A Grave Hunger (24 page)

"I'll let David explain the process to you." As if on cue, a man in his late fifties entered the room. My hunter instincts kicked in, assessing him carefully. He was tall, with salt and pepper hair, and was immaculately dressed in a grey suit and blue tie. He looked out of place surrounded by Calhoun, Leah and me, who were dressed more casually. He smiled at us warmly, extending a hand to me, as he sat on the chair adjacent.

"Finlay, I presume? Sarah has been telling me the good news. You are somewhat of an enigma around here, being able to withstand being around fresh blood. I have never come across a hybrid that can do that. That's a good sign for the treatment."

"What does the treatment involve exactly?" I asked.

"I'm not going to lie to you. The process isn't easy. It is extremely traumatic on the body, and for many of the patients, it is simply too much for them. Many die from heart failure. I want you to be aware of the risks before you agree to this." I felt Leah tense beside me. He continued, "It is very painful, and can take up to a year depending on the health of the patient."

"A year!"

He smiled patiently towards Leah. "That is the longest it has taken. On average the process lasts around three months. The longer you have been a hybrid and ingesting blood, the longer it takes. You have only been a hybrid for four months?" I nodded. "Hopefully it shouldn't take too long. The whole premise behind this treatment is the vampire blood that's in your system. It's the blood that has given you the heightened senses, strength and speed. Without the vampire blood in your body, you will return back to your human form."

"So what exactly are the steps that I would need to go through?" My voice came out sounding sharper than I intended. I was losing patience. I wished he would just get to the point. If he was insulted by my tone, he didn't show it.

"Well, we do a combination of two things. Firstly, we do a blood transfusion, where we drain the vampire blood from your system and replace it with human blood. This is a slow process, as your body will reject the human blood at first. We increase the dose of human blood  each day as your body begins to accept it, and until your body has been completely cleansed of vampire blood." He paused, watching me closely, making sure I understood the gravity of the treatment before he continued. "The second step is to wean you off blood. To detox your body. There is a lot of pain over a prolonged period of time. You have to be sure that you want this before we start. Once we begin, there is no going back."

I shot a quick glance toward Leah. Her heart was drumming erratically in her chest, and her breaths came in short, sharp gasps. I thought she was in danger of hyperventilating. Guilt grasped its cold fingers around my heart, as I saw what this was doing to her. The pain only intensified as I realised that even though I had promised not to agree to anything without speaking to her, I had already made up my mind. I didn't care about the pain. If there was a chance, even a small chance that I could have a proper life with Leah, I would do anything to make that happen. I took her hand in mine, and squeezed it gently, reminding myself that I was doing this for her.

"I'm aware of the risks."

"Well, in that case, I suppose all that is left is to show you around. Let's meet some of our patients." He stood and gestured for us to follow. "Now, Finlay, we're about to enter the humanization area. Don't let the smell or the sounds put you off," the doctor said. Halting before the doors, his brown eyes meeting mine before moving to Leah. I got the impression he was warning Leah not me.

"It's a small operation we have here," the doctor said, stopping before a door and turning to us.

"Naturally, there aren't many subjects with your particular condition. At present we have five patients, each at different stages of the process. Shall we?" The doctor motioned to the door, his calm demeanour causing Leah to visibly relax.

I nodded, my hand tightening around Leah's.

We passed through a series of unlit corridors, passing empty rooms and staircases that ascended into darkness before finally reaching a set of double doors. LED aluminium lights buzzed loudly overhead. The harsh glare from the lights drained the colour from the doctor, and his face appeared grey and ashen as he led us further into the building. The corridor opened into a large atrium, natural light streaming in through several glass skylights mounted on the roof. Six rooms adjacent to each other stood at either side of the room. The room looked like every hospital I had been in: glass window showing the interior of the room, clip board with patients’ statistics hung on the door. However, there were key differences. The windows to each room were covered with bars, and the doors were made of thick metal. A large, red panic button was mounted on the wall outside each room. There was no mistake that they viewed their patients as a threat. I wondered if they ever had to use the security measures.

The doctor led us to the first window. My heart lurched. The room look cold and clinical. A single bed stood isolated in the centre of the room. My gaze was drawn to the left of the bed where the plastic tubing of an IV drip snaked from the blood bag to the bed. A crimson red substance oozed along the tubing to the occupant. I dragged my gaze from the blood as I felt the monster rear its ugly head. I took a deep breath and locked it back in its cage.

When we stepped into the room, my eyes fell upon a figure on the bed. He was frail and his skin lacked any colour at all, more like wax than skin. He didn't appear to notice he had visitors. Thick restraints tied the man's hands, feet and head in place. For his own protection or for ours?

"This is Mr. Wright," the doctor said, as he looked down upon the figure that ignored him. "He's in his third week and progressing well. As you can see, his body is now accepting the blood." He indicated the tubes protruding from the man's arms, and the scarlet blood-filled bags on either side of him, slowly replacing the vampire blood within his system.

Although he looked pale and drawn, and didn't appear to register our presence, I was pleased to see that at least he didn't appear to be in much discomfort.

"You see, Leah," I said, turning to her, looking into her blue eyes. "It's not that bad. He's doing all right, right doc?" The doctor nodded slowly, but paused to take a deep breath as though he were about to deliver some bad news.

"What?" I asked, eager to know. "What is it?"

His thick grey eyebrows rose up, causing his forehead to break out in a mass of lines. "Mr. Wright is doing well, yes, but ..." Now the doctor frowned, his eyes flitting from me to Leah and back as he explained in a low voice, "It really depends on the person, their physiology, their mentality, and their will to live."

I suspected that many of those who didn't survive the process had nothing to live for, or at least not as much as I did. I was sure I wouldn't have a problem, but when we stepped into the corridor again, I heard the sounds that would become an everyday companion to me in the coming weeks: strangled squeals of pain, and animal-like grunting mingled with the loud voices of men, presumably the nurses or orderlies assisting the doctor.

"What is that?" Leah asked, her voice tinted with shock.

"Well, those are the other patients, all in the early stages of the process. As I said before, it really depends upon the patient."

The doctor closed the door gently and looked over his shoulder towards the muffled sounds. He didn't move towards the noise, and I knew then that he wasn't about to show us the contents of the other rooms. I dreaded to think what state those patients were in.

Chapter 40

I looked up through the car windscreen at the night sky as we drove back to the factory the following night. The stars shone brightly. I wondered when I would see them again.

I felt my body shudder, and felt my determination begin to waver as the factory appeared in the distance. I turned towards Leah, feeling her hand upon my arm. Her gaze was comforting as always. I reminded myself that I was doing this for her, for us. Despite the growing apprehension weighing me down, I forced myself to go on, pushing down harder on the accelerator. I wanted to nothing more than to turn the car around and leave that looming husk of a building behind, but the promise of a future together with Leah stopped me.

"If you're not ready for this today, we can go back. You don't ..."

I didn't want to hear that. I couldn't wait, not any longer. I had kept the beast tightly under control for the most part, but there were times when I felt it taking over me. I knew that if I didn't go through with this, she would always be in danger when I was around.

"I do have to do this, Leah," I said, interrupting her before she could finish. "I want a proper life with you, not one where I have to watch my every move in case I hurt you." I didn't look at her as I spoke. "We do this today. I'm not spending another night wondering if today will be the day when the monster takes over."

For the last 24 hours we had done nothing but talk of the pros and cons of going through with this procedure. Although Leah still had concerns, I managed to convince her that the pros outweighed the cons, for the most part anyway.

"They told us we had to drive around to the back entrance, and park in the garage. They'll be waiting for us there," Leah reminded me.

I drove around the building and located the entrance to the garage. It was a yawning opening lacking a door, and in the dim light it looked to me like a bottomless pit. Had I been fully human, I would not have entered such a dark and uninviting place without my weapons. As it was, I knew that somewhere within, the means to make me fully human again were waiting. I drove forward into the dimness of the interior. The place was nothing but dead machinery and long abandoned tables and benches.

I stopped the car, and we sat there facing a small doorway. There was no light source of any kind except the light from my headlights, and I wondered if they even knew we were there. Those few minutes waiting for Doctor Sotto and his team to meet us felt like the last moments we had left.

"Leah, I know you are worried about me going through with this, but I'm going to tell you this one last time," I said, taking both her hands in mine. I wondered if the tremble running through her was my own. "Nothing will stand in the way of our future together. I won't allow it. You believe me, don't you?" 

Thankfully, she seemed to have developed a newfound strength in the past few hours, or perhaps it was the realisation that it couldn't be any other way, not if we wanted a life together.

"I know. I'll be there by your side the entire way, no matter what happens."

I leaned in and kissed her, pulling her close to me. It was possibly the last intimate moment we would have before the agonising procedure commenced, and I was not about to waste it on fear. I enjoyed the moistness of her lips, the warmth of her breath and the softness of her skin on my cheek as we embraced, and I swore it wouldn't be our last.

I turned off the engine and exited the car when Doctor Sotto appeared before us, clad in white, a hand blocking out the glare of the headlights.

"Shall we?" I asked.

"Let's get this over with, Finlay."

Leah looked at me, and I saw the anguish that had been ever-present over the last few days. I had to admit I felt it myself. It was the point of no return, and I knew if I suggested it, Leah would walk right out of there with me and never look back.

"This way, please."

I gripped Leah's face in my hands and kissed her forehead before pulling back and looking into her eyes, my own eyes now threatening to overspill with tears.

"Let's do this. Are you with me?"

She smiled, but it looked more like a grimace as she fought to control her emotions. "I'm with you all the way, Finlay."

I was led through the building into the room that would become my home for the next few months.

Chapter 41

From the first few minutes of having the needles inserted, and the first hint of pure blood being pushed into my bloodstream, I knew it was going to take all the courage I had to get through it.

It started as a warm tingle, and quickly intensified. The pain becoming overwhelming as more human blood entered my system. The heat grew stronger as the red hot tongue of searing flames licked through my blood stream. Warmer and warmer, hotter and hotter.

I was no stranger to pain. In fact, it was an everyday occurrence in my profession. Broken bones, cuts, bruises, even the odd perforated lung were common for me, but I had never experienced anything like this. As the white hot fire pulsed through my veins, I lashed out at anyone close to me, screaming and hollering with each fresh wave of pain. Tears drizzled down the side of my face as I squirmed like a heroin addict going through a tough, life-altering detox into sobriety. My entire body shivered uncontrollably, as if an earthquake were going on inside of me. At any moment, it felt as though I would crack. I could think of nothing beyond that agonising pain. It obliterated any sense of time. Time can be cruel. It speeds up when you wish to savour the moment, slowing down when you want it to speed up. For me, time seemed to stop dead altogether.

I learned that my body was rejecting the blood. The vampire in me refused to be cleansed. The demonic blood ravaged the pure blood cells as if they were food. My body urgently needed blood, the lust becoming stronger and stronger as the fasting continued. The sweet fragrance of Leah's blood became too much as the scent penetrated every particle of air. I fought against the beast with every ounce of strength I had left, but I was too weak. The demon was too strong, and I became that which I had sought to destroy for most of my life. I caught my reflection in the mirror opposite my bed; I was nothing close to human. No trace of any of my humanity was visible. It was the face of a monster that stared back at me – the face I had desperately tried to beat into submission since I had been turned. How easily it dominated me now! The face in the mirror mocked me. It knew it had me beat.

The small room seemed to close in around me, as the smell of fresh blood saturated each particle of air. I felt my hunger surge. The scent of Leah's sweet fragrance assaulting my senses and clouding my mind. The beast called to her to come closer and screamed savagely in anger when she remained silent and out of reach of its fangs. The monster snarled and hissed, banging relentlessly against its restraints. I felt as though I was watching myself in a movie, detached from the situation like an observer in someone else's life. I realised that my behaviour was abhorrent, but I was unable to do anything to stop it. I watched as Doctor Sotto escorted Leah from my room, explaining to her that it was too traumatic for me to be around her scent any longer. The beast writhed and strained against its restraints in frustration, teeth bared to reach the food source that was being taken from it. I was
imprisoned inside my own body, unable to stop my horrific behaviour, unable to stop Leah from leaving me.

Over the following weeks, I grew weaker and weaker. My traumatised body was unable to keep human food down. The beast inside wanted only blood. Frail and malnourished, a tube had to be forced into my throat. I didn't recognise myself anymore. My body looked to be witheringly away. I had lost weight and looked gaunt. My cheeks and eyes were sunken hollows. I was a ghost of my former self. I had underestimated the beast and how difficult it would be to overpower it. I had gone into this with such a determination to beat the monster inside me, but it was stronger than I had thought. I felt as though I was losing the battle.

Amidst my clamouring for blood, I blacked out repeatedly, drifting in and out of reality as if it were merely a dream. The periods of darkness were the only thing that kept me going, the inky blackness pushing the pain into obscurity. It was a much needed relief from the constant pain, but the unconsciousness had another advantage: it allowed me to see Robert again. I would awaken to find him sitting opposite me and engage him in conversation as if nothing were wrong. We would be sitting in his living room, watching the game, drinking beer. Minutes later, I would blink, only to find that he had vanished.

Leah had not been allowed to see me since she had been escorted from my room three weeks ago. But she still visited me in my dreams and stayed with me in moments of consciousness, when she appeared in hallucinations, through blurry eyes. She would smile lovingly, leaning close to me to press her soft lips to mine. I savoured the moment, a part of me realising it wasn't real, and wanting to grasp hold of it for as long as I could. But these moments would not last, the dreams swiftly turned frightening as Leah's features changed. Her lips and fingernails turned a vivid blood red. The rich crimson lipstick drew my attention to her pouted lips. Then her loving smile turned into a sneer, growing larger into a distorted grin that covered her lower face. As her smile widened, a set of fangs were visible, mingling amongst a tide of pearly teeth.  A sweet, melodic giggle escaped her lips as she reached up to capture a drop of blood that ran down from the corner of her mouth.

And within the blink of an eye through my semiconscious state, she was gone. She was no more than just a figment of my fever-induced imagination. These chilling hallucinations tormented me with dark images, until it felt as though it would drive me mad.

It was the third month when I finally began to regain some of my former humanity. The vampire in me was slowly being defeated. The diseased blood cells finally washed out of my system. But it came at a cost. The vampire inside had been exercised, but it had taken its toll on my body. I had fought for so long, but my weak human form had no more fight left.
I could feel the end approaching. As the darkness washed over me, I had one thought:
Not yet, not without saying goodbye.
Then nothing but darkness.

I drifted away within my own obscure subconscious, through the darkest tunnel, coming closer to a bright, blinding light at its end.

That’s when he first spoke to me.

“Finlay… Can you hear me? Can you speak?” he said, his faint, echoing English garbled but comprehensible.

I felt my head nod in agreement. My crusted lips parted to say
yes
,
but I could not convey the words. Did my head really nod or did I imagine that?

I heard him again. He repeated himself twice. The blinding light grew stronger as I pried my eyes open. Dark, blurry shapes danced in my vision. As my sight cleared, the shapes transformed into two silhouettes. There were two people standing over me encompassed by an even more bright light. Were these images angels sent from heaven to escort me to paradise? My thoughts felt hazy as I struggled against the dense fog that clouded my brain.

My vision slowly cleared, as my eyes relaxed into focus. From the white of the hospital lights, she came into focus.

“Welcome back,” Leah said. “I thought we lost ya there for a minute.” She leaned over slowly, gently pressing her soft lips to mine.

I was vaguely aware of Doctor Sotto removing the restraints from my arms and legs, my focus firmly on Leah. She assisted the doctor in pulling me upright, as my strength was all but gone. I cried in relief as she hugged me to her gently, her own tears soaking my tunic. It was over. I realised that had I not promised Leah a future together, and if she had not been there with me, both physically and in my delirium-induced state, I might very well have given up. Leah was my prize for surviving the process. I was damaged, but not broken. The vampire was gone, and I was finally free of the curse.