Charlie woke up in a white room. A thin black bag was wrapped around her, zipped up to her neck. She tried to sit up but a sharp throbbed in her neck and she groaned as she laid back down. She decided to take a look around. The wall on her left was made up of a dozens of shiny metal cabinets. On the right was a door that lead to an office which could see through the wall’s window. Charlie realized where she was and she felt her heart start to beat faster.
She unzipped the rest of the body bag and found herself without any clothes. She looked over at the office and saw an open laptop, a coffee mug and a large lab white coat hanging on the back of chair...it was going to have to do. She swung her legs around and she found herself sitting on a silver table. She hopped down but her legs gave out from under her. The tiles under her were an ugly green and she could see tiny cracks and specks of dust in the shape of shoe prints. She shook her head.
C’mon Charlie, she told herself, happy that she at least remembered her name. Have to get out of here and find out how I ended up here.
She got to her feet and managed to stay upright. She’d made her way into the office when she remembered something. She’d read somewhere that morgues were supposed to be cold...but she didn’t feel anything. Now that she thought about it, her skin felt tighter, and her caramel complexion had paled. She could suddenly smell the faint lavender perfume from the lab jacket, old leather covers of some books on the office’s desk, the bacon that she couldn’t see but suspected that someone had had, and the lemon and jasmine of the tea in the coffee mug.
Charlie stared at the cup of tea. There was something familiar about it. She massaged her temples with her fingers. How did she end up in a morgue? Then the memory hit her.
She remembered a warm, brightly lit jazz club, a hot cup of lemon jasmine tea, and soft music. She remembered feeling settled on a soft brown couch and tapping her foot to the beat. And a man. She remembered a man. He was tall and lean with dreadlocks and honey colored skin wearing jeans and a leather jacket.
The man sat beside her. He was watching the band, but he smiled. Charlie blushed in spite of herself. The man never opened his mouth, and Charlie knew he didn’t need too. He looked her in the eye...something came over her. She could have gotten lost in those eyes. Her heart sped up and she found herself sweating even though she’d been sitting down for the last half hour. The man got up and headed for the door. Then, right before he went through, he turned and those brown eyes winked at her.
Charlie’s limbs starting moving before she realized what was going on. She was suddenly standing, ripping off her glasses, letting her brown hair fall down to her shoulders. The man hadn’t gone far and she followed him. The man took his time walking but she felt like she couldn’t keep up with him. He turned a corner.
No sooner had she made the turn, the man snapped in her direction, seized her and kissed her. That’s when everything went wrong. The man had a strange taste: sweet, but sharp and metallic. She immediately broke the kiss and tried to pull away but the man’s grip was like iron. The man’s eyes slowly turned from a soft brown to an ugly red. He smiled and nodded. Then he moved, pain seared Charlie’s neck and her world went black.
+++++
Charlie screamed and fell to her knees, clutching her neck. She gasped and choked on her breaths.
Did he kill me? She wondered. But how am I here?
Then she heard movement. Two pairs of feet were getting closer and closer. Charlie grabbed the lab coat and tied it around her. Then she caught scents. A heavier smell of lavender perfume, a lot of cheap cologne and above that, she smelled something new. It was coppery and metallic, but it made her mouth water. She suddenly felt hungry. Next, came the voices.
“Her throat was ripped out,” a woman’s voice said. “She was dead when the EMTs arrived. She must have bled out.”
Charlie backed away from the door and touched her neck. Nothing was missing. The pain was still there, and it came from a patch of raw skin with four small bumps in the very center. Charlie blinked. The new scent was getting stronger as the footsteps got closer. It took her a minute to register a mild discomfort in her mouth—where her canines were.
The door opened. The woman in green scrubs and a white coat gasped and dropped her notepad. The word DECEASED was written in red at the top. Beside her was a man dressed in blue scrubs. He jumped back and pointed.
“She looks fine to me,” he said.
“No,” the woman took a step back. “She was-”
She looked behind Charlie at the examination table. Then she turned to Charlie with disbelief.
“Sweetie,” the woman said slowly. “How?”
Charlie shook her head and took a step forward. She tripped over herself but the woman caught her.
“I don’t know,” Charlie admitted. “Hungry.”
The woman turned to the man in the scrubs. “Find her something!”
The man shrugged. “The last bit of food we had was that bacon sandwich that I finished up two days ago. There’s nothing here.”
“Then go get something!” the woman snapped. “I don’t know what happened to her or what her story is, but she needs to eat.”
Suddenly, something clicked in Charlie’s head. Time seemed to slow. That metallic smell was overwhelming now. Charlie looked at the woman and her eyes went to her neck. Eat.
Charlie lunged at the woman and sank her newfound fangs into the woman’s neck. Sweet, coppery liquid filled her mouth. Charlie pinned the woman to wall and squeezed as she hard as she could. The woman opened her mouth but nothing came out. She tried to grab at Charlie and push her away but they were more like soft nudges. Charlie’s grip got tighter as the woman’s eyes glazed over and her skin got paler and paler.
Charlie felt something on her shoulder and flicked her arm back. She hit something but her focus was on this meal of red. When the woman was so pale that her veins were visible, Charlie let go and stood. She looked at her shoulder and saw scissor handles sticking out of them.
The man had been knocked against the examination table. His leg was bent at a funny angle. He looked Charlie with absolute terror. Charlie pulled the scissors out. She felt no pain and there was no blood. Then she stalked toward the man.
“Please,” he begged. He tried to stand but he fell immediately.
Charlie didn’t respond. She opened her mouth and lunged.
+++++
When Charlie looked up from the man, she saw her reflection in the metal cabinets and for a moment, she was terrified. Her hair and mouth were caked with red. Crimson streaks marked her lab coat. That momentary rush has subsided and Charlie was now left with the carnage she’d wrought. She fell to her knees, holding her hands over her mouth. She was...she was a--No! She refused to accept it.
It’s not my fault, she told herself. I didn’t know what I was--
She stopped herself because she did know what she was doing. She had been in full control of her actions. She’d been hungry and she allowed this...new thing inside her to take control. Charlie shook, then she inhaled angrily.
She didn’t want to be monster or a murderer. It was all because of that man! He did this to her. Maybe he could change her back? Or maybe he’d be her next victim...She rushed back over to the woman. There were small spots of red on the front of her scrubs but she didn’t mind it. It would be less noticeable than the now red lab coat. Besides, she had a feeling it was only going to get messier.
