The fletching of the arrow whips into my arm, and it stings. But my arrow hits the target right where I was aiming. A perfect bulls-eye. I hear the cheers from the crowd behind me. I grab another arrow and nock it. I pull back and take a deep breath in, then breathe out deeply. I fire my second arrow and the fletching again hits my arm. It stings worse and I wince, but the arrow lands right next to the first one. The yelling behind me grows louder, but I block it out, focusing only on my bow and arrows and the target in front of me. I nock my third arrow and repeat the process. Draw. Breathe in. Breathe out. Fire.

The arrow whips past and cuts into my arm, drawing beads of blood, but I don’t flinch this time. I hit the target right above the other two arrows, creating a triangle. I can sense that more people are coming to watch, and the cheers are growing louder by the second. I draw my fourth arrow and again. Nock. Draw. Breathe in. Aim. Breathe out. Fire. My arrow cuts into my arm again, creating a slice from my elbow to my wrist. I’m starting to like the pain, I want it. This arrow hits just below the first two, making a perfect diamond pattern.

I draw my fifth and final arrow. I nock it carefully, then take a deep breath and draw back. I breathe in, then out. I aim right in the middle of the diamond and fire. The fletching of the arrow scrapes along my cut, and I can feel it touch my bone, before it’s gone. It hits the target, right where I aimed.

I turn to the crowd and smile, but they back up. They look so scared. I look behind me, trying to see what they’re frightened of, but I see nothing. I turn back around, and realize that they’re staring at me. Or more correctly, my arm. I look down to see a deep gash on my arm, from where the arrows had whipped into me. I expect to see blood, but something black is dripping out instead. I look back up at the crowd, and grin, showing my teeth. Almost all of them turn and run. All except one boy.

He’s tall, with blond hair, and dark skin, and he wears dark jeans and a sweater, even though it’s 91 degrees out here. I cock my head to the side and stare at him inquisitively . He saunters forward, walking with a slight limp. When he reaches me he stops. He reaches down and grabs my injured arm, bringing it up to look at it. With his other hand he strokes the edges, covering his fingers in my . . . Blood? Quickly, so I don’t have time to stop him, he reaches up and licks my blood off his fingers.

I stare at him, shocked now. He smiles at me, then like his lips, like it tasted good. Curious now, I swipe my finger down my arm, then lick the blood off. I grin up at him startled. It tastes good. I dip my fingers inside the actual cut, and there’s no pain, only pleasure. I bring my fingers out, and suck the blood off them. 

Needing more, I bring my arm up to my mouth, to drink straight from the source. I love this taste. Sweet, with a tang, and it sends electric shocks up my tongue, and down my throat. I look up at the boy, wanting to share this with someone. As soon as I lock eyes with him though, my vision twists and warps, and suddenly I’m looking at myself. Only I don’t look like myself, I glow, and a warm light envelopes me. But the light isn’t pink, or white, like in the movies. This light glows pitch black. Blocking out everything but me.

Then my vision warps again, and I’m staring at the boy again. I blink, that was weird. Then I offer my arm to him, wanting him to know how I feel. He pulls it up and drinks my blood. I can feel it getting pulled out of my body, and going down his throat. He looks up at my and again, my vision warps.

This time, I know what’s happening. I’m in his head. I’m seeing what he’s seeing. Only there’s something different now. I can feel so much more. I can hear every car in the city, I can hear the traffic lights changing, a soft click-tic click-tic. My - His - sense of smell is also heightened. I can smell the river, a half-mile away, I can smell every restaurant and fast-food place in the city, and I can identify every smell. I can see more. I can see every vein on every leaf in the park. I can see the particles in the dirt below our feet. Even my touch is better. I can feel the roughness on the arm I’m holding on to. I can feel the faint heartbeat underneath the skin.

My view shifts again, and I’m back in my body. I like this boy, and I want to spend more time in his point of view. I take a step forward, wanting to kiss him, to make him mine. But my stomach rumbles, suddenly feeling empty, even though I ate just an hour ago. I look up at him, feeling my face get hot, and notice something different about him.

His hair, once blond, is now a dark black. And his skin is so pale it looks white, when it used to be caramel-colored. I look down to where my hair hangs over my shoulder. It used to be a vibrant red, but now, it too, is black. It used to only hang down to my shoulders as well, but now it almost touches the grass.

While I’m going through these realizations, the boy is staring calmly at me, barely moving, hardly breathing. When I look at him and smile, he grabs his stomach and smiles back. I nod, and grab his hand, the cut on my arm forgotten for the moment. We turn and step towards the city. 

When we step though, the ground disappears, and I feel myself fade away into nothing. I don’t exist for a small moment in time. Then we’re standing on a crowded sidewalk in the middle of town. I look around, briefly wondering how we got here. Then the smell hits me. A few of the people walking past us smell different than the rest. 

A girl in a long gray coat and a red scarf, clutching a train ticket, clearly in a hurry. A man in a striped business suit, carrying a briefcase, and fiddling with his tie.  A little kid, holding a balloon, crying over a spilled ice cream cone. There are so many people, but only these ones stand out. Everyone else smells bland, like dust, or dirt. 

The few people that stand out, however, have the most delicious scent. Mouth-watering, even. I glance at the boy, and find him staring at me, as if asking for approval. I nod, then watch him step forward and disappear. He reappears in front of the young lady. I want to watch longer, but the smell of the business man is too delectable to resist. I step forward, fade away, and reappear just behind him. I grab his shoulder and turn him around.

The world fades away, leaving only us two. He looks scared, so I croon, 

“Don’t worry, I’ll make this quick.” I open my mouth, feeling a pair of sharp teeth in both my upper and lower jaw. I stand on tiptoes, and press my mouth against his. I suck, and feel a cold liquid pour into my mouth. Under my hands, he becomes weaker and weaker, finally collapsing against me. When nothing else comes out I stop.

Setting him on the sidewalk I turn, looking for the boy. I see him, a couple blocks down, staring at me. Step forward I find myself in front of him. I peer into his eyes, and in a second I’m back inside his head, but I don’t want to see or hear or feel anything this time. I’m looking for information. I find what I need in a small back corner of his mind. His name. Aiden. I focus, and I’m back in my own mind. I smile. Aiden. A perfect name, for a perfect being.

Without realizing it, I’ve fallen in love with this perfect being. While in his mind, I made another discovery. He loves me too. This single knowledge fills me with a dark joy. I look up at him, and whisper my name.

“Chloe. I’m Chloe, Aiden.” He grins, then reaches down to touch my face. I turn it towards him, leaning into his hand. He pulls me up and presses his lips against mine. As we kiss, I can feel fangs of his own, protruding from his jaws. 

When we part, I’m breathless, Aidens breathing is ragged, but he grins at me. I grin back. I don’t know what I am anymore, but I know I’m not human. I look to Aiden, and I know he will follow me anywhere, support me in anything, no matter what. I take his hand, and step forward, I don’t know where we’re going, but something, somewhere, is calling for me.