Bloodlust-Chapter 2

Chapter 2- Gulity Pleasures


Cat was on her feet in less than a second. Tori, Andre, Beck, Jade, and Trina took another step back. Robbie, who was the only one who kept his place, looked at her cautiously as she looked around. Her hand held the place where she was bitten. But she noticed how smooth, hard, and pale her skin had become, and touched her hair. She brought out a strand of her hair and looked at it. The bright red color that it had been had darkened, almost a bloody red.

She looked around again before her eyes rested on her tense friends.

"I'm still me." She said, surprised at how silky her voice sounded and felt. "I'm still me, aren't I?"

"Of course you're still you." Said Tori, taking a step forward.

"She's beautiful..." Robbie muttered without moving his lips. Cat could count every curly strand on hair he had on his head now. It was weird, yet it seemed so natural to pay attention to it now.

"How do you feel?" Said Jade, leaving Beck's side in a flash. In the next second, she was a foot away from Cat, eyeing her carefully with a smirk.

"Um..." Cat hesitated for a fraction of a second. "Fine, I guess. It's just..." Her right hand flew to her throat, her hand feeling like ice against the burning that ached in her throat. "My throat. It's burning still."

"I know. You'll get used to it." Jade reassured her.

"Why?"

"She's thirsty." Cat heard Beck mutter to Andre from across the room. They still kept their distance.

"I am?" Cat removed her hand.

Tori and Jade nodded.

"So does the burning stop when I...?" She didn't finish her sentence.

"Sort of." Said Robbie, moving closer. "After you get some blood in your system, the burning is very vacant."

"But when the scent of blood is very strong, even after you fed, the burning increases again." Andre added.

Cat's eyes widened.

"Don't scare her on the first day!" Tori nearly snapped.

"No, it's okay." Cat said, then looked at her friends' eyes even more closely. "Why are your eyes so dark? They're like...black..."

"I know." Said Beck, finally walking forward. He was at Jade's side. "You're not the only one who's thirsty."

"So...your eyes are dark when you're hungry?"

"Yes. But, since we feed on animals, they turn gold after a while."

Cat was afraid of the next question.

"What color are my eyes?"

"Show her, Trina." Tori instructed.

Trina nodded, then got out her mirror. She tossed it to Tori, who caught it effortlessly, and handed it to Cat.

Cat looked at herself closely. Her eyes weren't the brown she thought she was going to see. Instead, she stared into her frightening red pools. Her face was as pale as Jade's and Tori's and her face was somehow smoothed out, as if made of marble.

"I thought vampires didn't have reflections?" She noted.

"We do." She heard Andre answer. "It's just a theory."

"Oh." She looked up from the mirror, confusion widened her eyes. Her thirst was becoming more dominent, the burning increased painfully but she couldn't scream. Her swift confusion turned to anger. She began to wonder who changed her-who put her through hell for days-and growled quietly, her hands tightened on the mirror.

The mirror broke, the glass from it and the material fell to the floor as she released it. Her hands were half-clenched in midair, inches apart as if the mirror never left her hands. Once again, Tori, Andre, Beck, Robbie, and Trina took a few cautious steps back. Jade was the only one who stayed still.

She put a hand on Cat's shoulder. Cat, noticing their skin was the temperature, looked up from the floor at her, not relaxing her glare. Jade and Cat stared each other down for an endless minute. Jade knew how Cat felt.

Cat's hands then relaxed to her sides, and as Jade dropped her hand, her eyes softened, and her gaze dropped back to the floor.

"Let's get some blood in your system." Jade suggested.

"Okay." Said Cat. But as she stepped forward, she caught a waft of Trina's scent. She was the only one, nearest her, that had a beating heart-with thick blood oozing through her veins. The burning increased in Cat's throat. Andre and Beck were at Trina's side at once, Trina tensed, and Tori was there in front of her, slightly crouching forward, giving Cat a warning growl. Cat frowned. She looked over at Jade, who shook her head.

"No werewolves." Said Robbie, opening the window that was across the room. Jade pushed Cat towards his direction; Cat let her, and distracted herself with Robbie's eyes, which bored down into hers. Trina opened the door, backing away. Tori, Andre, and Beck began to follow Jade, their eyes cautious on Cat.

Robbie was halfway through the window when he looked out up at the sky, which was still covered in its gray blanket, then back at Cat. He held out his hand, which Cat took immediately, and Jade released her, returning to Beck's side. Robbie put Cat's hand on his back, then put his own arm around her before jumping. The jump was very short, and only lasted for a split second. Robbie, with his arm locked tightly around Cat, began walking an inhumanly fast pace towards the woods. Tori, Andre, Beck, and Jade were hot on his heels. When he stopped walking, it was abrupt. He turned around to face them, a confused Cat doing the same.

"We're gonna have to split up." Said Beck. Tori and Robbie nodded knowingly.

"Why?" Cat asked again.

"We don't want our hunting grounds to become too obvious." Beck told her. "We'll split up into groups of three-me, Jade, and Tori will head south. Andre-you lead Cat up east."

Andre nodded again.

"What about Robbie?" asked Cat.

"Robbie's staying with you, don't worry."

Cat nodded; the burning was unbearable now. Robbie's arm left her waist.

Jade touched Beck's arm. "Let's go, already. I don't think I can hold my thirst in any longer."

Beck nodded, then looked at Tori. "Let's go."

They were gone in a flash. Cat turned to Andre, suddenly eager.

"Follow me." He said.

Then he took off running. Cat, who thought she couldn't keep up, managed her running speed. And she was able to keep up with him. She sensed Robbie beside her. His face was blank; emotionless. Cat concentrated on her thirst.

I wonder what blood tastes like. She wondered. I hope it's as sweet as candy and cupcakes...or maybe like a milkshake...-but warmer...redder...tastier...

Andre lead the way up east, knowing the area really well. He and Tori would hunt together around this area all the time. Just them two-it was their spot...Well...not anymore, anyway. He had an occupation-and that was to get Cat fed before she ends up killing someone. The memory that'll haunt her for the rest of her...existance.

Tori led the way south, giving in to her own senses. Beck and Jade didn't matter to her anymore. She needed blood. She needed it now.

They reached near an opening in the woods. Beck and Jade jumped up on a branch in a predative perch. Tori stayed silent in the bushes, watching her prey. The few creatures that surrounded them were huge. But not huge enough; they'll have to do. For now.

Beck made the first move. He launched himself downward onto an unexpecting bobcat, knocking it down to the ground with his weight. Its snarls and scratches at his skin didn't harm him. His fangs slid out of their sheaths and he sank his teeth deep into its throat, showing it no mercy.

Jade went next. She saw another bobcat growl and took off, sensing her as a threat. It didn't take her that long to catch up with it. Her fangs were already out when they pierced through the fur like butter. Her arms constricted around it, breaking all of the bones in the upper body.

Tori was the last. She smelled something even bigger, not far from where she was. She took off running, leaping from tree branch to tree trunk, and back up again. The mountain lion that she was after growled fiercely and started for her, leaping into the air. Tori caught it in midair and dismembered the animal before satisfying herself, the thick blood oozing into her system.

Cat recognized the animals that would soon be surrounding her.

Coyotes.

The smell was appealing. But she had no experiance with hunting at all. She didn't know how to kill. She never killed anything, and she never wanted to. That was the huge issue. And she felt like the lamest vampire that ever existed.

She watched Andre go in for his kill with difficulty. The blood that was being spilt was driving her insane. But she couldn't do it. She couldn't. Even when she watched Robbie go in, which was somewhat attractive, she couldn't stay in place for long.

Her eyes caught with the coyote nearest her. It growled menacingly. Cat frowned again. She didn't like being growled at.

Without thinking, she launched herself at it and felt her sharp teeth dig at the wild animal. And surprisingly, it wasn't that hard. She sank her teeth in its throat and drank. The blood was warm and comforting. The burning, finally, died away until it was very faint.

But Cat wasn't done. She killed every coyote in her reach and didn't feel gulity about it.