Here is the second chapter of A New Life. I hope you enjoy.
All he could feel was pain. The most agonising pain ran through his stomach, centred near his hip. He knew in the back of his foggy mind why he felt this pain, but as he could barely think and his body wasn't responding to his demands, he couldn't do anything about it. As the pain go worse, the foggier his brain got and the more distant he felt with his body. Soon, he felt so disconnected that he imagined he was in the ICarly studio wearing the clothes he had been wearing the day he and Sam had almost broken up after the NERD camp thing.
"What am I doing here?" Freddie asked himself, not expecting an answer. But when one came, he was surprised.
"You know, talking to yourself is the first sign of crazy." Came Sam's voice and he turned around to see Sam sitting on the hood of the car.
"Am I dreaming?" Freddie asked.
"I don't know. Maybe." Sam replied. She was also wearing the same clothes she had been wearing that day and she was holding the blue remote.
"I wish I could stay in dream land. I wouldn't have to face what is out there." Freddie said and Sam smiled, sliding off the hood of the car and walking over to him.
"What fun would that be? There wouldn't be any adventure anywhere then and you wouldn't get to resolve any issues that you have. Like the one where you go back to life." Sam said.
"How do I know that this is a dream?" Freddie asked.
"Because once you close your eyes, you can go anywhere and have anyone with you." Sam replied. Freddie nodded and then he sighed when Sam ran her fingers gently through his hair.
"I need you to wake up. There is a demon waiting for you and you need to face it." Sam said softly.
"And what would this demon be called?" Freddie asked and Sam smiled. She then kissed him softly and then pulled away, walking over to the door and opening it, looking over her shoulder before walking out.
"It's called life." Sam replied and then she left. The second she was gone, the studio was gone and Freddie was surrounded by fog once again.
Freddie had no idea how long he was trapped in the fog, but he did know that after a few hours the fog disappeared and he was left in blackness. But in the blackness, Freddie could tell something was different, he just had no idea what it was. That was until the blackness faded.
When the darkness first started to fade, Freddie was confused. He could hear the flatter of butterfly wings from miles away and he could sense 3 people around him. As he was thinking about why this was happening, the darkness faded even more. Soon, he took in a deep breath and opened his eyes, gasping at how clear everything was.
"Freddie." Came a soft voice and Freddie shot into a sitting position, instantly regretting it as pain shot through his stomach.
"Don't move so fast. Don't worry, the pain will stop soon." The soft voice said and Freddie opened his eyes to see Cassie, Pete and the second man who was massaging his jaw in the room.
"W-where am i?" Freddie asked when the pain had subsided.
"You're in a cabin in the woods where we live right now. We brought you here after you were stabbed." Pete replied. Freddie nodded and suddenly, he remembered the red eyes and he looked towards No Name.
"That's Danny. He saved your life." Cassie said.
"How?" Freddie asked, looking back up at her and she sighed.
"I'll tell you if you promise not to flip out." Cassie replied and Freddie nodded.
"I promise." He said and Cassie sighed.
"Freddie, you survived because you were turned into a vampire." Pete said and Freddie instantly looked confused.
"Wait. What? Are you guys serious?" Freddie asked and Cassie nodded. Freddie stared at her as if she was crazy for a few minutes before something clicked and he put his hand to his throat. Cassie gave him a sympathetic look and then wrapped an arm around him.
"Don't worry kid. We're still living creatures. We're not dead like the blood sucking fairies in that vampire movie you kids watch." Danny said through a slightly clenched jaw.
"Don't worry about him. He just injured his jaw earlier and still can't really talk. I'm Pete and this is Danny. You obviously already know Cassie." Pete said softly and Freddie nodded, still extremely confused. His throat had randomly started burning and he had no idea why. It made it hard to concentrate and mixed with the pain in his stomach, it was a surprise to him he was still standing.
"So, what kind of vampire are you….. we?" Freddie asked after a few seconds and Pete sighed.
"First of all, there is only one kind of vampire, just some are bad and some are evil. We don't have any special powers or anything, but we can hear better, see better, smell better and we are extremely strong. One important thing you need to know is that we can't just bite you and turn you. If we want to turn you into a vampire, we must force ourselves to do so by growing fangs that are filled with venom and inject it into you that way. But it is really painful which is why Danny's jaw hurts." Pete explained. Danny grunted and then dropped his hand.
"I think it's pretty much right now. I can hopefully still eat dinner." Danny said and Cassie rolled her eyes. She then looked to her nephew who had his eyebrows furrowed together in complete confusion.
"I-I don't….. I don't understand." Freddie said.
"Look, I know it seems freaky, but it's not. You still sleep, eat and do everything a human does, you're just going to be stronger and you can run faster. But only when in danger. You get stronger when angry, intimidated or when you're trying to protect someone. It's not really that different." Cassie said.
"Do you age?" Freddie asked.
"Yes. But once you reach a certain age and you want to stop, you can. You can also start again if you want, but it is pretty hard and it hurts a fair bit at first." Pete replied. Freddie nodded, but Cassie could tell he wasn't really taking anything in as he was in pain and shock. She looked up at Pete and he sighed, leaving the room. Freddie's eyes followed him and then they looked all around the room, taking in all of the detail he could. He took this time to really look at Cassie and Danny, taking in as much as he could about them.
Cassie was slightly shorter than Freddie and she had long red hair and light brown eyes. She was really quite beautiful, but she also looked worried and tired. She was wearing a black long sleeved shirt with dark blue jeans, a pair of black boots that ended just above the ankle. Freddie knew she was 26, but she looked younger then she really was.
Danny had dark brown hair and grey-blue eyes. He was sitting down right now, but Freddie guessed Danny was taller than him. He was wearing a black t-shirt with black jeans and black and white converses. He looked buff and Freddie guessed that he was about 24.
When Pete walked back into the room, Danny walked over to Freddie and he and Cassie grabbed one of Freddie's arms each. He was confused for a second before something hit him and his mouth started watering. The sweetest scent filled the air and it made the burn in his throat even worse. He went to go attack Pete where the scent was coming from, but he was pulled back by Cassie and Danny.
"Calm down Freddie." Cassie said as he tried to break free. Freddie just stared at Pete with a half-crazed look as he tried to get closer to the smell.
"Freddie, stop fighting. If you calm down, you'll be able to get what you want. Just relax." Cassie said, but Freddie still tried to get free.
"Imagine what Sam would do if she saw you going crazy like this." Cassie said after a few seconds and Freddie suddenly froze, his face going blank.
"I think you hit a nerve." Danny said when Freddie pulled his arms away from them and walked out of the room, the smell not even having an effect anymore. Cassie sighed and went after Freddie, finding him sitting against the wall right outside of the front door.
"I saw my eyes on the way down the hall. They're red." Freddie mumbled when Cassie sat down next to and she sighed.
"Your eyes will go back to normal once you've tasted human blood. Believe me; it's not as gross as it sounds." Cassie said.
"And I see you changed my shirt too." Freddie said, pulling at the blue long sleeved shirt he was now wearing.
"I went by your apartment and picked it up for you. Don't worry. Your mum had no clue." Cassie said and Freddie weakly smiled. The two sat in silence for a minutes before Cassie turned back to her nephew.
"Why did you walk out when I mentioned Sam?" Cassie asked.
"Because. I realised that if I'm a vampire and if she finds out, she won't even want to be in the same room as me and that's not something I will ever be able to handle." Freddie replied and Cassie nodded in understanding.
"You still love her after everything you've been through." Cassie said softly and Freddie nodded.
"When the crash happened, Sam was the first one to comfort me. We almost got back together the next day, but I told her that until I'm completely over what happened and what I saw, I didn't want to date her in case it was for the wrong reasons. She was totally fine with it and she was really understanding since she'd seen it happen too. But now that I am apparently a vampire, when she finds out she'll freak and never speak to me again. I won't be able to handle losing her for good this time." Freddie said and Cassie nodded.
"Look, she might never have to find out. Vampires can keep aging and die at the age of 90 if they want. If you want to be with her forever, that might work." Cassie said.
"But what if I accidently hurt her? Or worse, kill her because I lost control? I would never be able to live with myself." Freddie said.
"Freddie, worrying about this so much when you haven't even had any blood isn't healthy. It'll just make you go crazy and that will be even worse. We will cross that bridge if it comes down to it and until then, don't worry too much about it okay?" Cassie asked and Freddie nodded. He then stood up just as his phone started ringing. He was a little surprised to see the it was still in his pocket, but he didn't have too much time to think when he saw the caller was Sam.
"Answer it. I'll be inside." Cassie said and Freddie smiled. He then answered it and put it to his ear.
"Sam?" Freddie asked.
"Oh my god. I thought something terrible had happened to you. You never came back last night and I've been freaking out. Everyone has. Where are you?" Sam asked in a panicked voice.
"Sam, please calm down. I am safe and well. As to where I am, I'm not exactly sure. But I am safe. I'll be home hopefully tomorrow morning. I just need a little space right now." Freddie said and he could hear Sam's breathing return to normal.
"Okay. Well, call me again soon. And keep me posted. If you so much as get a scratch on you I will hunt you down and drag you back okay? Just be safe." Sam said and Freddie smiled softly.
"I will Sammy. Don't you worry about that. I have to go now, but I'll call you later. I promise." Freddie said.
"Okay. Bye." Sam said and the two then hung up. Freddie then took a deep breath and walked back inside, instantly smelling the sweet smell again. But keeping his self-control in check, he took a deep breath and slowly entered the room, staring at Pete.
Pete was also young, maybe 27, and he had dirty blond hair, stubble across his face and pale blue eyes. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with black pants and black boots. He somehow pulled off his look amazingly and Freddie could tell that he had lots of secrets just by simply looking in his eyes for a moment.
"Do you have control over yourself now?" Pete asked.
"I-I think so." Freddie nodded and Pete looked to Danny and Cassie.
"We wait until tonight before we go. It'll give us time to get him prepared." Pete said and they nodded.
"Wait. Get me prepared for what?" Freddie asked.
"To go on your first hunting trip." Danny replied and Freddie gulped.
This was going to be interesting.
Freddie was surprised by how much he could see at night. It was like everything was lit up and he was constantly looking around him instead of focusing on the task at hand. He had to be reminded several times not to get to distracted on the details and Cassie was trying not to laugh at his expression of amazement.
"Okay. Now, a fact that is going to be important is this. We only go for the people who are doing the wrong thing. So if they want to murder someone, we go for them. But we do NOT kill them. We just drink enough so that they pass out. Don't worry; we'll be there to help in case you get carried away." Pete said and Freddie nodded. The four then walked down the street a little more before they heard a muffled scream and crying coming from further down the street. Moving quickly, the four reached the alleyway and the sweet smell of blood hit Freddie square in the face. Pete had given him some blood earlier to calm the burn, but now it was back and worse than before. It took all of his control to not attack the girl who was bleeding.
In the alleyway, there was 2 men holding down a young girl who was crying. Freddie watched as Cassie, Pete and Danny attacked the two men and the girl instantly screamed and ran away. Freddie then watched as Pete bit into the first man's neck and slowly, the man stopped fighting and slumped into him. Pete then pulled away and the man dropped the floor, his friend screaming into Danny's hand.
"Oh no, no. Don't scream. He's not dead, just passed out." Cassie said and the man's eyes widened in fear. Cassie then pulled Freddie over to him and smiled.
"He's all yours." Pete said and Freddie gave a worried look towards Cassie. She just nodded encouragingly and Freddie took a deep breath before stepping up to the man and slowly, biting into his neck. The man, who still had his mouth covered by Danny's hand, started trying to push Freddie away, but Freddie just grabbed his wrists and shoved him into the wall.
"Freddie, that's enough." Cassie said when the man started to lose consciousness. But Freddie didn't hear her as he was lost in the amazing taste of the blood. It tasted sweet, something that would never be able to be matched, and it was soothing the burning in Freddie's throat. Cross with the fact that it was the best thing Freddie had ever tasted, he couldn't get enough of it. When he was pulled away by the three adults however, a feral snarl sounded from him and he tried to break free.
"Calm down." Danny said forcefully and for a second, Freddie began to calm down. But suddenly, he started fighting again, his eyes locked on Danny.
"Stay out of my head." Freddie snarled and Pete, Cassie and Danny all looked shocked. When a vampire turned a human into another vampire, they became their master and in serious situations, they could control the vampires they basically created and get control. As Danny turned Freddie, he should have power, but Freddie seemed to have gotten around the power.
"Let me go." Freddie growled as he tried to yank his arms away from Cassie and Pete, but they only tightened their grips and pulled him back. The man that Freddie had drunk blood from was now slumped against the wall, his eyes closed and his skin pale. While Cassie and Pete were holding Freddie back, Danny checked the man's pulse and found it was weakly beating.
"We'll call an ambulance. Freddie, you need to calm down now." Danny said forcefully and Freddie growled. Pete and Cassie took advantage of his distraction and pushed him to his knees.
"Let….. me….. go." Freddie said a little calmer and Pete and Cassie slowly let him go, thinking Danny had gotten to him. However, as soon as he was free, Freddie leapt up and shoved Danny into the wall.
"Stay out of my head." Freddie snarled and he gasped. Danny was staring into Freddie's still red eyes and he looked almost feral. Danny somehow knew in that moment he had no control over Freddie at all and when Freddie released his hold on the man, Freddie spun around and slammed his fist into the dumpster, running as fast as he could out of the alleyway. Pete was instantly after him and Cassie went over to Danny.
"Are you alright?" Cassie asked as she checked Danny over.
"I'm fine. Cassie, that kid must have a strong independent mind. He has his mind blocked or something. I can't get to him." Danny said and Cassie sighed.
"Pete had better find him. Before he does something stupid."