Submitted to: Contest #319

Cold Blood Runs Deep

Written in response to: "Center your story around someone who turns into the thing they’ve always hated."

Fiction Sad Thriller

This story contains themes or mentions of suicide or self harm.

Have you ever wanted to crawl out of your own skin? To just rip it to shred with no remorse for the consequences that will ensue afterwards. Like a snake, to be born a new? But this body my soul lives in is:

Repulsive.

Repugnant.

Distasteful.

I stared at my blurry reflection in front of my shattered mirror for what feels like hours. I am looking at my skin; pale, dead even. My hair still damped from my shower but the heavy fog from the extreme heat that came from it was still in the bathroom, which covered my true nature. I go wipe the mist from the mirror, rubbing my hands on the broken glasses—drawing blood from a few pieces in the process—but I couldn’t feel anything.

I felt nothing.

My reflection became clear. I got closer to inspect the hideous features of this face some more. I paid close attention to my eyes. They were beautiful, like pressed fresh soil on the ground for new flowers to bloom. Now they are colorless and filled with death.

I opened my mouth to see teeth standing like daggers. They already cut my gums from overgrowth. I go to poke one, only to draw black blood from my fingertip. Wiping it away on my towel cloth, the wound quickly healed. I winced in disgust, looking back up at my face again.

A vampire, to put it in simple terms.

A hideous monster who can only live in darkness, feed off the life of the living, and consume all in its path. Who would have thought the drunk, senseless hookup after having a shitty breakup I had last night would be such a vile creature… but it’s my fault for being the stupid one to not see this coming? To have my innocence taking away without a second thought, without consent. Is this my punishment for being a rebel against my father, my mother? For not paying attention in church every Sunday at noon? Out of all people, I would be the one go be next to sin. My mother always told me to stay away from vampires. Their gazes alone can lore even the least gullible of people—guess I was one of them.

Walking out of my bathroom in defeat of my circumstances, my grey tabby cat Luna laying at the edge of my bed. She screamed at me for a moment before it turned into a soft eerie meow, letting me know I was in the bathroom for a long time without her. But this time it felt different: she arched her back at me. Her fur spiked in various places of her body and her pupils were thin like needles. She was afraid of me.

I let out a chuckle in disbelief.

“Luna, it’s me girl, it’s momma,” trying to reassure her but mostly to reassure myself. Luna growled at me, backing away further on my bed. Looking at her frightened expression, she couldn’t understand why I look like this. She fears me. I sink to the bottom of my bed in tears at the notion that my cat couldn’t even recognize me anymore. I’ve raised her ever since she was a kitten and now we are strangers. She was the only living creature on this planet that truly loved me… and now she hates me.

I hate myself.

I heard her soft paws run across my bed to the floor as she makes her way out of my bedroom. My heart would have been pounding in my chest by now, beating rapidly as my anxiety sets in, but I felt nothing, not a single heartbeat, rang in my ears. I didn’t know how to feel anymore; I am a fucking vampire! Can vampires even feel emotion? Can they even comprehend what it means to be human? Hell, can I even comprehend what I am now?

The moonlight shined through my curtains, casting a brim hue into my darkened room. Touching my skin…it felt nice. Surprisingly, it was cold, yet inviting. I got up to walk over to my curtains to push them away to fully invite the full moon into my room. The moonlight engulfed my naked body—never would I imagine that this feeling would give me such pleasure. The shine, the light, felt like the sun when it would bath my body on the beach on a hot summer day but still cold. Inhale, exhale. I tried to collect my thoughts for a moment. Maybe I can live with this:

Are you serious?

“I can live with this.”

If you think for a second, you can live in this filth of a body, you are wrong!

“I just want to live!” I spat out in protest against my mind. Looking around in my room, expecting someone to be where, whispering those words to me but I was accompanied by silence instead. A chuckle came out of my chest as I thought; I am losing my mind. Walking back to my bed, I put on my nightgown and tied it right against my waist. I am starving…. I am starving.

Slowly, the realization creeping in that I need to eat. I don’t want to feed on others; I don’t want to be another leech to people. My stomach growled aggressively. The pain from it was intense. It felt worse than normal and I fell down on my knee heavily against the floor. It growled again—louder—harder. Tears pooled in my eyes from the pain. I have to eat. My ears picked up laughter from the outside of my apartment. It was clear and crisp, as if they were right outside in front of my window.

I closed my eyes shut and covered my ears. Curling up in a ball felt like the only comfort to me. I don’t want to hurt anyone; I don’t want to be a part of them. The actions, the killings, won’t start with me. If I could repent to God right now, would he forgive me?

I want to be set free from the darkness, God; I beg of you.

Posted Sep 08, 2025
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8 likes 4 comments

Victoria West
19:14 Sep 24, 2025

This is a great story. The only thing is that a Vampire doesn't have a reflection, otherwise I found the story great!

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Nova Grey
19:53 Oct 02, 2025

Thank you! And yeah, I didn’t think about the actual facts of vampires before I hit publish but you live and learn😭

Reply

Victoria West
23:39 Oct 02, 2025

It's a really good story! Also who knows? Maybe in her world vampires do have reflections.

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Mary Bendickson
17:13 Sep 19, 2025

Feel h pain and sorrow.

Thanks for the follow.

Reply

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