Bloodlines

CHAPTER TWO: FIRST BITE

            I could not believe my eyes. How could I have fangs? Then I remembered when I was attacked by that person. I checked my neck for any bite marks but there wasn't any. Could that person have turned me into a...? No, it can't be. A lot went through my mind in that moment. I put my clothes back on, intending to go back to bed. Suddenly, I began to feel lightheaded. The lights felt too bright. I then started to feel a sharp pain in my stomach. I started screaming in pain.
           Everything happened so fast but I remember Alex, Indi, and Raven rushing into the bathroom and calling my mom. My mom calling the ambulance. Then I woke up in the hospital. It couldn't have been too long after I collapsed. My friends were sitting in the chairs beside my hospital bed.
          "What happened?" I asked.
          "You collapsed in the bathroom." Indi said, "You were in a lot of pain, we rushed you here."
          "How long was I out?" I asked.
          "About an hour." Alex said.
          "Where's my mom?" I asked.
          "She's talking to the doctor." Raven said, "Don't worry."
          As soon as she said that, my mom walked in with the doctor. His name was Dr. Nelson.
          "How are you feeling young lady?" Dr. Nelson asked.
          "My stomach still hurts but not as much as earlier." I said.
          "It seems you had mild muscle contraction." Dr. Nelson said, "There seems to be nothing wrong with you, no internal bleeding or anything, but muscle contraction could be a result of stress, have you been stressed lately?"
          "She's been upset since my husband died." my mom said.
          "Yeah my dad died six months ago." I said, "I felt a lot of guilt since then."
          "That's what happens when people of all ages go through a traumatic experience, they feel guilt so they blame it on themselves. Dr. Nelson cleared his throat. "Excuse me, I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am." He then turned to me. "You should rest now, we'll check up on you in the morning."
           "Okay" I nodded.
           "Come on girls, I'll drive you home." My mom said to the girls.
           "Night, Luce." They said. Everyone left the room and the doctor shut the lights off. I felt like I was engulfed in darkness. I quickly fell asleep.
           The next morning, I woke up. I stretched but I got a slight sharp pain in my stomach when I did. I reached for the curtain to let some light in but when I did, my hand suddenly stung like a burn. I quickly pulled it away. It felt like I placed my hand on a sizzling frying pan. I reached again and it still burned.
            "What the hell?" I whispered to myself confused. I then heard a knock on the door.
            "Come in." I said.
            Freddy walked in with my favorite kind of flowers: peonies. He was one of the very few people, aside from my parents and the girls, who knew what my favorite kind of flowers were.
            "Hey there, sunshine."
            "Those for me?" I asked stupidly.
            "Yes! I'll put them right here." Freddy said, placing them on the table next to me.
            "Thanks." I smiled.
            "It's dark in here." Freddy noticed, "Why don't we shed some light."
            "No, I don't mind the dark." I stuttered.
            "Come on, you look miserable." He said, opening the curtain.
            "No!" I shouted, somehow ending up on the corner of the room. I stood so flat against the corner, i was practically imbedded in the wall.
            "It's just the sun, Luce."
            "Please just close it." 
            "But what's wrong?"
            "Close it!" I snapped. Freddy finally closed the curtain and I hesitantly laid back in bed, scared he was going to open it again.
            "Okay well, I'm gonna get you something to eat." Freddy said, "I know the food here sucks, what do you want?" He asked.
            "Breakfast sampler, with hash-browns." I said, "Love you."
            "Anything for you." He then closed the door and left the hospital.
           A few minutes later, the nurse came in with the crash cart. The metal bowl sticking out on top usually meant it was breakfast. 
            "Breakfast!" she said. almost too brightly. She lifted the bowl, revealing the nastiest looking egg white omelette I've ever seen. It might just be my eyes playing tricks on me, but I could've sworn I saw it move a little. I nearly gagged. She then left the room. I then noticed a blood bag on the floor. It must've fallen out of the crash cart.
            "Hey wait, you forgot your-" 
            Looking at the blood bag, my heart started beating really fast. I got up, hunched over, and walked to the blood bag. I don't know why I was so drawn to the blood. I picked up the blood bag and laid back down. I analyzed the bag. It was heavy, and it was almost like I was holding a piece of raw red meat. The blood looked so rich and red, I could almost drink it, which was exactly what I wanted to do, but I didn't know why. I put my mouth on the straw-looking thing and sipped the blood. It tasted weird at first, but then I just couldn't stop. I kept sipping until the bag was empty.
             I looked at the empty bag in shock. "What did I just do?" I asked myself. Suddenly, it hit me. First the fangs, then my hand burning when I was reaching for the curtain, and now the blood. There's no denying it, I am a vampire. The attacker definitely turned me into one. I desperately waited for it to be nighttime again so I could get the hell out of here. I also wanted more blood. But then I realized something, and it made my heart drop. Indi, Raven, and Alex were with me at the cemetery. They also woke up on the ground, not remembering what happened. They must be vampires also.
           Meanwhile at Raven's place, Raven got ready to go to the hospital to see me. Her mom was making breakfast.
           "I could smell that from my room." She said, "Are you making eggs and bacon?" She asked.
           "You're favorite, it's almost ready, dear." Her mom then accidentally cut her finger while chopping onions.
           "Well, would you look at that." She held her hand up. "I should bandage this up before blood ends up in the food."
           Raven's heart then began to beat fast and her eyes went bloodshot. She walked out of the kitchen and went to the bathroom to put water on her face.
           After breakfast, Raven got up to go visit me at the hospital. However, when she opened the door, her arm started burning. She pulled away, then went at it again, still burning.
          "On second thought, i'll just go later, she's probably still resting." Raven then went up to her room and shut all the curtains.
          On the other hand, Indi and Alex were trapped in Alex's house.
          "Okay, what's going on?" Alex asked.
          "I have no idea." Indi said.
          Back at the hospital, Freddy stayed for a while as I ate my breakfast. We joked and laughed, but whenever I'd daze off, I'd think about the fangs, the blood, the everything. I then decided to tell him the truth.
          "Do you remember when we were little, and you pretended to be a wizard, and I pretended to be a vampire?" I asked.
           "Of course, how could I forget?"
           "Because...I think i'm a vampire." I said, pulling the empty blood bag out from under my pillow. "Great, now that just really sounds really stupid out loud."
            Freddy sat there shocked at first but then started smiling.
           "Well? Say something."
           "Are you sure?" He asked.
           "Am I sure? Freddy, yes. I can't be in the sun, I drank an entire blood bag, and last night, I grew fangs!"
           "Well I can help you." Freddy said.
           "How?" I asked.
           "With this." He said, pulling out a silver ring with a black stone in the center.
           "Pretty, but what's that gonna do?"
           "It's a special ring that'll allow you to walk in the sun." He said, "Specially crafted for vampires so they can walk in the sun without combusting into ashes. Try it on."
           I put the ring on. "Now what? I don't feel anything."
           "Now." Freddy stood up, "Let there be light!" He shouted while opening the curtains.
           "No!" I yelped, covering myself. But I didn't burn, i felt fine, "Woah, this actually works!"
           "Told ya."
           "Where'd you get this anyway?".
           "Just like how you're a vampire, I'm also a wizard."
           "Now i'm starting to believe that."
           I remembered my friends again. They're still stuck at home avoiding the sun. "Do you have any more?" I asked.
           "Plenty, why do you ask?"
           "Because Indi, Raven, and Alex might be vampires too, we were all at the cemetery last night, can you do me a solid and give them rings?"
           "Sure, i'll go right now."
          After freddy left, I texted the three of them. 
          'We're vampires, literally, but stay in your houses, Freddy's gonna help.'
          Later that night, I tried to come up with a way to leave this hospital. I wasn't supposed to be released until tomorrow morning. I waited for the doctor to come in. By then, I was craving blood. Dr. Nelson had finally walked into the room.
            "Can I go home now?" I asked.
            "You can't leave until tomorrow afternoon." Dr. Nelson reminded me.
            "Please, I have to go" I said, "Um...i'm hungry."
            "The nurse will bring you dinner in a few minutes." Dr. Nelson said. He then picked up some file and headed for the door. That's when I sped up to him and shut the door.
            "Young lady, you should be in bed."
            "I'm sorry Dr. Nelson, but i'm hungry." I said, revealing my fangs, then made eye contact with him. "Please don't panic."
           "I won't."
           "Good, because I'm starving." I said, then bit his neck and fed off of him. The blood was warmer than the one in the blood bag. It tasted better. I then stopped drinking and patched his neck up.
          "Okay Dr. Nelson, remember, your cat scratched you." I said whilst still making eye contact with him.
          "I was feeding my cat and he scratched me." Dr. Nelson repeated.
          "Now can I go home?" I asked.
          "Yes, you can go home." He said.
          "Good! Now be a good little doctor and help the other patients." I said. "Oh, and forget that I bit you."
          I changed back into my pajamas from last night, then tried to steal a couple blood bags from the crash cart and sneaked out of the hospital unnoticed. I managed to find a dusty old bike and rode it home. While riding home, I almost couldn't comprehend what I had just done back at the hospital. I drank Dr. Nelson's blood, then practically wiped his memory of the whole incident. Hopefully, this would be the first and last time I drank off of somebody. Maybe I could get the hang of this faster than I expected.