"Uggh"
A groan broke the silence that filled the room.
A boy opened his heavy eyelids and the first thing that greeted him was darkness.
He layed sprawled on the cold floor of what appeared to be a small apartment.
Standing up on his feet with a grunt, it hit him:
Hunger.
A deep, stomach twisting hunger.
It felt as if his whole being–his stomach, his bones, cells, brain and soul–was starving.
"Uggh"
The boy let out another grunt as he took a step. The hunger made his knees weak, they almost gave in from beneath him.
His body felt heavy, sluggish, as if he was dragging a weight that try to deny him of substance.
The boy press forward in the darkness without direction, he couldn't stay idle, he had to quench this overwhelming need for fulfillment.
His hands was frantically touching the wall, searching for a switch to dispell the darkness.
Finally, after what felt like forever, he managed to find it.
The boy didn't even use a moment to grasp his surroundings, immediately making his way over to the kitchen with agonizingly slow steps.
On the counter sat a lunchbox, he opened it to a sandwich that looked like it had been sitting there for days.
Without hesitation, he bit into the sandwich, but he immediately spat it out.
"Disgusting."
Even with a hunger that threatened to end his being, he couldn't bring himself to eat the sandwich.
His whole body refused, telling him that something else is needed to end this starving.
But no matter what the boy found in the kitchen, he still couldn't bring himself to eat any of it.
"Uggh"
With another grunt he made his way to hallway that most likely led to the entrance of the apartment.
Thinking that if nothing could satisfy him in here, there had to be something out there that he could find.
"Shit."
He cursed when he saw what awaited him at the door.
The whole door was barricaded.
Furniture stacked up against it–a black leathered couch, with chairs and a table on it. Even the tv. It looked like the whole living room was used for the barricade.
At that moment the boy didn't care what it was meant to keep out. He was hungry and the barrier is going to kill him instead of saving him.
Making his way over, the boy pushed the table off the couch, bring everything else with it.
All that was left to do was to move the couch away from the door. And he did.
It was fairly easy.
Even with an unending hunger, even with him being weak as flame in the wind, it was too easy.
"So much for keeping danger out."
He said with sarcasm, rolling his eyes.
The boy placed his hand on the handle and opened the door.
For a moment he forgot the dilemma he was in and found himself baffled with the person that went through all that trouble to barricade the door, but they didn't lock it.
Whatever danger they tried to keep out could have just strolled in without hindrance. Just a little push and the barricade would have made way for them.
They boy also noted that there was no signs of struggle outside the door, but that observation was immediately forgotten.
He had other things to do.
The first thing that hit him when he stepped into the hallway was the smell.
Even when it was the first time he smelled it, he instinctively knew what it was:
The smell of blood.
The moment the smell registered, his whole being changed.
His body started shaking.
His eyes changed color–a deep crimson.
Fangs grew–sharp, dangerous.
Nails elongated–a weapon capable of taking a life.
Senses flared–he could hear and smell everything around him. Like he had 360° vision.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins. He felt stronger, faster, more powerful than any human could ever be.
His hunger amplified, drool dripped from his mouth.
He lost control of himself.
This is it.
This is what would quench this overwhelming, aching need for fulfillment.
Blood.
"Snifffff."
He took a deep breathe, sniffing the air.
He could make out two bloody scents.
One to the right.
The elevator.
Male.
"Disgusting."
The other to the left.
The stairs.
Female.
"Delightful."
He bolted to the stairs with inhuman speed.
The nearer he got, the stronger the scent.
Further stoking his growing hunger and the thirst for blood.
He descended down the stairs, and there she was.
Young, fresh.
Probably 17.
She was looking at her phone, distracted. Unaware of his presence.
"Sniffff"
He took another deep whiff.
A pure maiden.
Perfect.
He lunged at her from the top of the stairs, right hand raised, lining himself up to swipe at her from above.
He was surprised when the girl ducked under his attack, dodging him effortlessly.
His momentum carried him further down the stairs, he landed hard on his back, but the pain was dulled by his need.
Swiftly regaining his balance, he lunged at the girl again, swiping at her like a feral beast.
The girl–her phone tucked away in the bag slung to her shoulder, no longer distracted–leaned back slightly, dodging the follow-up swipe with the same effortless grace.
"Hmm? A vampire?"
Curious.
Not scared, not screaming her lungs out in terror. Nothing you would expect from a normal girl at that age.
Just... slightly intrigued.
Like she was used to being attacked out of the blue, and that it being a vampire was the only surprising thing about it.
Undeterred, the boy kept up with his attack, swinging at the girl with reckless abandon.
The girl was weaving past his attacks–which was basically just wild swinging–like it was nothing.
Like it was just another walk in the park.
Because maybe to her, it was.
"You're a feisty one, aren't you?" She taunted.
One could tell by how simple she was shrugging off the boy's attacks that she was experienced when it came to combat.
The way she dodged with zero wasted movement, how she never once raised her arms to block, how she never moved a step higher or a step lower amidst the boys relentless assault.
All of this, tells that she knows what she's doing and have been doing so for a long time.
The boy, who once prided himself in his past life for his astute observation skills, should have noticed it too.
But he didn't.
Because he wasn't himself.
Because at that moment he was just a mindless creature driven by his thirst for blood, driven by hunger, by the need to eat.
"HAAGGH"
The boy released a guttural scream.
He was angry now, getting desperate, his hunger further amplified by the close proximity to the girl, but the fact that he couldn't get in a touch or a taste, angered him.
"Getting frustrated now are we?" The girl teased.
She was enjoying this more than she thought.
She knew that she should have incapacitated the opponent by now, but she wanted to have a little fun before then.
I mean, a little fun never hurt anyone, right?
The girl kicked the boy square in the chest, sending him tumbling down the flight of stairs.
She fixed the bag slinged over her shoulder and descended down the stairs.
Her steps slow and confident.
A mischievous glint in her eyes and a teasing smirk on her lips.
"That hurt, little bloodsucker?"
The boy didn't lunged this time.
His eyes still carried that same intensity, his body still trembling with adrenaline and hunger.
But he didn't lunge, not yet.
Only when the girl reached the last step did he lunge.
No, he didn't lunge, he appeared.
Vanished before her sight and the next instant he was right in front of her.
Powered by hunger and strengthened by the girls taunts, he exceeded his previous speed and was on the girl in a split second.
His right fist was red, coated in a thin layer of pure crimson blood.
It look simple, harmless. Like a blood red glove.
But the power behind it was undeniable.
The space seemed to warp around it. Giving way, as if parting so that the fist could travel unobstructed.
The girl, shocked by the sudden display of speed and power by the young vampire she trampled on, raised a wind-barrier just as the boys fist was about to strike the side of her head.
BOOM!!
The impact was loud, jarring.
Even though the girl raised her barrier in time, the force of the impact send her flying, crashing into the wall, hard.
Thud
She fell to the ground, her vision was blurry, her head dizzy, her world spiraling, her body ached all over, but she was alive and conscious.
She caught movement through the haze: the boy.
With the same speed as before, he was on her.
Lifted her by neck with his left hand–claws digging into her skin–slammed her back against the wall, the impact knocking the wind out of her.
She struggled for breathe, clawed at his hand at her throat, but his grip was tight, like a vice.
He ripped her blouse with his right hand at her left shoulder, exposing her smooth pale skin and the hint of a cleavage.
Her eyes widened in realization, panic rushing in like a tide, she clawed at his hand with renewed vigor, kicked and screamed, but the was undeterred.
He was this close to satisfying his hunger, and nothing will stop him.
He opened his mouth wide, long sharp fangs glinting in light, and sank them into her soft flesh along her neck.
Euphoria.
That was he felt the moment her hot blood filled his mouth.
Pure. Unadulterated. Euphoria.
Never once has he tasted somethjng that delicious, that fulfilling and that addictive.
He didn't want to stop. He couldn't, wouldn't.
The girls limps slumped to her side, she felt her life slowly draining out of her.
She was weak, helpless, couldn't form any coherent thought.
She was dying.
[Ding!]
A chime echoed in the boys mind, breaking him out of his trance.