Bryxx

by Tarisa Marie

  The man closes in on me. “You shouldn’t be all alone little girl. Where’d your body guard go?” I’ve been waiting for him to leave you alone.”

  “I don’t have a body guard,” I argue. “You have the wrong person.”

  His nose meets my neck and I struggle to get out from underneath him but he’s far stronger than me. He sniffs me intensely. “I beg to differ, sweetie. You wreak of him.”

  I cringe away from him as much as I possibly can which unfortunately ends up only being millimeters.

  “It’ll hurt just a little,” he murmurs into my ear, sending a prickling, cold chill down my spine for a second time.

  Is this seriously happening? There can’t possibly be a real vampire about to rip out my throat can there? No. This isn’t real. There’s no way. I try to convince myself that I’m hallucinating or something, but the fact is that now that I know that some supernatural beings exist, I can’t help but believe that this is a real vampire.

  This is confirmed when piercing pain radiates from my neck, then a pulling like I’ve never felt in my life causes my entire body to ache excruciatingly. I become paralyzed. I can’t move. My vision wanes and blurs and the sound of him devouring my neck seems to dim until all I can hear is a dull buzzing. I am helpless. There’s absolutely nothing that I can do. I’m going to die here. This is it.

  That’s my last thought before the weight on top of me disappears and I slowly begin to become aware of my surroundings again. I stare up at the roof, writhing in extreme pain. I expect the vampire to come back but I’m sure that I lie there for a full minute regaining control of my body. I finally manage to prop myself up a little. I’m extremely weak. It only took him a matter of ten seconds or less to cause this much damage, he could’ve easily just killed me. I look around and find the vampire slouched against a wall, blood streaming from his throat where it’s been slit open, a thick patch of blood on his chest where I assume he’s been stabbed in the heart. His eyes are open, but unblinking. I know he’s dead.

  A scream slips out of me as I’m suddenly lifted from the ground.

  “Shh, May. It’s only me,” a familiar voice mutters soothingly in my ear and my fright eases slightly. It’s Kade. He saved my life again. I can’t help but lean into him for comfort and safety. I’m shaken to the bone. I can barely think. I feel paralyzed.

  He carries me upstairs to my room and I’m thankful that no one is in the hall. He finds my keycard and lets us into my apartment where he rests me on my bed. “You’re okay, May. You’re going to be okay. Your heart rate is normal, a little fast but that’s okay all things considered.”

  “You can hear my heart?” I ask of all things in that moment.

  He smiles warmly. “Yes. How do you feel?”

  “Cold, disgusting. It hurts. I can barely move,” I explain frantically. I try to steady my breathing, but I can’t. I’m hyperventilating.

  He nods knowingly. “Alright. You need to rest and I’m going to get you some juice from the kitchen. It will help. What happened?”

  “I was on the treadmill,” I tell him. “He was in the mirror and I fell and then he...he bit me. He was a... He was a...” I can’t seem to say the word out loud. Tears stream down my cheeks.

  “He was a vampire. Yes. I took care of him. You’re safe now,” Kade soothes me, sitting on the edge of my bed.

  “You killed him,” I accuse, not sure why that fact bothers me. The thing was going to kill me, was it not?

  “I had to. He had it coming,” he says vehemently.

  “I know but someone will find him,” I warn him frantically, sure that the cops will be at my door any second.

  “No. They won’t. He is dirt by now. They don’t last long after they’ve died. You don’t have to worry about that.”

  I take a deep breath, starting to gain movement back. “I think he was waiting for you to leave, for me to be all alone before he came for me. What did it want from me?”

  Kade seems to regret leaving me. His face is not the warm expression it usually is when he’s around me, instead he looks mad, sad even. His brows are pinched, his forehead wrinkled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a vampire nearby or I never would’ve left you.”

  “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault,” I assure him and close my eyes for a minute.

  “May I help your neck heal?” he asks worriedly. “It won’t hurt or anything. It will only help you heal. It’ll save you a lot of pain over the next few days.”

  I am unsure how to respond but I know he would never hurt me. He’s saved my life twice. I nod.

  “It might seem gross to a human,” he warns me. “I have to feed you a little bit of my blood. Just a little, a couple drops is all. It’ll make you feel better.”

  I hesitate.

  “Not nearly enough to make you like me or anything like that. I just want to heal your wound. It looks like it hurts. Your body will do the rest.” His voice is shaky like he’s beyond nervous.

  My neck burns like someone’s poured acid on my wound and the pain is only escalating.

  “It won’t hurt. It’ll help, May. I promise. I’d never hurt you. The pain from the bite is only going to get worse for the next few hours. Vampires can inject venom to incapacitate their victims. You have venom on your neck. I can smell it. If it gets into your bloodstream, it’ll get much worse.”

  As he speaks I find myself unable to comprehend what he’s saying. My skin is on fire where I’ve been bitten, and the fire seems to be spreading rapidly. I trust Kade. He’s saved my life twice. Not able to take it any longer, I nod, giving him permission.

  He then digs his thumb nail into his wrist without even wincing and blood begins to pool where he presses. He lifts his wrist over my mouth and the salty liquid hits my tongue. The thought of it makes me gag but my body doesn’t let me actually throw up, it’s too focused on the pain. Only seconds after the blood hits my tongue, the pain completely disappears and I find myself experiencing a strange tingle over my skin, specifically where I was bitten. It’s almost an itchy feeling.

  Kade quickly pulls away his wrist and then brushes my hair back from my neck. “Its healing.”

  “You couldn’t have done that after my car accident?” I wonder in disbelief.

  He shakes his head. “You needed more than a few drops and I wasn’t sure how that would affect a human. I didn’t know if it would make you better or worse, so I took you to Clarissa. She knows all about that kind of stuff. She knew how much you could have before it got dangerous.”

  “But if I was going to die anyway...” I remind him.

  He sighs harshly. “May, some fates are worse than death. I didn’t want to make you like me by accident.”

  “You’d rather me die?” I ask abruptly, my forehead wrinkling.

  He nods without even having to think about it. “No doubt about it.”

  “But Daniel...” I trail off. I realize that I don’t know if Daniel would’ve rather died than become Bryxx. He wasn’t given the choice.

  “It was not Kai’s decision to make, but he was young, and he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to lose his friend. Anyway, that was different. You need to rest. We will talk later, May. I’ll be in the living room.” With that, Kade leaves the bedroom swiftly, closing the door behind him before I can argue. How was Daniel’s situation any different than mine?

  I find it impossible to rest after coming face to face with death, so I lie in bed and contemplate my life. It’s changed so much in such a short time. A few weeks ago, I didn’t know supernatural beings even existed and now my brother is one and I’ve become friends with one, one who is currently in my home.

  I eventually drift to sleep somehow, probably from all the blood loss. I wonder just how much I lost. I wake up to darkness. I’ve slept all afternoon and into the evening, but it’s felt only like minutes. I cautiously raise a hand to my neck and feel for two holes or at the very least two scabs. I find nothing. It’s as if nothing happened. The fact th
at a mere drop or two of Kade’s blood healed me that significantly shows just how potent his blood is, how strong he is. I can’t help but wonder how fast he heals.

  I get out of bed and find Kade sitting at the table fiddling with his phone. I can’t tell if he’s texting or playing a game or what but he seems entranced by whatever it is. Does he even know that I’m up? Surely. He has super hearing after all, right?

  An amused smile sneaking onto my face, I lick my lips before whispering in as quiet a voice I can manage, “What are you doing?”

  Kade carefully sets his phone down on the table and twists in his chair to see me. “I was just passing time with a game.” He cracks a grin. “How was your rest?”

  “Good actually. Kade...I want to know about vampires,” I state bluntly. “I’m not going to be able to sleep again without knowing more about them. What kind of a coincidence is it that I go over twenty years without ever coming into contact with one and then merely two weeks after I find out that supernaturals exist, one tries to kill me?”

  “It’s not a coincidence at all,” Kade confirms my suspicion. “I killed that vampire’s maker years ago. I haven’t seen a sign of him in over two decades. I thought someone had killed him. He’s wanted me dead for almost fifty years. I had no idea he followed me to Seattle. He must’ve been waiting for me to leave the community. I’m so sorry, May. I nearly got you killed. A friend for a friend I guess is what he was going for.” Kade rests his head in his hands tensely. “He wasn’t after you for any reason but to anger me.”

  “Wait wait,” I stop him. “You killed someone?”

  He nods. “Many things, May. Only supernaturals and only the bad ones,” he assures me. He bites his bottom lip.

  I decide to come back to this. How can I be disturbed by him killing monsters like the one who attacked me? “And you haven’t left the community in the last twenty years? Is that what you’re saying?”

  He shrugs, his face pinched. “No, I have. Just not alone.”

  As he tells me this, something dark passes across his face.

  “It’s alright, Kade. It was an accident. You had no way of knowing.” I rest my palm on his back. “Tell me about vampires,” I insist once more.

  He cringes away from my words and stands. “Can we do this another time?” he asks, still nibbling his bottom lip.

  “I was almost killed for a second time this month, this time by a mythical creature. I want answers.” I can’t help it. I begin pacing. I can’t stand still.

  Kade remains quiet for what must be nearly an entire minute before he, too, stands. He places his palms on the back of the wooden chair, using it for support. He faces me and nods. “Vampires are creatures that are controlled by bloodlust and instinct to kill. They’re inhuman monsters with no ability to love or emotionally care for others. The only people they respect are their makers because of this thing called a sire bond that happens sometimes which links them to each other. What more do you want to know?” I stop pacing but he begins to do his own laps around the kitchen.

  “Are there lots? How are they made? Can they go out in daylight?” I rattle off then slow down so he can keep up. Shut up, May, you’re acting insane. I mentally slap myself, attempting to give myself a reality check.

  He grimaces. “Yes, they can go out into the daylight, that’s a myth. There are only a couple hundred in America as far as I know. They’re made when a human or Bryxx consumes a certain amount of a vampire’s blood. Depending on the amount consumed, they’ll either die on the spot and come back or will fall ill and slowly die then come back. Vampires are one of the groups of demons that the Bryxx build their communities to protect against-” he discontinues abruptly and clenches his jaw. He told me yesterday that he wasn’t going to tell me much about what the Bryxx built their heavily guarded communities to protect.

  “I will say no more as it isn’t safe for you as I told you yesterday. Unless you choose to carry the burden of that knowledge, I won’t share it,” he finishes off. “I suggest you stay ignorant.”

  Kade’s attention flashes to the front door and he seems as if he’s straining to concentrate on something. The only thing I can think of is that he’s heard something with his advanced hearing.

  “You okay?” I ask after a minute of waiting.

  He doesn’t seem to hear me. He continues to stare at the door until the doorbell rings. He looks to me. “Are you expecting someone?” he asks extremely quietly. “A man?”

  I shake my head. “No. I-” I’m about to tell him I don’t know any men to whom I’ve given my new address, but he presses a finger to his lips to shush me and then holds his hand up, palm facing me in the universal sign to stop.

  I watch him skeptically, my heart fluttering. What is he so concerned about that he won’t even let me open my own front door? Then I recall that I was just attacked by a vampire today and he’s probably just being cautious. He walks to the door and looks through the peephole before taking two steps back from the door and motioning for me to go into my room. Trusting him, I do as he asks but I leave the bedroom door cracked open, so I can see what’s going on. Kade opens the front door but leaves the chain on. Before he can even greet the person at the door, I watch Kade speed backwards a few steps so fast that all I see is a blur. As he backs up, the door crashes inward so hard that I hear it bang against the wall. So much for getting my damage deposit back, not that that is my biggest worry currently as I watch an equally as fast blur enter the room and run smack into Kade, sending him flying into my kitchen table and cracking a leg off.

  In complete shock, knowing that I’d be useless about now and would just get in the way, I stay where I am, unblinking. I watch as the two men push each other around violently.

  Finally, after a few seconds Kade gets the upper hand and crouches on top of the other man while holding a knife to his throat. “Who are you?” Kade demands in a deep, commanding tone.

  The man spits in his face and Kade sends the knife placed at his throat through the man’s left hand and into the floor before reaching into his pocket, pulling out a second knife and placing it at his throat.

  The man on the floor barely even winces. “John Taylor. You killed my sire you piece of shit!”

  “How many more of you are there?” Kade demands in an even tone, the question obviously rhetoric. “I thought sire bonds were rare.”

  “Do you even know how many vampires you’ve killed?”

  “A lot. Hundreds.” Kade answers not sounding disturbed at all by the death count. “They all had it coming.”

  “I wouldn't expect I be the last one to track you down. Rumor spreads fast that you’re no longer under Bryxx protection. One of us will get the final jump on you.”

  Kade doesn’t seem phased by the man’s words. He simply plunges the knife deep into the man’s heart and then back out again before standing up and wiping his hands on his jeans. Then he walks casually to the front door and closes it, turning the dead bolt. By the time my gaze flickers from him back to the dead vampire on my floor, the body is gone. There’s nothing even left in its spot. No blood, no bones, no dirt, nothing. Kade was right when he said that they don’t last long.

  Kade stands in front of the bedroom door, his expression flat. “It appears I’ve stirred more trouble up than I thought over the last few years, and I seem to have brought it right to your doorstep... Literally.” The hard look in his eyes bores right through me and something in me tells me that this isn’t good, not at all.

  Chapter 7

  Three days later, Kade and I leave the house for the first time after not having any more incidents at the house.

  Kade paid for the damage to my apartment even after I told him I would pay for it. We take a long walk down to a restaurant eight blocks away and enjoy lunch before walking back to the apartment and playing a game of cards. We haven’t spoken much about either incident but Kade has decided that although he’s saved my life twice, he’s also put my life in danger twice, so he thinks we should c
all it even. I’m not so sure, though.

  “You’ve been alive a long time and you seem to have money, have you travelled the world?” I ask him while flipping through a travel magazine that was at my door this morning. The subscriber must’ve forgotten to change their address when they moved.

  Kade peaks over my shoulder while drying a dish with a tea towel. “Nope. I’ve been a few places, but I wouldn’t say I’ve travelled the world. I’m not much of a traveler. I go back to England now and again but that’s about it.” He tosses the towel over his shoulder and turns back to put the dish away. “It’s been a while since I’ve even been there. A long while actually. Do you like to travel?” he asks flippantly while tossing a cracker in the air and catching it flawlessly with his mouth.

  I shrug. “I’ve never left America. I’d like to one day, but I’m not sure where I’d go. I’ll never have the money to travel the entire world,” I inform him and flip the page. A stunning view of the Canadian Rockies takes up both pages.

  “You know, I have lots of money. I could help you travel...” he mutters, probably knowing I’d never accept the far too generous offer.

  I chuckle. “I’m already indebted to you enough,” I remind him. “How would I ever pay you back for something like that?”

  “You wouldn’t have to pay me back, but if you really wanted to do something in return, you could let me tag along with you,” he offers, sounding unsure.

  “You just said you weren’t interested in travelling,” I scoff and flip another page. A splendid picture of Mayan ruins.

  Kade takes a seat across the table from me and rests his arms at his chest. “It’s not the travelling I’m interested in. It’s spending time with you.”