“Arise, my new delicacies.” A deep voice roared and bounced off the walls of the cave as both the Shadows brothers opened their eyes. “It's time to roam the earth in your new form.”
By the time their motor skills kicked in the dark silhouette that was standing above them had disappeared just as fast as it appeared. Zane rolled over on his side at the same time as his older brother Zek stretched his arms out. “Are you okay?”
Zek grunted softly and rubbed his eyes, ignoring his brother's question completely. “What the fuck happened to us?” He glanced around at the cave they were trapped in and his eyes widened. “Why does my mouth hurt this bad?”
“I don't know, but mine does too.” Suddenly, Zane's hand involuntarily lifted to his mouth from the immense pain he was presented with and shrieked when he felt his canine teeth were longer than they had originally been before. “What the fuck is wrong with my teeth?”
Repeating the same action as his brother, he sighed and ran his fingers through his long black hair as he slammed his fist on the cold ground. “I don't know, but it's wrong with me too.”
The both of them stood up and an overwhelming feeling of hunger took over the both of them. Zek glanced at his brother and caught a glimpse of his teeth. At that moment, a shadowy figure appeared before them once more, but all they could hear was the whispers of what could have been a voice because their hunger was the only thing on their mind. “You must feast upon the blood of animals and humans to survive or the blood lust will consume you.” Their voice sounded as if they were floating within the air above them, but when they gazed at the figure at the it was moving like there was actually a person standing there. “You are now what some wish they could be and what most think don't exist in their world.”
“What are you talking about? Who are you?” Zek glared at the figure on the wall with daggers shooting out of his eyes and ran towards it, only to find out that there really wasn't anything there. The figure was like a mirage or a painting affixed to the wall when he slammed into the rock solid wall at full force. Only, it wasn't the normal speed he typically had, it was an ungodly speed, even for the god that he already was. What surprised him even more was the fact that he felt barely any pain from the harsh impact. “What's going on here? We may have been gods before, but all this is something else.”
“You need to feast.” The figure raised an arm and pointed towards the barely visible opening at the end of the cave. “There is something waiting for you. Drink now and drink all, for vampires need all they can get.”
The figure dissipated once again and both brothers stood in curiosity as to what the hell the mysterious voice had meant, since they weren't aware of many other creatures other than the ones from their godly realm. “We're demons. It has to be!” Zek held back from screaming as Zane put up his hand to silence him.
“No, I've heard of a vampire before. They feed on the blood of animals and humans to survive. It's either you're born one or you turn into one by being bit.” Letting his hand reach up to his neck, he felt around on his skin until he felt two circular slits with dry blood stained around it. “Someone bit us.”
Zek felt his neck and nearly ripped at his neck once he confirmed what his brother had said. “What the hell! So what are we now? Vampire gods?”
“That's exactly what you both are.” A feminine voice popped up behind them, causing them to jump back when they turned around to face her. “Oh, sorry to startle you. I forgot your abilities won't kick in yet until you've at least had your first drink.”
Acting impulsively, Zek jumped at the young woman standing cheerfully, but before he even came in contact with her, she slid out of the way of his attack, almost as if she had vibrated at the same time. With out fast her movements were, you wouldn't be able to blink because you would miss the gesture no problem. Zek smacked his face off the ground, but quickly rebounded with the power of his new form and spun around wanting to try his attack again. “Who the hell are you and why the hell are you here?!”
“Oh! Where's my manners? My name is Cora and I've been sent here to guide the both of you into learning how to function in your new form. I see your fangs grew in already. Usually, it takes new comers about a day or two before their fangs grow in.”
Feeling ashamed for his accusation, Zek shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. “Sorry, I just...I'm sorry.”
“It's perfectly okay! It happens whenever I'm in a situation like this. Anyway, I know your both a special kind of god, and you will be happy to hear that your titles carry over into this realm as well.”
“Awesome, at least we mean something in this world still.” Zek seemed to feel a bit better knowing he was still a god, even though he was a vampire now.
Zane sighed deeply and chuckled at his brother's comment, but turned his attention back to Cora who was waiting patiently for the both of them to follow her lead. Once they both gave her the confirmation of their focus, she headed towards the opening as they followed her footsteps until they reached the outside of the cave. Zane and Zek both took a deep breath of fresh air and they both began to realize that their sense of smell was heightened to the point they could pinpoint each woodland creature scurrying around. As a deer crossed their path, they both felt their mouths begin to water and the hunger they felt earlier skyrocketed, so they both lunged for the creature, unable to control their urges. They tore away at it's flesh and drank the blood as it trickled down it's body. The deer's body went limp and both their mouth's were stained red with the proof of their satisfaction.
“Well, I guess I don't have to show you that. On to the next thing!” She assumed a stance as if she was going to take off running and with a playful grin on her face she whispered, “Now it's time to show you everything else we can do...”
Zane waited for his brother at their rendezvous point, but for some odd reason, he had been taking longer each time. He was already over an hour late and even though he was used to it, Zane was beginning to worry about his brother. He was a couple years younger than Zek, but in most occasions, he always felt like he was the older and wiser one out of the both of them. Finally, he heard a knock on the door which signaled that Zek was outside waiting to come in. Zane opened the door for his brother and instead of greeting him, he pushed passed him as if he wasn't even there. “You're late.”
“I know.” Zek took of his jacket and threw it carelessly on the torn couch as he headed to the kitchen to make something to eat. “What about it? I'm the older one.”
Zane followed him into the kitchen and sighed heavily as he leaned against the unstable counter top they took from a junk yard. “Who cares about who's the older one? I don't think we should stay here anymore. People are getting suspicious of us.”
Zek turned around and shrugged his shoulders, giving Zane full view of the blood on his shirt. Pretending he had no idea as to what Zane was looking at, he asked him what he was staring at. He looked down at his chest finally, but that didn't stop him from being a smart ass about it. “What? I got hungry.”
Zane slammed his fist on the table and from the force of his strength, the table snapped in half and crumbled to the floor. The pieces of wood echoed as they slammed against the floor and Zane let out a disgruntled puff of breath. “You got hungry? You can't just kill whoever you want!”
Chugging down the rest of his drink in a timely fashion, he threw the bottle at the far wall and but didn't pay any mind to Zane's words. “Relax, I just killed some livestock. It's not like they are anything important.”
'It's not about what you're killing, it's about the fact that you are!” Zane began walking around the room picking up the little bit of belongings they had and shoved them into a black duffle bag as he whispered incoherently to himself. Once he had everything picked up, he returned to the kitchen and threw the bag at Zane's feet. “Get all of your shit out of the bathroom and let's go.”
“Where are we going to go now? I think we've hit every major city.” Zek smirked at his brother, only further testing his limits, but backed down after seeing that Zane wasn't just going to give into his wants as he typically did. “Fine, I'll go back this up. You pack the food.”
“Gladly.”
Both brothers walked past each other and bumped shoulders as they went their separate ways. Zane tried to calm his anger, which seemed close to impossible with his vampire form, so he decided to focus on emptying the cabinets and drawers, but leaving the fridge alone. In the far distance of the shack they resided in, Zane could hear the clanking of glass bottles knocking into each other and the noise alone was enough to work his blood once more. He loved his brother dearly, since he was all the family he had left, but sometimes Zek just seemed like a different person completely compared to Zane. He shook his head and sighed softly as he packed up the remaining items of foods in the plastic bags. He glanced down the hallway to see if Zek was ready to leave, but he still saw his shadow coming from the bathroom. He inhaled to relax himself and carried all of the bags to the car, hoping that by the time he was finished loading the car Zek would be finished, but of course he wasn't.
“Zek! I got the car packed. Are you ready or not?” He waited through a couple minutes of silence, until he decided to walk to the bathroom and find out if he was ready or not. Except when he reached the opening, he realized the silhouette he saw earlier was just a stack of skillfully pilled items near the cabinet. His eyes shot up immediately and saw the bathroom curtains were fluttering in night air from the open window. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
Zane ran out of the house immediately, afraid of where his brother might be, and used night vision to get a better view of where his brother had ran off to. Running back into the house to grab his wallet and car keys, he cursed slightly under his breath. Within seconds, the engine revved and he raced down the dirt path trying to find his brother. He left his headlights off to draw less attention to himself, but once he rolled down the window, the scent of fresh human blood wafted into his car. From the sudden smell, his fangs automatically shot out, but he was able to focus himself so that his fangs retracted. He knew his brother was nearby, but before he could even pull over to get out, Zek jumped through the passenger window and settled in the seat as he smiled at his brother with blood dripping off the corner of lips.
“I'm ready to go now.”
“I can see that. You just had to get your last kill in before we left?” Zane swerved onto the main road and shot a dirty look at his brother. “You're hopeless.”
“Or maybe you just need some more humans. I know plenty of virgins that would love a few moments with you.” Smirking, Zek pulled the handle on the side of his seat to lay back and put his hands behind his head. “The best thing about human girls is that you can wipe their memory right after. They'll never remember a thing.”
Zane couldn't help but laugh at Zek's mindset because he knew he was more than just naive. “You're ridiculous, you know.”
He glanced over at Zane chuckling and then closed his eyes with a grin on his face. “Isn't that the best part of who I am deep down inside?”
Zane ended the conversation by turning the stereo up and blasting whatever song the radio station decided to play. He glanced at the highway entrance and made a sharp turn onto it as he almost by passed it. He didn't know where he was going just yet, but he knew it was going to be far from the town he was leaving behind. Something just didn't feel right, other than the fact of the rising suspicion of Zek's escapades, and he didn't want to stick around to find out. He always felt like someone was watching them from the woods outside the shack they living in, but when he sent out his senses, nothing was there. He took one last look in the rear view mirror as the town sign became smaller in size and the weight that had been on his chest finally relieved some pressure. He thought of telling Zek of his worries numerous times, but Zek wouldn't have cared anyway. Instead, he figured he could get the both of them as far away from here as possible and tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he sped down the highway.
“Just a few more bags and that should be all of them!” Kate Bleu carefully maneuvered her way through her aunt and uncle's house, trying her best to balance everything in her arms so they wouldn't fall. Her brother Tommy was already upstairs moving everything around in the attic bedroom he pleaded to have, but she still had quite a few more bags to bring up to her room. Her uncle offered to help her, but Kate was more of the type to help others rather than accept it for herself.
Spooked by her brother popping up in the hallway, she nearly fell over trying to catch everything before it slipped, so he grabbed some of her things to lessen her burden. “I told you I would have helped you.” He sounded a bit annoyed with his older sister, but he shortly smiled after she gave him the puppy dog look she always used to make him feel bad. “I just had to finish moving my dresser.”
“It's fine. You should have asked me though and I could have helped you move it.” Kate continued walking down the hallway until she reached her room door and shoved it open with her shoulder. She neatly spread out everything on her bed and directed her brother where to put the rest of her things. “I would have handled it by myself, but thank you.”
“You know sometimes, your a little too nice.” Tommy chuckled softly and rubbed his head as he looked around at her room. “This is going to be a very girly room.” He ran his fingers over the sheer pink curtains on her window and pretended the feel was burning his hand. “Now I have cooties.”
Kate picked up one of her accent pillows and threw it playfully at his head, but before it hit him, he was able to catch it in his hands. “I have to go get my bags, you jerk!” She pushed past him softly and jogged back down the stairs to grab the rest of her bags from the car. As she slammed the trunk closed, she looked out at the scenery and smiled at how beautiful everything looked. They were originally from New York, but with their mother always going on business trips, their aunt and uncle offered to keep an eye on the both of them until they graduated from high school. Coming from a city like Manhattan, she wanted to take a moment to admire the view she was presented with as of now. It soothed her and she found herself slipping away into a dream state, until someone tapped her shoulder and brought her out of it. She turned around and jumped back as her aunt giggled at her reaction.
“I apologize. I just wanted to make sure you were okay! You were standing there like a statue and I thought something was wrong.”
“Yes I'm okay, Aunt Elisha. I was just enjoying the view that's all.” She smiled kindly at her aunt and then continued back into the house to finish with her room. As she walked down the hallway, she could hear her brother shuffling around in the attic and it made her smile as she heard her brother cursing upstairs. She began setting up her room as she pleased, with the organization she wanted and within a couple of hours she was finished with everything.
“Dinner's ready!” Kate heard the voice of her uncle from the bottom of the stairs and she immediately heard the pounding footsteps of her brother running for the table. “Kate! Come downstairs!”
Kate dropped her books on her bed and flicked the light off as she closed her door, running down the stairs before her uncle had a chance to call her again. The four of them gathered around the table and their uncle served all of them, explaining how everyone had to wait until all the plates were filled. Aunt Elisha had made fried chicken, garlic and butter mashed potatoes, sweet corn and baked macaroni and cheese, so the dinner table was filled with various colors of the flavorful food before them. There were two pitchers in the middle of the table, one with fruit punch and the other with a bit of wine. Tommy, being the bad ass he always tried to be, reached for the wine pitcher as if he was actually going to pour himself some. “Hey, you put that down young man!”
“I'm sorry Uncle Christoff. I was just joking.” Tommy took a bite full of his food awkwardly, and forced himself to keep from making any type of eye contact. “What school are we going to go to?”
Uncle Christoff took a bite of his food, so as he spoke, pieces of his food were spewing out of his mouth. “I think your mom is setting you up in Mandyma High School. It's only a few blocks away from the house, so you guys can walk there.”
“That's good. I'll make sure to wake you up on time, Tommy. We can walk together.” Kate cheerfully took a few more bites of her food before saying anything else. “Maybe you can make friends at this new school.”
Tommy sat back in his chair and pushed the corn around on his plate with his fork, not saying anything more because of the issue he held deep inside. Ever since he was younger, he always had a problem with trusting anyone and also making friends. Honestly, Kate was hoping that maybe a change of pace in a newer environment that maybe he could break out of his shell and become a social butterfly like her. The rest of dinner was quiet on all four ends, but Tommy's reason was because he felt pressured to change the way he was just because he wasn't the most talkative person in their family. He was perfectly fine with being alone and away from the rest of the world, but that wasn't good enough for anyone in his family. With his last bite of food, he swore to himself that he would make sure he made at least one friend to satisfy everyone else's wants.
Noticing Tommy's discomfort, she felt bad for bringing up the subject of making friends and rubbed his shoulder encouragingly. “Don't worry. I'll be with you every step of the way, little brother.”
Hearing his sister's confirmation of protection, the weight on his chest lifted off of him the slightest bit. “Thanks, sis.” They shared a brief smile between each other and for once, he was comfortable with the silence between them. “I know I'll be okay as long as I have you there.”
“We've been here for a week and you've kept me locked up in this hell hole!” Zek slammed his fists on his sealed bedroom door, which was protected with charms to keep him from getting out. Zane wanted to keep his brother out of trouble so they could stay in the area for a some, before they had to leave again due to his brother's unruly antics. “Let me out! This is inhumane!”
“Good thing your not human, right?” Zane couldn't help but laugh at what his brother's expression possibly looked like at the moment, but had to ignore the guilt of actually having to lock him up like an animal. “Look, I was thinking about going into town. Would you like to come?”
“Oh, you're actually going to let me out?” Zane heard him walking away from the door and shuffling through his drawers to get dressed. “Give me five minutes and I'll meet you outside.”
Zane smiled and nodded, even though Zek couldn't see his gesture. Since there wasn't any windows in his room to be able to escape from, Zane was okay with removing the seals of protection from Zek's door and headed outside to wait for him in the car. Zek pulled on his usual faded black jeans and black ribbed tank top, followed by tying his hair into a low ponytail. Within a few minutes he was finished getting dressed, but hesitated as he tried to open the door still thinking it wouldn't budge. He gave the door one good tug and was content that the door actually opened to the outside. From the fear of it being a trick or something was going to happen to get him back into the room, he ran down the hallway and out of the house in record time. “Nice to see you out in broad day light.”
He glared at Zane with a straight face and didn't say anything to him as he opened the car door, emphasizing his hatred for his brother at the moment by slamming it as hard as he could. Zane chuckled once more before getting in the car and then turned to his brother only to burst out in a fit of laughter. “I'm sorry, bro. It's just your face. I can never take you seriously.”
“That's because you can't take anything seriously. You're too nice.” Zek shook his leg as he waited for Zane to start the car and messed with the radio dial to blast the rock song on the station. “You need to be more like me.”
Zane pulled his seat belt, letting it click into place before he spoke. “Or maybe not. There's nothing wrong with being nice or friendly.” He put the car in drive and looked over at Zek, realizing he didn't have his seat belt on. “You're not going to put it on are you?”
Zek pulled his shades out of his back pocket and smirked as he slid them on his face. “Not a chance.” He pressed the button to roll the window down and puts his hands behind his head, closing his eyes as he rested against the seat. “Where are we going exactly?”
“Food shopping and furniture browsing. Our house is kind of empty and I'm tired of cooking in the microwave.” Zane pulled onto the main road towards the mall in the town's center and shook his head. “It's a shame that even as gods, they still don't send someone to do things for us.”
Zek scoffed and turned to stare at his brother. “Even if we did get hired help, you would have told them that you can handle it and buy them a pizza.” It was Zek that was caught in a fit of laughter, while Zane stayed quiet.
Shrugging, he shot back at Zek and said, “Yeah, and you would have tried to drain their body.” Zek's laughter silenced and his grin turned to a straight line as Zane laughed so hard, he pressed down harder on the gas. Both their eyes shot open at the sound of horns and angry drivers, and while Zek laughed, Zane hit his arm saying it was his fault his concentration messed up. “That could have been bad.”
“It's not my fault you can't laugh and drive at the same time. Besides, that would have been enough supply to last us for quite some time.” Zek's fangs grew in the blink of an eye, thinking of the possibility of having all that blood in his grasp. As they came up to the parking lot, they were stopped by a parking attendant so Zek made his fangs retract from site, even though he thought her blood smelled divine once he caught her scent after Zane rolled down his window. “What can we help you with?”
Zane glanced at Zek, who had the look of hunger in his eyes and punched his arm nonchalantly before turning back to the girl standing at the window already in a half daze from Zek's trance. “Is there a problem?”
She shook her head as if trying to come back to reality, which is when Zek tore his eyes off of hers. “Oh, um, you have to pay to park in here. It's only five dollars and you can stay as long as you want.”
Taking out his wallet, Zane came to the realization that he only had hundred dollar bills from the ATM earlier in the week. “Here.” He handed her a hundred and told her to keep the change as his ticket printed out. “It's fine, we have plenty more were that came from.”
“R-right...h-have a n-nice d-day!” She ran back to her booth happily and raised the bar so they could find a parking spot. “Come back anytime!”
“Oh, I think I will.” Zek mumbled darkly to himself and Zane hit him in the chest telling him to 'cool it' or he'd have to deal with him. “I'm just joking...”
“If there's one thing I know best about you it's to know you're never just joking.”
Luckily, Zane found a parking spot up in the front near the entrance, so they were inside the mall in no time. The brothers decided they'd go their separate ways and just meet up at the car when they were finished shopping. Zane knew Zek was just going shopping for new humans girls he could have his way with and then make them forget everything ever happened. Wanting to forget about his brother for a moment, he checked out the floor map to figure out where he should go first. He decided he should get some new clothes since they were in a new area, so he headed for the closest clothing store on the first level. Every girl that he passed stare at him with hot intensity, but he wasn't the type to be into the normal 'vampire things' everyone else thought he was supposed to be into. He couldn't help that he was naturally a nice guy before he became a vampire.
The store was less crowded then the mall itself, so he found it easier to get around without a hundred eyes on his back. As he walked down an aisle, pulling various clothes into his cart that he wanted, he saw a brother and sister at the end. When he walked closer to them because his intention was to go to the next aisle over, he caught a glimpse of the sister's face and was stunned almost immediately. She had caramel blond hair that flowed beautiful down her back and hazel-nut eyes that stole his attention, just as much as his heart beat. Her sun kissed complexion glistened under the florescent lights and she had a smile that captivated him to the extent of being paralyzed. He hadn't even realized he was staring at her for as long as he did until the brother came over to him, waving his hands in Zane's face. It still took a little bit of time for him to form his words properly.
“Why are you staring at my sister like that?” The brother who was standing before Zane appeared to not only be older than her, but also very intimidating had Zane not been the immortal god that he was. “I asked you a question, buddy!”
it was then that she came over towards the both of them and pushed her brother to aside as she spoke with a sweet, light voice. “I apologize for my brother. He's over-protective of me.” Her brother walked past the both of them and went over to the next aisle, but still kept a close eye on his sister. “Where are my manners? My name Is Kate Bleu and that's my brother Tommy Bleu. You must be new around here too.”
“Y-yeah, I am...My brother and I just moved in a week ago. How about you?” His eyes were glued to the movement of her lips, but he didn't hear a word that she said. “I'm sorry, I just...you have beautiful lips.”
Her hand reflexively shot to her lips as her fingers spread across them and a tiny hint of pink rose to her cheeks. “My lips? I've never heard that before...”
Zane's eyes popped open in fear that he offended her or made her feel uncomfortable and quickly apologized. “I don't know why I just said that. I'm sorry! I didn't-”
Kate laughed and it was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard from a girl before. “It's perfectly fine. At least I know my lips are beautiful. It's just, if you said that only about my lips, I would hate to think that the rest of me isn't that great.”
Again, he apologized with his deepest sincerity. “No, it's nothing like that! I mean, the rest of you is just as beautiful!” Now he was the one that was blushing. “I'm just going to go before I make an even bigger fool of myself.”
He started to roll the cart away from her, but her voice made him stop. “Wait, I never got your name!” She ran over to him with a big smile on her face and touched his arm for him to turn around.
Not wanting to pass up another moment of being able to stare at her beauty, he turned around and smiled contently at her. “My name is Zane Shadows and if you ever meet my brother, his name is Zek.”
She stuck out her hand for him to shake and flashed her pearly whites. “It was nice to meet you Zane. I hope to see you around again.”
Instead of him walking away, she was the one that walked away from him disappearing behind the corner of the aisle, most likely trying to find her brother. Zane was once again stuck in place as he replayed their conversation in his head, focusing his attention on the beauty of her face, and whispered one last thing as if she was standing right next to him. “I hope to see you around too, beautiful...”
Kate jumped on her bed as her best friend Cynthia Bridgette slammed and locked the bedroom door behind her. Even though they had only moved in a little over a week ago, Kate and Cynthia had known each other since they were kids from when they used to visit their aunt and uncle over the summer when they were younger, so the minute she heard that Kate was in town, she'd been over at her house the whole time. It made school easier for Kate, not having to worry about being alone for the first couple of weeks, but she was still worried about Tommy not having anyone to talk to. “I just wish he would break through his shell and find someone to connect with you know?”
Cynthia twisted her hair into a bun and shook her head as she looked into Kate's vanity to make it perfect. “Girl, you worry too much about him. Tommy's always been like that since we were kids.”
Kate sighed and stared up at her ceiling, listening to Tommy moving around upstairs above her. “I know, it's just...I worry about him constantly.”
“Yeah, that's because you act like his mother all the time. Let him be him. He'll break out of it when he wants to. Give him some time!” Cynthia threw a pillow at Kate that was on the floor by the dresser and they both started giggling uncontrollably. Once they calmed down, Cynthia jumped on the bed next to her and grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking her while smiling. “So, tell me about this guy that you met at the mall today!”
At the mere mention of Zane, Kate began to blush like crazy and hid her face with her hands. “His name is Zane Shadows and he's a nice guy. He said I have beautiful lips.”
They began to squeal, until Kate's uncle yelled for them to quiet down, and Cynthia asked, “Well, what does he look like? Details! I want to know everything!”
Up in the attic though, Tommy was about to have a little party of his own with a new found friend that he kept hidden secretly under his mattress. He locked the opening to secure his privacy and then walked over to his bed to find the little bag of white crystalline powder. Grabbing a hard cover text book off the floor, he threw it on the bed and sat in front of it, lightly tapping the bag so that the powder fell evenly on the cover. He used a razor blade to sep