First Bitten (2 page)

I take a lingering, woeful glance at my shoe and slip it back on my foot. Eddie the bastard, he’s ruined my life, and now my beautiful shoes.

I take Carrie’s hand and get unsteadily to my feet. I wrap my arm around her waist, resting my head onto her shoulder. “Thanks, Care,” I mumble into her red hair. “I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you, you know.”

“
You’d do fine,” she says, “and I love you too. Now come on, you soppy git, let’s get you home.” She wraps her arm around my shoulder and we start to walk on, supporting each other.

“
Ahh shit!” I sigh dramatically, coming to a halt.

“
What?”

“
I chucked my phone in there.” I gesture dramatically toward the forest laid out to the side of us. “My whole life is on that phone,” I whine. “I can’t lose it.”

Bloody Eddie. He doesn’t even have to be here and he causes me problems. Maybe it’s the essence of him that’s still lingering over me, continuing to make my life shit.

I walk over to the edge of the pavement, teetering between it and the slope down into woodland.

“
Whereabouts did you throw it?” Carrie asks, following me over and standing beside me.

“
I dunno.” I shrug. “Around there ... somewhere.” I point at the bracken.

Carrie peers forward. “Well, it can’t have landed that far away. You’re not that good a thrower. I remember your weak arm from netball at school.” She nudges me with her shoulder, grinning. “Tell you what, I’ll ring your phone and we’ll follow the sound to it.”

“
Good thinking Batman.” I nudge her back.

“
Er, more like Catwoman, if you don’t mind,” she says dramatically, sweeping a hand down herself. “Does this body look in any way masculine to you?”

“
Shut up and get your bloody phone out, will you.” I laugh.

She smirks and gets her mobile out of her bag again. It takes her a good minute to dial my number, which I know for a fact, she has on speed dial. She really is drunk.

“
It’s ringing,” she sings, phone clamped to her ear.

I immediately hear my phone start to blast out Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’. I changed it to that ring tone yesterday. Okay, I know I’m being maudlin, but it’s not every day you find out your boyfriend’s been cheating on you. Well, okay, for me it’s the second time in a year, but that’s not the point.

Carrie pulls the phone away from her ear and leaves it ringing in her hand. Holding hands, we both clumsily make our way down the incline into the woods as we begin our search, following the sound of the music into the trees.

“
I can’t see it anywhere,” Carrie says looking around. “Mind, I can hardly see shite-all in here. It's pitch black!”

I squint into the darkness. She’s right, it is pitch black. Nerves creep over me. I quickly quash them. I need to find my phone.

The ringing stops. It must have diverted to answerphone.

“
Ring it again, Care, will you.”

Adele resumes her singing. I can hear it clear over to my right. Breaking away from Carrie, I head that way. The music’s getting louder. I’m getting close. A few more steps and I spot it nestled in a bush, flashing prettily away at me. Not a good thrower, eh, Carrie?

“
Got it!” I cheer, staggering toward it. I lean down and pluck it out of the prickly bush. I snag my hand on a prickle. “Ouch!” I suck the wound on my hand and get an instant taste of metallic ... blood.

“
You alright?” Carrie asks concerned, heading toward me.

“
Yeah, fine. Just cut my hand on the bush. Nothing serious. Got my phone, though.” I grin, waving it about.

“
Good. Now can we get out here?”

“
Yep, let’s go.” I make to move and get nowhere. I’m stuck in some soft mud. “Bloody hell,” I grumble, looking down. “My heels are stuck in the mud.”

“
You and them feckin’ shoes!” Carrie laughs loudly. It echoes all around. “Here.” She holds her hands out for me to take. “I’ll pull you out.”

I take hold of her hands. She starts to pull me forward while I try to wriggle my shoes free from the sticky mud. I get one free, step forward and suddenly the other comes free. I fall forward onto Carrie.

“
Bloody hell!” she chuckles, somehow keeping us both up. I have no clue how she’s managing to stay vertical.

I glance down at my shoes. They’re all covered in mud. “Ahh crap!” I groan, lifting my feet up in turn. “I’ve knackered the heel and covered them in mud in the space of five minutes. I bloody love these shoes as well.” My lips turn down at the corners.

“
Really, I would never have guessed,” she skits.

“
Piss off,” I mutter in a light-hearted tone, but inside the gloom has clamped itself steadfastly around my heart.

She grins at me in the darkness and links her arm through mine. “We’ll clean them up when we get home.”

“
I don’t think anything is gonna save these babies now, well nothing short of a miracle.”

“
Come on, drama queen. We’ll pray for their salvation on the way home.”

“
Ha, ha, funny! You ever thought about becoming a comedi–”

“
Wait.” She grips hold of my arm with her fingers. “Did you hear that?”

“
What, the sound of my heart breaking for the second time in two days?” I glance down longingly at my ruined shoes.

“
No ... that.”

I strain to listen. “I can’t hear anything.” Now I think about it, it’s actually eerily silent in here. No rustling leaves, no animal sounds. Nothing.

I start to move, but Carrie stays put, pulling me back to a standstill. “No seriously,” she whispers, “I definitely heard something ... it was like, I dunno, like ... someone’s chopping wood or something.”

“
Shurrup, Carrie, you div,” I say at normal volume, laughing. “Who the hell would be out here at this time chopping … ?” Then I hear it. It’s not loud but Carrie’s wrong, it doesn’t sound like wood being chopped, it sounds more like something’s being sharpened on wood, kind of like when our cat used to run its claws down the doorframe.

“
You hear it,” she whispers.

“
Yes,” I breathe out. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle. I hear movement behind me. My stomach drops hollow. Swallowing hard, I loosen my arm from Carrie’s grip and we both, very slowly, turn around.

It’s standing about ten feet away. Its yellow eyes are protruding like beacons in the dark night, and they’re fixed onto me.

It’s obvious why it’s here. You would think I would have tried to make a run for it by now or screamed, or done something. I don’t know why I haven’t. All I do know is I can’t seem to tear my eyes away from its penetrating stare. It tilts its head, almost as if contemplating me, chilling me to the bone.

Then I feel Carrie’s hand search for mine. She grabs hold, interlocking our fingers. I can feel her fear almost like it’s pouring out of her skin and sinking straight into mine. A silent communication passes between us, and in the same instant we both turn and run.

I don’t get far.

I’m hit in the back. The air is knocked out of me. I’m going down. I’m pinned to the floor. I can’t move. My face is pressed into the mud. I can’t catch a breath. I’m suffocating. I feel a searing pain tear down my right side. I cry out but no sound comes. I manage to move my head slightly. I get a glimpse of Carrie’s red hair. The pain intensifies. I feel like I’m being ripped open...

The last thing I hear is screaming. An ear-piercing scream. And I can’t tell if it’s coming from Carrie or me.

Chapter 2

The Transition

Saturday, 1:03am

“
You got her? Careful, she’s bleeding out pretty bad. She’s lost a lot of blood already. Nathan, press down hard on her wound. Sol, get the first aid kit. I’ll stitch her up for all the good it'll do her. Poor lass ... What the hell happened? ... Was it one of them? ... I didn’t know there was any in the area ... Is he dead? ... He won’t have been alone, there’ll be others ... Hey, she’s coming round...

“
Can you tell me your name, honey?”

I blink up at the blurry figure hovering above me. “Where’s Carrie … ?”

Saturday, 2.55am

“
Sorted?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Do you think anyone could have seen you move the bodies?”

“
Nope, there wasn’t a soul around for miles.”

Saturday, 4:15am

“
It hurts … ”

“
Ssh, don’t try to talk. Just sleep.”

“
Where’s Carrie?”

“
Sleep.”

“
But it hurts … ”

“
I know it does. Sleep.”

Saturday, 10:30am

“
How’s she doing, Nate?”

“
She’s sleeping at the moment.”

“
You wanna get some rest? I’ll take over watching her.”

“
Nah, Dad, I’ll stay with her. I brought her here. I feel like I should be the one to be with her when she passes.”

Saturday, 16:44pm

“
She still alive, Nate?”

“
Yes, she’s still alive, Sol.”

“
You look knackered, son. Why don’t you go get some sleep? Sol can stay with her.”

“
No. I’m alright.”

“
Mind, it shouldn’t be much longer now. I’m surprised she’s lasted this long, to be honest.”

“
Maybe we should just put her out of her misery.”

“
Christ almighty, Sol!”

“
I’m just saying! I mean, look at her.”

“
I know, but I didn’t raise you to say things like that.”

“
What, so we’re just gonna sit by and watch while she dies an agonising death?”

“
No, son, but we’re not playing God either.”

Sunday, 12:02am

“
Arggh!! What’s happening to me? It hurts! Help me, please help me!”

“
It’s okay, honey, we’re here. Sol, go get some more of those painkillers. Nathan, fetch a bowl of cold water and some towels, will you? She’s really burning up.”

“
The pain ... you’ve got to make it stop … ”

“
I know, honey, it’s gonna be okay ... Nate, soak that towel and lay it over her stomach where the wound is.”

“
God, Dad, look at her. Maybe I shouldn’t have saved her. Maybe I should have let that bastard kill her and have been done with it, instead of putting her through all of this agony.”

“
You did the right thing.”

“
I’m not so sure anymore. I’m starting to think maybe Sol’s right, maybe we should just, you know, end it for her.”

“
Sol talks shit.”

“
I am still here, you know.”

“
Well you shouldn’t be. Go get those bloody painkillers! Nate, I know you, there’s no way you could have lived with yourself if you’d walked away and let him kill her.”

“
I know, but I just didn’t know it’d be like this, and it’s been a day now. Shouldn’t the infection have killed her? I didn’t think they lasted this long once infected.”

“
Neither did I but–”

“
Arggh! Help me! Please! Help me!”

“
I’m here, honey. Sol, where the bloody hell are you with those painkillers?!”

Sunday, 06:30am

I want to go home. Carrie, is that you? I’m so sorry, Care. Help me, please ... help me ... I can’t take the pain anymore ...

Sunday, 13:05pm

“
You’ve gotta make it stop! My body’s on fire, I’m burning. Help me, please!” I grab hold of the blurry figure beside me. “You’ve got to make it stop!” A strong hand untangles mine from their clothing, and encompasses it. “Don’t leave me, please.”

“
I’m not going anywhere, Alexandra. I’m staying right here.” A hand brushes over my clammy forehead. “Just try and relax. I’m going to get something to make you feel better.”

“
Dad, that morphine...”

“
I’m getting it now.”

“
I don’t understand how she’s still alive.”

“
Me neither, son. Me neither.”

“
She’s going through the transition, though, isn’t she?”

“
Seems that way, Nate.”

“
Do you think she’s gonna survive?”

“
If you’d have asked me yesterday, I’d of said no, but now I’m not so sure. The girl’s a fighter, I’ll give her that.”

“
She’s human, though. I just don’t get it, but it’s bad though, isn’t it, if she makes it through?”

“
Well, it’s not great, son, no.”

A large shadow hovers over me. “Here, sweetheart, this’ll take the pain away.” I feel the needle pierce my skin. “Thank y … ”

Sunday, 23:55pm

“
She’s asleep?”