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Finally! Blood in my mouth. But it’s bad. So bad.
Sour. Bitter. Not the blood I want. Not his blood. Smell his blood. Hear it inside him, in his veins, whoosh whoosh whoosh.
Still hungry. Always hungry.
“Sera. It’s Erik. You know me.”
Blood in my mouth again. Want to spit it out. Horrible. Dead blood. Want his blood. So alive and warm and his.
“Sera, you’re not dead yet. I don’t know what it feels like to you, but it’s not actually death. Not yet. I know you’re suffering, but...”
His noise hurts my ears. Hurts my head. Shut it out. Shut it out.
“You’ve got to try harder. I can’t ask you to do it for me—I know that’s not reason enough. But fight for yourself. For your sister.”
Bite him!
Missed.
“Sera.”
Stop that sound, stop-that-sound, stopthatsound. Open my throat and howl. “Owooooooh...!” Scream until he goes away. “Ahhhhhhhhhhh....!”
Scream until my lungs burn, my throat aches, my jaws creak.
***
“THERE IS ABSOLUTELY no reason why the treatment should not work, Cy. She has not technically died. Caught in some sort of in-between, I suspect.”
Two bloods, two meats, two heartbeats. Alive and warm. Want it so bad but cannot reach.
Fury. Pain. Hunger. Please... give me what I want.
“Sera?”
“Eeeeee!” Scream at that word. Hate it.
“She does that whenever I say her name.”
“How very interesting.”
“She’s still refusing regular food, but she doesn’t like the goat blood, either.”
Blech! Sour and old and dead. No life. No taste.
“I cannot say that I blame her. Regardless of her preferences, it is simply the best option at the moment. We must keep her strength up.”
“There’s nothing else you can try, Dr. Dwivedi?”
“Only time.”
“It’s been a whole week.”
“Then wait one more. And another after that if you must. She still has not crossed. She still has not died. ‘As long as the heart beats, as long as the body and soul keep together, I cannot admit that any creature endowed with a will has need to despair of life.’”
***
“WE’RE GOING TO TRY something new today. I’ll feed you if you let me say your name without you going into hysterics.”
He’s here, he’s here. It’s him, it’s him. His blood, whoosh whoosh whoosh. His heart, tha-thump tha-thump. Want-to-taste, want-to-taste.
“Serendipity Blight.”
“Eeeyaaarrgh! Hate it. Those words.”
“Try harder, Sera.”
“Hungh...”
“Well, that’s better I guess.”
More old dead blood. Sour. Bitter. Blech.
“Yeah, this stuff is definitely disgusting.”
Want his blood. His flesh. His warmth. His life.
“Sera.”
“Argh.” No names, only hunger. Only need.
“What’s the matter? You need better enticement?”
Want his blood. Smell it alive, smell it warm, red and flowing.
“Sera.”
“Humph...”
“Dr. Dwivedi said not to do this—that it would drive you closer to the monster inside, but I don’t know what else to do. Please, you’ve got to try, Sera. For Bloom if for nobody else.”
Bloom?
“Ah, your eyes lit up. You recognize that name, don’t you.”
Say it again. Again again again.
“Bloom is your sister. Remember her?”
Blond hair. Blue eyes.
“I’ve got something for you. Let me say your name without you getting angry, and I’ll give it to you.”
His blood. Gimme.
“Sera.”
“Nuhh.”
“Nope. You have to do better than that. Sera.”
Hold it in. Hold in the anger. The pain. The rage.
“There. See? Not so bad, was it?”
Explosion in my mouth, so much taste. It’s him. HIM. Give me more, please please please...
“No more today. You’ll have to do better than that. Tomorrow, you’re going to say it. You want to taste me, Sera? Then you have to ask for it. You’ll have to say my name.”