The pain was unbearable. I wanted to die. Nothing was worth this. All I could see, hear, smell, touch, and taste was pain. I was having trouble breathing, and then it stopped all together.
I felt a cooling sensation pass over my body and the pain subsided. The first thing to return was my breathing, which was good because my lungs were starting to collapse with no air.
My hearing was next and the first sound I picked up was sobbing, sobbing as if nothing could possibly be good in the world, as if everything was lost.
My feeling was next, and I felt warm soft grass underneath me. Then I felt a tear fall on my arm, as if the sobbing person was kneeling next to me, but I couldn’t be sure.
My taste was next, closely followed by smell. My sight was the last to return. I let my eyes flicker open and saw a terrible sight.
Hiram was kneeling beside me. His beautiful eyes had turned red on the outside, a consequence of crying. His hands were gripping his hair in complete and utter agony. His smile was gone, replaced by a tight line. His pants were ripped from our last encounter with elder vampires, and there was a thin, but long line of a cut down his chest. But what hurt even worse than seeing him like this was that I knew that I had caused him this pain. He must have heard my heart stop and my breathing end, but didn’t he hear it come back again. What had brought me back, I wondered, for I was sure that I was dead. I saw one of his tears spill over his hands and onto my wound. Relief flooded over me like a welcome storm.
I found how to use voice again.
“So weak,” I muttered. His head popped up faster than anything. When he saw my eyes partly open he started weeping tears of joy. The tears came flowing out of his eyes and onto my shoulder once more. I took deep breaths, loving how it relieved me of my pain.
After a while I could sit up. Now that he knew I was okay, he quickly regained his composure. He was no longer weeping, and the red in his eyes was once more over taken by the golden beauty. The red around his eyes were fading so quick, that I could hardly see them anymore. As vampires, we could stop the aftereffects of crying within seconds, for if our enemies saw us crying, they would think that we are weak. It was an adaption that could be very useful.
The sternness in his voice had returned, but I wouldn’t forget how I first saw him.
“We need to stitch up the wound, and our attackers had some first aid supplies.” He studied my face closely, searching for any signs of fear. I was afraid of the pain I knew would come, but I know that afterward, I would be a whole lot better. “Are you ready?” he asked. I nodded, and that was all he needed.
As he stitched me up, I felt a sting crawl up my arm, but it was nothing compare to the pain I had just experienced. My body knew that this soreness wasn’t as bad, but still thought a tear or two would be necessary. I gritted my teeth together, and shut my eyes tight in order to escape my body’s desires.
As quickly as he had started, it was over. I knew that no normal human could have done it that fast. Most of the pain was gone, so I shrugged my shoulders experimentally. No extra pain came, but I could still tell that I was very weak.
“Thank you,” I quickly accommodated, “but I still desperately need to hunt.”
“I know,” his face looked solemn, but quickly brightened. “There is a town just a half a mile from here that should be just fine for us both, for I need some human blood in my system too.”
For a healthy vampire, the walk would have taken a minute or two, but for me it took almost ten minutes. Hiram stayed behind with me just in case something would happen to me.
As we approached the town, I surveyed our surroundings. It was not the little village I had been expecting. It was, in fact, a little village, but it had the sense of despair about it. As we saw the few people on the street, they didn’t even stop to talk to one another. I noted in particular one woman with a huge hat, which must have once been a nesting ground for some kind of huge bird…an albatross maybe. Her arm candy was a man with a broad chest and baby cute facial features. He looked to be in his early thirties. The lady made no effort to hide her disgust as other villagers walked by, for it seemed that everyone there thought they were better than the person next to them. It was a terrible scene, for throughout my months of solitude I had come to worship any company at all. Hiram was right when he said that this would be a good place to hunt, for I would love to rid the world of just one of these self-absorbed, selfish, and self-centered people.
I peeked over at Hiram and saw that his eyes were even more beautiful tonight, for he was very excited about the hunt. Hunting is the most powerful instinct a vampire has; they know who to strike, when to strike, and how to strike. They could easily make their victims suffering more or less, depending on their mood. So, even though I had not killed often, I knew exactly how to do it.
My eyes quickly located the women I had seen on the street, the one that was so rude to the other villager. She was walking down a dark alley way with only her partner as an escort. That was her first mistake. I was so fixed on how to kill her that I barely heard the soft but excited voice beside me.
“I call the hat lady.” I stared at him in disbelief.
“But I wanted her.”
He turned to me with a mocking expression.
“I called her first,” he replied, his voice matching his face. I sighed, but then I thought about her escort.
“Fine, but I get her boyfriend.”
“That’s fine with me.”
With the trill of the hunt coursing through my veins I was able to move much faster, landing in the alleyway in less than a minute. Hiram landed softly beside me. With one look to each other, we jumped onto the walls and crawled until we were ahead of them then we jumped back to the ground right in front of them.
We acted as if we were a couple walking together arm in arm in front of them. They were startled by our sudden appearance, and then at our beauty.
I broke apart from Hiram and walked toward the man, who had also broken apart from his partner. I let my hair blow in the wind, creating an appearance so enticing that no man could resist. Once I had gotten close to the man I started bringing him in with my eyes. He was so captivated with me that he didn’t even notice the women next to him. I put my hands on his shoulders, letting my gentle touch caress his neck. I placed my fingers on my lips, and then placed the same fingers on his lips. It was then that I knew this gullible human would follow me to the end of the world. I placed his shaking hand on the small of my back, and leaned in close to him. As I leaned in I took a deep sniff of the wonderful human blood that was coursing through his veins. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to last much longer.
“Follow me,” I whispered seductively in his ear. He nodded, and I started to lead him away.
I glanced back to see the women looking terribly angry with me for taking her date, I also noticed a little bit of jealously of my good looks, she was also appalled at my naughty behavior. Hiram also looked jealous, not of my looks, but of the male that I had just so seductively lead away. We locked eyes for one second and he gave me a sly smile before turning to the woman, giving her a huge smile and letting his eyes take over and bring her in to him.
I guided the man around the corner where, once there, I placed my hand over his mouth and told him not to scream. He grinned, confused but excited. I put my lips to his neck and kissed him there two times before letting my teeth come out and start feeding. He tried to scream, but my hands were clamped too tight around his mouth. I felt myself becoming more and more awake with each drop of blood.
When I finished my teeth were stained red, and I drug the human’s lifeless body over to a nearby river. I tossed him in making as little of a splash as possible. A minute later I heard an equally as quiet splash. I looked up and saw Hiram looking at me. His teeth were stained as red as mine. In that moment I felt so alive.