Page 61 of Always Eros
Only minutes after Justice leaves, I tear off into the night, filled with regret, longing, and a desperation morphing quickly into rage. Someone needs to bleed.
I slip through the darkness, navigating trees, then buildings, until I arrive in the seediest part of New Onyx, knowing without a doubt I’ll find a worthy victim to unleash my beast upon. Landing on top of an abandoned apartment building, I scan the streets below, looking for trouble. A woman’s scream meets my ears and I smile darkly. Perfect.
Leaping to the building across the street, I listen for her wails, knowing I’m getting closer. The smell of terror is in the air, luring my monster to the surface. Seconds later, I spot them. Two men hold her against a wall, and it doesn’t take a genius to imagine what their plans are. Not tonight, fuckers.
I swoop down and knock one of the assholes across the alleyway. I’ll deal with him in a minute. The man with his hand on the woman’s throat and the other up her skirt turns to look at what happened to his friend, not seeing me as I dart behind him. When he turns back to face the woman, he’s met with my hand around his neck.
“What the fuck!” the man exclaims.
I focus on the woman, sending waves of compulsion through her to erase her trauma. “Run.”
She nods, tearing off into the night. The man in my clutches squirms, his attention on my grip as it digs into the flesh of his neck. Despite being an absolute loser, his scent is appealing. Not as nice as Justice’s, but it will have to do.
“You really shouldn’t pick on people weaker than yourself,” I murmur as my fangs descend. “Do you know how much it disgusts me when men take advantage of women?”
“Fuck you,” he grits out. “I don’t give a fuck what you think.”
“Clearly. Unfortunately for you, I’m in a very bad mood tonight, and you walked straight into my line of fire.”
The man kicks his legs in an attempt to break free, but I just chuckle. He screams for his friend, still lying unconscious on the dirty ground.
“Scream all you want. You know no one will come. That’s how pieces of shit like you operate here. You lurk and attack, knowing her screams will be ignored. Just like yours now.” I tilt my head, inhaling the scent of stress and terror pouring off of him.
“I won’t do it again,” he tries. “I swear.”
“I already know that. Do you know how I know?”
He shakes his head.
“Because you die tonight.” I smile, revealing my fangs and squeezing his neck just a little bit harder until my sharp nails draw blood. He’s coughing and choking now, which only stirs my beast to attack.
I tilt my head back and lurch forward, moaning as I sink my teeth into his neck. But this isn’t a pleasure feeding. Quite the opposite. Pulling back, I watch the blood trickle from his neck. My beast is slightly placated, but that will fade quickly.
“Beg,” I growl. “Beg me to save you.”
“Pl-please,” the man whimpers, clutching my hands as I lift his feet from the ground. “I’ll do anything, man.”
“Why should I show you mercy when you showed the woman none?”
“I wasn’t gonna kill her. I swear.”
“No, I don’t think you would have. You would have violated her, crushed her sense of safety and self, destroyed her faith in humanity. She would have wished for her death. What you had planned is just as cruel if you ask me. So tell me again, why should I allow you to continue to breathe?”
The man begins to tremble as tears streak down his face. Not so tough now, is he? The more he begs and sobs, the more I absorb it all, stoking my vampire. Then, in an absolute explosion of blind fury, I give in to the most feral part of me.
It’s almost like an out-of-body experience when the man I am retreats and the monster within takes charge. Blood and flesh splatter against the brick building as I play with my food, tearing at his exposed skin, releasing him long enough to let him crawl away, only to capture him again.
The other man comes to. It takes him a few seconds to realize what’s happened, and then he scrambles to his feet to flee.
“Ah, ah, ah. Not so fast, dickhead.” I grab him by the back of the shirt and toss him across the alley, laughing as he slams into the building. His friend lies on the ground, slowly and painfully bleeding out.
“We’ll give you money,” the man against the building says.
They always try to give us money.
“I don’t want your fucking dirty money,” I growl, my voice more animal than human. My skin feels too tight. “I want your blood.”
I tear his throat out, exhaling with pleasure as his blood splatters across my face. With wide eyes, he holds my gaze, clutching his neck as he slides to the ground. I turn my attention back to my first victim, who watches me approach with pure terror in his eyes.