Chapter 11

We were singing Journey. REALLY? I wanted to climb up to where the vampire was and punch him in the face. Everyone knew I had an irrational hatred of Journey ever since Kent Calvin pulled up my dress at the middle school spring dance while Don't Stop Believing was playing.

I sang the words against my will, glancing at Jesse out of the corner of my eye. We weren't exactly still either. The same persuasive magic thing that was making us sing also made us dance. Not a choreographed dance or anything like that. Just some simple moves in time to the beat.

Before long it was like we were singing just to each other and having fun while doing.

Any way you want it, that's the way you need it! Any way we want it!

We switched off parts and I couldn't help but get into it after a while. There was no turning back. We both really did like to sing.

The guitar solo came and Jesse and I ran into Jesse's arms and we both started laughing our asses off until we were laying down on the stage and indulging in a bit of insane laughter.

"I THINK WE'RE IN CONTROL AGAIN!" I yelled to him over the tunes.

"I THINK SO TOO!" He said back.

"YEAH BUT WHERE'D HE GO?" I asked.

We both slowly got up as the background singers kept on singing their mantra of "any way you want it that's the way you need it."

From left to right we scanned but he was gone.

I didn't noticed but I was holding onto Jesse's body and he had his arm around my waist.

Just when I had given up scanning I saw something I could never have planned.

Beca was standing stunned in the center of the crowd and staring up at us. She was the only person on the dancefloor who appeared to be standing still.

"Oh fuck," I said, my face dropping.

"What is it?" Jesse asked. AS soon as he noticed her his face dropped too.

It'd be hard to talk our way out of this one.

To make matters worse I was starving again and I could smell Beca from the stage, that's how hungry I was.

"We gotta get outta here," Jesse said.

"Yes please," I said sadly.

There'd be no way to explain it right now. We looked to be cheating on her and in two very big ways. I just had to have faith that she would believe us when we finally came clean.

In the pit of my stomach I felt the meat from before completely dissolving like it had been useless.

I didn't want to live another day like this. There had to be a way to reverse it, there just had to.

Chapter 12

Once we got our bearings we both chased after Beca. I pushed through the crowd but I couldn't' see her anywhere. She was so small that it was easy to miss her with all the bodies around. Catching her wasn't the only thing on my mind. Blood. I needed blood. Not just any blood but human blood. I felt my veins pumping on low preserves. It was like when you go to the gym and lift weights, once you get out of there you can feel your veins bulging from all the running need. I needed more blood and I needed it fast.

Jesse and I were fast and strong. I think I pushed a lot of people aside, a little more forcefully than I intended, but eventually we made it to the door and pushed out into the night. "Which way would she have gone?" I was panicking.

Jesse stopped beside me and huffed. "I don't know. I guess maybe home?"

"No, she wouldn't want to see anyone. I bet she went to her special spot."

"Where is that?"

Did he really just ask that? Or was I hallucinating? I looked at him, eyebrows raised. He didn't even know where Beca liked to go to be alone. I began to doubt how close they really were. "Just follow me," I said.

We ran again. Past the club and back towards campus. It was strange not to get tired at all. I was used to running for exercise. I even enjoyed it but each pump of my legs was like the last. The only restriction was the need to feed. I was about to be running on an empty tank.

We were half way across campus, not far from the little gazebo by the lake. So close, we should be catching up by now but I didn't see Beca anywhere.

"CHLOE!"

My head snapped to the right and there was Aubrey across the path yelling my name with one hand in the air. She ran towards us and I felt myself slow to a jog and then change directions.

"Where are you going?"

Jesse had slowed too and was looking after me. "You go talk to Beca. I need to take care of this."

I didn't even glance back at him, just ran towards Aubrey, feeling emptier with every step. She stopped a few feet away and just looked at me. So much confusion and fear. My eyes went from her eyes to her neck and down her body.

"Chloe…"

We were standing out in the open but I didn't care. I wanted her, every last bit. The breeze picked up her hair and it whipped against her face. The smell hit me, like a wall I couldn't dodge and it made me move. I strode toward her. She'd never looked at me like that before. She knew I wasn't exactly me but I didn't see any hesitation in her. She let me take her hand and pull her behind me.

For the first time since I'd met her, Aubrey Posen was letting someone else take the lead. There was a clearing with a scenic overlook through the trees and I stopped there in the middle. We were surrounded by neoclassical pillars. I only knew that because of art history class.

"What's going on?"

It wasn't a new question. I was still asking it myself. I needed to be honest, at least partially. "I don't know. I'm just… going through something and it's kind of weird and heavy and I don't know how to even tell you."

"Well, you need to figure it out."

She was mad again. I tried to look away but I couldn't. The fight in her eyes kept me. It was why I loved her. It was part of why I let her control me sometimes.

"Can we just not right now?" Her anger was starting to light my own. It wasn't an emotion I let surface often but now I felt it like second nature. Mixed in there was that liquid pool of desire that was going to be the death of her if I didn't watch it.

I didn't want to. She stepped up to me, challenging evident. "That's not how this works, Chloe." She let go of my hand. "I ask a question and you give me a straight answer."

I didn't mean to laugh. I really didn't. I had no answers. I only had an insane story and more questions. It just made her more angry.

"Fine," she said and started to walk further into the overlook platform. "If you can't be serious I don't even know why I'm trying."

"Aubrey wait." I followed and reached out. She turned in that instant and we were close. Far too close. She licked her lips and looked down at mine. That was all it took.

I was on her, kissing and pushing her back against the stone pillar. At first it surprised her and she seemed uncomfortable, her arms were out, parallel to the ground. When she opened to me her hands slipped into my hair and down to my cheeks.

She let me do it and I could feel her give in. I seemed to have a little magic of my own but I wasn't sure if it was because I was a vampire or if I just had it all along and never knew. I broke the kiss and my mouth found her neck.

She turned and arched her neck and I pushed her hair out of the way. This time the warning bells were lost in the faint sounds of the night. Crickets and cicadas buzzed in the previous deadness of night and their song was joined by the small moans that Aubrey was making in her need for me.

My mouth watered and I opened it wide, baring my fangs. I didn't know why or how but all of a sudden I had pierced her without holding back. My fangs sunk into her skin so easily and I naturally began to just suck and taste her. Rich red, it rushed into my mouth and I swallowed quickly. It was better than I even imagined. It was warm and thick and it was Aubrey concentrated and pure. I'd kissed her before but that was nothing like this, this was better. I heard her small sound of pain give way to more pronounced relish.

It was as good for her as it was for me. I held her body against mine. She had gone slack but I was more than strong enough to support her. In my arms she felt a ragdoll, all small and precious. I drank and drank of precious life until I knew from instinct that it was enough. Anymore and I could hurt her. The ecstasy I felt from drinking her was masked by my own delicious terror. I almost wished she was drinking me. Knowing the panic was necessary and real, I slackened my jaw and pulled back from her skin, licking the tiny holes that oozed blood until they were clean and the coagulation set in, I pulled away from her and felt proud that I had stopped.

She lay her head back against the pillar for a moment and I just watched her there listless, unsure of what I could possibly say or do to explain. I had taken advantage of her and I felt bad. I didn't know if it would have been worse if I had drank from some random person but I knew it wouldn't have been as good. I felt ugly, dirty for thinking it.

She lolled her head to the side, her consciousness returning, and then she opened her eyes, straightening up in my arms. "Wha- ah… What did you just do?" She dazedly stared, her eyes slow to open and focus and see. There was no malice in her gaze. She was confused and she had every right to be.

Monster… Isn't that what Jesse had said?

I pursed my lips and then took a breath. "I'm a vampire." Her eyes went full wide. "I got turned into a vampire." I needed it out of me. I needed her to know.

This wasn't about some ex or some medical thing. Aubrey needed to know. I loved her too much not to share it with her.

"CHLOE BEALE! THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS VAMPIRES."

I just looked at her and smiled. "Tell it to the fangs." I opened my mouth to show her and her mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Surprise!" I smiled, keeping my sharp teeth out for her to recognize and then see.

In retrospect it probably wasn't the best thing to say but whatever.