Chapter 10 TRUE BLOOD
LILIAN POV
Morning light shouldn’t hurt like this.
It felt like knives slicing through my eyelids, every beam sharp, precise, unforgiving. I squinted, dragging the hood of my sweatshirt tighter over my face as I stumbled toward the school gates.
Coffee hadn’t helped, I had two cups, extra sugar but still nothing. I still felt… dry inside. Not tired starved and not for food.
The school hallways buzzed with the usual chaos laughter, sneakers squeaking, someone’s phone blasting pop music too early for human ears. My head pulsed with every beat. I could hear it all too clearly — every laugh, every breath, every heartbeat.
Thump..... Thump.... Thump.
Like a thousand tiny drums beneath people’s skin.
I rubbed my temples. “Get a grip, Lilian,” I muttered. “Don’t start sniffing classmates like a psycho.”
“Talking to yourself again?”
Mia’s voice shot out from behind me, all bright energy and concerned bestie vibes. She slipped her arm through mine before I could fake a smile.
“Only when I’m trying to drown out the voices,” I said flatly.
She snorted. “You joke too much for someone who looks like she hasn’t slept in three days.”
“Try four,” I said, forcing a grin. “I’m going for a new record.”
Jonah joined us at the lockers, pushing his glasses up with that skeptical look he reserved for my brand of weird. “You’re kidding, right? Because you look… uh—” He hesitated. “Paler than usual.”
“Flattering, thanks,” I said. “Maybe I’m just evolving into a ghost. One more existential crisis and poof I’ll start haunting your biology notes.”
He didn’t laugh neither did Mia like they didn't find it funny.
Instead, they exchanged a look. That kind of we’re-worried-but-we-don’t-want-to-say-it-out-loud look.
I slammed my locker shut a little too hard. The sound cracked like thunder in my skull, and for a second, everyone’s heartbeats synced, the pounding in my head grew louder, almost rhythmic.
Thump..... thump.....thump, oh sweet Jesus help me !.
“Hey,” Mia said gently placing her hand on my shoulder. “You sure you’re okay? You’ve been zoning out a lot lately.”
I hesitated for a moment... c'mon say it. Tell them something’s wrong. Tell them about the woman, the man who bite you, the locket, the nightmares...ugh.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said instead, forcing a shrug. “Just tired you know, work and late-night Netflix binge, the usual.”
Jonah frowned. “You hate Netflix Lilian.”
“Exactly. That’s how bad it’s gotten,” I muttered.
They laughed weakly, but I could tell neither believed me.
First period dragged. Every second felt like an hour. The teacher’s voice sounded warped, stretched thin, words bleeding together until it became just noise. I doodled aimlessly on my notebook scribbling random spirals, dark lines, a rough sketch of eyes I didn’t remember drawing.
When the bell finally rang, I shot up too fast. My chair screeched across the floor, making everyone turn.
“Sorry,” I said with a weird chuckle. “Back’s just killing me... you know .”
I grabbed my stuff and bolted out before anyone could ask questions.
The bathroom mirror didn’t lie, I looked like I was rehearsing how to be dead.
My skin looked pale, pupils dilated and got some cracked lips. But what made me freeze wasn’t the exhaustion. It was the faint shimmer under my skin, like something pulsing and my veins that looked too dark.
I touched one and It burned.
“Okay,” I whispered. “Not creepy at all.”
The lights of the school bathroom flickered and I staggered back, my heart racing. Then the door banged open and Mia walked in.
“Lil! What are you doing? You missed half of second period.”
I blinked, turning to her. “Just… touching up my insanity.”
She frowned. “You look sick, maybe you should go home.”
“I’m fine.”
“Lilian—”
“Mia, I said I’m fine!” My voice snapped louder than I meant, echoing off the tiles. The silence afterward stung worse than the look on her face.
I sighed, softer this time. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bite your head off.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Yeah, but if you keep snapping like that, people will think you actually might.”
I laughed, but it sounded wrong and forced, she left quietly.
Lunch time didn’t help either, the cafeteria smelled awful or maybe too good.
Every scent slammed into me: grilled meat, ketchup, metal from the cutlery, warm bread… and under it all, something sharper and of course blood!.
Someone must’ve had a paper cut, because that copper tang cut through everything.
My throat clenched.
I turned away, gripping my tray like it could anchor me. I couldn’t eat every bite of food tasted like dust. Every swallow made my stomach twist.
Across the table, Jonah was watching me. “ Lillian you're not eating, are you okay.”
“Dieting,” I said automatically.
He raised a brow. “Since when?”
“Since food started tasting like cardboard.”
He leaned closer. “You know, if something’s wrong, you can tell us.”
I forced a grin. “Yeah, sure. I’ll just say, ‘Hey guys, I think I’m allergic to humanity, That’ll go well right ?.”
Jonah didn’t smile. “You’re shaking.”
I looked down and he was right my hands trembled like I’d been in the cold for hours. I shoved them under the table. “I’m just… caffeinated.”
He didn’t buy it but thankfully, the bell rang again. Saved by education, ironically, funny right.
By the last class, my body felt like it wasn’t mine anymore. Every nerve burned, every sense too sharp. When someone laughed two rows behind me, I could hear their pulse skip. I could hear the teacher’s heartbeat quicken when he realized he’d lost control of the class.
And worst of all, I could hear my own, a wild frantic drum that didn’t sound human.
When school finally ended, I practically ran out. The air outside was thick with evening fog, the kind that swallowed sound. Perfect for my mood.
I cut through the back road toward the café, not because I wanted to, but because something pulled me there. Like gravity, or guilt. The place was closed, lights dim. But the glass door reflected something behind me.
For a second, I thought it was my own shadow. Until it moved differently.
Then I heard it a voice, smooth as silk, cold as a blade that I knew I've heard before.
“You can’t hide from what you are.”
My blood froze and i turned slowly.
Seraphine stood in the alley again, her pale face almost glowing against the dark. “You’re fighting too hard,” she said softly. “That’s why it hurts.”
I stepped back. “Stay away from me, you monster.”
“I have I mean for years but they won’t.”
“Who’s ‘they’?” I spat.
Her expression darkened. “The True blood.”
Something about those words made the air colder. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
She stepped closer, and I saw it — her eyes, silver under the moonlight. Not glowing, not dramatic — just inhumanly calm. “They’re the ones who made you. The ones who made me.”
My voice trembled. “I’m not—”
“Say it,” she whispered. “Say you’re not like me.”
“I’m not!” I shouted. “I’m not some....some monster!”
She tilted her head, pity flickering across her face. “Then why does the scent of blood make your pulse race?”
My chest heaved cause someone I knew the truth but I would never give in....never!.
Seraphine took another step, and I saw the faint shimmer around her like heat waves, but darker. “They’ll come for you soon, Lilian. They’ve already started.”
“What do you mean.... started?”
She glanced past me. “ I can't tell you now seems like you got quite a friend huh.... she followed you here.”
My heart sank, I turned and there she was, at the end of the alley, eyes wide, frozen in shock.
“Mia, go!” I shouted.
But she just stared, whispering, “Lil… your eyes…”
I blinked the world went blurry for a split second.
When I looked again, Seraphine was gone... ugh that motherfucker !.
Only Mia’s terrified whisper remained. “What’s happening to you?”
I couldn’t answer, because for the first time, I didn’t know.
All I could hear was the sound of her heartbeat loud, warm, alive and the unbearable hunger clawing inside my chest.
Thump.... Thump....Thump.