Chapter One

Emily

My breathing ragged, my heart thundering in my chest, and the muscles in my legs burning, I continue to run. I ran hard and fast through the darkened forest, barely noticing the small branches that reach out to whip my skin as I pass.

The taste of blood still fills my mouth. I can still smell it on my skin. Can feel it drying upon my lips. And the exhilaration washes over me. Washes through me. It sends a current of electricity through my body. Through my very soul. It invigorates me.

As does the smell of her blood.

The longing for her blood – the absolute need for it – drives me forward. Makes me run faster. Harder. I ignore the small aches and pains that might make another person, a lesser person, stop to nurse their wounds. Scrapes and cuts would not deter me from my goal.

I hear her up ahead of me in the distance. She's running hard. She's running for her life.

I can hear her breathing. Hear her sobbing. Can smell her sweat. Can smell the stink of fear that clings to her thicker than cobwebs. But more than anything, I can smell her blood. I want her. I need her.

Emerging from the woods into a small clearing, I wince at the bright light of the moon as it cascades down upon me. Its silvery radiance casts the world in a monochromatic light and is almost too dazzling to look at. My eyes quickly adjust as I scan the clearing around me. I cock my head and strain my ears, listening. But, I hear nothing. She's stopped running and the world around me is silent.

Except, that it's not. Not really. The world around me is alive with sounds and smells that are vivid and vibrant. I can hear small creatures moving in the underbrush. I can smell the scent of a deer drifting along on the nighttime breeze. They are probably miles away from me, and yet, I can hear and smell them like they were standing right next to me.

Which means, of course, that I can hear and smell the woman hiding behind the log at the edge of the clearing. She thinks she's hiding, but she's not. She's taking shallow breaths and is fighting back her tears, but I know she's there. I can smell the acrid stink of her urine after she'd wet herself running from me.

I step out of the clearing and back into the darkness of the forest – where I feel most comfortable. Where I feel most at home. In the dark and unobserved. On silent, stealthy feet, I make my way through the trees, circling around until I get behind her.

Even through the inky blackness of the woods, I can see her sheltering behind the fallen tree. Can see her peeking over it. Looking for me. Her breath is shallow and though the stink of her urine is off-putting, it can't overcome the sweet smell of her blood. It's heady. Intoxicating. And I have to have it.

I'm standing close enough that I can reach out and touch her. I stand there a moment, turning my face up toward the sky, inhaling her aroma. My pulse quickens, and I can feel the electricity of my excitement begin to surge through my veins once more.

The woman kneeling behind the fallen tree, as if suddenly aware of my presence, slowly turns her head. And when she sees me standing there, she cries out in terror. Her eyes are wide, the tears are flowing freely once more, and her entire body trembles.

“Please don't,” she gasps. “Please don't hurt me.”

The bloodlust overwhelms me. It consumes me like a raging fire within. I look down at the woman and feel nothing but the hunger.

As I step toward her, the woman's blood-curdling scream echoes throughout the darkness of the woods for several seconds. But then, as I gorge myself, as the coppery taste of blood fills my mouth and nourishes my soul, the forest falls silent once more.

~ooo000ooo~

My eyes snap open and I stare at the ceiling with my heart racing as hard as if I'd just sprinted a mile. The dream was so vivid. It felt so real.

“It wasn't real,” I whisper to myself. “It was just a dream. You're okay. You're fine.”

I seem to be having the dreams more often, and they're becoming increasingly more vivid. Lifelike. If I close my eyes, I can still almost smell the woman's fear. Taste her blood. It makes my stomach roil like there's a nest of greasy snakes in the pit of my belly.

I take a deep breath and try to steady myself. I'm still shaking. Rattled by a dream that seemed so real. As I lay there, there's a tension in the air around me and the silence is as profound as it is suddenly oppressive.

As I lay in bed, I become convinced that the creature from my dream is there in the room with me. My heart accelerates once more and a fear-fueled adrenaline flows through me, making my body vibrate with a terrified electricity.

There's the furtive sound of movement somewhere in the inky shadow. I sit bolt upright and fumble around on the nightstand next to me, feeling the creature bearing down on me from the darkness. Sweat pouring down my body, my hand finally strikes the base of my lamp.

I can practically feel the heat from the creature's mouth blowing across my neck. Can practically smell the fetid stench of its breath. I flip on the light, squeeze my eyes shut, and throw my hands up to ward it off. My heart thunders in my chest, waiting for the sharp teeth of the creature to sink into my flesh.

But, then nothing happens.

Slowly lowering my trembling hands, I open one eye. And then the other. My room is awash in the soft glow of my lamp, leaving only cobwebs of shadow clinging to the corners – but I am very much alone. There is no dark, malevolent creature waiting to tear me to pieces. Nothing lurking in the corner, waiting to pounce.

There is nothing and nobody in the room but me.

“What in the hell is happening?” I ask, my voice barely more than a whisper.

But the empty, silent room doesn't answer me.