Created (Book 1 of the Created) (24 page)

I did not appreciate her lecturing me even if she knew the
boundaries and how cautiously they should be approached. "I understand
Veronica."

There was a look of uncertainty that was hiding what I
perceived as anger on her face. I had to deflect her from her animosity and
fear about
Sunnie
.

I asked, "There is a question I have been meaning to
ask you about the scents that we broadcast. You seem to change and mask your
odor whenever you want. How does that work?"

The question worked as Veronica seemed ready to explain
another mystery of the realm of vampires. "A select few of the newest
generations have the ability to mask or change our scents at will. It is not
really as much masking a scent as we can absorb odors, mimic or direct smells
through learning to manipulate pheromones within us. You should be able to
yourself since I was informed it was part of the virus that was uploaded to
you. Liam, Logan and Chloe have other experimental abilities that are
classified to the outside world. If you have not seen them thus far, then I am
sure somewhere along the line you will have the opportunity. "

We started progressing to the lunch room as we continued to
whisper.

The volume of my voice was below that of what a human could
detect. "Chloe has already tried to work her charms on me with limited
success."

Veronica retorted, "How limited is still in question.
She almost kicked your ass on the bus."

I gave her a sideways glance as we passed through the
lunchroom door. "Not exactly the way I remember how that happened, but I
was talking about a different time in the school, but never mind."

The conversation ended as we found a table and sat down with
the rest our group. We switched to a world of silence and smiles as we watched
the people from the human world. We were now a part of their world five days a
week from a perch in the corner of the lunchroom.
    

The week after meeting
Sunnie
at a
more personal level was uneventful. The vampires and I had finally settled into
our integration amongst the mortals. Even the wolves had appeared to have been
making the transition smoothly, though we saw very little of the new pack that
still consisted of Tristan, who was now the alpha, Haley and two females named
Alicia and Ava.

School was simple and care free, the perfect backdrop for my
time with
Sunnie
. We would talk in the hallways and
in passing in front of my friends, and then sneak away for time alone in which
we would simply talk away the seconds or minutes we had stolen.

The week was ending, and I was thinking constantly about
her. I told myself it was simply about learning to build relationships with
humans and not the honeysuckle scented blood that made me want to feed
uncontrollably whenever I got too close. Worse yet, I had to fight another
problem that was arising and was beginning to be a larger issue than my blood
lust; I was beginning to fall in love.

The long week had quickly become a single day.
Friday to be exact.
It was a day where my hunger for blood
was making me feverish. Riding the bus to school, it was obvious to anyone that
gave a damn to look there was something wrong with me.
   

Veronica snatched my arm as I staggered past. "You look
like someone that could use a fresh taste. I think it is about time I showed
you a couple of tricks to help you stay alive."

Staring into what should have been her face; there was
nothing there but a white, fog of haze that was clouding my mind as I
responded. "I wish someone would do something, because I since I woke up
this morning, I felt like I was going to go insane today if I didn't get a
drink besides the garbage in the fridge. My mind is in a funk that I am not
sure I have experienced before."

The alluring vampire pulled my lower eye lid down on one eye
then the other. "I know what your problem is and you are right the stuff
in the refrigerator isn't going to cut it. Not this time. You are going to
start having the equivalent of withdraws. The military doesn't know to what
extent this occurs. In several of the newer model beings, the government has
made a creature in which the formerly sufficient mixture of cold blood is
unable to help satiate the desire for blood from live hosts. This can happen
often as I have seen with many of the newest in our group. There is a cure that
does have inherent risk. The cure is one that requires every few days you must
feed no matter what or face a slow, torturous death from within your
body."

Listening intently, I stared at the wispy fog covering
Veronica's face as she continued. "Listen carefully because this can only
be said once for fear someone else might catch wind if you ask me during school
hours."

She scanned the bus to make sure she hadn't missed a member
getting off the bus. The bus was deserted sans the two of us since the driver
had already stepped off to get a smoke before driving back to the base.
  

"When school gets out for the weekend and we get home,
I will exercise one of my privileges of being group leader. We will stay out
past curfew, and I will show you how to hunt for real. There will no longer be
a need to wait for your ration of cold blood. Meet me behind your house tonight
after eleven and we can see if we can find you something alive to drink from
tonight."

I think I said ok as we both stepped from the bus and into
the hallways filled with viable donors to my thirst.

Doing my best to avoid
Sunnie
at
school, I steered clear of her locker and our usual haunts for fear that
blinding hunger and thoughts of her coppery blood bathing my tongue might not
make for the best conditions for her survival at school. There was even help
from Logan and Liam, who at Veronica's orders, blocked her from me and me from
her, at every turn.

Thankfully the day ended, but only after it crawled along
seemingly for days.

Soon enough I found myself within my home on the Farm,
dealing with a ravenous appetitive that no amount of the blood in my fridge
could end. Thirty seven bags of human blood I consumed, the final twenty-six
bags I did not even bother to warm. Still, I wanted more until I forced myself
to try animal blood. Those sixteen bags met the same fate as the human blood.

My home was awash with blood smears along the cabinet doors
and countertops. There even a few along the floor which included my footprints.
The bags that had contained the blood were piled in the sink, garbage can,
counter, kitchen floor and even the bathroom floor where I had gotten pissed
and flung them put of my sight. It was a fitful few hours of dealing with
another pitfall of being a vampire.

I disgusted myself as I looked in the mirror. Skin was
hardened and grayed. Face covered in dried, crusty with brown and dark red
blood. Streaks flowed onto my neck and downward across the collar of my t-shirt
where darkened stains had pooled. Others streaks had persisted the entire
length of my shirt. Ripping the t-shirt from my torso, I half assed wiped at
the blood with the tattered remains. When I finished I chunked the ragged
garment over my shoulder into the shower behind me. Still staring into the
mirror, a rage developed. Frustration and hunger slammed into each as I smashed
the mirror with my forehead. The action obliterated the glass into thousands of
dangerous shards that fell into the sink and onto the floor.

The thirst persisted. It was not like the first one I
experienced or reminiscent of anything I had felt. There was no pain, just the
frustratingly simple need to feed.
 

My forehead was unmarred by the blunt force trauma that had
been perpetrated. Taking one of the few remaining shards of glass that were
hanging from the mirror, I edged the four inch long piece of glass toward my
wrist. I needed blood. A shaking hand lowered the razor sharp point toward the
throbbing vein located there. I could see the vein bulging just below the
surface. It was strange to see my own blood rushing there. The thought of the
taste and it made me curious. The thin, jagged piece spread the toughened
flesh, but did not penetrate. Curious as to why, I tried again then realized I
could not bring myself to cut my own wrist.

I wanted to taste fresh blood. I wondered if Darby was home
and knowing her fondness for me if she would mind sharing a small amount. The
thought was disconnected, but apparent in my mind. I would have to make her
understand this was nothing personal.

The thoughts abruptly ended in a wisp of vapor when a voice
called from the living room. The voice was indistinguishable initially as I
stood before the broken mirror staring at the fractured board left hanging
after the reflective device had been destroyed. I strained to hear the words
being spoken. Then as my mind continued to clear, the words became less
garbled. The roaring that had been unbeknownst to me faded.

"For the millionth damn time I know you are in the
bathroom. If we are going to do this tonight we need to get moving. Hello.
Hello! Ethan, are you listening to what I am saying? We needed to have left
fifteen minutes ago," Veronica called from the living room.

Her voice was one of anger and desperation as she partially
yelled and partially spoke.

I was me again for a minute. The thoughts of devouring my
neighbor and friend were no longer dominating my fragile mind.

I responded, "I need a minute to get cleaned up before
we go. I am a little bit of a mess at the moment."

She barged into the bathroom in a second. It was what I
deserved since I was late and making us later by the second.

"What the hell are you doing that is taking so long and
what is with the blood covered
kitch
...?” Veronica
stopped short when she noticed the shattered mirror, the piece of busted glass
I was holding, and all of the blood covering my face.
     

It would be hard to determine which of the three actually
gave her pause. I am sure the vivid imagery of any of the three would be enough
to deter any of our group from proceeding, but Veronica hesitated, gathered
herself then proceeded to begin again.

"Ethan
get
cleaned up and meet
me out back in ten minutes. If you are one minute late then consider it your
problem and not mine," She stated before exiting with a flourish of her
cape and a slamming of the front door so hard it shattered the glass in the
door.

I was ready and waiting on her in less than two. Thirty
seconds after my arrival she poured herself from the shadows. "You ready
this time?" She asked.

I nodded instead of speaking, not sure how long my facade of
normalcy would last.

"Good, we need to hurry before the night patrols find
us."

Running through the Farm at full speed during the night was
exhilarating. The desire to feed was replaced with a new mandate. Pushing
myself harder than I ever had before I stayed as close to my guide as possible
as we followed the pavement for miles in a mere couple of minutes. Suddenly
Veronica jetted into the knee deep green fescue of an untended field that
parted as we sprinted through. The distorted calls and growls of animals of the
nights both real and created echoed in our wake. There were a couple of times
as we neared a row of tall pines at the far end of a field that she beckoned me
to follow suit. When she leapt I leapt. Both times I sailed over a sleeping
wolf of an indeterminate generation. Neither acknowledged what had happened,
and Veronica never broke stride.

The ground was diminishing quickly beneath my feet as we
neared the razor wire lined and reinforced perimeter fence. Veronica pointed
ahead then ran faster into an overgrown section of fence that was covered in hedge.
She vanished into the growth. Closing my eyes, I blindly followed to find
myself emerging into the middle of a small complex of buildings.

The complex was lightly manned and dark. There was a series
of small warehouses to my right and a single office complex to my left. The
soldiers did not seem to mind the sudden presence of a vampire standing in the
middle of the earthen road.

Searching for Veronica, I found her at the door of one of
the warehouses signing a manifest presented to her by a soldier. Joining her, I
noticed the soldier was not human nor did the soldier give off much of a scent.
The soldier was a form of GZ, though it lacked the glowing yellow eyes. It was
a version I had never seen before, but I shrugged it off since many of the nightmares
on the Farm were still new to me. The soldier was dressed and armed as a human
soldier and would have appeared normal if not for the sunken gray eyes within
sockets surrounded by an ashy, flaky flesh. The zombie did not talk, just
moaned at me as I approached.

Veronica waved her hand to regain the attention of the
zombie who became quiet then stepped aside allowing us access to the interior
of the small warehouse. The interior lights must have worked on motion because
as we walked, one light after another flickered to life until we were bathed in
a dull blue illumination. She was focused on getting to the far side of the
building. Arriving, we were greeted by the singular object contained in the
structure; a tarp covered object around sixteen feet that was clearly a car of
some kind. With a flick of her wrist, the car cover was casted away smoothly to
fall against the exterior wall exposing a beautiful baby blue car.

"What are we doing?" I asked Veronica.

The alluring vampire lovingly brushed away a minuscule trace
of dust from the white convertible top. "We are about to take my toy into
the Alabama night and show you what it means to be a real vampire."

I looked the gorgeous light blue car over, "In
this?"