Chapter 4: Love, Blood, and Fangs

Marcus Cutler POV:

I let Julia lead me through the Hunting Ground and out into the alley behind it. Once there, I let my hand slip out of hers. She didn’t seem to notice, or she didn’t care, either way she was keeping her back to me. I couldn’t blame her though, she thought she was about to get an easy meal from an unsuspecting human.

Boy, she was in for a surprise.

As quickly and as quietly as I could, I pulled my knife out of my jacket and came up behind Julia. Grabbing her shoulder, I spun her around to face me, driving my knife towards her heart, only for her to catch my wrist in her own iron grip.

That wasn’t something I was expecting, and I’m pretty sure my face must have looked as panicked as I felt for a few seconds.

Any pretense of friendliness had disappeared from Julia’s face and had been replaced by a deadpan expression paired with a cold look in her eyes. “Seriously?” she asked me.

Instead of waiting for my reply, Julia placed her free hand against my chest and shoved me back, throwing me off my feet.

I was slammed against the back wall of the Hunting Ground hard, but the only sound I could make was a strangled gasp as the wind was knocked out of my lungs. I managed to stay of my feet at least, and that was the best place for me to be since Julia was already approaching me again. Pushing off the wall, I thrust my knife at her heart again, but this time she backhanded me across the face.

The taste of blood suddenly filled my mouth, and I was thrown off my feet to be sent crashing to the pavement. As I spat out a small mouthful of blood, Julia’s foot appeared in front of my face.

I was getting desperate at this point. I didn’t have the element of surprise anymore, and that meant I was fighting a monster I didn’t have a chance against, and it had me exactly where it would want me. With no other option, I surged to my feet and slashed at Julia’s neck.

With a display of appropriately inhuman speed, Julia was suddenly a meter out of my reach, leaving my knife to pass through empty air. With that same speed, Julia was on me, grabbing me by my wrist and throat and pining me against the wall. With my remaining hand I grabbed the hand on my throat to try and pry it off, but her grip was like iron. As I tried and failed to loosen the grip on my throat, her grip on my wrist tightened, sending my knife clattering to the ground.

As I struggled against her, Julia just stared at me impassively. Suddenly she leaned forward and pressed her lips against mine. I was stunned, but that quickly turned into disgust as she forced her tongue into my mouth.

I actually screamed into her mouth, but that didn’t do anything.

Julia eventually broke the kiss and pulled back. She smiled at me, but now it was a predatory smile, revealing her fangs and everything. She leaned back in and rested her head against mine.

“Your blood is bitter,” she whispered, her crimson lips brushing my ear. “But it’s rich. Like dark coffee. It’s delicious." She paused. "You’re delicious, Marcus.”

“Get off me!” I snarled.

Naturally, Julia didn’t do that. Instead, she buried her face in the crook of my neck. “I can feel your heart racing. Are you afraid, Marcus? Of me?”

I didn’t dignify that with a response.

Julia’s mouth moved against my neck, and I got the impression she was smiling. “You don’t need to be,” she said in a tone that was probably supposed to be soothing. “I can replace that fear with something much nicer.”

That was when a stabbing pain tore through my neck.

I wanted to scream, but even as I opened my mouth, the pain suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a warm and fuzzy feeling.

That was when I knew I was doomed.

The vampire had injected me with her venom.

Vampire venom has two purposes. The first is to stimulate the victim’s heartrate, ensuring the vampire had a steady supply of blood while feeding. The second is to act as an anesthetic, and of these too, the latter is the most dangerous.

The venom not only numbs the pain of the bite, but it also stimulates the pleasure centers of the victim’s brain, keeping them docile, and even making them happy, inducing a euphoria stronger than what any narcotic can provide as their blood is drained.

There have even been instances of people becoming addicted to the feeling that vampire bites offer.

As I stood here, with the fangs of a monster buried in my neck, I could see where those people were coming from.

The warm fuzzies were spreading from the bite up my neck, wrapping around my head, and then penetrating my skull.

Once that happened … all was right with the world.

Nearly every thought and every feeling I had was replaced by the warm fuzzies until they were the only thing, I was aware of.

Well, them and the dark beauty who had caused them.

My body began to go limp, and that was okay. Standing was too much work anyway. The movement of Julia’s lips against my neck as she drew blood from me tickled, so I giggled. She could take all my blood if it meant I could keep feeling like this. Just warm and fuzzy.

I felt sleepy suddenly, and I let my eyes slide closed.

And for the first time in twenty years, I wasn’t afraid to go to sleep.