The Awakening

I woke up.

The first thing I felt was the cold, but I didn’t feel cold. The cold intensified as I pressed my hands against the cold pale walls around me, only to realize that I was confined into a small space. Carefully I felt my way around with both hands and feet just to figure out where I was, while also trying to remember how I got here in the first place. However, I realized that I didn’t remember much at all. The only thing I managed to grasp were small fragments of memories. Veiny dry hands eagerly caressing my body. White pills against my tongue before sinking into the abyss of the most intoxicating tranquility. Cold metall underneath my hands while having hundreds of men stare at me in the most lustful of ways. Glimmering raindrops against the cold light of a streetlamp while the most bone chilling cold found its way into my very soul. The fuggy stench of an old cab. Sharp teeth scraping against my neck.

Suddenly I thought myself feeling the wall above my hand yielding a bit. I added more pressure, just to confirm my thought. After letting my fingers trace the surface, I realized that it had to be a door. Once again I pressed my hands against it, but it wouldn’t budge. I pushed a little harder, making it yield ever so slightly, but still without opening it. Next time I banged my hands against the door as hard as I could. To my surprise, it worked and the door swung open. I didn’t remember being this strong. It didn’t really matter though. I was finally free. Like a snake I slithered out of the cramped space, only to land on the glazed tiles of the floor. As I tried to look around, I had to shield my eyes from the excruciating light of the fluorescent bulbs above. It confused me. Even though I’ve never liked strip lights, I had never in my life experienced this kind of agony from them. Every time I tried to open my eyes, it felt like scorching hot rods were shoved into my eyes, making pain soar throughout my brain. Eventually I found that the only way I could actually see something without torturing myself, was by squinting. Looking around, I noticed several small doors in the walls, similar to the one now swinging back and forth. When I finally looked down at my body, I noticed that I was naked. Another thing that confused me, as I was sure that I had clothes on before coming here. What happened to them? How did I even get to this place? What kind of place was this?

Amidst my speculations, I noticed something else. Both my mouth and throat felt so terribly dry, as if being deprived of every little last bit of moisture. I tried to gather some saliva in my mouth and swallow, only to find it ineffective. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been drinking. Maybe I was just dehydrated? After all, I had no idea how long I had been confined to the tiny space. My first thought was to try and find some kind of water source, but before completing the thought, my attention was brought to the door next to my prison. The door was closed. I didn’t hear anything, despite hearing the persistent buzzing from the fluorescent lights above me. However, I could feel a sickening sweetly smell. If it was curiosity or something else that forced me to open the door, I didn’t know. The only thing I knew was that I had to take a look inside. Thus I moved closer and closer, hesitating for a second, before reaching out and open it. The first thing I saw was a head full of thick dark hair. Carefully I grabbed the handle to the bier and pulled it out. The head belonged to a man in his late twenties. His jaw was covered by dark stubble and his mouth slightly open, as if to drag one last breath. However, his chest remained still. No drumming heartbeats could be heard from within his ribcage. Even with death’s pale greenish parlor coloring his skin, he was still very handsome. Three holes with burnt edges in his chest told the story of his demise. I caressed his cheek, before leaning over him as if to kiss him. Instead of kissing his lips, I sunk my teeth into the soft flesh of his neck. For a split second I wondered what I was doing, before realizing that this macabre deed felt just as natural as sleeping, eating and drinking. Without even thinking, I started to suck the blood through his punctured veins. However, the spell was broken as my taste buds were assaulted by something that reminded me of spoiled milk. I pulled away, before spitting out the tainted blood. I coughed and spat, trying to get rid of the foul taste. I didn’t know how I knew the taste was wrong, but in some instinctive way I did. Yet I still had to satisfy the burning thirst within me. Immediately I ripped open the door laying next to him, revealing a middle aged woman with bruises around her neck. I had only managed to chomp down on her neck, before I had to pull away as I was hit by the same foul taste of tainted blood. I repeated the procedure, only to get the same result. Body after body was ripped out from their last sanctuary before they were going to be buried under six feet of dirt, while the desperate thirst for blood grew stronger and stronger. Eventually I stopped biting them. Instead I started to rip their limbs apart, taking out every single drop of my frustrations on those poor carcasses. Once I had gotten my anger out on the corpses, I kicked open the door and ran away as I could, leaving my carnage behind. 

After a few minutes of endless running, I finally found a way out, only to end up in an empty parking lot. I quickly took cover behind a few trees as I noticed a couple of nurses having a smoke underneath a streetlamp. For a moment I considered snatching one of them, but decided it wasn’t worth the risk of getting caught. Thus I started to run, heading for the dark of the woods. Never in my life I had ever felt so free as I did running faster than I ever had before among the trees. The world felt so much different than before. The biting cold didn’t make goosebumps form upon my now snow white skin. The moonlight was enough to make me see as well as if it had been the brightest summer day. The pebbles and twigs didn’t even bother me at all as I ran barefoot across the ground. Furthermore, I didn’t seem to tire even a bit. My legs could keep running and running without burning from the accumulating lactic acid. My lungs never had to pull in deep and gasping breaths and my heart never seemed to speed up in drumming frantic beats. In my rush of this newly found freedom, my ears picked up on something. I stopped. It sounded like someone singing, but in an almost sluggish manner. Swiftly I moved in the direction of the sound. The source was proved to be an old man in dirty ragged clothes, staggering through the night while clinging to a bottle in his hand, the source of his drunken state. I smiled. He would be perfect. In smooth movements like a panther, I made my way over to him. In an attempt to get his attention, I cleared my throat. He turned around, watching with bloodshot eyes.

“What the fuck?”he slurred, scrutinizing me as to determine if I was real or not.

“Hi there,”I greeted him in a low purring tone, while giving him my most seductive smile. Even though he didn’t really look he knew what to do of the situation, it was clear from his gaze that he was intrigued by my presence.

“Are you real?”he asked.

“As real as can be, honey,”I replied, reaching out to caress his hairy chest. Despite being flattered by my approach, he didn’t attempt to touch me. Therefore I moved closer, pressing a soft kiss to his neck, before whispering:

“Come with me, baby.”

I pulled away, taking a few soft steps backwards, not once breaking our eye contact. For a few moments he seemed to wonder if it was a good idea to follow a naked woman into the woods. However, the offer seemed to tempting to refuse, as he said:

“Oh, fuck it. I’m coming.”

I smiled and took hold of his withered hand, before pulling him with me. He had a hard time keeping up with me, as he kept stumbling and almost fell a few times. Still his determination was admirable. If only he knew that I had a different kind of carnal desire in mind. When I was sure that we wouldn’t be disturbed, I grabbed him and threw him to the ground in a force that surprised him as much as it surprised me. Before he had any chance to react, I crawled on top of him and pinned him to the ground.

“What are you doing, you bitch?”he yelled. “Let me go!”

I didn’t reply as I opened my mouth to sink my fangs into his flesh. He let out a soft cry, which turned into a pained moan as I started to drink his blood. There was a sour aftertaste from the alcohol in his system, but it was warm and had a soft taste of iron. The taste of blood from a living human filled me with such delight and made me hum from pleasure. I couldn’t stop, as I kept drinking as if I had been on the brink of death from dehydration. Once satisfied, I sat up, looking up to the night sky above me. The only source of light was the full moon. Her cold glow shone upon the aftermath of my first hunt, welcoming me into my forever home in her dark realm.