Bad Taste (Part II) // Colby Brock

250 - Colby

Sam followed me upstairs as soon as Rebecca couldn't be heard anymore. We were in the attic silently sitting on the couch for quite a while before he finally gave up on waiting for me to speak first. He looked worried, almost, and I knew I looked way different to usual. I felt so unsure of myself, of reality as I knew it.

"Dude, what is going on with you? Rebecca was right, something seems wrong."

I didn't dare to look at him. "Something is wrong."

"What is it?" Sam demanded, instantly protective. I wanted to smile but I didn't think I could manage it.

"I... Something happened last night."

He frowned. "During your hunt?"

"No."

"Uh... you just hung out with us for the rest of the night. I don't get what could have happened." I scratched the back of my neck stressfully, and stared up at the ceiling as if it would give me the answers I so badly needed. I still felt absolutely out of it, lost. "Colby, you're really worrying me," Sam muttered to try to snap me out of it.

I shook my head. "This is gonna sound fucking insane."

"Just tell me," he commanded.

"I need to give you a little context," I decided instead. I sat up straight, turned to face him, and put on my most serious expression. He seemed to notice how frightened I looked and matched the tone with his eyes. After a deep breath, I explained, "The first time I slept with Rebecca—as in literal sleeping—after she turned, I noticed her.., changing, sort of. In her face. The black patches, the fangs. She made herself bleed about twenty times through the night.

"Then it kept happening and I started getting worried. She always seemed... I don't know, restless. She'd stay—you know, in my arms and everything, but she'd turn toward me then away. And every time she turned toward me, she was pulling out her vamp face."

Sam gulped as if he knew where this was going, but I knew he didn't. There was no way he could know where I was going with this; there was no way I could have predicted it.

"Then last night. Rebecca fed fine—well, we did have one mishap but it was sorted out easily and no one died, like I said. She seemed filled for the most part, happy, all of that. But then when I got in bed with her after she fell asleep, she was restless again. I was hoping to stop her moving around so much but apparently I made a mistake."

I rubbed my hands together as I looked away from Sam, toward the floor. "Dude, she bit me."

"She, what?" was Sam's first response, then he added, "Purposely? Like, did she go straight for you or were her fangs just out and she caught you?"

"She did it on purpose," I said with certainty. "Her face changed and I was waiting for it to turn back, then she just lunged forward—like vampires used to lunge at their prey, dude—and she bit me. And you wanna know what's weirder?" I pulled away the corner of my jacket to reveal a prominent bite mark on my neck. "It hasn't healed."

Sam blinked, opened his mouth, closed his mouth, blinked again, before finally sinking from the couch to the floor. I watched him as he stared at it just like I'd stared at the ceiling.

"I feel drained," I explained, "but obviously I'm not dead. She didn't drain the life out of me, she just... fed—a lot, by the way. I passed out at some point and when I woke up, she was fast asleep. I thought it'd be best if I slept some because I felt exhausted; I still feel exhausted."

"You need blood," Sam whispered, though he still wasn't quite there.

"I know. I was just gonna grab a bag from up here but I don't exactly feel like it." I crossed my arms over my chest uncomfortably now, as Sam climbed back onto the couch with a grave expression on his face.