This Blood that Binds Us

CHAPTER ONE-

AARON

That was my new life. Prowling through stupid trees in some stupid forest. I could have said stalking, but I hated that word. The night was stagnant as I waded through swarms of gnats and prickly cedar branches. It was like a scary movie—only I wasn’t the idiot who decided it would be a good idea to investigate the noise coming from the basement. I was the bad guy. Next, I’d be a cameo in someone’s shower.

My legs propelled me farther into the thicket. Twigs snapped with each step, sending a satisfying crunch into my ears. I wished nothing bad had ever happened. I wanted to be a typical college guy, playing shitty video games and getting too drunk on a Friday night, with my only real worries being money or failing all my classes. I wanted to be myself again, but as I walked and reflected, it was apparent my freedom would never come. I couldn’t go back.

Up ahead, flickering fire illuminated the trees. Its shadows bounced and danced along the tree trunks. The fire whispered through incoherent crackling and popping. A pine scent hit me first followed by a strong aroma of burning wood. It was a surprise when I could pinpoint the smell of the dirt and decay orbiting my feet. I wasn’t used to my stronger senses then.

My body moved forward despite my screaming heart. I was almost close enough to see the source. Warmth pooled in my palms, and I wiped my hands on my pants, anticipating sweat I no longer produced. Butterflies circled in my stomach as I bent over and crouched on my knees. A girl sat on a rock overlooking the cliff in the distance. The blinding, flickering fire highlighted her auburn hair, igniting the long strands that framed her porcelain face.

My stomach sank. It just had to be a girl. I cursed under my breath, wondering why anyone would even consider camping alone. I was the perfect example of what could go wrong. Though, I couldn’t blame her for not anticipating a vampire stalking her in the woods. My shaky hands brushed against the rough bark on the tree beside me, my gaze unbroken as I inched closer.

Kill her.

The nagging voice was back. It popped into my head after the change, as if It had always been there. A part of me was glad I wasn’t alone in my head anymore, but It only came out to antagonize me when I hadn’t fed. Whatever It was.

The twigs crunched underneath my boots, breaking my focus. I wrapped myself behind the tree to hide from the warmth of the light. My fingernails dug into my palms, and I tried to get my hands to stop shaking. As I peeked from behind the tree, another branch cracked under my feet. I was really great at being stealthy.

She turned toward the tree line. The fire’s reflection glistened in her soulful blue eyes, while her breath caught in her throat. Her heartbeat. It was fast, and growing louder by the second.

Get closer. We need her.

Fear struck deep in my chest. I took a step back, forfeiting a breath. My jaw tensed, and I moved my hands to my face, trying to regain focus. Pushing past everything physical, I walked into the open.

With eyes narrowed, she examined the tree line. “Hey. Private campsite, and I don’t feel like sharing, so . . .”

Her voice was liquid nitrogen injecting into my veins. I was frozen. If I had contemplated it for more than one second, I would have run back through the trees.

You want to kill her. You need to kill her.

It took every bit of strength I had to shut out the voice and drag my heavy body forward. Not only was the voice annoying, but It lied. I kept my eyes glued to her shoes. She’d have a hard time running in those. More pain inflamed my chest as my beating heart hammered against my ribs. Blood. I had to stop thinking and think only about blood.

“Stay away from me.”

The conviction in her voice made me trip over my feet.

I had to stop thinking.

That’s right. Stop thinking. Let me take over.

I wanted to listen, but letting It take over wouldn’t help me. It hadn’t before.

Tracking her feet as she backed farther toward the cliff’s edge, I took another step. Her heartbeat was loud in my ears. I studied the way it fluttered in a consistent rhythm. Darkness of the night overtook the warmth in her eyes, her terror tearing my chest open.

Something deep inside me lit on fire, igniting my body from head to toe. My brain shutdown, instinct took over. Her heartbeat. Her skin. Her blood. They called to me. I lunged, grabbed her shoulders, and pulled her closer. I needed her closer.

Before I went for her neck, she twisted my arm and pinned me into the dirt. I wasn’t ready for her to fight back. I hadn’t even thought of the possibility. One part of me wanted to tackle her, the other part wanted her to run. Her yellow coat flashed in my periphery before disappearing into the dense brush behind me.

Instinctively, I followed her reverberating footsteps. It took no effort to catch up with her. Everything was easy in my new body. I wanted her to run faster, to disappear into the trees where I could never find her. She should have pushed me off the cliff when she had the chance.

That was the last thing I remember thinking for a while.

The other part of me took over—the dark, scary, ominous part I liked to pretend wasn’t there. The Thing I was sharing a body with begged me to feed It.

In seconds, our chase was over. Our bodies collided onto a rugged patch of dry leaves and dirt. I pinned her arms beside her as she thrashed for leverage. Her fingernails dug into the soil. I went for her neck. My body moved as if it was an instinct. An instinct born of something foreign. It took over every thought. Every nerve. Blood was all that was left.

The taste rocked me momentarily. It was everywhere at once. Everything I could ever want but better. The numbness took over. Her cries were silent in that weird in-between place. Dull was the pain and any physical senses. It felt good in a strange way, like I could get lost there if I stayed too long. The voice won, consuming me with its carnal desire for destruction and death.

Her heartbeat reverberated in my veins. Electricity shocked my body in the form of fear. The numbness subsided, and the feeling returned to my hands. Like being chiseled from stone, one by one, I could feel my limbs again. As I thawed from that dark place, fear and horror filled my stomach. With every second, I regained my sense of reality.

Her heartbeat caught my attention again. The rapid beating echoed in my eardrums. It was so loud it hurt. Cupping my ears, I stumbled to my feet, then wiped the remnants of blood from my lips. It smelled sweet but tasted bitter.

The forest was quiet, other than bugs buzzing in cadence with my victim’s heartbeat. The voice was gone, thrust back into my head somewhere. My feet were moving without my permission. I backed away until a tree branch jabbed me. Only then did I take in the scene fully.

Her body was a few feet away. Her skin was pale, her warmth fading into the damp forest floor. Her bright hair dulled as she lay on the ground.

Instinct told me to run, but my feet were glued to that spot. She was dying. I couldn’t leave her there.

Fear and guilt swallowed me whole. My stomach rumbled in pain. Nausea traveled up my throat, and I retched out loud, covering my mouth. Even as a vampire, my body reacted to stress.

I dry heaved until I willed my wobbly legs to move. I wouldn’t let her die. She had to live. After rushing to her side, I leaned down to search her bright fleece-lined rain jacket. Carefully, I rummaged in her jacket pockets, praying to myself.

I grabbed her cellphone with shaking hands and pulled it in front of my face. Squinting from the light, I fumbled past the lock screen. The call wouldn’t connect. I jumped up, holding the phone in the air until it rang.

Softly, I laid it back in her hand, making sure the connection remained. It was the best chance I could give her. I wanted to stay with her and hold her hand and see life return to her face until help came, but footsteps echoed from behind me.

I left my heart on the ground and disappeared into the forest. My mind still raced, looking for a better solution. I slipped between the trees, hiding just outside of the fire’s glow.

An unrecognizable male voice rebounded through the thick tree trunks. “Honey, she’s fine. She said she does this thing all the time.”

A glimmer of hope sparked a tingling in my hands that traveled to my throat. I thrust a hand over my mouth to stifle the desperate pleas hanging onto my lips.

A woman whispered, “I have a bad feeling. She’s out here all alone. I just want to check on her.”

A bickering husband and wife, no doubt. I walked closer to them, staying just out of sight.

The man spoke again. “Louise, we can’t just have a fun camping trip, can we? You always have to be worrying about something.”

“Shut it, Ron.”

They were close, heading toward where I had left the girl. The smell of her blood caught in the breeze, swirling around us, the light of the girl’s fire still burning.

It was the best gift of fate I’d ever been given. In just a few steps, they’d find her.

Another set of footsteps tore through the forest floor in the distance.

Two more people came running, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. That’s when I knew exactly whose footsteps they were.

I ran as fast as I could toward the melody, and a strong set of hands cut off my momentum. They would have sent me flying if not for the firm grip on the back of my shirt, pulling me onto my heels.

My two older brothers stared back at me. Their protective shadow engulfed me, making me feel small. They were still in their sweats and baggy shirts. They must have gone after me right after I had left the house.

“W-What are you doing here?”

“We couldn’t let it go. We followed you,” Luke said as he towered over me, much like he would when we were kids. His eyes searched me up and down with worry.

“Yeah, fuck this ‘on your own’ shit,” Zach said.

His shoulders fell away from his ears, and he stuffed his hands into his pockets, waiting for me to speak.

Luke said, “Are you okay?”

I was surprised he couldn’t smell the blood, but I couldn’t either. I had run farther than I thought.

“I think so. I’m all right.” I lowered my gaze.

“Did you do it?” Zach’s eyes darted to Luke. “You know, drink blood?”

Two months into being a vampire, and that sentence still sounded wrong in my ears.

“Yeah, I did . . . and it was fine. It’s all fine.”

I couldn’t tell them about the girl. What would they think if I told them I had called 911? Would they be mad? We had to keep a low profile, and that was the exact opposite of a low profile. Soon, rescue crews would scour the grounds—hell, maybe even news crews.

“Can we go?” I blurted. “Please?”

They exchanged another twin telepathy moment, and I sighed.

I turned to Luke, knowing his vote was the only one I needed.

“Please. I-I just wanna go home.”

Luke’s eyes bore into mine. “Yeah, all right. Let’s go.”

With one final turn, I gazed through the trees to where the campfire’s flickering light was, praying her light wouldn’t fade.