Young Writers Society

Lillian replied to Gabriel’s text just as he rounded the corner to Becca’s street. I’m staying with Ben. There’s nothing you or Ezra can say that will bring me back. The words stung but Gabriel knew better than to get mixed up in this fight. He just hoped Lillian knew what she was doing.

No pleasantries were exchanged in the hallway. As soon as Gabriel took one look at Becca in her black satin lingerie, he’d scooped her up in his arms and carried her up the stairs. Becca let herself be taken, wrapping her legs around his waist and kissing him deeply. Their texting back and forth had worked them both up into quite a heated frenzy. In the back of Gabriel’s mind, he reminded himself to not get too carried away. But he had already seen her once; this won’t be a repeat of the park incident. He was used to being around her now. He couldn’t even smell her blood as his lips explored her neck and shoulder.

Gabriel reached her bedroom and kept hold of her as their bodies met the bed. They helped each other out of their clothes, thankful there were no buttons to slow them down. With Maeve still staying at her mothers, they had the place to themselves and took advantage of being able to be as loud as they wanted.

Right now, in this moment, Gabriel could forget about all the nastiness outside. He was with Becca. Becca, a human, who liked him just the way he was. There was no hate here. Just love and understanding.

They rolled over so Becca was over him, her smile still somehow white in the grey darkness of the room. She stroked his naked chest, admiring every bump and ridge of muscle like she was reading braille.

She flipped her long, dark hair over to one side and Gabriel’s fingers dug into her thighs at the smell that hit him as powerful as a wave. Blood. Again. No vanilla this time. Just pure, undeniable, irresistible blood. He looked down at his hands, thinking he may have possibly scratched her and she was bleeding, but she wasn’t.

Becca closed the distance between them. Now chest to chest, the aroma almost suffocated him. She started kissing his neck and his fangs sprung free. His hands slid into her hair and he tried to shift his attention to the way her silky waves wrapped and slipped through his fingers.

She bit his earlobe. He bit her back.

Blood exploded into his mouth, hot and thick and so so rich. He crushed her against him and drank, getting lost in the delirium. He’d never tasted anything like it. So fresh and real and exactly what he needed.

Becca jerked against him and the sound of her sob shocked him out of his trance. He unlatched his fangs and let go of her. She clambered off him and crawled to the bottom of the bed. Gabriel rubbed his eyes and felt the thick, pulsating veins beneath them. His head felt heavy. His body felt fried. He groaned, wiped at his mouth then looked down at his bloodstained fingers.

Blood. Becca. Becca. Blood. Oh no. Ohnononononono.

She was at the foot of the bed, staring at him with her camisole clutched to her chest. Her heart was pounding. It hammered inside his skull.

He’d bitten her. He’d bitten his Becca.

His eyes darted around the room and mapped out where all his clothes were before jumping from the bed and dressing in vampire speed. In seconds, he was fully dressed and at the door.

“I’m sorry,” he rushed. She was still staring. Eyes wide and frantic. Blood knotted in her hair. It stuck in wet swirls over the open wound on her neck. “I’m so sorry.”

He headed down the stairs. Footsteps followed.

“Gabriel, wait.”

He turned to see her on the landing, the camisole covering her front.

“I said I would never hurt you.” Tears pressed against the back of his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

Clear tears shone in her eyes. “It’s okay.”

Gabriel shook his head and dropped another step. “No, it’s not. I would never do that. I know I would never do that. And I did. I don’t know why that happened. I need to go.”

He continued down the steps.

“Gabriel, please.”

The anguish in her plea halted him at the front door, but he couldn’t face looking at her.

“It didn’t hurt that bad. I’m fine. Please, don’t run away. We can sort this out.”

His dead heart ached.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, and left.

Gabriel charged down the streets at human speed. He was in no rush to get home and face Ezra but his mind was too frazzled to walk any slower.

What is happening to me?

Becca had seen him in the state he had never wanted her to witness. Black eyes, pulsating veins, blood covered fangs.

Her blood. On his fangs.

He stopped at a drain and leant over to throw up but his body refused to expel the delicious mistake. And that’s what made him feel so sick inside. Her blood had made him feel alive. And that part of him that had told him to not get carried away was now telling him to go back to her house and finish the job. Drain her dry. Do it. Do it.

Do it.

“No!” he cried out into the night, clawing at his chest and stomach, ready to tear himself in two.

This wasn’t him. Gabriel was a good vampire. He was a good person.

“You!”

Gabriel spun around to see a woman barrelling towards him from across the road, waving her fists in the air. “You sick bastard!”

She grabbed him by the front of his jumper and shook him. Her face inches from his; her cheeks boiling red.

“You sick bastard,” she wailed, eyes bloodshot. “What have you done with my daughter!”

For a terrified moment, Gabriel thought that she was Becca’s mother who had somehow tracked him down but then he recognised her. She was on the village housing committee. Her face was always on the leaflets that were shoved through their letterbox telling them to keep their front gardens clean.

“What are you-”

“My daughter!” she bellowed; her wails now becoming something almost demonic. “My Laura! I know it was you! You or one of your other sick friends!”

Gabriel grabbed her wrists and tried to prise her hands off him without hurting her.

“I’m sorry I don’t know what you’re-”

“You will be sorry!” Spittle flew at his face. “I know you’ve taken her. My Laura. She’s been gone for two days!”

“I don’t know anything about your daughter.” This closeness was becoming a problem. The racing of her heart. Her blood was pumping so fast. So fast. So nice and fast.

With a little extra force than he was planning to use, he managed to dislodge her from his jumper and jumped backwards to distance himself. She stepped forwards to grab him again but he threw his arms up to block her.

“I’m sorry your daughter’s missing but I can promise you, I have nothing to do with it.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I saw you talking to her at the church party. Snooping around. You like them young and pretty, do ya? You sick freak! Give her back!”

She went to choke him but he vampire-sprinted away, down the street and all the way back home.

Gabriel sank onto his front wall and let out a deep exhale. What the hell had that been about? He shook his head and tried to pull himself together before he headed into the house.

Ezra was watching TV in the living room. Gabriel sank onto the opposite sofa noisily, making Ezra arch an eyebrow.

“Enjoy your walk?” he asked.

Gabriel furrowed his brows. “A girl’s gone missing.”

Ezra finally looked at him. “What?”

“I was just accosted down the road by Julia Timperly, the annoying housing committee woman. Apparently, her daughter’s missing. She thought I had something to do with it.”

Ezra thought about it for a moment. “That’s weird. But it’s probably nothing. She’s a teenager, right? Probably with her boyfriend or something.”

Gabriel scratched the back of his neck. This whole night had left him feeling all kinds of wrong. “Yeah, probably.”

But he didn’t believe it was nothing; and by the way Ezra glared at the TV, he didn’t think it was nothing, either.

“I spoke to Lillian,” said Gabriel, needing to shift the attention off him. Ezra noticeably tensed. “How’re you doing?”

His eyes narrowed even more but they didn’t leave the screen. “I just don’t know how I’m supposed to get through to you guys.”

“What have I done?”

Ezra grabbed the remote and forcefully turned off the TV. Then he turned to Gabriel, his pale face glowing a soft orange in the lamplight.

“I’m insulted that you think you can actually lie to me.”

Gabriel lowered his gaze. Of course, Ezra knew about Becca. But he hadn’t said anything about it. He hadn’t chastised him for going behind his back. Nothing.

“I’m sorry,” said Gabriel.

Ezra scoffed. “No, you’re not. You think I’m being paranoid. You think I’m being too strict on you guys. But if I was being too strict, Lillian would be here right now and not off with her human lover-boy, blocking me out.”

Ezra ran his fingers through his mussed-up hair, resting his hand at the nape of his neck. “I’m tired,” he admitted, looking down at the floor. “I’m tired of being the only one here grasping that we’re living through history. This time, right now, is going to change everything for us. How our discovery is dealt with will lead to either acceptance or our eradication. Our mere existence is on a knife’s edge.”

“I know that.”

“No, I don’t think you do. Because all you care about right now is hooking up with your girlfriend.”

The feeling of Becca shuddering against his body as he drank from her had him running his palms down his thighs and rolling his neck. His gums ached as his fangs threatened to burst free.

He shook his head. “Well, you don’t need to worry about that anymore. I’m staying here, by your side. Barricade the doors for all I care.”

A silence followed as Ezra studied him. Gabriel shuffled even more uncomfortably, knowing that Ezra could read him perfectly.

“What happened?”

Gabriel shrugged, trying to act nonchalant as the image of Becca’s bleeding neck goaded him to go back and finish what he started. “Just what you said, vampire and human relationships don’t work.”