Chapter 4
Vampires cannot be seen in mirrors because the mirror reflects the soul, and Vampires have no souls... They are burned by crosses, holy water, and other holy objects since they are unholy, demonish creatures...When a person becomes a vampire and the demon enters him, he dies and is born again as a fiendish thing, doomed always to drink the blood of humans.
Briar slammed the book shut. What...Raven couldn’t...she wasn’t a thing. How could he love a thing? There was no doubt in his mind he still loved her- always would. But if she...He should just let her explain it, but as it was... he was afraid of her. He loved her, but he couldn’t stand to go near her. Yeah, great job, lover boy, you’re a real Romeo, he thought bitterly.
He looked at his watch angrily. Dammit. It was almost 8 pm. He’d been in here all day, and the librarian had been giving him suspicious looks since about noon. Oh, and yeah- it was dark outside. Kept getting better and better.
Guess it was time to go home and face the music. Briar slung his bag over his shoulder and started the walk home. It was weird- usually when he passed these dark alleys and heard scuttering noises like he did now, he thought of rats or maybe bums. Now all he could think was- Raven? But no- vampires were very silent. He’d read that somewhere.
A low hissing sound filled his ears suddenly, and he started feeling groggy. Well, he didn’t get any sleep last night...but this wasn’t natural.
Briar was suddenly very, very afraid.
The sound was coming from the alley to his left. But he was so tired...couldn’t run...just go limp... just....sleep....
He only caught a glimpse of golden hair and grinning, catty eyes before he was out.
His last thought was that of pure, screaming evil.
It was like falling into a well.
Briar didn’t know what was happening at first, didn’t know why he felt like he was going screaming, raving mad. All he knew was that it felt like he was being sucked dry, hollowed out.
It was not a nice feeling.
Then suddenly- light. He could see what was happening around him with a clarity he’d never had before. He could hear the vampire sucking out his life- that was what she was, he knew that now- whimpering, whining like a starving animal, whispering.
Colors swirled around him, enveloping him in a shimmery mass of light. He noticed the red was disappearing slowly. Strange. It was almost half gone, and yet he couldn’t feel it anymore. His heart was slowing. His breath was disappearing. He felt icy fingers gripping his throat, tightening every second.
And suddenly it was all over.
“What are you doing?!”
Raven’s eyes shot open wide. Briar looked like a rag doll in Chastity’s arms, nothing more than a limp piece of flesh. Chastity didn’t believe in letting humans live like she did. She didn’t share her view of valuing human life. She wouldn’t stop...oh, god, he could be dead.
Head snapping up, face deformed, Chastity snarled at Raven. “I’m eating, what’s it look like?”
Raven was beginning to panic. “Let him go!”
Looking amused, Chastity reverted her face to it’s human form. “He’s a pretty one, isn’t he? What, you want him for yourself?”
“I want you to LEAVE HIM ALONE!”
The force of her voice scared even Raven, and she realized suddenly her face was twisted, her teeth had grown, and her eyes were feral. One look at Chastity’s face told her just how frightening she really looked.
“Fine, take him,” Chastity snarled finally. “He’s practically dry anyway.”
She tossed him down, and in an instant Raven was at him side, feeling him for signs of life. Chastity slunk off angrily into the darkness.
He was almost dry of blood- Chastity’d been right about that. In fact, Raven realized with a start, he was too dry.
If Briar wasn’t turned into a vampire, he would be die.
