Her wings were silent, her heartbeat as slow as possible. It wasn’t like the prey was going to hear her, with the slow, weak reflexes of a human, but sheer instinct had taken over, and Mercy was lost inside of herself, gone. The world was going slow, each beat of her wings seeming to go on for an hour. She loved and hated this feeling, where the world was hers, and she was the most powerful being, the alpha.
The prey came into the open, and she flew down the few remaining feet that separated her from her prey. He looked up, his unfocused, drunken eyes suddenly wide with terror. There was no pang of pity, no sudden stab of regret inside of her. Just want. Only hunger. The girl inside was gone for now, leaving only the monster. She landed, but kept her wings out, bathing in the waves of fear rolling from this small, pitiful creature.
She walked two steps towards it, closing the space between them. She leaned in, and whispered quietly in its ear. “You are sustaining me, keeping me alive. Don’t be afraid to die. I’ll make it quick, easy. Thank you, love.”
Then, in a few seconds, it was lying limp in her arms, its neck bent at an odd angle.
“Sleep now, little one, and dream.” She whispered, then took his wrist, and bringing it to her mouth, she neatly sank her teeth into it, indulging in the sour liquid. She drank almost all of its blood, as taking it all only make her intoxicated, and she still had to get home.
Her mind was clearer now, and she took the cover off of a sewer drain and dropped the man into the darkness, then replaced the cover quietly.
She was about to stand, but tensed as she heard a sound behind her. She had been so encompassed in her meal that she hadn’t been paying attention for intruders. Fool.
So soft that mortal ears would not hear it from this distance, she recognized the familiar scratch of a shoe on cement. She could feel the heartbeat, quicker now as the owner realized she knew he was there. She smelled the air, acknowledging that the spy was male, mortal, about six-two, and sweating nervously. There was a woman, too, but she had gone and was far away already. Mercy spun, and in one fluid movement, had the witness suspended by the shirt, pinned against the side of a building. Thunder crackled, and she felt like laughing at how much fear one mortal could produce.
She was quivering with excitement and adrenaline, her muscles pumping with ancient, newfound strength.
Not poor looking, he was well built, dark blonde, and, like she had guessed, about six-two, almost half a foot taller than herself. She recognized him from her literature class last semester. He was one of the frequent flirters. She’d dated him a few times as well, and he was a nice boy. Ryan, she thought, or Drew. Jack, maybe? Dillon. Easier just to ask.
“Who are you?” her voice came out like a growl, low and deep, making even more fear come from him. “What have you seen? Who do you work for?” she knew well that there were gangs of hunters out there, though she’d never encountered one.
His eyes…familiar… but who? Mercy felt a pang of recognition, but not for the last semester student… from someone else, someone she knew, as if from another life.
“N-name’s… Will. I-I didn’t see anything, I swear. Please don’t kill me too.” His lying skills sucked, but otherwise, he seemed honest enough. And he hadn’t recognized her yet, another good sign.
She cocked her head, a skill she’d acquired over the years, it was pretty cool, and hard to get it just right, but she did. She carefully traded her long fangs for regular human teeth and her jaw snapped into place. It was easier to talk this way.
“Hm. Well, Willy, seeing as if I let you go, you’ll tell every living soul you meet that I exist, there’s only two other options: kill you, or kidnap you and maybe make you a minion of mine.” She sighed as the power high faded and she gained control of her emotions again. “Whoa. Crap. Sorry. Blood rush. Happens every time, you know? Listen, Will, I’m sorry, you’re a good guy. I remember you from last semester Lit. class.” When recognition clicked in his eyes, shock and confusion overcame his fear, lessening even more her high. He relaxed ever so slightly.
“Mercy?” he asked, blinking several times, as if to clear her face away and replace it with a stranger’s. Something flashed in his eyes, but it was gone in a second, and he was afraid again. “Mercy, are you okay? I think you need serious help. You just like, killed a guy. Like seriously MURDERED him. Why did you do that? Who are you? ‘Cause you are so not that pretty little nerd from Lit. Class. I mean, you’re still really pretty and probably a nerd but… Oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into. I mean, holy crap! Holy, holy, oh, killing is not holy, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. What the…” His words were cut off by some horrific thing he saw behind her, and she frowned as fresh waves of fear spilled from his skin.
She smelled another vampire, close behind her. She dropped Will and spun around. It was Daniel. His wings were spread in a menacing manner; his fangs flashed white in the darkness.
“Victoria, Victoria, how long has it been?” asked Daniel hypothetically. “We really should get together more often, you know? It’s been centuries. Oh, I see you’ve brought a snack. How kind.” Mercy paled. She hadn’t really known what it would be like to see her changer again. It made her feel weak, helpless, much like Will.
“Daniel.” She let it sink in, realizing that it really was her changer. “I…I don’t go by that name anymore. It is now Mercy, a reminder of how foolish I was to show mercy to a cursed soul like yours.” Daniel's face contorted for a moment, then he laughed, making her jump.
“Well, dear… Mercy, I have need of a foolish little girl. I thought of you when I- oh Mercy, your snack is running away.” He pointed to where Will was trying to escape. Mercy reached out with her mind and told him to come back. His humanly free will was nothing when it came to a vampire’s will. He came back, looking confused on why he was doing so, and stood behind Mercy, using her as a kind of shield. “What, you aren’t going to eat it?” Daniel continued, gesturing at Will again.
“No. He’s for my… midnight snack. I’m full right now.” She replied, patting her stomach, trying and failing to look unafraid.
“Oh, of course. Sure. Because one man satisfies a grown vampire’s appetite. You always were soft-hearted. Well, back to the subject. Yes, I thought of you when the council told me my… mission. You see, they want me to… get a certain… rock. A special and especially hard rock to get. You see, it’s called the Diamond and it is powerful and the only way the council will let me back in…
“They said ‘Danny dear, find us our jewel if you want to join the club again or its death for you and all your spawn. And you have one month to get it and every day after that month is one of yours dead. When we run out of them we come for you.’ Meaning me.
“I thought of you, since you were my first change. You also know and have befriended another female. Cindy, I believe the name was. Yes, you, Cindy,” here he sniffed Will, “yummy here, and I will go and retrieve a rock and fulfill a task that is my punishment. And it is such a punishment that seems made up by a four month old pup and crapped on by the full council to be approved and I don’t see why we even have to… Sorry. After the incident in Paris, I must do it, and you must come.”
Mercy gawked. The Blood Diamond wasn’t even real. Daniel was going to get her killed. And he wanted to bring the boy as well.
“Why do you need Will? Cindy won’t come, you know. I’m not going.”
“I will see to it that Cindy comes. And bring Will, because they said if I were to have vampire company I must have human company as well. And I can’t stand human women. And you’re coming, love, whether you like it or not. You die if you don’t. Now, meet me at the Blood Mountain in Arizona by this time tomorrow.”
Mercy fumed, “Arizona? I can’t fly that far in one day, let alone with another person on board! You didn’t even ask- and how the heck are we supposed to get ‘the almighty legendary Monarchian protected DIAMOND’ when I have to go into full overdrive just to kill a drunk? And what happened in Paris? I haven’t heard anything about… whoa, you mean that was you?” she was close to ecstatic now. “And, may I ask, how do you know Cindy’s a vampire? She isn’t, I would have known. If she could hide her scent that well she would’ve had to be a…” she saw amusement on Daniel’s face. He nodded. Mercy gawked. “So Cindy is really a greater? They’re extinct, though. She can’t be. That would mean all my knowledge of our origins is wrong and anyone could be a greater. Oh, god….”
“Arizona. Tomorrow. Fine, two days. But be there. Au revoire, my good friend.” He jumped into the air and was gone in seconds.
“Au revoire.” Mercy said quietly. Then, taking hold of Will, who stayed quiet and stiff, she flew back to the dorm, hoping with all her heart Cindy was at class, or anywhere, just gone.
She looked to the sky and realized it was dawn. Her feeding had lasted hours. Will had watched her be the monster for hours. She knew it shouldn’t bother her, but it did, somehow. She passed the feeling off by reminding herself that he was, sort of, her ex.
Her wings pumped harder.
yes still cheesy, but now im on page 37, and its gotten much better. again, ideas are welcome!
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