Chosen (Book #4 of the Vampire Legends) (2 page)

Chapter
3

Rob sprinted down
the football field, holding the ball and charging for the endzone. He couldn’t
believe his speed and agility—he was faster than ever. He felt like a cheetah
running through the African desert. He was unstoppable and nobody could keep up
with him. He clutched the ball tightly in his hands as the croud cheered him
on.

“Rob! Rob! Rob!”
the kids yelled from the bleechers.

Then, charging the
last yard and into the end zone, Rob scored a touchdown. His tenth touchdown of
the game. It was unheard of—even Rob couldn’t believe his streak this game. He
knew something was up, he didn’t feel quite like himself tonight, and knew his
powers were coming back.

It had been
almost a year since the incident with Violet, when he first felt his body
changing and his powers strengthening; but then, all of a sudden, they
disappeared. They went almost as quickly as they came, and now he was beginning
to feel the powers come back in full force, even stronger than before, but he
didn’t know why.

Why now
? he
thought to himself.

“Nice one, Rob!”
a teammate said, slapping him on the back.

“Word!” another
teammate said, high fiving him.

“Yo, what’s
gotten into you? You’re da bomb,” another teammate said, chest-butting him.

“Rob, nice work!
Now that’s what I call an amazing game,” the coach yelled as he came barreling
onto the field to congratulate Rob on winning the game.

The cheerleaders
danced onto the field, all running up to Rob and hugging and kissing him. He’d
never felt more loved or prized as he did at that moment. He felt like he was
on top of the world, yet he knew it wasn’t him. He knew there was someone or
something behind this sudden surge of power.

The team walked
off the field together, smiling and high fiving each other on their way to the
locker room. The crowd in the bleachers was still chanting his name and many of
the kids were coming up to Rob in amazement, congratulating him on his win for the
school.

As he entered the
locker room, Rob’s head suddenly began to hurt; it felt as if someone were
inside his brain, banging on the walls of his skull. It hurt so badly, he had
to stop and sit down for a minute with his head in between his hands. Then, a
hunger came raging through his body and he became ravenous. All he wanted to do
was eat. He was craving blood, something he hadn’t thought of in months. Now,
suddenly, it was emerging from out of nowhere. He knew he had to let it
subside; there were way too many people here and he knew he’d get caught if he
killed an animal and sucked its blood. But Rob wasn’t craving an animal per se—what
he really wanted was human blood.

Each person that
came up to him was tempting to him. His eyes rolled back in his head, the hairs
on his arms stood up and his body began to get goosebumps all over. He started
shaking.  He couldn’t resist the sight and smell of all of these people. He ran
to the end of the locker room, where his teammates were already in the shower
and getting dressed to go out that night.

Rob had been
looking forward to the big post-game bash at his friends’ house and hoped that
this hunger and surge of power would subside and he would feel like his old
self again. He didn’t like these feelings; despite his strength and power, he
felt helpless and out of control.

One by one, his
teammates passed him, by saying they’d see him later at the party as they left
the locker room. Within fifteen minutes, Rob was the only person left in the
locker room, sitting on a bench with his head in between his hands. He prayed
that this would all go away, that it wasn’t returning for good this time.

He lifted his
head, stood up and opened his locker door. Inside the grey metal door was a
picture of Rachel, still hanging from last season. He didn’t have the heart to
take it down; he still loved her and missed her. He thought about her every day,
even though he’d started seeing Becca, a senior in his class. He knew he’d
never see Rachel again and figured she’d been killed, since nobody had seen her
in almost a year.

“Rob!” Becca’s
voice called out through the door of the locker room. “Rob, are you in there?”

He rolled his
eyes. He didn’t want to answer but knew if he didn’t she’d come in and find him
anyway.

“Yeah, be out in
a minute,” Rob answered solemnly.

“Honey! You’re
taking so long. What’s going on?” Becca yelled in again, in a high-pitched,
snotty tone.

Rob didn’t answer;
he figured if he was silent, she would just go away. He didn’t have the energy
to deal with her right now. He liked her and everything, but she was pretty
high maintenance, and he wasn’t in the mood for her antics at that moment.

“Robby bear! I
know you’re in there,” Becca called as her voice got closer and closer.

“There you are
silly! I knew you were in here,” Becca said, leaping towards Rob to give him a
kiss.

“Not now, Becca.
I’m not in the mood,” Rob said, still peering into his locker.

“Not her again,”
Becca said, looking at the picture of Rachel in his locker. “Why do you have
her picture in your locker, Rob? Huh?”

Not having a good
answer, Rob shrugged his shoulders.

“You need to get
over that loser anyway, you have
me
now,” Becca said as she walked over
and attempted to rip the picture down.

“Hey, what do you
think you’re doing? Don’t touch my stuff!” Rob yelled. “Leave that picture
where it is, it’s not up to you to take it down.”

“I just don’t
know why you still have it up and why there isn’t a picture of me hanging in
your locker. What? Do I mean nothing to you? Do you not care about me as much
as you cared about her? She’s gone now, don’t you realize Rob? She’s never
coming back,” Becca said in a snarky tone.

“You don’t know
that for sure, so stop saying that. She might come back, have faith,” Rob
snapped back.

“Anyway, this is
stupid. Let’s get to the party! What are you going to wear?” Becca said,
glancing down at his duffle bag full of wrinkled clothes. “Hopefully nothing in
that nasty bag of yours.”

“What is your
deal Becca? Can’t you just let me be? I’ll wear whatever I want, and I don’t
need you hovering over me to make a decision. I can do it on my own,” Rob
answered.

“Geeze, you’re in
a mood tonight Mr. Moody Pants,” Becca said in a sing-song voice.

Rob couldn’t take
it anymore. He had to get her out of his sight.

“Becca, please
leave now, I’ll meet up with you later,” Rob said anxiously, his body begin to
tremble and shake again due to hunger.

“Nah, I’ll wait
here for you. I don’t want to leave Mr. Moody all alone now do I?” she said
again.

“If you don’t
leave now and if you don’t stop calling me that I’m going to get really upset,
Becca,” Rob said angrily. “Go!”

“Mr. Moody Pants,
Mr. Moody Pants,” Becca called out in a chant.

Suddenly Rob
couldn’t take it anymore. He launched at Becca as she fell to the floor,
screaming in horror. “What are you doing, Rob? Get off of me!” she yelled.

“You asked for
it,” Rob said, as his large fangs emerged from inside of his gums.

“AHHH!!!” Becca
screamed. “What’s happening? Who are you? Stop! Please!” she pleaded.

“I warned you. I
tried to be nice, but there’s only so much I can take,” Rob said as he leaned
down towards her neck.

“Noooooo!!!!”
Becca screamed. “Noooooo!!!!!!!!!”

It was the last
words she uttered before Rob sank his fangs deep into her neck, sucking the
blood out of her body and feeding a nice long feed on the blood of his
girlfriend.

Chapter
4

Rob couldn’t bear
it anymore. He had to find Rachel. He couldn’t stand his life without her and
had to find her. He loved her desperately and wanted to be with her. He also
knew she held all the answers to why he was feeling this way, and why he was
turned. He couldn’t explain his desire or passion for finding her, but knew he
had to follow his gut, his true animal instinct to be with her.

He didn’t linger
in the locker room; he ran right out, without covering up the mess he’d just
made. Becca lay on the floor, blood dripping from her neck, convulsing as he
slammed his locker door shut and ran out, without looking back. He figured it
didn’t matter anyway, because nobody would suspect anything, especially not
from him.

Rob knew the only
way to find Rachel would be to ask her family. The only problem with that
though, was that he’d tried many times to go to her house, knocking on her
door, but nobody answered. He couldn’t understand why they were never home. He
figured maybe they weren’t up for company and were still mourning her loss, but
he didn’t know for sure.

Lucky for Rob, he
heard through his friends that Rachel’s younger brother, Marc, would be at the
party that night. Despite feeling tired and hungry, he knew he had to go to the
party. He knew he had to find Marc and get to the bottom of this mystery. If
anybody would know where to find Rachel it would be her own sibling, so off he
went in his blue Audi to the party.

As he arrived at
the row of townhouses in the outskirts of town, he saw throngs of his peers
going up the steep stoop and into the front door. He waited out front, with his
car engine and his headlights off, sitting in the dark, watching, waiting for
Marc to appear. After fifteen minutes, he figured he’d better go inside and
find him. Maybe he’d gotten their earlier and was already inside.

Rob entered the
party and swarms of people surrounded him, cheering him on and congratulating
him on his game. One after the next came up to him offering him a shot of
vodka, tequila or a can of beer. Rob took a few shots, cheered himself on with
his friends and then, once the excitement died down and he’d greeted everyone,
he went looking for Marc. He prowled around the townhouse as if he were a burglar.
He knew he shouldn’t have gone upstairs, but had to find Marc. He couldn’t
leave the party without speaking to him.

Suddenly, Rob got
a whiff of something familiar to him. He remembered passing Marc in the hallway
recently, he remembered his scent and now, he smelled it again. The scent of
his blood made Rob even hungrier as he prowled around looking for him. Then, he
went to the open window that faced the back of the house, and spotted him
outside, with a group of friends.

Rob quickly turned
around and headed downstairs and out the back door of the townhouse. He entered
the small yard that was lined with a metal fence and other houses looking down
onto their yard. This wasn’t the typical Westchester house, but he didn’t think
much of it at this moment. He was on a mission.

“Marc, what’s up
bro?” Rob said, walking over to him.

“Yo, who’s that?”
Marc said, looking suspicious and putting something quickly into his pocket.

“It’s me, Rob,
you know, your sister’s friend,” he replied.

“Oh right, what
up kid,” Marc said, in a tough voice.

Rob was surprised
to see him in baggy jeans, a hoodie and hanging out with the druggies of AHS.
He didn’t realize what a terrible path Marc had been led down, and couldn’t
understand why. He remembered Marc being a nice, innocent freshman last year,
and now, it was as if he were a completely different person. Rob even spotted a
tattoo coming up out of his sweatshirt and wrapping around the front of his
neck.

“You have a
minute?” Rob asked.

“Not really, not
for you,” Marc said, in an obnoxious tone, obviously showing off to his new
group of friends.

“Yeah Jock, we
don’t want you here, why’d you come outside anyway?” one of the guys asked.

“What’s your
deal, Man?” Rob answered back, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

“Well, you were
talking with my home-boy and that’s the same as talking to me, you hear?” the
guy replied.

“Listen, Dude,
chill out, I’m talking to Marc,” Rob said back angrily. “Marc, where’s your
sister? What happened to her?”

Marc threw down
his blunt and looked at Rob. He was clearly upset and disturbed by this
question, and his group of friends could tell he was getting pissed off.

“Yo, Man, why did
you have to bring that up? Don’t you know you shouldn’t talk about her?”
another guy responded, equally as rude.

“Yeah, Bro,
what’s your deal? Leave him alone,” another guy yelled back.

“Chill out guys,
I have to find her, I want to help,” Rob replied.

“Well, there’s
nothing you can do. You can’t help us,” Marc said, approaching Rob.

“I can, trust me,
I’ll find her, I just need some clues,” Rob responded.

“What don’t you
understand, Rob? I said, No! You can’t help us,” Marc yelled, walking towards
him with a swagger.

Rob watched as
Marc got closer. He could see his bloodshot eyes and his wavering step. He knew
he was high and drunk. Rob could see the hatred in Marc’s eyes as he got closer
and he began to wonder what was going to happen next.

The smell of
Marc’s blood made his stomach weak. He waited and then, before he knew it,
Marc’s friends were surrounding him, ready to fight. Rob looked at them with
ease, knowing his strength would prevail, and waited for them to lift their
fists.

Sure enough, one
after the next charged at him, including Marc. They violently swung at Rob as
he dodged each attempt and then, without thinking, struck back with one large
swing, clipping each of them across the face and neck. He watched them fall to
the ground like dominos.

Marc lay there on
the ground with his chin quivering, suddenly panicked as Rob came close to him.

“Tell me what you
know?” Rob said again, this time in a more serious tone.

“I don’t know, I
don’t know,” Marc said, staring back at Rob who was hovering over him like a
bat in a cave.

“Don’t lie to me.
Tell me, or, I’ll…” Rob said, as he was interrupted by Marc.

“All I know is
that my other sister Sarah might have an idea. That’s all I know,” Marc said as
his eyes rolled back into his head.

Rob looked down
at him and knew this could be the clue he’d been waiting for, but he wasn’t
finished. He had to find out more.

Slapping him
across the face, Marc snapped to it again, opening his eyelids and focusing on
him once again.

“Where is Sarah?”
Rob asked.

“Um..” his eyes
became unfocused. Rob slapped him again. “She’s in college now,” Marc replied.

“Where? What
school?” Rob asked back.

He waited but
Marc didn’t answer.

“Where is she?”
Rob yelled down to Marc.

“Syracuse,” he
said as his head rolled to the side.

Rob looked down
at his lifeless body and couldn’t resist the urge. He took one last look at him
as a human and then sank his large white teeth deep into his neck, sucking his
blood quickly before anyone could see. He then sucked the blood of each of his
druggie friends, not realizing they were so strung out on drugs that it
actually passed through and he began to feel a bit woozy himself. It was a high
he’d never felt from sucking blood before.

He quickly walked
away from the scene, trying to make his escape from the party. He looked up and
realized he had to go back through: there was no other way out. He had to move
quickly so nobody would suspect anything when they came out and saw the blood
drenched punks of AHS laying in the backyard.

As he entered the
townhouse, he was bombarded by Arielle, wearing a short black mini skirt, a
halter-top, with her breast exploding out of it, and high heels. Rob looked her
up and down thinking she looked hot, but not really focusing much on her. He
had Rachel on his mind, and couldn’t be distracted.

“Hey Robby,”
Arielle said, in a seductive tone.

“Hi,” Rob
answered quickly, still walking towards the front door to make his exit.

“Where are you
going in a hurry?” she said in a sultry voice.

“I’m outta here,”
Rob answered.

“But why? The
night is still young,” Arielle said, looking at him.

Rob could tell
she’d had a few drinks by the way she was acting. She was basically throwing
herself at him, which he found to be rather annoying and unattractive. He knew
he had to find Sarah and quickly. He couldn’t let any more time go on without
finding his true love.

“Robby, come
here, I want to show you something,” Arielle said, grabbing Rob’s hand and
pulling him backwards.

“I have to go
now,” he replied, pulling his icy cold hand back.

“Just a few
minutes, I think you’re going to like it,” Arielle said, looking down at her
body.

Rob didn’t know
what to expect. He knew this would be easy for him if he stayed, but he really
wasn’t in the mood. He couldn’t think of any other girl right now. His mind was
set on finding Rachel.

He felt a tug at
his jacket and a warm hand go up his shirt. “Rob, come on, let’s go upstairs.
There’s something I want to show you now,” Arielle pleaded again.

She pulled him
into her arms and started rubbing her head against his neck and chest. Rob
didn’t know what to do. He kind of liked this, but was conflicted. He knew he
had to leave. He couldn’t stay for another minute.

“No Arielle! I
said, I’m leaving,” Rob said, pushing her off of him and walking quickly
outside to get into his blue Audi.

Arielle ran after
him into the darkness and followed him into his car. She jumped in the
passenger seat and started caressing his leg. Rob didn’t know what to do. The
smell of her body, of her blood was enticing him as she inched her way closer
and closer towards him. He couldn’t resist her anymore. He leaned in to her as
if to kiss her, and his fangs emerged from his gums. He knew she was clueless
as to what was happening, but before he could stop himself, he sunk his teeth
deep down into her neck, sucking the blood out of her limp body.

She lay there in
his arms, her eyes twitching as she looked back at him with a glaze in her eye.
Her body began to shake and he could see the transformation taking place in
front of his eyes. He knew he had just turned her.

He swiftly got
out of his car, and ran to the passenger side, opened the door and scooped
Arielle out. He lay her down on the grass by an old tree. He knew she’d be safe
there, safer than on the wild journey he was about to take. His only hope was
that she wouldn’t tell anyone what had happened.