“You okay?” Tage asked, crouching beside me. Saul and Roman had stopped transitioning. I was coming out of it, too.
I nodded, tears filling my eyes. This was horrible, but Porschia had to deal with this and so much more. I bit her and then she started feeling ill from the Infection. Then she used her ring and turned into this… I couldn’t imagine the feeling of both because right now, I felt as though I’d been ripped apart and was slowly and painfully being stitched back together.
How would she ever feel whole again?
“Don’t cry,” Tage said gently.
“I’ll cry if I want, damn it!” I tried to sit up but my stomach hurt. Tage grabbed my hand and pulled me until I was sitting up. “My stomach.”
“You need to feed soon.”
Easing my trembling fingers toward my mouth, I felt them for the first time. Pointed and sharp, much longer than Porschia’s, my fangs punctured my bottom lip. Tage growled at the sight of the blood. “Your sister is going to kill me.”
I smiled. “Not if we save her first.”
He groaned and shook his head with a smile. “Nah, pretty sure I’m dead either way.”
“Feels like it,” Saul said, standing up from the ground. He gave Roman a hand and the two staggered for a moment, like baby deer after being born.
Saul crouched across from us. “I’m so hungry,” he growled.
Roman was almost beyond the transition, too. They were becoming more steady on their feet, regaining balance. Saul’s eyes darted toward everything he heard. I remembered the acuteness. It was overwhelming to me, but he seemed to be handling it well—another reason to hate him, I decided. I pointed in the direction of The Glen. “There are strays inside the walls.”
When Saul smiled, I noted that the bastard had longer fangs than any of us. “Not anymore,” he said slyly, and took off running like he was meant to be a night-walker. Roman chased after him.
“Roman!”
“I’m okay. Sort of!”
Mercedes asked me to help steady her, so I did. She was shorter than Porschia and pretty in a conventional way, but nowhere near as beautiful as her sister. Not as feisty either.
“I need to eat,” she said, panting and staring at the rapidly disappearing backs of Roman and Saul. “How do I run as fast as you and Porsch?”
“Just run. Speed will come sooner or later. There’s not a magical switch to flip.”
She flicked her eyes to me. “She loves you, Tage.”
My heart stopped for a long moment. How would Mercedes know Porschia’s feelings? The two weren’t exactly besties right now. As if sensing my question, she huffed. “She watches you. Any time you’re in the room, her eyes follow you. She doesn’t bother with the others. And I wasn’t around when she and Saul were... friends, but I don’t imagine that it’s something conscious on her part. She follows you because she cares about you; where you are and what you’re doing.”
“I hope you’re right.” Because I truly did love her and would give up everything for her.
“I am.” She flexed her fists and then looked at me. “See you at The Glen. I’m starving.” Then she took off running, and although it took her several yards, the girl was fast. She was right on Saul and Roman’s heels as the three entered the open gate.
Roman found a dog and Saul found two cats. They fed until they couldn’t draw any more blood from the animals, roaring in frustration, blood dripping from their lips and clinging to their teeth. Mercedes came out from around a building, holding a chicken in her arms. She cooed to it, smiling at the three of us guys, petting its feathers gently. And then she slowly brought it closer to her mouth. It was over before it could even cluck.
Mercedes smiled, teeth covered in blood, a dark feather stuck to her bottom lip. “I love chicken,” she sighed.
It was a terrifying sight. Even Roman and Saul stiffened. Mercedes waved to them. “There are more. I hear them. Come on!”
She took off running through the tall grass between the abandoned homes, leaping over obstacles like they were put there for sport, just for her entertainment. I’d been worried about Roman in frenzy, but he and Saul seemed calmer than I was after the transition. Mercedes, on the other hand? Mercedes seemed to be enjoying every second of her new strength and stamina. I instinctively knew she was going to be the hardest to control.
I followed Saul and Roman as they chased after her, feeding from my own cat when I found one. It felt wrong. I started calling Porschia ‘kitten’ because she seemed so panicked and frightened after she first turned, innocence with claws, and now I was feeding from one.
Mercedes watched me, noting my discomfort. “They would die anyway. There is no food for them here.”
“I know that,” I said defensively. It was weird to feed from domestic animals but I wasn’t above it, especially if it gave me strength. Because I was going to need it.
Roman stopped eating one of the stray chickens. “We’ll get a bigger kill soon. We should start heading toward The Manor.”
“What bigger game is there?” Mercedes smiled, her eyes twinkling in delight.
“You’ll see,” Roman said with a wink. “They’ll be fun to take down, too. You’ll love it, Cede.”
Oh, joy. Roman had already told me about the guard dogs, and now it was time to feed the frenzied. On the menu this afternoon? Canine.
A shiver like the legs of a millipede crawled up my spine. Porschia. She was scared and angry and... I needed to get to her. Now.
“Porschia is in trouble!” I panted, feeling her panic.
Roman’s smile dropped away and his face turned to stone. “Let’s go.” With that, he sped away; the three of us doing our best to keep up. Roman laughed as he ran. “I feel amazing! God, I missed this!”
Saul chuckled, running on his heels. “Feels better than being a rotter, that’s for sure!”
“I second that,” Mercedes yelled, laughing maniacally.
“Here they come!” yelled Roman, stopping fast and turning toward the smell of wet dog and blood. The dogs, if you could call them that, were enormous. The fur on their backs stood on end as they snarled, approaching slowly now that we’d all stopped. One came from the east and the other from the west. “Only two?” I yelled to Roman.
“Looks like it.”
“So hungry,” Mercedes muttered under her breath as she stared straight at the animal about to attack her. She showed no fear because she feared nothing in that moment. She was driven by something primal, something that fueled her confidence. Mercedes stepped forward, whispering to the canine.
“Sit down,” she cooed. The animal whimpered and tried to back away, but was unable to do anything more than obey her.
Roman’s eyes flicked to me. He mouthed, “She’s compelling it.”
I nodded.
Mouthing back, “Try it,” I ticked my head toward the other mutt. Roman stared directly at it, trying to calm it and tell it to sit down. Unfortunately Roman’s animal compulsion did not work, not like Mercedes’. She smiled and stepped forward to pet the animal under her spell before turning around and telling its twin to sit as well. The second animal went a step further, lying on the grass, eyes big and round and pleading. It whined and laid its head on its front paws.
To one and then the other, she commanded, “Stay.”
Walking to the first one she’d compelled, she dropped to her knees beside the animal, cooing and petting his coat. Then, before he knew what hit him, she sank her teeth into his neck and drank so quickly that he fell limply in her arms. She held his large body close to her as she fed. When she finished and the dog was drained, she shoved his large body away, discarding him and dusting her fingers off as if they were soiled. “I hate the smell of wet dog. You guys can feed from the other one.”
Roman, Saul, and I stood stock still for a moment, watching her as she bent to pick a daisy that had been spattered by the animal’s blood. “Beautiful,” she said to herself, smiling. And then she tucked it behind her ear, the blood s
mearing into her pale hair.
Saul and Roman fed from either side of the second dog, who never put up a fight thanks to Porschia’s sister. Mercedes’ blood high lasted for all of a second before crimson tears streamed down her face. “What’s wrong?” I asked, careful not to provoke her.
“I always wanted a dog.”
Holy shit. She was terrifying.
Lydia wasn’t alone in the hallway, and even though Pierce helped me by giving me the knife, he wasn’t an ally. Three enormous male vampires formed a triangle around their master, two at each side and one in front of her.
Pierce held his hands up in surrender and stepped forward, coming out from behind the bed and standing beside me.
“I need her blood, Pierce,” Lydia said confidently. “If you can’t provide it, you’re of no further use to me.”
The vampire trio snarled, smiling.
I shoved Pierce so hard, his body flew into the wall to our left, slicing through the drywall and then crashing onto the ground. Bits of crushed white board thumped to the floor as the hideous wallpaper flapped in the wake of the assault. He groaned from the floor as he tried to pick himself up and failed.
What was that for?
That...saved your life. You’re welcome. Next time, I won’t bother.
He let out another moan and let his head flop back onto the hardwood floor. Thank you.
“If you want something from me, you either ask me nicely or come and get it yourself, Lydia. You don’t send people to take from me. Period.”
“I’ll do as I please. This is my house. You’re only alive because we want you to be.” She tucked herself behind her guard, a false sense of security lulling her into wagging her tongue at me.
Haughty bitch. I did not think so.
The first vampire entered the room and I leapt on him, knocking him to the floor and chewing a chunk of flesh from his neck. He started to bleed out. Fast. The second came at me and I tore his head from his body, grabbing his ears and using every ounce of strength in me to throw his weight across the room. His headless form crashed through the window, busting out glass and unleashing the long, sheer curtains into the daylight. They flapped; furling blood-spattered flags announcing my victory.
The last night-walker moved in slowly. He thought to catch me off guard, but I could feel every vibration his foot made on the floor boards, every inhalation and exhalation from his lungs. I could feel the reverberation of his heartbeat and even if I were blind, I would still know exactly where he was in proximity to me.
I ran to him, grabbing his throat and squeezing, lifting him until my forearms screamed with delight and his feet kicked and thrashed, dangling just off the ground. I fed from him, lowering him to me and smiling, holding him to me just to show him he could never overpower me.
And then I tossed his body outside with his friend’s. They could float together until they were nothing more than bones, and then until those crumbled into brittle powder. Because we would all become dust again. Death was the only guarantee in life.
It was all over in less than a minute. Lydia’s hands eased across the wall behind her as she tried to creep away. “What’s wrong, Lydia? You wanted to see what I could do. Do I impress you now? The hybrid? You want to be just like me? You want power, right? You want to spill blood?” Blood stuck to my teeth and my stomach began to roil in protest of its contents.
Her hair, laying in soft ringlets against her shoulders, shook violently. “Please,” she implored softly.
“Please what?”
Her thinned lips formed the words, “Please don’t hurt me.”
I walked toward her slowly. “Did the people of The Glen say the same thing to you right before you slaughtered them? Did they beg for a mercy you weren’t capable of giving?”
“I’m human now!” she cried.
“But you don’t want to be. It’s a gift you take for granted. It’s not good enough just to have a normal, human life. You want more.” I listened for the others. Marta and Elise were listening from another bedroom nearby, probably huddled in a closet or hidden beneath a bed. I heard their pathetic whispers, their murmurings and cries.
“Since I turned, there’s been this feeling under my skin,” I told her, following her movements down the long hallway.
“What sort of feeling?” Her fingers gripped the walls.
“Sort of like a hum; a current just waiting to break through the surface. And guess what?” I smiled.
“What?” she asked, her eyes darting around me.
“It’s free.”
I ran to her, pushing her neck against the wall with my forearm. “You want to taste what it’s like to be me?”
She shook her head vehemently. “No, n-no.”
“Yes you do.” My arm crushed her larynx. “You wanted this, remember. Always remember that.”
I bit the finger of my free hand and brought it to her lips. “Maybe those who wish to be cursed, should be. Drink it.”
She shook her head, clenching her lips tightly closed. “Drink. It!” I screamed into her face, shoving my finger into her mouth and prying her teeth apart. She bit me, but it was too late. My blood was changing her, making her into the monster she wanted to be.
While she screamed and writhed on the opulent carpet, I found the two women she considered to be her sisters. They were crouched in a closet, just as I’d pictured, quivering. The fabric of their dresses was wrinkled and tear-stained.
“What’s the matter?” I asked, crouching down. “You wanted this, remember? Let’s go see Lydia, shall we?”
I pulled them along with me, up the steps to the landing of the next floor where Lydia was still screaming and clawing at the skin of her neck. The other two tried to look for an escape, but I held tightly to each of their wrists. “It really burns,” I said conversationally. “I thought it would hurt, but you can’t even begin to imagine the pain. It’s torture.”
They tried to pull away, but I asked, “Which one of you wants to go next?”
Elise screamed for someone to come and help her. However, there was no one but Pierce, and he was still in the room where I’d left him, unless he had climbed out the window.
“Pierce? Do you want to help them?”
He didn’t answer. I made a pout in Elise’s direction. “I don’t think he wants to help,” I whispered.
Marta blubbered, “Please, just let us go. We like being human. We don’t want that,” she said. Her eyes were fixed on Lydia, whose kicks and flails were moving her down the hallway slowly, painfully.
“It’s not normal. That’s not what happened to us after we turned into vampires.”
I smiled, throwing them forward toward Lydia. “But you didn’t want normal. Normal wasn’t good enough for you.”
Elise fell to her knees. “Please, just let us go.” Marta went quiet and the only sound in the hall was Elise’s heavy breaths. “Oh, God,” her lips shook. “She’s behind me, isn’t she?”
Lydia, whose change had been faster than anyone expected, smiled from just over Elise’s shoulder; a chilling smile that revealed tiny fangs. Elise moved her head the slightest bit to get a look at her. “Boo,” Lydia whispered. Elise wailed, scrambling forward toward me, but it was too late. Lydia was fast and hungry.
She sank her fangs into Elise’s shoulder, drawling deeply and groaning from the satisfaction of quenched thirst, of a fire extinguished. Marta backed into me, but I wouldn’t let her escape down the steps. “Please!” she shrieked, turning her head to see Lydia drop Elise’s corpse carelessly on the ground; her neck folded at an unnatural angle as she stared out from behind a loose curl.
Lydia wasted no time in grabbing Marta and draining her, too. This was going to be difficult. She’d be strong, but Frenzy was overwhelming. Her senses would be in overdrive. I would just have to use them against her.
Marta’s fine dress, stained with spurts of blood, fell over Elise’s face as Lydia tossed her aside. I was already walking toward her. She let out a growl and j
umped toward me. “Stop,” I told her, looking directly at her and hoping the compulsion worked on frenzied night-walkers.
She clutched her ears. I’d forgotten about the sensitivity. “Are you still hungry?”
“Yes,” she answered, her lips shaking, fists relaxing and then clenching again against her head.
“There’s a human in the bedroom I was sleeping in. Pierce.”
From down the hall, I heard the door slam and then furniture sliding across the floor behind it, followed by Pierce’s shouted curses. Lydia smiled and scampered quickly to the door, barely pushing it. It opened forcefully, shoving everything he’d been sweating to brace it with back along the floor. He was near the window, and that was when I had my chance.
Lydia leaped onto Pierce, gnashing her teeth at his face and throat as he fought in vain to push her away. Moving imperceptibly fast, I caught her by the head as she removed her fangs from his neck. She gasped in surprise. Then I jerked hard.
And Lydia was no more.
The room erupted in a violent burst of crimson.
Pierce, covered in Lydia’s blood, wiped his face and eyes, pushing through the sticky fluid to get away from me. But it was too late. “Not so fast, Pierce. I can’t trust you not to keep causing problems for me.”
Drink.
Gulp.
Drain.
They’d killed one another.
Lydia wanted it.
So did Marta.
Elise did, too.
They Infected Pierce. They fed from him to become human.
The women destroyed The Glen. The people. The elderly. The children. Everything.
The bodies.
The floating bodies.
Corpses.
The scent of fear, of blood, of monsters.
I was a monster.
Friction (The Frenzy Series Book 4) Page 8