Urban Vampire

Chapter 5

I checked the time. s**t, I needed to be home before sunrise. I couldn't stop thinking about that Vampire that I'd killed—well … that had made me kill him. He was ashes just like that. Poof! I sped up.

By the time I got home, my stomach hurt so badly that I almost doubled over with cramps. I was ravenous. My mouth watered, my gums tingled, and my pointy teeth lowered.

I grabbed my purse and hurried into my apartment before any of my nosy neighbors saw me and thought I was on something.

I opened the fridge and remembered how the soda had made me sick. Maybe meat would be better. I grabbed an opened pack of hotdogs and shoved two into my mouth, chewing greedily.

I vomited them into the sink. I fell down to my knees and cried. How was I supposed to satisfy this hunger? I didn't crave blood. And I was in no condition to go prowling the night looking for somebody's neck to experiment on. Besides, I wasn't going to be caught out there this close to dawn.

My ex had been hinting for a booty call, as if I would want his tired ass after he cheated on me with … well, with everyone. I crawled to the phone.

"Hello," a drowsy voice said.

Oops, it was after four in the morning. "Kent?"

"Yeah, who is this? What time is it?"

"It's Kim, and it's almost four-thirty. Sorry to wake you, but I need to speak to you."

"What? Kim? What's going on?" Kent was that guy who saw you two years after a bad breakup yet still leered at you as if his eyes could penetrate your clothes.

"I ... uh … was just wanting a little company. It's been a long time and I was thinking about you." I almost gagged on that.

Kent chuckled on the phone. "What, you want me to come over there?"

"Yeah." I tried to sound sexy. "Come over. Keep me company."

"Okay. I'm going to get cleaned up and I'll be right over."

I began to panic. "Kent, hurry! Um ... before I change my mind, you know?"

"I'll be there in half an hour!" He hung up.

I wondered if I was more Vampire than those Council members gave me credit for because I was getting ready to take someone's blood and I had no hard feelings about it. Kent was quite the asshole. I checked myself in the mirror. Damn, I still looked good. I reapplied some lipstick and lay on the couch in a tight ball until the next round of cramps passed.

Kent's stank self arrived ten minutes later.

I opened the door before he even knocked. I could hear and smell him from inside.

His eyes grew wide when he saw me. "Damn ..." His eyes traveled across my body like dirty fingers crawling across my skin. I definitely didn't like the sensation.

"Kim ... you look so different ..."

I took his hand and led him inside. My teeth were really big in my mouth. Booty call or not, he was going to run if he saw them.

He chuckled. "What made you call me? It's been a long time. Two years?"

I looked away. "I missed you." A pain so severe hit me that I doubled over. Drops of saliva fell from my mouth and hit the floor.

"Baby, what's wrong?" He grabbed my shoulders. "You ain't on that stuff, are you?"

The hell with the foreplay! I reached up and jerked his head to me, lips shielding the sight of my teeth. He had such a concerned look on his face that I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Well, no I didn't.

I placed my lips on his neck and heard him gasp. He gripped me, hands on my ass and breasts, frantic to touch everything at once in case I changed my mind. I held back a gag that sounded as if I was moaning, and he increased the urgency of his touch.

I let my tongue test the texture of his neck where I discovered a pulse that intrigued me. I began to pant because I could smell something wonderful just beneath his skin. The pain in my stomach became even more acute, my limbs tingled, and my head swam. I was about to pass out and miss my opportunity to take blood.

I bit that pulse in his neck and Kent jerked, but I held him tight with my new strength and groaned. A gush of warmth flooded my mouth and throat. The sensation was like eating a filet mignon after being on a tofu diet!

I wanted his blood in my mouth and belly, and I wanted my fingers to touch it. I wanted to roll in Kent's blood, but I decided to back off. I didn't really want to kill him, but it was difficult to stop because Kent stood there with his eyes closed, swooning. I licked my lips. I could have eaten more, but my hunger was sated and the terrible cramping had disappeared.

I had a repellant memory of a time when I enjoyed having him touch me. The thought was so foreign that I knew it wasn't me. Not only was my body different but now my thoughts were different. I still felt but mostly in terms of "ugh" and "yay."

I understood my bite was an aphrodisiac. I stared at Kent's torn neck thinking "ugh" and "yay" thoughts. But damn, it was a bloody mess. If vamps fed on people and left them to walk around in such a mess, then the world would know of their existence.

With more desire than instinct, I licked the wound with my tongue. Saliva flooded my mouth again. It was fairly embarrassing to be drooling in such a manner, but when I pulled back, the wound was neat and clean.

I guess it was all I could do with my limited knowledge. He could go back to his girlfriend no worse for wear.

"Kent."

"Hmmm." His eyes were still closed.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Do that again."

"I can't. I'll take too much, and then you'll be screwed. Can you get home?"

"Home?" He opened his eyes and looked at me. "I can get home."

What the hell? He was acting as if I had hypnotized him.

"I guess you're under my power or something." s**t, if I'd had this power years ago ... okay, never mind that. "Um ... you won't remember any of this. You ... you won't even remember coming to my house. You had a craving for ... uh, chocolate donuts. Uh yeah, just go home."

He reached for me. "Can I—"

"Hell no! Go home!"