Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It happened too quickly. In a flash, I was in the arms of a man. I could feel his body pressed against mine, cool to the touch. The eyes that stared back at me were silver and almost seemed to glow as they peered into my soul. His jaw was strong, his cheekbones were sharp. The hair dripping over his shoulders looked like the silver moonlight that led me to the grove. He smiled, and I saw them: his fangs. This was the look of a predator.

My body shook as I knew what I had summoned. He was a vampire.

Another man casually walked toward us as the silver-haired vampire held his body close to mine. The two were opposite of one another. The man holding me tightly was pure light in hair and skin. While his companion had dark hair and skin, but both were enticingly handsome. Fear invaded my mind as I realized what was happening and my body’s response was to freeze in place. Unfortunately for me, I was frozen in the arms of the very threat that would kill me. My heart started pounding. I could feel my veins pulsing, which only made my situation worse. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew the situation was dangerous. My grip tightened on the hilt of my shovel, readying myself to make a move and escape.

His hand covered mine, the size nearly double my own petite frame. With just a small flick of his wrist, I dropped the shovel. Wrapping his fingers into my now free hand, we looked as if we were posed to dance. His other hand even hugged my waist. It was the dance of death.

In a slow, deep voice that crawled across my body, he said, “Well, this was an easier hunt than I had thought it would be.”

The other man laughed. “At least now we don’t have to sneak into that city.”

“Oh, this will just make that so much easier.”

Shivers rolled down my body as I could feel myself shaking while he held me. His hand pushed my body closer to his so my hips pressed into him, nestling in perfectly with his. The feeling of a man pressed so tightly into me made my cheeks flush with heat. He peered down at me with an intense hunger. No one had ever looked at me like that before, not like my only existence was to be there for them. His hand caressed my waist, his fingers running up my back. Every touch was sensual and delicate, yet firm. If I didn’t know his hunger was for my blood, I would have thought he wanted to take me right there in the grove. A smile pulled up the side of his mouth into a smirk as he looked deep into my widened eyes that I hoped conveyed the freedom I wanted to beg for.

Screaming until my voice was hoarse, yelling for a hero to stop them, or even sobbing while pleading for my life would do nothing. I knew that. I made sure I was far enough away from civilization to find this grove without prying eyes. No one could save me. No one would ever hear my screams. I was going to die alone.

“Let me go,” I said in as firm of a voice as I could muster.

He looked at his partner and they both let out a surprised laugh.

“Don’t make me have to hurt you.” I was trying to sound as intimidating as I could, considering the situation.

He shook his head and let go of my hand. Raising his own to my cheek, he brushed my dark hair out of my face before tracing his fingers back along my jaw. His light touch parted my lips before pulling his hand away. “Oh dear, do you not know what is about to happen to you?”

A spark of light flashed over his eyes before disappearing. A tingling sensation flooded my senses, crawling through my body like ice. I stopped moving. My body wasn’t just frozen in terror, I actually couldn’t move. I tried to raise my arm to push him away, but it remained motionless in his grasp. He smiled again, understanding whatever it was he had just done to me had worked.

“I’m going to drain you. Every ounce of your blood will be mine. Every morsel of your life’s aura belongs to me. Then, because of your defiance, the absolute audacity you showed today, I’m not even going to let you die peacefully in my arms. No, you’re not worthy of that grace. You’ll die here, alone, suffering.”

The other man made a step toward us. “Al–”

His lips curled around my neck, causing my senses to tingle in a pleasure that betrayed my fear. It lasted only moments before the sharp pain of his fangs sunk into my throat. I could feel the hot liquid drip out and down my neck. The radiating pain was intense, pulsating, and sharp. I couldn’t move. There was nothing I could do as he stole my life away. The pain and knowledge that he was stealing the only thing that kept me alive was horrifying, but only my eyes could move. Tears welled and streamed down my cheeks. My last moments and they were filled with warm, useless tears.

Time passed slowly as his lips continued drinking in and sucking down every ounce of my life. The only sensation I could feel were the tight lips around my neck. My body was numb, cold, and empty. Pulling me away from him, he gave me one last smile while covered in my own blood. An image that would be burned into my mind if I managed to survive. With little effort, he threw my helpless body to the ground.

I fell with a thud. My body laid there on my back in the flowers and grass of the grove. I still couldn’t move as I stared at the moon, full and almost entirely red above me. The sweet irony of the blood moon high in the sky was not lost on me.

“At least she was beautiful,” the dark-haired man said.

“Humans aren’t beautiful, regardless of what you keep saying.”

I could see them standing near me at the edge of my vision. The silver-haired vamp casually wiped my blood off his face. His skin looked less pale. His cheeks were flushed red, and the tone wasn’t as cold. I didn’t know if it was the red of the moon or the blood he had just stolen that gave him the color. He almost looked human.

“You made a mess. Look at her.”

He scoffed and as he turned away, his hair shimmering in the moonlight. “I don’t have to anymore. She’ll be dead soon.”

The dark-haired man sighed and shook his head. He turned away from me as well. It was as if it embarrassed them to see their own handiwork. “Better than going to a ritual?”

“Much. Let’s go into town and see if we can lure any other foolish humans out. I don’t think I’m ready to turn in.”

“You never hunt and now you want to keep going? You’re going to exhaust me tonight, aren’t you?”

The man laughed, and they both walked away without another thought toward my existence, leaving me alone with my last sliver of life in a pile of flowers. A fitting end for a gardener. At least I would get to see the Night Flower as life left me. The cold pressed in, laying over my body like a wet blanket. Darkness swirled at the edges of my vision. I fixed my gaze on the moon. It was at the highest point in the sky, the eclipse completely covering it.

If only the blood moon could give me back the blood that was just stolen. I was cold, my body empty of the warmth it needed to exist. I couldn’t even feel my hands and feet as the numbing sensation washed over me. My breath was getting shallow. I tried to focus on the moon, letting it carry me into death. My eyes watering at the thought.

A spark of light caught my eye. The Night Flower hung above me. An eerie, bright glow grew from it. Pieces of light floated away into the sky, back toward the colored moon. It was misting a glowing light like the darkness I had waded through to get there. It was as if it was a liquid and a smoke at the same time.

A droplet of light fell onto my face, sliding down my cheek. My skin drunk it, thirsty for the nectar. A warmth crawled into my cheeks, flushing them with life. Another drop splashed onto my face and my body absorbed it once again. A tingling sensation swam up my veins, crawling through my bones. Each drop gave me more energy. Wiggling them, I could feel my fingers and toes again. The glowing of the flower continued as the dripping magical nectar slowly covered my face, bringing me back from the edge of death.

With every drop, I felt an energy I couldn’t explain. My senses were now on fire. Everything seemed bright and in focus. The moon shone brighter, the glow from the flower sparkled above me in brilliant light. Even with this new energy, this unfamiliar warmth, I still felt a hole in my body, an empty sensation. He didn’t just steal my blood; he stole my life’s essence.

The magic of the Night Flower was bringing me back from the edge, pulling me back into the light. I gasped as I was able to sit up. The magic glow splattered across my chest as the flower smashed into me. I felt a deep warmth, like nothing I ever knew was possible from the contact. The rush of energy made me gasp as it invaded my being. Tingling electricity pricked and sizzled across my skin. It took several moments for me to slow my heart rate and catch my breath.

Looking down at my hands, I stared at them as I curled my fingers again, unfrozen and fully mobile. My hand reflexively went to my neck to stop the bleeding, but the puncture wounds were closed. The only evidence that my blood was even taken was the fact that he had been sloppy and it was covering my outfit.

I turned back toward the Night Flower as the glowing faded. The flower was still blooming, but there was no ethereal light pulsating from it. I stared at it, completely flabbergasted and confused. He did actually leave me for dead, but here I was, alive and awake thanks to a flower, of all things.

My mind was racing, my heart was pounding. There were jumbled thoughts swirling around my head at the situation. There was an intense heat from where I had made contact with the glowing flower, but otherwise, I still felt an aching, cold, hollow fee—

I couldn’t believe it. Blinking slowly, I tried to shake the thought away. I was feeling cold and… hollow. Was this how that horrid creature got its name?

Was I going to become a hollow?