Redshift, Ashlynn Chantrea [early reader books .TXT] 📗

to pump faster, I could barely breathe in anymore. The pain intensified in my heart as it pumped faster than a humming bird flaps its wings. I was glad I could separate myself from this agony because I felt sure if I had to experience it the way I had in the beginning, it would shatter my sanity. And then my heart stopped.

My focus shifted to my now silent body.

The loudest thought screaming in my head: I should be dead! I SHOULD BE DEAD…

But I’m not.

Chapter 2

For the very smallest division of a second I freaked out about not having a heartbeat. For the tiniest fraction of a second I freaked out about still being conscious and sentient without a heartbeat…and then I was over it. I knew I had been changing on a cellular level and evidently that change had rendered the cardiovascular system unnecessary. Idly I wondered what my internal system looked like now.

My visitor returned, staring down the deep hole at me. I observed him with my newly improved eyes. I could see him much clearer now but his eyes were still red. It bothered me. Part of me insisted that people don’t have red irises. It’s not in the genetic code, no DNA marker for red that had ever been discovered by man to my knowledge. The most unique color was violet.

I frowned.

“C’mon newbie.” He said softly. I knew he wasn’t shouting but I could hear him like he was. “Climb out of there.”

I thought of standing and without a delay in response I was upright on my feet. I moved to the wall so fast it was like I had just appeared there. Experimentally I reached out and as gently as I could manage I touched the wall. The bedrock crumbled under my fingertips, leaving a gap where my fingers had been. As carefully as I could I climbed up, leaving small indentations where my fingers gripped the wall.

When I reached the top, I smiled. I had never been good at sports or anything athletic before. It had bothered me to some degree that there were things I couldn’t do. That was gone now. I knew there wasn’t a mountain I couldn’t climb, no distance I couldn’t run, this body felt invincible.

I breathed in through my nose. I could smell the dirt and particles of rock I had sent into the air as I had climbed out of my once prison. I could smell all the creatures in the building with me, most prominently the boy sent to get me. But what became most prevalent even though it was the least intense fragrance in my proximity was the smell of blood. It couldn’t have been much but the second I inhaled, it attacked my throat, making it ache. It was like I had never had a drink in my whole life and my throat was as dry as the desert floor.

Instinctually, I grabbed my throat.

Ouch!

My mind went to work. In a split second I cut off the pain. I wondered why it hurt so bad to smell blood.

I lowered my hand almost as soon as I had raised it but my visitor noticed.

He smiled, “Don’t worry.” He said with a hint of humor in his tone, “We’ll get you someone to drink.”

Someone to drink?

It took my brain the tiniest fraction of a second to make the connection. I could not only identify the smell of blood but it made me thirsty. The pain flared in my throat as I thought of blood but I ignored it. My senses were supernaturally intense as well as my strength and ability to think. My heart was no longer beating and I didn’t feel the need to pull air into my lungs. And I remembered being bitten.

These thoughts flashed through my brain at the speed of light and without hesitation as soon as the blond boy had spoken, I replied, “I’m a vampire?” I sounded incredulous. “Seriously?” I made a disgusted sound at the back of my throat.

My voice was different now, clearer, strangely musical in its pitch and tone. I would have to get used to the sound of my own voice.

The blond boy looked puzzled.

I moved past my denial just as fast as I had made the realization of what I was now. No point dwelling on preconceived notions. There were a lot of things about this world that I didn’t know. Now was the time for research.

The young warden shook his head at me, “Come with me.”

I followed him through the halls, making mental notes of where I had been and mapping the building as best as I could. We entered a cold dark room with steel grating as doors and a drain in the floor. Everything about this place was old, gothic and medieval. Kind of cliché in my opinion. I mean, why play up the vampire stereotype? In fact, it made this band of vampires that had transformed me seem sort of juvenile. Can’t we be grownups in the twenty first century or was the Transylvanian castle a prerequisite for this life?

He left me there, only telling me to stay. He returned seconds later with two more vampires. He told them to stay just like he had to me and he vanished out the door. I wondered how many vamps were invited to this party. The two others were jittery. Their eyes wouldn’t stay in one place for more than half a second. They were both partially crouched with their backs against the wall and yards of distance between them and me. They both clawed at their throats which made the burning ache in mine intensify for a moment. I didn’t let it bother me.

Then their eyes locked on the door. I heard the sound of hearts pounding. Instinctively, I inhaled. I could smell them, their skin, their sweat and most of all, their blood.

The young blond walked through the door first followed by nine beating hearts. Behind the humans was another vampire, ushering them in to their doom. The other two vampires nervously eyed the large one that had come in last. He smiled congenially at them.

“Go ahead,” He said like an encouraging father.

They wasted no time. Immediately they attacked the two closest humans. Petrified screams erupted from the rest. The young blond vanished out the door followed by the large dark haired fatherly vampire. He locked the door behind him, preventing the humans escape. Suddenly the drain on the floor seemed practical.

As the other two ripped into the flesh of their first victims, the scent of blood filled the air. A strange sensation took hold of my body. An ingrained instinct was trying to take control of my actions. My eyes scanned the room. I could feel the heat of the humans, hear their hearts beating. Without hesitation or conscious thought I sprang for the closest available prey.

The warm, sweet blood was more than just a relief for my burning throat, it was a pleasure. It felt better than any meal I had eaten as a human. Without thinking I went on to the next human, ignoring the screams filling the room and the other two ravenous vampires.

When the other two started in on their third victims, I finished with my second. Only one human remained. She cowered by the steel door, sobbing. Something about the sound pulled my mind out of instinct and into conscious thought. She looked up at me as I slowly walked over to her.

“Please,” She begged, the only word that she could form before she began crying hysterically again.

Suddenly I wanted weep as well. When I looked at her face I thought of someone I used to know. Amy Porter. She had the same soft brown curls, the same tawny eyes and the same perfect peach complexion.

Amy was the most beautiful girl in my sophomore class, or at least I had thought so back then. She was the most popular girl in my high school. But what made her stand out to me, what made me admire her so completely back then was that she was nice to me when no one else was. My permanent geek status and general awkwardness made me an easy target for the bullies of my class and while she could have joined in while they tortured me or simply ignored me, instead she was always kind, smiling and waving to me in the hallways, even when her friends were around. It left a lasting mark on me.

As I stared at this girl, obviously not Amy but so much like her that I couldn’t ignore it, I realized what I had done. I wished I could vomit but I got the distinct impression my body wouldn’t cooperate. I had just killed people, mindlessly, eagerly. While I prided myself on my analytical mind, I never wanted to be so cold as not to care about others in the process. These were people. Real people. This girl couldn’t have been more than twenty. She was college age, her life had just begun. She hadn’t really experienced the most meaningful parts of life yet and this was how her life would end. I couldn’t bear the thought.

I only stood over her for a second, contemplating at the speed of light, when the other two vampires focused on her. I felt a change in the atmosphere around me that made me look over at them. They saw prey and their instincts told them to attack. I knew if they felt I was in the way, they would attack me as well.

My body reacted to the feeling of being threatened automatically. I turned my back to the girl and crouched in front of her. The smaller of the two, a skinny boy with a pale olive complexion and short dark brown hair, sprang at me first.

He moved fast, much faster than the girl behind me would be able to process, but to me it was like he was moving in slow motion. I analyzed the position of his body as he leapt forward at me, his fingers curled into claws, his lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. I did the math in my head as I watched him descend, where his body would end up, what he would most likely do when he finally reached me. Then my body took over, instinct ruling my movements. I ducked out of the way of his arm swinging down at me and grabbed him by the hair with one hand and the shoulder with the other. Without hesitation I bit into his neck. I felt his hard skin give way under my teeth and I pulled his head by the hair until his head snapped off. It made the worst sound I had ever heard, like a steel plate being shredded. The metallic ripping was like nails on a chalkboard. I quickly diverted that sensation in my brain. The fight was a blur of movement, lasting less than a second before I ripped his head off and chunked it at the other vampire’s feet.

The other one, a girl of average height, beautiful and pale, looked conflicted. Her eyes shifted from me to the girl cowering behind me, back and forth, unable to decide what to do. It only took a second for hunger to