerate. Sure, she's kind of nosy but she's fun to be with. Her blood tastes good as well because she's living a healthy lifestyle.

The enchantress swings by at the soccer field first to hang out with her friends and so-called boyfriend. Call her pathetic, but yeah she likes doing this kind of stuff: laughing with college kids and kissing a douchebag. It gives her an illusion that she's normal.

Don't get her wrong. Eleanor loves everything about being a vampire. Many bloodsuckers hate themselves for craving blood, though for Eleanor, the fact that a creature like her needs blood is actually pretty amazing.

She only stayed with the mortals for half an hour for the reason that she's craving blood again. It's just been an hour since she drank the crimson liquid, but then she wants more.

Eleanor super speeds to her dorm. Her eyes are already bloody red when she opens the door.

"Lana!" She moans. Forget the jello shots, she desires blood straight from the carotid artery.

The vampire spots her roommate making jello shots in a matter of seconds.

Their eyes meet. Lana waves at her.

"Ellie, I'm still—" 

Blood spatters in Eleanor's face when using his strength, Sage decapitates Lana.

"This is your style, yes?" Sage examines the human's head in his hand. Lana's headless body falls on the ground, blood continues to stain the floor.

Eleanor blinks, her head suddenly feels like it's about to explode.

This is the kind of surprise visit that actually surprises her.

"What do you do after this, huh?" Sage brushes Lana's hair. "I watch vampire diaries for fun. You see, one of the vampires in that show likes tearing heads off too. But he feels guilty afterwards, so he reattaches it to pretend like the person is still alive."

Eleanor blinks again.

The silence is deafening that Sage is forced to swallow hard. Just a few breaths ago, he acted super confident, but now that the enchantress is staring at her blankly, he suddenly feels uneasy.

Eleanor smiles when Sage looks uncomfortable enough.

"Nah." Eleanor snatches the head away from her ex-boyfriend. "I throw the head somewhere else. It's fun to watch the police find it."

Sage pouts his pinkish lips. This isn't the way he hopes Ellie would react. He thought she'll scream or cry because Lana is her friend and she doesn't want her to die. As it turns out, the enchantress doesn't care. She didn't even scowl. She just blinked.

"So, are you done?" She quirks a brow after letting a few moments of silence pass. "Or do you have anything else to say?"

Sage sits on Lana's bed. He also opens her drawer.

"Well," Sage brings out Lana's thong. He swirls it in his fingers before throwing it on top of Lana's headless body. "Since your roommate is dead, I'm going to replace her."

Eleanor sits on her bed, she's facing Sage who keeps on throwing out Lana's stuff on the floor.

"Why?" She asks, though she sounds bored.

Sage shrugs his shoulders.

"You're pushing me away because I'm good, right?"

He figures out this much. Eleanor probably wants to be with a vampire who won't stop her from killing innocent people. Sage isn't that kind of bloodsucker anymore. It might be hard to believe that, but one year of abstinence really changed him. Sure, he still loves blood, but he can very well control his lust now. He's very different from Ellie who's clearly insatiable.

"Then let's be bad together." He breaks into a boyish grin that can make everyone blush.

Eleanor isn't an exception. She can feel her face going hot after hearing the ruthless vampire's declaration. However, it's not because Sage looks boyfriend material—like he belongs here. With his long, messy hair, tattoos, and piercing, he appears to be a college frat boy who's actually a softie and just wants to change the world for the better.

Again, that's not the reason why Eleanor's cheeks are red. Obviously, she's just excited for this challenge.

"Fine," Ellie stands up. "Let's satiate out thirst for blood together."

Compulsion is Eleanor's second favorite thing when it comes to being a vampire. It's so easy to coerce human beings—freeing Ellie into doing whatever she wants.

"Oh! Did you know?" Eleanor stops drinking from the man in her arms just to smirk at Sage. "I compelled this man to have s*x with his gay friend who obviously likes him. I feel bad coz it's a one sided kind of love,"

Sage shakes his head. He cannot believe he's hearing this from Eleanor, a girl who used to be so innocent and sweet.

"Shut up and drink. We still have a lot of people waiting." He motions the bunch of mortals they compelled to patiently wait for their turn.

Eleanor and Sage are inside of an abandoned warehouse with the aforementioned human beings. The only thing these people can do is steady their breathing while watching Eleanor tear off the heads of many strangers. Sage, on the other hand, resorts to his usual way of killing: ripping hearts out.

"But story time is the best!" She pouts her lips as she throws the head of the man she turned gay. She then pulls a new victim from the crowd.

"This is Melissa," Ellie caresses her face using Melissa's hand. She loves to hear the soft beats on Melissa’s pulse. "How have you been, girl?"

"Good!" Melissa beams.

Some of the people here have been Eleanor's blood bag in the past months. She doesn't kill all of her victims; many of them are amusing so it would be a shame to just end their life.

"Melissa is getting married next month, Sage!" Eleanor announces.

Sage rips out the heart of his latest victim before quirking his brow. "How'd you know?

Ellie cups Melissa's stomach.

"They're my blood bags. Of course I know," she explains to Sage that she is aware of whatever memory or future the person has the moment she bites them. It's like their life is tied up to Eleanor.

"Seriously?" Sage's jaw drops. "That's...wow. How did it happen?"

He wonders if it is Eleanor's extraordinary ability as a preporod. It's kind of cool, but Sage believes there's a downside. Just...how are you supposed to kill the people when you happen to know their stories?

"Perks of being an enchantress, I guess." Eleanor winks. "Oh! She's also pregnant!"

The female vampire digs her fangs on Melissa's neck. The thought of killing two mortals makes her happy.

"Oh, man. I totally understand Elijah now. Pregnant women taste so, so good!" She moans.

Sage doesn't know if it's sarcasm or plain empathy.

Eleanor picks another victim.

 "This one has three kids waiting for her at home." She raises her shoulder nonchalantly. "Hmm, I guess they're going to be orphans now."

"That's enough!" Sage thunder voice startles Ellie.

She creases her forehead.

"I thought you want us to be bad together?"

Eleanor only agreed to be with him today because his declaration sounded promising. It seems like that's not the case anymore.

"I only let bygones be bygones for that reason, Alterio."

She's willing to forget what happened to them in the past for the reason that Eleanor is definitely not girl she used to be. That Eleanor Kyteler died one year ago. The Eleanor today is a woman who has needs. A woman who doesn't care about her loved ones. She's a woman who values herself well.

Remembering this, she suddenly bites her current victim.

Sage isn't able to stop her. His stomach turns upside down. He feels as though he's about to vomit the blood he just consumed.

Eleanor is disgusting.

She needs to stop before the ruthless vampire snaps.

"Who's next?" She scans the crowd.

Sage blocks her sight.

"Enough, Ellie..." He says weakly while gently wiping the stain of blood on the side of Eleanor's mouth.

His touch is soft and warm that it sends shiver down her spine. If she's not heartless, it would probably skip a beat.

"Quitting already?" She tilts her head to the side to avoid his lingering touch.

"No. I just need dessert..." He gulps the anger and disgust he feels.

Whoever said that no one is capable of change is lying. Again, Sage changed into a decent vampire. He believes that someone just needs a wakeup call to change. Most of the time, a wakeup call happens when one experiences something worst. They do not want to be stuck or experience this so-called worst thing again, so they change.

Basically, they learned.

For Sage, life, be it a mortal or immortal one, is a series of trial and error. If you fail, stand up and change your ways. If you're comfortable with the result, then stay or try to enhance it.

It's just about fulfilling your desires without hindering the dream of others.

"Hm, she's the perfect dessert," Eleanor is about to dig her fangs into a young person, but Sage stops her again.

"I'm thinking ice cream." He cracks a smile even though he's breaking inside.

"Let's go please?" The ruthless vampire persists when Eleanor didn't speak.

"Just like the old days?" He wiggles his brows. 

Eleanor swallows hard. She's unexpectedly reminded of the past—causing her to let go of the hand of the child she's about to bite. This kid helps her remember the smile of the child she and Sage met a year ago. It was a good day, both of them are enjoying their coned ice cream when a kid pulled Ellie's shirt. The kid's eyes are starry while asking the enchantress to let him have the cold dessert.

Ellie loved that cute boy's smile.

"I-I need to go." She pushes the kid in front of her away. It hurts looking at him. It's like he's judging her, his eyes tell Eleanor that everything she's doing is wrong.

Eleanor's lips tremble. After one more look at the kid, she runs away.

Sage saw it all. He saw that this child affected her and it made the ruthless vampire sigh in relief. He now knows that deep inside, the Eleanor he loves is still there.

"I'm going to bring you back." He murmurs, a soft smile is plastered on his lips while staring at the trail Eleanor has left.