Hunger: A Vampire Novella

by James, M. D.

  I ate all the food I had piled onto my tray and had to resist the urge to lick the plates clean. Garrett teased me about it for the next several hours.

  My last class of the day was an art class. I was a little creative, and I figured I’d need a less intensive class to even out my schedule. I had to talk Garrett into taking it with me, but he finally agreed when I pointed out that I was taking the early Monday and Wednesday class with him. It was a two-hour class, twice a week, but should be fun. It was a pretty small class with maybe twenty or fewer students. Right away, I saw Jane seated in the corner of the room, talking to the girl seated in front of her.

  “Guess I don’t have to wait until tomorrow after all,” I said in as smooth and confident a voice as I could muster, as I sat down at the desk to Jane’s right. I was nervous but tried not to show it. Garrett took the seat in front of me, probably so he could flirt with Jane’s friend.

  “I guess not,” Jane said as she turned around with a smile. “I still don’t know your name, you know?”

  “I’m Matt. My friends call me Matty,” I told her while extending my hand to shake hers. As our hands touched, I felt a jolt of electricity run up my arm and through to the rest of my body. I don’t know if I ever believed in love at first sight, but I definitely felt like I was falling quickly for Jane. Everything about her intoxicated me: her hair, her scent, her smile. I was hooked.

  “Um,” I heard Jane say, “Can I have my hand back?” I didn’t even realize I was still holding onto it. I felt like such a complete moron. She didn’t seem upset though. She just smiled, coyly, and returned to her conversation with her friend.

  Class started, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched. I tried to ignore it, but the eerie feeling didn’t go away. I looked around to see if there was anyone staring my direction, and standing in the doorway was the girl from my dream, Adrianna. She was staring at me, with hatred in her eyes, and what looked to be blood running from the side of her mouth. I was so startled, that I jumped in my chair, and knocked my book from my desk. As the book made a loud bang when it hit the floor, everyone in the room turned to look at me. I glanced back at the doorway, but Adrianna wasn’t there.

  “Are you having issues?” Garrett joked as he turned to help me pick my book up off of the floor.

  “Did you see her?” I whispered back.

  “Who?” Garrett didn’t seem to have a clue as to what I was talking about.

  “Adrianna!” I said, a little too loudly. Everyone turned around again to look at me. Before I could explain any further, class was dismissed.

  “Are you okay?” Jane asked, seeming truly concerned. I had almost forgotten all about her. I was still pretty shaken up from the sight I thought I saw in the doorway.

  “Yeah,” I said, not too convincingly. “I just thought I saw something, that’s all.” It was true, I guess. It seemed so real, but no one else in class seems to have seen it, so it must have just been my imagination.

  “Do you have another class today?” Jane asked, probably to change the conversation. I hoped I wasn’t freaking her out.

  “No. That’s it for me today,” I replied, “How about you?”

  “This was my last class for the day too.” I swear her smile could hypnotize me. I mustered up the confidence to add, “Can I walk you to your dorm or car? Or, maybe to lunch….with me?” I don’t think it came out as smooth sounding as I had hoped, but at least it was out there.

  “Sure. I’ll have lunch with you.” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t really expect her to say yes. We just walked in silence to the student center. I was still starving, but didn’t want to look like a pig in front of her, so I just ordered a burger, rare. I paid for the salad Jane ordered too, and we sat down at a table in the corner.

  “So, you like your burgers rare, huh?” Jane asked. I couldn’t tell if she disapproved or was just trying to make conversation.

  “Not usually. This is my first, actually. I’ve been having a lot of weird cravings,” I answered. I wasn’t sure I should be this open and honest with her. Normally you’re supposed to be cold and aloof, or act super macho to get a girl to notice you. Opening up about your feelings and being honest seems to get a guy nowhere, but I never could play the dating games that other guys played. I hope I wasn’t scaring her off.

  “What kinds of cravings?” Jane asked.

  She seemed interested, so the honesty thing much be working. I decided to tell her about my breakfast. “Well, for starters, I normally never eat breakfast. Today, though, I ate one of everything that the cafeteria served.”

  She laughed, thinking I was joking. “You ordered one of everything?”

  “I not only ordered one of everything,” I corrected, “but, I ate one of everything. I even had to keep myself from licking the plates clean.” After I scarfed down the first burger, Jane dared me to get another, and was amazed when I ate it just as easily, in spite of it being super rare.

  We must’ve sat there for an hour or two afterwards, talking about where we were from, and what we were majoring in. I stopped being so nervous, and felt like I had known Jane my entire life.

  When I got back to the dorm, Garrett was there, waiting to find out what had spooked me in class. “What happened back in art class?” he asked. I had completely forgotten about seeing Adrianna in class, and how scary she looked with her angry eyes and blood dripping from her ruby lips.

  I told him about how I kept feeling like someone were watching or staring at me. “And, when I looked around the room to find out who it was,” I explained, “I saw that girl from the other day. She was just standing by the door to the classroom. Her face was angry, and there was blood all over her mouth. She looked like she wanted to kill me.” Just telling my best friend what I thought I saw gave me the chills all over again. The hair on my arms was standing on end, and I was covered in goose bumps.

  “Dude! I think you need to lie down. You’re probably coming down with something.” Garrett was likely right. That would explain why my skin has been sensitive, and I’ve had a bigger appetite lately.

  I took come cold and flu medicine, and tried to go to sleep as Garrett watched T.V. I hoped that the sound of the T.V. in the background would help keep my mind off of anything scary, so I wouldn’t have nightmares.

  Chapter 3

  The next few days were all the same. Every night, I would go to bed thinking of Jane and all the excitement I felt whenever I was around her, but those thoughts would quickly change into dreams of Adrianna. Half of them were sexual, and the other half were scary. I hadn’t seen Adrianna again, since I thought I saw her in art class. I was starting to think I had dreamt her up, and that she was just a figment of my imagination.

  Jane invited me to a party at her sorority house, so at least that would take my mind off of whatever was going on with me. I spent the day getting my hair cut, and buying something new to wear. We were already practically an item, after only a week, but I still wanted to impress her.

  Jane set Garrett up with her friend, Julie, from art class. Julie was a little shy, but Garret thought she was pretty. And, she was, in more of a librarian way. She wore blouses that were simple and buttoned up to the top button. During the two classes we had, she wore skirts that were only a few inches shy of being floor length. Her clothes and demeanor seemed very old fashioned, but I was glad Garrett was going to have a date, since I felt like I had been ignoring him lately.

  We got to the party, and mingled while waiting for the girls to free themselves up. They each had jobs to perform during the party, and Jane and Julie’s jobs were to check coats for the first hour. We were offered drinks but I declined. I wanted to make a good impression for Jane, and definitely didn’t want a repeat of the weekend before, where I couldn’t even remember half the night. Garrett had been making friends quickly around the dorms, while I was hanging out with Jane, so he knew quite a few people at the party. He introduced me to some of his new friends, and it helped the time pass
by faster. I envied how he could instantly make friends. I was never able to do that very easily. I think that’s why we were such great friends, because we were sort of opposites. Together, it made us more well-rounded.

  “So, how do you guys like the house,” Jane said as she came up to us with some drinks. I wasn’t sure if I should take one when she offered us each a drink, but she explained that they were just punch. “We’re not allowed to drink in the sorority, until we’re twenty-one.”

  “In that case,” I said, “I would love one.”

  We spent the rest of the night talking and dancing. The girls gave us a tour of their house, and before we knew it midnight was approaching.

  “Aah!” I was having really bad stomach pains. It felt like I was having my insides stabbed with a sharp knife.

  “Are you okay?” Jane asked. I could tell she was concerned. She took my cup and set it down, while helping me find a place to lie down.

  “I think it’s just all the food I’ve been eating this week, disagreeing with me.”

  Jane caressed my forehead gently and ran her fingers through my hair as she sat beside me. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  The pain was getting worse as the stabbing pains appeared closer together. “I think I should call it a night, and see if some sleep with help.” I was trying to hold it in, but couldn’t help grunting a few times as the pain got more intense.

  “I can walk you to your dorm,” Jane suggested, with a very worried look across her face.

  I hated making her worry. “I’m sure I’ll be fine. You stay and enjoy the party. I’ll call you when I get back, to let you know I’m there and going to bed, okay?” She didn’t really like the idea of me getting home alone, but agreed as long as I called her after I got home.

  She helped me up off the bed I was resting on, and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. Her warm lips on my cheek felt like rose petals caressing my skin. It seemed like time stopped as I turned to her and our eyes connected. I leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. It was a short, sweet kiss but one that would last forever in my mind.

  After checking in with Garrett and letting him know I was leaving, I headed back to the dorm. The Greek houses were on the opposite end of the campus as our dorms, so the walk would take me a little while.

  I was hoping the cool fall air would help me feel a little better. Unfortunately, it didn’t. At times the stabbing pains were so strong that I had to find benches to take short rests on. I thought I was going to pass out. I tried to keep going though. The pain just kept growing, and then my head was pounding as well. It was like the worst hang-over mixed with food poisoning that I had ever felt. I sat down again.

  I leaned forward, and held my head in my hands. I just wanted the headache to go away. My head felt like it was going to explode. It almost took my mind off of the pains in my stomach.

  “There, there.” I felt a hand caressing my hair. At first, I thought that Jane followed me, but this voice was a different voice. I looked up and it was Adrianna. I sat frozen, unable to speak. Was I just imagining her this time too? “I’m real,” she confirmed, as if she could read my mind.

  “Who are you?” I asked.

  “You know who I am,” she replied in a voice that was as smooth as silk, but at the same time very sultry. When I didn’t say anything, she told me her name was Adrianna.

  “I knew that,” I half whispered to myself, trying to figure out where I knew her from and how I knew her name. I cleared my head and asked her what she was doing out here so late.

  “I’m here for you,” she answered, without further clarification. It didn’t feel good feeling like she had all of the answers while I was still so much in the dark.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, still half sure that I was just hallucinating again. The stabbing pains were so strong that my body must be producing hormones to deal with it, and maybe those hormones were making me see things that weren’t really there.

  “I told you, I’m real, Matty,” she said again, with more conviction in her voice. “You’re going through the change.” What was she talking about? What change? “Don’t you remember last weekend?” she asked when I still seemed confused.

  “I went to a party, but I don’t remember half of it,” I told her. “Since then, I have been having dreams about you, and seeing you in places you couldn’t be.”

  Adrianna laughed a soft laugh, but one that sent a chill up my spine. “Those weren’t dreams, silly. Those were memories.” I was suddenly freezing. Flashes of missing images came flooding back to me. I remembered it all. I remembered how I Adrianna came up to me at that party last weekend, and offered me a drink. I got drowsy, and when I woke up, I was in the old and musty room, tied to the bed. She started undressing as I laid there in a trance. First she removed her dress, revealing some very sexy, red lace underwear. She looked like a Victoria Secrets model, standing at the end of the bed in just the lace bra and panties and her matching, spiked pumps.

  “You remember,” she said with a wicked grin, as she licked the side of my face, seductively. I instantly sprang a boner. I did remember. I had a raging hard-on that night, too. Adrianna had taken off her bra, revealing two very full breasts with hard, perky nipples that were making my mouth water. She got on the bed and crawled up to my face, and kissed me. The kiss was so passionate that I felt my lips bruise almost instantly. Her hands found my hard dick, and released it from its cotton prison. I almost came right then. As she made her way down to my pulsating member, her nails dug into my chest and clawed all the way down to my hips. I watched intently as she lightly licked just the tip of my manhood. She twirled her tongue around it as she massaged my thighs. Next, she took the whole mushroom head in her mouth and gently sucked on it, before she took her tongue and made her way down my shaft. She licked each of my balls, while keeping her eyes locked to mine the entire time. Just when I thought I would cum, she started making her way back up, taking her time to slowly lick and kiss each inch of my stomach and then chest. As she returned to kiss my lips, I could taste my dick on her tongue. I wasn’t sure whether I was turned off by it or even more turned on. Before I could decide, I felt my cock being placed at the opening of her pussy. She thrust forward, forcing my dick all the way inside of her. She continued to ride my dick as she kissed my earlobes. I closed my eyes. I knew I was getting close. Being a virgin, I was surprised I was able to hold out this long. As I filled her with my seed, Adrianna sunk her teeth deep into my neck. It was so hot.

  “That was just a dream,” I told her, not knowing now if it was or not.

  “No, it wasn’t. And these pains you’re having are because it’s the first New Moon,” she interrupted before I could say more.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re changing,” Adrianna explained, “When I bit you, it was the first step in you becoming like me….a vampire.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It seemed so real, but this had to be just another one of my hallucinations. I got up and started running away. “You’re crazy…there’s no such thing as a vampire!” I looked back but Adrianna was no longer sitting on the bench. It must’ve just been the fever.

  “There are vampires, Matty.” Adrianna startled me. She was standing right in front of me as I turned to continue to the dorm. She placed her hand on my chest to halt me and continued, “You are a vampire now.”

  I broke into a sprint. I just wanted to get home, where I felt safe and go to bed. Tomorrow this nightmare would all be over.

  Adrianna yelled after me, “I’ll be seeing you, Matty.” The sound of her cackling laughter disappeared into the night as I got further away.

  When I got to my room, I just collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to undress or even take my shoes off. I just wanted to sleep.

  Chapter 4

  RINNNGGGG. RINNNGGGG. RINNNGGGG.

  I woke to the sound of my phone ringing. The sunshine was filling the room, but I just wanted to be left alone in da
rkness. Garrett wasn’t in his bed. It didn’t look as though he came back last night. I ignored the phone call and closed the curtains over the window.

  As I lie there in bed, tossing and turning, I couldn’t stop thinking of the night before. I couldn’t stop thinking of all Adrianna had said. Was she a vampire? Was I really turning into one? It had to just be my imagination. Maybe I was going insane. If I was a vampire, though, it would explain why I was becoming more sensitive to light, and why I had an increased appetite, especially for really rare meat…meat that is dripping with blood. Just thinking of it had me feeling electric currents running through my body. I didn’t understand any of this.

  Eventually I fell back asleep. It wasn’t until Garrett woke me up around dinner time that I actually got out of bed. “Have you been in bed all day?” he asked. He was still in the same clothes from the night before, so I assumed he hooked up with some girl.