Except me. Right here. Right now. I could stop him.
I licked my lips, brushing my tongue against the tips of my sharpened teeth. I could feel my control slipping away. I wanted to chase the pain away.
I was so hungry. So ve
ry, very hungry.
My eyes flicked back and forth from that precious vein to the man’s face. He looked combative but he also looked scared.
Good. He should be.
I could smell his blood on the air. It smelled sweet and far too irresistible. My stomach growled and an agonizing pang of hunger tore through me. I was famished. His blood called for me and I couldn’t deny it any longer.
I needed it. He was a bad man. I deserved to live. He didn’t.
He took a step back. He wanted to run, I could tell, but he wasn’t going to escape me.
I darted forward, my movements quicker and surer than they ever were when I was only human. I could feel a new strength coursing through me, the makings of a predator coming to life. I jumped and soared into the air, landing on his back with incredible ease. He stumbled to the ground and I clawed at him before I snarled in warning. He tried to fight, and I knew it was time. Without hesitation, I bit into his neck and began to drink.
The first mouthful was heaven. There was no bitter iron taste. Instead, it tasted like the most divine glass of wine I’d ever had, only a bit thicker and much more filling. I drank deeply, drawing each mouthful into my belly as he struggled beneath me. His movements were frantic, and slowly they grew weaker as I drank more and more of his life-giving blood.
A shiver of power raced through me. I could feel the magic returning and I wanted to sing. It felt so incredibly comforting. I drank my fill of the man and when he finally ran dry, I climbed off of his back and used his shirt to wipe my face clean.
I stood there for a moment, just staring at what I had done. I’d killed a man. With his blood now in my veins, the transition would be complete. By tomorrow, I’d be a full-fledged vampire. The only thing that would quench my hunger and thirst would be blood from now on. I would no longer age. My senses would improve tenfold. I’d be able to see further distances and in near complete darkness. I’d be able to focus in and hear things happening miles away. My eyes would turn red, a dead giveaway of the demon I was becoming. I’d look the part of a twenty-one-year-old for the rest of my immortal life.
That wasn’t all though. I’d gained something else because Cain had been the one to turn me. The amulet had awakened my own magic, but it paled compared to what I had at my disposal now. I’d gained his power too. His magic was awakening within me and I didn’t know what that meant, but I did know that it made me stronger than I could even imagine. I’d be able to control nature and perhaps more, all because he had been the one to sire me.
I felt more alive than I had ever felt before. Everything felt stronger. More heightened. More incredibly wonderful and I couldn’t get enough of it.
My eyes returned to the body of the man I killed, and I sighed. I’d have to do something about that. I couldn’t just leave him out in the open. I knelt down and with astonishing ease, I lifted him and threw him over my shoulder. I carried him to a nearby dumpster and threw him inside. Once his body was found and examined, it would be assigned to a small segment of policemen that were associated with the Demon Hunters. He’d be processed as an animal attack or a suicide or whatever convenient story they could come up with to explain his death that would result in the least amount of questions as possible. I highly doubted anyone would miss him. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who had a lot of friends.
Once I’d disposed of the wretched man’s body, I left the alley behind. I wouldn’t return and the Demon Hunters wouldn’t come looking for me. At least, not yet.
They wouldn’t come for me unless I became a problem, but I had no intentions of going on a killing spree. I didn’t want to kill anyone who didn’t deserve it.
My thirst finally satiated for the time being, I returned to my home. It was sometime in the middle of the night, but I didn’t care to look at the time. The sun would be rising in a few hours and I didn’t know if Cain’s blood would protect me from the sun. Vampires typically couldn’t walk out in direct sunlight and I didn’t want to be caught without shelter before I knew if it would kill me.
As I ambled along the street, I couldn’t help myself as I considered what I had just done. I should feel guilty for causing someone’s death, but I didn’t. He’d hurt a woman and he had every intention of doing far worse if I hadn’t come along. The likelihood that she would have been alive come morning was slim to none and there’s no telling how many times he’d done that to others before tonight.
He was a monster, just a human one, and I had taken his life, just as I had done countless times in the case of a demon. With his death, I had saved another.
It was possible that becoming a vampire blocked the emotional guilt for killing a human, that my mind now simply processed them as prey, but I didn’t think that was happening to me. I’d walked past hundreds of others tonight and hadn’t hurt a soul, yet when I’d come upon a woman in danger, I’d felt the need to rescue her. I still felt like me, only stronger and fiercer. I had become a force to be reckoned with and I didn’t even fully understand the extent of my power yet. I would though, eventually.
I walked into my apartment and breathed a sigh of relief. I pulled all the curtains and the blinds and hoped it would be enough if sunlight proved to be as deadly for me as it was other vampires. With a full stomach and a calm mind, I went to sleep just as the sun was starting to rise outside my window.
* * *
When I woke, there was only about an hour of sunlight left. I carefully averted the beams of light as I poured myself a glass of water, but I started to get curious. I edged closer to the window, where there was one slim ray peeking out from the ends of the blinds. I tentatively pushed a single finger into the light. I expected to be burned immediately. I waited for it to hurt, but nothing happened.
Feeling braver, I opened the blinds and put my entire hand into the light. Still, I remained unaffected. I moved to completely stand in the sun after that and the only thing I could feel was its warm embrace. Cain’s blood in particular had afforded me safety in the daytime. I wasn’t confined to life as a nightwalker. This meant that I wasn’t a typical vampire, and allowed me a great deal of freedom.
With a sigh of relief, I hopped into the shower. I washed the events of the night away and ran my fingers over my body. It felt like my sense of touch was heightened too and I found myself thinking about how Cain’s fingers might feel now. Would his fingers on my nipples feel even more intense? What if he pinched my clit? Would it hurt or would it feel as wonderful as I imagined? What if he touched me somewhere even more shameful than that?
I wondered what orgasms would feel like now. I licked my lips, feeling my body begin to warm with arousal.
I didn’t know why, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about him. I wanted to feel his touch on my skin again. Tentatively, I pressed my fingers between my legs and found that I was wet. Very wet. The more I touched myself, the more intense those feelings of arousal grew hotter. With it came a sense of heightened urgency and I found I had very little patience. I wanted to come, and I wanted it now.
Was this a part of the transition? Did all vampires feel desire this strongly for the one that sired them or was this just something between Cain and me? I didn’t know but as my fingers found my sensitive clit, I moaned with desire. I really wanted to come.