A Wind of Change

Jeramiah still looked doubtful. “When will you do it?”

“By the end of the week,” Michael replied.

“No later than that.”

“Agreed,” Michael said.

“But Michael,” the beauty standing next to Jeramiah said, “I was thinking this newcomer could be good for our new member, Joseph. What about you and Alexandria?”

Michael breathed out impatiently and gripped my arms tighter. “Alexandria and I are tired of each other. And as much as I appreciate your opinion, Lucretia, it isn’t required. Joseph isn’t interested in a companion anyway, according to Jeramiah… So this girl has arrived just in time. We were planning to do it this evening, right?”

Jeramiah’s eyes were still fixed on me, but he nodded. “Yes, this evening.”

“What is this evening?” I asked, hysteria shaking my voice.

Again, nobody bothered to answer me.

“Have you been to see Joseph?” Michael asked.

“No. I’m going to do that now,” Jeramiah replied.

“Are we sure that he’s ready for it?” Michael asked. “He seemed… unsteady.”

“I think he’s ready. We’ll have him see people one by one, so it won’t be so overwhelming. I’ll stay with him in case there is any trouble.”

“He’d better be ready,” Michael muttered. “He won’t be newly-turned for much longer…”

Michael moved back down the hallway toward the door, dragging me after him.

“I’ll bring Joseph to your quarters, yes?” Jeramiah said, already pulling on a shirt that his girlfriend was handing him.

“Yes,” Michael said. “We’re headed there now.”

“We might as well bring him to see this girl first then,” Jeramiah said.

“I agree,” Michael replied.

“Who’s Joseph?” I shouted.

Michael threw me over his shoulder again and left the apartment. He ran along the veranda outside so fast I could hardly breathe. My surroundings were a blur. I could barely even open my eyes until he stopped outside another door.

“My sister. She’s not well. She has asthma. At least take me to see her!”

“Don’t worry about your sister,” he replied calmly. “She’s in capable hands.”

Whose hands?

Withdrawing a key from his pocket, he opened the door and stepped inside. I shivered as he locked it behind him. We were standing in another apartment that looked similar in luxury to Jeramiah’s. He carried me down the hallway, pushed open the door at the end of it, and stepped into a bedroom. He placed me down on the large circular bed in the center of the room.

As soon as I hit the mattress, I scrambled away from him and ran for the door. He whizzed across the room and shut it before I could reach it. I staggered backward, moving toward the far corner of the room and looking for anything that I could use to defend myself.

“What are you?” I breathed.

A smile curled his lips, his brown eyes fixed on my face.

“Come here and I’ll show you.”

I grabbed hold of a table lamp and pulled it from its socket, brandishing it to create as much distance between him and me as I could.

Calmly, he removed his jacket to reveal a thin shirt beneath it. He walked toward me slowly, like a lion stalking its prey. Then his arm shot out so fast I didn’t have the speed to react in time. He ripped the lamp from my hands and threw it out of reach. Now defenseless, I stood flush against the wall.

“Do as I say, and you have nothing to be afraid of.”

As he took his final step, his body pressed against me, pinning me to the wall. He gripped the collar of my shirt and ripped it downward, baring my neck and collarbone.

“No!” I screamed, clutching my ripped shirt with one hand while trying to push him away with the other.

He pinned my hands up against the wall and held them there, then lowered his head to my neck. I tensed up as his lips pressed against my skin. I thought he was kissing me at first, then two sharp stabs punctured my flesh. I was too shocked to even scream.

What is happening?

His tongue brushed my skin, and he began sucking. He groaned deeply, and I felt his entire body begin heaving against me.

He’s… drinking my blood?

I felt close to passing out as he continued to take deep gulps of me.

Wake up, River. Please… wake up.

When he finally raised his head, my head was faint. His lips were covered with deep red liquid. My own blood. He smiled, revealing sharp fangs.

“Do I still need to answer your question, treasure? Or have I shown you enough?”

He had shown me enough.

These people were vampires.

Chapter 7: Ben

I’d been trying to keep my head down as much as possible. Jeramiah had consulted with Michael and Amaya, and he’d given me a few other jobs—mostly menial tasks like tending to the lily pond. I did them dutifully. My plan was to do as I was requested until I felt the time was right to propose that I accompany them on one of their hunts.

I had to gain their trust first. It seemed like the most obvious thing that a vampire would ask if he wanted to escape—to accompany them beyond the boundary. I needed to be patient and show Jeramiah that I was committed to being a good citizen of The Oasis.

I was invited to join more parties at night, but I declined. I just told them I was a recluse and had never been one to party. Nobody seemed to raise much objection to it. Marilyn didn’t bother me again either. Nobody other than Jeramiah sought me out, and even then just when there was a specific task he wanted to talk to me about, or to deliver more blood. There never seemed to be any shortage of it—indeed, he encouraged me to drink as much as I wanted. Though I didn’t, of course. I just drank the minimum required to survive without climbing the walls from hunger. I was just grateful that I hadn’t needed to do any killing myself. The moment I did that again, I’d be plunged back into the same black state I’d been in while drifting in the submarine.