The Blood Rite

Chapter Four

The man bit her.

He gave no warning. The moment the word had left her lips, he smiled to reveal two incredibly sharp canines and brought them to her throat in a swift movement. In the split second before he bit, Ruby believed the fangs to be a part of a Halloween costume. Like the bag of plastic teeth that she'd bought the year before from the dollar store. Some were green, some yellow, but some were white like his. But then they pierced the skin of her neck and a hot pain shot from them through her body.

Her mouth fell open in a silent scream. It hurt. It burned and it hurt. She felt her blood being pulled effortlessly from her and knew in that moment that everything she'd ever been told was a lie. Monsters were real. She tensed, wishing she could drag what he was stealing from her back inside. It's mine, she thought in wild anger and terror.

His hands grasped her shoulders to still her as violent tremors raced through her. In the vampire's vise-like grip, Ruby believed he was going to kill her. That his talk of saving her had all been an act. She stared up at the sky, her body stiff and shaking as he stole all life from her.

Miracles don't exist, and she'd somehow given this demon permission to kill her.

It wasn't long before she felt the sting of his fangs pulling out of her. Maybe he'd bitten her for thirty seconds, maybe he'd bitten her for an hour. She had no way of knowing as her vision swam and her ears rang. Her entire body shook.

Warm liquid was thrust against her mouth. Ruby tried to spit it out. The man grabbed the back of her head and shoved her hard against his arm.

"Drink," he ordered, "if you wish to live, then drink."

A sob escaped her. Feeling the rush of tears over her cheeks, Ruby opened her mouth and drank. It was disgusting. What the hell is happening? It was all too much, too morbid. She thought of the bodies lying around her. All of their blood.

But his was warm. She hadn't known just how cold she'd become until she was swallowing the thick, metallic liquid. She gagged many times and the taste never got better. However, her craving for warmth, to be warm, became overpowering.

She grabbed his arm fiercely and gulped the liquid heat down. Her mind went blank, all of her focus narrowed in on the red gushing into her.

"Okay, that's enough," he said, easily prying her nails from his arm and moving away. Ruby's head fell back. She sucked on the tips of her nails, reveling in how they matched the color of his blood. Her eyes drooped. "Don't fight it. Fall asleep and when you wake, you will be made new."

She didn't know what he meant, but she listened. Lying in a pool of her own blood, surrounded by the bodies of her friends, Ruby died all alone with her heart yearning for something better.

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My heart hurts reading that line!

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