CHAPTER 18. GOING ROGUE
The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and headed toward the trees. His name was Robert, and he was a boy in appearance only, for he had been born almost sixty years before. But he was just fifteen, a sophomore in high school, when he was made vampire, and he had aged in appearance not at all. Keeping to the shadows, he glided swiftly through the trees. The morning sun was strong enough to burn—already his skin ached dully from his exposure climbing down the cliff face—and the shade from the leafy canopy provided welcome relief. Just as importantly, he needed to stay hidden, lest watchful eyes from the cavern discern his flight.
Robert was boyishly slim, with thin blond hair that fell across a corner of his face. Filled with youthful impetuousness, he was violating the Council’s will by venturing out alone. The desire to feed had grown overwhelming, and he had not been vampire long enough to learn how to control his urges, not with the looming Destiratu fanning his need for blood. As long as he was not seen leaving, no one would be likely to notice his absence. He had waited for a bright sunny morning, when his brethren would be most lax about anyone going out, to make his break. Now that he was out, he hoped the blanket of gray clouds covering the western sky would soon block the sun. But even if it didn’t, the chance to feed was worth the pain.
He wound his way south through the trees along the eastern shore of the Connecticut River, the opposite direction from his intended destination, before boarding the old Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, which had been carrying passengers and cars across the river since long before he was born. The big ferry took less than ten minutes to cross to Chester, but even so, he spent the crossing in the protective shade of the old boat’s cabin. As soon as they docked, he scurried into the shadow of the nearest building. The gray cloud layer continued its eastward march across the sky. Soon clouds and sun would meet, and he would be able to move about more comfortably. Staying in the shadows as much as possible, he finally ducked into a covered walking bridge near an old mill that had been converted into a restaurant. The shade inside the wooden tunnel was blessedly cool, so he sat down on the wooden planks to await the clouds.
He didn’t have long to wait. In less than thirty minutes, the daylight outside the bridge’s entrance began to dim, growing progressively less bright as the clouds overran the sun. He moved to the end of the bridge and surveyed the sky. The cloud layer was thick, unbroken. Smiling, he stepped out from the bridge and began his journey north.
He could have hunted here in Chester, but he wasn’t familiar with the town and thought it still too close to the cavern, despite the intervening river. His hometown of Middletown was but fifteen miles away. Middletown would be far safer, with plenty of places to hide nearby, and it offered a greater bounty of prey besides.
The land between Chester and Middletown was heavily wooded, with only a few small towns he easily avoided. He made good time, moving with vampire speed through the trees and reaching the outskirts of Middletown with an hour of gray daylight remaining. He stopped at a small cave in the hills overlooking the city that he remembered from his youth. Little more than a hole in a rocky outcropping in the hillside, the entrance was overgrown with brush and maple saplings, making it a perfect hideaway. The cave would serve as shelter from the sun for however long he decided to remain here. He didn’t need much room—his time in the cave would be mostly spent sleeping.
But not yet. The late afternoon was comfortably dim, and he was too revved up to sleep. The excitement of his escape—and his anticipation for his first real feeding—sent a current of pulsating need through his body. Never had his hunger burned so fiercely.
And he knew just where to satisfy it. Less than a mile away, a campus full of careless young humans awaited him. He threaded his way through the trees down the hillside and before long was strolling across a broad lawn in front of the library. A steady stream of students flowed from the library’s ornate front entrance, and the walkways crisscrossing the lawn also teemed with humans. All he had to do was get one alone for a few moments, somewhere no one could see. With his boyish appearance, he didn’t expect that would be difficult.
Darkness descended quickly, but brought little slackening in the number of students in the library quadrangle. The walkways in front of the library were well lit, but the farther one moved from the library, the larger the pools of darkness became. Licking his lips in anticipation, he turned away from the library and headed into a darker area to await his prey.
Always keeping far enough back to avoid making a target nervous, he followed four different women before one finally turned down a short street toward a half-empty parking area. Robert’s keen eyes swept the street. They were alone. This was his moment.
He sprang forward, closing the gap between them in a flash and wrapping his powerful arms around her before she even knew he was there. One hand covered her mouth to stifle her screams, while the other pinned her arms to her side as his fangs sank deep into her neck. As her warm blood gushed into his throat, he lifted her easily and carried her into a clump of thick shrubs to complete his meal. He drank greedily, stopping only when there was no more blood to drain. He smiled as he wiped his lips with his sleeve. This was so much better than the animal blood that had been his sustenance until now, so much more satisfying. This was what vampires were made for. And this was what he swore he would enjoy from this day forth.
He had no interest in turning his victim vampire, so he simply left her lifeless body among the bushes. At the last moment, he remembered his lessons—always hide the manner of death to avoid drawing attention to his kind. He took a short-bladed knife from the pouch at his waist and slashed a deep cut into the woman’s neck, obliterating the puncture marks from his fangs. A puzzle for the pathetic humans—what had become of her blood? He grinned and disappeared into the night, his thirst slaked for now.
Two days later, he did it again, this time carrying the corpse off into the woods and burying it where it would never be found.