The Prophecy
The Hunt

We sat there in silence for minutesthat felt like hours. Silence was always hard for me. I never knew what theother was thinking. And after a conversation like this one, did I even want toknow? I avoided looking at him, I just started to count the scratch marks onthe floor next to my feet: fifty-three,fifty-four, fifty-five... I wanted all this to be a bad dream and I wantedMichael to wake me up. I wanted to cook breakfast for my family and kiss themboth good-bye as they left home for the day. But that time would never comeagain. I would never see either of them again; I would never hold Sierra’s handor taste Michael’s kiss again. That’s the funny thing about silence: instead oftalking, like you should, you sit there and think about all the things thatcould have been.

Alexander told me I needed tosleep. He said I needed to preserve my energy. I could only image what he hadin store for me later, but with all the dreams I was having, I was afraid toclose my eyes. I was scared of what I might see, or who, for that matter. Icouldn’t bear it to see my daughter again, even worse to see what she lookedlike. It was hard enough the first time. I realize dreams are the subconsciousmind showing you images of things that are in your head, but that dream hadnothing to do with what I was thinking. I don’t know who that little girl was,but she wasn’t Sierra. She looked like my daughter but she didn’t talk like herand she sure didn’t act like her. What’s all that supposed to mean? How can Idream about something that I wasn’t thinking about? Could it be that, deep inmy mind, I see her that way now: as ademon?

Alexander told me he would standguard and I could rest easy. But if he knew what I was dreaming would he stillsay that? And if I had to sleep, didn’t he? I wanted to sleep safe and soundbut could I trust him? Regardless of what he said earlier, could I be sure hewas here to help? I guess it didn’t matter. I found an old square pillow thatwas dirty and worn, and although the stuffing was coming out, it was stillcomfortable. I extended my legs out on the floor and rested my head. The roomwas quiet and dark but not scary and the sound of thunder was somewhatcomforting.

I looked over at Alexander andalthough my eyes were heavy, his image was crystal clear. He stood at thewindow looking out over the yard. The moon that had been hiding all night wasnow peering out of the clouds. It was then that I truly noticed his beauty. Helooked like a king looking over his kingdom, passionate and strong. His armswhere crossed and his legs stood like steel, hammered in the ground; nothingcould move them. Somehow I knew that if even one human or one vampire crossedthe grounds in the distance, he would know. He would pick me up and take me tosafety. Or die trying.

My protector… A man who I neverknew but has always known me. He was more than passionate; he was silent andmysterious. There was more to him than what he wanted to share with the worldand I was in the position to learn all of it. His eyes where bright and seemedto glow again. There was depth behind his eyes. I finally was able to close myeyes and fall asleep with the image of Alexander, my protector, in my head.

The sun was shining and the breezewas cool. Wait, the breeze…I could feel the coolness of the breeze! Was I humanagain? I looked down at my hands and noticed they were tan, not chalky white. Iran my tongue around my teeth, there was nothing sharp. I looked further downand I was wearing a pair of black pajama pants and a black tank top. These werewhat I always wore to bed. What was going on? Where was I?

I stood up and looked around me. Iwas in an open field of beautiful flowers and green grass. They surrounded me;I could smell the exquisiteness of their cologne. There were trees everywhereadjoining the field full of beautiful spring leaves. There were no clouds inthe sky, just the bright, shining sun.

I began to walk slowly, unsure ofwhere I was going, when I saw a man’s image sitting on a blanket in the middleof the field. I could see the blanket clearly; it was an old blanket I usedmany years ago, with pictures of my family quilted together. As I inchedcloser, I could make out the man’s identity. It was Michael, just how I rememberedhim. He was okay! He was there for me. He was close enough to touch, to kiss. Iwanted to run to him, but nothing could have gotten me there fast enough.WhenI finally reached him, I sat down next to him. Yet it still seemed too faraway. I stretched out my hand for his but when I tried to touch him, my handwent right through his.

He looked into my eyes and smiled.“I’ve been waiting for you.” His voice was tender.

I smiled back. “Am I dead? Is thisour Heaven?” I asked confused.

His lips creased and he gave me abigger smile. “No.” He paused, shaking his head. “Trinity, this is going to behard for you to understand and I don’t have a lot of time so I have to jumpright into it. Sweetheart, you have to move on.”

I was mortified. Why would he tellme to move on? I didn’t want to; I was where I wanted to be now. I was sittingnext to the man with whom I wanted to spend the rest of whatever life I hadleft. I didn’t know what world we were in, but I didn’t want to move on andleave.

“I know you feel the need to punishthose who have done this to our family. I know you better than you think. Iknow you feel you need to make it right. But you need to understand there’smore to the story of your life than you realize.”

If he was really dead, how could heknow anything about my past or anything that was happening in my present? Whywould he be here telling me these horrible things? If he knew something, –anything – I was more than willing to listen, to try and understand. As long ashe was with me.

“Like what, Michael? Please tellme.” There was sadness in my voice. I wanted him to touch me; I needed toremember what his hands felt like against my skin.

“I’m not the one that can tellyou.” He said, trying to be reassuring.

“Michael I need you back. I can’tmove on in my life without you in it. I don’t know how to live without you.” Iwanted to cry, but again I couldn’t.

“Trinity, everything has happenedfor a reason. You’ve always believed that. In fact, in our years together yougot me to believe that. I didn’t know it when we met, but I was meant to loveyou and die for you and I know that now. You were meant for a higher purpose,one that’s so much more than our life together.

“This life that you have right nowis your destiny and you need to embrace it. You need to grab hold of everythingaround you and never let it go. You need to move on with no regret, no remorse.But – and this is important –you need to move on with love.

“Sierra and I are gone and youcan’t bring us back, no matter what you try and do, no matter who you hunt andkill.” He acted as if he could touch my check. I closed my eyes hoping I couldfeel the warmth of his hand. “Just don’t ever forget us. Love us here.” He puthis hand over my heart. I wanted to grab hold of him and not let go.

How can somebody who loves you moveon and not remember? How could anyone who loves two people so much ever want todo anything but love them more?

“The love you feel in the depths ofyour soul, it’s that love that will fuel your rage, Trinity. Our deaths willgive you the strength you need to survive; it’ll give you the force you need towin.”

“I don’t think I can, Michael.”

He put his hands on top of minewithout touching me. “You can, and you will or our deaths will be in vain. Thebattle is in your blood.”

“How can you be so sure I’ll win? Howcan you even know I’ll get where I need to be?”

“The journey that has taken youhere has already been written. But not the war. You will make that up as you goand you will win. You need to believe it.”

As the breeze began to blow morestrongly, the petals of the flower around us were being blown between us. Hedidn’t seem to notice them but they were blocking my vision of him.

“Michael…” I wanted to say more,like ‘don’t leave me, stay with me and help me.’ But he wouldn’t let me finish.It was like he knew what I wanted to say.

“Trinity, I love you and I alwayswill. Remember us, cry for us, and scream for us if you have to. But fight for us. You have all you need to fightand win.”

He started to fade away little bylittle and as he was leaving me, he smiled. That’s when I noticed something wetrunning down my face. I was finally crying. When I wiped my cheek and lookeddown at my hand, I didn’t see normal tears. I was crying tears of blood.

I woke up.

I opened my eyes slowly. I had toblink a few times to see everything clearly. I looked around briefly andstretched out my body. The floor was hard, which made for a very uncomfortablenight. I wiped off my face but there were no tears to brush away. I must haveonly been crying in my dream. The light shone through the curtainless windowsand I saw the real emptiness of the abandoned house. The only real piece offurniture was an old desk that looked like it was made in the 1940s. It had thespider webs to prove it.

I looked over to where Alexanderstood the night before and saw that he was now sitting in a chair at thewindow, his head resting on the window frame. He must have fallen asleep. I hadto remember he was like my mother and all who came before her. He had to sleep,although he didn’t quite look asleep. He looked dead. His frozen form, so wellpreserved, sat still, with not even a breath to exhale. I wondered if that’swhat I looked like when I slept.

Since he was sleeping, I tried tobe as quietly as I could. I walked into the bathroom, but as soon as I wasinside I wished I wasn’t. It was as small as a child’s closet, with barely roomfor the toilet and sink. The floor was made of wood, all cracked,andmany of the lime green tiles on the walls were missing. When I turned onthe water in the sink, a brown liquid poured out before it went clear. Itwisted my hair into a knot; I needed to remember to get a hair tie. I splashedsome water on my face. The water was definitely not refreshing and when I wasfinished, I wished I had skipped it all together.

I walked outside to see what thestorm had left behind, but the grounds seemed untouched. I heard birds flyingmiles away, chirping and chasing each other. And although there were puddleseverywhere, the sun glistened off of them, making them sparkle. For the firsttime in 48 hours,the day felt likeit might bring hope.

“I’m sorry. I must have fallenasleep.”

I turned around startled. It wasAlexander. “Oh, it’s okay. You needed your rest.” I said reassuringly. “I hopeI didn’t wake you when I came out here?”

“No, you didn’t. It’s beautiful,isn’t it, Trinity?” he asked, looking around.

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ve everstopped to notice all the things around me in my human life. Looking aroundnow: it’s remarkable! The colors, the shapes, the smells, the sounds…Everything is so different. I mean, if I stopped and listened now, I could hearthe most miraculous things miles away. I know you’ve had time, but I can’t imaginehow anybody could get used to any of this.”

I wasn’t lying. I was astounded.You would think that after a rainstorm like we just had everything would be wetand unsightly, but there was such a beauty to everything. Even the ground Iwalked on had a slight charm to it. Every thing was so clear and sharp; Ididn’t want to miss out on it. It wasn’t that there were diamonds everywhereand things sparkled brightly; I wasn’t looking at things painted in gold. It’sjust that I never had the chance to just stop and look or feel and hear thingsbefore now.

My body felt calm, like when youjust let out a breath and relaxed your shoulders. I could have woken up in atrashcan and still felt as serene as I did standing there. A hummingbird flewby and I watched it in slow motion. I could even see its wings flutter. That’show I saw the beauty of everything: in slow motion.

“Your senses are getting stronger.”He let out a small laugh. “It’s one of the…’perks’….” And for the first time welaughed together, almost harmonizing.

“Perks, huh?” I guess I could getused to it.

He bent down to run his hand in thepuddle of water that was near his feet. The waves spread gently as his fingerscut threw the water. “I need to teach you to hunt, Trinity,” he said, lookingaway. I could tell he wasn’t happy with the comment he just made.

“Well, getting an animal wasn’tthat hard when I did it before,” I said jokingly. I didn’t think I needed to betrained to hunt animals. I was probably faster than all of them and I was sureI didn’t need to learn any technique to do it.

This time he didn’t laugh. He justlet out a sigh and stood to look at me.

“No… Humans.” He said, lowering hisvoice.

I was shocked. Why was it necessaryto kill someone to feed my appetite? I felt all right from the horse’s blood. Iknew I would be all right without human blood. “I don’t think I can takesomebody’s life, Alex.”

He smiled at the way I said hisname. “You have to, Trinity. Human blood will make you powerful. Fierce animalswill make you strong – don’t get me wrong. Lions, elephants, panthers… Butunless you want to break into a zoo, you have no other choice. There are nowild animals around here like that. You need human blood.” My mouth must havedropped open because he paused and kind of smiled. “I was against it at firsttoo. But than I tried living off stray animals and I’ve never been so weak. Youneed your strength to fight.” I could tell it hurt his heart to force me to dosomething I was so against, but in his mind he was doing what was best for me.

The mere thought of a mortal’sdeath coming from my hands was hard enough for me to fathom, but actually doingit would be impossible. Suddenly I couldn’t see the beauty that surrounded meanymore. The sounds in my head were now crowded by the screams for mercy of mywould-be victims. I could only hear panic; there would be no peace for them.There would be no comfort for their family, and the killer would never seejustice.

But somehow I knew he was right.This was who I was; there was no way for me to fight it. I had to choose: drinkhuman blood or let myself die. Well, I mean technically I was already dead. Butwith all the killing I was told I’d have to do, well… if this wasn’t hell, itsoon would be. So really, what difference did it make? Vampires have been doingthis for who knows how long. Who was I to change it now?

We began to casually walk towards atiny town in the distance, which was different, since all we had done since wemet was run. We used the back roads; he didn’t want to take the chance thatsomebody from Daniel’s army was watching. It was weird to watch him be so protectiveof me. Not even Michael hovered over me the way that Alex did.

To pass the time, we kicked rocksto see who could kick them the furthest. He won of course, kicking a large rockalmost a mile away. He made jokes and I pushed him away when I laughed. It feltlike a teenager on a first date. He had a way of making me feel nervous aroundhim. But it wasn’t a nervous scared feeling; I think all that went away when Iwoke up still alive. This was a nervous with butterflies in my stomach kind offeeling.

We talked about everything. Heasked me questions about my daughter, what kind of child she was, what herfavorite things were, hobbies, clothes. He asked about her birth and was sosorry he missed it – even though I wouldn’t have known he was there, he stillwanted to be. I told him all of her favorite books and movies, and how great anartist she was. She was never difficult, even when she was a baby. And havingher in my life, for however brief it was, was the greatest experience I everhad the pleasure of having. It was hard to talk about her, but it also feltgood to think of her as she was then.

He talked more about his humanlife, his childhood and growing up without a mother. He talked about how hardhis father was, but even so, Alex loved and idolized him. He was thankful forhaving a father who was also kind and giving toward others. It made Alex wonderif that was the reason he cared so much for my family and for all of humanity.

He told me what he did for a livingback in 1798. He said he harvested crops and sold his produce in town. He saidthat for fun he rode and tamed horses. From the look in his eyes, I could tellhe missed it. The freedom that goes with riding a horse in the wild seemed tofit him. It seemed like an easier time then, but if you were to ask Alex, hewould disagree with you. He would tell you he struggled back then and thatsometimes he felt happy to be out of that routine. But again, his eyes told adifferent story.

I asked him about my mother. Whatkind of a woman was she? He told me that she was beautiful and that I lookedjust like her when I smiled. He said that she had a glow about her and itfollowed her even in her words. She was kind and gentle and loved animals ofall kinds. He laughed when he told me that if she had lived, he would haveguessed she would have opened an animal sanctuary.

I asked about my real family, if Iwere like them. He couldn’t tell me much, only that there were many untilDaniel came. He said that they had kind hearts and a great deal of honor toshare. They were nothing like the vicious vampires that now hunt us.

“Okay, so tell me about the morefamous vampires.” I asked with a smile.

“What do you mean…The ‘morefamous’?”

“Well, like Dracula. He wassupposed to be the first, was he? Did he write his story and then somebody in Hollywood discovered itand produced it?” He smiled and we both shared a laugh. I actually thought itwas a reasonable question considering that I was now a vampire myself and Iwanted to know who started all this. I mean, come on. I had to know how Hollywood knew about us.

“No he wasn’t the first. But therewas a Dracula who lived in Transylvania. Hewas originally a mortal who was rich and connected and feared by his villagers.Daniel turned him. You see, Daniel saw that power when he came to Transylvania and wanted to dominate it. They werecompanions for years, but because Dracula held a lot of power in the village –power that Daniel knew he would never get – he killed him.

“Bram Stoker heard the villagers’stories when he vacationed in Transylvania. Heeven visited his castle, which is when he felt compelled to write about it. Hedidn’t know the full truth of what happened between Daniel and Dracula, onlywhat he heard from other people. That was a good thing because Daniel wouldhave killed him next. So Stoker wrote what he thought would make a good story.Now everybody just chalks it up to his imagination.”

I was amazed that these peopleactually knew about vampires but nobody would listen to the truth. Just as Idid, everybody thought that one person came up with one excellent book andothers just took the idea and ran with it.

“And then there were others whodidn’t hide the fact that they were vampires. Like the notorious Hungariannoblewoman, Elizabeth Bathory. She dates back to the 1600s, before my time. ButI know all too well who she was. Back then people didn’t know what to call her;they only knew she was pure evil. They had every right to think that: shekilled over 600 peasant women in her village. When she was finally caught, theycouldn’t kill her because, under the Hungarian law, it was illegal to try orcondemn a person of noble birth.” He went silent.

“So what did they do?”

“They took her away in shackles andsealed her in a tiny room in a tower in Castle Csejthe. She had no contact withanybody from the outside world; it was forbidden. Food was passed to herthrough a tiny slit under the floor, but nobody knew she couldn’t eat it. Iguess whatever she ate kept her healthy enough to live in that room. Fouryears passed and a guard found her lyingprostrate on the floor. In her town, she was known as the Bloody Countess ElizabethBathory and nobody mourned her death. But her true identity was never known bymortals.”

I didn’t say a word after that. Iremembered watching a show about the woman but I never would have thought shewas a vampire. As we got closer to our destination, the veteran vampire stoppedtalking about past experiences and past family and thought it might be a goodidea to explain the process of choosing a victim. I wasn’t eager to hear or tolearn. But I listened carefully anyway.

“Years ago, before all the newtechnology with cameras and lights, it was easier to pass undetected,especially when people were dying of the plague. You could bite a person andjust walk away. But now we have to use good judgment. We have to know oursurroundings; we have to memorize it.

“If a coven has a female in thepack, they usually have her pose as a prostitute to lure the victim. Most ofthe time, it’s easier that way. But lone vampires often shadow nightclubs orconcerts: anything that’s dark and crowded and easy to avoid being noticed. Andof course there are lazy vampires who’ll hunt the prostitutes or homeless thatscourge the streets. You know: the people that society won’t miss if theydisappear.

“You need to use everything that isat your disposal while avoiding detection. Once you replace your victim, you haveto finish him. Don’t just leave him. Whatever spot you bite, you need to tearcompletely apart. If your victim was left intact, our kind will be revealed.And you have to avoid authorities and the media at all cost.”

I looked over at him. “The media?Don’t you think on some level, they already know? I mean, come on, there arethousands of movies and books about us. And let’s not forget all the unsolvedmurders.”

“Maybe on some level. But it’sstill a mystery to them. You don’t hear on the news, “So-and-so died andvampires are to blame.” Right now, vampires are make-believe and we need tokeep it that way. If people knew, there would be widespread panic. So, forarguments’ sake, avoid detection.” He turned and looked at the dirt road infront of him.

“In this town, there aren’t anyprostitutes or homeless, so we have to use what’s at our disposal. We’ll haveto wait outside a bar for somebody to come out drunk. You’ll need to lure himinto the alley, so you’re not seen. I’ll take the first, to show you what youneed to do. Then you’ll be on your own. I cannot help you.”

I was so intrigued by theconversation I had forgotten how far we had walked and what we were walkingfor. But now, faced with what I had to do, I felt sick. We arrived. The name ofthe bar in front of us was Deaths Corner.I had to admire the irony.

The bar was as old as the town. It wasin a one-story building made out of wooden logs that looked burnt and brittleand seriously needed to be redone. It looked like the termites had taken refugethere for too many years. It had Old West-style swinging doors, and a sign ontop of the roof with its name. The parking lot was in back.

We stood in the alley. My nerveswere getting the best of me. I kept twisting my hands together and if I wasn’tdoing that, I was messing with my hair. I couldn’t believe I was here, waitingto do what I had to do. This couldn’t be real. I needed to wake up from thisnightmare. How could he expect me to do this? Alex never looked at me and if hehad, he would have seen a scared girl wanting to go home. I was kind of glad hedidn’t.

It wasn’t very long before a manstumbled out of the bar. He looked like he was in his late forties, short andbalding. He had tan skin, or maybe it was dirt. I couldn’t be sure. He had darkfeatures and appeared tired. Also, from the looks of things, his jeans andflannel shirt were stained with dirt. I tried to stare at him to take in hisfeatures and give him a story, thinking it would make things easier. Maybe hehad nothing to live for. Maybe he just got divorced with no kids to speak of.Maybe his ex took all that he had: his home, his car, and his money. And maybehe just spent the last ten dollars he had on his beer. Maybe he was there toget liquid courage. Maybe he wanted to commit suicide, and we were there togrant his last wish.

Alex walked slowly over to the manwhile I waited out of sight. Hiding in what little shadow I could replace, I couldstill hear them. Alex asked him for help with his car. He told the man he hadparked his vehicle in the alley and it wouldn’t start. The man foolishly wentalong with his every word. Maybe it was the way Alex spoke that was soinviting. I wondered if I spoke that way too. Maybe it was another ‘perk’ thatAlex talked about?

As the two reached the alley, Alexwalked slowly behind his victim, almost in a creep. The man noticed there wasno car and turned around, but I couldn’t tell if he was surprised or scared.Either way he found out too late. Alexhad already taken a violent position, his eyes had turned black, baring histeeth and growling. He flew over to the poor man, pushing him against the wall.The man didn’t scream or shed a tear in fear. He just let it happen like he knewit was his destiny. This poor man just stood there with his eyes closed and hishands at his side. I wanted to cry for him, knowing he couldn’t.

Alex sank his teeth in the man’s neck,appearing to relish his feast. Blood splattered on the wall behind them. Itdripped out of the sides of Alex’s mouth. I could see his eyes turn from blackback to blue as he quivered. When he was done, he took both of the man’s armsand ripped them off of his body, pushing his back forward with his other footto the ground. That was it. I wanted to be sick; my stomach was turning and myhead was pounding. I let out a low shriek and took a step back. He grabbed theman’s head and tore it off his body. Falling to the ground, what was left ofthe man twitched. He was dead. For the first time, I had to stand back andwitness a murder that could have been prevented. But it happened so that otherscould survive.

This is what I had to do?! Itseemed too brutal. How could I, a house wife from Phoenix, viciously mangle an innocent person?How could I go on with my day remembering that I took somebody’s life?

Alex walked toward me slowly, theblood of his victim dripping from his mouth. “Sorry, Trinity, I know it’sdifficult for you to take in all of this. But I told you, you have to rip themapart. You can’t alert anybody that they’ve been bitten. I know it’s hard. Itwas hard for me too the first time. But it does get easier… I promise.”

“I could never imagine this gettingany easier,” I whispered.

“Just remember: you can read theirthoughts before they have them, and the action they’re going to take beforethey can take it. Use that.”

“I don’t think I can, Alex.” Iturned my back.

“You have to or you’re going tostarve.” He turned me around. “Trinity, you need to try. Listen, there are somany benefits to all of this. You just don’t see it right now. This isn’tsomething we just decided to do as vampires; this is the only thing that willkeep us alive. You’ll never grow old, you’ll never die, you’ll never feel fear,but to have all that, you must feed.”

“Yeah, on a human.”

“You need your strength. This isthe only way to get it. If you don’t do this, you’ll be weak when Daniel’s armyreplaces you and he will have the upper hand. And then I won’t be able to helpyou. Then all this ‘brutality’ as you call it will have been for nothing. Allof your family will have died in vain. Is that what you truly want? ”

“No.” I whispered. I understood. I just didn’t have to like it.I knew I had to go through with it. And hey, maybe it would get easier, althoughI couldn’t see how.

I saw my victim as he was leavingthe bar. He was young, maybe a college student, or maybe he dropped out and hisfamily didn’t want him to come home until he had decided to go back to school.Well, now he wouldn’t have that chance.He was scruffy looking, as if he hadn’t showered in days. Maybe after his kegparty he wasn’t ready to go home yet or maybe he wanted one more drink beforereturning to his parents to beg for him to come home. He had dark features andwalked with a limp. That or he was really drunk.

I devised a plan in my head to lurehim to his death spot. Since he was already drunk, I could act sexy andconfused. Every drunken man wants to believe a pretty female wants him. I letmy hair down and tossed it back and forth, then fluffed it a bit. I started to walk toward him. I was unsure ofmyself but I had to act like I was confident.

“Excuse me? Are you familiar withthis town?” I asked, trying to act puzzled.

“Whyyyyyyyeeeesssss. I am…”-hiccup- “Are you lost?”

I tried to control my laughter as Ispoke. I thought this might be too easy. “Yea, I’m trying to get to thehighway. I’m parked in the alley. Can you walk with me to my car and give medirections?”

I tried to flirt with him. I feltso bad. He was looking at me like he might have a chance to take me home withhim. At night’s end, he would be able to call his college buddies and bragabout how he picked up a woman and used her for sex. But between this guy andme: I was the only one who knew how this would end.

“Why, I sure can. Hey, what’s your name,Gorgeous?” He asked.

I gave him a little laugh andtwirled my hair just to play along. “Trinity.”

“Matches your beauty. Mine’s Tom.But you, my dear…” as he shot an air gun with his fingers and winked at me,“…can call me Tommy.”

“Okay, Tommy, my car’s over here.”I winked back. I walked in back of himfeeling worse and worse as we got closer. I wanted to laugh at him because ofthe way he was walking. He was trying to walk with swag but he looked more likea drunken pimp with a limp. If he wasn’t looking back and winking at me, he wastripping over his shoe lace.

I did everything my teacher hadtaught me. Be slow enough to keep up with him but quick-minded enough to thinkfirst. Be graceful with my moves and fast enough not to be seen. He obviouslywas drunker than I realized because he didn’t notice there was no car, just avacant alley, with no witnesses. He didn’t say anything, he didn’t even turnaround; he just walked to the middle of the parking lot. Then something cameover me, something I was never expecting, something Alex never told me wouldhappen.

My body tensed and I felt thethrobbing of my veins as I heard his heart beat. It beat almost for me. Thumpthump, thump thump. It called for me. I hunched over for the attack. I felt therage running through my body. It seemed to be getting darker outside but Icould finally see clearly. The wind started to pick up and dark clouds formedin the sky. Lightning broke and thunder shook the ground. Rain started to fallhard, but I felt untouched.

I let out a hiss, jumped, and flew over to him.

He turned around and screamed as heput his hands over his face to shield the attack. My strength was too much forhim. I broke his arm bringing it down from his face. I threw him to the ground.He tried to kick me off, but he had no luck. I was too strong for him. I pushedhis head to the side, brought my teeth to his neck and started to drink. Ididn’t cringe; I didn’t want to pull away. I could hear my teeth tearing intohis flesh.

Alex was right: the sensation I gotwas indescribable. It was like liquid cocaine. I could feel it enter my veins,empowering them. A shiver took over my body and I felt like I was invincible. Ifelt like I had a shield surrounding me and nobody would be able to penetrateit, not even with a sword. The entire world could have surrounded me and yelledat me to stop, but I wouldn’t have noticed them. I wouldn’t have heard theirscreams. The feeling was just too strong.

I hadn’t noticed that the bloodsplattered everywhere, staining my clothes. The street was now a dark red riverwashing away with the rain. I fell back, keeping my eyes closed. The world wasspinning and my body was shaking. It was as if I got a fix that I didn’t evenknow I was yearning for. I wondered how long this feeling would last. The rainand the wind stopped. The clouds parted and the sun shone brightly.

“I told you,” Alexander said with asmile on his perfectly shaped face.

I couldn’t say anything, I tried,but nothing came out. I didn’t want to ruin the out-of-body experience I washaving. I thought that if I said something, everything would be gone: both thepower I felt and the denial I was in.

My bliss was interrupted when Alexspoke again. “Trinity, hurry up and rip him apart. We don’t have much time.Something’s coming – fast!”

I opened my eyes and looked down atmy victim. Tommy. Poor Tommy. I ended this boy’s life to satisfy a craving Inever knew I had. I grabbed his arms and pulled them apart. I could hear thebones breaking.

“His head, Trinity! Hurry!” Alexyelled.

I dropped his arms, wrapped myhands around his head and twisted it off his body. I couldn’t move. I wasappalled at what I’d just done. Who would replace him? What would the authorities sayabout his death to his family? He wouldn’t even be able to have an open casketfuneral. And it was all my fault.

“Drop it, Trinity! We have to go!”He grabbed my wrist and dragged me away.