This Is War

Darkness had surrounded her for what seemed like years. But it had only been minutes. The sounds of the chaos before her long died off. She thought for sure she had been dead. The memories of being drained alive was proof of that. The creature devoured her blood as if she were the only life source on the planet. But the memories didn't stop after the darkness surrounded her. There was the feeling of being force fed. But she had been to weak to fight it. Its taste unfamiliar as she drank it.

Moments had passed when it finally stopped. But the longing for the taste came soon after. What ever it was that she had been given to drink filled her. It was as if she was drinking all the nourishment she needed. But even as she felt as healthy as she could ever be, the darkness still stayed present. It was if she were dreaming the whole thing.

"Christa isn't going to be happy about this." a voice said. From what Alexa could tell, the voice belonged to a male.

"You don't think I know that?" Another voice replied. "She said she didn't want to lose anymore, she makes up for the one we lost. I'll deal with my sister when the time comes." Another male.

"I hope you know what you are doing."

"If I didn't know what I was doing I would have left her there to die after having a nice meal. "

If Alexa's body wasn't still numb from the blood loss her body would have gotten a chill from the words she heard. After the words were said there was silence from the voices. But the sound of her heart beating rapidly in her ears scared her. Her heart stayed that way for well over a minute before it completely stopped. That's it. I'm dead. Alexa thought.

"There we go." The second voice said. "Get the human and bring her here."

Human? What human? Was it Vanessa? Alexa's mind ran wild wild with thoughts she couldn't control. How could she still hear if she was dead? Why couldn't she see anything? Alexa was confused. If she was dead her senses should have been cut off from the world. What else could keep her latched to the world?

"Do we even know her name?" It was a new voice. It sounded like a younger girl.

"I heard the other one call her Alexa." The second male voice answered.

"Where is the other one?"

"Probably dead."

No. No. No. Alexa wanted to scream at the words she heard. Her sister couldn't be dead. There was no way. It wasn't possible. That thought alone is what caused Alexa's eyes to shoot open. The need to know if her sister was alive was strong. The moment her eyes opened she was staring at the sky. Sitting up quickly she took in her surroundings. She was still in the camp grounds. She was in the same spot she thought she was going to die. She saw two people standing by her.

"And she is awake." It was the second voice that spoke but now she had a face to place with it. It belonged to a dark haired man with jade eyes.

"W-where is my s-sister?" Alexa's voice cracked as she spoke for the first time. Her throat felt dry and her gums ached.

"Shhh relax," The man said kneeling down next to her, running his hand along her cheek. "Everything will be okay. You just need something to drink." Alexa shook her head and found herself moving away from him. She went to open her mouth again to ask where she was but nothing came out. Her mouth being dry made it harder for her to speak. She just wanted to know where her twin was. Her eyes blurred from tears collecting.

"P-please..." It was the only thing she managed to get out.

"Its okay." He said with his voice calm. "Everything will be fine." He ran his hand along her cheek once more and through her hair. Alexa flinched at his touch but didn't try to move away.

Before she could say anything more another man came over to them. He had a younger girl fighting against his hold. She must have been still in her teens. Blood ran down the side of her neck and down her chest. Her screams seemed to loud for Alexa's ears. She flinched at the sound and her eyes grew wide as she watched the new man throw her down in front of her. The man with the jade eyes held the girl down.

"Take in a deep breath Alexa, you'll find the scent mouthwatering." She shook her head looking away from the girl. She hated to see the girl fight to get away. She wasn't about to listen to this man either. "Come on, if you don't the pain will only get worse." She shook her head again looking back at the scene before her. She didn't care if what ever pain he was talking about got worse. The man sighed and looked at the girl and stared at her. "Stop screaming and hold still." The girl did as she was told and he moved back over to Alexa. Lifting her chin he forced her to look at him. To scared to move out of his hold, she stayed still. "Thankfully this will be the only time I have to do this to you." He stared into her eyes and she felt a hold over her. "I want you to smell the air. That is all you need to do. Your body will know what to do afterwards. Just catch the scent of her blood. Understand?"

Alexa nodded against his hand and he looked away from her. The moment he did the hold she felt was gone. She took in a deep breath like he said to do. The moment she did, she wished she hadn't. The scent of blood filled her nose. The scent itself caused her gums to ache more and her mouth watered. She whimpered at the pain and the man with the jade eyes just smiled at her. She wanted the blood and he knew it. He got up from his spot and pulled the girl to her feet. He caught her eyes with his.

"Run until she catches you." The moment he looked away and let her go, she ran. He looked over at Alexa then. "Go get dinner."

As soon as the words left his mouth something in Alexa snapped. She stood quickly and a devilish smirk rose on her lips. She ran after the girl. She found that even with all the blood she lost she was able to catch up to the girl with ease. It turned her smirk into a full grin. She wasn't sure what the feeling was but she liked it. It was as if she was a lioness after the prey she stalked so carefully. She had just passed the first set of trees when Alexa tackled the girl to the ground.

The scent of blood filled her nose and she wanted nothing more than to taste what her body was so desperately craving. The moment Alexa had her pinned down on the ground, she found the source of the blood. Her tongue ran slowly over the wound. The moment the blood passed her lips, Alexa whimpered as something poked through her gums. What ever it was that released, the pain was gone. The hunger was still present, though. She brought her mouth back down to the open wound and sucked in the sweet blood.

The more she took in the more her hunger was satisfied and the more she wanted it. She was lost in the blood lust. The simple thing that kept humans alive was now her way of survival. It wasn't long after her mouth clamped down on the wound did the flow of the blood slow. The girl's beating heart was faint and slowly it stopped altogether. The blood soon stopped as well. The human girl completely drained. As she dropped the body, Alexa heard clapping behind her.

"Would you look at that, Vince." The male with the jade eyes spoke. It caused Alexa to turn and watch as all three of them stood there. "She's a natural." He had been looking at the other male. He had seemed so proud of Alexa. She wasn't even sure why.

"Just wait," Vince replied to the man. "She'll break down any minute once everything hits her."

"Oh lighten up, not all of the fledglings are like that." The girl spoke up in defense of the other male.

"At least Elizabeth is on my side about things."

Alexa stood there watching them as they talked to each other. She couldn't help cross her arms and raise an eyebrow. Curiosity was burning through her. She wanted to know who these people were and what the hell she had just done. She looked back to see the girl lying there lifeless. It brought a smirk to lips.

"It hasn't been brought up again. We don't need to worry about that now." Alexa could tell they were trying to whisper about something. The words went through one ear and out the other as she continued to stare at the body. Her mouth watered at the thought of draining another body.

"Alexa?" She turned to find the man with the jade eyes extremely close to her. How did she not hear him walk up? She watched as he brought a hand to her face and wiped his thumb along her bottom lip. As he did, she caught sent of the blood he was cleaning off of her face. Her eyes were on his thumb as wiped it off on a cloth and Alexa pouted at the action. "What?" He asked looking back at her.

"That's wasted blood." She blinked at her own statement. When did she care about blood? What was going on with her? She heard him laugh and she shook her head of her thoughts.

"Still hungry?" She nodded and his smile turned into a smirk. "Then lets find you someone else to eat."

"Carlos, I don't think that is a good idea.." Elizabeth said taking a step towards them. Hearing his name, Alexa now knew their names.

"She can handle it." Carlos said turning Alexa towards town.

"The last thing we need is for her to go on spree. Christa will have our heads for that." Vince made his worries known and just hearing him speak was irritating Alexa. She was hungry still and wanted more blood. If Carlos was willing to take her out, then what was the problem? She looked over her shoulder at Carlos.

"Would you look at that." Carlos seemed impressed with Alexa for another reason and she didn't know what it was. "Her eyes are already changing." His smirk turned into a grin. It was as if he was a proud father watching his own child do something for the first time. Alexa's eyebrow raised wondering what he meant that her eyes were changing.

"What are you feeling right now?" Elizabeth asked her.

"Irritated." Alexa said turning around and looking at Elizabeth. "I'm hungry and I really don't want to wait until later for more blood. Thanks." Attitude shown through her words and even through her body language.

"Oh yeah, she has the Vega blood running through her." Carlos said as his grin still showed.

"We should just take her back home..." Elizabeth's voice seemed worried.

"You know damn well she wont handle the blood bags well." Carlos snapped.

"We have the feeders remember. You can teach her to control her hunger off of them." Vince said moving closer to try and keep the situation from getting out of hand. Alexa watched as the three were beginning to argue about her. A grin grew on her face as she took a slow step back. And then another. Eventually she turned and ran.

Running with human blood through her system changed things. She was able to run fast. She felt like a quick blur and she loved the feeling of being able to run that quickly. Before she knew it, she found herself in town. The sounds and scents were all hitting her from different directions. It was as if she was seeing and hearing things for the first time. It had her in wonder. She was able to hear things across town. She was able to hear a television playing and children laughing. She was even able to hear the three she left behind still bickering. It made her laugh. But the scents she was picking up, it drove her nose mad. It included the scents of several human, rotten food, and several different things.

Where the hell did she go?

The words played in her ear and she just laughed. She was hungry and she wasn't going to wait until they made up their mind. She knew the perfect place to go to. She may have to make a side trip on the way, but it was going to be all worth it. It didn't matter what she was now, even though she didn't know exactly what she was. All she knew were two things. One, she felt amazing. Two, She was hungry for blood and the second body she would leave dead would be something she would greatly enjoy.



A few hours later, Alexa's mouth was covered in blood. Her clothing held splatters from the blood she had lost, as well as the blood she had spilled from her victims. In this experience, she learned she had fangs to go along with her new everything. It put several ideas into her head as she tore into her first neck. She enjoyed the blood from the older man. The thoughts that coursed through her mind caused her to tear him apart after she drained him dry. With each body part she ripped off, it was for each jail sentence she ever had. A revenge kill seemed like the best way to go with her new found abilities. A certain judge needed to pay for the last few years he caused her.

Her second victim had it far worse than the judge did. When Alexa had came to the house she had her sights on, she found both people she wanted so desperately to be dead. Along with her newly found fangs, she learned she had the ability to have them do as she wanted. It all made sense as to how Carlos had gotten her, as well as the girl she killed, to listen to his commands. It was a nifty trick and she enjoyed using it. She had the judge's brother sit and watched as she tore him to pieces. And it wasn't long before she had his body drained completely as well.

Licking her lips clean of the blood, making sure not to waste more than she already had, She found herself full. She licked her fingers clean of the bit of blood she had on them. Satisfied, she began to head out of the window she entered from.As she walked down the street, she noticed a few people stop and stare at her. When she looked down, she remembered she had been covered in blood. We'll there went the stroll in town. She thought to herself. With a roll of her eyes, she ran back to the camp grounds.

She listened closely for any signs of the three she left behind. But she heard nothing. "Carlos?" She called out as she looked around. When no response came, she bit her lip. Maybe she just should have stayed put. She knew nothing of what she was becoming and wasn't sure what else to expect. "Vince?" She looked around again. "Elizabeth...?" A sigh passed her lips as she walked over towards the campsite she was at only a few hours ago. Seeing their tents were untouched, she reached hers and opened it. Fining her bag of clothes she dug through it and found fresh clothes to change into. Not expecting anyone or anything to come into the camp, She changed right there in the open.

"You know its one thing to disappear from people that are trying to help you, its another to start stripping in front of them."

Alexa jumped and spun clinging to the shirt she had just taken off in front of her. She found Carlos lounging in one of the seats Vanessa had brought with them. "How do you do that? Just pop up out of nowhere?!"

"The same way you just run off without us knowing." He said watching her. Alexa felt his eyes on her and shook her head as she moved into her tent and zipped it up. She wanted privacy. "So where did you go?" As she changed into the clean shirt, she ignored him. She didn't feel like answering him right away. As soon as she was changed, she unzipped the tent. As soon as the flap came down, she found Carlos staring at her. It caused her to jump a bit.

"Stop doing that!" She said pushing him out of the way. As she stood out of the tent, he grabbed a hold of her arm, turning her to face him.

"Where did you go, Alexa?" His voice was anything but teasing. It was heavy and held a menacing tone. It caused a chill to pass through her body. What ever confidence with the new the new version of her, it went out the window as she looked at Carlos that very second. His eyes were no longer jade, they were crimson. She could see the anger in him as he held her stare. It made her gulp.

"I-I... I w-went to get more b-blood." She was never a person to be easily scared, let a lone have problems with speaking. But the way his eyes looked, it made her scared. She wasn't sure if she should even try to move away. The hold on her arm could cause busing. But she wasn't sure if it actually mattered in that moment. "I-I'm sorry..."

Carlos released her arm, but kept his stare. She felt like curling up in a ball under his stare. "We are going home now. You disappear like you did, I will rip your heart out." His words caused Alexa to blink several times, but she nodded. She watched as he turned and began walking away from her.

"W-what am I now?" She asked staying in her place. She heard Carlos sigh and turned to look at her.

"A fledgling." He said as he watched her. His eyes were no longer crimson.

"A what?" Alexa had rose an eyebrow at the word. She was confused.

"A vampire fledgling." He said turning back and continued to walk.

Her mouth dropped slightly. She had been right. All her little thoughts she had as she went and killed the Judge and his brother were right. She knew it was something supernatural and she had been on the right track with vampires. It caused her to grin to herself. "What's a Fledgling?" She asked as she ran and caught up with him. Fear no longer present.

Carlos rolled his eyes as he continued to walk. He could hear the smile in her words without even looking her way. "Its going to be a long night."