Page 5 of Newly Undead in Dark River

“Okay, the third rule and usually the most problematic for new vampires who want to join our community is that you must cut all ties with your old life, both for our safety and the safety of the people from before. You wouldn't know this yet, but being around humans is...” he let out a shaky sigh, “an overwhelming temptation. Especially when you are only just learning to control your new body.”

I collapsed back on the couch. I'd have to cut ties with my family? Never see my mom smile again, or hear my dad tell a lame joke? Never watch my youngest brother graduate high school? Tears welled in my eyes as my death sunk in. My mind was in the denial stage of grief, apparently. I mean, I felt fine now that I'd drank that blood bag. Maybe I could go home and become a goth or something. I lived alone in my apartment, so I could keep the blood hidden.

“I know what you're thinking. Really, I do. But think about it. You will never look older than you do today. You will live hundreds, if not thousands of years. If you go home, you'll watch your parents die, and your siblings, and their children, and then their children's children. Trust me when I say that it is a soul-shattering experience to watch everyone you have ever loved whither and die.” The level of pain in his eyes told me that he knew from experience.

I couldn't decide this now, I needed time to think it over.

“What if I choose to leave?”

Walker bit his lip, his fangs pressing into his full lower lip. “If you choose to leave, then you are subject to the rules of the Vampire Nation. No telling humans what you are, or revealing your nature in a way that could bring Vampires as a whole in the limelight. If you feed on humans, you must do it in a way so that they do not suspect your true nature. Which basically means that unless you have the ability to wipe memories, which some vampires do, you have to kill them and dispose of their bodies discreetly. If you break these rules, Enforcers will come, and you will die. Trust me when I say that Vampire Nation always finds out if you break the rules.”

Well, okay, then.

Walker's shaggy hair slipped over his eyes, and he combed it back with his fingers. The move made his shirt pull taut against his chest, and a completely different kind of hunger overtook me. The need to lean over and rip open his shirt was almost impossible to resist.

Walker's eyes met mine, and whatever he saw in them made him look nervous all of a sudden. He stood quickly and took a step away.

“Okay, I'll let you think it over. The guest room is the second door on the left, and the bathroom is right next door. Make yourself at home, if you need anything, just give me a yell.” With that, Sheriff Walker Walton hot-footed it out of the room, faster than my eyes could follow.

Chapter Two

When I was little, I was one of those curious kids. I needed to know the why's and how's of everything. It wasn't enough that my parents told me that the sky was blue, I wanted to know why it was blue. When my parents told me that little girls couldn't fly like birds, I'd had to test the theory myself, and broke my wrist jumping off my mother's kitchen counter.

Apparently, I hadn't grown out of this need to test every theory, because when I woke up the next day, I had to pull apart the heavy velvet curtains and check if being in the daylight really hurt as much as Walker had said.

It did.

The searing pain that burned at my eyeballs was excruciating, and I let out a loud screech. Well, I just had to know, didn't I? And apparently, Walker was a master of understatement because this was beyond extremely painful. Getting a tattoo was extremely painful. Childbirth was extremely painful. The pain I felt when I fell back against the floorboards was beyond that. It felt like someone had plucked out my eyeballs and set them on fire.

I thought I was going to vomit as I curled into the fetal position and moaned in pain on the floor. Everything was black, and panic overcame me. Had I just done irreparable damage to my eyes? Would I spend eternity blind because I was a foolish idiot that couldn't take anyone at their word?

The door crashed open, and the scent of Walker permeated throughout the room. “What happened? Oh. You opened the curtains.” I looked in the direction of his voice and let out a choked sob. He picked me up off the ground and placed me back in the bed. “The pain will subside in a couple of hours, just relax. I'll get a cool washcloth for your eyes, it helps.” His presence was gone from the room, and then returned so quickly, there was a slight breeze across my face. He laid the wet washcloth across my eyes, making tutting noises. His disapproval wasn't necessary; I already felt like an idiot.

He pulled the blankets up around me, tucking me in like a child. My moans of pain had subsided to pitiful whimpers.

“I should have known you were going to be one of those vampires. You turn up, against the odds, in what I'm sure was a terrible situation, but you aren't a hysterical mess. No, you were all bravado and sass. You have a courageous heart and a stubborn chin. But you have to trust that what I’m telling you is the truth; otherwise, you are going to end up dead. And I don't want that for you.”

All I could do was nod and try to stem the flow of tears from my eyes.

“Just rest. I have to go out and run some errands and check the spot where you said you woke up for clues. I'll be back at dusk, and then I'll take you out for dinner to meet the rest of the town.”

“How can you go out in the daytime?” It came out like an accusation.

“I'm far older than you, and I have some damn good sunglasses. And a really big hat.” I couldn't see his face, but the amusement in his voice led me to believe he was laughing at me.

I huffed as another whisper of wind told me he left the room.

My sight startedto return about four in the afternoon. Although they still stung, I could see enough to make my way out of the room and into the shower. Having a shower with my new senses was beyond divine. I felt each droplet of water pulse against my skin like a lover's caress. When the water eventually ran cold, I reluctantly left the bathroom.

With the exception of my sight at this particular moment, all of my senses had increased tenfold. I could hear someone laughing in the house down the lane. I could smell the roses in Walker's front garden from my bedroom, without a window open. I found myself running my fingertips against every surface because the range of textures had changed so dramatically.

But the inevitable downside was that I was bombarded with stimuli my brain had no chance of processing. I couldn't block anything out. The perfume of the soap in the shower nearly knocked me out. The pipes rattling in the walls was a cacophony. If I couldn't learn to control my senses, I was going to have to live my days in a padded, soundproof room.

I was still wrapped in a towel when the front door opened and closed.

“Mika?” Walker called from the living room.

“In the bedroom,” I yelled back.

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