The Prey

Hunger

Laughing and running on a grassy field, Jason chased after his little brother Alex. So young and vibrant, not a care in the world. Just the two boys ruling the world. Their mom watched from the porch as they continue play fighting and laughing. Mom looks so beautiful, her long brown hair was tied up in a ponytail making her wavy locks flow in front of her.

The sky was cloudless and beautiful. The wind softly blew at his curly hair as Jason continued to wrestle with Alex on the grass.

"Say it! Say it!"

Jason jumped on top of Alex's back and yanked his legs behind Alex. Yelling, laughing and crying at the same time Alex tries to push his older brother off of him. Panting, and dusting the grass off his curly hair, Alex squirmed beneath Jason trying to push his brother off. "Say it! Who's the man! Say it!" Jason continued holding Alex's legs in a very uncomfortable position.

"Sega!" Laughed Alex, not surrendering to his brother's hold. Grimacing a little, Alex smiled as he saw a figure taller and heavier than Jason appeared in front of Alex. Putting his fingers to his lips to hush Alex. He walked behind Jason, and grabbed him from under his arms and lifted him up in the air. Catching Jason off guard, he let go of Alex's legs and tried to look behind him. Muscular arms wrapped around his neck, and his big meaty hand held onto Jason's shoulder.

"The sleep o hold!" Yelled Jason's dad, as he lightly pulled his son on top of him holding him in a famous move that is hard for any wrestler to get out of. Jason tried to squirm his way out of his father's grasp, and laughed. Alex was jumping up and down as he watched with excitement.

"Who's the man now? Huh boy?! Who's the man now?!" Laughing even harder, Jason tries to squirm more, tries to free himself from the hold. Rolling onto his stomach his dad let him go. Jason stood up and did a leg drop on his dad's stomach, making him grunt and laugh. Alex jumped in with another leg drop on his dad. The three of them laughed and rolled on the grass, Jason sat up and looked at his father. Eyes twinkled, his caramel skin turned red from the wrestling. He wasn't fat but he was big enough to take over the world.

"Boys, it's time to eat."

"Aww. A few more minutes!" Yelled Alex, as he climbed on his father's back to knock him back down.

"No, your dad has to go to work, and you have to eat. Let's go."

Grunting, they got up and walked towards the porch, their father followed and grabbed both his boys and gave them a bear hug. Jason closed his eyes and smelled his cologne. Musk, what he always wore. Pulling away, he looked into his father's hazel eyes.

"Don't give your mom a hard time. Keep her safe, you're men until I get back home from work. Got it sons?"

Both boys shook their heads, gave their father another hug and watched him climb down the porch and walk towards his car. They watched him drive out into the streets, until they couldn't see the back of the car anymore. Alex patted Jason on his back and walked into the house. It's nice in Potsdam, New York, quiet and peaceful. The heat of the summer was close to an end and soon they will have to leave grandma's house and go back to the city for school. Jason smiled, fixed his crooked shirt and walked into the house. Looking back at the street and watching his father drive off. Not knowing that it was the last time, that he will see him again.

A warm gentle breeze touched his face, as he slowly opened his eyes. A voice so distant and muffled was pulling him closer. Lights washed into his eyes as he tries to adjust to it. His vision was blurry and all he could see was a shadowy figure above him. Blinking and trying to hear what the being above him was saying, a sudden thought went through his mind which scared but relaxed him at the same time. Am I dead? Are you my angel? Slowly his eyes adjusted to the figure above him, hearing a whisper in his ear, so sweet and beautiful. No, I am not an angel. Please get up, the sun is going to rise and you have to be home. Jason's hands moved up towards the figure and touched its face. Smooth soft skin brushed his fingertips as he tried hard to focus on this being. Brown eyes came into focus, long black wavy hair crowning a heart shaped face. Arched eyebrows, a small nose and beautiful pouty lips which looked familiar to him appeared. Jason looked into her eyes and started to observe what was around him. Where am I? What the hell? Jason jerked his head up, and winced in pain, his head throbbed and his stomach growled.

"You have to get up."

Hearing her voice again, he became more alert on where he was. "What happened? What time is it? Where is everyone?" Jason sat up and shook his head, confusion spread across his face. Feeling hands gently pull him up to his feet, he pulled away and started to stumble back onto the grass.

"Please get up. You're weak. You have to feed.”

Motionless he felt her pull him back up and walked him towards the bleachers, where he sat down. The field was spinning beneath his feet as an uncontrollable hunger grew within him. Jason grabbed his stomach and pulled himself back up, waving her away. "What happened?"

Grabbing his elbow, Becca walked him towards the field exit and to the river. Pulling him to the benches, she pushed him down to sit. Standing over him, Becca looked both ways. "What do you remember?"

"Becca?"

Ok he remembers me at least, thought Becca as she looked around for any passerby's. I don't want to do this but he has to feed, or else...

"Becca, why can't I remember what happened? All I remember was sitting at the bleachers after the game and and, that's it." Disoriented and confused, he looked up at her.

"It's going to be hard for me to explain, but I'll cut it really short. You're not going to believe what I'm going to tell you but." Taking a deep breath, she shook her head, trying to find a way to put it lightly, but even that's impossible. Take a deep breath and spit it all out.

"Do you remember anything before the game?"

Shaking his head, he tried to stop his head from spinning, and licked his dry lips.

Damn I'm thirsty.

Of course you're thirsty, you're an immortal

Jason's head jerked up, I didn't say that out loud, how did she hear me? Damn, my tongue feels like cotton, so freakin' thirsty.

You have to feed you're now a vampire, Jason.

Jumping off the bench, he stared at Becca. "How did you do that?"

"Jason I don't have a lot of time to explain but you have to feed."

"Well of course I'm hungry, my stomach is screaming, I'll eat something on the way home."

Becca shook her head, "No, you can't eat anything, you will die from starvation. You need blood, human blood."

Jason looked at Becca and burst out laughing, holding his grumbling stomach he continued to laugh. Becca rolled her eyes, and watched a figure run towards their direction. Perfect maybe this will shake him up a bit.

"What will shake me up?" Still holding onto his ribs, he wiped tears away from his cheeks.

A blond woman was running towards them, her short hair billowing as she continued to run. Becca stood near the fence next to the river and waited until the lady got close to her.

"Hello, ma'am! Can you tell me the time?"

The slim woman pulled her headphones off and continued to jog in place. She looked at her pink wrist watch, licked the sweat off her lips and looked at Becca. "It's 3am." The woman continued to jog in place but didn't move as Becca pulled her attention towards her. Becca smiled as she touched the woman's sweaty arm, squeezing it, willing the woman to stop from her steady jog.

"What's your name?"

The woman's lips parted and answered, "Lauren." she said in a soft whisper. Laurens eyes glazed as Becca continued to talk to her.

Jason stopped laughing and his jaw dropped watching as she softly spoke to the woman. What the hell? Becca touched the woman's back and guided her towards Jason. The woman looked as if she was floating towards him, surrendering to Beccas smooth voice, as she looked at Jason and stopped in front of him. Her eyes were far away, it scared Jason, looking into her blank blue eyes. Slowly she lifted her head exposing her neck. Jason stepped back, and shook his head.

"Whoa! What the... Why is she doing that?!"

"You have to feed, from her blood. She is presenting to you what you need."

Pushing back he landed with his back against the fence. "Becca this is crazy. How did you do that? No, I am not going to bite her, are you crazy?" Jason looked at the beautiful slim woman, with her muscular legs and tight stomach. One of her arms had a band aid on her elbow, and a flashback came up. Remembering her falling and wiping her elbow, when he helped her up. Hell no!

"You will die, if you don't!" Softly grabbing the woman's shoulders Becca took a sharp blade out of her pocket and made two small cuts on the woman's neck, letting the blood slowly flow out. Jason's eyes widened watching the blood slowly trickle and pool on her collarbone. His stomach started to go out of control, as he clenched his fists. Tightening his dry lips together, he felt his canine teeth start to grow out of his mouth. Red flashed in his vision, from the smell of blood, dry heaving he dropped to the ground in front of the woman. The smell is too strong and it smells... good?

"Please, you can't fight it or you will die. Lauren won't know what happened. She will continue running until she gets home and goes to sleep. Look at her, she is out of it and giving you what you want."

Becca knelt beside Jason and looked into his eyes. With a pleading look, Jason squeezed his eyes and stood up. Motionless Lauren's eyes stood open staring into space. Jason swallowed from the scent and sight of blood trickling down her neck. "You're sure that she won't remem." Before he can finish his question, Jason licked the blood before it touched the neck of her sports bra, and slowly up to where the puncture was located, behind the ear. Jason sucked, feeling his fangs dig into the woman's neck. Not even wincing to the pain that he may possibly be causing her, Jason continued sucking letting the blood slowly pour onto his tongue.

Easy, save for the next time.

Not wanting to pull away, he felt a sharp pain hit him between his eyes. Pulling away, he looked at Becca shaking her head.

"What the, why did you hit me?"

Becca gave a small giggle, "I didn't hit you it was your mind telling you that it's enough."

Standing between Jason and Lauren, Becca wiped the blood off the woman's neck and pulled her face to look at her. A few seconds later, Laurens eyes went back to normal. A smile spread across her face. She looked at Becca, and thanked her, waved at Jason and continued her jog down the river. Shocked, Jason stood next to Becca and pulled her to face him. They stared at each other for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

"She just, let me bite her. Not even a flinch. How did you learn to do that?"

Becca stepped back and looked into Jason's eyes. Leaning her head towards the side, she wondered how much she should tell him, how much can he take in one night. She shook her head.

"Ummm, how much do you remember?"

Jason took a deep breath and dropped his hands. "What do you mean?"

"Well, tell me about your past."

The question seemed to confuse him, rubbing the back of his neck, he mentioned about his mother Ana, his brother Alex. Jason spoke on what he remembered, his past. He spoke about everything, but didn't mention anything about her. Becca felt disappointed but then decided to shake it off, agreeing that it was better off that way.

They started to walk towards the ramp leaving the drive, when they stopped. Becca and Jason both looked around, a misty odor was surrounding their senses and it was getting stronger.

"What is that smell?"

Recognizing the pungent odor of death.

"Night crawlers."

"What?"

Shadows moved in the dark, the scratching of nails scraped the concrete. Becca leaned against Jason as the noise grew louder. Feeling his body tense against her, she looked up at Jason as his eyes grew as he watched the creatures walk into the lights view. Hidden in the dark, a figure moved towards them. Its red eyes glinted as its long tongue moved across its chin and nose. As the light glinted off of it, the powerful odor stung their noses. Jason covered his mouth and nose trying not to gag. Skin moved as the creatures crawled closer. It shook its scaly body, shedding the dry green skin off its back as it growled. Pushing itself up, it stood on its legs. Arms and legs started to form as its skin moved. It smiled at Becca, licking its long sharp fangs.

"Becca, my beautiful slayer how is everything?" Saliva dropped from its chin as it looked across Becca's face to Jason, standing behind her.

"You are now fully formed, huh! Too bad you're as ugly as you were when you were human."

"That thing was human?" Jason's eyes looked in disbelief at the creature that stood only feet in front of them.

"This is one of the mess ups, when a human body rejects blood from any vampire. It turns into that smelly thing. The vampire's blood becomes poison, turning their blood toxic, leading into what you see."

The creature clapped and smacked its scaly chest as it belted out a gurgling laugh. Becca felt goose bumps form on her arms. “This smelly thing that you see here, can outlive any vampire. And. I'm actually offended… I don't smell that bad." Its voice deepened as it stared at Jason.

"Bec, why's it staring at me so hard?"

Taking in a deep breath, Becca squeezed the stick that rested on her thigh. It softly clicked open, turning back into a weapon. "They not only feed on humans, they feed on vampires. Humans are not what keeps them alive. Vampire blood is what they really need. The poison."

It belched a huge laugh making Becca and Jason jump. More saliva dripped from its huge mouth as it licked its lips.

"She's right, we can't live without your blood. And now..." Snarling, it leaps towards them, and swiped at Jason's face.

Becca pushes Jason out of the way, and kicks the creatures' chest. Loud hissing and growling echoed as more creatures started to move in the dark. Becca grabbed Jason and pulled him away from another night crawler that was trying to knock his head off. Kicking the creature in its face, she slashed and stabbed at the it with her stake making a connection with its skull. Hearing its hard shell crack open, it shook and screamed until ashes poured out of it. Jumping on attack mode, Becca punched the next creature, slamming it to the ground and driving the stake in its hard shell protecting its chest. Ooze squirted out of its chest, and ashes poured out.

Other night crawlers started to surround Jason. Becca pulled her stake away from the carcass and ran towards Jason. The night crawlers, snapped at Jason's face, putting his arm up he held the creature away from his face, elbowing its neck. Grunting Jason pushed the creature away and punched it. The creature lightly squealed and grabbed Jason's head. Squirming his way out of the creatures grasp, Jason maneuvered under it and punched, until his fist crushed its chest cavity. Ooze trickled down his arm, the creature screamed in agony.

"Jason, pull its heart out!" Screamed Becca, as she watched in amazement as Jason pushed the creature on its side. Squeezing his eyes shut as he grabbed onto the slimy pulsing interior, sucking in his breath, breathing in the foul wretched odor he pulled out the creature's heart. It yelped and screamed, while its body deteriorates.

"It's not dead yet. Give me the heart."

Still in a daze Jason passed it over to Becca, as she stabbed at it with her stake. The body quickly turned into ashes.

Looking around, Becca grabbed Jason's arm and shook him. Trying to focus on what just happened, he looked at Becca. "We got to get out of here. We pissed them off." Hearing Becca's voice, fading in and out, his body started to move quickly behind Becca. Noticing that she was already picking up speed, Jason looked behind him watching the night crawlers snarl, and gnash their long fangs at them. Their long legs scraped the concrete and its tails snapped while running in hot pursuit behind them. Looking forward, he started to pick up speed, behind Becca. His legs burned, as his muscles pushed harder and faster. They were sprinting, as they reached the ramp leading them to the other side of the street. Becca, grabbed Jason's wrist, and picked up speed. Within seconds they were two blocks away from East River Drive. Confused at how quickly they ended up next to a private school. Jason's eyes were wide, as he pulled Becca, to face him. Her chest heaving against his, Jason swallowed. Licking his lips, Becca hushed him and pointed at the end of the ramp. The creatures, bodies heaved and jumped getting close to the entrance. They growled as it got closer to the end of the ramp, knowing that they cannot pass due to an invisible wall, preventing them from exiting into the streets.

Jason shook his head in disbelief as he watched the humanlike lizards crawl back over the ramp back into the darkness. "What the hell was that?" Blinking his eyes, Jason looked at Becca. Dirt streaked across her face, blood smeared on her light blue tee, her black hair was in disarray. She's so... familiar. All that I remember is her name, everything else is so hazy.

Becca stepped away, going into her pocket she pulls out a big ring. Reaching for Jason's wrist she opens his hand and placed the ring in his palm.

"You have to wear this ring. It will help you walk in sunlight."

Looking into his hand, the ring was ugly, and heavy. Gold, with blue jewels surrounded the ring. "I'm not wearing this. It's disgusting," tossing it back to Becca in distaste.

Rolling her eyes, she pushes the ring against his chest. "You need it. It's the only way to get out when the sun is out."

"If it's not as heavy as a fuckin bolder, I would wear it. Otherwise, I'll do without." He started to walk away from her. Damn! I know your name, but why can't I remember, why? Taking a quick peak towards his right side, he felt his back prickle with sweat. Feeling her hand on his right arm, she pulled him to face her. Her brown eyes pierced into him.

"Listen if you don't at least have this on you in some way, you will burn into ashes! Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Rubbing his temples, and thinking of the turn of events that has happened at the field, he stared back into Beccas eyes. "So, I'm f****d is that what you're telling me?" Feeling his temper, the heat of it made her heart stop for a second. Jason started to pace, moving his lips, talking to himself. She can see his thoughts running wild, and stopped reading his thoughts.

Let him be, leave him alone. He will learn when he starves to death or tries to walk in sunlight. One least problem you would have to worry about. Becca shook her head, no, I can't abandon him. He will definitely die.

"I'll hold onto the ring, and give it to my mother. She will make sure the ring is a better fit."

Jason stopped pacing and looked at Becca, sucking his teeth, he rubbed his brow. Confusion sparked from the thought of her mother fixing the bolder ring.

"What do you mean that your mom will make sure that it's a better fit?"

Rolling the ring in her fingers, Becca slipped it on her ring finger. It slipped easily off her, moving it to her thumb. He's right it's so huge.

"You should get inside, it's going to be daybreak soon."

Jason looked behind Becca, watching the sky turn into a light blue. A few more hours the sun would be rising behind Brooklyn. Grabbing his arm, she pulled Jason towards his apartment building.

"You need rest, might as well try to sleep through the day and wake up late afternoon early evening, when the sun isn't much out there..."

"What, no! I have to be at work..."

Pulling his arm away he looked at his watch. Blood stained his watch, wiping at it his eyes widened. "Crap! I have to be at work in less than two hours." Jason hurriedly walked towards the entrance of the building and pulled out his keys he quickly opened the lobby door. Looking back, he watched Becca slowly walk behind him and stopped her. Goosebumps rose on his arms as Becca got close to him. She looked into his eyes, reading his thoughts. What is she thinking? Why am I feeling like this? Her eyes moved around his face, down his neck to his chest. "Umm, I have to go." Words were getting caught in his throat, looking into Becca's eyes, his body suddenly relaxed. Feeling dizzy, he stepped back into the lobby.

"Call your job, and tell them that you're sick. Ask for a few days off. Don't step outside during daytime, you'll die."

Slowly nodding and hearing her voice echo in his brain, as her words softly left her lips. Jason understood, but didn't know why. Shaking his head, he looked at Becca.

"I, uh, thank you. For keeping me company at the field. I'll... see you around?"

Walking towards the elevator, he walked in and looked back. The lobby door was closed, Becca was gone. Punching in his floor, the elevator slowly took him up. Feeling like liquid he unlocked the door to his home. Walking towards his room, his body ached subconsciously he removed his uniform leaving it on the floor. Falling onto the bed, Grabbing his cell and called his job, leaving them a message asking for the week off. Why did I do that? I need the money, but it feels like I need a week off. Shrugging, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.