SLEEPSONG (BoyxBoy)✔️

Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Leo was smart.

Behind his disarming smiles and cheerful disposition was someone very dangerous, and I fully regretted opening up to him.

Wait, you might be thinking, why?

Well, here's why: you see, after our little discussion earlier, I'd sung for about ten more minutes before my increasingly maddening thirst had finally forced me to stop. He'd asked me a few more questions, to which I'd either nodded or shook my head. I wasn't really feeling all that talkative anyway since the threat of death and possible dismemberment could bring even the chattiest Kathy down to a sullen low, but when it eventually became clear that I didn't intend to converse with him his eyes had flared brighter and his attitude had done a complete reversal.

So, now the two of us were sitting in a very tense and uncomfortable silence which gave me time to cross-examine his behavior. I realized pretty quickly that his friendliness and disarming attitude toward me had probably been a front he'd used to get me to let my guard down.

Now that my guard was back up and his ruse was no longer working he'd become far more taciturn, a sign that my speculations were likely correct, but I didn't really have presence of mind to care about it much since my body was literally on fire.

I'd been able to tune it out with the chaos happening all around me, but now there was no distraction from the heat cresting through my body, no reprieve from the acrid dryness making my throat feel like it would start chafing itself and bleed, nothing. My tongue felt as if it had shriveled into a wad of cotton and my breathing was coming harder than normal.

Leo's eyes remained glued to my every movement, studying me.

"You ill?" he asked after a time. "Your face is flushed and your sweat reeks of anxiety."

My gut knotted since it was still weird and a little insulting to hear people talk about how my sweat smelled. For one thing, ew, for another I didn't feel sweaty at all.

"My thirst," I rasped, voice coming out just as dry and ashy as it felt. "Singing when I was thirsty probably wasn't the smartest idea since it worsened my condition faster."

His face hardened into a stony block and his eyes narrowed.

"Don't even think about trying to bite--"

"I don't bite, period!" I snapped, then flinched and tried to smother my irritation. "Look, I'm not... I don't... bite people. I'm extremely careful, I always have been. I take blood from people using medical syringes and--"

I stopped talking mid-sentence, staring off into space as a horrible chill ran through me.

You see, it abruptly hit me, like the screech of an oncoming car, that I'd forgotten to snatch the backpack carrying all of my blood hunting equipment off the rack I kept it on when we'd left my apartment back in Michigan behind. I went bolt rigid, shoulders bunching to my ears in horror, and clutched my mouth as a waves of raw panic overwhelmed me.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, but I barely heard him over the rushing in my ears.

"I can't get blood," I whispered, eyes already filling with terrified tears. "I can't get blood! I forgot the backpack! I left it on the hanger, shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!"

"Backpack? What backpack?"

"The one I keep all my blood-related tools in!" I hoarsely wailed, burying my face in my hands. "I can't draw blood from someone's arm like I normally do because all of the medical needles are still in there! The bandages, and gauze, a-and everything, it was all in that backpack!"