Tiny Bites

by Stacy Claflin

  She walked over to the window to get her dance bag and her purse, but stopped when she saw who sat outside.

  On a bench rested the same guy who had bumped into her earlier in the hall. He was reading a tablet, but his face scrunched up like he didn't enjoy it. It was time to leave so she could punch her time card, but she wanted to keep watching him. There was something dark and mysterious about him.

  Jasmine had hardly been able to look away from him after they had bumped into each other. He was gorgeous, despite being all sweaty. Maybe the sweat made him even more attractive, but either way, he was far better looking than anyone she'd seen in a long time. Even just sitting on the bench, unhappy, he was handsome.

  Part of her wanted to go out there and strike up a conversation, but she had to get going. She was supposed to meet her roommate for dinner before hitting the nightly concert on the beach.

  If she chose to chat up the hot guy, though, Kate would surely understand.

  "Still here?" came a voice from behind.

  Jasmine turned around, cheeks heating up. "I, uh, yeah. Just grabbing my stuff."

  The Making of a Royal Vampire

  Ziamara opened her eyes slowly, looked at her grandma, blinked a few times and then closed her eyes again. My heart ached. She was nearly gone.

  I gave Heidi a small smile. "She'll be fine, but I should get started."

  Heidi nodded, tears filling her eyes, and she left the room, closing the door behind her. I pulled a chair next to the bed and sat, watching the teen. Each breath she took was labored.

  "Ziamara," I whispered.

  She cracked her eyes open.

  "Did your grandma explain to you what I can do to help you?" I asked.

  Ziamara nodded slightly, but didn't say anything.

  "Are you able to drink on your own?"

  She gave another weak nod. "I've been at the hospital taking all kinds of stuff." Her voice was dry and cracking.

  "Why don't you close your eyes, and I'll let you know when I'm ready?" I asked.

  She closed her eyes, and for a moment, I was afraid it was too late. But she finally breathed, and I heard her heartbeat again. It sounded as though it was about to give out any moment.

  I brought my wrist to my mouth and bit into my flesh, not allowing my fangs to extend. If they did, I would run the risk of getting venom on my wound. Since I was going to change her with my blood, I couldn't allow any of my venom near her. That was part of what made a blood transformation so difficult.

  I cringed because the wound hurt without the venom, which held pain-reducing properties.

  Placing my other hand over her eyes, I whispered, "I need you to drink this. Can you do that?"

  Ziamara mumbled an almost-inaudible yes. I pressed my bloody wrist to her mouth and she began to drink. It was so slow that at first, I wasn't sure she was even getting any blood. I expected her to gag, but she didn't. I noticed her mouth moving, and I could feel a little bit of a pull as she drank a tiny amount.

  "Keep it up," I urged.

  As she continued, the pull grew stronger, bit by bit. I could even feel a little bit of my power draining from me. After only a couple of minutes, I could see the yellow begin to dissipate from her skin. My blood would make her stronger and heal her wounds, but unfortunately, my blood wasn't a cure for any diseases.

  Finally, Ziamara stopped. "Is that enough?" She sounded stronger than she had only minutes before. I still had my hand over her eyes, and she didn't fight it.

  "Yes. You had plenty," I said. I removed my hand from her eyes, which she kept closed. "We'll let it cycle through your system for a few minutes, so just relax."

  "Okay," she whispered, her eyes still closed.

  I licked my wrist, watching the wound heal instantaneously from my saliva. I turned back to Ziamara, watching as her skin turned to a natural tone.

  Conversation sounded downstairs. Heidi was worried and thought I was taking too long. Cliff reassured her that I was taking my time to make sure that it was done right.

  Glancing back to Ziamara, I noticed she was squirming a little.

  "What you drank is helping your body to heal from some of the effects of the disease, it—"

  "You mean the blood that I drank," she said, still keeping her eyes closed.

  I smiled. "Yes, my blood. This next part might hurt a little. I'll need you to be as still as you can."

  Ziamara opened her eyes. "I've been pumped with painkillers. I can barely feel a thing. It'll be hours before all that's gone from my system."

  "By then, you won't need it," I assured her. "But I'll be as gentle as possible, just please remember to remain still. It will only take a minute."

  "Trust me," she said with a weak laugh. "It won't be a problem."

  I held her hand and brought it to my face. I sighed, bracing myself for what I was about to do. Again, I was going to have to bite down without letting my fangs extend. I was going to have to drink her blood without allowing even a drop of my venom to escape.

  It was an excruciatingly difficult and painful process. I should know—I had spent years perfecting the art.

  I bit into her wrist, fighting my fangs.

  Ziamara jumped, but her eyelids didn't even flutter. Tears sprang to my own eyes as I fought my natural instincts. I wanted to scream out in pain, but I knew the importance of what I was doing. I drank, despite the searing pain not only in my mouth, but coursing its way through every inch of me.

  Would this ever get any easier?

  Once I'd had enough, I stopped and leaned back into the chair, recovering as the pain ever so slowly released its grip from my body. As her blood, untainted by my venom, ran through me, I let myself relax. My fangs stopped trying to force their way out.

  After a few minutes, I sat back up. I then remembered that I needed to seal her wound. I'd been hurting so badly I'd completely forgotten about that. I held her wrist again and licked the wound, watching it heal.

  I exhaled, appreciating every tiny bit of relief as it came. If Ziamara hadn't been Natalie's relative, I would have certainly turned her with my venom. Using venom was not only easy, but it didn't even hurt.

  "I'm going to need you to drink again," I said once I felt relief enough to speak.

  "If it has this much healing power, I'll drink as much as you want me to," Ziamara said.

  My eyes lit up at how much more energetic she sounded. My blood was already beginning to heal. I hadn't thought that would happen until she became a vampire. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

  Bringing my wrist back to my mouth, I bit again. Keeping my fangs retracted wasn't so difficult when biting into myself. It took effort, but it didn't hurt since I didn't crave my own blood.

  "Are you ready?" I asked, looking at my fresh wound. I could smell her blood mixed with mine, which made my mouth water. My fangs began to extend. I didn't wait for her to answer. I put my wound to her mouth before my fangs could force their way out. That kind of pain was nearly unbearable.

  As Ziamara drank, the aroma of her blood left the air and my fangs stopped fighting me. I was able to relax again as she filled herself on my blood mixed with hers. I pulled my wrist away after a couple of minutes, and licked the wound. My mouth watered again at the scent of her blood.

  She opened her eyes. "I feel amazing. I mean, not like if I wasn't sick. But, seriously, I haven't felt this good in so long."

  "I'm glad to hear that. It means everything is working. We'll give it a few more minutes before we move to the next phase."

  "What's the next phase?" she asked, her eyes wide.

  I paused to consider my wording. "It's the part to incite the transformation. You'll rest for a while and then wake up with more energy and strength than you ever dreamed of."

  The corners of her mouth twitched. "I can't wait."

  I nodded, not daring to tell her that the next phase was where I had to kill her. Her death would trigger her transformation, and about six hours later, she would wake up as the newest roya
l vampire—craving human blood.

  We sat in silence for about fifteen minutes, waiting for the blood to make its way through her. Finally, I asked, "Are you ready?"

  "Let's do it." She clutched her bed covers, her mouth forming a grin.

  I rose. "Can you sit up on your own?"

  "Let's find out," Ziamara said. She struggled, but was able to sit. "I can't remember the last time I did that!"

  I smiled at her. "Just wait until you see what you can do in a few hours."

  Her eyes widened.

  Stepping closer to the bed, I said, "This might… pinch… a little."

  "No problem."

  I wrapped my arms around her. I took a deep breath, and then with one quick motion, I snapped her neck.

  Meet Alrekur Vidarsson, born in Iceland just three thousand years ago. He was dead for a thousand years and was recently revived. He's here to answer some questions about that. Even more recently, he's battled dragons, nokken, and even werewolves.

  Let's jump in and hear the story from him.

  What was life like 3,000 years ago in Iceland?

  The world was a vastly different place in those days. Magical creatures lived everywhere, but it was far more difficult for us because humans of that time believed in us. Now it's all about science and what can be proven—everything magic isn't.

  We weren't able to walk around as freely as today. Your predecessors were experts at spotting a supernatural creature. They wanted to kill the ones that scared them—and use the ones they could manipulate. The Nagas, for example, were able to control the weather, so they were hunted constantly.

  In fact, if it wasn't for one of the Nagas being brought to Iceland, we vampires never would have been born—that's right. I said born. Anyway, it set off a chain of events which brought together the Asrai and Atcen, who were water faeries and man-eating ogres. They were our parents.

  That sounds incredible. Can you tell us more?

  Certainly, but I'll keep it brief as it's a long and complicated story.

  Our parents' species were brought together to help in a human war that was brewing. No one ever expected them to fall in love. Beautiful, delicate water faeries and ugly, flesh-eating ogres. But that's what happened, and vampires were born.

  When the first group of vampires were born—called the Fyrasturae—many looked at us an abomination of nature. That was because we were unknown, and we took on many traits of both species.

  The water faeries couldn't go into the sun, lest they melt into a puddle. Their skin was cool to the touch—humans claimed that if one touched them, that spot of skin would remain forever cold. The ogres would go out at night and feed.

  You can see how those traits affected us.

  That's amazing. Reality is nothing like today's vampire folklore, is it?

  No, it really isn't.

  Garlic. Who came up with that nonsense? Needing to ask permission before entering a residence. Preposterous! We can walk through walls. Mirrors. Sure, we look great, but not without mirrors.

  I was really surprised to learn about all of the human myths conjured up during my thousand year death.

  I can imagine. What do you miss most about the world you once knew? Least?

  Aside from my parents, what I miss the most is the enchanted forests of Iceland. The world used to be covered in them, and the ones in our homeland were especially magical. Once wars took over the world, the enchanted forests disappeared fast. We were only able to save one. It's in the Pacific Northwest where our Fyrsturae castle resides.

  What do I miss the least? Being chased with stakes by humans who knew which kind of wood can kill us. No, I won't reveal that here…

  Were you cognizant while you were "dead" for 1,000 years, and if so, what did you think about/what senses did you experience? If not, how disorienting was it waking up and how hard was it to adjust to modern life?

  I was aware of nothing. I call it my thousand year nap, but the truth of the matter is that I went from one waking moment to the next. One moment, I was battling that insolent Heinrick (I still haven't figured out how he killed me) and the next moment, I was staring into the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.

  It was jarring to say the least, but I couldn't have asked for anything better. Once I realized she was the one I had been looking for, everything changed.

  That so sweet. What do you think has changed most since you've been back? What's it like for you now compared to then?

  The world is a completely different place than it was a thousand years ago. I suppose that goes without saying. I didn't know what vehicles were, and I attacked the first few I saw, much to the entertainment of those who woke me.

  The new clothing styles are so immodest compared to what I was used to. I couldn't figure out why ladies of the night were walking around in broad daylight. Of course, I found out that they were just regular people wearing modern clothes.

  I've had time to adjust, so I'm fully used to this crazy, new world. Now I can't stand to leave home without my smart phone.

  How did you handle the sudden changes when you awoke? How did you react to the loss of your friends and family?

  My parents had already died before I did. Almost as soon as I was brought back to life, I was informed the other original vampires (the Fyrsturae) were dead, but it was my job to help bring them all back to life.

  Finding them was the tricky part, but they are my core family, so between them still being in my life and having been woken by my beautiful Sonnast, I've been able to deal with the changes this "new" life has brought.

  What's it like trying to reconcile who you remember being to who you've become through lore—how different are you, really, from what the stories say about you?

  I can't complain about what vampires have whispered about me over the time I was dead. I was rumored to have been the most handsome and strongest vampire ever to live. At least they had their facts straight!

  Truth be told, though I'm still feared by all vampires, I do have a softer, gentler side. Not that most are allowed to see it.

  What are the pros and cons (if any) to a life of this length?

  The pros are far too many to list. The most amazing thing is knowing that I'll be with my beloved for all time.

  The only con is living with the loss of loved ones. Forever is a long time to miss someone.

  Character Interview:

  Alexis (Deception)

  Hi, Alexis. Thank you for joining us today.

  Thanks for inviting me. I always appreciate the chance to get away from my life for a while.

  Your life gets to be a bit much for you?

  It sure does. I can't wait to get away from my family and this small town. It's suffocating.

  What bothers you the most about your family?

  My parents blatantly favor my little sister. They throw it in my face all the time, and even though I'm a calm and rational person, I have a growing anger inside of me. I find myself getting closer and closer to losing my self-control.

  Do you know why your parents favor your sister over you?

  Natalie is my mom's mini-me. She's beautiful, popular, and one of the stars of our school volleyball team. My friends and I have a hard time understanding it. I'm the one who gets straight A's in my honors-only classes, and I win all kinds of academic awards. I even went to the White House after winning a national science contest, and I'm the first junior to be president of the honors club in our school.

  She hits a ball and is the family hero. They don't care about any of my academic achievements, they just tell me I should be more like her.

  You sound like every parent's dream. Do you think there are deeper reasons for the favoritism?

  I have reasons to believe that I was adopted, but my parents deny it with a passion. There are undeniable facts, and they still refuse to admit anything.

  There are no pictures of me before I was three, and they have the lamest excuse for that. A flood. They have all of Natalie's pictures, and I wasn
't in any of those before I turned three, either. Have you ever heard of parents not taking any pictures of their children together? Something is definitely up.

  It sounds like it! I hear that strange things are happening to you and around you. Is that true?

  Is it ever! I've been trying to ignore the fact that I seem to be the cause of most of them. The last thing that I need is more drama in my life. I just want to focus on keeping my grades up so that I can get into an Ivy League college. Maybe if I ignore all of the strange things going on, they'll go away.

  Do you really believe that?

  I suppose not, but one can hope. If I keep myself busy, then at least I don't have to think about it.

  Do you have any love interests?

  No, no, and no. It drives my friends crazy that I am so disinterested in boys, but I see no reason to get all worked up over them. They would only distract me from my schoolwork.

  One friend has actually set me up on a blind date with her cousin for the upcoming Homecoming dance. She has this crazy idea that we're going to hit it off. She says that he's gorgeous, and she can dress me up so much that all the girls will be jealous of me. I'll believe that when I see it.