Elizabeth woke up howling. She had changed into a dog. She pawed at her bed and kicked out her feet. Arthur rushed in and turned the light on.
"Liz, are you okay?!"
Elizabeth tried to say, "Get out!" but it came out as a howl. She then abruptly turned back into a human and cried, "Get out, Arthur!"
Arthur silently turned off the light. She heard the door shut a moment later.
Elizabeth felt feverish. She had packed fever reducers as well as a host of other medicines. But she always believed fevers were good for the body, so she decided to do without. After a tortured half hour of tossing and turning, the churning in her stomach began to subside and she fell back asleep. And that's when she saw the most startling image of all. She was holding a bloody throwing knife. A mutilated, dead body lay at her feet. And she was preparing to throw the knife at Aaron.
Chapter 13: A Brand New Day
The next time she woke, there was no howling. No illness was upon her. She was at peace and sunlight was pouring through the curtains to her bedroom. She sat up and looked at her doorway. She was struck at how alive the oak door was. She could literally see the life of the wood. "Good morning," she said quietly. And she had the sense that the whole house heard her. She decided to go to the door and found herself instantly in front of it. She moved like lightning, but she consciously willed herself to move slower when she walked out into the living room.
Arthur was already awake and lounging on the chaise lounge. He was sipping his coffee and reading a newspaper. But when he saw her, he set his coffee down and immediately stood.
"Elizabeth. Are you okay?"
"Never better," she said. As if by magic, she suddenly appeared in front of Arthur.
Arthur stared in shock. "My God, Elizabeth! How did you do that?!"
"You can't do that?" Elizabeth asked with real surprise.
"No. I can move like a cheetah when I want, but I can't move so fast that it's nearly invisible to the naked eye. I've only seen Aaron do that."
Arthur looked unnerved and there was an awkward silence. But he pulled himself together and said, "You must be hungry."
"Starving!" she said.
"Let's go for a hunt. You'll need fresh blood and meat. The diet for a half vampire is different than that of uninfected humans. You won't need much cooked food, produce, or water anymore."
Elizabeth expected this much. Arthur ate sparsely, though he was always preparing food. He snacked but didn't ever seem to eat real meals. He skipped dinner altogether and only made it for her and Aaron. Aaron only ate dinner, and he was never able to finish the whole thing.
Arthur took her to his hunting grounds in the woods where they both morphed into animals. The only rule was that she couldn't hunt beyond their own territory.
Though there were no fences, there were wooden stakes in the ground that served as markers. Recently, Aaron had better defined their boundaries by tying rope to the stakes and creating a firmer, more easily recognizable, boundary. That was fine with her. The three and a half acres that were Aaron's were plenty for hunting. Elizabeth had the time of her life. Even for a dog she was moving fast. No squirrel, bird, or rabbit could outrun her. Arthur swung through the trees and grabbed anything that moved. Sometimes he grabbed animals in the trees and threw them down to her. She caught them in her mouth and devoured most of them almost whole. But she loved to suck on them and drain them of blood. They hunted for about an hour before she morphed back into human form and shouted to Arthur, "I'm too full to keep going! I've gorged myself."
Arthur swung down from a large oak tree and morphed back into human form.
"Your appetite is huge! I couldn't believe how much you ate! We're going to have to spare the wildlife on land and maybe go into the water to get some fish. How much did you eat?"
"I ate six rabbits, three squirrels, and a couple of birds."
"Whoa! I ate two large birds and some squirrels. I might have some fish later, but I can't have as much as you can in one go!"
"I'll feed on fish next time. Plenty of fish in the sea."
They morphed back into animals and decided to go burn some energy. Elizabeth ran around the perimeter of Aaron's land while Arthur swung through the trees. Once they got to the beach, they were rolling in the sand, splashing though the water, and play wrestling one another. By the time they were done it was lunch. They decided to catch some fish. Arthur caught a couple in human form. He had trouble finding his balance in water as a chimp. Elizabeth quickly found that being a dog was not the best shape for swimming, so she also became human and caught a dozen fish. She devoured all of them, her new fangs sinking into them with relish. Arthur was in shock at her appetite.