A storm passed through, and then there were just faint rumblings and the occasional flash of lightning. Jack was downstairs, pacing back and forth in the dark living room. He was much too wired to go back up and lie down next to Kim.
He could hear both of the women as they slept upstairs, could detect the soft rhythm of their heartbeats in the quiet house. Their scents still lingered over the room.
And then there was that misty redness. It floated around the edges of his mind like a creeping fog. Thin, but more constant than earlier in the night.
Jack sank down into the soft cushions of the couch that had been his bed for so many days, and looked around the room. Earlier, he'd straightened everything up from his little scuffle with Matt. Now, there was nothing to do, and he was getting bored. He knew boredom was not a good thing for a vampire.
Jack turned on the TV, keeping the volume low enough so that his family wouldn't hear him play Guitar Hero. Then he zoned out, enjoying the release of all thought while he rocked "Sabotage". Several songs after that, Jack was flipping through the TV channels.
It was alarming that he couldn't focus on much of anything except how
good
people looked. Especially when he found a slasher movie, with lots of gore and blood. He couldn't take his eyes off the screen. He flipped the TV off, disgusted with himself.
It was bad enough that he was keyed up again, but even worse-hungry.
In the dark kitchen, Jack opened the fridge and took out a tube of blood. The label said "Kim" in her rounded scrawl. Why did they bother to label the tubes? he wondered. He shook his head. Women.
He popped the cap off the vacuum tube and drank her down. Ah, that was good and salty, although...cold. He grimaced. Cold wasn't doing it for him anymore. And just one wasn't going to satisfy him either.
For the last year, he'd been more than happy with a tube per day, mixed in with some liquid human food. But now, the awakening parasite wanted more, and it wanted it hot and fresh.
He threw the empty vial into the trash and reached for another one. This was Benny. She's really not a bad sister, he thought as he drained the vial down his throat, enjoying the touch of sweetness that was again marred by temperature and time away from its donor.
He stared into the open door at the remaining tubes. He wanted another one. No, he wanted them all. Every tube, and then some.
In anger, he shut the door and stumbled over to the kitchen sink. He leaned against it, then turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on his face. He cupped some of the water in his hand and filled his mouth with it, then spit it back into the sink. Those remaining molecules of his family's blood were off his taste buds, for now.
Jack thought he was off the hook with this reversion thing because he hadn't been craving blood. If he wasn't hungry, he reasoned, then it wasn't the same as when he was first turned. But now there was hunger.
Jack crept back to the living room. For a while, he leaned against the railing of the staircase. He stood there just gazing into the darkness upstairs, toward the two sleeping women.
Moments later, he snapped out of it. He wanted to tell himself it was just withdrawal from the antidote leaving his system. After all, it was only hours ago that he'd been flat on his back, sick. He couldn't expect not to have little setbacks. He just didn't want to believe things were happening so fast
But he couldn't deny the obvious changes in his thinking. Jack felt absolutely shitty over how he'd treated Kim in bed, guilting her and disregarding her fear. God, he'd put her life at risk by having sex with her tonight. She was right-he could have easily lost control.
The truth was, he simply found it harder to care. That red haze blowing through his mind seemed to lower his inhibitions and his reasons to worry. It was taking away all his cares and concerns...except for getting blood.
But he cared
right now.
He had his mind at this moment, and he had to protect his family. He glanced at the clock on the wall. Four in the morning. In a matter of hours, he'd have another injection and the parasite would go into hibernation inside him again. The craving that had begun to claw him would just be a memory. He could hold on a little longer.
He decided to go out and take a walk to clear his head. He left the house and inhaled the night. No moon or stars-the clouds still hung low in the sky. The world was alive around him. The rich textures in the darkness were like a caress to his senses. Just one more night left as a vampire, he thought.
He could scarcely be honest with himself about it, but a part of him would miss this. He'd almost forgotten what it was like before the antidote. When he stepped out into the darkness, he felt like he'd truly stepped into his world. But after tonight, he'd stumble in the dark. He'd be nothing compared to the creature he was now.
It didn't matter. He couldn't stay this way, letting the vampiric parasite with its ever-hunger have total control of his body, and soon, his mind. He thought of Kim and Benson. He would be strong for them. But he couldn't help testing his other abilities.
A quarter mile down the road was the Miller farm. He decided to run there. He looked down at his watch, then took off as fast as he could go down the country road to the neighbor's.
He stopped in front of the Miller farm and checked his watch, did a mental calculation, and came up with 45 feet per second. Not bad, he thought. He knew he would soon shave more time off his speed as the antidote continued to wear off.
Jack thought about the past when he and his maker, Cole, would have races down highways and country roads. Many of those cold nights were filled with laughter and drinks around a campfire, after a hot, fresh meal. It set Jack's mind back to how it all began.
*
It was late November-getting dark early-but just another day at the bank, until he got a call from Lily. The last thing he expected was to hear her voice again, and he had to admit a part of him was curious.
She said she had some items of his she wanted to return. He told her to just give it all to a homeless shelter. But she begged to see him-something she desperately needed to talk to him about in person. Against his better judgment, he agreed to meet her.
She wanted him to come to the same coffee shop where they used to hang out. Back then, he'd sip hot tea, she'd have coffee with lots of cream and sugar, and they'd share a large piece of blueberry pie. Now, he didn't feel like eating or drinking. He just wanted to get this over with.
He immediately saw her at a table by the window. He stood there a moment, taking in her delicate porcelain face and long, red hair. Her breasts were snug in the plunging neckline of a blue shirt that matched her eyes.
He noticed a cup overturned on a saucer on the table across from her, waiting for him. A large piece of blueberry pie sat in the middle of the table, two forks at the ready. She was looking down at a magazine as she stirred a cup of coffee. He slowly advanced toward her table.
Lily looked up, saw him, and smiled sweetly. He took the seat across from her.
"Hi, Jack."
"Lily."
The waitress appeared.
"Nothing for me, thanks." He turned back to his ex fiancee.
"Not even one cup of tea?
He'd forgotten how vibrant those blue eyes were. They seemed to draw him in. He broke free of them and looked down at the cup in front of him. He turned it, sliding it around on the saucer before looking back up to her face. "I don't intend to stay long."
He saw disappointment flash in those eyes, but her voice was cheerful. "I got your favorite pie." She shoved the plate toward him and leaned forward as she did, her cleavage threatening to overflow onto the table.
His eyes took in the cute spattering of freckles on her upper chest and breasts. Jack pulled his eyes immediately up to hers. He read some strange triumph in her sparkling, blue eyes.
Lily smiled sweetly. "We'll share it just like old times."
"No thanks. I'm not hungry. I'm married."
Her smiled slipped a little. "So I heard." Lily straightened up and smoothed her hands down the sides of her shirt, a move meant to emphasize her generous curves again. Her gaze traveled from his short, dark hair to the white dress shirt and tie. "You look really good."