Vampiric Potionmaker - Ch. 5: I Want To Eat You

After a bit more persuading, Alessia finally let her sword down. Of course, it came with a condition – Nara would have to wear a muzzle. A genuine, dog’s-would-hate-this muzzle. It fit like a face mask, but with a little more metal cage where the comforting cotton should be.

“Why do you even own this?” Nara groaned. She walked behind Alessia on the unpaved road, the hunter leading her to an unknown destination. “Are you into some kinky shit I don’t want to find out about?”

“If the kinky shit is killing monsters, then yes. I’m unfortunately into that. But mostly for commercial reasons, so no hard feelings.”

“And let me guess, vampires are on that monster list, aren’t they?” Nara groaned.

“You’re a real genius,” Alessia laughed. “Yeah, I’d say vampires are about smack dab at the top of it. But only if I have a bounty for one. No bounty for you yet, and I’m feeling charitable today.”

“Bullshit,” Nara rolled her eyes. “I think you’re leading me to your vampire-killing lair where you’re going to subject me to all these crazy exorcisms, then you’ll slice my head off and tell the town you destroyed the lurking vampire menace. They’ll shower you with cash, and you’ll make away like a bandit after slaying an innocent life. How close am I?”

“God, Vampy, you’re morbid,” Alessia laughed, giving her an incredulous look. “But stop giving me ideas. It’s not improving your outlook.”

They walked deeper into the forest until they came upon a small, unremarkable house. No bigger than a car garage, constructed of fresh bark and rope. Nara immediately fell in love with it. The surroundings were as silent as a solitary confinement cell, the only sounds being the intermittent chirping of birds. Paradise.

“You live here?” she asked, trying to hide her excitement.

“No. I’m just raiding some poor wood elf’s house for the fun of it.”

Nara frowned. Alessia led her inside, lightly kicking the door with one of her ginormous boots.

Nara wrinkled her nose. The inside was a royal mess. Days of dishes had accumulated by the sink, dirty clothes were smushed into various corners, towels and shovels and just about every piece of home equipment laid about. This was not the lair of someone who often had guests.

Or someone who cares about basic hygiene, Nara thought, glaring at the other woman from behind her back. Nasty.

“I can practically hear you judging me,” Alessia said, shoving several rags off the side of a chair to make room for Nara to sit. “But listen – I’m never here. I work contracts for months at a time. This place is more like a halfway stop for me than a home.”

“All I’m hearing are excuses,” Nara said, dragging her finger along the tabletop. It came up dusty. “Doesn’t take much to clean up the place before you head out on your next contract.”

Alessia rolled her eyes. She took off her dark helmet, placing it on the table. A tidal wave of blonde hair came pouring out of it. Her house might have been a bird’s nest, but she took obvious care when it came to her hair – it sparkled with sheen, and smelled like lavender. It was long, too, almost halfway down her torso.

“Wow,” Nara said, blinking slowly. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“And I wasn’t expecting a vampire I could hold a conversation with,” Alessia said with a roll of her eyes. “But the Gods are smiling on me today, it seems. You stay here. I need to grab a few things before we begin.”

“What do you mean begin?” Nara protested, but Alessia ignored her, disappearing into a separate room.

The effects of her Thirst weighing her down, Nara huffed, and begrudgingly sat herself in the chair. I can snoop well enough from here, she thought. 

Her first instinct was to look for any semblance of a family, a loved one, even a dog – but there was nothing. The place was purely practicalities. No fun nick knacks, puzzles, toys. No life. It practically brought tears to Nara’s eyes to see such a beautiful place abused into being boring.

Then the wheels in her brain started to turn.

Maybe we could cut a deal. I could live here and keep things nice and tidy and pristine, and she would have a pleasant space to come back to when she’s done with her latest contract. It’d be a win-win. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with the stupid Lopa Lopa townspeople, either.

Nara’s mouth broke into a smile. And if that didn’t work out, she could simply wait for the knight to go out on her next quest, and then squat in her house until she returned. Judging by the level of dust, it seemed that Alessia's contracts took her away for long stretches – definitely enough time for Nara to figure out a real housing plan while she was gone.

She hummed to herself. Things were looking promising.

Warning! Thirst levels have reached 70%

You have become Starved

Status Effects:

• Quick Instincts – Your movement speed is increased by 65%
• Sharp of Mind – You can make snap judgements. Your INT is temporarily increased by 5.
• Starving – You have to eat right now. Your hunger will impair your ability to do just about anything else. If you don’t satiate it, you will move on to the final stage of Thirst.

It was as if someone had injected her with a surprise round of steroids. The heaviness plaguing her body evaporated. The clouds around her perception lifted. They were replaced by an uncanny sharpness – everything became high color, high contrast, highly interesting.

Then, finally, there was the hunger –

Nara’s eyes opened wide, her pupils burning bright red. She grasped her stomach. It was burning, like she had just swallowed a gallon of acid rain. Her entire body was reverberating, trembling like a dog in the rain. Need to eat. Need to eat. Now.

She shot out of her chair. Her head whipped back and forth, surveying the kitchen for something. Anything. She flew open cabinets, dug her hands through bags of flour and sugar and molding rye bread. She stuffed it into her mouth, chewing like a rabid animal – but the taste made her violently ill, and she spit it out.

Everything tasted so bland.

In a single moment of lucidity, she noticed that her vision had changed. She didn’t see the spectrum of color anymore. Everything was blue. The chairs, the walls, the food that used to satiate her. Blue. Blue. Blue.

She got the sense that there was a color that was missing.

“Didn’t I tell you to take a seat? You make me look like a bad host, stomping around the kitchen like that.”

Alessia appeared once more in the kitchen. Nara’s eyes snapped onto her.

Red. Looking at her, that was all Nara saw. She could see the blood running beneath Alessia’s veins, beneath armor and clothes and skin. She could watch her heart, count its beats. Her reflexes were so fast that she could probably reach the woman within a single second – have her fangs bearing down into her neck within two.

The knight came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the kitchen. Her hands were full of potions – dark red and milky. They were trapped within tiny glass bottles. 

“Seems like the muzzle was a good call, then, Vampy," she said.

Nara didn't respond. Her brain was screaming one singular, overwhelming thought. Eat her. She wasn’t sane enough to laugh at it, only licking her lips, the thought causing her stomach to rumble.

Warn her, her one remaining brain cell said.

“I want to eat you,” Nara said, her face apathetic. Hungry. “You should probably run away before I try.”

“I’m good,” Alessia said, smirking.

Nara frowned.

Eat her. Eat her. Eat her.

“I’m serious,” Nara said slowly, taking a step forward. “My brain is telling me to run up to you and chomp on your neck like an apple. I don’t think – I don’t think I can stop myself.”

“Then don’t,” Alessia said. She opened her arms, as if she was about to embrace her. “Come try.”