Winter Thirst

by Ilia Bera

  Brittany stared at Kane for a moment. “So what does that tell you about me?”

  Kane thought for a moment. “That you’re one of the most complex people I’ve ever met.”

  “And why do you think that?” Brittany laughed.

  “I know nothing about you, but at the same time I feel like I know everything.”

  Brittany smiled. “I wish I could be an open book like you.”

  Kane laughed. “An open book?” he repeated. “Why would you say that?”

  “You had no problem telling me your secrets. No matter how badly I want to, I can’t even begin.”

  “Believe me when I say that I have worse secrets than being a vampire hunter. Much worse…”

  “Like what?” Brittany asked. “What are you hiding?

  “I don’t think story time is a great idea right now if I’m going to be honest.”

  “Maybe knowing what you think is so bad about yourself would make me feel better about my own life.”

  “You would never look at me again, and that would be horrible. Besides, I’m sure whatever is hiding in your basement isn’t as bad as you think.”

  Brittany blushed and looked down at her feet.

  “Once you leave town, I’ll never have the chance to look at you again.”

  “And it’s going to be horrible,” Kane said with a smile.

  Brittany looked out the window as yet another set of blue and red lights sped passed the apartment building. A powerful gust of snow rattled the thin apartment window. Snowflakes clung to the cold glass for a moment before parting again for their final destination.

  Kane had been to a lot of towns, but none were as harsh as Snowbrooke. With such an innocent name as Snowbrooke, one wouldn’t expect violently cold blizzards and grizzly serial killers. “You really need to get out of this town,” Kane said. “This is no place for a girl like you.”

  “One day...”

  As Brittany looked back up at Kane, his lips connected with hers. Her body was suddenly lifted up off of the ground as a warm energy flowed inside of her. One of Kane’s muscular hands slid gently around the back of her head; his fingers nestling into her soft hair. The firm ridges of Kane’s teeth glistened across Brittany’s fragile lips.

  The sharp howl of the cold winter wind silenced as the two lovers lowered down onto the soft couch. The flashing red, blue and white lights outside began to dissipate as the emergency vehicles disappeared into the storm. The room blushed with the warm glowing street lights and the radiant glimmer from the town clock tower, visible over the quaint Snowbrooke rooftops. There was a particular magic about that frigid winter morning. Sometimes it takes the nastiest conditions to join destined souls.

  Kane’s gentle hand slid down Brittany’s back, eliciting a surge of warmth through her body. The long strands of Kane’s hair fell down from behind his ear, next to Brittany’s face—a perfect excuse for Brittany’s hand to slide up the rugged stumble of Kane’s cheek.

  “I don’t want you to go,” Brittany whispered gently into Kane’s ear.

  “I don’t want to leave you,” Kane replied softly with his naturally hoarse voice.

  Brittany gently pushed Kane’s hair back behind his ear and then pulled him carefully back down to resume their passionate kiss.

  Their breath joined into a seemingly perfect unison as their weightless bodies lifted and fell in a harmonious rhythm. As their skin brushed together, an exciting ecstasy elated their bodies, purging them deeper into their passionate lust.

  Kane could feel Brittany’s soft tongue penetrate his lips as his fingers pushed up the soft skin on her sides, under her shirt. As Kane’s rugged fingertips slid up onto the side of Brittany’s young breast, Brittany moaned.

  Her eyes closed and her head corked back, giving Kane perfect access to her neck. Sliding his hand towards the top of Brittany’s head to hold her head back, Kane began to kiss the soft skin on Brittany’s neck.

  Brittany gently bit her lip as a grin unavoidable swept across her face. Her legs began to tremble as she took a long, elated breath inwards. Her heart raced as it pumped warm adrenaline through her veins.

  Kane sunk down lower, carefully pulling Brittany’s top down with him. His muscular thighs began to push Brittany’s trembling legs up.

  Her thoughts were scattered and her anxieties were quickly becoming a hazy blur. She dug her nails into Kane’s sides suddenly as Kane’s lips wrapped around her exposed nipple.

  Eyes glowing, the couple was quickly becoming lost in a swirling euphoria of lust. Tension drained from their muscles as they melted together.

  As a sudden surge of warm elation fluttered through her spine, Brittany felt a sharp pain in her gums. Her razor-sharp vampire teeth were surfacing.

  Kane leaned back and looked up into Brittany’s eyes.

  Brittany’s heart froze as the small apartment walls suddenly closed around her. She was speechless—caught.

  “Brittany?” Kane said gently.

  Brittany didn’t respond. Her hands trembled at her side, feeling unusually cold as the blood rushed away from her extremities.

  “K—Kane?” Brittany replied, unsure of what else to say.

  “I love you,” Kane said.

  Brittany’s heart tingled as it skipped a beat. Her head started to spin and become light, unable to process what Kane had said.

  “I—I love you too,” Brittany replied.

  A smile swept across Kane’s face for a moment before he sunk back down for another passionate kiss.

  THIRTY

  no limits

  As another sharp gust of wind blew against the window, Kane pushed himself into Brittany.

  Eyes gleaming and heart pounding, Brittany threw her head back and cried out in her state of absolute pleasure. Kane’s hands gripped firmly against the soft skin on Brittany’s sides as he felt her warm knees uncontrollably slide up and down his inner-thighs.

  Neither Kane nor Brittany could contain their smiles. For once, Brittany felt safe; for once, Kane felt complete. The blissful moment couldn’t have lasted long enough.

  Wheeeeooooo!

  Another set of flashing red and blue lights streamed past the window, but Brittany and Kane were both too lost in lust to notice.

  Kane glistened his fingertips across Brittany’s flushed cheek, carefully pushing a fallen strand of hair off of her soft face. He could feel Brittany’s body slowly thawing as she sunk deeper into a relaxed state.

  He thrust forward powerfully, slowly building up a strong rhythm. Brittany’s wandering hands searched for something to hold, but failed to find anything—opting instead to hold tightly onto Kane’s thick, muscular arms. Her body was quickly surrendering to Kane’s endowed manhood.

  With every swift thrust, Kane’s muscles tensed and contracted. The gaps between his thick abs deepened and the veins running down all of his extremities bulged outwards.

  He stared deeply into Brittany’s glowing eyes through his messy, fallen hair. The two smiled at one another for a beautifully calm moment. Like the sun’s glowing apricity between frigid gusts of Arctic wind, the silent moment was short lived.

  Kane could feel a elated tingle gleaming down his spine and culminating down, between his legs. He was close, and he couldn’t hold on any longer. A similar sensation was crowning in the young, beautiful dark-skinned Brittany, coupled with her insatiable and intensifying blood lust.

  Kane’s hot blood glowed a brighter and brighter red colour as Brittany drew closer and closer to her own euphoric climax. Her breathing became quick and shallow, her eyes closed tightly and her heart pounded against her chest wall. Her knees rattled against the hard muscles of Kane’s legs, and her feet pointed tensely towards the back wall of the room. Brittany’s mouth fell open and she took one long, deep inhale in.

  Then, she screamed out loud, unable to contain herself any longer. Her body had completely conceded to the hunter, whose strong hands pinned her down against the soft couch below.

  And afte
r one more hard, swift thrust, the act was done. Kane’s body tensed up for a beautiful moment as the two climaxes became one, tapering off into a relaxed bliss. There were no concerns or worries that could have taken that moment away from them.

  “If it all ended right now, I would be happy,” Kane said, smiling as he rolled off of his beautiful dark-skinned date.

  “What do you mean? Why do you say that?” Brittany asked.

  Kane was silent for a moment as he looked down at Brittany’s exposed body. “I guess I don’t know—It’s just how I feel.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather just spend the rest of our lives together—happy, like we are now?”

  Kane smiled. “You know I would, but whatever cruel God is up there would find a way to stop it. He always has before.”

  “Well, until then we can enjoy the time we do have together.” Brittany turned her head and looked out the window as yet another cruiser passed the quaint apartment on the edge of town. Her expression quickly dropped as the glowing emergency lights burned reality back into the little cold apartment.

  Kane smiled and turned onto his side, facing the vixen. The fleeting red and blue lights served as a reminder that Kane still had blood on his hands, and the evidence was everywhere.

  “Run away with me,” Kane said. “Tomorrow. As soon as the sun rises.”

  Brittany turned and looked at Kane; her eyes were wide as her brain mulled over the suggestion. Her mouth opened for a moment in an attempt to respond, but it quickly closed as her words escaped her thoughts.

  “We’ll leave everything behind... Start a new life somewhere else—somewhere warm, and sunny. Somewhere safe. We’ll just get away from all of this.”

  Brittany looked down at her cold toes—she could consider the proposition all she wanted, but she couldn’t actually accept. Snowbrooke was the only place she could escape the sun. It was where her home was—her protection from herself.

  “What do you think?” Kane asked.

  “I can’t, Kane. I want to, but I can’t.”

  “Sure you can. Just forget all of this. We’ll start a new life—new friends, a new home, new jobs—We can even make new names. Everything.”

  “It isn’t that simple.”

  “Sure it is,” Kane naively assured.

  “No, it’s not.” Brittany looked up into Kane’s eyes firmly, reminding Kane that he didn’t know everything about her.

  Wheeeeooooo—Bleep! Bleep!

  A police car suddenly stopped right outside of Kane’s apartment building. It’s siren stopped abruptly, but its flashing lights remained on. Kane’s head quickly spun towards the window and his heart stopped beating in his chest. The colour quickly vanished from his face.

  After a short moment of severe anxiety, the cruiser pulled away.

  “I’m leaving in the morning,” Kane said softly, unable to look Brittany in the eyes. He sat up on the couch and planted his cold hands onto the cushion below.

  Her vision began to blur as tears formed along her eyelids. It was obvious Kane was hiding another secret of his own. Slowly, she sat up. Kane felt strangely far away.

  Secrets don’t belong with other secrets.

  “What happened, Kane?” Brittany asked.

  Kane couldn’t look up from his feet.

  “Kane, please say something.”

  “I made a mistake, and I think I need to bounce.” Kane finally looked up and into Brittany’s eyes.

  Brittany looked down sharply, lowering her chin to her chest. She joined her hands together in her lap and clasped her fingers together nervously. “If you leave now, it wouldn’t look good,” she pointed out. “They’ll go looking for you.”

  “But I can’t stay,” Kane replied.

  “You need to stay for at least a few days, until this all dies down a bit.”

  Kane thought for a moment longer, considering Brittany’s suggestion.

  THIRTY-ONE

  back to school

  The days were becoming impossibly shorter. With only a couple of weeks before the winter solstice, the sun hardly made an appearance over the tall surrounding mountainscape at all.

  Connor had spent the night in the hospital, sleeping in a cheap plastic chair across the hall from his mother’s room. His neck was stiff and his back was sore. Between the discomfort of his “sleeping arrangement” and the tragic events from the previous night, Connor hadn’t gotten much sleep whatsoever.

  The news of Wade Fenner’s passing hadn’t hit the town yet, but a phone call with the University confirmed that there was indeed still class that night.

  Connor didn’t ask any questions. He just packed up his school work and, when eight o’clock came around, he took off for class, unsure of who would be teaching.

  Ring! Ring!

  He wasn’t more than five minutes from the hospital when his phone began to ring.

  “Hello?”

  “Mr. Knight?” a female voice said on the other end.

  “This is Connor Knight.”

  “Hi Connor, this is Ava—from the hospital.”

  “Hi Ava,” Connor replied.

  “I think I just missed you. We’re going to transfer your mom into the long term care ward.’

  “Is everything okay?” Connor asked.

  “Totally fine. The doctor wants to keep watching her for at least the rest of the week, and a room became available—it’s just better for everyone.”

  “Okay—Sure.”

  “Come find me down in emergency and I’ll show you up to her room,” Ava said.

  “I’m just on my way to school.”

  “That’s okay—I’m just starting my shift. I’ll be here all night. Oh—and you’ll also need to sign your mom’s insurance forms. I have them all set aside for you here.”

  “Okay, cool. Thanks, Ava.”

  “No problem, Connor. See you tonight.”

  “Bye.” As Connor hung up the phone, he stepped onto the university grounds. In the distance, he could see familiar faces making their way towards class.

  Noticing Connor as she grabbed the door handle, Hanna stopped and smiled. She waited for Connor to catch up before she entered. Connor was ecstatic to see the beautiful young girl, but he couldn’t get the image of the distraught Fenner family off of his mind.

  “Hey,” she said as Connor walked up.

  Connor forced a smile. “Hi.”

  “What’s wrong?” Hanna asked.

  Connor reached past Hanna and held the door open for her, and the two entered the university. Quietly, in the warm comfort of the school halls, Connor told Hanna about Wade’s passing the night before.

  Hanna’s eyes quickly turned wide as Connor went into detail.

  “I overheard the paramedics,” Connor continued. “They said he was attacked by that vampire killer—the same holes on the neck, and the same blood loss.”

  Hanna opened her mouth to reply, but had nothing to say. Her face became flushed and a whole new slew of anxieties crossed her mind. As soon as Connor discovered her secret, he would instantly assume she was the killer.

  “Are you okay?” Connor asked.

  Hanna looked slowly up at Connor. “Me?” she asked as her brain sluggishly processed the simple question. “Yeah,” she said, suddenly snapping back to reality. “It’s just so... Unexpected.”

  “Are you part of the English upgrading class?” Standing at the doorway to the classroom was a police officer, in full uniform. He stood tall with a stern expression on his face as he looked towards Hanna and Connor.

  “Yeah,” Connor replied.

  “Can you please come take a seat?” the officer insisted, holding the door open for the students.

  Connor motioned for Hanna to go first, and then followed her into the silent room, where Kane and Brittany were already seated. As Connor walked into the room, he immediately noticed Andrew’s absence—uncharacteristic on Andrew’s part.

  Standing in the front corner, next to the whiteboard was another police officer—an older m
an with a beard and a moustache.

  “Okay, we’re just waiting on one more,” the officer said as he walked up to the front of the classroom and looked down at an attendance sheet. “We’ll give him another minute,” the officer said to his partner.

  Kane, in the back corner of the room, sunk deep into his chair, knowing that the “one more” was not going to show up.

  The silent minute was excruciatingly long. The older officer in the corner carefully stared into the eyes of each student, looking for any and every sign of weakness—any sign of guilt or suspicion.

  The ticking clock reverberated through the noiseless room, providing a metronome for the sharp howl of the cold winter wind against the thin school window.

  Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened, and the heads of every student and police officer turned towards it.

  THIRTY-TWO

  meet the new kid

  Kane’s heart sunk deep down into the pit of his stomach as the door creaked open. He took a cautious breath in through his nose, and tried to maintain his composure.

  A familiar face stepped into the room—It was Tarun.

  Tarun froze as his eyes fell upon the officers in the room.

  “This is English Twelve?” Tarun asked after a moment of silence.

  “Yes—Tarun Mumbar?” the younger officer asked, looking down at the attendance.

  “Yes,” Tarun replied.

  “Please have a seat,” the officer said.

  “My name is Luke Hendricks. You will refer to me as Constable Luke Hendricks. Last night your teacher, Professor Wade Fenner, was killed outside of his home.”

  Kane carefully turned his head towards Hanna to watch her reaction. She remained surprisingly still; surprisingly calm. Kane wasn’t aware that she had already heard of Wade’s passing.

  Kane slowly looked next to him, where Brittany was sitting. She appeared pale, as if she was about to throw up. He eyes were glossy and her posture was stiff.

  “You okay?” Kane whispered.

  Brittany forced herself out of her anxious daze. “Yeah—just shocked,” she replied.