Ethel 1

Ethel

Oof, what a tumble that was. Ethel had lost sight of her twin brother in their escape and tripped on some trash. Luckily she wasn’t poisoned liked Edgar, but she still fought for him and defended his escape. She broke away as soon as she could, but it still took quite a bit of energy to fight her co-workers. So while she was hurt in the trip down, it wasn’t going to slow her down like her brother probably had.

Except.

Something squishy was beneath her. Squishy and warm. Ethel rose up to look. She had tripped and landed on a whole other person! And not just any person. No, just one whiff and she could tell this was a human. Oooh, what luck! She never had a human before! Of course, she ravished in the smell of it whenever her boss drank some but she and her brother were forbidden. It was only natural, of course. They were the lowest rung in the clan and there was only so much human blood to go around. But, to stumble upon a wholly alive, in tact human. Her eyes sparkled with pure joy and anticipation.

The human had opened its mouth to say something but Ethel didn’t wait. No, no, that wasn’t right. They should know they aren’t allowed to speak when being fed. At least, Ethel was pretty sure that was the rule. Oh well. They shut up once her fangs pierced their neck. They shouted in pain and started wriggling beneath her. This rude human was beginning to annoy her. It was spoiling her dinner. She quickly clamped a hand over its mouth and held it down as she continued to suck the blood from it.

It was so hot. A most blissful taste, a divine gift from the heavens above, surely. Her first taste of human blood was exactly as she imagined it. As Ethel reveled in it’s glory she continued to messily and noisily gulp down the blood, and slowly the human stopped moving so much. She could feel its life force draining so she licked the wound a bit and giggled. Such a wonderful taste! Oh, how she wished she could drink human blood for forever!

Ethel looked down, hoping for some more. How quickly do humans regenerate their blood again? Oh... wait… “Oops.” It seems she drank too much, as the human was now deceased. Ethel pouted but merely a moment. It was the slickness of her lips that she realized she still had blood on her lips. She gasped in delight and licked them, desperate to get yet another taste of human blood. How lucky she was to encounter a stray human! Especially in her time of need.

Ethel sighed, her meal finished, and got off the human once she was sure there was no more food to be had. Now fully content and happy, her thoughts filled with the taste and scent of human blood. She couldn’t get it out of her head and she ended up skipping her way out of the alley. And just like that, her thoughts were heard. A few streets away, she heard whistling, and the rustling of cloth bags. The smell of another human. Now full of what she was supposed to be drinking, if she listened closely she could hear the sound of its heart beat. Why was it going so fast? Did it see her and was running away?

What fun! A chase!

A smile crept on Ethel’s face and she burst into a run. All around her were strange sights and weird lights. Smells and shapes she had never seen before. In fact she smelled many humans, strangely enough. But none of that mattered. There was one, particularly special human, that smelled particularly appetizing. She heard that there were some humans who smelled good to certain vampires but never in her dreams she would think one would smell good to her. The heavens have surely blessed her to have given her a delightful human.

Ethel turned the corner, and there he was. Walking into a building. This must be where they kept the humans. Of course all the humans would be together. Maybe she somehow ended up in one of those human districts. But now that she saw it, the prey was in her sights. She waited around the corner, ever so patiently. Perhaps the most patient she had ever been in her entire life. No way was she going to mess this up now. She couldn’t risk alerting the other vampires of her presence, and she already risked it once with that other human.

The human went inside the building, and just as the door as about to close, she sprinted up towards in and prevented it from closing. Inside was brighter than the sun! What sorcery was this? Ethel had to squint her eyes for a moment from the surprise of the light. At least it didn’t burn her, like the regular sun. The prey didn’t turn around. It continued on down the hallway, to some metal doors and holding some shiny bags. It pressed a button and stood in front of the metal doors. On one hand, Ethel was curious to see where this was going. On the other, the moment she was spotted she was sure it would alert the others. For now, she decided to stand behind him, a few feet away. She listened to its heartbeat, which spiked a bit once she settled herself behind it.

Ethel was practically salivating at the thought of drinking its blood when she heard a ding. The metal doors opened and past then was a tiny little room. She couldn’t help but tilt her head in confusion. The human walked in the small room, and turned around. She was spotted, but it didn’t scream. She heard a little gasp and its heart rate raced. She calming walked forward. She could practically hear the blood coursing through the veins. So delicious. She smiled at the human but now she was on guard. Did this human have others protecting it?

Ethel walked into the small room with it. It pressed a button labeled four, and looked at her once again. She smiled. Yes, a human this scared would be easy pickings. With her new strength she surely had, Ethel knew she would be able to take a few more at least. She had never hunted a human before, but she would do anything it would take to drink that one’s blood. Bonus points for having even more human blood to drink. Not a single drop must go to waste.

“U-uhm… What floor?” it asked in a meek voice. It had pressed the four button, and that too, also had a light for some reason. Ah, so this small metal room will somehow bring them to another flood of the building. What a fascinating device. Why didn’t they have these main castle?

“Same as you.”

The human nodded and seemed to step away from her. Her thoughts began to wonder on how fear might affect the taste of blood. Would it taste better? Or worse? Bitter? Or would it add a taste she had yet to taste? Before she had gotten too deep in her fantasies, the human spoke up once more. “So. Uhm. Is that a… costume?”

Ethel looked down at herself for the first time since her escape. She was disheveled, sure, and sure it had some blood on it. But it was a perfectly normal deep blue skirt and white button blouse. The curled ends of her her white hair that rested over her chest had some blood on it too, but that was nothing to comment about. She looked perfectly fine in her eyes. Ethel turned back to the human and tilted her head. “This is my normal outfit?”

The human gulped and she could smell the rising tension from it. “T-t-then is that… real blood?”

Ethel giggled. Had this human been so sheltered that he hadn’t even seen blood before? What kind of human farm was this? However her laugh didn’t seem to ease it. She thought it was nervous because it wasn’t sure how to act around vampires, but perhaps the smell of blood was too much for it. A simple enough solution! All she needed as more blood, in that case! Ethel’s smile widened. “Don’t worry, it won’t hurt.”

There was another ding and the human ran out. Great. Another rude human. She followed after it, casually strolling along. Haven’t they been taught to be subservient to vampires? What were these farms even doing? Tsk, tsk. She will just have to fix that later once time allowed. When the human came to the end of the hall, it seemed to fiddle with the keys to a door. She was only halfway there when it opened, so she had to sprint and stick her food in the door to prevent it from locking her out.

The human let out a yelp, which Ethel returned with an involuntary giggle. It was so much fun hunting and watching humans squirm at their inevitable demise. What a beautiful new experience to welcome her to wherever she ended up. She pushed herself in the door, and closed it behind her. With each step forward she took, the human took a step back. “My, my. There’s nothing to be afraid of. If you’re so scared, I suppose I can let you live after I’m done. After all, a human that smells as good as you do should of course be kept alive.”

“W-w-w-what do you plan on doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious by now?” Ethel grinned widely, and purposely let her fangs show. This human surely was slow on the uptake. How sheltered must it have been if it didn’t even know what vampires do? Every bit of information she gained, she knew less and less of what made sense. Just what kind of human farm was this?

The human was backed into the corner of its room now. With one last lung, she plunged her fangs deep into its neck and began drinking. The hot blood spurted all over her mouth and trickled down her throat. She felt its warmth all through her body. The sweet, sweet aroma of iron tickled her nostrils. She could just melt. It was the best human blood she had ever taste, by a mile. The fact that it was the second time she had ever drank human blood was an irrelevant fact, but she was sure none others would matter.

The human was pushing back for the most part, but suddenly it slowed down and got significantly weaker. Ethel remembered that just a few minutes ago the same thing happened to the other human that she killed. No way she wanted this human to die. It was the perfect one! She quickly pulled away, but kept a hand pressured on the bite marks. The human wavered a bit and it slid down to the floor.

Oh no. Oh no no no no no.

Ethel crouched down in front of it and held a finger under its nose. It was still breathing. And if she listened to its heart, it was still beating, technically. And it wasn’t slowing down. That was good right?