Chapter 70

I drew in a sharp breath, dragging the outline of my meal towards me as I basked in the bloody haze that coated my eyes, allowing my elongated fangs to push through my lips; sinking into the stranger’s throat. I moaned in pleasure, pulling the bulky form closer towards me as a rich and sweet liquid began to slide down my throat; instantly easing the burning agony that had thundered throughout my changing form. I closed my eyes as the red haze began to dissipate, relishing in the pleasant way that the man’s heart began to slow, his very life force merging with my own; ridding me of my own pain. And filling me with a new feeling, a predatory instinct that only someone with heightened senses could feel, the world around me bursting to life in a new and vibrant way.

I pulled back sharply, licking what remained of the mortal’s blood from my lips as I tilted my head back, smiling playfully as I allowed the bloodless sack of bones to plummet into the ground with a sickening thud. I laughed, running a hand through my coppery coloured hair as I opened my eyes, turning to stare at my master. The ruler of our kind and destroyer of all those who stood in his path to power. Mortem. My sire. Blood bond. The immortal king who had given me new life, a better life. One that would last forever.

The blood rage was something that Sanctus had yet to understand, something that would change her into something she hated above all else, but like all things in this world, the blood rage does not last...

I blinked rapidly, my stomach churning as I heaved, pushing back the urge to vomit. I squealed, pressing my bloodied hand against my mouth as the memories of what I had done slithered through me, claiming their place within my mind.

My stomach churned once more, causing me to heave dryly as there was nothing to bring back up, the revolting taste of copper clinging to my tongue. I turned sharply towards Mortem, instantly knowing that I was faster, stronger, that both my hearing and eye sight had improved dramatically. I sobbed, watching as a triumphant smile spread across his features, his fangs beginning to puncture his bottom lip.

“Tell me new born, how does it feel to know you have become the very thing that you hate? That your family fought and died against.” He asked softly, his voice propelling towards my ears at an alarming pace.

I stared into his lifeless white eyes for a long moment, tears sliding down my cheeks as I realised the full extent of what Ihad done. I was a creature, something that harboured no feeling for the lives of others, nor a soul to carry me into the afterlife, I was a vampire.

A being that fed on the blood and life force of others, caring not for the corpses that they leave behind. I turned to look down at the ground as a new sorrow gripped my heart, sinking me further into the darkness.

I stared into the lifeless eyes, the deep shade of burning amber no longer holding its secret flame, nor the knowledge and power that surged behind them. His flowing brunette hair now dull and flat as it reached down to his crumbling and rotting frame.

The life that had once emanated through him now gone, taken away by a monster. Something that deserved to rot in hell. It was me, Mortem had changed me into a being much like that of himself and then I had killed someone, a mortal. Drained their life without showing the first sign of regret.

But this wasn’t just any mortal. It was someone who had raised me from a child, held me while I cried and scolded me whenever I did something against his wishes.

The corpse was Derrick. The man I loved above all others, my guardian.

I had killed Derrick...