Chapter 6
The next few months were terrible. Skye’s heart began to beat again, coming back with a painful jerk that made him gasp and double over. For the next week, he experienced sharp headaches and crippling cramps in his limbs and stomach.
His senses went haywire. Theysharpened and Skye began to hear mice in the walls stomping about like elephants. He heard people whispering about him behind his back several yards away. The crashing noises around him at breakfast and the blinding light of the weak winter sun increased his headaches and he often had to retreat into the shadows until they subsided.
His sight became more than perfect. He began to see tiny little insects on the ground no larger than a spec of dust at his full height. But with this, he began to become obsessive with his hygiene. He was disgusted with the dirt and soil that dug in his fingernails and in his hair.
He needn’t have worried. His hair, skin, nails, teeth and more became healthier, stronger. He lost all his teenager spots; his hair was no longer greasy or dirty, but shiny and thick. His nails and teeth became white and so strong, he could’ve cut through metal with either.
His body became longer; he grew and strengthened, becoming lithe and slim, losing all childish puppy fat. He was now physically stronger and could lift tonne weights without breaking a sweat. He had to be careful not to break his musical instruments or to hurt anyone unintentionally. With strength came speed. His fingers moved like tiny spiders over the piano keys and he could run faster and harder and jump higher and throw further
than any human being, he was sure.
The overall effect of this was that he became much more attractive. Like Aleera, he suddenly found him self affecting those around him. He found to his annoyance when he tried to buy a loaf of bread from the baker, she stared at him with wide eyes and clumsily spilt the flour. Blushing furiously, she apologised profusely and gave him an extra loaf free.
When he looked in the mirror, he no longer saw himself but another man, older and matured. With deeper eyes and angled features, prominent cheekbones, which made him look both elf-like and angelic. No wonder he had first thought Aleera was an elf. Even his ears had grown to a sharp point. He’d have to be careful to hide them.
The only thing that marred his appearance was the bite marks like two horribly obvious spots. So he started wearing high collars and long coats and cloaks. Kitty’s book called them Aarttress Scars. He routinely got her to read to him from that book. But instead of helping him with the condition, it only confused him all the more.
For one, Aleera had never told him why she fed from him. He had thought it was a pleasure thing for her. A buzz, something to keep her high, like a drug. But apparently, she needed it. She would die without it. So Kitty read, anyway.
“ “Feeding Habits”…” she read uncertainly. “Oh, my… “The vampyr must consume certain amounts of blood or his own blood-cells will die. The affects of under-feeding are as follows; physical weakness, loss of heightened senses, accelerated ageing process, and others depending on the metabolism of the vampyr in question. Over-feeding can be quite as bad, however, resulting in addiction and madness.
“The Vampyr’s Bite is performed by…” ”
“Don’t.” groaned Skye, his face a complex shade of green. “I know this all to well.” He was shaking. “How am I supposed to feed? I am not a monster, a cannibal. I would rather die than murder another.”
“It says here,” said Kitty. “That vampyrs don’t usually kill. If you only took a little bit, like, and not hurt the human. And technically, you’re not a cannibal. Cannibals eat their own kind. You are no longer human, so thing about it as… as…” she struggled to find the right words. “As… eating chicken!”
He stared at her. But she went on recklessly. “And if you asked permission first, then it can’t be that bad…”
Skye was shocked out of silence. “Oh yeah,” he yelled. “What am I going to say? “Sorry but I really need to bite your neck and drink your blood. You wouldn’t mind, would you?” Come off it Kitty!”
She sighed. “I have an idea, but you’ll never say yes…”
“I’m listening…” he said warily.
“Well,” she sighed heavily again. “You could perform the bite on… me…?”
Skye wasn’t stupid enough to say no. “You would do that for me?”
“You’re my brother. I couldn’t sit and watch you die. And I’d be letting you so you wouldn’t feel so bad. And you lived through it when Aleera bit you so I’m sure I could be brave enough.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re saying. It’s not that simple. It drains you of all energy. You fell like you’re going to die. And the pain… such pain you have never felt before, Kitty. It fills your head and kills your resistance. There’s no way…”
“The book says that you would only have to do it maybe once every fortnight.”
“That’s not true,” he frowned. “Aleera demanded blood once every two or three nights.”
“But that’s because she was very strong,” insisted Kitty. “The stronger a vampyr you are, the more you need to feed. It can range from once every night to once every six months. But the average is once a fortnight. I can do that.”
“Oh yeah,” he sneered. “And what would you do if I needed it once a night? Eh? What would you do then?”
She had turned a frightened shade of white. “I’ll do what it takes.”
“I love you, sissy.”
“Oh, Skye,” she sobbed, hugging him fiercely. “Oh poor, unhappy, Skye!”
They agreed to do it that night. He had been hiding it but he was already feeling such affects as the book described. Apart from feeling always hungry no matter how much he ate, he was weakening, his senses not as strong as they used to be. It had been almost a month since Aleera had Embraced him. He took a note of it.
It was midnight. He quietly got up out of his bed and made his way to his bedroom door. There was no sound on the other side. He opened it slowly, stopping it just before the point where it creaked. He didn’t want to wake her. Kitty had said that he could feed from her when she slept and not wake her up. This is because the book said her brain would completely shut down during it due to lack of blood. Apart from feverish nightmares and a slight headache afterwards, she would feel nothing.
He crept past his Pa’s bedroom and into hers. She lay still and white, almost silver in the moonlight pouring from her window. He shut the curtains. It wouldn’t do to be caught by a sleepless, all too curious villager. He leaned over her sleeping form. Her eyes flickered open.
“Sorry…” she mumbled sleepily. “Skye, I couldn’t sleep.”
He swore. “I can’t do this, Kitty. I can’t bare to hurt you.”
“You must…” her voice was tired, creaky.
“Alright,” he sighed unwillingly. He loathed himself now. “But try to black out. It will be easier if you faint. And try not to cry out, you might wake Pa. And if you want me to stop, hit me, kick me. I don’t’ care how much you hurt me, just get the message across.”
“Couldn’t I just tap you on the shoulder?” she frowned.
“When Aleera fed, she became animal-like and wouldn’t listen to my cries. Maybe she was just being spiteful, but I don’t want to cause you unnecessary pain.”
“Just do it, you’re making me sick!”
She leaned back, exposing her neck. He wished she wouldn’t do this. It was taking all his self-control just to not run from her room. But suddenly, he felt an overpowering urge for her blood and it was taking all his self-control not to dive at her. He touched her skin, felt the silver marble beneath his fingers, the throbbing pulse of her main vein. He licked his lips. He could smell her fear. She was shaking. All that talk about bravery was just bull.
“Forgive me, Kitty. I’ll never forgive myself…”
Drawing back his lips into a vicious snarl, she gripped her shoulders in a claw like hold and plunged his knife-like teeth into her flesh.
Twenty minutes later, he was still drinking. She had died long before then.
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