The Fledge Effect Read Free Page A

masked hood she
wore, she stopped mid-step and stared at him
with glowing anticipation.
    He gulped down air, heaving his chest.
He kept thinking to himself, who is this person?
Am I dreaming? The abyss of questions spiraled
down to his mouth. “Who are you?”
    She giggled, toying with him. She
wrapped around her face guard, which normally
hid inside her hood. “Maybe,” she said with another school-girlish giggle.
    A woman, he thought to himself. This
time, he shouted, not believing his own sight.
“Who are you?” Only a figure of darkness moved
across his sight. He jumped, bouncing in his
bed. He reached for his bedside lamp, attempting to pull it free from its socket.
    She moved towards the light, sending a
chill down his spine with a single smile. “ I’m
hungry .”
    A small growl freed itself from its residual place in her throat as she grasped his skin.
She hovered over his face, taking a whiff of his
lips. She pursed her lips, embracing his.
“Mmm.”
    He jerked his face away, exposing to her
several throbs of the vain she hangered for.
Flexing every muscle in his body neglected him
the ability to break free.
    Her lips grazed the lobe of his ear.
“ Shhh. Don’t worry. This will all be over soon .”
Wrapping her mouth around the base
of his neck brought pleasures to her in ways she
didn’t expect. She started with slight pecks, tugging at his hair. She could feel his muscles relax
as he fell onto his back. When she couldn’t hold
back any longer, she widened her mouth, sucking on the nape of his neck before doing what
she came there to do; eat .
Piercing his artery, with her two white
fangs, she could feel her teeth puncture through
the layers of skin. The succulent taste of his
warmth engrossed her mouth, making her unable to hold back any sounds that escaped her
lips. She tugged at his hair as if begging for every
last drop to make its way inside her.
The grasp of her change held onto her
as if it were a life sentence without parole; its
hooks of reality pinned deep within her soul.
The change had become her.
Nick blinked as his sight hazed in and
out of clarity. God, please do not let me die . He
begged for mercy, as he pleaded out to his attacker. “Stop… Please… Stop!”
He wrapped his hand around her arm,
pulling back from the frozen temperature it had
become. He tried to convince himself it was all
a dream, but the pain from her bite lingered
throughout his scalp. The itch became unbearable, but his strength threatened abandonment.
She didn’t intend on killing him. No, if
anything, she wanted him to survive. She
hoped, at the very least, he would live. His scent
was intoxicating to her. She couldn’t tell if it
were his blood, she was drawn to, his cologne,
or the combination of both. Either way, she
wanted him. Fully .
•••
Jack Carlson relaxed in the chair next to Katie,
his daughter. Across from him, sat his wife,
Christine. Nothing could wipe away the grin on
his face. Despite his daughter’s health withering
away right in front of him, he was convinced she
would now have the opportunity to get better.
Christine blinked her big, blue, eyes.
“Honey?” she chuckled nervously. “What is it?”
He rubbed his hands together, trying to hide his
smile. “I have some big news.”
“What?” Christine questioned.
“You know that job, in Amherst?”
“Yes, what about it?”
“I got it! Apparently one of the agents
decided to take a year off to go to another country for vacation of some sort.”
“So, you would only work for a year?”
“That’s fine. It is all we need. We can
now afford Katie’s treatments.” The glee in his
voice woke her up.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” Her voice
sounded broken.
He held her face with both of his hands.
“Nothing, sweetie. Nothing else should be
wrong ever again.”
“Okay,” she smiled. Her arms lifted into
the air, wobbling with weakened strength. Jack
leaned in, hugging her close.
He whispered, “I love you, bug-a-boo.”
She