Page 10 of Undying
I pull my machete and shoot everyone a warning glance. “Be careful. Whoever did this could still be here.”
* * *
JOLIE
Anoise reaches me despite my deep slumber. My eyes snap open, and I’m instantly alert, darkness bleeding into my veins. Comforting shadows greet me, the smell of decay so familiar to me that my senses are deadened to the rot. I tip my head, my ears searching for the source of the disturbance.
When I detect nothing, I’m left wondering if I was mistaken…then I hear it again.
Footsteps.
My stomach cramps in hunger, the sound like a dinner bell, and my fangs snap down, slicing into my lip. I flick out my tongue, capturing the small bead of blood, and almost groan at the delicious taste. Unfortunately, my stomach cramps, twisting itself inside out as if trying to eat itself.
The hunger for more is nearly overwhelming, and I roll from the little nest I created. I slowly claw my way over the bodies, no longer fazed by the dead. When I reach the center of the pit, I can’t help but smile when I catch sight of my very own pile of bodies.
Across from me, the Dafoe clan is gathered together like broken little mannequins, the empty gazes of the vampires lording over their little kingdom of the dead.
I had stalked the vampires slowly at first, crawling out during the day while they rested. I started with the lower hierarchy—people no one would miss. My first kill was sloppy, my hunger so fierce that I ripped out the guy’s throat the instant I came across the poor schmuck.
I guzzled his blood like a drunk on a binge who hadn’t had a drink in three days. I should’ve been disgusted at the thought of drinking blood, but the delicious taste was finer than any wine, and my human sensibilities were obliterated after the first gulp. He fought me, clawing at my flesh, snapping my bones, but I refused to release my prey, burying my fangs deeper into his neck and savaging him like a wild animal.
He weakened quickly, then stopped moving just a few minutes later.
A shudder went through me at how good it felt to feed, the blood soothing the unrelenting burn in my throat. The cramps in my belly eased slightly, the pain so severe that I could almost understand why vampires hunted humans.
Almost.
I should probably feel guilty about killing the vampire, but I remember him holding me down, slashing at my wrists, and eagerly licking up my blood.
None of them were innocent.
I dragged his body away by his ankle, not worried about leaving a trail. Once back in the comfort of the mass grave I claimed for my own, I used my new strength to snap his neck before pulling it clean from his body, not wanting to give him a chance to revive.
Then, for good measure, I sank my hand into his chest, my black claws slicing almost too easily through the flesh and bone. I fished around for his heart for a second, startled at the almost searing heat of his body, then realized that it was because my own temperature was near freezing.
When my hand finally settled around the dead organ, I yanked it free with a triumphant grin.
Then, without an ounce of remorse, I ate the fucker.
I should be disgusted by my behavior, but satisfaction still fills me at finally taking vengeance on those who tormented me when I was at my weakest.
When the others came to investigate, I just closed my eyes and lay among the dead. They didn’t even blink when their lights passed over my body.
Night after night, week after week, I killed them one by one.
My body grew stronger, my skills sharper, and the hunt slowly became more and more dangerous. They barricaded the doors, ordered the guards to patrol the grounds, but the deaths continued.
And with each body, I became more cunning.
Faster.
Stronger.
Unstoppable.
Because I had an advantage—I didn’t care if I lived or died. They hunted me relentlessly, setting traps to capture me all over the house. When we faced off, they fought fiercely, hacking at me, trying to whittle me down piece by piece. Unfortunately for them, pain had become an old friend, and their blows didn’t even slow me down.
The taste of their blood fueled me, urging me to take more and more.
