N. Walters - Craig's Heart

Still, he took another step into the darkness.

His eyes were adjusting a little better, but he couldn’t see where the noise was coming from. “I won’t hurt you,” he promised.

A skittering sound caught his attention. It was coming from the far side of the dumpster on the left side. “Who’s there?” He wished they’d say something.

Taking a deep breath, Craig inched carefully forward until he could see just beyond the dumpster. Curled up next to the nasty smelling metal was a small person. He couldn’t tell if it was a woman or a kid. It was too dark to see what the person was wearing or to make out any details. He squinted again and took a step forward. “Hey.”

A head came up and reddish-tinged eyes peered back at him. Crap. He was in big trouble. Whoever this person was, they were a paranormal creature of some kind. And if Craig was a betting man, he’d say she was a vampire, a young one, potentially unstable and very, very dangerous.

He backed up a step.

“Help me.” It was a woman’s voice and it stopped Craig in his tracks.

“What happened to you?” he asked.

She moaned and closed her eyes. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She panted heavily and Craig could sense her distress.

He reached into his pocket for his phone. “I know someone who can help you.”

“No.” She came to her feet in one fluid motion and jumped at him.

Craig was thrown back several feet and smashed into the wall behind him.

His head cracked against the brick and he saw stars. Something liquid trickled down his collar and he knew he was bleeding. Not good.

The creature came toward him. No, not a creature, a woman with long dark hair tangled around her face.

“Everything will be okay. I promise.” But Craig was no longer sure.

He should have gone to Haven for help.

Dealing with a vampire on his own, especially a young, unstable one wouldn’t be wise for a werewolf, let alone a human.

She licked her lips, grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him into the shadows by the dumpster. She was incredibly strong.

“Let me help you.” Craig kept talking, trying to reach her human side before she was totally lost to the bloodlust. But it was too late.

Sharp fangs pierced his neck and strong arms held him. Not that he tried to pull away or struggle. That would only make her more determined to drain him dry, maybe even snap his neck.

Physically, he was no match for her. Not yet. Maybe once she was drunk on his blood he could break away and make a run for it.

As she sucked his life’s blood out of him, Craig prayed she wouldn’t kill him.

He wasn’t ready to die.

So good. He tasted like the finest chocolate and red wine. And she was hungry, so very hungry. She feasted on him, gorging herself until she was almost ill. Only then did she pull back and look down at him. Kind blue eyes stared back at her from behind wire-rimmed glasses.

He was wheezing, his skin pale, but he made no move to fight her.

She frowned and studied him more closely. The gash on his neck caught her eye and she gasped. It looked as though an animal had taken a bite out of him.

What had she done?

It all came flooding back to her. The attack. The pain. The several days of agony. The hunger that tormented her constantly, driving her outside even when she knew it wasn’t safe for herself or anyone around her.

She was a monster. Just like the one who’d attacked her. And now she’d killed this man who’d only tried to help her. She could remember his voice, low and calm and filled with empathy.

She’d wanted to reach out to him but had panicked and attacked instead.

“What have I done?” Her voice sounded rusty. It had been days since she’d said more than a word or two. It had been difficult to form thoughts, let alone speak.

“Damek,” he gasped. The man licked his lips and tried to speak again. She could hear his heartbeat slowing down and knew it would soon stop.

“Conserve your strength.” A hospital. She needed to get him some help.

He grabbed her arm with surprising strength. “No time.” He coughed once.

“Call Damek. Phone.” His eyelids fluttered closed and his heartbeat stuttered.

“No.” She couldn’t let this happen.

Even now, after everything she’d done, he was trying to help her. But even more than that, he wasn’t afraid of her. She’d smelled his fear briefly, but she’d sensed his determination as well. He truly had known what she was.

Maybe he had answers to the questions haunting her.

“You can’t die. I won’t let you.” Not knowing if what she was doing was right or wrong, she bit into her wrist. All she knew was she couldn’t let him die. Once the blood began to flow, she shoved it against his mouth just as his heart ceased to beat. “Drink,” she commanded.

Some innate instinct made her tilt his head back so her blood trickled down his throat. Nothing. “Please. Please.

Please.” She started praying to a deity she wasn’t certain still existed. If there was a God, how could something like this happen? How could a creature like her exist?

She choked back a sob when the stranger continued to lie still in her arms. She rocked him and shook him lightly. “Please, come back to me. I didn’t mean to do this.”

Several long minutes past and she finally admitted defeat. She’d killed him.

She was now a murderer. Tears flowed unchecked down her cheeks. She’d have to turn herself into the police. That was the right thing to do. The only thing she could do if she wanted to save what was left of her humanity.

She could no longer deny what she was. What she’d become.

Vampire.

The word sent a shiver down her spine.

Monster.

She pulled her wrist away and licked it to seal the wound.

The man coughed and suddenly sat upright before he rolled onto his side and vomited. Startled, she stared for a moment, unable to believe she’d done it.

He was alive. She moved quickly, holding him while he was sick and watched in amazement as the gash in his neck slowly closed and healed itself.

When there was nothing left in his stomach, he rolled onto his back, eyes closed. He was sweating hard now like she’d done after the monster had attacked her. He was going to be sick just as she’d been.

Oh God, what had she done?

She’d only wanted to save his life.

Instead, she’d changed him into the same kind of creature she’d become. Or maybe not. Maybe he was just ill because of all the blood she’d drained from him before replacing it with her own.

Maybe.

She wasn’t sure of anything anymore.

Memories of her attack and the creature who’d bitten her surged to the forefront of her mind, but she shoved away the dark recollections. She couldn’t think about Vladimir Drake. Didn’t want to.

What little she knew about vampires came from the vague memories she had from the time just after her attack and what she’d managed to learn through trial and error since her escape.

Voices and footsteps hurried by the top of the alley. She pulled the man deeper into the shadows with her until the danger was past. There was no one she could trust.

Once again, she studied the unconscious man in her arms. Maybe there was one person.

She had to get them somewhere safe, somewhere away from the light. The sunlight, that she’d always loved, now burned her skin whenever it touched her.

She’d learned that lesson the hard way.

She brushed his sandy-brown hair off his forehead. “I’ll take care of you.”

She owed him that much and more than she could ever possibly repay.

She stood and easily lifted him into her arms, still surprised by her newfound strength. At the back of the alley was a building with a fire escape.