Tainted Blood (Book 2)

4. I Have It In My Right Mind To Kill You

Olivia paced angrily in her room, even the heavy oak door wasn't blocking out the noise from the party going on below her. She shook her hands violently, trying to stop claws from tipping her fingers. She couldn't believe Brandon was throwing a party when her mother and the others had been missing for over a month. A rib cracked beneath her skin and she twisted in response to the pain. She placed her hands on her knees and fought to catch her breath. There was a knock on her door, she tried to force herself to answer but no noise came out, everything was stuck as she tried to fight off the change.

"Oh! This isn't the bathroom," a man said as he stepped around the door, "I'm terribly sorry." She gave him a pained smile and a wave of her hand. He started to pull the door shut behind him and she let out a pained breath. He opened the door again, stepping inside and closing it behind him.

"Can I-" another pained breath, "help you?"

"Here," he said as he walked over to her swiftly. She didn't have the energy to move away from him. If he was going to kill her, she would just have to deal with it. He grabbed her side roughly, pressing his palm into the cracked rib, keeping it from moving around too much. He grabbed her throat in his hand, pulled her face close to his and he peeled his lips back, revealing elongated canines. A hiss escaped his throat and fear kicked her in the gut. Very suddenly her body no longer hurt and she was fully capable of movement. She pulled away from him, and he let her go.

"What the hell was that?"

"Fear. It overpowers everything. You're still a whelp right?" he asked her as he glanced at his fingernails.

"Yeah?"

"I kind of figured. You don't have Brandon's scent all over you. You still smell new."

"Ew. His scent will never be all over me."

"You don't belong to his pack?"

"I don't belong to any pack." His eyes narrowed at her and this smile snaked across his face.

"I'm Clark," he extended his hand to her.

"Olivia," she responded. She took his hand and instead of shaking it like a normal person he brought it up to his cold lips and kissed it lightly. Goosebumps rose up her arms.

"So, Olivia, why are you hiding yourself up here in this room?" Clark asked as he dropped her hand.

"I don't like parties." He sat down on the edge of her bed, it barely moved.

"Neither do I. Not these kind anyways. But, I was forced to attend. Trying to join a new seethe is tiring."

"What kind of parties do you like?" she asked as she sat next to him, one leg folded under her.

"The kind where I can get high." She nodded slightly. She studied him. He was tall, taller than Dean, she figured around six foot. His frame was thinner, though, she was beginning to assume that was a trait among all vampires. They just didn't have the bulk that werewolves did. His skin was exceptionally pale. His eyes looked almost black, with smallest hint of what looked like amethyst purple.

"I'm sorry?" she said as she realized he had been speaking to her.

"I asked if you had ever tasted vampire blood before."

"Uh once," she answered.

"Are you bound to another vampire?"

"Not that I'm aware of."