Page 10 of Born Reckless

I yank open the door, and the woman doesn’t even react before I’m on top of her. It’s pure, feral instinct that draws my mouth to her neck. And I nearly moan in satisfaction as my fangs sink into her skin, puncturing it.

And finally, some of the heat in my mouth, my throat, and my stomach dies, as hot liquid spills out of her and onto my tongue. I draw in a pull, flooding my mouth. My eyes slowly slide closed. I pull again.

Finally. It feels like I’ve been on fire for forever, andfinally, here is some relief. And this relief is the best thing I have ever, ever tasted in my life.

The woman gives one, tiny quick squeal, before she goes calm and slack in my arms, before I have to grip her, so she doesn’t collapse at my feet.

And it’s so easy. It’s like she doesn’t weigh anything.

I should stop. I don’t know what I’m doing, but I should stop.

But it tastes so good. The burn is so close to being extinguished.

So, I take one more pull.

Justonemore pull.

Justone last pull.

And then, on what I swear will be my final pull, nothing else comes out.

Cold hard realization begins to seep into my brain. Now that the burning inside of me is mostly extinguished, I begin to realize what is happening.

I'm holding a woman in my arms. She looks young, about my same age. And now, as I look into her eyes, I see the vacant stare in them. I see the gray color of her skin. And she is that color because I just drained her of every last drop of blood.

With horror, my hands automatically let go of her. She crumples straight to the floor.

I suck in a breath. I smell more blood. I realize it now, that that's what smelled so good to me just a moment ago. I smell it all around me. I hear the sound of hundreds of beating hearts. If I focus, I can even hear the sound of blood as it pushes in and out of veins and arteries.

I close my eyes and take another deep breath. Something pools in my mouth, and I feel the sharp prick of something piercing into the inside of my lips. I reach up tentatively and find elongated fangs inside my mouth.

From inside that room, I hear things go silent. Elena was just talking a moment ago. She was engaged in a conversation. But now, all I hear from that room is silence.

My breath rips in and out of me too fast. I feel every muscle in my body coil, tighten. Anticipation lights a fire inside my blood.

I just killed someone. As I look back down at the woman on the floor, Iknowshe's dead. It's because of me.

I hear a door open, and as I look behind me, I see my best friend step out into the hall.

With wide eyes, I watch as horror fills her face. And with quick, clipped steps, she walks toward me. She gets one glance over her shoulder, before a man steps out behind her.

"Juliet," Elena whispers. "What… It wasn't time. You were supposed to have a few more hours."

She's walking towards me so fast, surely we’re going to collide.

I see the man behind her. I see it as his eyes fall to the woman at my feet. I see as they flick to my face and focus on my chin. I feel like my hand should be shaking, but it doesn’t, as I raise one and touch my chin. My fingers come away with blood smeared on them.

"Christiana," the man says in a horrified whisper. "Christiana!"

Elena hasn't slowed her pace. But that man, his eyes come back to my face. His eyes narrow. And I have the feeling that he is memorizing every one of my features, committing my image to memory.

"Don't stop," Elena says as she reaches out a hand and suddenly breaks into an all-out sprint. She catches my hand in hers, and tugs. And instead of stumbling, my brain finds extra time to sort out what my legs need to do. I turn, my feet move, my muscles flex, and together, the both of us sprint down the hall.

There is a wall of glass in front of us. Outside, I see thousands of lights in the dark night sky. If we don't stop now, there's nowhere else for us to go but through that glass.

"Elena?" I ask in panic. Behind me, I hear the sound of sprinting footsteps, as the man chases after us.

"Don't stop!" Elena bellows.