Page 83 of Thirst

“What the fuck?” Von screams, staggering back and bumping into barstools on his way. “A demon. I knew it the very first time I looked into your eyes. You're a goddamn demon.”

I cut my eyes over to him before stepping over the body of his dead girlfriend. I take my time, making my steps slow and deliberate as I think about how long I've wanted this moment. Aaliyah almost saved him. I was going to let it go because she was all that mattered. Now I get to do what I always wanted to. It’s coming full circle, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

“I am,” I say with my fangs on full display, my face dotted with Shay’s blood. “But only because you made me be. I wanted Aaliyah to quit this place—to get as far away from you as possible, because I've seen your thoughts, Davon. I know you don't give a shit about anybody but yourself. You wanted to use her. You stole her money. You thought of yourself as her owner, and of this club as a brothel. You don't even know that I've already given you so many passes. Allow me to let you in on the last secret you’ll ever know. I've practically killed you already. You don't remember me being in the backseat of your car that night at Black Coins Casino? How about the moment I grabbed you by the face and bit you? You were just about gone until Shawn showed up. He convinced me to let you go, and we followed you here. How about the night Aaliyah and I went up to the Viper Rooms? Time stopped, remember? That was real.”

Von’s head shakes as his memories are finally allowed to come back to him. “No. No fucking way.”

“I could've smothered you in that frozen time and let your body drop,” I tell him. “Nobody would've known what happened to you. But I gave you another pass because all I wanted was Aaliyah. I was letting it all go, but you're just too stupid, and look where that stupidity got you. Right back to your own death.

“I've seen people like you do too much damage to our community far too many times. I had to watch it all play out before, but tonight is not like the other years I've spent watching from the shadows. Tonight, you hurt the one person I care about—the one person I'm meant to be with. The one person on this Earth who has made my dead heart beat. You hurt her, and you were already trying to figure out how to get rid of the body. What you didn't know is that you were dead the moment you ordered your little monster to attack my woman. So, yes Davon, I am a demon. I’m the devil. I am the grim reaper, and I have finally come for you.”

I bare my teeth and let out an angry hiss, and it sends Von into a frenzy. He runs to the other side of the bar and begins reaching low for something in a cabinet. When his arm pops back up again, he's holding a chrome handgun.

With no hesitation, he starts squeezing the trigger. Shots ring out like we’re in a warzone as he unloads, but I dodge the bullets like I did at the art exhibit venue, bouncing from side to side and letting bullets whiz past me before leaping high in the air. I jump so high that I nearly touch the ceiling of the two-story building, and it gives Von time to point the gun upward and keep shooting. But his panic makes him a terrible shot, and the bullets fly past me and hit the lights and cables up above. Sparks fly everywhere as I finally come down and land on top of the bar right in front of Von, who keeps pulling the trigger even though there are no bullets left.

As I grab him by the throat, a small fire ignites from one of the sparking light fixtures on the ceiling. This is an old building that looks like it hasn't had much maintenance over the years. Von’s cheap way of running his business has the building in dire need of safety upgrades like sprinklers, but it’s too late now.

A small fire quickly spreads across the ceiling and becomes a big one. The flames use everything as fuel, attaching themselves to the plastic and wood up top, and there is nothing to put it out. It spreads to the walls and even drops down onto the floor, hitching a ride on anything that melts and falls. In just a few moments, nearly the entire place is being engulfed.

“Let me go,” Von shrieks, still pulling the trigger on his empty gun. He uses the weapon to pistol whip me, but it’s useless.

“Take a moment,” I say in my true voice, the one that is low and devilish. Von keeps hitting me but it doesn't matter. It won't change a thing. “Look at it. Breathe it all in. These are your final moments. In the grasp of a devil, surrounded by flames—this is where you will die. In hell. When they find your body, it will be burnt to a crisp, right in the middle of the heap of ash that was once your legacy. No one will mourn you. You will be completely forgotten. All because you disrespected my woman. Your end is your fault.”

I bare my fangs again, and Von screeches. “No!”

My eyes turn blood red. “Yes.”

I pull Von closer and open my mouth wide. He screams and fights up until the very moment my fangs hit his neck. Blood explodes into my mouth as I clamp down, and I drink his blood like I've always wanted to. I take a few big gulps and consider draining him entirely. He starts to shake like he's having a seizure, then I yank my head back and pull a gigantic chunk of flesh out of his neck. Half of his throat is stuck between my jaws as blood spurts from the huge wound with his every heartbeat. I spit the bloody flesh out and it lands with a loud splat, then I release him, letting Von drop to the floor, where he will undoubtedly bleed out in seconds.

As he dies, I turn my attention to Aaliyah. I run to her as fast as I can, only to find her breathing shallow and her heartbeat even weaker than a few moments ago. She looks up at me, and I wonder if I'm scaring her. My face is covered in blood and I just brutally murdered two people she knew. I assume she's horrified, but when I listen to her thoughts, that’s not what she's thinking at all. Instead, all I hear are thoughts about me.

She thinks that it’s too late to save her, and that she’ll never get the chance to tell me goodbye. I hear her hoping that I'm actually listening to her thoughts, even after telling me it was prohibited. She thinks about how I changed her life and tells me that I was everything she didn't know she was hoping for, and that she wouldn't change a single thing about our time together. She apologizes for having to leave me now, and tells me that she wishes we could've been together in the future. She says that if she had more time, she could've fallen in love with me, and she hopes I can hear her thinking it now. Then, her thoughts stop altogether.

“No,” I say, quietly at first as her heartbeat slows to a crawl. “No!” I shake her, but she doesn't come back to me. I know this is it. She's gone … unless I do something.

Suddenly, there's a loud crash at the doors as Shawn comes running into the club.

“Amari, we have to go,” he screams over the sound of crackling fire and sirens in the background.

I’m out of time, and now I have no choice. I yank the broken bottle from Aaliyah’s neck and blood shoots from the wound, hitting me in the face. She lets out a scream, the sudden pain waking her up again, and I use it as my opportunity. While her mouth is open, I bring my wrist to my mouth and bite it hard, spilling dark blood. It pours from me, and I place the leaking wound over Aaliyah’s open mouth. She gags, but I don't remove my arm. I force my blood down her throat, knowing that this isn't like healing her bite wounds with a few droplets. This will change her forever, but it’s my only option. I make her take gulp after gulp of my blood until the sirens and fire get too close to stay, then I pull my arm away and lift her body off the floor. I carry her as I run out of the building, flaming ceiling beams falling down behind me as I go. Shawn is already standing by the car when I reach him, and he opens it up for us. I slide in, holding Aaliyah like a baby while Shawn gets into the driver’s seat and peels out of the parking lot.

Panic lassos my heart while I look down at her, wondering if I gave enough of my blood in time to save her. I focus all of my attention on her, listening to her heart, watching her eyes. I get nothing.

“Is she okay?” Shawn asks.

I'm about to tell him no, but then the blood gushing from the wound in Aaliyah’s neck stops. I turn her to the side so I can see better, and I'm flooded with relief as the tendons begin to mend themselves. I watch her muscle fibers regrow and set themselves in place, and just as my happiness hits me full force, Aaliyah’s eyes open, and she lets out a throat-tearing scream. Then, she slips back beneath the waves of unconsciousness.

Fifty

“Ishould've went with her,” I say, more to myself than anything, but Shawn is standing next to me on the elevator. Aaliyah lies completely still in my arms as we ascend to the penthouse. I know she's alive, but guilt still sears my ribs.

“None of this is your fault,” Shawn says. It doesn't help.

The elevator doors open and I flash from the hall to the living room, leaving Shawn behind so I can lay Aaliyah on the couch. By the time Shawn enters, I already have her down with a blanket covering her. I look at her in disbelief, and the fury I felt at Fantasies lingers in my gut. It doesn't even matter that Von and Shay are dead. My vendetta against Von has been completed, but I don't care. I wasn't in the building to protect Aaliyah when she needed me most, and she almost died because of it.

“Don't beat yourself up,” Shawn says, sitting down on the couch adjacent to the one Aaliyah is on. “You got to her as fast as you could, and you got rid of the people who hurt her. What more could you have done?”

“I should've never let her go in there alone,” I snip, but my eyes stay on Aaliyah. “I knew who Von was. I knew he would do some bullshit like sick his pitbull on Aaliyah, and I still let her go alone because I knew it was what she wanted, even though I knew better.”