Heretic Blood

Alice gasped for air, sitting up quickly and nearly tumbling off of the couch. She felt light-headed and the ache in the right side of her neck was almost unbearable. She touched her cool fingertips to the heated spot on her neck to calm the burning sensation. She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder, forcing her to lie back down.

“You’re probably a little dehydrated even though I didn’t take too much,” Zacky said, holding a cold bottle of water out to her.

Alice blinked her eyes, her memory becoming clearer. She remembered volunteering her own blood to her best friend. She was surprised Zack even had that much self-control. She also wondered how long she’d been passed out.

She grabbed the water bottle from his hands, holding the bottle between her neck and her shoulder.

“Just drink the water. The pain’s going to be much worse after you try to numb it,” He said, pulling the bottle from her neck and untwisting the cap for her.

“You didn’t tell me it was going to hurt this bad,” She argued.

“Well, it does,” He paused. “I’m sorry.”

“I want to say it’s okay, but it was my idea in the first place,” She said, rolling her neck to ease the pain. “How long does the pain last again?”

“For a small nip, a few hours to a day at most,” He explained.

“You call this a small nip?” She pointed at her neck. “Get me some Advil, please.”

“Pain relievers don’t work on vampire bites.”

Alice made a silent ‘oh’ with her mouth. She got up from the couch walking over to the mirror hanging on her wall. She looked at the bite and examined it carefully.

“Where did the hunters go?” She asked, turning around. She suddenly remembered the crowd of people coming after Zacky. She frowned.

“The city is actually civilized enough to have the police tell them to back off. It won’t last long though, there’s no doubt that they’ll be back,” He said, sitting on the arm of the sofa.

“Then we have to get out of here,” She said worriedly. “I’m going to the police department or whoever’s in charge of these murder cases. Have them take a photo of this and test it before it heals completely.”

“No, right now you’re going to lie down before you pass out. We’ll go to the police department in the morning,” Zacky told her.

“Alright,” She said weakly, feeling the lightheadedness more than before. She walked back to the living room. She sat down and relaxed back on the couch, trying to ignore the pain. “Goodnight, Zacky.”

“Night, Alice,” He said quietly, taking the throw blanket from the recliner and laying it over her to keep her warm through the night.