3. Awakening

The pain was gone. I still kept my eyes shut. I moved my arms, felling the leaves and soil underneath me. I felt good, refreshed. I could hear the rustling of the leaves, the air, and the birds. It was weird. I concentrated on the birds. I could hear one chirp, and move from branch to branch. When I opened my eyes, it was mesmerizing. I was in shock, stunned at what I saw. I saw everything in clarity. I focused, and saw the veins on the leaf falling about 15 feet away from me. I saw a small colony of ant moving up a tree to their hole.

I touched my face. It was not what I expected. It was hard. So were my hands. They were tough. I looked them. They were a tad bit lighter. I then noticed that I was somehow moved. I was not at the foot of the tree that I hit.

I stood up. No. That was an understatement. I sort of leaped up. With one easy thrust of my body, I was up, and standing erect, looking at my surrounding at the same time. I could have easily counted how many leaves feel on the ground in the millisecond it took me to stand.

"He's up." I heard. It came from behind me. It was a male's voice.

As soon as I heard it, I quickly turned my entire body towards the direction it came from, knowing instantly. I saw him. He stood, leaning back towards a tree. He looked at me from the corner of his eye. His body followed his golden eyes, and positioned himself to face me. The female was sitting on a tree branch high up. I could hear her breathe. I heard her slide of the branch, and plummet down towards the ground. I watched her swoop down. I instantly focused on the spot where she would land, even before she landed.

Their pale faces looked at me. I looked back, examining theirs. It had barely been three seconds since I had gotten up from where I was laying, and I had noticed the smallest details, from the falling of leaves, to the intricate stitching on the male's leather jacket.

"Who are you?" I asked, uneasy, a bit shocked at how far the girl was able to jump, with ease.

"My name is Adam, and this is Emma." said the male, pointing to his companion, whom I assumed was his girlfriend or something.

"My name is Mason." I uttered. I instantly remembered being in pain, and lying on the ground dying, while they both looked at me from above. I felt fine, but I certainly wasn't then. "Why didn't you help me?" I shouted, amazed at how amazingly loud it was.

"We did." said Adam, clearly startled.

"No you didn't! You two just stood there and looked…" I was interrupted. I was angry now. More than angry, furious, much more than I had ever been in my life.

"We did help you! You asked us to, so we did!" butted in Emma.

I huffed and growled, and focused on the girl, angry and confused. I didn't realize I growled. They both sort of took a step back. The girl hunched over a little bit, as if ready to run, or come at me.

"Listen, we did help, but you just have to let us explain." said Adam, as he rose his right arm, motioning to Emma.

What came next was not good. There was a burning in my throat that was small when I first got up, and now it was growing greater. I gust of wind carried a scent. I caught it. I knew exactly from where it trailed. This scent was soothing, and intoxicating. I wanted it. I needed it. I somehow knew that my throat needed it. I would give anything to have it. With a quick jerk of my legs, I was off in the direction of the scent. I wasn't in control anymore. I quickly sprinted, running faster than ever before, running faster than anyone I have ever seen; running faster than I knew was possible, running too fast. It was impossible, and I was the one doing it. I easily ran a few meters in a matter of half a second.

"Emma!" I heard coming from behind. It was Adam. He sounded distressed. I couldn't care less. I wanted that scent. Then, I stopped running as fast. I wanted it bad, to calm my throat. I tried harder. I got so tired. Fatigued, I stopped running, falling to my knees. My entire body felt like I just ran a couple miles. I felt like I wanted to rest, sleep, and do nothing. Just as quick as I ran off, Adam and Emma were right by my side.

"You need to control your thirst." said Adam.

I felt fine again. The fatigue had felt, and I stood up. I clenched my throat. It was painful, but I was grateful it was only in my throat, and not my entire body like it was before. I clenched my eyes.

"It's going to be fine." whispered Emma into my ear. "Listen for a deer, and then go for it."

"What?" I gasped.

"If it's not a deer, it'll be a human." Adam explained.

I knew what they were talking about. Somehow, I knew that I wanted human blood, like instinct. Still clenching my throat, and shutting my eyes, I heard the small, light footsteps of an animal. It probably wasn't that big, but I just needed something. I locked on, and took off. This time, I didn't feel tired after running. I just keep zipping through the trees, and leaves. I sprinted, and bounced flawlessly off the ground. I could hear Emma and Adam following me. They had trouble. They grunted as tried hard to keep up.

As I ran, I could now see the deer in sight. It saw me as well. It tried to run, but it didn't stand a chance. Just as quick as it saw me, I had it in my hands. I had to go for it. The thirst in my throat demanded it.

When I was done, I was horrified. I had now realized that they did in fact do something to me. These "abilities" were new to me, and so was this so called "thirst".

"What did you do to me?" I snarled as Emma and Adam waited for me.

"What we had to do. You wanted us to do it. You said to do anything." explained Adam.

"Fine, but exactly what did you do?" I asked.

"We turned you." said Emma.

"Into what?" I asked curiously, feeling my hard, cold fingers.

"A vampire." said Adam, lowering his head.

My head quickly shot up at the word.

"A what?" I demanded to know.

"A Vampire." Emma spoke.

"You mean, like a blood sucker, the ones you see on TV?" I gasped at the thought.

"Not exactly. Those are fake. We're real, but we don't sleep in coffins, and can't be killed by wooden steaks to the heart." explained Adam.

I stood still, listening to the sounds of the woods. Trying to think about what has happened to me. All I knew so far was that I could do things neither I, nor any human being could do before, and I had a thirst for blood.

"Listen, it's all a lot to explain, but we will explain it all. It's all going to be OK." said Emma.

It finally hit me. Reality.

"How long have I been out?" I asked frantically.

"Four days." responded Adam.

"I have to go see my family." I said, trying to figure out in which direction to go.

"No!" Adam said, grabbing my arm, holding me back.

"Why not?" I asked.

"As far as they know, you're dead. You can't go back. You're no longer human. You won't be able to control yourself. If you go, they will all die! You will die, and so will we." said Emma.

I couldn't believe that I had been turned into something, unnatural; something I taught didn't exist, only in movies.

"Come with us. We have a place. It's not very far from here. We'll explain everything." Adam said.

I had some questions, I wanted them answered, and I guess going with them would be the only way. They both nodded towards each other. Emma took off, running ridiculously fast.

"Come." gestured Adam.

He took off at the speed of light as well. I immediately followed, fearing I would lose them. I noticed I passed Adam, and caught up with Emma with ease. Running at her heals; I carefully slowed down a little, to stay behind her. I could hear Adam grunting, exerting force to catch up to us. I noticed how they both ran. They looked straight forward, not looking at the branches they dodged, or the fallen trees they leap across. I somehow did the same. It was like second nature.