Page 63 of Thirst

Bang.

Bang, bang, bang.

Five shots. Each of them hits their mark. I am struck in the torso with each red hot bullet, and after the final shot, I fall backward and land on the floor with a loud thud. I hear Aaliyah let out an agonizing scream as I lie there feeling the stinging sensation course through me. It’s funny, because it has been a very long time since I've been shot, and I'm surprised by how much it hurts. It’s not enough to scare me away from it, but the pain is definitely there, and what’s more is that I can feel myself bleeding.

Aaliyah starts to cry, her screams turning into painful wails she can't contain. I can tell just from the sound of her that the conclusion she’d drawn about me has just been challenged by the fact that I have been dropped right in front of her. She thinks she was wrong about me. If this proves anything, it’s that she truly does care about me. If I meant nothing to her, she wouldn't be weeping for me with such intensity. She may not know she's my Companion, but it’s clear that she feels it.

If Stanley were watching me, he’d see that I don't bleed like everybody else. My blood is not the vibrant blood of someone whose heart was pumping just a moment ago. My blood is thick and dark. Lifeless. Not oxygenated. It is not what blood looks like when it flows through human veins. If he were paying attention, he’d realize that. But he isn't.

“I told him,” he says, speaking to Aaliyah now that he thinks I'm dead. “I told him not to move, and he ran at me. You saw it, and you can't say anything to refute it. He charged at me, and I had to shoot him. I didn't have a choice. I assume he was a friend of yours? A protective boyfriend trying to save you? A family member of some kind? It doesn't matter. I did what I had to.

“I can't believe I went through all of this just trying to fuck you. Well now, it’s fuck you. Get your stupid ass up and get out. And don't touch the body or those paintings on the way out, or I’ll shoot you too and claim the two of you tried to rob me. I'm going to sell your paintings and keep the money for myself, as payment for the hell that dealing with you has brought me. First, I'm going to call the cops, then my lawyer. You go home and wait for the police to come question you. I'm going to tell them that you ran out when I shot your boyfriend, and that’s what you're going to say, too. Do you understand?”

Tired of listening to this idiototic rant, I decide that I've had enough. I open my eyes and slowly get to my feet. Stanley gathers his belongings, preparing to leave, but when he turns to Aaliyah, he finds her gaze fixed on something else. If there was any chance that she hadn't concluded that I'm a vampire, she knows it for an absolute fact now.

Following her terrified stare, Stanley whips his head around to see me back on my feet, completely unfazed by his bullets. Rage takes over my body. Aaliyah and Stanley watch as my eyes change from dark brown to blood red, and thick veins bulge from my skin. They start in my hands and travel upward like a river forming in the desert. The veins pop out from beneath my shirt and proceed up my neck before filling my cheeks and forehead. By the time they stop, I probably don't even look human anymore, and all of Aaliyah’s suspicions are confirmed when my mouth slowly lifts into a smile, exposing my fangs.

Her eyes are as wide as paper plates, and she stares at me. Unmoving. Unblinking. Barely breathing. There is no more guessing.

Now she knows, and so does Stanley.

AALIYAH

Thirty-Eight

“What the fuck? What the fuck?” Stanley exclaims as he gets to his feet, his knees trembling as he stands and aims his gun again.

I'm more shocked than he is. So shocked that I can't exclaim or even try to get away. My body goes into a frozen state, my muscles stricken into stiffness from the realization and confirmation that Amari really is a vampire. All of my suspicions are shoved into a bottle of truth and presented to me in the form of the most menacing man I've ever seen—his body covered in thick, bulbous veins, his eyes a deep red, and his teeth displaying sharp canines.

Fangs.

I thought he was dead. The sound of the gunshots sent me into shock as Amari was rocked with each one, each projectile shaking his body. He dropped to the floor and I screamed until my throat was coated with fire. I was sure Stanley had just proven my theories wrong, but when I saw Amari’s blood, I knew. His blood didn't look alive. It looked more like ooze than the body’s lifeforce. I began to question everything all over again. Then, after being hit with bullets that would've killed any human, he stood up. Now there's only one question left to ask.

Is he going to kill us both now that we know?

I watch the scene from the floor, my heart hammering, my mind reeling from the truth finally being out in the open, and my fear exploding from knowing how this has to play out in order for Amari to keep his secret from spilling into the streets. We are at Amari’s mercy, and from the demonic look of his face, I have a feeling that he will not give us any.

“The devil,” Stanley says, whispering it to himself in disbelief. “An actual devil standing in front of me.”

Amari chuckles. “Yes.”

Never has a smile terrified me in such a way, and it clearly does the same to Stanley.

Stanley screams at the top of his lungs as panic possesses his body like a poltergeist. His fight or flight has been activated, and since he has to run past Amari to get out, he has no choice but to fight. Like a soldier in the middle of a battlefield, he begins pulling the trigger with no breaks in between.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

As the gun goes off, Amari dodges the bullets. He jumps from side to side with each shot, moving so fast I can barely see him, almost like he's teleporting from place to place. He ducks down after another shot, then jumps to his left and plants his feet and hands on the wall. While sideways, he gallops along the wall like a horse. Stanley keeps firing, screaming as he pulls the trigger, but every shot misses by inches. Amari is too fast, and once he's close enough, he launches himself from the wall, lands directly in front of Stanley, and grabs him by the throat, his fangs and veins on full display.

Stanley yells with a terror in his voice that no one should ever hear, but Amari doesn't stop. He opens his mouth wide and pulls Stanley in closer, inch by inch like he's taking his time to savor the moment. Then, three shots go off at point blank range.

Bang, bang, bang—followed by click, click, click.

Amari looks down at his chest and sees the barrel of the gun pressed against him. Stanley emptied the clip. Three bullets to the heart. I expect him to fall down like he did before, but this time he just smiles as gray smoke from the hot bullets emits from both sides of his open mouth.

Grinning, he shakes his head. “That ain’t it, Stanley. My heart stopped beating a hundred and twenty-six years ago, and she's the only one who has made me feel like it was beating again. You disrespected her. You hit her. You tried to rape her. You threatened to kill her. So shooting me in the heart will prove pointless, because for her, I’m gonna show you just how heartless I really am.”

Stanley starts to scream again as Amari cocks his head back and slams his mouth onto Stanley’s neck. The force of it hits Stanley like a gunshot, jolting his entire body backward before he collapses with Amari still attached like a rabid animal refusing to let go. I watch in terror as Amari stays clamped onto Stanley’s neck, gulping over and over again, his eyes going from blood red to bright red as he drinks. I watch for as long as I can before my own flight mode activates, and my legs pull my body up all on their own.