Free Blood Gifts by Kara Lockley Page A

loud and close. She
opened her eyes and colors swirled before her, not staying within
the lines of the objects they came from. Things were brighter and
louder than she ever remembered things being. She remembered what
had happened, and as soon as she realized she was a vampire she was
on her feet. The motion was so fast it was almost
instantaneous.
    "We'll have to work on that," Luke said from
behind her. She turned to see him leaning up against a tree with
his arms crossed. She thought he was smiling at her. "That didn't
look entirely human," he said.
    "Okay," she said, distracted by the colors
that wouldn't stay inside their shapes. Trees, grass, a stream
nearby. Clouds and blue sky in the distance. Early morning light.
She never knew the forest had so many sounds, or maybe they were
just magnified now. The gurgling stream, rustling of tree branches,
animals in the distance. She turned her head quickly at the sound
of hooves on packed earth.
    Luke stepped away from his tree and held out
his hand to her, but she bolted. She ran and the blur of a deer ran
in front of her, but she was faster. She felt like she was leaping
effortlessly through the woods. She grasped the deer around the
neck as she tackled it to the ground. It must've been a doe. No
antlers. She felt her vampire teeth descend and she bit deeply into
the neck of the deer. The doe tried to kick her, but she ignored
it. The deer's blood tasted like ambrosia to Karina. She used to
think Luke's blood drinking was so disgusting, but now it seemed
wonderful. A thirst and a hunger quenched at once. She felt the
deer give up, but at the same time Luke pried her off the deer, her
teeth dripping with blood.
    Karina struggled against him, but he was
stronger than her. "Don't take it all," he said. "Shh," he said as
she tried to pry his arms off of her. "Never take it all. It's good
to practice that."
    She watched as the deer stumbled onto its
feet like it was weak, and wandered off as if in a daze.
    "It's good if we don't leave a trail of dead
animals with teeth marks in their necks. For a lot of reasons." He
set her down. She was trying to comprehend what he was saying to
her, but it seemed absurd. Restraint? How ridiculous. She felt like
she could fly right now. She looked up at the sky through the
trees.
    "Can I fly?" she said to Luke, looking at him
with hopeful eyes.
    "No," he said. "Sorry." He took her hand and
led her through the woods, deeper into them, toward the mountains
in the distance. He babbled to her about the proper way to do
things. He probably didn't think of it as babbling. Restraint,
discretion, respect, responsibility. These were his themes. They
grated on her, like someone trying to wake her from a beautiful
dream.
    Night came and she could see through the
darkness clearly. It was still dark, but it had layers of darkness,
different shades, shapes were defined distinctly. She could see
everything. It was like the sun going down changed all the colors
of things to dimmer shades, but they were still there. She felt
like she'd been upgraded.
    At some point they slept again, Luke had his
arm over her waist. In case she decided to run free, Karina
guessed. They rested on the soft grass by the side of the river
that used to be just a stream. The closer they got to the mountains
the wider and swifter the river became. It made a loud rushing
noise as she fell asleep.
    She dreamed that she was flying over
everything, forests, mountains, towns. She opened her eyes when the
light came. It was morning. Luke was sitting cross-legged and
barefoot near her. He was clearer today. His colors kept more to
his shapes. She remembered vaguely his lectures from yesterday and
she rose slowly and deliberately, first to a sitting position and
then to a standing one.
    "Better," he said, getting to his feet. He
sounded like he was about to begin another lecture, and she
bolted.
    "Karina!" he called after her. She knew he
had to put his shoes on first. She ran, following their