Stone Cold

Chapter 50

Back to Faith's POV.

Pale fingers were intertwined in a messily woven web of scarlet. Some of the crimson was passing through the spaces in between her fingers, appearing to be the frilly hem of her cotehardie. Some of it stuck to her hands, digging deep under her nailbeds, its consistency corresponding to that of a sticky liquid—blood.

The pale set of hands seemed unsure of their venture as they let go of the red velvet they’d been clutching onto for dear life, before travelling up to cross and reach their opposite arms. 

She was scratching her skin vigorously with her nails. Like a drug addict, a nameless need was crawling underneath her flesh. She pressed herself harder and harder into the bark behind her back while continuing to dig holes into her arms.

The events of the last few moments all had become a big blur to her mind.

She had gotten out of Ruth’s shop, concealing the throbbing bite on her neck with her raven locks. She remembered seeing people on the cobbled street, their movements seemed to have slowed down quite a bit, every hushed whisper of theirs hit her like a loud cacophony. The more steps she took towards the hill, the more overloaded her senses became of her surroundings.

That’s when it happened. Her olfaction overpowered all of her other senses as a sweet, mouthwatering aroma made her whip her head to the side. A kid had accidentally grazed his knee on the asphalt while playing.

Every emotion coursing through her veins, every sound making her ears ring, every single thing disappeared the moment her eyes fell on the sticky liquid trickling down the little boy’s leg.

‘Blood.’

She felt thirsty. A thirst so strong it turned her throat more parched then the Sahara. She feared it to remain unquenchable even by the deepest darkest of the seas.

The boy too had noticed the weirdly dressed woman standing in the middle of street staring straight at him.

She was unsure about what happened after that. One moment she was stuck in the midst of a bustling street, the next she found herself deep in the forest, perching her back against a tree trunk as she continued peeling her skin off.

She had a slight hunch about her condition. Instead of slowly turning her into a vampire like Henry, Ares’ venom had triggered the already present vampire part inside her. She was rapidly transitioning, hence speed and enhanced senses.

Blinking back tears, her head lifted up to look at the colossal castle nestled on top of the hill. She wanted to part her lips to call out to him but her gums were aching too much. Her brain refused to cooperate to any of her commands. The creature inside her only had one thing on its mind.

Blood.

The need was far too strong to rein in. There was this new presence inside her brain, an animal that wanted nothing more to turn back and tear apart any human she could find in the town behind her.

That’s when her disorienting brain noticed her own blood on her fingers, making her pause in her tracks. It was part human, and it was calling out to her. Not having the ability to think or process any further, she put her fingers in our mouth, starting out by gingerly licking the side but soon turning frantic by almost putting her whole fist in her mouth.

She wanted more.

“That’s enough. Stop.”

“Uh...”

An incoherent sound escaped past her lips as she stared fearfully at the familiar man standing in front of her.

The venom spreading its roots inside of her seemed to have recognized its source, making her pause immediately.