SLEEPSONG (BoyxBoy)✔️

Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Kimberly was sitting outside in the backyard at an enormous plastic table with over a hundred smiling faces sitting all around her. I was standing with my face plastered against the mesh wire screen of the open window, wearing sunscreen and sunglasses to protect against the sun.

I watched as my baby sister blew out all six of her birthday candles, and everyone cheered, but when our mother handed her the first present she shot a look right at me.

Our mom quickly tried to divert her attention away, but it didn't work.

"Why can't Aerin get any cake, Mommy?" she asked, looking confused. "He likes it, too."

My heart soared when people blinked in confusion and looked at me with confused expressions.

Nobody ever looked at me, nobody but Kimberly.

"Don't worry, Munchkin, he doesn't need it," she said sweetly, putting a hefty slice of said cake on her plate with a smile. "Bad boys don't get cake."

The phone buzzed beneath my ear, waking me up with a jerk, and the first thing I noticed was that my body was burning with a familiar, maddening sensitivity. I groaned, knowing what was wrong but I didn't really have the motivation to deal with it right then thanks to my sleepiness.

I reached a hand under the pillowcase and groped for my cell, which was on vibrate so I didn't have to deal with the noise, and flipped off my alarm before throwing it on the floor.

Only three days had passed since I'd siphoned blood from the college students who'd been eating pizza below my home, but because I'd run out of blood on the first night and had deprived my thirst for the next one, waking up now was like walking into bright sunlight after spending an eternity in the dark.

Blinding, disorienting, shocking - each moan of wind against the old brick building sounded like a scream, each brush of hair on my neck was like the lash of a whip. See, the thing is, my body always goes into hyper-alert mode when my thirst gets too bad, as if some weird part of me is trying to extend my senses to aid me in a pointless search for sustenance.

I let out a breathless whimper as I rolled over in my bed, shivering at the feeling of my cool silk sheets sliding across my heated skin.

This was the telltale sign that I was thirsty, but truth be told, it was almost agonizing how thirsty I was right then.

I fought to swallow past my dry mouth and accidentally nicked my tongue on one of my fangs, wincing at the sharp pain, but the taste of my own blood merely whetted my thirst. I let out a grumble then looked at my digital clock, which boldly stated it was eight in the evening.

I sat up and put my head in my hands, trying to think past the need for blood, trying to deny what I had to do, to rationalize, but in the end I gave up. Fully awake, I kicked my legs free of my blankets and quickly stood up, heading silently towards the bathroom.

I paused when I passed by my dresser to rummage through my drawers, hunting down some clean clothes. With a pair of skinny jeans and a baggy white turtleneck in my hands, I stepped into the bathroom and turned on the light, but I immediately regretted it and covered my eyes.

"Shit," I muttered, turning it back off and rubbing my stinging eyeballs. "Not today, I guess."

Honestly, I didn't need light to see in the dark since I had this nifty thing called night vision. Turning on the lights in my home was literally just a force of habit.