NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10 – The Feed
CW:
Chapter 10- The Feed
I looked over at Chelsea. She had tapped the lobby button and then leaned back into the corner of the elevator. She looked relaxed but on guard. Her delicate features still shook me. Her brows knitted as she looked at me.
“Ok Isabelle?” I stared at her for a second. She hadn’t been someone too trustworthy recently so I wasn’t really sure where this was going. Eventually, I nodded. “Good,” she frowned, then looked straight ahead. “I need you to learn. You’ve become a Hudson at a rather…inopportune time.” She sighed then looked back at me.
I didn’t exactly know what she meant other than that there was some cross territory feeding going on. It wasn’t like that was unheard of right? I looked into those shiny indigo eyes.
Her shoulders sagged. “Okay, okay!” She looked away. “I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you that I’m sorry I’ve been so uptight.” She crossed her arms.
What? Who is this? Am I being gaslit again?
I stared at her. “I don’t,” I paused. “I don’t understand.” I leaned back into the railing of the elevator. I glanced at the floor indicator and saw it tick to 25.
“I’ve been a shitty person.” She sighed and looked down. I was utterly shocked by her apologetic behavior. My mouth was open. “You can close your mouth honey. It’s not very lady-like.” She turned her head up.
I closed my mouth, but my shock quickly turned to annoyance. “Sorry!” Her demeanor shifted a bit. “Force of habit.” She smiled awkwardly. “You are my daughter after all.” She said it like it gave her a right to tell me what to do.
I frowned. The ding from the elevator reaching the bottom floor garnered both our attention. “Okay, I’ll explain more on the way.But not until we get to where we need to be.” She pushed me out into the hallway. “I know my blood bond and my abuse of it has destroyed your trust in me. I’m gonna work on getting that back.” She whispered into my ear as she pushed me. I just let her because it was easier than resisting this ancient beast.
After leaving the front lobby, we walked out into the cool New York air. The crispness was still sharp even in the late summer. The buildings stacked up around us, making me feel small. I looked at the skyscrapers. I saw their innate beauty in design. The sky had a slight tinge to the coming darkness, indicating that the sun was almost gone. It wouldn’t be long before it slipped behind the horizon.
We were walking now. Quickly. Chelsea wasn’t saying anything yet and seemed to be leading me to a specific location.
“When you say ‘feed,’ what exactly do you mean?” Chelsea turned and pulled me a little closer.
“Quieter.” She whispered and smiled softly. My face turned in surprise at her request, recognition at what she meant, and confusion at this new softness she was showing me. I nodded.
“Feeding usually means we have someone the Blood Bank cleared as good feeding material. These are good people, generally disconnected from family, and living alone.” I felt my stomach sink.
Oh god! Was I gonna have to kill someone!
My face must have shown my fear because she pulled me into a hug. “Hey,” she said softly. “I know this is gonna be hard and–with me here–you won’t kill anyone.” She smiled. “I’m here to make sure this goes well, ok?”
I looked hard at her. I couldn’t keep up with her switches in personality. Being a manipulative crazy bongo one second and a loving mother the next. If she was gonna be a part of my life for all eternity, I may as well learn to love parts of her. I sighed then eventually nodded.
She took that well enough and we continued on. We wound through the streets until we got on the subway and took it to 47th. We crammed into the subway car. There weren’t a lot of people but there was one guy shouting at the end of the car we were in. No one looked at him. I was confused. Was he ok? I was starting to walk towards the end of the car until Chelsea yanked me back.
“Ow,” I whispered, “What the heck?”
She frowned back. “Are you insane? Don’t interact with the crazy people on the subway. No one will help you in this city.”
I held my tongue because I remembered this being something I heard about prior to moving. I still didn’t like it. No one knows what someone else is going through. Ignoring it isn’t something I liked.
“Look, I’m sorry, but you have to learn.” She sighed and gripped onto her hand hold.
“Fine. Whatever. Why are we even on this stupid subway? Aren’t you loaded? Couldn’t we have just got a car?”
She shrugged. “This is quicker and just because we have money doesn’t mean we have to flaunt it. You may not be used to this much, but it comes with rules. My clan has had wealth for quite a while now.”
The casualness annoyed me. I knew what old money was and how many “rules” it came with. Just hoarding money. Stupid.
The ride was relatively quick and not many words were spoken between us. I glanced around occasionally, still enjoying the novelty of riding in a subway car. Chelsea, on the other hand, had a trained look about her. She had seen this a million times before and could care less about the world around her. The difference in us still staggered me. A lot of the time I could forget that Chelsea had lived several human lifespans. She was so much older, and likely wiser, than me.
Walking out of the station, we arrived on 47th street. There wasn’t much going on except for the occasional person we’d pass on our walk. The little trees posted into the ground looked like they needed more care. A few of them were new and had the little black ropes pulling them upright. Others were old and their little patch of grass was more just dirt.
Following behind Chelsea wasn’t difficult. She was practically the only one I could depend on now. I could probably do fine on my own, but, with her, came luxury and no harsh worries. Before it was constant boredom at my birth parents or the riskiness of living alone. I chose the latter, but I was enjoying this comfortable shift back into monotony.
Her black flowing clothes shifted at her brisk pace as we wound through various streets. I wasn’t sure which street we were on now. I wasn’t paying attention. All I knew was that the casual normal grimy look of New York City had shifted. It wasn’t as clean as before. Well, as clean as the city ever is.
Trash lined the sidewalk. The stench was awful. Scaffolding was jutting off the side of the building. There was a small opening of an alley and Chelsea pulled me toward it. I looked around and saw random needles and spoons.
What a beautiful alley to stop and chat!
My sarcastic thoughts aside, I looked toward the slight iridescent eyes of Chelsea.
“Ok,” she looked up then back at me. “The person is on the third floor of this building. She’s a struggling actress with a heart of gold. I chose this target specifically because of her likeness to you.” She smiled softly for the second time tonight. My eyebrows knitted questioningly.
“What do you mean?”
“She’s new to the city and from a relatively modest background. It’s easier to feed and not kill if someone is similar to you. You usually think of yourself and your own old family.”
I twisted in surprise and disgust at the thought. “Oh, so let’s rub that fact that you kidnapped me and I’ll never see my mom again in my face why don’t we.” I crossed my arms and looked away.
“Hey,” she said softly. Her hand reached up and stroked my cheek. I recoiled away. I glanced over and saw her frown. “I know this is hard. Especially being a full vampire now, but you need to learn to feed and how to do it right. I don’t want your first exposure to be murder. Some of my brothers and sisters would disagree, and while you may think I’m awful, I’m trying my best to think and care for you.” She frowned and looked away as if thinking of a painful memory.
My demeanor softened. I wasn’t sure how much more I could disagree. I knew about the mythos of vampires. They weren’t always known for being kind or caring. Maybe this was something more attuned for the Hudsons?
“Ok, fine.” I pouted. “How do we do this?”
She perked up a bit. “Well first, I need to teach you how to jump.” She gestured to the fire escape ladder that sat just achingly out of reach.”
“Pfft. I know how to jump.”
She arched her eyebrow. “Oh, do you now? Well by all means, go ahead and get the ladder.” She gestured to the thing.
Feeling like I had something to prove now, I lined myself up between the ladder and the ground. I crouched down, took a deep breath, and jumped.
I wasn’t prepared to shoot into the air way faster than I was used to. The ground seemed to disappear from my feet and I was slamming directly into the ladder. My head hit the bottom latch and pain shot into the back of my head. Just as fast as I was jumping, the ground was quickly approaching. I landed flat on my butt and pain was emanating from both my head and my rear.
“Owwwww.” I rubbed the back of my head and exhaled sharply. Chelsea entered my vision from the side and, being on the ground, I had to look up to her.
“Well that was one way to get the ladder,” she giggled. “Next time, will you let me show you how to do something so you don’t unnecessarily hurt yourself?” She quickly jumped up and pulled the ladder down. Then she extended a hand to me to help me up.
Begrudgingly, I grabbed her hand and used it to pull myself up. “Fine, whatever.” I frowned and looked away, quite embarrassed and my severe failure.
“Back to what I was gonna tell you too.” She leaned onto the ladder but looked serious. “Right now, the Hudson Clan and James Clan are on the verge of territorial war.” She paused to gauge my reaction. I was surprised to hear this, but not shocked at the prospect.
If someone was cross-territorial feeding and knew it would be an issue, I guess this was to be expected.
“Killing in another’s territory is grounds for immediate destruction. The disgusting James clan,” she said with venom, “has taken to claiming that this is a frame attempt to disrupt their existence. They’re bringing the matter to the council. Petty skirmishes have already been popping up and it’s not long before it bubbles over into a full blow turf war. The 97th street line was a very faint reality. As long as there’s an agreement between the local leaders, feeding can take place across the line. That line has become more blurred and blurred.”
“The cross territory feeding close to SoHo has sparked massive feeding issues. The council will be taking this as a priority case, but how it pans out is dependent on my family.” She sighed. “I’m not saying that we are in a war, more that it’s in the cards.” She frowned and looked down.
I was angry. Why did I have to be involved in this? I was supposed to be a financial advisor, not some vampire killer. I looked through Chelsea as my thoughts exploded into a myriad of possible scenarios, many including my immediate death.
“Whatever, let’s just get this over with.” I reached toward the ladder and started to ascend. Chelsea grabbed my arm before I could get very far.
“Look, I know this isn’t great news to hear, but we’ll need to have a thorough discussion about this okay? I’ll need a possible favor of you if you're up for it.”
“Whatever,” I said annoyed. Her ability to keep things from me until the worst time possible to tell me was starting to become repetitive.
I quickly climbed the ladder and waited for her to lead me to the target’s room.
Outside a window, I whispered, “What’s this girl’s name anyway?”
Chelsea put her finger up to her lips and shushed me. Even quieter, she said, “No names. We don’t need you getting attached to your feeds. That could end terribly for you if you can’t control the blood lust.”
I nodded slowly, understanding my existence as a blood sucking leech.
She flicked a finger across the window seal and broke it open. I was a little shocked at how easy this was, but considering who I was with, I guess I shouldn’t have been.
Silently, she pulled herself into the room. She turned around and guided me in too. Her practiced foot steps made no noise. I tried my best to imitate her.
The room wasn’t that big. It was a studio apartment with a full bed, a few potted plants, various soft decorations, fairy lights, and a heating oven. In the corner was a sink. There wasn’t much and from a quick scan. No one was currently in the room.
Chelsea sat down on the bed, the only real piece of furniture in the room.
“Well, it looks like we can relax for now. I’m not sure when she’ll be back, but now we just wait. I’ll tell you to hide when I hear her coming, then I’ll soften her up for you, ok?”
I nodded deftly. I didn’t want to talk to her right now.
We sat in silence for around 30ish minutes. I had plenty of time to think over the whole potential war thing. I had decided that no matter what, I wasn’t going to fudging die. I’d make sure that at least, Hazel and I made it out of this god forsaken city if I had to. I wasn’t too clear on vampire existence outside of New York City, but it had to be less danging than this.
After a long stint of silence and little movement, Chelsea went rigid.
“Under the bed, now.” I looked at her confused for only a moment, before she gestured strongly pointing down. I resigned and slid under the bed. My new smaller frame made it pretty easy. There wasn’t much room and it was quite dusty. I waited for a whole 5 seconds before keys started jangling in the lock to the door.
With a click, the door opened. I saw black non slip shoes and black pants walk through the frame. They turned around and started closed the door. I wasn’t sure where Chelsea had gone. Wasn’t she supposed to make this easier for me.
As the door clicked back into the frame, I saw Chelsea’s flowing black skirt and platform shoes appear from behind the door. There was a stifled scream and then silence. I heard muttering, then nothing.
“Ok, Isabelle. Come out.” I scrambled out from my hiding place and began to dust myself off. My entire front was light gray from underneath the bed.
Man, this lady needs to clean more.
I wiped myself off more then looked up to where Chelsea was standing next to the girl.
She looked young and like she had just finished a long shift wherever she worked. It was clear she was in work clothes because she still had the apron and note pad in her hands. Her bun had more than likely seen better days. It was loose and about to fall out on the top of her head, threatening to let her brown her cascade down her back. She was pretty.
I tried to ignore humanizing her. I was here for one thing, and one thing only. I looked to Chelsea.
She looked at me kindly and guided me over to the woman who looked like she was in some sort of trance.
“What did you do to her?”
“Oh, I made her block this whole interaction from her memory. It’s something most vampires can do. This will feel rather pleasurable for both you and her, but it can be quite addicting for humans. Let them feel it too much and they just become thralls.”
I felt my stomach sink at the thought of making someone lesser than themself.
“Buuuuuut,” Chelsea pulled me from my thoughts, “that won’t happen if you make them forget!” She said happily. “So, this is easy, just lick her neck first before you bite. We have toxins in our saliva that numb the area and act as an aphrodisiac.
My thoughts quickly went back to Hazel licking my neck and I blushed.
Chelsea must have seen my reaction because she quickly capatalized, “Don’t worry honey, depending on how things go, you might just get to see that Hazel girl again.” She winked.
I was surprised to hear her say that consider Hazel was a James.
Regardless, I steeled myself for the task at hand and leaned into the girl. As I got closer, I started to hear her blood pumping through her veins. The sounds was dizzying. I slowly started to lose myself as I was drawn to one location of her neck. Instinctively, I licked around the area, lathering her in toxin. The blood in the area started to pump faster. My mind seemed to leave me quicker.
I started to be able to smell the sweet scent hidden just beneath her skin. I put my lips close to her artery and extended my fangs. I closed my eyes and revelled in the moment. I scraped my teeth across her skin and broke the top layer. The smell of blood was intoxicating. It was even closer now.
I pierced through her neck and into the artery. Blood started to pour out of the wound as I retracted my fangs and began to suck. The second the first drop touched my tongue I felt my world explode into a series of colors. It was like I was looking into a nebula or an exploding star.
My consciousness was disappearing into the back of my mind as I enjoyed every second of the blood. I felt like I was bathing in the heat, the flavor, the entire task. I was awash with heat and emotion. I could help but want, no need, more.
I started to suck harder. The flavor kept coming and I needed more. More. MORE!
I pulled the woman into my arms and held her tight as I sucked more out of her.
I heard vague muffling words in the background of my mind, but I didn’t care. I was to enraptured by what was in front of me. I held on strongly to my prey. I needed every drop. Every. Little. Bit.
I felt strong hands rip through my grip as I lost my hold on the woman. The sheer ecstasy I was experiencing was coursing through me. The strong hand gripped around my face and twisted my neck. The ecstasy gave way to darkness. I felt a snap in my neck as everything went black and nothingness. My grip and hold relaxed. I couldn’t feel anything anymore. The high of the blood slowly started to disappear.
***
I came to still in the same room I was in before. I couldn’t remember much after the first explosion of flavor from the blood. I groggily looked around and saw Chelsea standing over a passed out woman. She had her wrist up to her mouth and was pouring her thick black blood into the woman’s mouth.
“Ugh,” I groaned as I sat up. I felt like I had slept on my neck wrong and had a krick in it. “What happened?”
Chelsea looked over at me. “Well,” she frowned, “I should’ve known from how quickly you sucked those blood bags, but you almost drained her dry. I couldn’t get you off after I saw you give into the blood high, so I had to break your neck.” She looked back at the women. Some color seemed to be returning to the girl’s face.
I felt disgust course through me. I rubbed my neck, but stared at the girl terrified.
I did that? I almost killed her.
The thought was sobering. I was a demon now. I felt my tears start to form. I crawled into a corner of the wall. I couldn’t help it as I started to cry.
I felt Chelsea hug me from behind and pull me up into her.
“Hey, hey, sweetie,” she guided my chin up to look her in the eyes, “I know this is hard, but you didn’t kill her. If it will make you feel better, we can come by another day and you’ll see she’s fine. Ok?”
I was still crying and couldn’t form any coherent thoughts, so I just nodded.
She pulled me into a tight hug. “Listen, I’m gonna order a car for you and wait with you until it gets there ok? I need to go confirm with the Blood Bank, that this one was yours and she’s not to be fed on for a while, ok?”
That made me feel slightly better. No other vampire could come and just feed on her until death. Regardless, I nodded my head and still continued to cry. I felt Chelsea pick me up and, suddenly, we were outside in the alley again. I wasn’t sure what state we left the woman in, but I was glad Chelsea didn’t let me see her before we left. I felt like a murderer, even if I didn’t kill anyone.
I kept crying for a little bit longer leaning into Chelsea. It wasn’t too long before the car arrived and I wiped my tears and said goodbye to Chelsea. Even if she was a confusing, manipulative woman, she was all I had right now.
I slowly got into the car and watched Chelsea wave goodbye.
“Ms. Hudson?”
I looked into the rearview mirror and was greeted with soft blue eyes that had a slight indigo hint to them. I felt an immediate relation. This man was a vampire and I could tell. He was somehow in my bloodline.
I nodded towards him.
“Rough night?” He asked as we started our journey home.
I shrugged and looked out the window. “I’d rather not talk about it.”
I saw him turn his eyes towards the road and the rest of the ride was silent. The same was true about the elevator ride back up to the penthouse. I had kept myself together throughout both rides, but the second I stepped into the house I started sobbing.
Victoria jumped up from the couch as soon as she heard me and enveloped me in another hug. We stayed like that for a while, as I continued thinking about my almost murder.
