Chapter 3: More Than Alive
Shelby screamed as they fell – she couldn't help it; the exhilaration that came from the sensation was so much at once. Paul held onto her hand like she was the most precious thing in the world – and she clung to him as the only thing she had.
Despite the fact that they'd been pretty high above the ground on the bridge, the fall only lasted about fifteen seconds – tops. Before she knew it, they were on the ground – landing on their feet, like… cats, or some shit – and all the boys were guffawing and clapping Paul on the back. Marko ruffled Shelby's hair – as if she were his little sister – and Dwayne grinned.
"Nice of you two to drop in." David muttered; as Paul took up his usual spot beside Shelby, leaning down to kiss her gently, before looping an arm around her waist. At this, David grimaced, "You're going to make me sick. Seriously – get a room."
Marko chimed in: "Yeah, go have sex in an alley or something – fuckin' lovebirds."
"Dude – are you high right now?" Paul thumped him, playfully, on the shoulder – making him snicker – before turning back to David, "What's the plan from here?"
At the word "plan", David shrugged, "No plans – just imagination. But you two seem very… cozy –," He indicated the fact that Shelby was now sucking on Paul's neck, absentmindedly, and made a gagging sound, "– so, naturally, we don't want you and your PDA around us. So… we'll see you later." Marko puckered his lips and made kissing noises, while Dwayne chuckled.
Paul nodded, "Yeah, man – okay."
David turned to leave, gesturing for the boys to follow him. Dwayne mumbled something to Paul as he passed, and Marko said, "See you later, bro." Waggling his eyebrows, he added, "Have fuuuun."
"Go away." Paul laughed, before his friend ran to catch up with David and Dwayne – leaving Paul and Shelby alone. The first thing he did was lower his head to kiss her, slowly, which caused her to smile.
"Have I mentioned how hot you look in my jacket?" He asked.
Smiling again, she shrugged, "No, you haven't. Must've slipped your mind."
"Well," He said, taking a step back to look her up and down, "You do. You look fucking sexy, sassy. More than usual, anyway."
Shelby giggled, pretending to be overly modest, "Oh, stop." She reached out to put her arms around his neck and sighed. "You're a pretty hot piece yourself, twisted sister." She leaned in to suck on his bottom lip for a moment, tracing her tongue over it.
He grinned, "Thing is, I've barely ever seen you with clothes on before – so I didn't expect you to look this good clothed."
She rolled her eyes, "I bet you say that to all the girls."
Paul shook his head, "Nah – just the ones I fuck."
Feigning annoyance, she smacked him on the arm, "Fuck you."
That got him laughing. "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful!" He joked, in a singsong voice.
She laughed with him, before looking up at him to ask, "So, how long until sunrise?"
His face grew serious, before he answered, "Forty minutes – maybe forty-give, maximum. I can… smell the sun – long before it rises."
Shelby took some time to think about the fact that she would never be able to go out in the sun again… She felt a twinge of remorse for that, because she'd always loved going to the beach – but decided to put it behind her. That part of herself was dead now. And, anyway, she didn't want sunlight if it meant she couldn't have Paul.
"Well… if we've only got that much time left, let's go do something." She said, finally, tugging at his hand, excitedly. "Come on!"
Paul stared at her for a moment, un-moving, before giving in. "I am really fucking hungry – now you mention it."
Shelby stopped dead in her tracks. "You mean… for blood? Human blood?"
He looked at her, his eyebrows furrowing, and nodded, "Yeah – of course. What else would I mean?" When she continued to look un-easy, he pulled her to him and murmured; "I forgot that you're, like… a murder virgin. And – I'm sorry to say this, but it's true – murder is kind of an essential part of the vampire lifestyle. Without human blood, you won't survive long – and I kind of want you around for a while, you know?"
He is so sweet, she thought, in the back of her mind. But human blood? I'm not 100% sure I'm ready for that. "I don't know, Paul…"
"Babe, I'm really sorry – but sunrise is coming in about… thirty-seven minutes." He lowered his mouth to her face, and whispered against her cheek: "So, unless you want to go a full day without anything to eat, we need to go round up a couple of humans."
She tried to protest further, but realized that he was right. There wasn't another option – and she actually was pretty hungry… "Fine." She blushed faintly, "But – I don't know what to… do. I've never killed anyone before…"
Paul laughed, softly. "Relax, virgin, I'll show you the ropes."
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They ended up at the Boardwalk; the place was dark and quiet. Since it was so early/late, nobody was there, and all the rides were shut down, casting eerie shadows on the wooden floors.
"Wow…" Jumping up onto the Merry Go-Round, Shelby smiled down at Paul. "This brings back memories."
He snorted, "How impressive of you; being able to remember what happened last night."
That caught her off guard. Had they really only met the night before? With all that had happened since then, it felt like she'd already been with Paul and the boys for months…
"I guess time flies." She muttered, leaning back on a nearby carnival horse.
"Yeah," Paul scoffed, "When you're having fun."
She rolled her eyes; "Sexual innuendo is weighing heavily on your words."
Shrugging, he licked his lips and said, "You seem to… inspire it in me."
Before she could say anything more, however, they heard a noise nearby, which caused her to jump. Paul stood up straight, his whole body on alert as he looked around for the source of the sound. Voices could be heard from not too far away. Muffled voices of people that were no doubt about to be slaughtered…
She felt her breath catch in her throat – the feeling of anxiety creeping into her veins only mildly swayed when he climbed up onto the Carousel beside her. Her hands reached for him blindly, since her eyes were too busy darting every which way, and clutched at his shirt loosely.
He moved his hands up to grab onto her wrists and calmed her, whispering, "Shelby, you have to relax, okay? Calm down. They're just fucking humans, babe. We're vampires – that automatically gives us a leg up." Turning her head towards him, their eyes met and he spoke in a voice so gentle that, were she not staring right at him, she wouldn't have believed it to be him saying the words, "You don't have to do anything – just follow my lead, and you'll be fine. I promise."
More promises, she thought wanly, before nodding. "Okay – I think I'm ready."
He smiled, gave her a wink, and turned his attention back to finding the source of the noise. He stood on his tiptoes for a moment, the sight causing Shelby to giggle quietly, and when he came back down, he murmured, "There are two of them; a boy and a girl." His fingers twined through hers, and he turned to kiss her once before moving forward, "Let's go."
She took a deep breath, and forced her legs to follow him, holding onto his hand tightly.
She didn't know why this was, but they made little to no noise as they walked over the pavement. It was as if their feet weren't touching the ground, they moved so lightly. Paul's hand gripped hers and she held her breath as they approached the voices, which grew louder with every step they took. After a few more steps forward, she could make out their conversation perfectly:
"Fucking hell, Alex – why do you have to be such a dick?" The female's voice spat, harshly.
The male, Alex, replied, "Aww, come on, baby – don't you love me anymore?" From the way his words slurred together, it was painfully obvious that he was drunk.
Clearly, the girl didn't really go for the drunk-type, and pushed him away. "Fuck off."
Paul let out a laugh, one of his typical, snarky ones, from where they hid in the shadows. The sound of it startled the female – the male being too wasted to notice much of anything – and she spun around, her eyes wide. "What was that?"
"What was what, baby?" Alex muttered, his voice garbled and deep.
"Shut up! I fucking heard something."
At that, Paul turned to give Shelby a look of excitement, and held up his index finger, telling her to stay where she was for a second. She nodded, and then he was gone – in the blink of an eye. She held her breath, looking around in the dark for any sign of him –
All the looking was for nothing, though, because as soon as she heard a startled yelp from the girl, she knew where he was. Looking up, she saw that Paul was right behind the terrified girl, his arms around her body, keeping her in a tight hold against him. Shelby felt the slightest twinge of anger at how he was holding her – his arms encircling her breasts as he kept her still.
And then the begging started to pour out of the girl: "P-Please don't h-h-hurt me…! I-I… Please –!"
"Ssshhhh." Paul quieted her, brushing her hair away from her face and putting a hand over her mouth, "I know you're scared. But there's no need to worry, because –," Shelby saw his fangs come out, as he held her by the hair, "-I'll make it quick."
Before the weeping girl could make another move, he bore down on her, his fangs burying themselves into the flesh of her neck. She screamed, a sound only mildly muffled by Paul's hand, and tried to fight him off – to no avail. He was strong – fuck, he was strong, Shelby observed – and he wrestled with her, keeping her in place as he drank her blood. Shelby wasn't totally sure, but she thought she could hear him humming to himself as he drained her of everything she had inside. This whole time, the chick's "boyfriend" stood by, his mouth open in total shock, while his girlfriend got slaughtered. As Shelby watched the idiot struggle with what he should do, she felt anger rise up inside of her body. What was wrong with this asshole? He sure looked like he cared about the girl – standing by and watching while she got attacked. The least he could fucking do was… well, something. And, quickly, that anger turned into a more primal feeling; a feeling that she had to indulge in.
So, for the first time, Shelby gave in to that feeling – and her fangs, too, came out, pushing their way through her gums, sharp and smooth. It only hurt for a moment – after which, she ran forward, lunging at the helpless, drunk fucker. He yelled as she grabbed him, her arms going around his neck and holding his head to the side as she sank her teeth into his skin. The minute the blood started to flow into her mouth, she felt relief surging through her. Red, sweet, hot relief flooding into her throat as she sucked the blood out of him like he was a fucking juice box. He struggled against her, pathetically flailing his arms around and kicking out at her – but she only bit down harder, causing him to howl in pain.
After about thirty seconds of slurping and swallowing, he went limp and cold in her arms. Pulling away from him, she let go and let his body fall to the ground in a tangled heap – on top of the girl's.
Looking over to Paul, she smiled, her fangs retreating into her mouth and her body on fire from what she had just done. "Holy shit! Did you see me? That was… That was –!"
"- Incredible." Paul finished, not looking up at her, but focusing on moving the bodies into a nearby storage room. "You were fucking amazing. You picked it up so quickly."
"I know!" She squealed, excited and proud. "I know! And it was so… mind-blowing."
Just then, Paul came back to where she stood and looked down at her. The minute he did, his expression changed slightly; His eyes grew dark and his body tensed up. "What's wrong?" Shelby asked, reaching out a hand to touch his cheek – which was stained with the girl's blood.
He caught her wrist in his hand before she could touch him, however, and grinned, "You look… really fucking…" She felt her mind reeling at this occurrence: Paul was actually at a loss for words. "The blood – on your mouth… You just… Fuck."
She raised an eyebrow, smiling mischievously, "What? Does it... turn you on, baby?"
He chuckled, nervously, before nodding, an embarrassed look on his beautiful face. "You have no idea how hot you are right now, sassy."
"Do something about it." She challenged, living up to her nickname once again.
Without another word, he pulled her to him, their mouths crashing together – and backed her up against the wall of the storage room. She gasped at the sudden movement, excitement coursing through her. She had blood all around her mouth as well, and he wasted no time in moving his attention to it. His tongue slid out from between his teeth and he began to suck at the red liquid. She held him tight, arms around his neck and fingers in his hair, as he licked off the blood, before bringing his mouth back to hers hungrily. It was all so fast and raw – her body was singing for him as she clutched at the fabric of his jacket. His hand snaked down in between them, fingers fumbling slightly as he un-buttoned her jeans, slipping into her panties and her wet folds quickly.
"Ohhh…" She whimpered, fingers knotting in his soft hair as he slid two fingers into her and began to pump. "Fuck, Paul… Yes…"
He kissed her again, their tongues battling for dominance in each other's mouths. His fingers fucking rammed into her – it was so rough and delicious. She bucked her hips forward, causing his fingers to dig further and further into her. Gasping, she squeezed her eyes shut and focused on her pressing orgasm. She was close – too close for comfort. "Paul…"
And with a final thrust of his fingers, she was there. As she moaned out her release, he held her close and kept her steady. Panting, she looked up at him, re-buttoning her jeans absentmindedly. "So… how much longer have we got?"
He took a moment. "Six minutes."
Nodding, she reached out to take his hand and said, "Let's get back, then."
Paul chuckled and kissed her once more before whispering, "You got it, sassy."
A/N: So, I'm not all that satisfied with this chapter. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think it's anywhere near as good as the previous two chapters… Maybe you guys think differently? If you do, tell me in a review – they make my day! :)
Acknowledgements must be given to two wonderful ladies who give me tons of much needed feedback and encourage me in my writing: Shelby (hollisterchick) and Shanna (Foxotr). They are both absolutely amazing and I'm so thankful to be their friend.
Shelby is my cousin in real life, and I've known her for as long as I can remember. I think it's safe to say that she's my closest friend and we get along so well. She's also the #1 fan of this story, without a single doubt. I mean, it's about her – so why shouldn't she be, right? I look forward to uploading every chapter so I can see her wonderfully spazzy reviews and make her happy :)
And Shanna is just so wonderful and lovely! Her stories "Angel" and "I'd Rather See You Dead" are ridiculously addicting and so brilliant, and she is such a talented writer, it's crazy. She is a huge inspiration to me and I admire her very much. I appreciate all of her feedback, and I love talking to her :)
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll update again as soon as I can!