Requiem for Blood

by Alexandra Hope

  Felicity dragged his body back, pulling a small knife from her pocket jacket. She turned to Olivia. “Well go on. Weren't you yelling at me for some stupid reason?”

  She cut his wrist and more blood poured out of him, hypnotizing Olivia as she breathed it in. Olivia stood up and turned away after an unsuccessful attempt to force her fangs up. “No. I'm going home.”

  “Come over and,” Felicity began but cringed in pain before she could finish.

  Olivia came to her side. “Are you alright?”

  “I'll live,” she said, shrugging as she bent down to the man's wrist. After tasting a bit of his blood, she turned upward to Olivia, “Nothing like a little energy. You have to try.”

  She brought her hand to Olivia's face, finger tips dancing as they hung just outside the corner of her mouth. Olivia slapped her hand away and Felicity let out a playful yet sadistic laugh. She brought her fingers back up to Olivia's mouth and wiped her bloody finger tips across his lips. Olivia stilled, the blood on her lips, tiny drops invading her mouth and...

  She pushed Felicity back and grabbed the man's wrist, biting down forcefully as her eyes darkened. Felicity looked on, pleased, and drew the knife again, piercing another part of him. It was something in Felicity's need for thrill that ran through Olivia, filling her with that same need as she relished in the taste, not concerned if anyone saw them. It felt amazing.

  Olivia made sure her fangs went back up before she pulled her mouth away from his wrist. She turned to see Felicity doing the same, wiping the blood from her mouth. “Definitely O negative,” said Felicity. “I hate O negative. I want something better.” She stood up and started walking away, but not before quietly calling back to Olivia, “Would you do something with that body? I'm not exactly in the best position to move something so heavy.”

  Olivia looked down at the man, his limp and cold body curled up on the pavement and drenched in blood. She searched his pocket and found no identifying items then swung him over her shoulder and walked to a wooded area just outside the neighborhood. Just as she did the man from the beach, she began digging a deep grave, but this time with no tools in sight, she used her hands and then rolled his body into it. She could hear Felicity's footsteps against the soft earth, just a few feet back and continued to throw dirt into the hole. By the time Felicity had come up behind her she was finished, her arms and hands darkened by the dirt.

  “Buried him already?” asked Felicity, suspicious.

  “Yes,” she said, and turned away from the makeshift grave. Although there was something about being out at night, hunting humans with Felicity that made her feel good, she was still hesitant to continue. Olivia was physically at her peak, the blood of the watchmen coursing through her like a rush of liquid energy burning in her veins. She had always felt weak, her body frail due to only eating real food on limited occasions, but now she felt stronger than ever and at the same time, drained. She watched the man die in her hands, looked on with pity, buried his body and now she just felt drained from it all. Maybe even a bit guilty, but it all went away when Felicity spoke.

  “Come on, let's go get some more.”

  Olivia couldn't deny the rush she felt when drinking his blood. It was a stark contrast between how she felt when she drank from Alexa. She was driven by something dark when she fed on her last victims, but now, she was in control of herself and maybe, like her mother said, she didn't have to kill. She let out a groan. Her mother could be so confusing at times. How could she make her question the value of a human life and then tell her that she doesn't have to kill? If only she could be more clear, she thought. Felicity's words once again cut through her thoughts and brought her back to reality.

  “Can we go now?”

  The irritation in her words was sharp and to that, Olivia gave a small nod and they were off. They found themselves in the middle of town, not far from the recreation center, Olivia noticed. Felicity was hobbling in pain as they came up behind a couple lying on a bench. For the first time, Olivia noticed how old the town looked, as if it had been suspended in time many years ago. Brick buildings were lined side by side, giant windows on their fronts, and cobblestone beneath their feet. There was even a cathedral made of white stone further down the street and her eyes were fixated on it for a moment before turning back to the bench. She saw the couple lying back on the it, their hands in the air as they pointed to the stars and whispered to each other, perhaps numbering or naming the stars, but she didn't want to listen in. She whispered to Felicity, “What are we doing here?”

  Felicity ignored her and grabbing an arrow from behind her, positioned it in her bow and let it go. It lodged itself in a tree and the boy was the first to rise, looking from the arrow to what was behind him. Felicity already had another arrow ready and let out a breath before she let this one go. It shot through his chest but they could both see that she missed his heart. His girlfriend jumped up and screamed but Olivia was at her side so quickly she didn't see her move until her hands were over her mouth. The boy was scraping his hands against the pavement, gasping for air as he tried to push himself up. His face slammed onto the ground and Felicity stood over him, her foot on his back. “Ugh, quit struggling, you just look pathetic.” She bent over and pulled out her arrow and forced it back through him, this time, right through his heart. His girlfriend let out a terrifying scream that burned her throat, but it was muffled by Olivia's hand. She writhed in Olivia's tight grip, her arms pulled behind her painfully.

  “Why did you kill him?” she asked.

  “Because that's what I do,” she replied. “Now let go of her and stand back unless you want an arrow through your heart.”

  She had temporarily forgotten that Felicity didn't know that she was now a vampire, which seemed odd because she wasn't particularly good at hiding it, especially when it came to her new found speed. She quickly wondered why Felicity didn't notice how quickly she dug the grave or how quickly she was by the girl's side. The thought was cut short as Felicity set the same arrow, blood and flesh hanging from the sharp tip, in the bow and aimed it at the girl.

  “Don't,” said Olivia, her tone less than convincing and nowhere near pleading. It was just calm, as if she didn't care whether the girl lived or died. Then she thought about it. Why should she care about the life of a person she didn't know? Because she didn't deserve to die? Alexa didn't deserve to die, she thought, but she still...

  Olivia heard the air pass through Felicity's lips and knew she was ready. Even if the girl didn't deserve to die, she was still going to, but she at least deserved to die with dignity, not as a number on a list of kills. She snapped the girl's neck and she fell to the ground, just as Felicity let go of the arrow. She thought about swatting it away or stepping to the side to dodge it but she knew it would all look suspicious to Felicity so she let it hit her on the upper left side of her chest. Felicity ran over to her and yanked out the arrow, putting it back into her quiver. “Why did you do that?” she yelled, unconcerned with the blood staining Olivia's shirt. “You took my kill!”

  Olivia didn't respond, partly because she didn't know what to say but mainly because something else had grabbed her attention. She brushed past an angry Felicity and fell to the boy's side, pressing her finger into his wound as she ignored Felicity's rant. Entranced by the blood, she pulled him up and bit down on his neck. Her eyes were darkened to that soulless and empty brown she had before as she drained him slowly, everything else fading into oblivion. Felicity joined her, drinking from the boy and then from the girl, ignorant of the fangs protruding from her gums. They went on a killing spree, sparing no one as they walked down the street and targeted the unfortunate ones who thought their streets were safe at night. It all began to blur to Olivia; the numbers, the faces, the taste and as she bent over their latest victim, possibly number ten, but she wasn't keeping count, the ground split open underneath them.

  As the road began to split into two, a blue light filled it and Olivia looked down. Crystal blue water was still b
eneath them and instead of falling into the crack and into the water, they sat on the air as if an invisible barrier was holding them up. The body had disappeared from in front of her but she saw Felicity walking toward her, unsteady as she put one foot in front of the other. Felicity's body grew hazy, a rush of colors following behind her as she staggered forward. Just as Felicity made her way over to Olivia, the invisible barrier broke and they plummeted into the water that was oddly warm against their skin, even Olivia's. She didn't need to hold her breath but neither did Felicity as they swam around. A large oblong figure swam toward them and as it got closer, they recognized it as a dolphin, it's mouth opening and closing as if it were speaking.

  “Olivia! Felicity! I have found the lost city of Atlantis! We must go at once,” said the dolphin whose accent was vaguely Irish. They looked at each other and shrugged, swimming off with the dolphin. They swam deeper into the water, toward a darkened patch further down, but as they got closer the water drained and they fell to the ground, dry. It was a swirl of purple forestry around them, violet leaves sprinkling down in a silvery dust as butterflies fluttered their golden wings. Olivia's head whirled as she trudged through the forest with Felicity close behind, but everything seemed to pull away from them. As she stumbled forward, her vision hazy and blurred, she tripped over something and fell to through the ground and ended up back in the water.

  “I have been waiting for you two! Hurry, we must go to Atlantis now!” snapped the dolphin.

  “Why?” Olivia asked, her voice echoing.

  “We have to save the city's people from the Robot Apocalypse.”

  “Oh, ok.”

  They followed the dolphin into an underwater cave that was illuminated by fish whose scales glowed purple. Further into the cave was an actual city where sandy golden colored pavements led into it. The cave and the dolphin had disappeared and the water had once again drained leaving them on the dry, stone ground. The gates that led into the city were sculpted out of sand and everything past it, the buildings and even the people, were also made of sand. Olivia and Felicity turned to each other, barely seeing the other person as they blended into a mesh of colors.

  “Shall we?” asked Felicity.

  Olivia tipped her head to Felicity and they pushed the massive gate open, a burst of white light greeting them. When they stumbled in, they once again fell into a dark void and landed on concrete. Olivia lifted her head and took in the sight, her head throbbing as she looked down at the dead body next to her and let the familiarity of it sink in.

  Ten

  “I wonder if too much blood can induce psychosis?” asked Noah.

  “You have the most random thoughts,” said Allison.

  “Yeah, well you shouldn't be listening in you nosy little brat,” he chided playfully and stuck his tongue out at her. She stuck hers back at him and he scowled at her. They were leaned against the outside wall of his house like juveniles refusing to endure any more instruction. A boy just a few years younger than Noah was also posted up against the wall, listening to them but not joining in.

  Noah had leaned in and spoke in a hushed voice to Olivia but despite feeling the wind between his lips, she heard nothing. Her thoughts were concentrated on the night before and how she could have let herself get out of hand. Felicity could barely remember last night and dismissed Olivia's inquiries, waving her away as she went out again with a fully recovered body. She had to call on her mother to fix the problem as she couldn't really remember what became of the ten or so bodies. When she had approached her mother, she was in her study reading the same leather bound book she had been before and after closing it gently, she nodded. That's all it took for it to disappear. She didn't have to think about it anymore but she couldn't help it and she couldn't stop trying to figure out what her mother's ultimate goal was. Noah tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and the warmth of his finger tips faintly brushing against her cold ear sent a jolt to her brain, turning it's mute button off and suddenly her ears flowed with his words.

  “...hope Felicity didn't make you do anything crazy,” he was saying.

  She shook her head, pushing his hand down. “No, she didn't.”

  “So you drank all the blood I gave you?”

  She opened her mouth, but quickly shut it as her eyebrows furrowed together and she thought. Had she drank the blood? It had probably gotten lost in all the other blood she consumed but she couldn't remember either way and slammed her elbow into the wall, the brick scraping her skin. She winced but didn't pull her arm up as the skin was already healing itself and she didn't want to draw attention to it.

  “I did,” she said.

  “Was it up to your standards? I don't know what kind of weird stuff my mom's into...A negative and O positive, I think...” he shook his head, burying his face into his palm.

  “It was fine, it tastes all the same to me,” she lied.

  He looked up with wide eyes. “Really?”

  “Yes, it was fine....and thoughtful.”

  “My pleasure,” he said, folding his arm across his abdomen and bowing to her. He grinned when he looked up, his green eyes twinkling, but she didn't reciprocate the emotion as her face scrunched up, deep in thought.

  “Are you OK?”

  Olivia was snapped out of her trance by his words and looked up at him, blinking. “Yeah,” she answered, not too sure.

  “Are you alright or not?”

  “I said I am.” She moved away from him, and started for the classroom but he pulled her back, convinced that she was upset.

  He rolled his eyes playfully. “I'm sorry, blah blah blah....don't be mad at me, 'kay?”

  “How could she possibly be angry at you when you have such a way with words?” a voice asked, sarcastic.

  They turned to the voice and saw a brown haired boy looking casual, his hands stuffed in his pocket as he eyed them. He moved in closer to them, keeping his composure while Noah balled his fist.

  The boy continued, “I've been wondering something Olivia. How is it that after never being able to beat Felicity that you suddenly won? I mean, is anyone concerned at how she did that?” He looked from Noah to Allison.

  Allison shrugged her shoulders, her lips curved to the side and tight. “Not really.”

  “Here's the thing Randy, I've never had any qualms with you, I actually kinda like you,” said Noah. “But now you're moving to my bad side and that's my less than pretty side—”

  “Calm down Noah, no one's trying to fight you. Just asking a simple question.”

  “Questions been asked, why are you still here?”

  “Headed to class,” he said, extending his arm toward another house. Randy noticed the sixteen year old boy hanging just beside Allison, his brown hair falling into his matching colored eyes. He snapped at him, “Hey! Fin! What are you doing?”

  Randy was only three minutes older than his brother but he still liked to establish himself as the only child in their five member household with authority. Fin rose his head slowly and looked at his brother, annoyed. “I'm standing right here. That's what I'm doing.”

  Noah chuckled and Randy shot him a glare. “Don't you know standing next to Noah is highly contagious? There's a ninety nine percent chance you'll catch his stupidity. And Olivia's a borderline murderer. Do you wanna catch her murderous tendencies too?”

  Fin rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the wall to follow his brother to class but not before Olivia quietly said something to which only Randy reacted to. Noah hadn't been the least bit fazed by what Randy said and instead motioned for them to head to class as well. Sam dragged her feet and they once again realized she had been there the whole time. Everyone's swift appearances had been stealthy in the eyes of Noah but none more than Sam and the Matriarch. Not even his mother's movements surprised him as much as Sam who only made sounds when she wanted to be heard. He adopted the title Little Ninja for her and wondered how she was so good at it but she just shrugged when he asked, opting not to speak.


  “Have you ever thought about how useless this class is?” Noah asked to no one in particular. “Why would a vampire with fangs and super speed need weapons?”

  “It may be useless when you become a vampire but if you intend on hunting a human, as a human, you'll need a little more than a pocket knife,” answered Olivia. She then uttered quietly, “Trust me.”

  He changed the subject. “Who do you think it will be tonight?”

  “I honestly have no idea.”

  They stepped into the house as usual and walked right through without glancing around. It had been a minute since Noah was on the mat and he burned to be back on it but lately they had to endure night after night of weapons training which Noah loathed.

  Mr. Stevens wasted no time announcing the opponent of the boy standing at the table, ready. “Olivia,” he said without looking at his clipboard. Chatter erupted from the students as they took glances back at Olivia and then at Randy whose expression was unreadable. Olivia didn't protest knowing that it was exactly to be expected when she chose to open her mouth and invite him to challenge her before he walked off with Fin. Allison and the others understood it as well so they kept their mouths shut as Olivia went to the front. She met the two at the weapons table and noticed Tomas' tired eyes and then Randy's browns burning eagerly. She gestured for him to pick a weapon. “First choice.”

  “Ladies first,” Randy said coolly.

  “If you insist,” replied Olivia. She could sense the malicious intent in his words but did as he wanted. She scanned the table then took a step back, turning to her teacher. “I would rather not fight with a weapon, if it's OK. I would like to put the self defense training you gave us to good use.” She figured no weapons meant no bloodshed and she knew that while he was acting like a pompous jerk, he didn't deserve to be attacked by something she could only control fifty percent of the time.

  He turned to Randy. “Is this suitable?”

  “Yes,” he answered.