Chapter One: Desolate

It's like they're asking for it. Begging for me to tear their throats out and feast on the sanguine drug that pulsed through their veins. These are the sheep, as I like to call them. They're the easy prey. On a dark, stormy midnight like this, only the naive are out walking all alone, having full faith that their suburban bubbles will shield them from whatever terror was lurking about. How ignorant and docile. No one is ever immune, not in Devil's Kettle and not anywhere.

I waited on a strong, shadowy tree branch beside the road with a bottle of whiskey. It helps curb the cravings. The perfect victim always comes around this time; usually they're stumbling home from some kegger or bar. It wasn't long before I heard the clicking heels of a twenty-something, long-legged redhead who was angrily slurring at her boyfriend on the phone. I could smell the vodka tonic and desperation on her breath from all the way up in the tree. Oh yeah… she was perfect.

"I just don't understand, how you could leave me? 6 months, Jared! SIX! Why would you want to throw that all away?!" She gurgled. I rolled my eyes at her sophomoric sorrows. "Whatever! Fine! You know what, you can rot in hell along with your new whore!" She ended the call, then continued walking, sniffling every few steps. It's sad, isn't it? Crying over some short-term boyfriend is how she'll spend her final moments. But I need to feed. If I don't, the hunger will consume me and the trail of dead bodies I leave behind will far out number the living ones in this barren wasteland of a town.

After she passed underneath me, I swiftly leaped down onto the sidewalk as quietly as I could and began following a few yards behind the staggering redhead. I eyed the space between her legs. She wore a short and tight black dress that barely covered her ass and black stilettos that perhaps made her even taller than me. She was yummy to say the least. A coyote howled into the night and thunder rolled in the distance. It made her freeze and wrap her arms around herself in a cold fright. She stumbled a bit and glared around.

"Hello?" She asked. "Is someone there?" Sticks crackled in the woods as the pale-skinned beauty turned around and checked her back side. There was no one in sight, just an empty moonlit road and a couple of forgotten pick up trucks. She turned back around to continue heading home when suddenly-

"AHHH!" She yelled and clutched her chest.

"Hello. Did I scare you?" I asked her, smirking.

"Oh my god," she gasped. "Yeah, you did."

"Sorry 'bout that."

"It's okay." She paused and shook her head almost attempting to snap herself out of her drunkenness. "Hey, who are you? I haven't seen you around."

"I'm Emily."

"You're new in town?"

"No. I just like to keep a low profile," I said while stuffing my hands into my leather jacket's pockets.

"Oh. That's kinda hard to do in Devil's Kettle."

"I manage." I shot her a daring look.

"Right. Well it was nice meeting you. Maybe I'll see you around some-

"Ya know you really shouldn't be walking out here all by yourself," I interrupted while moving in closer to her. "There's an evil in these streets you don't know about." The wind blew and her delectable scent filled my nostrils. The sound of her heart beat echoed in my skull. The sight of her throbbing jugular widened my pupils. "But you will."

"What's wrong with your eyes?"

My irises began glowing a luminescent blue, the whites of my eyes turned black and dark veins pulsed beneath my bottom lids. I revealed my sharp-fanged canines.

"Wh-what are you? Stay away from me!" She tried to run, but in a blur I quickly grabbed the sides of her face, glared deeply into her eyes and used my compulsory powers.

"Hold still and don't scream. This isn't gonna hurt." I yanked her hair back to fully expose her thick, pulsing neck vein as small gasps of fear escaped from between her lips. Clenching her body in closely, my mouth fell agape and I allowed my fangs to fully protrude and sink deeply into her neck. I closed my eyes and savored the warm, succulent blood bath that gushed down my throat and dripped from my lip. I swallowed and swallowed and felt her body going limp. I should stop. I should stop, heal her with my blood and compel her to forget everything. I thought to myself. But I knew full well I couldn't stop. It's not my nature. I continued to drink from the spout that was her neck. By now she was completely weakened and the entire weight of her body had submitted to my grasping arms. I knew what was to come, yet still I couldn't relinquish her neck. I lusted for every drop of blood that ran through her veins.

It's gonna happen… It's gonna happen… Then it did… it happened. Another shred of what little humanity I had left was once again devoured by the ravenous demon from within. I unclasped her body and it fell to the ground, leaving behind the head. It dangled by its vibrant red hair from my right hand. This is what happens. I can't stop feeding until I rip the head of my victim from their bodies. I'm the depraved, soulless monster you have nightmares about as a kid, the evil only these headless bodies know about.

A puddle of blood poured from her halved neck and thickened on the concrete. I dropped to my knees. This part never gets easier, the guilt. My breaths were short and quick as I glared back forth between the headless corpse and the hanging head in my hand. You could see the last bit of life escaping her deep blue eyes.

"I… I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I'm… I didn't… No no no, I'm so sorry." I cried, hoping she'd somehow revive, decapitated and all. A tear rolled down my cheek and mixed with the remaining blood from around my mouth.

I grabbed the pallid left hand of the once beautiful woman and began dragging her deep into the dark foggy woods, filling the air with repetitions of "I'm sorry" the whole way there. Flashes of the life I stole from her flickered before my eyes and the pain only grew worse. Finally, I came to a secluded clearing where I could leave her body. It was perfectly encircled by oak trees and the middle was nothing but crisply colored grass illuminated by the moonlight. I dragged her to the very center of the small haven, laid her flat, crossed the lifeless arms over her chest and placed her head back on her severed neck.

"I'm sorry," I whispered one last time as I kissed her cold forehead. I began walking toward the edge of the clearing when I took a look at the beautifully bloody juxtaposition I'd leave behind. Everywhere I go, this is what follows: death, horror, suffering, pain, disrepair. If there was ever a hell on Earth, it's me. I'm an eternal plague that destroys everything in my path. And I'm a selfish plague at that. How easy would it be for me to take off my daylight ring, step in the sunlight, ignite into flames and spare the lives I'll inevitably take? It would prevent their suffering and end mine own. But still I hold on. The desire to love and be loved is keeping me alive or… undead. It's a foolish whim and one that will only end in more bloodshed, but it's the cure for my soullessness. I need to leave Devil's Kettle; the death toll has gotten too high. I'll go back to where it all started. Where I turned, the massacre, Cece, everything. I'm going back to Rosewood.