Love Bites

Chapter 14

Time passed slowly. The vampire sat lonely, looming protectively over his lover’s dead body. He had never seen Jack so still, so pale. He wondered what would become of them – whether they would be okay or not. His mind toggled the options. He kept stealing glances at Jack’s lifeless figure, sorrow for what he’d done painting his thoughts. He knew it was necessary, but the simple idea of Jack being hurt (or let alone killed, for that matter) stung him in ways he never knew that he could feel pain. It would all be over soon, he just had to be patient.
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The darkness that encompassed his eyelids began to seep away. In an instant, they flew open, revealing his surroundings. He was unsure of where he was, he was too bewildered to make sense of it all. His thoughts flew at the speed of light – all these new sensations were controlling his body. Sound was intensified – he could hear the steady breathing of someone next to him. The infinitesimal particles in the air floating above him were now prominent and distracting. They irked him. He was strikingly aware, all of the emotions and heightened senses were becoming almost too much. He hissed at the new feeling – the new mind. Without even thinking, he was already on his feet, crouched forward like an animal. There was someone there. He whipped his head around, ready to face the intruder in his space and rip them to pieces.
Jack snarled and faced his enemy.
Alex stood, silent. He knew that new vampires were very easily startled. Jack was frazzled, but immediately relaxed out of his aggressive stance when he caught sight of Alex’s beautiful face. And it was like he had never known what beauty was until now.
It was clear now what was happening. He remembered it all. Alex, the transformation, the fact that he was now almost completely vampire. And Alex was so beautiful. He could see every aspect of his features – every line, every trace of detail. He saw the liveliness in his golden hair, he saw the true colors of his dull mahogany eyes. He wondered what color his own eyes were. He saw the moistness of his lips, the glimmer in his smile and the prominent bone structure underneath his pearly skin. God, he was beautiful. Jack just wanted to touch him.
“Hello, my love,” Alex murmured in his melodic voice.
Jack smiled faintly, stepping forward hesitantly in his new body. The movement almost felt foreign, like he was controlling somebody else’s body. He felt power like he never knew existed. He felt quite literally indestructible.
The older vampire just laughed. “You get used to it. It’s brilliant, isn’t it? The sensations.”
Jack exhaled, nodding in agreement. “Like a dream. I’ve waited so long for this.”
Alex’s smile faded slightly and his face became more serious. “The process isn’t quite over. There’s…err…one last part to your transformation.”
Jack nodded. “I know. And I’m ready. Let’s make a run for it.”
Alex stopped him. “You do know we have to go far away to do this, right? We’re not taking any chances by staying here. I was thinking we run, and we head towards Canada. That’s our best bet. From there, if we think Canada is too risky, we’ll just hop on a plane over to England and settle in a small town where nobody will recognize us. And live happily ever after, of course.”
Jack snorted. “Two vampires with a fairytale ending. How new.”
The elder rolled his eyes. “Not quite a vampy yet, babe. Not until you feed. Let’s get moving, it just got dark. If we’re extra careful, we can hunt somewhere obscure here so you can regain strength and we can move more quickly.”
Before Alex could prod the younger on, he was already gone.
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The sounds of two heartbeats were all that Jack could focus on. They were somewhere – not entirely sure where – but it was headed in the right direction. It was woodsy and quiet, the night still going strong. They had been moving for a while, and now it was time to feed. Alex wanted Jack to learn how to do this, so he hung back, watching over the young male to make sure everything was okay, and to step in if he had to. He felt like a proud parent as he watched the newborn vampire crouch through the brush, listening for the human hearts. Alex already could pinpoint exactly where they were if you asked him, even their size and gender. Three hundred plus years of doing this certainly trained him well. But Jack was new, this was his first, so he was having a bit more of a difficult time figuring out where they were camped out and how to approach them, exactly.
“Stumble into their campsite clumsily,” Alex murmured. He knew the younger could hear him. “Tell them you’re lost – ask for a map and compass.”
He could faintly see Jack nod his head and stand slowly from his crouch. He put on his best human impersonation – really it was cute, considering he was a mere human not 24 hours ago. But now Jack was a predator, and quite frankly, it turned Alex on.

Jack moved through the brush, practicing his lines in his head. He could feel the burn in his throat – his new thirst was unbearable. His eyes practically darkened at the thought of feeding. As he crept forward, he began to hear laughter. Two people – one male and one female. They were still awake. Jack took a deep breath and prepared to put on his best act. He moved into their campsite.
“Excuse me?” he called to the two campers.
They were cuddled up under a blanket by the fire. So cute. Not for long.
The boy stood. He looked about nineteen. “Can I help you?”
Jack heard a slight increase in his heart. He was afraid of the stranger. He should be.
He swallowed the urge to sink his teeth into his neck right then and there. “I’m lost, I can’t find my map or any of my shit. I could really use something to help me get back to my campsite. I’m sure if I knew the direction I was going in it would really help.”
The girl turned to her companion. “Adam, there’s a compass in the RV. Can you go get it for him?”
The boy hesitated, glancing at Jack as if he was going to make out with his girlfriend the second he left before nodding and heading into the RV. The girl smiled at Jack, proceeding to turn her back to him and bend to pick up the blanket off the ground. Big mistake.
As she stood back up, she noticed that Jack was no longer standing in the spot he came in from. She glanced around, confused, before looking up and nearly jumping three feet into the air when she discovered the boy had moved to right in front of her face. She squeaked, glancing into his eyes and being unable to glance away. Something was holding her gaze, and she was suddenly unable to move, or think, or even speak.
“Don’t do anything,” the strange boy commanded.
The human girl obeyed wordlessly, still enthralled in his eyes.
“I’m going to kill you now,” he murmured, stroking her cheek.
The next thing she knew, her neck was being torn open by razor teeth that belonged to a man with newly blackened eyes and distorted veins. The man resembled a monster. Her thoughts were screaming for her to run, to strike back, or to do anything to get away. But there she stood, frozen like a block of ice. All the while, the strange creature grasped her limp body and was sucking the life out of her, drop by drop.
Jack had never tasted anything so gratifying – so sweet. It was like nectar from the gods.
After the girl ran dry and was completely dead, he grunted and shoved her body away. The entire ordeal had happened in a matter of seconds. He could feel the pulsing veins under his eyes, he could feel the power and strength surging through his limbs. This was greater than any drug. His temporary high was interrupted by the sound of a gasp and feet beginning to swerve in the ground and take off in the opposite direction. Jack whipped around, prepared to make a mad dash to stop the boy running when he saw Alex appear in a flash in front of the boy.
“Going somewhere?” he purred, before he too became distorted and resembled a creature of the night.
Alex’s serrated teeth plunged into the skin of the boy, draining him of any fight he had left in his system. Jack watched in awe, making note of the way Alex fed. The way he gripped the body in his hands, the way his tongue slid across the wounds in the neck, the way his eyes rolled back just slightly as he took in the red liquid, pleasure and satisfaction coursing through his veins. It was so graceful and skilled, he almost felt envy for how beautiful Alex always seemed to look, even when it was practically committing a homicide. Alex finished his kill, dropping the body to the ground and wiping at the blood on the corners of his mouth. He grinned at Jack, who took Alex’s face in his hands and began to lap at the leftover blood on his face. Alex giggled, pushing the younger off and bending to move the bodies into the brush where nobody would find them easily, and when they did, they would be so decomposed that everyone would just assume it was wild animals. Well, almost everyone. Which reminded the elder – they needed to keep moving.
“Alright, Jacky, feel better?”
The young vampire grinned. “Much.”
Alex kissed him tenderly, fixing his mussed hair before tugging on his arm and pointing in the direction they needed to be headed.
“Let’s keep moving, then.”