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I stopped moving, got very still. Everything was okay again. I looked down at Bronx. His lips were curled in a smile, concealing his oversized teeth. “What a load of freaking crap!” I yelled, my voice sounding hysterical. I was. This guy was crazy and he must have drugged me with something. I’d heard about drugs that could get you into a euphoric state, and I’d also heard of ones that made you see visuals. He’d dosed me with both.
    “No. It is true. All of it.”
    “ You’re a liar,” I screamed, voice high-pitched, raw. “I’m getting out of here, now!” I turned around, started to run. Bronx was there—I never saw him get up off the sofa. He was just there, holding my arm. I couldn’t budge. It was like being stuck in concrete. He pulled me into him in a dizzying whir of movement. His arms wrapped around my chest like an anaconda suffocating its prey. I sidestepped him, trying to get free, but I wasn’t going anywhere. My breathing was still slow. It should’ve accelerated. I couldn’t feel my pulse. My heart should have been pounding out of my chest. I wiggled my fingers up to my neck, pressing down hard just under my chin. Nothing. No heart beat. I was so scared I didn’t know what to do. So I started crying like a baby. Hey, we all have our breaking points.
    I finally calmed down, or rather got the crying down to a minimum. Bronx’s hold loosened up just enough for me to pull away from his chest. I instantly smelled something bloody, salty. My face, it was coming from my face. The scent grew sharper, more pungent and tasty. Wait! Tasty? How could I possibly like the smell of blood? My mouth watered. I got thirsty, hungry. This couldn’t be happening. I pulled away from Bronx, and he let me go. But there was nowhere to go. I was consumed with the unthinkable. I touched my face, and then lowered my hand in front of me, staring at my red fingers, mesmerized.
    Loud noises shrieked in my ears, distracting me from those horrible, bloody thoughts. Everything was so much louder than it should’ve been. There were crickets chirping their nightly chorus as if singing into a microphone. Birds were flying somewhere close by, and their wings swished in to add percussion to the choir of crickets. Low thuds vibrated as the neighborhood entrance gate swung to open or close, adding the missing subwoofer to the band of crickets and birds. How was I hearing this? This was crazy!
    The room started to pulsate, wobbling and groaning. I frantically placed my hands over my ears, using them as earmuffs, trying to keep the noise from getting in. Nausea tickled my stomach and shivers jumped down my spine like ants. I crouched down to the floor, grabbing my ears more tightly. I closed my eyes. When I opened them, I’d be safe at home. Nope, that didn’t work. I was still here with this lunatic.
    He spoke, voice ramming through my ears. My makeshift earmuffs weren’t working. “I can tell you are starting to experience the enhanced senses that you now have as a vampire. Seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling and most of all tasting. The taste of blood is what you thirst for above anything else, and you will need to feed again before daylight. My blood transformed you and will be enough to hold you over for a little while longer, but you will need more of it soon.”
    Oh my God, what was happening to me? A vampire? Could I really be a vampire? A make-believe being that created best-selling books and sold out movies with almost every story imagined about them. It didn’t seem possible. But then again, neither did any of the crap happening to me. I was unable to move, completely frozen, immobilized by fear.
    The new desires of my body were instinctive but foreign. The blood cravings, super-sharp vision, hearing so clear it was as if there was a souped-up hearing aid in my ear, and I was so much stronger, more powerful than before. It’s like I’d taken steroids—from what I’d heard about them anyway. All of these facts