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When I was younger and I first felt the darkness I wondered if maybe I was an elemental protector of darkness, which is why I kept the feeling a secret at first. Later, though, when my powe
r of fire manifested, I realized there was something else wrong with me. Even Porter was normal back then, well normal for him, and the perfection of my family made me worry that my imperfection meant I was broken. For years I carried the secret around, ignoring the hunger constantly purring under my flesh. But one day I became painfully aware that I wasn’t going to be able to ignore it anymore. It was the day I almost ended up biting someone’s neck. It was a strange craving that scared the hell out of me. I was fourteen years old and the first time I made out with a girl all I could think about was sinking my teeth into her vein.
I didn’t feel comfortable enough going to my parents for help, so I went to Porter, who had just went through what we refer to as his change. After I told him what was going on with me, he brought me to the fey world and introduced me to Camille, a faerie with the power of being able to read creatures and energies. When she saw me, she looked right into my eyes and said, “You’ve been cursed with a blood thirst.”
“I don’t… I don’t understand,” I’d replied. As far as I knew, blood thirsts only existed amongst vampires.
Apparently, I was right too, something Camille confirmed a moment later.
“Blood thirst only exists in one type of creature,” she said calmly, as if she was informing me about the weather. “But considering how pale you look, I assume you already arrived at that conclusion.”
“I hadn’t completely, but now I have.” I shook my head in shock. “I don’t understand how. I mean, I haven’t been bitten and this hunger… It’s existed for as long as I can remember. If I was a vampire… Why do I age and how did I become one?”
Her indifferent expression had softened a bit, emotion radiating from her blue eyes. “Just because you have vampire blood, doesn’t mean you’re a vampire. It’s like your brother,” she gestured at Porter, “While he carries the burden of another creature’s blood inside him, he’s still an elemental protector at heart, which is why his elemental powers still dominate and why he still ages, but underneath his elemental blood, certain urges exist that he has to tend to. You are the same way, and like Porter, you’re going to have to learn how to feed these urges or else they’re eventually going to consume you.”
My heart had thudded inside my chest so loudly it echoed in my head, but beneath the panic, a bit of relief emerged. Maybe it was from the fact that I’d finally figured out why I felt so... hungry all the time. Or maybe it was the vampire blood that existed in me. I wasn’t really sure. Just like I wasn’t really sure how I turned out this way.
“I still don’t understand how,” I said. “How I ended up like this.”
She searched my eyes with her head tilted to the side. “From what I can tell, something happened to you when you were born, but the details are hazy.”
And so once again I was back to trying to figure shit out. “So how do I find out for sure?”
She shrugged, reaching for a goblet of faerie wine. “That’s an answer I can’t give you. But you can ask your parents or find another way to look into your birth more.”
Deciding to take her advice, I went home and asked my parents about my birth without giving away that I knew I had vampire blood in me. The story my parents told me, though, didn’t help a bit. It was all rainbows and sunshine, my mom referring to the day of my birth as “one of the most wonderful days.” So, either they were keeping something from me or they didn’t know I was different. Over the years, I realized it was probably the latter. Just like over the years I’d learned to control my blood thirst the best that I could. I also told Max about what I am, but only because I got wasted on faerie wine and babbled my heart out like a pathetic shit. Other than Porter, Max, and Camille, no one else is aware I’m cursed with a thirst for blood.
“Hunter?” Max says, drawing me away from memory lane. “Did you hear what I said?”
I shake my head. “Nope, not a word.”
He sighs, slowing to a stop in front of the fireplace. “I asked what you meant when you said you weren’t sure if you could fix the link.”
“I mean exactly that—that I’m not sure if I can fix the link.” Gods, how many times do I have to repeat myself before he understands?
“How can you know that for sure? You haven’t been around Sky long enough to try it?” Holden stares at me questioningly, his face almost a mirror image of mine.
The resemblance is the only reason I believe we’re actually twins. Although, I once came up with a theory that I’m a doppelgänger along with being part vampire and an elemental protector. But I’m still working on proving that.
“That’s not true. I tried right after the link was altered, when Porter, Max, and I drove her back to the house,” I explain to Holden, sinking down onto the armrest of a chair. “And I could tell something was blocking my powers from being able to fix it. I tried to get around the block, but couldn’t. And I’m not sure I’ll be able to with how strong it felt.”
“That happened two days ago.” Max stands in front of the fireplace with his arms crossed and irritation in his eyes. “Why didn’t you say something back then?”
I give a shrug. “Because right after it happened, I went with Porter to feed. And then I got distracted with burying Brody’s body.” I shrug again. “I told Porter, though.”
Max lowers his head and pinches the brim of his nose. “Like that does any good. Porter probably doesn’t even want the link fixed.”
“Now, now, little brother, there’s no need to insult me.” Porter enters the room through the doorway with an amused glint in his eyes. The glint is typically there, a façade to cover up what he’s really feeling.
“I’m not insulting you.” Max lifts his head and arches his brows. “But can you honestly tell me that you don’t like the feeling of Sky’s power leaking down the link?”
Porter presses his lips together and shrugs. “It has its benefits, I guess.”
Max rolls his eyes again. “You’re constant indifference is starting to get annoying. I know you like it. I could tell when you freaked out in the car and nearly devoured her.”
“You don’t know everything, Max. And FYI, your self-righteousness is annoying.” Porter slants against the doorjamb with his arms crossed.
Holden heaves a weighted sigh. “Lets not get off track. We need to focus on fixing the link because it’s the right thing to do, even if some of us want it to stay the way that it is.”
