ADRIA’S POV.
The sweet scent traveled all the way into my nostrils, and filled my head. It felt like I had inhaled drugs, and it had succeeded in getting me intoxicated.
I wanted to keep on sniffing, and sniffing. I knew it was blood, but it smelled so sweet at that moment, that I didn’t even feel a bit nauseated.
Not only that, but I could suddenly feel an ache in my teeth, and my breathing pace increased, as I felt the urge to grab the tumbler, and pour the contents down my throat.
But instead, with immense efforts, I turned my head aside, and pushed the tumbler away.
No, I couldn’t…
“There’s no harm in it.” Derek smirked, raising the tumbler to his lips.
My fingers were shaking. It was so terrifying that I actually wanted to drink the blood. That I wanted a taste of it, even if it was a drop.
I clenched my teeth, closed my eyes, and took in deep breaths.
“I… like I said, I’m not ready.” I insisted, although it wasn’t strong.
“It seems to me you’re ready. You just don’t want to accept your new nature. You’ve accepted the sweetness that comes with it, but you refuse to accept the bitterness. Now, that’s not fair, but I will inform you that the bitterness of being a vampire is actually sweet.
“Think about it. There are countless humans in the world. If we drink from one human in one day, and do not return to that human ever again, then that means we touch only three hundred, and sixty-five humans in a year. And the fascinating thing is, there are more than billions of humans in the world. Heck, in the states alone.”
His calculation was mind-blowing, and I found myself wondering if it could work. As long as we didn’t kill any of them, then we weren’t evil, we were only trying to survive.
“Think about it. In all our long lives, we can’t ever drink out of all the people in the world. And thanks to who we are, we have to keep migrating, so the humans wouldn’t get suspicious, and when we do, we’ll meet new people with new faces.” He explained further, closing the tumbler, and putting it into his bag.
“I’ll think about it. I promise I will.” I assured him, placing a hand on his, and he smiled.
~
“You look like you’ve been thinking all day. What’s the matter?” Stacy asked, smoothing back my hair. “Is it Professor Lucien?” She asked, and I turned to her, shaking my head.
“No, it’s not.” I answered, playing with my pen.
“You guys fought?” She asked, taking one of my hands in hers.
“No, we didn’t. Uh, I just… uh… I just woke up feeling down, and you know.” I lied. Well, it was a partial lie. I woke feeling down because I didn’t really want to drink human blood, but it had smelled so sweet, and the monster in me was battling to accept Derek’s justification.
Truly, we couldn’t possibly kill anyone. They’d all be fine, even after drinking out of them.
“Aww. You woke on the wrong side of the bed, didn’t you? Well, bookworm. I have just the right book for you. You’ll get sucked in it!” She said, with excitement, and reached into her bag.
“What book is it?” I asked, interested. I didn’t mind having a book to read. Maybe disappearing into one was the best thing at the moment.
I desperately needed to forget everything going on around me.
“One of your favorite genres.” She answered, ruffling among the books in her bag. Finally, she brought it out, and waved it at me. “Tada!” She squealed, and I stopped.
It wasn’t clear to me why I felt a twinge of guilt, just seeing it.
“Chasing down the Vampire. Stopping the reign of blood.” She read, pointing to the title, and subtitle.
“Oh. What’s it about?” I asked, a little awkwardly.
“It’s a vampire who suddenly went crazy after tasting blood for the first time.” She replied, and I scoffed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I said, snatching the book from her hands.
“I knew you’d be so interested! The guy in the novel is described handsomely, and I just want to fall in love with someone like that! It’s just a pity that he starts sucking blood uncontrollably, and thereafter, a team is put up together to take him down.” She continued, using her hands to show her excitement.
“Wow.” I exclaimed softly, turning the book over in my hands. Were the heavens giving me a sign? Were they trying to warn me?
~
Later that night, I prepared to meet Derek like every other night, and when I got there, I was actually met with a surprise.
“Hey, pretty.” He called, raising a hand.
“What’s this for?” I asked, indicating the large cow he had with him, as I moved closer.
“I thought a lot about what you said, and realized I shouldn’t force you to take human blood, but seek an alternative because you need blood. A few more days, and you’d be uncontrollable.” He explained, patting the cow.
“Uncontrollable?”
“Your body will demand for it in ways you can’t explain. It’s going to feel like you’re going crazy. You won’t be able to see or hear anything clearly. The only thing on your mind will be blood, and why that’s bad is, you can’t recognize anyone. I don’t want you getting back to your senses only to realize you’ve killed a loved one, so I brought an animal. Animal blood will help. And don’t you go about apologizing, because this same cow will be used for beef by humans.”
I actually gave a chuckle at his last sentence, then thought deeply on his words. I wouldn’t want to suddenly find myself kneeling in front of my mother’s dead body. It was something I would regret for the rest of my life.
Sucking blood still felt weird to me, and unacceptable. It felt like… finally being a monster. It was like it was the last straw. After it, I was dropping humanity, and ceasing to be a human.
And part of me still wanted to be human. I gave a sigh, dropped my bag, then went to the cow.
“I think you’re right. In the stories I read, too, they elaborate on new vampires needing blood. I don’t want the worst to happen before taking precautions. Just… let’s do it fast.” I told him, bracing myself to finally accept being a monster.
“Take a deep breath.” He began, and I did just as he’d said because I indeed needed to relax. “Take another.” He told me, and I did, then he pointed to the cow’s neck. “Look beyond what you see.”
“I… I don’t understand that.”
“What do you desire from this cow?”
“To sink my teeth into it.” My reply came out a little hard, and I knew I wasn’t the one who had made those words. Something in me had awakened, and the thought was frightening.
My heart beat fast, and my breathing irrational. I wanted it. I wanted the blood! Suddenly, I could see the veins in the cow’s neck. How was it possible? I spotted the blood flowing through its veins, and my mouth opened, I let out some kind of snarl, and my breath came out shaky.
“You want it, take it.” Derek said softly, and I crashed to my knees, holding the cow’s neck.
A kind of preternatural roar escaped me, and before I knew it, my fangs had forced their way out of my mouth, and into the veins of the animal.
The cow let out a groan, and I realized as I tasted blood for the first time as a vampire that it tasted like ecstasy.