Read Online Blood Stream (A Short Story) by M.D. Bowden - Free Book Online

Chapter 1
     
     
     
     
    I HOLD OUT my arm.  Pliant.  A pliant fool.  I avert my gaze as his teeth pierce the skin of my inner wrist.  I feel a twinge of pain, like a vaccine – sharp at first, but quickly dulling until the moment the needle is withdrawn.  I refuse to look his way while he feeds.  I can’t bear to see his flat pupils red with blood lust.
    As I listen to him swallowing my blood, with each gulp my mind clouds a little more, and the strength of his grip becomes an afterthought when compared to the feeling that I’m being used.  I’ve found the best thing to do in a situation like this is to pretend it’s not happening, to close my eyes and think of when things were different.
    ‘ Abbi, get over here right now!’ my mum said, so long ago, yet it’s something I will never forget; that was the day my life changed.
    I groan.  ‘See you later Meme,’ I whisper, giving her a quick grin before shooting across the playground to my mother’s side.
    She gives me a one-armed hug, which I wriggle out of.  ‘Mum, people will see,’ I mutter, blushing.
    She kisses the top of my head before letting me go.
    ‘So what’s up?’ I ask.
    ‘We’ll talk about it at home.’
    Huh.  I furrow my forehead, wondering what could be the matter, as I walk silently by her side.  I kick leaves as we stroll up the garden path, noticing dad’s car parked in the street, and shoot mum a query glance.  She shakes her head, and for the first time I notice that she looks worried.
    ‘What’s wrong mum?’
    ‘Let’s all sit down together and we’ll fill you in,’ my dad says, hurrying out of the garage, surprising me – he’s usually the silent laid-back type.
    I take a seat at the kitchen table, next to Mark, my gangly older brother.  The place radiates of home, comfort, love.  I raise my eyebrows at my bro, but he just shrugs, clueless.  We both turn toward our parents, wondering what their unusual behaviour is hiding.
    They exchange a quick look , which I fail to interpret, and then mum opens up.  ‘We’ve got to go away,’ she says, and when I’m about to butt in with a million questions, she adds, ‘tomorrow.’
    ‘Where are we going?’ my brother asks.   He barely sounds interested.
    ‘Remember that log cabin of your grandparents?’
    I don’t, but ignore that, my eyes flitting between my parents.  ‘A holiday?’  We haven’t been away in years, and I feel a bubble of excitement.
    Mum nods, but she looks strange, unsettled maybe.
    ‘For how long?’ I ask.
    ‘Oh, we’ll see – just pack everything you can and you’ll be fine.’
    Dad shoos us off before we can ask more questions, and starts talking to mum.  My brother disappears to his room, giving me another shrug.  He doesn’t look concerned, but I can’t help feel mum and dad aren’t telling us everything.  I leave the door open a crack and stand there, listening.
    For a second I can’t hear anything but mu ffled voices, but then mum says, ‘Do you think we’ll be safe there?’
    After a pause my dad replies, ‘I don’t know.’
    Another sharp pain brings me back to the present, and his fingers loosen on my arm.  The fingers of Mitchel, the vampire who took me that night.  The last night I saw my real family.
    ‘Goodnight,’ Mitchel says, his voice like lava, thick and burning.
    I glance up, relieved his eyes have returned to their usual glossy black, and give him a curt nod, and then, head bowed, I walk from the confines of his pavilion. 
    I wipe away tears as s oon as I’m out of his sight, in the dark, and glance up at the clear evening sky.  I can see Orion’s belt on the horizon, three stars glinting, reminding me that there’s more to life than this.
    There’s still hope.
    I look back down and catch the eyes of a guard on me.  A creepy bloodthirsty guard – not that he’d dare to touch me – he knows I belong to Mitchel.
    Apart from the guards, and Mitchel, it sounds like everyone is asleep.  I