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Part One

SEIZED

Frorave, I’ve watched her Watched her in tur woman I crave today Riley is inSometimes, I can taste her, smell her; I close s with --to make her mine forever

--Victorian Arcos

I can still hear the human screams inside my head Demented, painful screams of pure torture and desperation Behind es red with human blood It’ll stay with th weakened--even the tendencies I’ve acquired froht now--I can do little ainst theof Victorian Arcos’s Jag Pitch blackness stares back atnorth out of Savannah to Atlanta A sign that says DUBLIN, NEXT THREE EXITS flashes by, so I knoe’ve been on the road for about two hours Is that all? See to look at except billboards, so I stare blankly into the night My other tendencies are still present, like rease froent musk of perfume wafts on the wind And it must have recently rained because the scent of hot wet tar rises to a choking pitch I concentrate and turn ht now, everything irritates ainstbut stare mindlessly into oblivion It see becomes a blur I want to throw open the door and jump, but my limbs are numb, li and they’ve fallen asleep He’s incapacitated me with his freaky vampiric mind control, and it royally pissesI can do about it, despite my oers I still try toworks except my head, my eyes, and eyelids Involuntary , work to keep me alive I am totally paralyzed And not at all surprised

Victorian’s knuckles brush ainst ely, it comforts ret, I alainst your will, Riley" I look at hi vehicle flash across his beautiful young face "Truly Nothing would please ly To trust me But you’re as predictable as you are beautiful, I’m afraid" He smiles, and his teeth radiate an inhu Only the fluorescent glare of the stereo illuminates his features "Besides I have to drive"

Victorian Arcos Moving my eyes in his direction, I stare at hi black hair pulled back into a queue reo I want to hate his guts A centuries-old Rooi varave by randfather’s ancestors Now they’re free, thanks to my brother, Seth, and his rowdy friends, who inadvertently set loose the dangerous vampire brothers Valerian is pure evil, and he’s taken Savannah and Charleston by h…He’s a bit different I don’t particularly trust him, but he’s not a psychotic killer like his brother And for sooi mind powers to force me to leave with hi to protect e at the club If Victorian hadn’t coht I left behind a lot of loved ones, left theht without my help, and I feel like shit about it I should’ve been there Period But Victorian wouldn’t hear of it

Why would Victorian want to protect me, you ask? I still don’t know the answer There is a connection between us, live and palpable, and he knows it as oes beyond the DNA we share He and Valerian bitave oi vampire bloodline e human with tendencies Don’t ask me to explain it any more than that All I know is that I now have crazy superhurandfather, says will evolve over ti, much less learn to drive?" I ask, curious

"I taught myself Not much to it really As for the car, I obtained it the saot you to sit so polite and still," he answers "Power of suggestion"

I glare at hiives a single nod "I stole it"

A few moments pass in silence I try to th, so much that I shake inside, but it’s no use Still paralyzed The thought crosses e of me in my motionless state He could touch estion He could make me want to have crazy nasty sex with him, and I’d do it He could even drainme away? And more to the point--where? I’d asked hiht, I’ll tell you" Those questions and more pull at my brain as weariness overcomes me The world fades away as my lids close over my eyes For a while, I rest As I drift off, I feel Victorian s back the hair fro I sleep before the visions take over, but they, too, trap me just as easily as Victorian’s ain envisioning the o at Tunnel 9 With a forceful jab, my senses kick in, and in h to return to that place of horror Just outside offaintly froh my auditory senses Soon the music shifts within my dream state, my body seems to float, and I know the music now coh the hazy roo their bodies seductively against each other Invisible, I look around Most are high as a frickin’ kite So-year-olds trying to get laid Others are partying, drinking All are being hunted I a

The first drop of blood is shed as a newling attacks a hus are nasty, out of control, brand-new va skills and zero self-control With an involuntary inhalation, I sue I even lick h the music, and I turn to see the owner of that first drop of blood A not-so-young guy, et inon by a flap of skin at the side of his neck He just stands there, teetering, alive but not, his body in shock after a newling chewed through his throat, spinal cord, and bone to get to his artery That’s the thing about newlings Inexperienced Starved Fucking ht for the heart

All hell breaks loose then; newlings filter through the crowd of partiers The hus rip into their victi, thick with fear and hunger The humans scream, run There’s so much blood; arterial spray on the walls, on the hu takeshot The sensation fires fros--to my toes It claws at me It is need It’s so fierce, so vicious, I cry out

Why a I’m a human with tendencies I may have taken on some of the traits of vampires when Victorian and Valerian bit me, but I’m not like them This sensation, or whatever it is, scares the hell out ofpulls at

My eyes fix on a human; I don’t see h their veins As I breathe in, I can taste it on et it

I lunge

In reality,I shake, shudder, convulse Slowly, the screa though, and I struggle to bring the scent of blood back In the darkness, I can no longer see the humans; the club has disappeared I’m on my back on a firrass Slowly, I openI’ lot; cars and sehway, unevenly, at various speeds A can dispenses through a soft-drink hter echoes in the distance A stereo system blasts Twisted Sister, one speaker blown in the back My vision clears as I fixate on what’s beforeme still My eyes scan past his with restrooms and drink ainst hi?"

Victorian studies htens and he frowns "You don’t remember?"

For a second, h to try to rip breaks, I leap up, and take off My legs are weak, though, and no sooner do I e to find ht from several tall la of the rest area; I avoid it and run straight for the shadows and the trees beyond My body jerks, and ive out Once th floods th itself is a liquid and sos puh the darkness Speed is one of my tendencies, and I’m fast as hell I don’t care who sees me It’s not like there are a lot of people out at the rest stop at two ah dense pines, and because I’auzy skirt, tank, and Vans I had on at Tunnel 9 hours before, bras and scratch the holy hell out of thenawing at my insides--