Thea (Book 2): A Vampire Story

by Steven Jenkins

  10

  The effects of Darren’s blood has faded fast and now I’m hungry again.

  The TV is doing nothing to distract me; I can’t seem to focus on the screen.

  Don’t let it beat you. You don’t need to kill.

  I get off the couch and walk around the living room. It’s such a dump. The ceiling looks days away from caving in, and the floors have more cracks than Gran’s face.

  A smile forms on my lips when I remember how great her Sunday lunches are. For some reason, I see Gran’s face far more clearly than even Mum’s. Her eyes are like Ivy’s and mine: blue, and her hair is grey, tied back in a ponytail. I see Grandad, too. He’s lying on the couch. He’s dying. I think it’s cancer.

  A sharp pain shoots up my back.

  I walk into the tiny kitchen.

  Mine was much bigger. It had a table, a working tap, and a fridge. I imagine opening a cupboard and taking out a packet of crisps. Salt and vinegar. The image makes my mouth water. Kate says that ordinary food could kill me, but I’m not sure if I believe her. One little snack wouldn’t hurt, would it?

  I don’t even know why I’m even thinking about it—there’s bugger all here, anyway. I’m miles from civilisation, and the only thing I really fancy is—

  Don’t say it! Don’t even think it! You can beat this!

  I make my way upstairs to try and find something else to distract me. On the landing is an old wooden dresser. It has spaces for four drawers, two of which are missing. I open the last remaining one and find a newspaper, dating back eight years, and an empty matchbox. I push it shut and walk into the second bedroom. Darren’s rope is resting on the floor by the radiator. I think about him buried outside, rotting away, being dug up by some farmer in a few years’ time. This cold, twisted scene of horror sends a wave of guilt through me. At the other side of the room, there’s a dark stain on the floor. His sister’s blood. Even though I had no control when I bit into her neck, I still feel the guilt, nipping away at my stomach, tightening my chest. That first night here felt like a dream. It still does.

  Bloody hell, I can’t even recall what Kate did with her body. I was too screwed up even to care. Perhaps she buried her next to Darren. In some messed up way that’s kind of sweet.

  No, it isn’t! It’s sick! It’s disturbing!

  The bloodstain is massive. I wonder if I could still taste it if I lick it. I walk over to it, drop to my knees, and then press my face against the wood. Tongue hanging out, I start to drag it across the floor. It’s dry, flavourless, so I push harder, wetting it, trying desperately to loosen it, to taste just a—

  Shit! What the hell am I doing?

  I lift my head and quickly get to my feet, spitting onto the floor. Oh my God! I can’t believe I was about to lick blood off the floor. I’m losing it.

  I shake off the disgust and exit the room. Need to get out of this house, get some fresh air. Walking down the stairs, a massive growl of hunger bites at my side. Almost losing my footing, I grab the banister and stop myself from falling. Heart juddering, I head for the front door and then step outside slowly. The anxiety washes over me when I focus on the endless forest ahead.

  They’re just trees, Thea. Don’t be such a drama queen.

  The fresh air fills my lungs. It feels nice against my skin, blocking the fear and pain a little.

  I glance up at the sky; it’s a dark, purple colour. The sun will be up soon. Where the hell is Kate?

  Fuck her! The bitch can stay gone as far as I’m concerned.

  Just behind the apple tree, there’s a mound of dirt. I stroll up to it. What’s that? But the moment I reach it, I realise that Darren is buried beneath it. To the left of the barn, I notice another mound. The dirt seems a little flatter, more settled. His sister’s grave, no doubt.

  I picture their lives together, living out on the streets, side by side, taking each day, each moment at a time. It’s so tragic for a brother and sister to live in such a way. But at least they had each other, no matter how awful their upbringing must have been. The image makes me think of Ivy again. Did I have that closeness before she killed herself?

  Shit! I wish I could remember!

  Another shooting pain cripples me, forcing me to my knees.

  I smell something.

  It’s faint though.

  Blood.

  An animal maybe? A mouse?

  I sniff the air, trying to chase the scent like a police dog.

  It’s close. Really close.

  On my knees, I follow it.

  It’s coming from Darren’s grave.

  I need it.

  Stabbing the dirt with my fingernails, I start to burrow down, cutting through the ground with little effort.

  The smell is getting stronger.

  I throw handfuls of earth behind me as the grave begins to disappear. It’s not deep. I feel something. Cloth.

  Keep digging—you’re almost there.

  The smell is overpowering, masking the stench of a rotting body.

  I touch his skin; it feels soft. Grasping his arm, I pull as hard as I can until his dead face emerges from the ground.

  I see his throat.

  There’s no time to brush off the dirt—the hunger’s too much.

  Mouth wide open, eyes closed, I lock my jaws around his neck, and bite. Sucking as hard as I can, I feel his thick, deceased blood dribble down my throat, into my stomach.

  The farmhouse begins to fade.

  The world around me is just a dream.

  My thoughts just swirls of gibberish.

  I’m lost again, floating around in space and time, waiting for someone to wake me up.

  The flow of blood suddenly stops. I’m pulled away, dragged across the ground by something. I twist, kick and punch out in anger, my fingers gripping Darren’s arm, hauling his body out of the grave. I’m not finished yet! I’m still hungry!

  “Stop, Thea!” a voice shouts. “Let go of him!”

  No!

  The farmhouse comes into view. So does the field that surrounds it. And the cool night air. There’s a red tint painted over everything as my blood starts to boil.

  “He’s been dead for too long, Thea,” Kate says. “You can’t drink his blood. Not anymore.”

  My fingers slowly slip from Darren’s arm as I stare at his lifeless, dirt-covered face. His body flops onto its side, his eyes half-open, blacked out from the soil.

  “Get the fuck off me!” I shriek, wriggling free of Kate’s grasp.

  “Calm down,” she says, trying to secure my arms. “This is not who you are.”

  “Fuck you!” I scream, driving my fist into her face.

  Her nose gushing with blood, Kate pounces on me, pinning me to the ground by my wrists, her hips pressing down on my chest. “Stop this!”

  Staring up at Kate, struggling to escape her clutches, I notice the sun leaking through a darkened cloud. I scream out in agony as it scorches my face and hands.

  “We need to get inside the house!” Kate orders; her skin smoking; blistering.

  “Fuck you!” I repeat, squirming hysterically like a trapped animal.

  “Stop fighting me!” Kate yells. “You’ll burn to death.”

  I buck my hips violently, throwing her body to the ground beside me. Twisting, nails cutting into the dirt, I start to crawl towards Darren’s body.

  I’m not done yet!

  Just inches from his throat, Kate secures my ankles and hauls me backwards towards the house.

  I scream as I reach out blindly, trying to find something to anchor to, but there’s nothing, just grass and more dirt.

  I close my eyes when the flames engulf my body.

  Let the fire take me far away.

  I have no more fight in me. No more red mist. No more hunger.

  Just darkness…

  PART III

  RED-GOLD

  11

  The moment I open my eyes, my stomach burns with hunger.

  I’m on the couch with a blanket over
me, and I have a stinking headache. Is this what a hangover feels like? Another thing I’ll never get to experience. I check my watch: 10:35 a.m. It’s still daytime. Don’t even remember going to sleep.

  My skin feels itchy and dry. I examine the back of my hands as I scratch each forearm. They’re pink, like I’ve scalded them on a hot stove.

  What the hell happened last night?

  And then like a firework going off in my face, I remember everything. The sunlight burning me. Kate dragging me inside the house.

  Feeding on Darren’s dead body.

  Jesus!

  The image of his corpse hanging out of the grave drives a cold shiver all over my body. I gag a little, remembering the taste—that vile mix of thick blood and dirt.

  “Morning, Thea,” Kate says from above me. How long has she been standing there?

  I sit up, turning to her. “Morning,” I reply; my voice hoarse, my throat sore.

  “How are you feeling?”

  I shrug my shoulders, struggling to find any words to describe last night’s events.

  “You lost control out there,” she says, sitting on the arm of the couch. “You nearly punched my face off.”

  “I didn’t mean to,” I reply, eyes welling up a little.

  “I know you didn’t. You were hungry. And hungry vampires are dangerous.”

  My chin starts to quiver, but I manage to hold back the waterworks.

  “I’m sorry for pushing you so hard,” Kate says, softly. “I thought I was helping—but I wasn’t.”

  “It’s okay,” I reply with tight lips.

  “You’re too young to understand everything. And it’s not fair on you. Tough love isn’t for everyone. I need to remember that.”

  In defeat, a flood of tears escapes. Kate sits next to me and pulls me in for a hug. She’s the last person I thought I’d be hugging, but here I am, sobbing into her chest like a baby.

  “It’s going to be all right, Thea,” she says, stroking the back of my head. “I promise.”

  I move my head away from her, sniffing loudly. “It’s not going to be all right. I’ll never get to see Jared and Mum again.” I wipe my eyes with my sleeve. “I’d end up murdering them.”

  Kate shakes her head. “I didn’t bring anyone home last night.”

  My eyes quickly scan the room, only now remembering why she left me alone last night. “Why not?”

  “Because of you, Thea.”

  I stare at her with distrustful eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “I was sitting in the car, waiting for some drunk idiot to stumble out of the pub—but then I heard you. I felt your pain. Stronger than ever.” She smiles thinly. “So I came home instead.”

  “What about tomorrow night? And the night after that? I’ll still be stuck in this house, miles from home—and still hungry. Nothing would have changed—and it never will.”

  Kate takes my hand softly. “We can use animal blood.”

  “No,” I reply with a hard grimace, shaking my head. “I’ve tried it. It doesn’t work.”

  “It didn’t work because your system is used to human blood. It’s like a drug; once you’re hooked, you’re body won’t accept anything else.”

  “So it’s useless then.”

  “Maybe not,” she says with pursed lips. “You just need to retrain your system. Tonight, I’m going to drive to the nearest hospital and steal some blood from the blood bank.”

  A strange feeling of excitement begins to rush over me. “Let’s do that then.”

  “Yeah, but we can’t live off hospital blood. We take too many, and someone is bound to get suspicious.”

  “Who cares? It’s not hurting anyone.”

  “It’s not as easy as that,” she replies. “Vampires have been stealing blood for decades. The hospitals have them locked up like they’re gold bars.”

  I sit up on the couch, my optimistic eyes locked onto Kate’s. “We can do it. I know we can.”

  “That’s what the animal blood is for. If we mix a little together and get your body to adapt, then eventually you might be able to give up human blood altogether. But that’s a big maybe, though. There are no guarantees. It’s going to be hard. You’ll get sick. Very sick.”

  “I don’t care,” I reply, feeling a lifetime of weight fall from my shoulders. “And it’s not like I have any other options.”

  Kate nods and then gets up off the couch. “Okay, but now you need your sleep. We both do.” She gestures with her head for me to get up. “But not down here. It’s safer upstairs. God knows who could come bursting through that front door.”

  “Okay,” I reply, following her towards the stairs, the hope of seeing my family again, rushing over me, drowning out the gloom of this shithole. “Thanks, Kate.”

  At the landing, she turns to me with a look of apprehension. “Don’t thank me just yet. You’ve got a tough road ahead.”

  “I know. But I’m ready for it.”

  I follow her into the bedroom, lie down on my inflatable mattress, and then pull the quilt over me.

  This will all be over soon. I can feel it in my blood.

  It’s coming.

  I’ll see you soon, Jared…

  12

  “You’re not coming, Thea,” Kate orders me as she opens the front door to leave. “And that’s that.”

  “Please. I can’t take another second cooped up in this place. I need to get out.”

  “It’s too dangerous. What if someone sees you?”

  “They won’t. I’ll keep my head down.”

  She shakes her head. “No, Thea. It’s too risky.

  “I don’t care!” I snap. “I know what will happen if they find me, but I need to get out. Put a bag over my head or draw a bloody moustache on my face, anything—I don’t care.”

  A tiny grin forms across Kate’s stern face. “You’re a lunatic. You know that?”

  “No, I’m a vampire—and vampires need to step outside once in a while.”

  Kate goes silent. Is she mulling it over?

  Shit, she can hear my thoughts.

  Brick wall! Brick wall! Brick wall…

  Kate chuckles. “Your brick wall is made of putty.”

  That’s so annoying.

  “Please, Kate. Just as a test. If I screw up then I’ll never ask again.”

  “If you screw up then you’ll end up dead.”

  I give her my best impersonation of a pitiful kitten and then mouth a silent please.

  Kate lets out a long sigh. “Okay. But you stay in the car, and you don’t move or talk to anyone. Agreed?”

  “Agreed,” I reply, fist-pumping the air.

  Kate has barely said two words since we left the farmhouse. She looks tense. I should feel the same, but I don’t. How can I? I’ve felt like a prisoner in that dump, and now I’m taking a drive. It’s just a shame it’s to steal some blood and not to sunbathe on the beach.

  We pull up outside the supermarket to pick up a mini-fridge to keep the blood fresh, a microwave to warm it, and a few other bits and bobs. We’re parked right at the back of the car park, far away from the shop doors. I suppose I better get used to hiding in the darkness, away from ordinary people.

  “Don’t move a muscle,” Kate warns me as she nervously climbs out of the car. “I mean it.”

  “I won’t,” I reply. “I’m not stupid.”

  “And keep your hood up,” she says, as she shuts the door, and walks towards the supermarket.

  She enters the building through the automatic doors, past the other shoppers, the kids loitering by the cash machines, and the security guard slouching against his station just beyond the glass. It feels strange to think that none of them know that Kate is a vampire. It makes me wonder how many others have walked past me without my knowing.

  I wonder if I’ve been on the news. I must have. Missing thirteen-years-olds always make the front page. It’s such a shame we can’t watch the TV or have the internet. The supermarket will have newspapers though. I sh
ould have asked Kate to get me one.

  There’s a girl standing by the entrance with her mother. She looks about my age, maybe a little younger. She’s wearing a blue hoodie, jeans and white trainers. She looks almost exactly like me, but with red hair instead. I almost want to talk to her, ask what her day was like, what school was like. I shouldn’t really care because something in my gut tells me that I hated school.

  As the minutes pass, I start to get bored. What’s taking her so long?

  I try to turn on the radio, but she’s taken the keys with her. What does she think I’ll do: drive off?

  The entrance doors slide open and Kate emerges from the supermarket, pushing a shopping trolley, which is filled to the brim with two large boxes and a few bloated plastic bags.

  I groan impatiently. “Finally.”

  She loads the boot up with the goods and then climbs into the car.

  “Did anyone come over?” she asks, pushing the key into the ignition.

  I shake my head. “No, only Van Helsing and his wife. They stopped for a quick chat. Asked me how I like my stake.”

  “Smart ass,” Kate says with a chortle, as she starts up the engine.

  A sudden swarm of butterflies fills my stomach as we drive out of the car park, heading for the hospital.

  This is going to work, Thea. We won’t get caught. Have a little faith.

  The hospital looks pretty standard from the outside; huge car park, lots of windows surrounding the massive building, and an Accident and Emergency bay with two ambulances parked in front.

  Kate drives around the back, heading down a narrow, service road.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” I ask her.

  “Of course I do. This is the closest hospital to the farm. I had my tonsils removed here, and a cast put over a broken arm. My mother worked as a nurse here, too.”

  “What if she’s still here?”

  “Not likely,” Kate replies, pulling up to the curb. “She’s been dead for ten years.”

  Nice one, Thea. “I’m sorry.”

  Kate shakes her head. “Don’t be. It’s fine. It’s been a long time.”

  She switches the lights off, but keeps the engine running. “See those double doors over there?” she asks, pointing to a set about thirty-metres away.