Devil Inside

Good Evening Ladies.

*AN - for those following the soundtrack to this book, I've chosen Hybrid Theory by Lnkin Park for this chapter :) *

She’d been flippant after watching Lucca, it was the way she often dealt with difficult emotions. Unfortunately, sleepless nights gave Elsa a lot of time to dwell on difficult emotions and one thing she had certainly found since her change was that vampirism was like having permanent PMT. She swung violently at times from awe and wonder at what she was capable of and revulsion and hatred for what she had become. She found herself wondering what her face had looked like when she had been crouched over that vile man in the alleyway when her father found her. Had her eyes flashed, dark and dangerous? Had her lips formed that vicious snarl? Had her features twisted into the same nightmare vision that Lucca had displayed? They were not nice thoughts.

With a sigh, Elsa opened her wardrobe, she was going out to a concert with Kate. One of their favourite bands was playing locally, it was too good an opportunity to miss out on so she packed her emergency serum doses in her bag, threw on some clothes and was out the door in seconds without bothering to check the mirror.

A couple of hours later they were pushing their way to the front of the heaving throng of rock fans to drool over the lead singer. The music was thumping and throbbing and with every sweaty body crushed so tightly together Elsa began to quickly fear she had bitten of more than she could chew, so to speak. She may not have needed to breath the air but the stuffiness of it and the heat was nauseating. Along with the pulse of the music, she could hear the beat of every heart in the room, calling to her seductively. Kate was excited, her hair clung to her face, which was beaded with sweat, Elsa was conscious that she was not sweating at all.

“This is awesome!” Kate screamed, jumping up and down with the beat. It was pretty cool, Elsa had discretely used a little of her new found strength to ease their passage through the crowd, they had never managed to get this close to the front before. She tried to shut out the pulsing sound of blood in the veins of unsuspecting humans all around her, remembering instead that she had her serum and that she could control her urges.

She tried to focus on the band and looked up straight at the lead singer, who was half way through a lead guitar solo when he caught her gaze. Their eyes locked, which shocked her, it was like he actually was looking at her. Actually he was staring at her. He stumbled on a note and was jolted back to his guitar playing. Elsa couldn’t help but revel in the idea that she might actually be able to pull a rock star now. She quickly reminded herself though that it was only because of what she was.

She felt another set of eyes on her and turned to find a tall, lean and incredibly handsome man watching her with a predatory gaze. He really was striking with intricate tattoos covering most of the flesh he had on display, which was a fair amount as he wasn’t wearing a top. He had dark, long hair, almost black eyes, a sexy shadow of stubble and a body that was extremely pleasing to the eye, enhanced by the tattoos that snaked around every perfectly sculpted muscle. Kate gave her an elbow and a wink, noticing the strangers stare but he was making Elsa feel uncomfortable. There was something about his look, the way he was moving, the way he seemed to stand out from everyone else around him.

He wasn’t sweating either. She concentrated and realised that she couldn’t see the pulse of blood in his body, couldn’t hear the drum beat of a human heart.

He leaned in close and despite the loud music, she could hear him clearly, his voice like the sound warm water running over ice, “Nice,” he said, “Is she yours or can anyone play?”

Elsa stepped back, ensuring she was between the vampire and her friend, “She doesn’t belong to anyone,” she said in a low voice, knowing that he would hear her.

“Oh, you’re one of those,” he sounded disappointed, “What a shame, we could have had some fun with her.” His gaze fell on Kate once more, “I don’t mind playing with her by myself.” he said, head tilted to one side.

“No.” Elsa stated.

“No?” The vampire laughed, “I hardly think you are going to stop me, I like her. I want her.” His voice had quickly lost its honeyed tone and his last sentence was delivered with a menace that filled Elsa with dread. She grabbed Kate’s arm and began to pull her out of the crowd.

Kate resisted, “What are you doing?” she asked incredulously, “The bass player was looking right at me!”

Elsa dragged her out into the bar, “We’re leaving,” she said, “Just trust me, we need to go.” She fumbled in her bag for her phone, intent on calling her father. She had no idea who the vampire was but he didn’t seem to be the kind that wanted to reconnect with his human side.

“What happened?” Kate asked, “Did that bloke grope you? You should tell one of security. Being sexy is no excuse for being a perv.” She folded her arms, looking concerned. Elsa’s head snapped round, she knew that he was following them.

“Can we please go?” she implored and, without waiting for an answer, began pulling at Kate’s arm again until they were outside.

“Elsa!”

“Good evening ladies.” Elsa kicked herself. He was already outside. There was no one around but them; she’d dragged Kate into a perfect ambush. She positioned herself once more between Kate and the vampire but he just smiled and tutted at her as if she were a small child, walking towards them at a steady pace and backing them down an alleyway before Elsa realised what was happening. “Don’t be silly now,” he said, “I’m older and stronger and better at this than you.”

Kate’s demeanor had changed, Elsa could hear her pulse quicken and could smell the adrenaline in her blood; she was scared. Elsa didn’t know what to do but she knew she had to protect her friend, she was desperately recalling everything Hesper had told her about vampires vulnerabilities, there weren’t many. Could she do it? She knew she was unusually strong for a young vampire, Hesper had told her so, that could be her advantage.

“Kate,” she said, trying to sound as calm as possible, “Run.”

“I’m not leaving you,” Kate whispered back her voice shaking.

“No, she’s right Kate, it’s more fun if you run, it gets the blood pumping.” the vampire snarled, and Elsa could see the change in his eyes as he released himself to the thirst for blood. His skin changed colour to an ominous gray, the skin around his eyes almost purple, veins protruding in his temples and his neck. His lips curled back, his mouth opened and only then did the fangs appear. Kate screamed as he leapt.

Elsa threw herself in his path and his hands tore at her viciously, long nails gouging her skin. She didn’t feel any pain, she knew what she had to do and she clung onto him, maneuvering herself behind him so that she could reach around his neck from behind. He had not expected this and did not react in time; she placed one hand on his head and twisted with all her strength, satisfied to hear a snap as his neck broke and the vampire dropped to the ground.

Kate stared at the scene that was unfolding in front of her, it had happened so fast she couldn’t really register what had occurred. She had seen a blur of movement and now Elsa stood over the fallen stranger and his head was twisted at an impossible angle. She began to shake violently and mumble incoherently.

Elsa knew that the vampire would heal quickly; a broken neck would only give them minutes. She had no choice now; she grabbed Kate, swung her over her shoulder and ran.