Chapter 4: Blood Thirst
Night fell once again, and near a small country villa not far from the national highway, a family of three was busy preparing for their May Day holiday outing.
After loading the luggage into the car’s trunk, the man of the house shouted impatiently for his wife and daughter, who were still lingering inside the villa.
Another half hour passed before his wife and daughter, who had obviously taken their time to dress up, hurried out the door. The car soon drove away, taking the family with it into the distance.
Once the area around the villa returned to silence, Xia Yan peeked out from the nearby bushes.
She carefully set down the weak Gu Yao, who was swaying unsteadily on his feet, and hurried to the exterior wall of the villa. She perked up her ears, confirming that the pitch-black villa was empty before breaking into a smile.
A few minutes later, inside the dark villa, Xia Yan finally placed the dazed Gu Yao onto the living room sofa. With a faint blush on her cheeks, she stumbled into the kitchen.
Finding some noodles and condiments, she boiled water and cooked the noodles, wondering how she was still able to keep going. At that moment, she felt a burning heat throughout her body, as if she were trapped in a steamer, soaking with sweat.
The high-energy snacks she had brought earlier were long gone. Though they had replenished a bit of their strength back then, the emptiness and anxiety inside her body were becoming increasingly clear.
After hastily finishing a large bowl of noodles, Xia Yan finally let out a sigh of relief, but that peculiar hunger gnawing at her mind was like a haunting specter, entangling every thought and making her restless.
Returning to the living room, she dared not turn on the lights and instead switched on her tactical flashlight to wipe Gu Yao’s face clean, feed him a few sips of warm water, and check his condition.
For the past hour, Gu Yao had been in a half-dreaming, half-awake state, his body hot to the touch, similar to Xia Yan’s condition but more severe.
It was clearer now that she wiped the soot from his face. His skin was smooth but unnaturally flushed, and his half-open eyes were a terrifying shade of red.
“Brother… am I going to die… I can’t see anything. Brother, are you still there…”
Gu Yao mumbled, confused and weak, his small hands feebly gripping Xia Yan’s arm. His small fangs, which had somehow become deformed, were both cute and unsettling.
In her mind, Xia Yan recalled the knowledge she had gained at the Dark Arrow Training Center; this was a typical first reaction of blood thirst after blood invasion, and fresh blood must be ingested quickly, or the newly formed blood servant would likely die from organ failure.
After hesitating for a minute, as Gu Yao’s breathing grew increasingly faint, Xia Yan realized there was no time to waste. A flash of pain and determination crossed her eyes.
Biting down on the tactical flashlight, she slowly removed her uniform jacket and tossed it aside, extending her left arm and lifting a fruit knife she had found in the cabinet.
In the beam of the flashlight was her pale, smooth wrist, with slender fingers trembling slightly. A beer glass caught the blood, and droplets pooled from the wound on her wrist, quickly accumulating to about 100 milliliters.
Wrapping the wound on her wrist carelessly with some gauze, Xia Yan brought the small amount of fresh blood to the white-haired girl’s lips.
“Xiao Yao, drink…”
As if sensing something, the white-haired girl suddenly tensed her body, gripping the beer glass tightly with both hands. Though her eyes were still dazed, she evidently sensed that what she needed most was right in front of her.
The light from the tactical flashlight reflected softly off the white walls, illuminating a corner of the living room. Xia Yan smiled faintly, holding the girl close, stroking her silky white hair, and gazing at her face while sounds of greedy swallowing filled the air.
Slowly, Xia Yan felt herself losing her vision as everything around her faded to darkness, and her consciousness grew increasingly hazy.
The white-haired girl felt utterly comfortable, warmth enveloping her both inside and out, as if floating in the amniotic fluid of a mother she had never met, swaying and basking in cozy warmth.
……
……
Late at night, Gu Yao woke up with a start, fear and confusion written on her face, a lingering pain at the back of her neck.
My brother knocked me out… where am I now? Where’s my brother?
Her vision wasn’t dark; not far away, a tactical flashlight, nearly out of power, was struggling to survive on the tiled floor. At her feet lay a black-haired girl, unconscious, her upper black uniform removed, leaving only a gray-green tactical T-shirt.
The slender, delicate figure was vaguely discernible, her disheveled black hair covering her pale face, which bore an unhealthy flush.
Yes, that’s my brother! It’s him!
“Brother! What happened to you!”
Gu Yao quickly bent down to look closer, her gaze falling on a spilled beer glass on the ground, where remnants of blood had congealed inside and outside the cup, next to a fruit knife.
Feeling her brother’s forehead, it was clearly over 40 degrees Celsius, his breathing shallow and erratic.
“Brother, don’t scare me! Please don’t scare me!”
Gu Yao’s voice grew hoarse, tinged with tears, as she anxiously hugged the black-haired girl, laying her down on the sofa and crouching beside her, at a loss.
Right… blood thirst, it’s the blood thirst reaction. My brother needs to ingest fresh blood! I can’t panic; there must be some way!
Gu Yao clutched her hair, her eyes darting around in panic, and finally spotted the blood-stained gauze on her brother’s wrist.
Her gaze returned to the fallen beer glass. Gu Yao suddenly came to her senses, grabbed the beer glass, placed it on the coffee table, rolled up her sleeves, and seized the fruit knife.
No… I remember the instructor once said that vampires who feed on their own kind can’t allow the other to feed on their blood again, or there’s a risk of severe blood merging. She couldn’t remember the specifics, but didn’t want to take the gamble.
Suddenly recalling something, Gu Yao jumped up and dashed around the rooms. Finally, she found a computer in the study.
Thankfully, there was no login password! She accessed the operating system, opened a webpage, searched for a map… found it! The nearest town clinic’s address!
After confirming the direction, Gu Yao tidied up her uniform, grabbed the tactical flashlight, picked up her already deflated bag, and casually tucked a dagger into her military boots.
However, her military boots felt very uncomfortable; perhaps her foot size changed after becoming a vampire. But there was no time to worry about that!
Her stomach growled with hunger, and she spotted a bowl of noodles left on the coffee table, now congealed into a lump. Without caring about taste, Gu Yao gulped it down.
Taking one last look at the dark living room, Gu Yao took a deep breath and rushed out of the villa, disappearing into the darkness.
