2
Blood Draining Fear
By Chelsea Bannan
Chapter 1: Voice of Compulsion
It's a cloudless night. The stars glitter in the dark sky and a full moon hangs overhead. The moon shines an eerie red. A gentle breeze rolls through the streets as Arorin Carpont walks down Paliton Road.
She passes closed shops and a few late night restaurants. The people she passes are few. Arorin smiles and waves to a friend across the street but she doesn't stop to talk. She continues to walk on towards her apartment building.
Her cell starts to vibrate in her jacket pocket. She takes it out and flips it open, "Hello?" Arorin's soft sweet voice carries down the silent street.
"Hey, it's Kelsey! I was wondering if you wanted to go clubbing? Chris, Matt, and Josh want us to go." Laughter can be heard in the background along with loud, pounding music.
"It's ten thirty! You know I just got off work! It's Thursday for cry'n out loud. They should have known that too," Arorin growled into the phone.
"Well, we thought you didn't have work tomorrow. Sorry," Kelsey's voice carried a hint of guilt but mostly of hurt.
"Augh. No. I'm sorry. I'm just tired, maybe tomorrow." Arorin resents herself for growling at her best friend.
"Are you okay? You never say you are tired. Did you and Kyle have a fight?"
Arorin is flooded with a sense of happiness at the note of concern in Kelsey's voice. She leans against the wall of the 'Bakery of Goodies' shop. "Nah, I'm just tired. I think I may have caught something."
"The flu? Do you need me to come over? I'll ditch the boys and be over in about fifteen minutes."
"No. Besides, I told the land lady that I'd help someone move in across the hall. She told me that he'll be arriving late so I should go get his apartment ready." Arorin pushes away from the wall and continues down the street.
"I hope he isn't like the last one. That man was a real jerk. He kept going after you as if you were a bone and he a dog. Ick. Well, I'll talk to you later then. Be safe and I hope you feel better."
"Thanks. Later." Arorin closes her phone and puts it back into her pocket.
As she passes an ally, a man steps out of its shadows. He grabs her arm and drags her to him. He puts his lips to her ear and whispers something softly. The man's voice was like water. (Or is it music? Arorin thought.) Seeping into her mind and wrapping itself around her.
Arorin discovers that she can't find the will to call for help. When he tugs on her arm, her legs willingly follow obediently. Her heart starts pounding in fear. Her eyes dart from side to side, searching for someone to call out to. The street was deserted.
What's happening? I can't move away! Why can't I scream?! Oh God! Somebody, please help me! Arorin screams in her head.
The man has broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His defined muscles can be seen beneath his black shirt. He has pale skin compared to hers. His hair is the color of black berries. Arorin discovers brilliant gold eyes when he finally faces her at the end of the ally. Then the man's eyes blaze the color of blood.
He crowds her until he has her pinned against the ally's far wall. He brushes Arorin's hair away from her neck, exposing her frantically beating pulse. "Shhh. It's won't last long. Calm down." He runs a finger down her neck causing her stomach to contract with revulsion. His command makes Arorin's heart beat return to normal and her mind becomes hazy.
Agonizing pain pierces her neck. Her knees go week and give way but the man encircles her with his arms. His grasp on her is firm so she doesn't fall. He presses his body closer to hers. The pain radiates through her body. Tears gently roll down her color-drained cheeks.
Arorin desperately tries to fight through the fog in her mind. Very slowly she gains control over her arms. Inch by slow inch she moves her hands to the wall of his chest and tries to push him away. She finds her voice but it only comes out as a low whisper. Arorin tries again and this time it is a soft shout, "Get away from me you bloody bastard!" She puts all her strength into her shove against the stranger's chest.
The man stumbles backwards and gave an inhuman growl of anger. Arorin crumbles to the ground horrified at what she sees.
Blood drips from the man's lips. His two upper canines gleam in the moon light. She lest out a terrified gasp. A vampire?! But it can't be, they're only fiction. She puts a hand to her aching neck and feels a warm substance running down it. Blood! "Oh God!" the words come out as a croak. Her throat is bone dry from her fear.
The being leeps at her but Arorin rolls out of the way. The vampire slams into the wall and falls to the ground stunned. Arorin scrambles to her feet but grasps the wall for support. "Great, to much blood loss," she groans.
The vampire comes back to reality and lunges at her again. Arorin turns and makes a run for the ally's entrance. Her vision blurs but she continues to run. Her blood runs down her arms and leaves behind droplets of the warm precious fluid.
As she turns the corner she slams into a body and she falls to the ground. Arorin looks up and sees that the person she ran into was a man. He was staring at her face and then at the blood running down her neck. Then he walks into the ally.
The new stranger startles the vampire and it stops. The stranger keeps advancing on the creature while Arorin tries to warn him but her voice wouldn't work again. The vampire give an evil hiss filled with rage and tries to lung past the brave man.
The stranger grabs the vampire's arm and plunges his fist into its chest. Muscle tears and bones break. When the man removes hes hand from the vampire's chest, he shoves it into the shadow of the ally. In the stranger's grasp lies the withering thing's heart. Fire consumes the heart, instantly incinerating it. The fire leaps from the man' hand to the motionless body.
Arorin watches in horror as the body turns into a fine ash. The stranger returns his attention back to her and walks calmly towards her. She tries to stand but falls back down and ends up on her back. She tries despartly to sit up but her tired muscles won't work and the blood loss is making her dizzy. She turns her head to watch dreadingly as the man kneels down beside her and scoops he rup into his arms.
The man carries her down the street to her apartment building. He goes up a flight of stairs and sets Arorin down on the cold, hard cement floor. He goes through her purse and takes ou her keys. He unlock her door and pick her up again. He takes her inside and lays her on her couch. He goes back outside for a long time. After what seems like hours to Arorin, she watches through half closed eyes as the stranger walks through the door carrying a box, a cooler, and a suitecase. He closes the door with a foot and walks to the dinning table and puts his stuff down.
He grabs the cooler and walks to the couch and gently lifts Arorin's head and sits down. Her head now rests on his thigh. He opens the cooler and takes out a blood pack. Following the blood was a tube and needle. The type of stuff doctors use for a blood transfussion.
"What are you doing?" Arorin's voice sounded weak and helpless to her own ears.
"I'm giving you blood. What does it look like I'm doing. You've lost alot of blood you know." His voice was calm and flowing, similar to the vampire's.
"You don't know me. How could you possibly know what blood type I am? More improtantly is that I don't know you." Arorin's voice is getting weaker. She coughs a few times and settles down again. Her breathing is coming in short intervails with a little bit of wheezing sometimes.
"I know you. You just haven't met me before. I'm sorta like a friend of your family. I knew your grandparents if that helps you feel better." He puts the needle in her forearm and holds the blood pack at his shoulder.
"How could you have known my grandparents. I never met them. They died many years before I was born."
"Lets say we liked to visit eachother."
"But you're so young looking. You'd have to be much older to have known them." Arorin's eyes are growing, heavy and she starts to yawn.
"We'll talk tomorrow. Go to sleep." The man's voice held an odd note in it, compeling Arorin to obey.
Arorin's eyes flutter shut and the last thing she thinks of is her grandparents, her mom, and her dad.
