Chapter 4

Ren was free.

He was running as fast as his feet would carry him. He didn't have to think about school, his mom, or the future. It wasn't until he was running through the trees, dodging low hanging branches, and panting to catch his breath that he realized how twisted everything had become. For so long, he'd been caring about who he was going to be and about the monster that was lurking beneath his skin. Behind the mask, he knew that he wasn't much different than the men that were like Mantel. Or his dad.

All those horrible thoughts faded to the background as he chased the moon. It was a beaming light that led him deeper into the unknown. It should have terrified him. Though he'd been out here before, that had been when he was in the daylight. The night held so much more out here. The animals were no longer afraid. Even his adjusting eyes wouldn't be much better against predators who hunted only at night.

All was silent, still, and he could hear his gasping breath. His eyes closed on their own. For a moment, he let them rest and then he slowly opened them. He walked deeper into the forest. Above the tree line, he could make out the mountains. They were radiant even at night. They felt as if they held more secrets than the entire universe and that sounded ludicrous. Even when he was battling against the buzzing that could not be explained.

He continued to walk forward, his eyes never leaving the mountain peak. The minutes went by. Time was beginning to mean nothing to him. He knew he'd been standing there for a while, but it seemed to have slipped him by. He stopped. He wished for something to happen. To make the ache inside of him stop.

And then he was thinking about what it would be like to be at the base of the mountain. To be that close, it would make him feel even more insignificant. He would feel like a speck on the ground. He imagined the air would be different. Sharper and fresher.

Crystal Mountain was special and everything surrounding it was touched by its magic without even knowing it.

The buzzing was consuming him.

No longer able to keep still, he pushed back branch after branch. His feet ached by the time he reached the outskirts of the mountain. He could really see it now. It towered over him, just as he'd expected it would. He prayed this feeling would end, yet, at the same time, he didn't want it to leave him.

Because even when he was with his mom, he was lonely. She was human. She didn't understand anything about being a vampire. She didn't know how it was painful to be around her when he knew he was just a reminder of what had happened to her.

He was the reason why she was silently suffering in a home that was no longer a home.

The last free passed him by. In front of him were rocks and boulders. And there it was. A giant mass of rock that reached high into the sky. The center of Reginae and the center of him.

The buzzing hiccuped.

He had enjoyed the view for all but a second when he heard it.

The loudest scream he'd ever heard.

Ren twisted the ring around his neck. Each turn of the metal cost him. The buzzing had settled at least. However, the bloodlust was boiling. His fangs and gums ached to pierce flesh and drink down gallons of red. He licked his lips, already tasting it on his tongue.

That scream…

He pulled himself briefly from the hungry haze long enough to strain his ears. There was nothing.

The hush of night came upon him. He did not notice how dead it was. No sound of birds, the humming of silence, or the usual rustle of life in the woods.

It truly felt as if he was alone in the world. And that scared him more. The scream had been close.

His hand grabbed the closest thing to him--the base of a tree. Bark bit into his palm.

He took a hesitant step forward. He didn't trust himself to not break out into a run. The world tilted around him, but somehow he managed to keep going. He didn't want to. The yelling frightened voice in the back of his head wanted to go back. He wanted to forget all that had happened, all that he'd done in this sorry excuse for a life.

But he couldn't escape from the fate hurling towards him. His feet were moving faster and faster. The promise to keep calm, to not give in to the beast clinging to his insides, fell apart in front of him.

Washed away, that sacred piece of him vanished. No longer was he Ren Cornelli, he was just a vampire hunting through the dark forest.

He smelled it. High in the air, swirling around him as if it had been seeking him out. he stopped, raised his head, and breathed in. His fangs ached.

His entire body ached.

His hand grasped the ring around his neck. He rolled it between his fingers, waiting for the scream to come again. It didn't. The silence following after didn't ease his fear. His eyes flickered across the dark forest.

For a moment, he believed it to be a part of his imagination. But the thrumming through his body, the taste of blood in the air, and his body's natural reaction all proved that it was anything but a figment of his imagination.

Each step forward set his body on fire and he felt a surge of energy flood his veins from the soft dirt below. The cold air whipped through his hair. His eyes stung from the tough wind, but his body was running on adrenaline. It didn't matter how bad the pain was.

There was no more screaming. There was nothing but the ear-piercing silence that took over the entire forest. No one should be out here and no one should be screaming. He didn't want to decipher what his brain was trying to tell him. The facts didn't make sense, didn't add up to anything that was good.

It was only a few minutes later that he broke through another clearing. The trees drifted behind him and as he slowed to a stop, he took one look at the scene and thought he was going to throw up.

A young girl's body lay in the meadow. Her legs were twisted at an unnatural angle and her arms were spread above her head. The skin around her neck looked as if it had been ripped out by a rabid animal. Blood pooled at the base of her head, streaming out along the dirt like small rivers searching for the sea. And above the girl's bloody body stood a man hunched over with blood dripped from his hands.

Ren's wide eyes met the man's. He couldn't move as he stared into the bright red eyes. They were swirling with hunger and though he'd just slaughtered that human girl, he was edging to a point Ren knew well enough. The blood satisfied him, but he was on a high. He wanted more.

Ren stepped back. His fear fought against his own bloodlust. When his eyes flicked to the man's hands once more, he almost dropped to his knees. He wanted a taste. Of true human blood. He would lap until the blood coated his face and stained his hands.

Ren was wracked with horror at his own thoughts. He fumbled, startled when he looked back at the man's red eyes.

He spun on his heels and ran.

The dirt kicked up onto the back of his legs and rocks bit into the thin soles of his shoes. The wet grass slowed down his sprint, but he pushed his body to go harder than it could truly take. He was riding on the coats of his fear, flashing images of the nightmare he'd left behind only so that he could escape it faster.

"Stop!"

The sound of the man's voice shocked Ren for only a second. He glanced over his shoulder. He knew it was a mistake. Even as he stared at the man's intense face, he knew he knew he wouldn't be able to outrun him. There was only a short distance between him and Ren and it was only getting smaller.

Ren turned back and searched the forest floor. His feet dodged a fallen log and sticks jutting out from the ground. Each time he looked at the ground, he looked for something to use. A stick, a large rock, anything he could use as a weapon.

The girl's face flashed in his mind. The image of her lying there, lifeless, her stare as cold as the night made him want to break down. Yet, at the same time, he wanted to go back to her body and relish in the disgusting sight. He wished it could have been him that ripped her throat out and drank the gallons of her blood. The man had wasted so much of it on him, playing in the filth, and that angered the buzzing inside of him.

He frantically ran, his arms flailing as he tried to keep steady on his feet. The forest was too dark for him to make out much of anything except for the large looming trees. They blocked the moonlight, the one source he desperately needed right then.

The man was gaining on him and though he was fast enough to keep ahead of him for this long, he could hear the man gaining on him. It was hard to hear, but Ren wasn't deaf. The earth rumbled under the man's heavy thuds. He was wearing black boots, ones that looked like they could crush a human skull.

Ren didn't know why he decided to torture himself with that kind of imagery. But it made it easier for him to endure the burning in his thighs.

He went without saying that he wasn't the best in gym class.

And then he saw what he'd been searching for. A large stick about the length of his leg and as thick as his wrist rested in the brush of a tree. He didn't have time to think before he jumped and grabbed the end of the stick and pulled it down. Leaves and small twigs rained down on his head, blinding him for a second. He twisted around with the stick in both hands. He swung it with all the strength he had.

The wind swooshed atop it and he felt it nick something but just slightly.

It was knocked from his hands. The man grabbed his wrist and yanked Ren forward. He had nothing to protect himself and he knew that he couldn't fight the man off with strength alone.

"Stop! I'm not—"

As he reached out to grab Ren's other hand, Ren snapped his jaws. His fangs sunk into the man's skin, piercing into his flesh. Blood filled Ren's mouth, sweet and otherworldly.

The buzzing rumbled and a growl that didn't sound like his own hummed in his chest. The blood didn't taste how he thought human blood would taste like. It wasn't bad. It was different and apparently the buzzing thought that different was just as good.

It was the best thing he'd ever tasted in his entire life. Synthetic blood tasted like dirt next to this.

Ren gasped, tearing his fangs from the man's arm. Ren took a quick breath and went down for more.

"Get the hell off of me!" The man hit him across the face with his fist. Ren latched onto his arm as hard as he could, but he was coming back to himself. The blood drained from his face and he felt the world spinning. Pain bloomed where the man had hit him and he felt the man's blood coming back to the surface.