Stuck In Between

chapter 7:

The cheery group of greybeards finished doing the last set of their tasks before packing up and waving at each other in goodbye while I watched them from the dark of the forest.

I couldn't help but gulp nothing down my dry throat as the vein pumping the warm blood ticked under the skin of their neck. The cold breeze of the night carrying the smell of their skin hit my nose making me wrinkle it.

Wasn't watching the vein pump blood not enough torture that the breeze also mocks me by letting me smell them?

Agreed that they smelled like sweaty humans, but the vampire me compared that to the fresh baked pasta from the oven. And I loved pasta like anything! While I was human, of course.

"I better get out of here before I pounced onto anyone's neck," I muttered to myself as I headed over to the deserted area, in hopes of resisting the mouthwatering smell. The temptation was too strong to be ignored...

My fangs extended when my nostrils flared. All my eyes did was stare from the neck to neck, at the throbbing veins pumping the fresh blood.

There was no doubt at all that my eyes were flashing blues. Anyone looking from a distance would think a wild animal is looking at them from the borders of the forest.

I was dragged out of my bloodlust as two street cats hissed fighting in a distance. It was a miracle that I had been rather lost in the haze rather than pounce on an unsuspecting poor lad. The night had settled and the number of people walking around gradually decreased. I walked out of the forest and entered the town. The cold concrete pavement ran endlessly. I wrapped my arms tightly around my body, just like every other human did around me.

My scorching thirst was slowly getting out of my control. I didn’t know how to tame it or even how to quench it without killing somebody. I definitely could not go around biting random people, pushing them into the abyss of death. I just didn’t have it in me to bite any human, yet. Since my hunger had always been satisfied by the blood packets.

My condition was similar to that of a Persian cat who has always been fed the expensive cat food and couldn't hunt a rat even if her life depended on it...

Instead of thinking how to hunt, I was busy with the thoughts about how did Rome might have withstood this thirst? How did he control himself when he was around me? My mind wondered. Suddenly I had to hide my mouth behind my hands as I could feel my fangs come out by themselves again for the umptieth time this week. I still had to learn how to hide my unnaturally brilliant blue eyes too! There were so many things about my new body that I had to learn and even get used to…

Currently I was driving a new vehicle without having any idea about what all the different buttons do.

I could feel a few eyes checking me out. I bent my head down avoiding their gazes as I walked faster. Just to save them from going to early grave... I had nowhere to go in this stranger town, having no idea where I had come now.

The streets were now turning empty making me sigh in relief. Without the smell of blood tempting me to bite all the time, I could feel myself relax a bit. I looked around searching for a place to settle down for the night.

In distance, I could see a man wobble down my way making me tense again.

“don’t come here, don’t…please don’t!” I kept chanting as he continued to wobble towards me. A hiss escaped my lips as my body tensed because of my mindset.

I needed to calm myself down and relax my senses.

“Everything is going to be okay. I am going to find Rome and everything is going to be just fine,” I repeated to myself as the man wobbled past me blabbering something in his drunken state. I breathed out the air that I didn’t even know that I was holding.

That wasn't so bad...

Just like the saying went ‘hatching one’s chicken before their time’ I was celebrating quite early.

“hey! Sweetheart come here,” a voice boomed from behind making me freeze in my place. My fangs emerged, so did the thirst that I had been suppressing.

“you look hot, baby doll, come here,” the man voiced out again but this time it came from near. He was addressing it to me alright as there was no one else here in my sight.

‘let him have it, Lizzy! Go, drink from him,’ my beastly mind hissed making me groan to myself.

At this rate buddy, you will be history tomorrow. Go away while you have time!

“yeah baby! This is what I’m talking about,” the man voiced as his alcoholic breath hit my ear and his nasty hand hit my ass making me gasp in shock. My eyes were as wide as saucers would be an understatement.

‘kill him!’ the voice of my self-consciousness roared in my head making me react instantly. I didn’t know how fast my reflexes were as I immediately bit his neck sucking the heavenly nectar that flowed down my throat. I couldn’t stop myself. The veins ran dry making me panic again.

I just killed a man! I know he tried to abuse me but I killed a man! I looked around to see if anyone had seen me doing this. But there was no sign of life anywhere around me for miles together, just huge concrete buildings without even a window.

The stupid beastly voices from inside had faded away from my head and that didn’t help at all! This was so unfair! They order me to do the wrong thing and disappear after putting me into trouble!

“what should I do? What should I do?” I chanted tensed.

“yeah! Hide the body! That’s it!” I almost exclaimed snapping my fingers. Obviously, that would be the most logical thing to do, duh! I looked at the dead body who looked like a wrestler of some sort. His hefty body wouldn’t have moved even an inch if I was still a human but now…I wasn’t anymore.

I wiped my blood strained mouth as I picked him up effortlessly, not before cringing at the damage I had done on his throat, as if he was made up of feather and pulled him to the nearby thrash bin. Without further delay, I tossed his body into the bin and ran away from there as quickly as possible. I didn’t even know how fast I moved, I only knew that I was five lanes away from my current location just two seconds ago.

I stood there alone watching my lonely shadow change shades under the flickering street light as guilt engulfed me.

How did my world ended up being like this? What big sin had I committed to suffer this hell right before my death?

I collapsed on my feet right in my place as I rested my back on to the wall behind me.

“Rome…” I whispered feeling helpless as one of my human memory propped up.

The scene replayed in my head again.

“so, what do you think about me babe?” Andrew, the class-A jock hit on Diana as she pulled her sunshades down on her nose and gave him a sly smile.

“don’t you think, I’m way off your league?” she pushed her goggles back up with an attitude. Their mindless flirting was going on just a foot away from me. But should I thank god that no one buzzed around or anywhere near me due to my grumpy self? Guess so. And thanks to the reason of my grumpiness who sat on the opposite side of the room enjoying himself.

The canteen started filling up quickly but my eyes were fixed only on him, Rome who was being playful with Mandy. He brought his spoonful of jelly near her mouth making her to open her mouth widely as he quickly pulled his spoon back and eating the jelly in it making Mandy nag about it before launching to playfully punch him. Just like a couple they both held each other laughing. Mandy playfully hit him some more making him laugh and at the same time annoying me even more.

I whipped my head in the other direction as I gritted my teeth almost broke down into tears. I knew I had feelings for him but I didn’t want to accept them after him treating me inferior to others. All I wanted was him to sit beside me like that and laugh with me, like what he did with all the other girls except with me. All I felt was jealousy towards them. All I had dreamt was to be in his arms…

Even now, the same dream remained...