Chapter 10

-Noah's POV-

"Vampire 101?" I asked cautiously.

That was the beginning of a rather awful night. We discussed the foundations of vampirism, which sounds more interesting and more helpful than it was. I was told I had increased speed, strength, senses, and charm. We discussed the facial changes which happened when I was hungry, and the sensitivity to light and sound.

Then it got to the topic which I was dreading. "But it's in all the shows and movies," I argued. "They either drink animal blood, or they go to blood banks." It wasn't the first time that I argued this case tonight. Out of everything vampirism entailed, hunting and feeding was the thing which chilled me to the bone.

"I would love for you to figure that out for yourself," Crow said with a hint of sarcasm. I knew that I was annoying him, but I was stubborn. "I've told you that books and movies are about as informative as a three-year-old doing a lecture on astrophysics. If I could live on animal blood, or donated blood, then I would be doing it."

I sighed and clenched my fists. I would've thrown something if there was something in my hand to throw. I couldn't get any words to leave my mouth. Crow staring at me didn't help. "What about drinking and then leaving them? How does a human turn into a vampire?" I had already asked these questions already, but I felt like he was avoiding them.

"When's the last time you tore your neck open, lost three or four pints of blood, and forgot why?" Crow asked. He stood up and stalked towards me. "I went through what you're going through. I had these thoughts and learned what I could and couldn't do. You've had the warnings that I didn't. Noah, please listen to me when I say that we can't." He rested his hands on my shoulders.

Despite the sincerity that I could hear in Crow's voice, I couldn't take his word. "No!" I exclaimed and pulled away from his grip. Annoyance flashed across his features, but I had begun to pace again. "I don't know what you know, all I know is what you tell me. And how can I know that's for sure?" My anger was flaring, and I couldn't control my mouth. "You attacked me and left me for dead. How am I meant to trust the person who got me in this situation?"

Crow didn't argue, which only made me angrier. He couldn't argue that it wasn't his fault. I had only gone after my hat, but was that even caused by the wind in the first place? He could've taken my hat, using his speed to take it off my head.

I couldn't take any more of this. I left the treehouse, which I had nearly forgotten was a treehouse until I was staring down at the forest floor. I decided to test my new abilities. It wouldn't be too bad if I didn't have any at all. Maybe a broken bone or two would be what I needed to kick some sense into me.

Much to my surprise, I jumped from the entrance and landed on my feet. I looked up to see Crow's surprised expression, before I ran in a random direction.

I gave up about fifteen minutes into running. I took my phone out of my pocket and decided to use Google Maps to find my way home. I used my hood to cover my head, knowing that I couldn't take the bus or a taxi. Luckily, I wasn't too far from my house. I was pleasantly surprised to find that we had completely circled my house when going into the forest.

When I got home, I sank into my settee and wept my heart out. I hadn't cried this much in years. Why can't things just stop? The thought repeated and echoed in my head over and over again. My emotions and anxieties were poisoning each and every thought. The world was blurry and my head was banging. Why couldn't' I get that question out of my head?

That wasn't the only thing I could hear. Footsteps, vibrations, banging, and various other noises which pounded against the walls of my skull. It was comforting in a sense, reminding me that I wasn't completely alone. But it was also driving me insane.

Unfortunately, Crow had school the next day and I had university work to be doing. I was grateful that it was only a studio day today, which means that I didn't have to email any lecturers and explain why I wouldn't be making it to class. I didn't want to make the trip into town, but that was fine. I was able to work on my sketches and drawing at home with the liminal supplies that I had.

That was, if I could bring myself to concentrate for a minute or two. Crow tried to explain this feeling to me back when we were in the tree house. I couldn't sit still, bugs were crawling all over me, I had an itch that I couldn't scratch. I had so much energy and so little patience. I couldn't deal with any of these sensations. There were really no words to describe this feeling. My chest felt tight and my limbs felt heavy, but I couldn't stop moving them.

It would ease if I drank blood, that's what Crow had told me. It was becoming incredibly tempting. I was at the point where I wanted to rip my hair out. My emotions hadn't calmed down since yesterday, and I hadn't gotten any sleep. I wanted to go into the forest and scream. I was already screaming inside, and screaming in my street would surely make the neighbours concerned, I wanted to scream my head off, maybe make it explode, I'd have a chance for the emotions to stop then.

That's what I did. I didn't bother putting a coat on, and I thanked my lucky stars because it was sweltering outside. As soon as I stepped down the stairs which led to my front door, sweat started to form on my forehead. The sun was my enemy from that moment on. I almost wanted to go back inside, but I couldn't stand looking at the same four walls for a moment longer.

I couldn't risk using public transport, as the temptation to break something had already beaten me. My bedroom door had faced the main impact of my fury. Now it was no longer on its hinges.

Of course, as my luck would have it, rain began to pour. The sun was still shining brightly, but now I was getting wet. The water slid down my arm and puddled in my shoes. I didn't care that I ignored people on the road who said hello. I didn't care if the sun hid in the clouds, causing me to shiver. I didn't care if I wasn't dressed for the weather. I didn't care if my legs began to ache. With each step, I began to care less and less.

I couldn't imagine what I looked like, but that was something else I couldn't bring myself to care about. It was around midday, and the streets were crowded with more people than I had expected. I wished that I could delete the entirety of humanity, just until I could calm down. But I couldn't, so I stuck to avoiding people as much as they were avoiding me.

I was painfully aware of the stares I was receiving. People walked by me and muttered about how stupid I was to be dressed like this in the weather we were having. Parents would bring their children closer to their legs and told them to make better decisions than I had, as though they knew what got me into this situation. I wish someone could tell me not to make the decisions I made when I was a child.

At least I had the common sense to wear sunglasses today, in order to hide the red glow which emitted from my eyes. I didn't know if it hid all of the red in my veins, but it was an attempt of an effort. I just hoped people would shrug it off as paint.

I let my feet guide me to a field. I used to visit this field all of the time when I was a child. When I would play football, it would be here. Even when my graduating class had our final celebration, as I didn't go to prom, we had it here. The entire place was dead. There were no flowers, and the grass was yellow. I tried to catch my breath, forcing each one, because my body didn't do that itself anymore.

My heartbeat against my ribcage. Which was a very odd sensation given the fact that I wasn't breathing, and that I could feel every inch of my heart. Crow claimed that he knew nothing about anatomy when we were discussing vampirism. The only part of anatomy he knew was how to draw it, and that was his least favourite part of drawing.

I lay back, the coldness of the wet grass calming my temperature. I closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on my surroundings, which was almost-silent once again. My boss told me to do this whenever I was angry or got too warm in the kitchen, and I found it worked for at least a little while. It was okay for a little while.

But it wasn't okay.

I was a vampire and there's no way that I would ever cure it. Crow warned me what would happen if I didn't have human blood, and I wouldn't dare wish that on my worst enemy. I wouldn't be in my right mind, and I wouldn't be able to control myself. I would hurt anyone who got in my way at a bad time. If there was one thing that I couldn't stand, it would be lack of control.

I saw no end to this misery that I was feeling. The cold, wet, pit that I had fallen into showed no light. I knew that if Crow was here, he would tell me some philosophical stuff, but he wasn't here.

"Hello?" A rough voice came from the other side of the field. I turned my head and a man and a dog came into view. I didn't recognise either of them, despite visiting the field quite often. It was a popular place for dog-walkers, so I wasn't too shocked. "Are you alright? Do I need to call an ambulance?"

The concern in the man's voice made a chuckle escape my lips. I was sure that I seemed like a mess. I was soaked through with rain and sweat, my hair was a mess, and I was almost certain I looked as though I had a good night last night. "I don't think that an ambulance would help."

The man came closer, the dog whining with each and every step. "Shush Franklin," the man hushed. The man bent down and took the leash off the dog's collar. "Don't go far." The man had an almost magical touch as Franklin ran off. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Not really," I answered as I sat up. Mud stuck to my back. "I can't really say much about it, but they're personal issues I can't avoid." The mud was also clinging to my hair in chunks, so when I rubbed the back of my neck, it came off in big lumps.

The man looked less concerned now that I was sat up. "Is it school? A partner?" The man sat next to me, which almost made me want to argue. I knew I was insane for getting covered in mud, but he didn't need to join me in the insanity. "You know, telling a stranger about your troubles might help."

If it were any other day, I probably would've thought that this was an incredibly creepy occurrence. I wanted to tell him about all the troubles and issues I had. But I didn't think that I should tell him about vampirism, despite the physical oddities being on show. He must've had pretty bad eyesight to not notice my glowing red veins. "Well, it's not a partner, but it's a person. He wants what's best for me, but he's gotten me in so much...bother."

"I see," the man said, and he put his legs out in front of him, causing him to groan. "Surely he'll make up for it, if he really does care for you that much." He clasped his hands together. "In all my years, if there's one thing I've learned, then it's those who care about you, will try their hardest to be there for you. They'll make it up to you."

Hello Lovelies!

I hope that you're all doing well :D

Question of the chapter!

What do you do to calm down/relax?

I love a nice and relaxing bath, but if I can't then I would probably listen to some music, or a Youtube channel that I've seen too many times.