by Ilia Bera
FORTY
SENSIBILITIES
Kane pulled his head back. He looked down at Brittany’s face, which was shrouded by his own shadow in the dark empty room..
He couldn’t see her sharp fangs poking down below her top lip, or her irises as they turned a dark red colour.
“Is everything alright?” Kane asked.
“Yeah,” Brittany said as she desperately fought back both the desire to jump Kane’s bones, and the desire to suck his blood.
“You’re tense,” Kane commented.
“Am I?” Brittany awkwardly replied.
“You’re really tense.”
Brittany thought for a moment. The veins in Kane’s body were glowing brighter and brighter with each passing moment. Watching the blood flowing through his body was almost hypnotising.
“Brittany?”
“Uh—Do you have a sheet for this mattress? I think this one is chafing against my back.”
“Oh,” Kane said, smiling. “I can grab the one from my bed. Hold on just one send, okay?”
“Okay,” Brittany said.
Kane jumped to his feet and left the room, leaving Brittany with her lust and her thirst on the sofa-bed. She looked around the room again.
“Do you have any Advil or Tylenol?” Brittany called out.
“I think so—Let me look,” Kane called back.
Kane pushed the bedroom door open wider, giving Brittany a clearer view of Kane’s deadly arsenal.
There was a particularly deadly looking metallic crossbow perched on the small bedside table. Kane kept the lethal weapon loaded in case of any “home invasions”.
Brittany ran the tip of her tongue along her sharp fang. Her gums began to pulse as she started to surrender to her desires.
“What am I doing?” she thought to herself. As her sensibilities came rushing back to her, she could hear Kane fumbling with the bed sheet on his mattress. Her thirst had grown so strong that she could smell Kane’s blood from the other room. She could even see a reddish glow through the wall, where Kane stood.
When Brittany’s thirst became strong enough, certain abilities that were otherwise remain dormant came out. In that moment, the red glow around Kane was his blood—visible only to Brittany. The more she thought about the sweet taste of his delicious plasma, the more vibrant and clear the glowing colour became.
Her thirst was intensifying so much so that she could see other warm blooded mammals nearby—the sleeping man in the building next door, the bird perched on the roof outside and the deer prancing through the nearby woods.
She couldn’t possibly hide her secret any longer. Heart racing, Brittany quietly brought herself to her feet. She quickly picked up her clothes and her jacket and she hurried towards the front door—the apartment’s only exit. Topless—in nothing but a tutu, see-through nylons and tall leather heels, Brittany looked back. She could see Kane’s shadow in the bedroom as he dug through his bedroom drawers for Brittany’s requested Advil.
“Just one more second!” Kane called out, oblivious to his fleeing date. “I know there is some Advil here somewhere.”
Fangs still erect, and eyes blood red, Brittany carefully pulled the apartment door open, and slipped out. Gently, she closed the door quietly behind her. Once in the hallway, she quickly began to replace her shirt.
Her thirst for blood was overwhelming. It took all of her willpower to resist running back inside the apartment and sucking Kane dry. Brittany took a long stable breath—an attempt to recompose herself. She closed her eyes and told herself to “calm down”. As she opened her eyes, she noticed him—
Tarun, the young Indian immigrant, had walked up the stairs. He stopped when he noticed the nearly nude dark-skinned beauty. His eyes went wide and he froze.
Brittany froze.
“I—I’m…” Tarun started.
“Shh!” Brittany said, putting her finger to her mouth. She quickly pulled her shirt over her red lacy bra, and picked up her leather coat.
Tarun curiously noticed her dark red eyes and her long sharp fangs.
Once Brittany had her coat over her shoulders, she turned to leave, but she stopped when she noticed Tarun’s expression.
“Are—Are you okay?” Tarun whispered.
Brittany realized her fangs were out, and her eyes were red. She tried to think of something to say—some sort of out.
“Um,” Brittany thought.
As her mind shuffled through her limited options, her eyes began to hone in on Tarun’s neck. His jugular was filled with some of the purest, warmest blood she’d ever seem. It smelled incredible—irresistible.
“Miss?” Tarun said.
Brittany bit down hard on her tongue, suppressing her urges.
“I—We—It’s a game,” Brittany whispered.
“A game?” Tarun asked.
“That’s right—It’s a—a sex game,” Brittany whispered.
“A s—sex game?”
“Don’t tell Kane you saw me—He would be really embarrassed.”
“You’re his girlfriend?” Tarun whispered.
“Um—Yeah. Kane’s my boyfriend,” Brittany lied.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Tarun,” Tarun said, stepping towards Brittany. As Tarun stuck out his hand, Brittany noticed the throbbing vein in his wrist—filled with that delicious, juicy blood.
Brittany took Tarun’s hand gently and shook it, trying her best not to drain him.
“This is like—Role playing?” Tarun asked.
“Yeah. I’m the vampire and he’s the hunter.”
Tarun looked down at his feet and blushed.
“I need to go and hide. He’s probably almost done his count down by now,” Brittany lied.
“Brittany?” Kane’s voice called out from within the apartment.
“Nice meeting you,” Tarun whispered.
Brittany quickly made her way down the stairs and out of the building. Without looking back, she started to run back home.
Kane walked over to the bathroom looking for his missing date. He looked around the apartment.
“Hello?” he called out.
He quickly scanned the apartment for any sign of Brittany, but she was gone—vanished. “Brittany?” he called out again.
He put the bed sheet and Advil down on the counter and went out in the hallway, dressed in only his underwear.
Tarun was walking back down the stairs when he noticed Kane. Kane.
“I’m sorry,” Tarun said as he averted his eyes.
Kane’s face turned red. “Tarun—You didn’t see a girl come through here, did you?”
“Me? No—I didn’t see anyone,” Tarun lied. He tried his best to hold back his shy smile.
Kane pushed his hair back with his hand. “Okay—sorry to bother you,” Kane said as he awkwardly turned and went back into his apartment. He closed the door behind him, and then ran back the bedroom. He picked up his pea coat and started to dig through his pockets for his cell phone. He pulled it out and located Brittany’s phone number in his address book. He dialed, and then he waited for her to pick up.
Brittany didn’t answer. Her phone continued to ring as she made her way home and into her house. It stopped ringing for a brief moment, and then started again, as Kane tried again to get through to her. Brittany ran up the walkway of her little cookie-cutter home and quickly pushed her front door open.
Once the door was securely closed and locked behind her, she sat down on the floor and started to cry.
Cursed to never find love—destined to suffer through a loveless eternity.
Nothing had changed.
As she sat and cried, her powerful thirst began to subside. Her fangs retracted back into her gums and the redness slowly flushed out of her eyes.
It is no secret that vampires struggle to control their thirst. Brittany’s thirst was especially uncontrollable. She had never learned to control it properly.
She had never learned how to deal with her powerful cravings.
FO
RTY-ONE
MEGAN GOLD
Brittany was just fifteen when she became a vampire.
Before Brittany’s tragic transformation, she was a completely different person—a shining star amongst her high school classmates.
Before her life was flipped upside down, Brittany was practically connected at the hip to a girl named Megan Gold.
An inseparable duo, Megan and Brittany had been best friends since before they could remember. They were closer than most biological sisters—closer than most identical twins.
Their parents met in the hospital on the day they gave birth—Megan and Brittany shared the same birthday—the same birth hour, and even the same birth minute. When Brittany’s parents walked out of the hospital with the newborn Brittany in their arms, Megan’s parents were right beside them, holding the newborn Megan.
As fate would have it, Megan and her parents were due to move into a new house, just days after the delivery. Their new house just so happened to be directly next door to Brittany’s.
For fifteen years, the two girls spent every single day together. They saw one another more than they saw their own parents. They shared everything—their dolls, their clothes and eventually their makeup.
Most people just assumed that Brittany was Megan’s sister. Visitors would ask Megan’s parents where their other daughter was, in the rare occasion Brittany wasn’t around—despite the fact Brittany was a completely different skin tone. Brittany was practically raised by Megan’s parents.
The Brucheveskyjs were never home much. As a matter of fact, they were hardly ever home at all. They preferred to spend their time in Miami, Hawaii, Greece, The Dominican Republic—anywhere except for the cold little town of Snowbrooke. They were a wealthy couple, and they never expected to have Brittany—they weren’t “cut out for the whole parenting thing,” as they put it.
Sure—At first, they gave it their best shot, but it was a lackluster shot at best. When Brittany was three years old, the Brucheveskyjs hired a nanny in Snowbrooke and then took off to their home in Milan, Italy. The young nanny got in a fight with her boyfriend within a week, and then decided to leave irresponsibly leave town. Before she left, she walked Brittany over to Megan’s house—not even bothering to wait for the Golds to answer the door before she was in her car. Brittany moved in with Megan for the rest of the year while the Golds tried to contact Brittany’s parents.
Eventually, they got through to the Milan estate, and the Brucheveskyjs sent the Golds their credit card information, so they could hire a new nanny for their daughter. The Golds did just that, but the new nanny quit soon after. The Golds tried to contact the Brucheveskyjs again, but the irresponsible parents had moved from their Milan home to an undisclosed location in Luxembourg. After a year in Luxembourg, they forgot that they even had a daughter. The parents never returned to Snowbrooke.
Different nannies came and went. Thankfully, the Brucheveskyj’s seemingly limitless bank account continued to pay the bills and the nannies’ salaries.
Years passed.
Megan grew into a beautiful young woman. She never let her naturally platinum hair grown down past her ears, unlike Brittany, who only ever cut a millimetre off of her hair once every year or two.
Together, Megan and Brittany made the perfect friends. Everyone in the town admired the youngsters, constantly commenting on how beautiful they were, how polite they were, or how smart they were. There was never any disputing that Megan and Brittany were the sweetest girls in Snowbrooke.
Saying Megan and Brittany were smart was a serious understatement. They loved to spend their evenings studying together. The two girls had absolutely perfect grades in school and they were constantly the top of their class—the cream of the crop.
It was highly unusual to see one without the other. They never fought or disagreed. They never competed or questioned one another.
When the girls entered the eighth grade, it was no secret that other kids were drinking and experimenting with drugs. There were even rumours that some kids were having sex already. Brittany and Megan weren’t interested in that rebellious lifestyle, but as more and more of the other kids went down that path, it was becoming harder and harder to avoid. As missed parties came and went, Megan and Brittany were beginning to feel more and more like minorities.
Boys had even started to take a physical interest in the bright young couple.
The girl’s perfect relationship hit its first rut one afternoon after the school bell rang.
James Enderby, one of the more handsome and popular students in the school approached Megan at her locker, while she chatted with Brittany. He had prepared the sweetest little proposal, presenting Megan with a little bouquet of flowers and asking her out to the upcoming dance. He lowered himself down to one knee, and even put on his best collared shirt. All the other students laughed at the sight, but Megan was flattered.
But she wasn’t prepared to leave her best friend in the dust.
Megan told James that, the only way she would go to the dance with him was if one of his friends took Brittany to make it a double date. James naïvely accepted the condition, and he went to discuss the matter with his extensive friend group.
Days passed.
James wasn’t able to find a partner for Brittany. He asked every single one of his friends, but none of them were interested. James pleaded with his buddies, but to no avail. James returned to Megan and begged that she go with him to the dance despite the failed condition.
Megan declined, opting to remain loyal to Brittany. James continued to propose in more romantic and elaborate ways. He even took over the intercom during the morning announcements, and asked her out publicly—a particularly awkward moment, as there was no way for him to know what Megan’s response was.
The dance passed, but James refused to give up on Megan. His heart had made its decision, and he was prepared to die with that decision.
Brittany did a good job of keeping a smile on her face, but she secretly wanted to break down and cry. James Enderby was one of the most popular kids in school, and he was a friend with nearly every other boy in the town—but somehow, he wasn’t able to find one single boy who could tolerate Brittany for just one night.
Brittany was forced to suffer through the torment of watching Megan get swooned over every single day. Nothing was worse than having to suffer through the movies that Brittany and Megan went to see on the many nights of the many dances—knowing that they were all just pity hangouts. Brittany never revealed her true feelings to Megan.
As the months went on, things only went downhill. Megan found herself being asked out constantly—not just by James, but by nearly every boy in the school. By the ninth grade, she had become an absolute vixen—the epitome of beauty. She was well ahead of the rest of the school in physical development.
Her short hair framed her soft face perfectly, her breasts had developed large and perky, her hips had the most insatiable curves and her legs were long and impeccably smooth. It seemed as though every single piece of clothing was carefully crafted for her body specifically—fitting her mouth-watering shape flawlessly.
After a while, Megan stopped putting on any makeup—it was a shame to mask her beauty. Her eyelashes were naturally dark, and her perfect cheekbones had a natural reddish hue to them. She gave all of her old makeup to Brittany—unintentionally rubbing more salt into Brittany’s broken ego.
Brittany was another story. She just remained Brittany. She was slow to develop. Her hair required tons of conditioner and product in order to remain soft-looking. No amount of makeup could hide her imperfections. Clothes fit her body awkwardly, and she was constantly dieting to remain thin.
Despite all of the attention Megan was getting, and all of the attention Brittany wasn’t, the two girls continued to spend all of their time together. Megan continued to refuse any man who didn’t have a suitable solution for her best friend. Megan had good intentions with her efforts, but they ended up having an opposite effect. Boys sta
rted to resent Brittany—people looked down at her in the hallways.
One day, Brittany couldn’t take it any longer.
She didn’t show up for school one day. Megan tried calling, but she couldn’t get a hold of Brittany. It wasn’t until hours after school was out for the day that Brittany turned up, carrying shopping bags.
“Oh my God—You’re alive! Where were you?” Megan asked.
“I woke up feeling sick, so I took the day off,” Brittany replied.
“I tried calling you. Why didn’t you pick up?”
“I was at the walk-in. They make you turn off your phone.”
“Are you okay?” Megan asked.
“I’m fine—The doctor said it was a day flu that’s been going around.”
“Don’t scare me like that!”
“You’ll never believe what happened. After the doctor, I walked around the mall,” Brittany told her friend. “I wanted to replace those old runners. I went into that little shoe store next to the food court, and this really cute guy was working.”
“Who was it?” Megan asked.
“His name was Robert. Robert Lawson. He was so cute,” Brittany recalled. “He kept making suggestions, and he made me try on like thirty pairs of shoes. Every time I thought I found a good pair, he told me that they were no good, and he made me try on another.”
Megan laughed.
“Finally, he admitted that he just didn’t want me to leave.”
“Oh my God—Did he ask you out?” Megan asked. She bit her lip, containing her excitement for her friend.
Brittany smiled. “Yeah.”
Megan squealed with enthusiasm for her friend. “Tell me all about him.”
“Okay, okay. He had bright blue eyes and messy blonde hair. He was thin, but not too thin. He was really sweet, and really charming. He asked me out to the movies.”
“The movies? You said yes, right?”
“I froze up—It was so embarrassing. But yeah—I eventually said yes,” Brittany recalled. “You aren’t upset, are you? I was so flustered, I just said yes without thinking.”