The Darkest Song (The Eternal Darkness Duet #1)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I woke to the phone ringing. I felt a moment's confusion, not knowing where I was, and then the pain hit me. It felt like a thousand knives stabbing me all over my body. I wanted to scream from the agony of it, but I was paralyzed. So I just lay there, praying for the feeling to pass. My phone stopped ringing and for a moment I felt the tiniest relief. Then it rang again, the sound like a hammer to my head.

A coldness swept over me, and I began to shake uncontrollably. The shaking intensified the pain, and a whimper escaped me. Tears rolled from the corner of my eyes down into my hair. The phone stopped ringing, but this time the pain did not subside.

A sharp spasm went through me, causing my body to jerk against my will. Bile rose in my throat, and I rolled onto my side, the fear of choking on my vomit giving me the strength to move. I tried to clench my jaw shut, but the chills shaking me made it impossible. I stretched my arm out and gripped the edge of the mattress. Another spasm hit me, and my knees jerked up towards my chest, my body curling into a fetal position.

Nausea hit me again, stronger this time, and I managed to pull myself towards the edge of the bed, just far enough to hang my head over the side before passing out again.

A text alert woke me the second time, and the first thing I noticed was that the pain was gone. In fact, all feeling was gone. My body felt numb and heavy. I cracked open my eyes and squinted towards the window, trying to gage the time by the tiny sliver of sunlight that crept in over the top of my curtains.

Yes, those were my curtains. I was in my own bed, though I had no memory of how I came to be in this condition. Had I been drugged? My tongue felt thick and stiff in my mouth.

I struggled to sit up and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I sat there a moment, clinging to the edge of the mattress. Then another text alert sounded, drawing my attention to my backpack on the floor by the door. I knew there was no way I could make it across the room in my current condition, so I just sat there, staring at it.

What happened to me? I started to lay back down, but paused when I noticed a large dark spot on the bed. I squinted at it in the semi-darkness for a moment, then reached for the lamp beside my bed.

My arm felt heavy, making me clumsy, and I knocked the lamp over when I turned it on. Light flared into the room, and the first thing I noticed was the dried blood on the back of my hand.

My eyes darted back at the bed, and I saw that the dark spot was also dried blood, right where my head had been. I jumped up from the bed, swaying unsteadily as I looked around. I looked down at myself and saw blood on the front of my shirt.

I tried to run to the bathroom but my numb legs caused me to stumble and fall. I crawled the rest of the way and gripped the edge of the sink to pull myself up. When I saw my reflection in the mirror, I cried out.

My hair was a tangled mess, and my cheek and neck were crusted with dried blood. The collar of my shirt was torn, exposing one blood smeared shoulder. I looked down at my body, frantically searching for injuries. My jeans were still fastened, and I paused for a moment, thankful to know I hadn’t been raped.

I turned on the faucet and began splashing water all over my face and neck, and when I lifted my head to look in the mirror I froze. The blood had washed away to reveal smooth, flawless skin. My injuries from being thrown to the pavement were completely healed.

I slowly lifted a shaking hand to touch my chin. I stared at my reflection in disbelief. Then I noticed a small cut at the base of my neck. I leaned closer to the mirror to get a better look. It was not a cut; it was two small holes.

I stared at them, as if in a trance, until my phone rang again. My body jerked, and I grabbed the edge of the sink to stop myself from collapsing. I started to cry, great heaving sobs bursting from my chest. I continued to stare in the mirror as I cried, unable to look away from the marks on my neck. After a moment my phone's ringing pierced through my hysteria, and I stumbled out of the bathroom, desperate to answer before they hung up.

“Help!” I tried to yell, but the word came out a hoarse whisper. I lurched across the room, collapsing onto the floor beside my backpack just as my phone stopped ringing. I dug through my backpack and yanked my phone out just as it rang again.

I saw my sister’s number and answered with a sob. “Allie!”

“Sarah!” she exclaimed. “What's wrong? Are you okay?”

For a moment, all I could do was cry into the phone.

“What’s wrong?” she kept repeating, yelling at me.

“I don’t know,” I finally said between sobs. “I-” I stopped, not knowing how to explain what had happened. With one hand I wiped at the tears on my face.

“Sarah! What's wrong?” Allie shouted again. “Where are you?”

“I’m home,” I said. Then, remembering, I raised a hand to my neck and gently touched the two small holes. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself. “Something’s happened.” I struggled to stand up.

“What happened? I don’t understand.”

I looked around my apartment. Other than the bloodstain on my bed, there was nothing out of place.

“Sarah?” Allie was no longer shouting, but she still sounded concerned. “What’s going on? I’ve been trying to reach you all day.”

“I don’t know.” My face was completely healed. How was I supposed to explain that? “I was sick,” I said, “but then-” My words trailed off as I slowly walked over towards the wall of blackout curtains covering my two windows.

“Sick? You sounded hysterical when you answered the phone.”

“No, I’m okay now.” I raised a shaky hand, grabbed the edge of the curtain, and yanked it open. No one was lurking behind them, both windows were shut tight.

It was dark out. How long had I been sleeping? I ran my free hand over my cheek and chin, astonished by the smoothness, when only yesterday it had been scabbing over.

“Hello?” Allie said loudly, getting my attention. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah.” I turned away from the window.

“You either tell me what's going on, or I’m getting in the car right now and coming over.”

“No!” I said, with more force than intended. I didn’t know what was going on, but I knew I didn’t want my sister involved. “I’m fine.” I scrambled to think of something believable to say. “I was sleeping when you called, and I was having a nightmare. It just took me a minute to snap out of it I guess.”

“A nightmare.” I could hear the disbelief in her voice.

“I’m sorry I worried you. I guess I’m still shook up from getting attacked.”

Allie’s tone immediately changed. “Of course you are,” she said soothingly. “You should have stayed here a few more days.”

“Yeah, but I’m okay now. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay. You can call anytime. I’ll be awake.”

“Thanks. Bye.” I hung up and looked at the time on my phone. It was quarter to eight. I’d been out for almost twenty-four hours. I let the phone drop to the floor and walked back to the bathroom.

I looked in the mirror, my eyes going straight to the holes on my neck. As I stared at them, images began to flash through my mind. The lights had been out on the third floor. I turned my key in the lock. I made it inside. Someone grabbed me from behind. There was a sharp pain in my neck. Then nothing. I shook my head. No, not nothing. There was pain in my neck, but something else as well. I felt his mouth on my skin. The room was spinning. Darkness.

I pressed a hand against my stomach, remembering the feeling. Sharp pain twisted in my stomach, and I gasped and fell back against the wall. The pain came again, and some primal part of me recognized it for what it was. Hunger .

I stumbled out of the bathroom and rushed over to the fridge. I yanked open the door with such force that the condiments on the door went flying to the floor. My eyes quickly spotted the ground beef, and I grabbed it, ripped the plastic open, and shoved my face directly into the raw meat. I ate like an animal, choking down half the plastic wrap in the process.

I devoured a pound of meat in a matter of seconds, then I tilted the styrofoam tray into my mouth and drank the blood that had pooled at the bottom. When I had finished every drop, I tossed the tray to the floor and licked at the blood running down the side of my arm. Then I let my arm fall to my side, and the realization of what I'd done sank in.

I swallowed hard, feeling nauseous, then rushed to the bathroom and emptied the contents of my stomach into the toilet. I knelt there, gasping between heaves. God, what was happening to me? I lay down in front of the toilet and closed my eyes.

When I opened my eyes again, I couldn’t tell if I’d been sleeping, or just laying there with my eyes closed. I stood up and looked in the mirror. For a moment I just stared at the two holes on my neck. Then I flicked off the light and walked out of the bathroom.

I looked around my apartment. My curtains were open, and I could see that it was still dark out. I saw the bloodstains on my bed. The refrigerator door was still open, and condiment jars were all over the place. I walked over to where my backpack and phone still lay on the floor, and picked up my phone to check the time. It was just past midnight. I’d been on the bathroom floor for four hours.

I set my phone down on the counter and started picking up the condiments. When my work was done, I closed the refrigerator door and leaned back against it. What next? My mind felt clouded, like I was dreaming.

“Focus,” I said aloud. “You can figure this out.” I pushed away from the fridge and started pacing. I rubbed my face, still in disbelief that my wounds had disappeared. I tried to think, but one word kept disrupting my thoughts. Vampire .

It was impossible. Vampires weren’t real. But every time I looked at the holes in my neck, that's what I thought of. I’d seen it in movies a hundred times, but movies weren't real. Maybe the holes were from where they injected me with drugs. Or maybe the holes weren’t even there. Maybe I was hallucinating. Was any of this real?

Pain suddenly struck me, like a knife twisting in my stomach. I cried out and doubled over in agony. I stumbled back to the fridge and yanked the door open, but there wasn’t any more meat. Why was I looking for meat?

Pain struck again and I fell to my knees, gasping for air. It felt like I was dying. Was I? Had I been poisoned? I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think. I should go to the hospital. I should call 911. And say what? That I just woke up and found my bed covered in blood and my face magically healed?

“Fuck!” I shouted, slamming my hand against the floor. Pain struck again, even stronger than before. My back arched and I retched, but all that came up was a splatter of blood. Over and over, it hit me, twisting my insides until I felt as though I would pass out. Then it was over.

I opened my eyes and saw the ground beef wrapper on the floor, and I acted without thinking. I pushed to my feet and quickly grabbed my sweatshirt off the hook by the door. I zipped it up to cover my torn, bloodstained shirt, then grabbed my backpack from where it still lay open on the floor and shoved my phone into it before rushing out the door.