OKAY! I PROMISE THIS STORY IS STILL ALIVE!
Thing is, with Love or Death, it's going to have more chapters, and this story is going to have more content within its chapters.
That being said, I'm extremely proud of this chapter!
The next morning, Yami woke me up early.
"Can I check your fangs?" he asked. I opened my mouth, closing my eyes again. After a few seconds, I heard him make a sound of approval. "Alright. Later on today, Sage and I are taking you hunting," Yami said.
"Can I go-ow," I muttered, my mouth starting to hurt again.
"You can, but, I told you the last bit would hurt like a bitch," Yami said, laying down next to me. I closed my eyes and turned away from him.
"When do we leave here? Won't our scent be all over this place?" I asked, putting my hand over my mouth.
"Well, yes. After we hunt with Sage, we have to leave. And get you some new clothes. You can't wear that outfit forever," Yami said. I shot a glare at him, not wanting to speak. Yami chuckled, and covered me with the blanket. "If you can sleep through the pain, I recommend it. We're going to hunt for about two hours, and then we need to leave," Yami said. I snuggled into the blanket, and tried to ignore the pain.
When I woke up, my throat felt dry. Like I hadn't drank anything in three years. Yami came in the room. He was shirtless, and his hair seemed wet.
"Awake?" he asked.
"Th-Thirsty," I rasped, getting out of bed.
"So it's finally fully hitting you. Bloodthirst. Before we go out, go take a shower. I just got one done," Yami said. I got out of bed. Yami led me out of the room, and directed me to the bathroom.
"You might want to be quick, too. Sage's getting impatient," Yami said, leaving the bathroom. I got undressed, and stepped in the shower. I turned it on, letting the water rush over me. I hadn't showered in a while, so it felt nice to finally get one. As I washed my hair, I thought of my house. My home. How I'd never go back. My father's influence over me was fading, and even I could feel it.
I'd never see my friends again. Yami wouldn't let me out of his sight. I understood, if the pureblood world was as bad as Yami described it to be, but, I still missed Merrow, Teter, Lyndi, and my other friends. I rinsed my hair, and finished washing up. I couldn't think like that.
I know I'd see them again.
When I got out, I quickly dried off, and got dressed in my old outfit. Yami was right. I needed to get new clothes. I left the bathroom, and saw Yami standing outside the room.
"Ready?" he asked.
"I guess. I'm still really thirsty," I said.
"That's about to change. We're taking you to hunt, and we're also going to teach you how to control your bloodlust, or, things will get dangerous," Yami said.
"How will it work, though ? If the last two times are any-"
"It's not going to be like that. This time, if things get dicey, I'll be able to pull you away," Yami said, "Besides, you need to learn. Vampires, especially purebloods like you and myself, can't survive on just blood tablets. Before long, your body will start rejecting the tablets, and your bloodlust will grow into a thirst so high, it won't be able to be contained. And, before you ask, I've seen it happen to someone once before, and it was terrible," Yami said.
"So, where are we going to do it?" I asked.
"Before you can feed from humans, you need to be able to control yourself. We're going to go and practice on wild animals. This'll also be a test to see if your speed is getting faster," Yami said. Sage came over to us.
"Are you guys ready or what?" she asked.
"I…..I guess," I said nervously.
"Let's go already, I'm thirsty," Sage sighed in impatience. Yami shot her a look. One I didn't understand. Sage immediately turned her back, and went downstairs. Yami led me down after her, and I heard him going down behind me. Once we left the house, both Sage and Yami were directing me around, as they did, and I looked around, I was hit with a sudden realization that I had no idea where we were.
Nothing looked familiar to me. No friendly, familiar faces of other people. Nothing even had any familiar scents to me. As the reality of what my life was now slowly sunk into me, I looked towards the ground. As to be expected, not even the terrain we were walking on stayed consistent. I bit my lower lip softly.
I wouldn't cry.
Not now. Not in front of two strangers.
While I was still getting to know Yami, he was still a stranger. I didn't know all that much about him. And, in the few days we'd spent at Sage's house, Yami had refused to let me leave the room, once telling me he feared I would be seen and recognized. He had told me that, along with him, I was infamous among the purebloods, because of my parents. Being separated from the purebloods for any amount of time, and you'd be the talk of their culture. Because of my parents, I was the most talked about, because I had been so young when my parents and I escaped from them.
And entire world I never knew, and I was suddenly being thrust into it head on. I partially blamed Yami for coming into the restaurant I had worked at that fateful night, but, he had told me they'd find me eventually, because of my father's influence leaving me. A lot of what I knew now, was just based on what Yami was telling me. I had no idea if any of it was true.
"Hey. Are you okay, Atem?" Yami asked gently. When had we stopped walking? Why had we stopped?
"Why do you ask?" I asked softly.
"Because. You've been walking slower, and when I turned to tell you to try and keep up, you had tears in your eyes. You still do. Are you okay? You can tell me if anything's wrong," Yami said, gently putting a hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off, and wiped my eyes. When did I get these tears? Hadn't I told myself I wouldn't cry in front of two strangers?
"I'm fine," I said. I swallowed the lump in my throat. How could I confess to Yami that the reason why I had all of these feelings inside me was because of him?
"Are you sure?" Yami asked gently. He tilted my head up slightly, and made eye contact with me. I wanted to turn my head away from how he was looking at me, but his fingers were gently, yet firmly, placed under my chin, still.
"I'm fine," I insisted. Yami continued to stare at me for a sew seconds, before we both heard Sage calling us.
"Come on! Or, I'm going to take anything and everything!" she yelled. Yami and I broke apart from each other, and caught up to her, me getting there before him.
"Alright, Atem. Close your eyes," Sage instructed. I did as instructed. "Now that you've done that, listen. Listen, and smell. Tell me when you can smell or hear something different than plants," Sage said. After a while, a musky smell hit my nose. My eyes shot open, and both Sage and Yami were smiling at me.
"You smell it, too, now, don't you?" Yami asked. I nodded.
"That's good for us, then. Could be either one of my favorite alternatives. Deer or bear," Sage said.
"Sage. Let Atem go first. It's his first hunt, after all," Yami said.
"But, I'm hungry," Sage pouted, "You two drank most of my stock, anyway."
"No. We haven't. I've had two bottles. Atem's had blood tablets," Yami said. Sage's pout deepened, but Yami's look didn't change. After a few moments, Sage sighed.
"Fine. He can have it," she relented.
"Atem. Go. Remember, this is a test of your speed as well. Go to where the smell is strongest," Yami said. I started walking into the woods. Once I was hidden by the trees from Yami and Sage, I closed my eyes again to focus on the smell. Once I got ahold of it again, I started running towards it. I could smell it better and better as I ran. I stopped to gather myself. What...What were these new feelings? Thirst….bloodlust. Hungry. Very hungry. I closed my eyes again, and pinpointed the smell. The musky smell was closer. Closer than ever before. I started running towards it again, only to stop and hide behind a tree again, when I saw it.
A bear.
A black bear.
I licked my lips. My throat was so dry. I was so hungry. So thirsty. I was about to go up to it, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped, and turned, seeing Yami behind me, smiling widely. Sage was behind him, smiling as well.
"I'm impressed. You got here in a really short amount of time," Yami said.
"You still have the speed of a newborn, which is to be expected. You'll slow as time goes on, but not by much," Sage said.
"So, now what? What do I do?" I asked. Sage looked at Yami.
"You didn't teach him? Can I grab the bear while you teach him? Please?" Sage asked.
"What did you expect? I told you while he was in the shower that his fangs just came in this morning. You wanted to hunt, so I didn't have time to teach him. And, you know what? Fine. Take it," Yami said. Sage smiled. She quickly went over to the bear, and bit into it. I watched, mesmerized as the bear roared in pain, and was about to try and get Sage off, but Sage seemed to start drinking, and the bear went stiff, then limp. Yami turned me to him.
"Here. I guess your first bite is going to be a person. I want you to bite me. I will pull you away, though, if you get too demanding," Yami wared. I nodded. "Don't worry. It's actually really easy. When you're biting humans, you need to numb the area with a lick. Vampire saliva has numbing qualities, so the human will think of it as a mild discomfort, instead of immense pain. For me, and for animals, you don't need to numb the area. Animals, with vampire saliva, are impossible to numb. They'd hurt you and get away from you before you had the chance to bite. And, for me, well, I'm used to it, so, you won't hurt me at all," Yami said.
"O-Okay. So, what do I do, now that you've told me all of that? Isn't it just a simple bite, now?" I asked.
"Yes. And, it's a good thing you're practicing on me," Yami said. He tilted his head, baring his neck to me. "Now, remember what I just told you, and bite into me," Yami instructed. I took a deep breath, and got close to Yami's neck, before biting into it.
"Now, to drink, is very simple. Since Katsu raised you around humans, you should know how one can suck juice from an orange, correct? It's very similar to that, just with your fangs instead of your lips," Yami said. I started to do as Yami instructed, and was hit with surprise when I felt the blood going down my throat. But, the taste…! The taste was amazing. Delicious! I closed my eyes as I drank hungrily. The deliciousness of the blood was being devoured by a ravenous beast inside of me that craved the blood.
Drink. Drink. Drink it all. So hungry. So hungry…..
"-em, -p."
I barely heard Yami's voice. I didn't care. More. I want more! But, the beast inside me roared from defiance, when I was suddenly ripped away from Yami's neck. I landed on my ass, and Yami let out a grunt of pain. I glared up, watching him put a hand to where I had bitten.
"I told you to stop, you bastard," Yami growled.
"You know, you wouldn't be in pain if you had let him numb the area," Sage said, walking over.
"I'm not in pain from the bite. I'm in pain because I just had to fucking rip him away from my neck!" Yami yelled.
"Well, if you'd let him finish actual blood, maybe his newfound bloodlust will end. You keep ripping him away from what his body is craving, you fucking idiot!" Sage yelled. Yami blinked, as if realizing this for the first time. "...W-Well, Atem. Can you smell another musky scent close? If you do, I believe it's a deer or another bear," Yami said. I closed my eyes, and started to concentrate, and Yami was right. I could smell another musky odor that was close by. I got up, dusted myself off, and ran after the musky scent.
The beast inside of me started to take over again, not wanting to wait any longer. I ran up to the deer, and before it even had a chance to move, I bit into it, and started to drink hungrily. It didn't taste as well as the blood I had tasted at Sage's, or Yami's blood, but it was still good. I continued to drink the deer's blood, until its body had none left. I dropped its body, and licked my lips, getting the small amounts of blood leftover on them. I gave a deep sigh, finally feeling myself again. I looked over, and saw Sage and Yami standing to the side. Yami seemed to be filled with pride as he walked over to me.
"Still hungry, or, are you good?" he asked.
"I'm still a little hungry, but, I feel like myself again. Is that good?" I asked.
"When drinking blood? Yeah. It means the bloodlust had passed. I...didn't even realize until Sage pointed it out. Sorry about that," Yami said, laughing nervously.
"It...It's alright. Like I said, I feel like myself again, so, it's okay," I said, smiling.
After a few more hours, Yami, Sage, and I returned to Sage's house.
"So, Atem. I want you to get a good night's rest, because we're going clothes shopping tomorrow," Yami said, as we headed to our room.
"Really? Good, I've needed some new clothes. These ones are starting to smell," I said.
"Yeah. So, like I said, get plenty of sleep. Once we're done shopping, we need to leave here. Our scent is all over this place, and I don't want Sage to be a target. As soon as we leave, she's going to clean this room, and the entire house, so it doesn't smell like we've been here," Yami said,laying on the bed. I laid on the other side, and sunk into the pillow and blanket. After the hunting, and with my bloodlust satiated, I was exhausted.
"Good night, Atem," Yami whispered softly. I felt him making sure the blanket was over me. I couldn't even muster a response, before I fell asleep.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Alrighty! Next update will be Love or Death! See you guys there!