Blood of the Past
four

First, he introduced himself as Marcos. He could have been giving me a fake name for all I knew. Second, he brought me some water, then some food. Unlike these leeches, I needed real food to survive.

I scarfed the food down like I’d been starving. Well, I had been.

Just when I thought I was in the clear, he said, “I know you’re pregnant.”

I slowly stopped eating, swallowing the food and pushing the plate away. “You can leave now.”

Marcos pushed the plate back towards me. “It’s not poisonous. You deserve to eat.” Then he added, “I’m not going to threaten you or blackmail you.”

It was easier to believe otherwise. I started eating again, savoring every bite. When Marcos reached towards my hand, I pulled away. “Don’t touch me.”

“I just want to look at your thumb. I’m not going to hurt you.” When I didn’t move, he reached out again, grabbing my wrist. His touch was gentle as he pulled my hand closer to his chest, taking a look. “I can get a cast for this. It’ll need to be put into the proper place, so I need you to promise you won’t mess with it.”

Coughing, I asked, “Why are you helping me?”

His eyes met mine. “I don’t believe all wolves are bad. Like any other group, good and bad exist within. And you did nothing to deserve this.”

“I believe all vampires are vile creatures.” I pulled my hand back. “They did this to me.”

Marcos nodded and took the empty plate. “They did. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this.”

He didn’t know the half of it. “If you were truly sorry, you’d help me escape.”

“This place is filled with vampires. Every corner. One thing we do not lack, Brianne, is an abundance of our own kind. I’d get you out if I could.”

I covered my mouth with the back of my hand. Nausea threatened me. “You have no intention of letting me go. You want what they all want. Power. Control. To watch me beg for mercy.”

He sat back against the wall, nodding his head again. “And you have no reason to believe otherwise. All you’ve seen is pain. But, remember, that you are doing to me what they do to you. Do you deserve to be seen as the enemy?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Answer the question. Do you deserve to be seen as the villain?”

“No… I’m not much of a threat, anyway.”

“So, then why do I deserve to be treated the same way? I did nothing wrong, and I’m not much of a threat to you. If I wanted to hurt you, I would have. I gain nothing by feeding you, except knowing that you’re not starving.”

Wrapping my arms around myself, I chewed my lips. “Do you at least have a toilet?”

“Why?” He tilted his head, before shaking it. “Sorry, dumb question.” He stood, helping me to my feet. “The bathroom is down the hall. If anyone stops us and asks, I’ll tell them that you have bad diarrhea and none of us want to smell that.” He slipped an arm around my waist, but I peeled it off. I could walk just fine.

I limped to the bathroom while he led the way, and as soon as he opened the door, I ran inside and locked it. I turned to face the wall, but there wasn’t a single window. He must have known that.

I used the few minutes I had to get myself a little cleaned up. I went to fix my thumb, but I stopped at his words. He told me not to mess with it, and I decided to listen. There was no use making it worse.

After leaving the bathroom, he led me back to the room. I had contemplated making a run for it, but I needed to form a plan before making a stupid decision. This place was crawling with vampires. I needed to learn the ins and outs to get out undetected, and when I was gone long enough, only then would they replace out I escaped. But I wouldn’t tell Marcos that. I couldn’t quite trust him.

Marcos stiffened, and I thought we were about to be caught, but that wasn’t what he was concerned about. When we entered the room, he closed the door and grabbed my wrist before I could walk away. Well, I had tried and now I was tripping over my feet and leaning against his chest. He was examining my palms. “I’ll need to bandage these, too.”

I furrowed my brows and then the slight stinging began to register. I had dug my nails into my palms, deep enough to draw blood.

Something occurred to me, and I thought maybe for a split second I had the upper hand. I forced Marcos mouth open and put my palm inside until he bit down. The pain was bearable, but if it meant my escape, it would be worth it.

He pulled his teeth out and slid out from in front of me, locking his teeth. “Brianne, what the hell was that for?”

With my palm against my chest, I watched, hopeful that it had worked. But even after not answering for a minute and Marcos repeating himself, I was wrong. The poison hadn’t set in because there was no poison. “I thought…” Was I about to tell him? “What does werewolf blood do to a vampire?”

Marcos didn’t seem all that surprised that I’d tried to kill him. He expected it. Instead, he stepped forward and pulled my hand from my chest, looking at the bloody mess we made. “It’s...a drug.” His eyes filled with wonder as he brought my palm back to his lips.

I scrunched my face when his tongue cleaned up the blood. Each second that passed, his tongue moved faster, begging for more. He licked between each finger, and then it dawned on me. Our blood was a drug. A drug like crack, or heroin. It made a vampire crave more. That was why vampires wanted us all dead, because they feared if we knew their weakness...they’d never make it to the next generation.

But I knew. We were their kryptonite.