by Rachel Lenna
distraction to get out from underneath me, knocking me over and then he is gone. I move out of the way of the tree and watch it crumble the earth beneath it.
“I will get you Zeke!” I call out to him but wanting to get back to Savannah more I run back to where Sam and Tyson are standing, Tyson gently holding a still Savannah in his arms. “Your days are numbered!” I call and my voice echoes off the mountains and into the night. My emotions getting the better of me. Neither Tyson nor Sam try to correct me this time.
“Is she dead?” I ask not willing to disturb her in case there’s hope.
“No.” Tyson answers just as I hear a faint beat of her heart. It sounds funny. I instinctively bite her. Bite her in the way a vampire turns a human not a vampire drinking blood. It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do but she's my Eternal mate.
“Dom stop.” Sam lays a hand on my arm. “Listen.”
“Listen?” I hiss at him. How could I possibly listen? The girl of my dreams is about to die two days after I meet her because I can’t kick a sick and twisted…
“…To her heart Dominic.” Sam says patiently, cutting me out of my thoughts.
I freeze, hope running through me. Her heart doesn’t have the regular rhythm a normal healthy human heart has. Instead it is more a thump thump pause… thump thump thump pause gurgle. I gasp and look at Tyson and Sam who are nodding. Human hearts only sound like that when…
“So that means?”
“She’s gonna turn bro.” Sam says gently laying a hand on her heart. He nods. “She’s gonna be a quick turner too, the process is already half complete.”
“Savannah I’m so sorry.” I say taking her out of Tyson’s arms. “I’m so sorry. You’re meant to have a choice. You’re not meant to become like me unless you want to. I’m sorry.”
“It’s too late for sorry.” Sam says gently. “We need to get her away from the humans. She's gonna start screaming soon.”
“Where?” I ask, thinking. “Where can we take her?”
“The cabin on Mount Cookie.” Tyson says looking up. “It’s too dark for humans to be out and about up there now.”
Savannah stirs briefly in my arms. It’s more a groan than anything else.
“Now Dominic.” Tyson orders with a shove. “We need to move now.”
I scoop her up into my arms tight and gently kiss her still warm forehead. I hope she won’t hate me forever because for us that’s a very long time. “Please don’t hate me. You’re meant to have a choice.” I whisper, willing her to hear me. “I’m sorry but I can’t lose you. I only just found you.”
Savannah
“It’s burning!” I yell. “Oh my god my body is on fire! I'm dying! It’s burning! Make it stop!” A pulsing, raging sting is spreading from my neck to my heart and down my arms. “What the hell is happening to me?” I can hear my blood rushing through my ears. My arms feel like they are about to explode.
“Savannah its Dominic.” A deep voice comes from somewhere. “Something happened to you and we are going to help.”
“What are you talking about?” I hiss, trying to grab at my head – my arms won’t cooperate. “Why can’t I see anything? Why can’t I move my arms? My body is on fire!” I scream again as a fresh wave of stinging and burning erupts.
“You were bitten by a vampire Savannah.” Dominic says again and I get angry that he's not answering my questions, instead he’s making random stuff up.
“Vampires aren’t real. This is a dream.” I hiss. “Why can’t I see?”
“Savannah it will be all over soon I promise!”
“Why aren’t you answering my questions you baboon?” I scream at him. “Oh my god make the burning stop. What the hell is going on?” I let out an ear piercing scream.
“You’re turning into a vampire sweetheart.” The voice repeats, soothingly. I want to smack it with a shoe.
“I’m what?” I scream again as I feel the fire spreading to my stomach now.
“I know you can hear me Savannah.” The voice says again. “Just try to stay calm, it will go away soon.”
I let out a long shrill scream as the burn reaches my knees. “Make it stop!” I screech loudly throwing myself around. “Make it stop!”
“Why can’t I see?” I demand trying to peel my eyes open. “Why aren’t you people responding to me?!”
“The venom is taking over your body.”
“You are all crazy.” I say as I actually feel my body parts start to move. “Oh my god I can move!” I start waving limbs around trying anything to ease the pain.
I hit something solid and pound my feet against it. My eyes still won’t open.
“Sav you need to stop thrashing your breaking the house.”
“Dominic you need to stop talking before I punch your face in.” I scream again waving my arms around like a pair of scissors. My body is burning. I feel like I am in a volcano that’s about to erupt.
“Sav not long now I promise. The pain will stop.”
I scream in response as I thrash wildly around. I feel myself bumping into things and I concentrate on smashing them to smithereens. “Why won’t he answer me?”
“She’s scary dude.” Sam says. “Remind me not to mess with her anytime soon.”
“What you reckon she's gonna get?” Tyson asks.
Get? Get what? What the hell is he on about? These people are crazies!
I start shrieking like a banshee and then all of a sudden the pain stops. My body becomes stiff and rigid before I become completely still, lying quietly on the floor. I cannot hear or see anything. A warm fuzzy feeling takes over my body in a sudden rush and I can hear my heart beating in my ears and my blood whooshing fast. It is getting louder and louder.
“She's almost there.” Someone says and it sounds very far away. “T you got that thing I told you to get?”
“Yeah it’s almost thawed.”
“Put it in that cup.”
I try to move. I try to open my eyes, lift my hand, something, but nothing is working. My heart beat is slowing down and the whooshing in my ears is speeding up to a very loud humming sound. I try to talk but nothing happens.
“Savannah you are in the twilight.” Someone somewhere whispers to me. “It’s the last stage of your initial transformation. It’s where the venom takes completely over and your heart stops beating.”
A red haze appears behind my eyelids before my body becomes really stiff again for a moment. Then it relaxes. The beating of my heart stops as the whooshing goes deafening loud before fading away to nothing.
Dominic
The three of us stand there, waiting, watching. She is so still it is scary.
Her eyes are closed but I know she's alive. I can see the change happening. All her beautiful features are being enhanced even more than they were in her human state. Her jet black hair, which was covered in her own blood is now full and thick and so long it touches the top off her butt. It has gentle waves that cascade down framing her face. Her skin has become slightly paler, as all vampires do, but completely flawless. There is no longer a single mark left on her.
“Get ready.” Tyson says as he, Sam and I all continue to wait. They are just as in this as I am. They already liked her after hanging out with her for a year and now that she's one of us she will mean even more to them. “I hear her heart slowing down.”
“She's almost there.” Sam agrees. “T you got that thing I told you to get?”
“Yeah it’s almost thawed.”
“Put it in that cup.”
“Savannah you are in the twilight.” Tyson whispers in her ear. “It’s the last stage of your initial transformation. It’s where the venom takes completely over and your heart stops beating.” The only response we get is her eyelids move briefly.
We all share a look, hoping that everything will be okay. Then we wait. And wait. And wait.
Savannah’s eyes open suddenly and I see the bright red blood lust in place of her beautiful blue. I’m a little disappointed that the col
our is gone even though I know once the blood lust goes her own colour will be back brighter and more beautiful than ever.
Savannah blinks rapidly, the rest of her is still. Then she sucks in a deep breath. “What the hell happened to me?” She whispers softly, looking all around the room, blinking rapidly again.
“Um…” We all look at each other, each of us has come up blank. How do you tell someone that they have just turned into a vampire against their will? When they didn’t even know vampires existed?
“Savannah you kind of had…” Sam starts but then stops. He too as blank as I am. We both look to Tyson, who rolls his eyes.
“What?” She says a little less hoarsely. “What did I have?”
“You had an accident Savannah.” Tyson tells her gently.
“An accident?” She repeats, moving her arms slightly, as if testing to make sure they work. “What kind of accident?” She tries to sit up.
“Do you remember anything?” Sam asks instead of answering, helping her up as she attempts to sit upright.
She shakes her head. “I remember getting ready to go to the welcome back dance. I was wearing…” She looks down at herself and gasps, her dress is covered in smears of blood and dirt. “What the hell?”
“Savannah don’t panic, you have to remain calm.” I say laying a hand on her.
She shoots me a death stare and I back off. “My legs.” She lifts them up as if she cannot believe her eyes “They look different. I don’t see any injuries but they don’t look… right?” She looks at her hands. “My hands…” Her gaze flies to me, panic building behind the red. “Seriously what the
