Chapter 2
Chloe's POV
My gaze rests on the door to the club, long after the girl is gone. Something about her seems to pull me in. When I saw her sitting at the bar alone, clutching her beer with an aurora of sadness surrounding her, my heart broke. And when I went to talk to her and heard that sexy southern drawl, it seemed to beat again, something it hadn't done in years. Metaphorically of course.
There are many myths about vampires, the biggest one being that we're all dead. We are mostly, but our hearts still pump, just at a slower pace. To be turned into a vampire, you must be close to death or willing to let a part of your soul die. So yes, the myth isn't all that, but it isn't right either. Our bodies are alive, frozen in time but still pumping blood that isn't ours. Our soul's on the other hand, they're dead. Taken by the devil himself, snatched from our very own bodies and fed to the river, full of souls but always hungry for more.
Some of us, the ones who are dying, don't have a choice on whether or not we give up our souls. Instead, a vampire gets greedy and sucks it out of us, grateful for the temporary boost in strength. We don't get a say so and most end up spending the rest of eternity trying to kill themselves, dreadful at the thought of drinking blood from others.
I'm one of those. I was left dying, struck by a plague so fierce that it literally took my breath away. I had heard rumors about the monsters that plagued the night. The monsters that could breathe life back into you, but only for the price of your soul. Some took that deal greedily, but I refused to call out. To pray to God for another chance at life. Where did I get off on doing that? What made me so different that I could have another chance when so many others didn't? Sadly, while I didn't want it, my family took it gladly. Then, they turned their hungry eyes on me.
"Mummy," my raspy voice calls out but it's quickly drowned out by coughs that rack my body. My chest hurts so bad, like it's tightening with every breath I take, crushing my heart. I shiver even with the blankets that were put on top of me and the stifling heat that pulses in from the outside.
"My baby," my mum wails, though I'm not a baby anymore. She rushes over to me with inhuman speed. Everything in me wants to shrink away from her, but she's my mum, so I let her run her cold, icy hands over my hair. Her dark, empty eyes stare into mine which are filled with pain and despair.
"Alice," Papa puts his hand on Mum's shoulder. "We need to get her help."
"I know," mum wails again, pulling me closer before suddenly pushing away. "We will get you help my little darling. I swear to it."
"Ben, watch your sister, will you? We'll go get help."
"But why can't we do it?" My brother comes over and sits next to me.
"Because we're new at this. We don't want to put her life in any more danger than it already is."
"Come on. Richard. We have to hurry." Papa comes over and kisses my clammy forehead.
"You will live, my little robin. Don't fly off just yet. Wait for us to catch up first." With that, both of my parents are gone and at the thought of their mission, I squirm.
"I don't want it," I cry and my coughing starts up again. "Please, Ben. I don't want it." My brother turns his sad, dark eyes meeting mine. They all took the devil's way out and soon, they'll make me take it too.
"Stop it, Chloe. You'll hurt yourself." Sure enough, blood starts pouring out of my nose and into my mouth, choking me. A part of me hopes that he'll let it. That he'll let me go on my own terms, but alas, he flips me over on my side until my episode is over.
"Chloe, we're doing this because we love you. Please, just be with us." Instead of saying anything, I just look up at the ceiling, covered in grime. Since the plague hit, our housekeeper hasn't come to clean and mum and I got sick. Now, she's not sick and neither are papa and Ben. Rage courses through me for one quick second before the weakness takes over, leaving me shivering even harder.
I don't want to be like them. Like those monsters who take from others and never give back. I've heard what they have to do to survive, what my family will have to do. The thought makes me gag. How could they? How could anybody?
Giving one last horrible cough, I drift off to sleep, hoping that it will be the last time.
"Earth to Chloe," Aubrey waves a hand in front of my face. I shake my head, pushing the memories that refuse to fade away.
"Sorry. Lost in my thoughts." My blond friend rolls her eyes.
"You always are. Now, come on. There are some hot dudes just waiting for us to suck on them." Aubrey winks and to anyone else who heard, they're thinking of a certain body part. Secretly though, she means taking their blood. I shiver at the thought.
"Aubrey, wait. I'm not feeling it."
"You never are, Chlo." Aubrey grabs my arm and pulls me to the side. "What the hell is wrong with you? You are one of the oldest vampires I know and yet you still get repulsed at the thought of drinking another's blood."
"It's not right and not legal. I think I'll stick with the blood bank."
"But that's no fun," Aubrey's face scrunches up in disgust. The blood bank was designed specifically for vampires. After word got out that creatures like us exist, the government made a deal with us. We can walk amongst them but in turn, we have to follow the rules. For werewolves, they can't shift until the full moon and when that comes around, they are to be chained up so they can't hurt anybody. Goblins must stay underground, where supplies will be handed out once a week. They are not to play tricks on anyone or show their face in public. Which sounds cruel, but goblins are manipulators and will do anything just to have a little fun.
For vampires, we have the blood bank. Whenever we need to eat, we go there where they supply us with blood for just a small fee. In return, we don't drink fresh blood from humans. If any supernatural creature breaks the rules, they have people come after them. People trained for anything and who most of the time end up killing the creature. Now that makes me angry. Instead of locking up the creature like they would any human, they "accidentally" kill them and it's seen as okay. For all their talk about being fair and following the rules, they sure as hell seem to break them a lot.
"It's not fun, but it's the law and you know it. Just get a blood shot from the bar"
"I'm surprised to hear you say that since it's almost as illegal as what I'm proposing. Just...please. These guys obviously want us. Come on. Don't let me do this alone."
"I'm not letting you do anything Bree. It's against the rules and I for one, am not keen on the idea of having an agent come after me. You know what happens to the vampires who do." Aubrey hangs her head like a little kid. Suddenly, she whips her head back up, a mischievous grin on her face.
"Can we at least make out with them?" She points to two guys in the corner, both who are smoking hot. "Look at how sexy they are."
"Sorry, not my type." Shrugging, I walk away, knowing that Aubrey will most likely follow me. Sure enough, she's right behind me when I walk outside.
"You're no fun," she pouts but it doesn't last long. "So, to the blood bank?" Nodding, we walk, our arms latched together, to go get some food.
An hour later, we finally make it there. If we used our speed, we could've been there in just a few minutes, but it's against the rules. They say it's not fair and can cause distractions for drivers. Yet no supernatural creature is allowed to drive and instead have to walk everywhere.
"Name," the lady at the desk says flatly. I give her mine and a few seconds later, I hold a bag of O positive in my hands. Aubrey does the same but since she doesn't come as often, it takes longer.
"Come on. Just give me some, please." A vampire pleads to another teller who just shakes his head.
"I'm sorry but you already exceeded your limit for this month."
"Damn it. Just give me a fucking blood bag." The vampire's fist clench and I can see his fangs starting to pop out. They're going to have a scene in here if somebody doesn't calm him down.
"Sorry, could you make that two for me?" I repeat my name to the teller who hands me another bag. Aubrey gives me a questioning look but I just shake my head before heading over to the young vampire.
"Hey, here you go." The kid looks up at me, his blond mop of hair falling in his eyes, his gaze hopeful.
"Really?" I nod and hand him the bag. While he drinks, I study him. He can't be that old, 15 maybe? Neither can he be that old as a vampire. When you are first turned, you are ravenous, wanting to eat every living thing in sight. After a couple of months, it wears off and you can learn to control it, to go without blood for longer periods of time. Once the government heard about that, they put a limit on the amount of blood bags per month which is a big reason many vampires turn to breaking the law instead. We can have 5 bags a month and for such a new vampire like this one, that's not nearly enough.
"Are you good now?" The kid nods and shyly hands me back the bag, now empty. "I know how it feels. Like something is trying to claw its way out of your stomach."
"Exactly. I went through my bags for this month in just two weeks. How am I supposed to last until next month?" Grabbing the kid by the arm, I lead him outside while Aubrey follows silently behind.
"You have to control it. Don't say you can't because you can. In time, you'll learn to. Now tell me, how old are you?"
"14."
"No, when were you turned?" The kid's eyebrows scrunch together in concentration.
"Like a month ago maybe."
"Who?" He shrugs. It's illegal for vampires to turn anyone. Part of the government's way of keeping the vampire population under control and hopefully, get rid of us all with time.
"Who was it?" I growl, letting my fangs show. He shudders.
"I don't know. Some guy in a black hood. Asked me if I wanted to live forever. I told him no thanks because my mom told me all about the monsters and how bad they are. When I started to walk away, he shoved me in front of a car. It hurt so bad and I thought I was going to die. But I didn't because he turned me. Now momma won't let me in the house." The kid's dark eyes turn sad and fill with tears.
"Take him to Stacie," I tell Aubrey who complies without hesitation. When they're gone, I slowly drink the blood, thinking hard about what I just learned. Who in the world started turning people again? If they started doing that, what else are they up to?