Chapter 18

Scarlet's mind was clouded by too many things, things she does not understand, thing she cannot explain, things she cannot let any other person know, not even her mother, or Melanie. At this point, if she does not get any answer to what she was looking for, she feels she might go crazy. Weird things have been happening to her lately and she has been too ignorant, but not anymore.

As she made her way to her neighborhood, she heard slow incoming footsteps and she raised her eyes to see that it was Johan. Not batting an eyelid, she continued to walk and when they were close, she walked past him without sparing him a glance. 

Johan stopped walking and he turned to look at her going forward. He let out a sigh and quickly moved his feet to catch up with her.

"Scarlet," he called. "Scarlet," he called again, this time much louder.

Scarlet stopped walking and she waited for him until he caught up with her. Now, he was standing in front of her with that solemn look but Scarlet was not ready for any of what he was about to say.

"Scarlet I—"

"Don't even think of apologizing," she cut him off before he could finish. "I do not want to see you or hear what you want to say. I am not ready to forgive you if it is forgiveness you are asking for," she said and darted her eyes forward as she made to resume walking.

At the same time, Johan made to stop her by holding her but before his hand would touch her, Scarlet knocked him down by kicking his leg which he used for balance and Johan found himself on the floor.

Scarlets eyes widen a bit when she realized what she had done and even Johan who was down was more surprised at the sudden attack. It was too swift and smooth. She does not know if she is actually the one doing it, but her body is reacting to every little thing, especially things that are incoming. It was as if she knows Johan was about to touch her because she developed goosebumps on her skin, just like when it happened before she used her bag to hit the boy.

Looking down at Johan who let out a groan, she made to help him up but as her hand reached for him, she froze immediately and gulped down. 

It was happening again. She can see down to the inch of his neck, the veins…it was as if it was drawing her in and she was starting to lose control again. 

When Johan moved his body and made to get up, her breathing became harsh and she quickly turned her body to look in the other side, trying to think of anything to distract her. None of what she thought about was working the way she wanted and she could perceive Johan's scent just right behind her, but also with a mix of blood.

Her senses went wild immediately and she quickly shut her eyes while clenching her hands into a fist.

"S—"

"Are you hurt somewhere?" she asked him in her most normal voice, her back still turned to him. "Do you have any injury on your body?"

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Do you?" Scarlet repeated her question, sounding a bit impatient.

"Yes, but…it's just a scratch," Johan replied her. "Why are you not looking at me?" he asked.

"Don't say any more word Johan," she said, still trying to control the urge she was feeling. "I am not myself right now and I feel I might just kill you right here and no one will find out where your body is. To ensure your safety, only leave here five minutes after I am gone. This is not a joke, you bloody betrayer," she added in the end and started to walk away from the place as fast as she can while also ignoring Johan who stood behind, calling out her name.

Once Scarlet got into the house, she hurried to her room and locked the door immediately, breathing hard as her chest heaved up and down. All the whole scene of the strange thing that overcame her came rushing back to her and she brought her hands up to cover her face. 

Her nose suddenly began to tingle and she slowly brought her hands forward only to see the dried blood of the boy whose leg she had injured. Not waiting another second, she rushed into the toilet and threw up, coughing and feeling her body began to heat up. When she was done, she scrubbed off the blood on her hand and the ones sticking to her fingers and she splashed water on her face which she later wiped with a towel.

Now standing in front of the mirror in her room, Scarlet stared at herself to see if anything was off about her appearance or if there was anything at all that would make anyone suspect her, but she looks absolutely normal, just that she was feeling different inside.

She does not understand any of what was happening to her. How can a normal person have a clear view of what the veins inside a neck looks like just by looking with the ordinary eye? She thought. It did not make any sense, and what followed after was even more scarier.

Moving away from the front of the mirror, she walked to the bed and picked up her phone before sitting. As her fingers moved to tap on search, she could feel her heart racing each second and she curled her legs together. When the keyboard popped up, she thought of how to type it in.

"Can a normal person view the veins in the neck…"

Scarlet started to type, but she stopped and hit the delete button to clear everything. The question didn't make sense to her. She already saw it and that explains it. She is not normal.

Staring at the screen, she decided to search for something else and she began to type again;

"Why am I starting to get attracted to blood?"

She stared at the question and moved her finger to press send. Scarlet's heart skipped a beat as soon as it brought out loads of result and she looked at the first one as she read through in her mind.

It read, "Blood from attractive people." She clicked on it and read further; "Blood from attractive people forms long lustrous stands…whereas blood from ugly people is dull and lifeless."

It wasn't what she was looking for so she went back to the result page and scrolled up slowly as her eyes moved, reading through the words.

'How do you know if someone is sexually attracted to you?'

'What makes a woman sexually appealing?'

'Why am I so turned on by someone?'

Scarlet was beginning to get bored and a little bit relieved at the same time and she scrolled further. She saw other headings like Sexual Tension, Mosquito Magnets and Mosquito Bites and she was about to exit when something caught her eyes immediately.

'Animals that suck (Blood)'

Scarlet read the heading and her eyes moved below it to read the short note. The first word that caught her attention was 'leeches' and she clicked on it to read more about what it was about.

Once it took her to another page, Scarlet's eyes were struck with these words; real-life bloodsuckers, creepy, transmitters, drinking blood, teeth sinking, vampires.

The last word was even more creepy to her and she started to feel uneasy. She turned her phone upside down on the bed and stood up immediately.

"Vampires aren't real," she said to herself. "I must be sick. It must be a medical condition that needs to be treated," she tried assuring herself and she took in deep breaths before releasing. Still, her mind was not fully settled and she picked up her phone again.

Scarlet went ahead to search for the word 'Vampires' and her finger shook as she entered it. The first thing that sent her eyes wide was the image of a lady whose upper teeth were displayed and she had two long sharp tooth on both sides of her mouth. Not only that, her eyes were dark and there are some wordings inscribed on her forehead.

Scarlet was freaking out now and she quickly scrolled up. Her eyes moved frantically on every word and she read in her mind;

"According to predominant mythology, every vampire was once a human, who, after being bitten by a vampire, died and rose from the grave as a monster. Vampires crave the human blood and hunt humans during the night. They use their protruding fangs to puncture their victim's necks."

Scarlet was beginning to feel her body turning cold at what she was reading. She saw another word that read, 'undead creatures' and she immediately scrolled again. She came across another heading which read, 'What kills a vampire'? Under it, she read that it was by chopping off the head and burning the body.

This can't be what she was looking for, she thought and wondered what made her to search for it in the first place. As she was about to exit, her eyes suddenly read something under the most searched and she tapped on it.

'Vampires suffer from porphyria which affects the skin, leading to sensitivity to sun and light.'

A sudden gasp escaped Scarlet's lips and her phone dropped from her hand. Her fingers were shaking now and her eyes held horror in them. She did not want to believe any of what she just read or link it to what was happening to her. 

She held her head and tried to shut out everything she read from her memory, but even as she did, it was as if a part of her knew it was true. Even at that, she did not want to believe it. It was insane to her. Vampires are not real. They are all myth and it has nothing to do with what was happening to her.

Her eyes slowly moved to the closed curtain and she gulped as she walked towards it. Slowly, her hand reached for it and she could hear her heart beating in her ribcage. She took in a deep breath and pushed the curtain to the side a little, leaving a small opening. She wanted to confirm it again, but as she pushed it slightly further again, she realized there was no direct sunlight. 

Scarlet dared to breathe a sigh of relief as she held on to the curtain, but as her eyes lowered down, she saw a lone familiar figure standing below and staring directly at her. At first, she thought it was Johan, but there was a difference. It was the dressing and the hair and Scarlet could feel the eyes on her, but because of the curtain, she could not get a proper view.

Moving closer, she brought her other hand and parted the curtain into two, but when she looked down again, the person was not there and Scarlet moved her eyes to search around.

It was unbelievable. It looked as though the person had disappeared and as she was still trying to see where the person must have gone to, the loud croak of a raven on the tree close to her window freaked the living out of her and she immediately shut the curtains before jumping on her bed with her duvet pulled up to her neck.

It seems as if she had just seen a ghost.