Chapter 5 – The Vampire’s Bite

Erica’s POV

Hospitals smell like bleach and sadness. Always. Like someone dumped a bucket of chemicals on death and prayed it would stick. The second I walked in through those sliding doors, my stomach flipped. My hoodie stuck to me, my sneakers squeaked, and my chest felt like it was going to burst from how hard my heart was beating.

Grandma.

That was all I could think of. Grandma, Grandma, Grandma.

They didn’t let me follow when they wheeled her away. Just a rush of white coats and voices spitting words like urgent and collapse and stabilize. Then I was shoved into this waiting room, like I was twelve again, useless and small, while the real adults did the important stuff.

So I paced, I couldn’t sit. I could barely breathe. My legs wouldn’t stop moving, back and forth, back and forth, like if I stopped then something inside me would shatter. My hands were the same, curling into fists, opening, tearing at the cuffs of my sleeves until the fabric gave way. My throat was dry as dust but I couldn’t make myself get water from that cooler in the corner.

Time dragged on. Maybe minutes. Maybe hours. I had no clue.

Then I heard it.

A noise that didn’t belong here.

Not the beeps, not the footsteps, not the squeak of wheels. Something else. Wet, low and wrong.

Almost like… slurping.

My skin went tight, goosebumps crawling up my arms.

I should’ve ignored it. I should’ve stayed where I was. But of course I didn’t. Because I never do. Because apparently letting my body do whatever it wants is my specialty.

So I followed it. My sneakers were too loud in the hall, each step like a drum. Past the waiting area, down the wrong corridor. I turned where I shouldn’t have.

And then I saw it.

God.

A man, or what looked like one, hunched over a hospital bed. His head bent into the patient’s neck. The sound. That awful sucking, tearing sound.

Blood everywhere. Thick, dark, soaking into the sheets.

I froze. My throat locked up. I couldn’t scream, nor move. My brain screamed “run!” but my legs said no.

He lifted his head.

His mouth was red. His teeth were basically fangs, it flashed under the lights. And his eyes glowed, burning, like embers.

He hissed.

And then he came at me.

I gasped but that was all I managed to do before I heard a bang, something blurred, slammed into him sideways, throwing him into the wall. The crash vibrated down the hall like thunder.

I stumbled back, hands over my mouth, but no sound came out. Just my wide eyes, trying to make sense of what the hell I was seeing.

Two monsters.

Not just one.

They moved too fast to follow. Just flashes, claws slicing air, teeth snapping, shadows crawling like the walls themselves were alive. Blood splattering the tiles. A growl so deep it rattled my ribs.

And then it stopped.

The first one, the feeder, dropped to the ground like trash. His neck bent the wrong way, body still. He is dead, I guess. Or as dead as a vampire can be.

The other one… the winner…

He turned.

He had long blonde hair, and was as pale as snow, streaked with blood. His face sharp enough to cut yourself on. Eyes like liquid silver mixed with the sunset didn’t let me go.

He was… beautiful. But not the good kind. The kind that warned you off. The kind that made you want to run while your stupid body wanted to stare.

And then, he was right there.

Too close. Too fast. My back hit the wall hard. My bag slipped from my shoulder and hit the ground.

He braced his hand against the wall by my head. He didn’t touch me, but he didn’t have to. I felt the weight of him anyway.

“Hmm.” His voice was smooth, too smooth, like silk covering knives. “A weak little wolf.”

The words twisted something in me. “What—” My voice cracked. “I’m not… I’m not a wolf.”

His mouth curled into this slow, mocking smirk. “No?”

His eyes dragged over me like he was peeling me apart layer by layer. My chest went tight. My whole body screamed danger, get away, but I couldn’t.

Then his mouth opened. Fangs gleaming.

My pulse spiked. “Don’t,” I whispered. Pathetic. “Please—”

But it was too late.

He bit me.

His fangs sank in, deep.

I thought it would hurt. Thought I’d die. Burning, tearing, ripping.

But instead I felt fire.

Not pain, not exactly. Just fire racing through me, licking through my veins, sparking every nerve. My knees buckled. My breath shattered. It was too much, too hot, too sharp.

And then, visions.

Flashes.

It was me. But not me. Different clothes, different times. A bloody dress. A battlefield. A candlelit room, it was always me. And I was always dying.

And him.

He was always him.

The blond vampire. His face never changed, younger, older, but the same. Watching me die. Holding me in his arms and losing me.

My chest heaved. Fear tangled with something darker, heavier.

My body betrayed me, leaning into him, heat sinking low in my stomach.

The bond with Elijah, that cursed thing was nothing compared to this. This was worse. This was ancient.

He pulled back. His mouth was wet with my blood. His chest rose and fell like he wasn’t in control either. His eyes burned straight through me.

“At last,” he said, voice breaking with something that wasn’t mockery anymore. “I’ve found you again… Enid.”

The name slammed into me.

My mouth opened but no words came.

Enid?

I don’t know that name.

But my body reacted. A shiver tearing through me, violent, like I did know. Like something deep, buried deep inside me recognized it. Recognized him.

“No,” I whispered. But it didn’t sound like no. It sounded like begging.

He leaned closer, his breath hot against my ear. “You will be mine forever this time. I will make sure of it.”

My legs gave out. The fire, the visions, the heat, it was too much. The world tilted, black creeping in.

The last thing I saw was his face, sharp and terrifying and too perfect.

The last thing I heard was that name echoing in me.

Enid.

Then nothing.