Chapter 8 HUMAN EATER
(Lilian’s POV)
The next morning came like punishment.
I didn’t remember falling asleep. One second I was staring at the ceiling, listening to the sound of pipes groaning in the walls; the next, sunlight punched through my blinds again, and my alarm screamed bloody murder.
For a long minute, I just lay there, blank-eyed and heavy, the sound drilling straight into my skull. Every bone in my body ached like I’d spent the night wrestling invisible demons which, considering my luck, might not be that far off.
“God, you again?” I mumbled to the alarm, smacking it silent. “Can’t a girl have one morning without trauma?”
I sat up slowly this time. My head still throbbed, but the dizziness was less brutal better than yesterday. Everything else, though the brightness, the sharpness of sounds was still there. My hearing felt like someone had turned up the world’s volume and snapped the knob off.
I rubbed my eyes and dragged myself to the bathroom. My reflection greeted me with the same pale, tired face.
“See? Normal.” I forced a grin. It looked awful. “Totally fine. Just your friendly neighborhood insomniac.”
After a quick rinse and a half-hearted attempt to tame my hair, I threw on a gray hoodie, black jeans, and sneakers. My usual survival kit. I didn’t even bother with makeup there was no point pretending to be alive when I felt half-dead.
Before heading out, I grabbed my phone, there was missed calls. Three from Emma, one from Sam, and a string of messages all saying the same thing:
Where are you??
Lili?? You okay?
You ghosting us or dead? Reply pls.
I sighed, typing back:
Just Overslept, I’m fine ....Chill, jeez.
Then I stuffed the phone in my pocket and stepped out.
The morning air slapped my face awake every scent even exhaust from cars, street food, even rain-soaked concrete hit my nose like a punch. I could separate them taste them, almost.
“Wow,” I muttered. “My nose turned into a bloodhound’s it's totally normal.”
The walk to school was supposed to clear my head. Instead, it made me feel like I was walking through static. People’s chatter, car horns, footsteps it was all louder, faster, too much. My heart drummed harder with each sound until I shoved in my earbuds and cranked up music just to drown everything out.
When I finally spotted the school gates, I exhaled. The sight of normalcy the students milling around, laughter, gossip, someone sprinting because they were late it helped just a little.
And then, there they were, my partners-in-crime.
Emma, waving her arms like she was guiding a plane to land, and Sam leaning lazily against the fence, a half-eaten granola bar in hand.
“Lilian!” Emma yelled, jogging over. Her red curls bounced with every step. “Where the hell were you yesterday? We called like a hundred times!”
I forced a sheepish smile. “Yeah, sorry. My phone died, and I… kinda passed out early you know long day.” I said scratching the back of my neck.
Emma frowned, gripping my arms like she expected to find bruises. “Passed out? You never ‘pass out early.’ You’re a certified night owl. You sure you’re okay?”
“Totally,” I lied smoothly. “Just tired. You know the caffeine-dependent and chronically lazy me.”
Sam snorted. “She’s not lying about that.”
I shot him a glare. “Careful, Sam, or I’ll replace your protein shakes with soy milk again.”
Emma rolled her eyes, laughing. “You two never change.” She linked her arm through mine as we headed toward class. “Come on, before Mr. Snoop sees us and gives his ‘responsibility’ speech again.”
The halls buzzed with noise, the sound of lockers slamming, sneakers squeaking, someone yelling about homework. Normally I’d blend right into it, maybe crack a joke about how education was a slow death.
But today, every sound sliced through me. Every heartbeat, every breath around me felt too close. My chest tightened and my palms grew clammy.
Then it hit me again that same scent, sharp, sweet and metallic .... it was definitely blood.
It was faint at first, but it pulled me in like gravity. My stomach growled. I blinked hard, trying to shake it off, but my gaze landed on Emma’s neck.
Her pale skin, the soft pulse just under it beating repeatedly.
What the hell was that?
“Lili?” Emma tilted her head, confused. “You spaced out.”
I snapped out of it fast, laughing it off. “Sorry, just… hungry. Forgot breakfast.”
Sam grinned. “When do you not forget breakfast?”
“Touché,” I said, forcing another laugh, but my throat was dry way too dry.
The rest of the walk to class was a blur of noise and chatter, Emma gossiping about a teacher’s new haircut, Sam teasing her about her crush and me pretending to be fine while trying not to stare at the way veins moved under people’s skin when they laughed.
Something inside me was wrong, deeply wrong.
By the time the first period started, I’d convinced myself I could fake it. I just had to focus on something else.
The teacher droned on about chemical reactions, and my eyes glazed over. Emma passed me a note under the table.
Party at Jason’s Friday. You in?
I scribbled back:
Only if they serve coffee and emotional stability.
She covered her mouth, trying not to laugh. Sam leaned in from the next seat. “What’s the joke?”
“Nothing your tiny brain would get,” I whispered back.
“Rude,” he said.
“True,” I said, and for a second, everything felt normal again.
Because beneath the laughter and whispering, I could hear it, the faint rhythmic beating from everyone in the room. Dozens of heartbeats, like a chorus in my skull. It made my fingers twitch.
I pressed a hand to my temple, pretending to adjust my hair. My nails grazed my skin, and that same metallic scent from before hit me again. My pulse jumped.
What’s happening to me? Jesus !.
The bell finally rang, saving me from whatever panic attack was loading in my chest. I bolted out faster than anyone else, claiming I needed to pee just to escape the noise.
Lunchtime came and went. I barely ate not because I wasn’t hungry, but because nothing tasted right. Fries, soda, even chocolate all tasted bland. Like chewing candle wax.
“Girl, you’re seriously off today,” Emma said between bites. “You sure you’re not sick?”
“I’m fine,” I said too quickly. “Just tired, like I said.”
Sam studied me with that annoyingly perceptive look of his. “You look pale. Like… zombie pale.”
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes. “Maybe I’ll audition for The Walking Dead reboot.”
He chuckled. “You’d kill it, honestly.”
“Literally,” I said without thinking then froze at my own word choice.
Emma didn’t notice. She was too busy scrolling on her phone. “Anyway, if you die before the party, can I have your hoodie collection?”
“Sure,” I said. “You’ll just have to wrestle my ghost for it.”
She laughed, and for a moment, I did too. Because if I didn’t laugh, I’d start screaming.
The rest of the school day dragged by in a blur. I counted the hours until dismissal, checking the clock every five minutes. My body felt wrong so restless, hungry, buzzing but am not gonna give it the satisfaction it's craving.
When the final bell rang, I didn’t even wait for Emma and Sam. I waved a quick goodbye, claiming I had to get to work early.
I just needed space and silence.
Outside, the air hit me like relief. But that smell that same metallic sweetness — followed me. I shoved my hands into my hoodie pocket, breathing slow.
“Get it together, Lilian,” I muttered. “You’re not a monster. You’re just… losing your mind a little. Happens ... you're not a monster.”
I forced myself to walk faster. The coffee shop was only ten minutes away. If I could just make it there, drown myself in espresso fumes, maybe I’d feel normal again.
The scent clung to me all the way there.
By the time I reached the café, my nerves were on fire. The bell above the door jingled, and my boss, with an eternal coffee stain on his apron, looked up.
“Good day, Lili. You’re early for once.”
“Shocking, I know.” I grabbed my apron, tying it tight. “Miracles happen.”
He laughed. “Good. We’re short on staff tonight weekend rush coming in early.”
Perfect time for some human distraction something.
The first customer came in, then the next. I took orders, poured lattes, smiled like a functioning person. Each movement felt mechanical safe, routine. Until one guy handed me his cash.
His hand brushed mine just a graze but I froze immediately, that same pulse, that same rush of warmth under his skin... it hit me like a drug. My chest clenched. My throat burned. I jerked my hand back, forcing a smile. “Enjoy your drink.”
He didn’t notice anything. Just nodded and walked away.
I gripped the counter, breathing hard.
What was happening to me?
The smell of blood, faint from a paper cut on someone’s finger nearby, hit me next. And for one horrible second, I wanted to taste it.
I clenched my jaw, forcing myself to move. Focus. Work. Pretend like everything was okay.
By ten, the café emptied. I cleaned up fast, trying to ignore the ache in my stomach.
When my boss waved me off, I mumbled a goodbye and stepped into the night air.
The streets were quiet. The same lonely alley waited ahead as usual, the one I always ran through when it got late.
Only tonight, I didn’t feel scared, I felt awake kind of awake and hungry and for the first time since that night… a voice inside me whispered:
You’re not the same, Lilian.
I swallowed hard, staring down the dark alley.
Maybe the voice was right but it'd kill me first before I believe I just turned to a human blood sucker !.