Desire of the Soul (6 page)

I sat down on the bed, getting up from the dirt floor I’d passed out on. I didn’t have enough energy to send Duke a message back, the trip to the past and getting my wrists almost burned off, seemed to have zapped me of almost all of my energy. Even if I did have energy though, I didn’t have enough time, because Kallisto appeared from thin air as her apparent usual.
 

“Hello dear, how are you and your charred wrists?” she asked, her voice light and uncaring. I could smell the overpowering scent of blood on her and felt my canines grow longer. Kallisto’s smell of death had lessened to a more bearable smell, most likely because of how she had eaten from someone of life.
 
I had to force myself to still, and not jump her to steal the already stolen blood that ran through her veins. I really needed to eat, and soon, but first I had to bring Kallisto back to her body.

An idea formed in my head, a plan
 
using the information I just learned from the past. Would it work though? I really hoped I hadn’t misjudged Kallisto’s human form, I really hoped she loved her family as much as
 
it looked like.
 

“I am actually wonderful, thank you for asking. You know, I once heard this phrase from a person. It was a simple phrase in Latin actually, and damn if it didn’t just remind me of you. Verum dic tibi ipsi. It means-”
 

“Be true to yourself without hesitation,” Kallisto whispered, her eyes filling up with bright red tears. “My-my mother used to say that to me.” Her eyes were starting to show a hint of ocean blue, and I felt my heart lift with excitement.
 
Was this actually going to work? Was that all it took? Could I save Kallisto with just a simple phrase?

Of course, my plan went tumbling down when there was a commotion outside the room. Duke. Kallisto’s eyes lost their ocean blue, and turned a bright and hideous red. She was at me in a blur, grabbing me by my dirt-covered clothes. “You told him! You alerted him to my presence!” she yelled, her fangs sliding out.
 

I pushed her away, feeling the Red build up in my body. “Don’t touch me,” I snarled and pounced on Kallisto. She was older, and therefore stronger, but I had one thing on my side. Duke, who had yet to appear heroically in front of my locked doors. I needed him to say the words, the ones that would pull Kallisto’s soul back into her body. As I fought, pink tears slid down my cheeks. Kallisto would get Duke without a doubt, and I would just be another memory.

My thoughts distracted me, and so when Kallisto bit into me I hadn’t been ready. I felt pain as the poison of her bite zipped through my veins. I screamed, lashing out with all my strength. Kallisto, surprised, flew to the wall. There was a crack as she hit it and I twitched, the sound startling me.

Her bite had fueled the Red in me though, so when I ran to her and bit into her wrist, I felt no guilt. The blood slid down my throat healing the burns caused by the acid, taking away the venom of the bite, and taking back my blood. After a couple minutes I dropped her to the ground. Kallisto opened her eyes slowly, and they were glazed and bloodshot as if she was high.
 

“Go to sleep,” I commanded, watching with wonder as she listened without hesitation. I felt the strength her blood had supplied me with roar throughout my body, and used it to force the door open. It slammed right into Duke, who had apparently been trying to unlock the door.

“Tammy! You’re-you’re okay!” he stuttered, his voice filled with relief. Duke pulled me into him, hugging me tight to him.

I wanted so badly to stay in his arms, knowing that this would be the last time I would be in them, but I couldn’t. I stepped out of his embrace, quickly wiping away the tears that had begun to fall once again. Weird how when I was a human I never cried, but since I had become an Amatores all I’ve been doing is crying.
 

“I’m sorry...but we have to do this. I-I tried, but I think it’s up to you now,” I whispered, and walked back into the cold room.
 

Kallisto was sleeping, her body unmoving, and Duke ran to her as I knew he would. He sunk by her side, his eyes going wide in horror as he looked at first her then me.
 

I felt a sharp tear at my heart, but ignored it and focused on Kallisto. “Say the words to her Duke. You know what they are, they’ve been ingrained in your head for years now, for centuries. Say the words to her that you said right as she laid in your arms, right after you poisoned her with your bite.”

“You mean you were there? You saw?” he asked, his voice quiet. I nodded, and he breathed in a deep, shuddering breath. “Please my dear Kallisto, come back... Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris? Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior.” His words were like smoke, sliding out of his mouth in a sweet whisper and into Kallisto’s body, waking her from her sleep.

“Duke.” She murmured, her eyes slowly opening. Instead of being bright red though, they were a clear ocean blue and all traces of coldness were gone.

Duke’s face lit up, and he stared at Kallisto like she was a goddess come to Earth.
 

I couldn’t take it anymore though, seeing him with her, and so I left without a word. I ran, the speed I was going drying the tears on my face before they could even fall, and didn’t stop until I was home again.

A car was parked in my driveway, a silver Acura SUV, and I felt my heart expand. The car belonged to my parents, who had probably been wondering where I was this late at night.
 

When I walked inside, both my parents grabbed me in a hug. “We were so worried! We got home and you weren’t home and-Tammy what happened to you? You look…amazing!” my mom gushed, her eyes twinkling.
 

I smiled, ignoring the sound of their heart beating and just trying to be normal for now. “I’m sorry, I just was with…with a friend,” I answered back, and hugged her again.
 

My dad just stood there studying me, until my mom looked at him sharply. “Your dad and I have many stories to tell you!” she exclaimed, and my dad said nothing, just stared at me with his cold eyes.
 

Hours later, the sun just rising, I was lying in bed with a smile. I may not have Duke, but at least for now my parents were home again. And I planned not to get out of bed until Monday, when I had to go to school. All this action tonight had left me completely drained of energy.
 

It took me almost a minute before I lulled myself into a deep, coma like sleep.

Back Home

Apparently Luke hadn’t gotten the notice that I was sleeping all day, because in he walked at ten in the morning to wake me up. I had to hold in my rage to strangle him, since I mean, a girl needs her beauty sleep.

“Wake up Tammy!” he shouted, and I shot out of bed. It took all of my strength not to let my fangs slide out, and not to attack. Luke looked different, and I knew it was probably because of me. He was thinner, as though he hadn’t truly eaten in days, and he
 
looked tired. My anger at him for waking me up evaporated as quickly as it had come, and I took a step toward him.
 

“Luke... you look terrible! What happened to you?” I asked, pushing the hair
 
that had fallen in his face away. He shivered at my touch, his body moving closer to mine.
 

“I don’t know, I just want to be with you. I need to be with you.” Luke’s voice was husky, and his eyes looked wild. I turned away from him, afraid of whom he was becoming. What had I done?

There was a rustling as Luke got something from his pocket, and I turned around to watch as he pressed a knife against his warm, tan neck and blood started to flow out. Luke then closed and locked my bedroom door, and put down the knife.

My eyes watched his neck the whole time, as the scent of his sweet blood filled me with a burning hunger. “No, Luke, please don’t,” I begged, my voice weak. My canines grew, and Luke walked towards me.

“I want you to do this Tammy. I need you to do this,” he said, but my ears were tuned into the sound of his blood rushing through his veins. I couldn’t hold back anymore, and bit where the line of blood was.

The reaction was immediate, both our bodies pressing together and his hands sliding up my shirt. The world was a kaleidoscope of colors, spinning around Luke and I as we slid to the floor. Heat was spreading throughout my body as Luke’s hands explored, and I groaned.
 

My hands played with the waistband of his jeans before sliding in, and he pulled us closer. The voice in my head was telling me to stop, that I was taking too much blood and things were getting too heated. I didn’t want to listen to the voice, I wanted to continue until there was nothing left, until I was fully sated, but I wasn’t a killer and Luke didn’t deserve to die.

I extracted my fangs from Luke’s neck, not surprised when the heat was replaced by coldness. Luke sighed; his eyes glazed, and passed out on my bed. I waited until he was fully asleep before leaving my bedroom. My parents were nowhere to be seen, the only reason Luke had gotten into my bedroom while I was sleeping. My parents weren’t stupid as to what a guy wanted at this age, and would have gone to wake me themselves before letting him near me.

I felt strong again, the blood of Luke and Kallisto having stopped my thirst for now. I went into the laundry room, glad to see my clean clothes sitting on the dryer. I grabbed the dark denim shorts, light pink spaghetti top, and a towel then left for the bathroom.

My shower was short, only ten minutes, but it felt like heaven. The water washed away all the dirt and grime from the past couple days, and it felt good to put on clean clothes. When I got out of the shower and put on the clothes, Luke wasn’t in my bedroom anymore. I closed my eyes tightly, taking a deep breath, trying to think of which room in my house he was in.
 

“Tammy!” he yelled, his voice light and woozy sounding, “Tammy, I made breakfast!”

The smell of burnt waffles wafted into my nose, and I sighed and ran downstairs. Luke had made almost ten waffles; all burnt, and piled them on a thin white coffee plate. The smell was thick, and I had to force myself to stop breathing so I wouldn’t choke on the scent.

Whoever taught Luke to cook hadn’t done the best job. Poor kid didn’t even know when a waffle was burning, well that and his judgment was slightly screwed up right now, thanks to me.

Luke kept piling more and more waffles on the plate, until the smoke was spreading throughout my house, and I had to forcefully pull him away from the stove. I threw out all the waffles, and then opened the windows and doors to air out the smell.
 

“What the hell?” I asked, my voice sharp enough to cut glass. Luke hugged his arms around himself, as if I was physically hurting him, and looked at me with wide eyes.

“I was making you food.” he whispered, his voice weak. “I thought-I thought you would be hungry. After... you know.”
 

I closed my eyes, and then slowly opened them again. “Luke, I’m not even sure if I can eat real food. I mean I haven’t really tried to, and you are the one who needs to eat. Not me.”

Luke’s smiled at me, and my heart softened. For so long I’d thought of him as only an ass, as only someone who could bring up my rankings in popularity. He didn’t deserve that though, he didn’t deserve to be judged like that. I should have tried to get to know him, tried to love him, before thinking that about him. “I’m fine. Why don’t you try to eat though? I’ll make you something better, something that I can’t screw up. How about a bowl of strawberries?” he asked.

I couldn’t deny him, he just looked so sweet, standing there with his eyes all lit up and that adorable smile. I nodded, and watched as he pulled strawberries out of my fridge and put them into a glass bowl. They didn’t smell all that appetizing, but I chalked that up to my body not needing to eat food anymore. Blood was definitely enough to support my system.

After just one strawberry and a long stint in the bathroom, most of which was spent throwing up, I learned the hard way. Human food and my system did not go together. At all.

“I’m so sorry Tammy, I should never have even suggested giving you food. That was so stupid of me, so stupid,” Luke said, rubbing at the scruff on his chin.

“It’s okay, at least I figured out what would happen should I eat food in front of other humans,”
 
answered back, shrugging my shoulders. “I mean I’ve seen Duke eat, and he seemed to tolerate it, but I guess that’s since he’s a lot older than I am. Sorry you had to see that, Luke.”

“Duke…isn’t that the guy who I made you call? The one who-” Lukes’ mouth dropped, and he stepped away from me. “I-oh God, I am so sorry Tammy. It was my fault; you’re like this because of me. I did this to you!” he exclaimed, hands pulling at his hair.

I felt the world start to spin, my heart dropping as I felt myself start to pull away from my body.

“Tammy? Tammy are you okay?” Luke asked, and I felt him grab onto my arms.
 

“Go, leave now and get Duke. Hurry!” I managed to whisper, before I felt myself fall to the ground and separate from my broken body.

I looked down and watched as Luke scrambled to his feet, running out of the house as if he knew what was about to happen should he stay. That was impossible though, he was just a human, human’s didn’t know about us. Right?