Once Bitten *On Hiatus*

𝕾𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖞 𝕿𝖜𝖔

• 𝓢𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓹𝓱 •

I didn't know how long it had been since Mae was killed. After that day, I'd been locked in my room with the lights off and my blackout curtains covering my windows. I just know that I was tired. Weak.

I fucking hated feeling weak.

I didn't know why I was so drawn to her. Why I felt her emotions so clearly. There were times it pissed me off, especially in the beginning. This little human girl, so fragile, and I could feel her emotions? Why? What was the point?

That first time her dreams came to me, I was angry. For the memories of years ago, when she was abused and used as a toy for this half-dicked piece of shit of a boy. I didn't want those memories. And I sure as fuck didn't want those god damned protective urges that immediately sprang to mind.

But when I saw her, hunched over Luca, his wrist broken and blood dripping from his neck from where she clawed him...

I liked her, and suddenly I felt like I needed to protect this fragile little thing. She had a fiery attitude and a shared contempt of Zero.

I closed my eyes at the thought of Zero. I hoped wherever he was, they were starving him. I hoped they had him chained against a wall with absolutely no room to move. Weaken him so that when I was able to get to him, all he could do was beg.

They wouldn't be able to hold him for too long. Zero's father would eventually start something with Titus to free him.

Fuck, I hoped they freed him soon so I could tear every fucking organ from his body and make him fucking choke on it. I wanted him crying. Fucking begging for his death before it was given to him. That was only what he deserved.

A knock at my door made me glance at it. They'd been trying to get me out for...

For how long?

"Seraph," Noah's voice made my eyebrows raise. "We're going to Titus. We're going to figure out where he buried her."

I remained seated. Staring at the door. Why the hell did it matter where he put her body? She wasn't in there anymore. It was just a shell of where her soul used to reside. I didn't care to know. I knew they'd likely go to her burial spot and visit with her a couple of times a week, but I never understood the point in doing that. There was no one there to listen to you.

"We're also going to find out where Zero is," Kite said. "And then we're going to kill him. Luca thinks we should go off of one of her entries."

I sighed and stood, my body aching. How long had it been since I had blood? Fuck's sake. My body only ever hurt this bad when I was first turned, and that was partially due to the extensive healing I had to endure before I was even able to drink blood for the first time.

I opened the door to my room and stared out at Noah, Kite, and Luca.

Kite blinked. "Seraph!"

Who the fuck else would it be? They quite literally came to my door, addressed me, and now they're confused about me answering my door?

Noah held out a bag of blood. His eyes were sad, and he had lost a lot of weight. But even through that sadness, there was a look of determination on his face.

I took it from him and backed into my room, muttering for them to give me a few minutes. I popped open the top of the bag and drank as I went into my bathroom to clean up. If my hunger was any indication, it had been a long time since I had blood, though I really couldn't tell how long. Anything over a week had the tendency to make me feel weak. But this seemed far beyond that.

I downed the blood and washed off quickly, the act somehow harder than it should have been.

If I was going to go force answers out of Titus, it would likely work better if my hair wasn't covered in grease and if I smelled like I had my shit together. No one would take any of us seriously if we look like we've been struggling for the past...

Really, how the fuck long had it been?

When was finished, I shook out my hair and dried it. When I opened the door again, Noah held out another bag of blood.

"How long," I asked, draining it quickly.

"A month," Luca answered.

That explained the weakness. I'd never gone an entire month without blood. That was close enough to a death wish that I'd never even attempted it. Stupid of me, really.

I threw the empty bag back into my room. I'd clean it eventually. For now, I needed to know where the hell Zero was and which of her entries would bring him the most pain before he died. He deserved nothing less. To be killed by her, without actually being killed by her.

I wanted to watch her kill him.

I sighed and motioned for them to lead the way, but paused at a strange feeling in my chest. Anger. Sadness. Regret.

All of us stiffened, the scent of too much blood reaching our noses again. Who had been killed this time? Why did my eyes immediately drift in the direction of her room, worried that we'd gone back in time and she was about to be killed by Zero again?

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. I stared down the hallway in shock. My brain not fully comprehending what I was seeing.

The three others with me turned. Stared.

"Oh, fuck," Luca whispered.

There was a girl walking towards us. Her feet were bare, and her long brown hair was wet with blood. She walked slowly towards us, like she wasn't fully aware of where she was. Blood covered her body, staining the white clothes she wore a deep crimson red. There was even some on her face. But it wasn't her blood. I knew what her blood smelled like.

Noah took a staggering step forward. "M-Mae?"

Her hazel eyes raised and met with his.

What in the fuck happened?