My Precious Nightmare

5: The Hunted Hunter

It had been so long since he had tasted human blood. Usually, he kept the blood thirst at bay with animals until his instincts knocked him out and took his body for a joyride. But being aware during the rapture, feeling the hot, sweet nectar filling every corner of his mouth and running down his throat...this was different. Perhaps he'd broken through another milestone of growth he didn't know his cursed body was capable of.

Then he came to. The palm over her mouth was wet. Her slim, soft body had been dragged down beneath his, and his other hand had come up to hold her neck more securely to his mouth.

He jerked back, black, icky horror upturning his insides—

To see half-lidded, gray-blue eyes blink slowly back at him.

"Oh..." she breathed.

She lived...

Heart racing, he tore off his shirt and pressed it hard to the side of her neck. "Stay with me, I-I'm going to call an ambulance."

She just looked at him, wan and pale. Her short skirt had ridden up her thighs and he hurriedly pulled them down.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean..." he choked. What kind of stupidity was he saying? He needed to find a phone—damn it, out of all the times to not own one!

"Bag," she whispered.

Of course. All the kids had cell phones nowadays. Lifting her hand to the shirt on her neck, he towards the little blue bag at the end of the alley—

And overshot it.

Sunlight blinded him momentarily, and he staggered back—way back—and into the alley, having crossed an extra ten feet with the bound he had only meant for three.

What in the...

His next surprise came as he opened the bookbag and instead tore it in half. Pencils and textbooks scattered across the alley.

For a precious second, he stared at it all, stunned. Even as he shook himself and snatched up the pink phone, he noted he felt more refreshed and invigorated than he had in months, maybe even years. He actually had to focus on not crushing the little phone, though the moment he touched the screen to unlock it the screen cracked, becoming unreadable.

He glanced down at his front and wondered if the black would disguise the fact that his legs were still covered in blood if he went to the McDonalds for a phone.

A presence from above—he whipped around—but a tall, dark-haired man blocked the entrance to the alleyway, a mean, sleek black rifle leveled at Husani's eyes.

Something like recognition tickled the back of his mind before he dropped to the ground just as the sharp, muffled pang of the bullet hit the cinder block wall behind him. Bits of debris peppered his back.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he cried.

In answer the man just smirked, revealing long, glistening canines.

Only then did Husani recognize the man's pungent, inhuman scent. Yet it wasn't the same as the vampire he had been hunting.

He ducked to the side just as another bullet ripped through the air. His new improved super speed and strength served him well as he dove into the man and flung him like a doll into the brick siding. Bones cracked. The gun flew. Yet the other vampire only grunted.

Husani reached for the opposing brick wall, digging his fingertips into the mortar for a climb, and hesitated.

Then he leaped back to the now unconscious girl and scooped her up into his arms.

"Drop her!"

A new figure had appeared at the mouth of the alley, but Husani didn't have time to look. He shoved out the monster from his back, spread the resulting wings of membrane and bones to either end of the alley, and gave an almighty pump. The ground sank away. Painfully bright morning sunlight blinded him, but he kept climbing, up and up into the sky.

All the while, Husani gently kept the shirt bundled up against the side of the girl's neck.