Hunger. All consuming. Painful. Curl around the pain. No change. Claw the ground, growling. Hunger. Feed. All that matters. Eyes open, lights. Green strands. Weak. Disperse. Unfilling. Instincts scream that I could eat hundreds, no. Hundreds of hundreds and still be hungry. Struggle to feet.

Search. Clearing. Trees. Stronger light, still too weak. Can’t balance, shamble forward. Hunger. Must feed. Tear through weak plants. Growl. Frustrated. Where is food?

There! Flash of red light! Turn and stalk forward, try to be quiet. Fail. No matter. See small red thing. Brown, but bright red lines within. Flash with life. Dash forward, grab prey. Hold in triumph. Elation! Flashing grows brighter. Faster. Faster.

Thump

Thump

Thump thump thump thump

Thumpthumpthumpthumpthumpthump

Silence. Red light fading, fading, gone. No more thumps. Howl in rage. Had prey! Had life! Escaped!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Red fog clearing, can start think. Am holding fuzzy thing. Brown, dripping dark red. Rabbit ear? Memories come back. Look around. Plants covered in red and bits of brown fur. My hands were covered in red. Fingernails black? When were they so pointed? I shake head, leave area. Night silent, everything afraid. Move through woods, unexpectedly silent. Come to path. Road? Yes, road to home.

HOME! NEED BE HOME BY DINNER! Panic sets in, I start moving down road. Up ahead, flash of red light. Small, but bigger than rabbit. Move to side of road, hide in plants. Creep closer. So much life! Mesmerizing. Flashes are fast, but not as fast as rabbit before it died. Smell it. Fear. Creep forward. Prey is facing away, is good. NOW!

My body launches forward, slamming into the back of the prey, knocking it down. As we skid a bit on the road, I get my first smell of it. Divine! Like, like. Everything good! Like the autumn harvest festival, the best of roasting meat! My mouth waters as I fixate on the throbbing in the neck of the prey.

Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.

As I near, the screams break through. Prey is loud! “Hussssssshhhhh!!!!” I hiss at it.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!! BR. BR. Brother?” Prey stops wailing, still scared. Shivering. I take a deep breath along neck, shivering in delight. “Brother?”

Something strange. Voice? Voice seems familiar. Who is brother?

“Brother, I’ve missed you! We have to go back to the village! It’s dark out, and father and the others gave up on you, but I knew you would be ok but we have to go back before they close the gates and we can’t see cuz its dark and there’s no moon tonight and mom is making-“

“Husssshshhh!” I hiss again. “Quiet Molly.” Molly? Who is?

PAIN! PAINPAINPAIN!

Searing through my head again. Memories come flooding back. Molly. My five year old sister. I was out late, shouldn’t be out after dark. Bad things, something slammed into me. I woke up in the clearing, hungry. HUNGER! FEED! I open my mouth and lower it toward the pulsating red in Molly’s neck.

“Brandon! Come on!” She wiggles, but is no match for my new strength. “Ow! That hurts! THAT HURTS! I’M TELLING MOOOOOM!” She wails, pulling on her shoulder.

“Gah,” I stumble backward, shaking my head. What the hell? Why was I about to bite? Oh. Oh no. No no no no no! I look around, we are a five minute walk from the village. Too dangerous for Molly, especially at night. “Come on Molly, we have to go,” I say, grabbing her and dashing forward as fast as I can with her slung over a shoulder. I take care not to bounce her too hard, but dangerous things out at night. Things like me.

It takes forever and no time at all to come to the walls of the village. As I come out of the treeline, the wardings flare. Runic script blessed by a priest of the Lord of Light, it sears my exposed skin. “Aaah!” I can’t help but cry out, stumbling back out of range. It was more than enough for the guards, who rush forward, stopping several feet within the safety of the light.

“Foul demon, let the girl go! She’ll be nothing more than a snack for you!” Colt shouts, panic in his voice.

“Take. Her,” I manage to squeak out, trying to push Molly closer without triggering the light. Stubborn girl, she turns and grabs my hand.

“Come on Brandon, We’re almost home!”

“Brandon? Oh gods, Brandon! Molly! That isn’t Brandon anymore! Get away girl!” Colt shouts, and I see another of the guards take off towards the town.

“Go Molly, I’ll be right behind you,” I say, resisting the draw of the light flowing through her body.

“Liar,” she pouts.

“Girl, listen to him while he still has a bit of reason!” Colt pleads. “Get back within the runic protections!”

“He’s my brother, I don’t need protection,” she stomps her foot, and I know a tantrum is seconds away. A tantrum that will draw whatever changed me.

“GOOOOOOO!!!!!” An inhuman roar rips from my throat, the sound startling her into running away crying. Thank the gods, Colt grabs her and slings her over a shoulder. As he takes a step back, he pauses.

“Get out of here Brandon,” he says. “We didn’t always get along, but. You’ve more than proven yourself tonight. Now go, I’ll make sure she gets back to her family. And let them know of your last act of defiance,” He turned and took a few steps, only to pause once again and speak, “There’s an old bear cave on the east side of the mountain. Old Klein took out the previous resident. If you can’t muster the strength to face the sun yourself, hole up in there. I’ll make sure your end is swift.”

Her. Her family. Not mine, not anymore. I watch for a second, as Molly reaches a hand out to me, before I turn and flee. Up the nearby mountain. I had to end my cursed existence. The sooner the better. Sunrise comes early when you are high on the mountain. I followed an old goat trail, climbing higher. Along the way I would see flashes of different colors. Mostly browns and greens, but occasionally I would see a flash of gold. Whatever it was, it didn’t stay around long. I never saw more than a flash of it.

As I neared the timberline, I caught a whiff of it again. That divine scent that had to be freshly spilt blood. Sniffing every few steps, I slowly tracked my way along, following the tantalizing aroma. Eventually I started seeing stains on the ground, even after all this time they still held a bit of life in them. Following the glowing trail, I used my claws to churn the blood drops into the soil much like I would on the farm back home.

Home. A wave of pain and depression hit, but I shrugged it off, focusing on the smell of blood. Powerful blood, that lasted much longer than the rabbit. Human blood. The only cover up here was an old bear cave, so I headed straight there. It was no longer efficient to cover the blood trail, so I didn’t even bother. I came around a corner, and there it was. I slowly and silently entered the cave, eyes immediately adjusting to the pitch blackness within.

I turned a corner in the grey world, seeing a trail of vivid red leading up to a body pulsating with red light. There was a portion of a blade covered in blood tossed carelessly into a corner, and a quick look at the body revealed that it was both alive and no longer bleeding.

“You ok?” I quietly asked.

“Ba Ba Back!” A female voice stammered, though it didn’t hold any strength. Prey, no. She. She tried to lift a blade at her side, and for a half second managed to send a bit of golden light through it, but that was all before it clattered uselessly to her side.

“Easy there,” I said, slowly entering and dropping down to her level. Treating her like a wounded animal, I sat down and waited.

“I can smell their stench on you. Why have you not attacked?” She asked after an uncomfortable silence.

I shrugged, though there was no way she could see it. “No need,” I said as my stomach growled in hunger.

“Hah! No need. You’re as hungry as a beggar with three days of bad luck,” she chuckled, then groaned as her hand went to her side that had started bleeding again. “Blast.”

“True,” I said. “But I’ll be seeing the sun soon, so there is no need to feed.”

“Why?” She asked, head tilting.

“Because,” I said, looking at my hands. Hands tipped with claws. “I very nearly killed my younger sister in my hunger. I’ve yet to feed, and I can only hope that the Lord of Light will forgive me for being transformed into an abomination if I go to the next life without consuming blood.” Silence reigned in the cave for a while, though this time it wasn’t as uncomfortable.

“I think he would admire that,” She said eventually. “To rise above what you were turned into. To resist the temptations placed in front of you.”

“Psh,” I chuckled. “And what makes you so sure?” I asked.

“I am a squire in his church,” she said. Her head flopped back against the stone as she continued. “Not that it will help. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I’m bleeding internally. We had word that there was a rogue out here, but I wasn’t expecting a nest. They got me, and I’ve already used my healing potion. I’ll be dying up here, same as you.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and found myself actually feeling sad for her. Sad that she would die up here, alone. That nobody would be able to pass on her story. “What’s your name?”

“Laura,” she said. “Laura Cornick. Fourth daughter of Duke Wilmont Cornick. Black sheep of the family for choosing a fighting order instead of the life of a nun in the church. What about you?”

“Brandon Clayson,” I said. “Simple farmer, a year from my age of majority.”

“Well met, Brandon Clayson,” she said with a weak smile.

“Well met, Lady Cornick,” I said, giving her a nod of my head. We spent most of the rest of the night in silence, waiting for our doom.

“I feel it,” I said, as my body started sending me danger signals. No doubt warning me to find a deep, dark place to hide from the cleansing light of the sun. “The sun is coming.”

“Would you?” She asked, and as I looked over I noticed she was incredibly weak. Her light fading fast, though there was a spot in her chest that seemed to be glowing much brighter. “Would you do me a favor?”

“Of course,” I nodded.

“I want to see the sun rise, one last time. Would you take me with you? And just so that the monsters that did this to me won’t be able to feast upon my lifeblood, would you?”

“Would I what?” I asked, shocked.

“Drink the last of the blood in my body before the suns light hits us. There are things they can do, unless you do this. I would consider it a favor, and fight for you in the Lord’s presence. Surely, he wouldn’t hold this blood, freely given and without constraint, against you.”

I stared at her for a few moments, wondering what she was thinking. Then again, there were stories of vampires being able to track one’s family down based on their blood. If I could prevent that. . .

“Very well,” I said, walking over and helping her to her feet. She felt so very light and frail, and I was extra careful around the wound in her side. We walked outside, and I had to shield my eyes from the predawn light. Turning, I got my first good look at her.

“Beautiful,” I whispered. She had blue eyes that even now shone with an inner fire, and her ponytail of hair the color of golden wheat perfect for harvest swayed back and forth. Her skin was slightly tan, lighter than even the color of a fawn.

“Indeed,” she said, looking out over the vista. Below we could see the village I grew up in, as well as the nearby river that cut through the forest nearby. I didn’t bother to correct her, simply stared at her until the itching danger sense started to change to a burning.

“It’s time,” I said.

“Thank you,” she replied, turning in to me and baring her neck. I lowered my head, and couldn’t resist kissing that throbbing river of light before I sunk my teeth into it. My arms locked around her to support her as the ecstasy of blood flooded into my mouth while the first rays of the sun pierced the horizon and started burning away my flesh. I turned my back to the rays, allowing Laura to watch the sunrise as I took the last of the blood from her body.