Chapter Two

It took me several minutes to realize that the throbbing sound was not my head but the sound of one hundred heartbeats, all pounding in time with each other. My senses were so clear that it was confusing: I was almost certain I could taste the colors and scents around me. Everything was so clear and beautiful. Then another scent caught my attention and the burning in my throat grew ten times. Without even thinking, I lunged and there was suddenly the slightest relief to my thirst. Seconds later, I realized what I had done: I had sucked the blood, the life force, out of a perfect stranger. This information would have been enough to make a person wretch, but I felt no remorse. More than the fact that I felt no remorse, I felt a sense of twisted pleasure in what I had just done, so much so that I craved more, needed more. My instincts took over and all sound was drowned out by the sound of beating hearts and pulsing blood. I stayed in Grand Junction for two more weeks and then headed north. I was beginning to become worried about the missing persons reports that were flying into the Police department by the dozen, including one for a sixteen-year-old male with hazel eyes light brown hair named Leslie Vincent. Although my appearance had changed drastically since that night, someone would probably still have recognized me. Everyone in the town thought I was one of the victims of a murderer , and told my mother how sorry they were and how great a kid I was, but whenever I pass a window, and I see my pale white skin accented by my brilliant crimson eyes, and remember that I was the killer.