Blood Queen - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Blood Thirst

***

Night fell once again. Near a national highway, a family of three was preparing for their May Day holiday trip in a small villa in a rural village.

After loading the luggage into the trunk of their small car, the husband called out impatiently to his wife and daughter who were still dawdling inside the villa.

Another half hour passed before the wife and daughter, clearly dressed up and made-up, hurriedly came out with bags of various sizes. The small car soon disappeared into the distance with the family.

After silence returned to the surroundings of the villa, Xia Yan poked her head out from the nearby bushes.

Putting down Gu Yao, who had become so weak she was staggering, Xia Yan rushed to the outer wall of the villa in a few quick steps. She pricked up her ears, confirming once again that no one remained inside the pitch-black villa, before finally smiling.

A few minutes later, in the dark rural villa, Xia Yan finally settled the confused Gu Yao on the living room sofa. Then, with a barely noticeable flush on her face, she stumbled into the kitchen.

Finding some noodles and seasonings, boiling water and cooking noodles, Xia Yan didn’t know how she was still managing to carry on. At this moment, she felt her whole body burning, as if she was placed in a steamer, drenched in sweat.

The high-energy ration bars they had brought were long gone. Although they had briefly replenished their energy at the time, the sense of emptiness and anxiety within their bodies had become increasingly clear since then.

After hastily eating a large bowl of noodles, Xia Yan finally let out a sigh of relief. However, that peculiar hunger sensation permeating her mind clung to every thought like a specter, making it impossible to find peace.

Returning to the living room, not daring to turn on the lights, she only opened her tactical flashlight. She wiped Gu Yao’s face clean, fed her a few sips of warm water, and began to check her condition.

Starting an hour ago, Gu Yao had been in a state of semi-consciousness and exhaustion, her whole body burning hot, similar to Xia Yan’s current state, but more severe.

The face of the white-haired girl, now cleaned of smoke and grime, was more clearly visible. Her skin was smooth to the touch, delicate as if it could break at the slightest pressure, but the color was abnormally flushed. Her half-open eyes were an eerie red.

“Brother… am I dying… I can’t see anything, brother, are you still here…”

Gu Yao mumbled, her words blurred, confused, and weak. Her small hands weakly grasped Xia Yan’s arms, a pair of small tiger teeth, deformed at some unknown time, both cute and chilling.

In her mind, Xia Yan seemed to recall knowledge learned at the Dark Arrow training center. This was a typical initial blood thirst reaction after blood invasion. Fresh blood must be consumed quickly, otherwise, the newly turned Thrall would likely die from organ failure.

After a minute of hesitation, as Gu Yao’s breathing began to noticeably decline, there was no more time to waste. A flash of pain and determination appeared in Xia Yan’s eyes.

Holding the tactical flashlight in her mouth, she slowly removed her uniform top and tossed it aside. She extended her left arm and raised a fruit knife she had found in the kitchen cabinet.

In the circle of light from the flashlight, a fair and smooth wrist was visible, with several slender fingers trembling slightly. A beer glass caught the fresh blood, and from the wound on the wrist, drops of blood gathered into a stream, dripping into the glass. Soon, there appeared to be about 100 milliliters.

Hastily wrapping her wrist with gauze, Xia Yan brought the half-glass of fresh blood to the white-haired girl’s lips.

“Xiao Yao, drink some water…”

As if smelling something, the white-haired girl suddenly tensed her body, her hands tightly gripping the beer glass. Although her eyes were still unfocused, she had clearly sensed that what she needed most was right in front of her.

The light from the tactical flashlight, reflected off the white walls, dimly illuminated a corner of the living room. Xia Yan, with a faint smile, held the girl beneath her, stroking her soft white hair, watching her face, while greedy swallowing sounds reached her ears.

Gradually, Xia Yan felt herself losing her vision as well. Everything before her eyes dimmed, and her consciousness became increasingly blurred.

The white-haired girl felt extremely comfortable now. Her entire body, inside and out, was warm and cozy, as if floating in the amniotic fluid of a mother she had never met, drifting and swaying, safe and warm.

……

……

In the dead of night, Gu Yao suddenly sat up as if waking from a dream, her face filled with terror and confusion, a slight pain still lingering on the back of her neck.

Brother knocked me out earlier… Where am I now? Where’s brother?

Her vision wasn’t dark. Not far away on the tiled floor, a tactical flashlight, almost out of battery, was making its last struggle. At her feet, beside the sofa, lay an unconscious black-haired girl. Her black uniform top had been removed, leaving only a grayish-green tactical T-shirt.

Her slender, petite figure was vaguely discernible. Under the messy black long hair, her face was pale with a few traces of sickly redness.

Yes, that’s brother! It’s her!

“Brother! Brother, what’s wrong with you!”

Gu Yao quickly bent down to check, her gaze falling on an overturned beer glass on the floor. Inside and outside the glass, a few traces of blood had congealed into lines, and next to it lay a fruit knife.

Feeling her forehead, it was clearly over 40 degrees Celsius. Her breathing was uneven and erratic.

“Brother, don’t scare me! Don’t scare me!”

Gu Yao’s voice became hoarse, with a hint of crying. She half-carried, half-dragged the black-haired girl onto the sofa, then crouched beside it, not knowing what to do in her panic.

Yes… blood thirst, it’s a blood thirst reaction. Brother needs to consume fresh blood now! I can’t panic, there must be some way!

Gu Yao clutched her hair, her eyes darting around frantically. Finally, she noticed the bloody gauze on her wrist.

Her gaze fell on the overturned beer glass again, and Gu Yao suddenly came to her senses. She grabbed the beer glass and placed it on the coffee table, rolled up her sleeve, and picked up the fruit knife.

No… She seemed to remember the instructor saying that for vampires who had consumed each other’s blood, once one had drunk the other’s blood, they couldn’t let the other drink their blood in return. Otherwise, there was a chance of severe blood fusion occurring. She couldn’t remember the exact probability, but she dared not take the risk now.

Seeming to recall something, Gu Yao jumped up and ran wildly through each room. Finally, she found a computer in the study.

Fortunately, there was no startup password! Entering the operating system, opening a web page, searching for a map… Found it, the address of the nearest township health center!

After confirming the direction, Gu Yao tidied up her uniform, grabbed the tactical flashlight, picked up the now empty backpack, and also slipped the dagger into her military boots.

However, the military boots now felt very uncomfortable on her feet, probably because her foot size had changed after becoming a vampire. But there was no time to worry about that now!

A hungry gurgle came from her stomach. Seeing a bowl of noodles on the coffee table that had already congealed into a lump, Gu Yao didn’t care about the taste and swallowed it all in one go.

Taking a last look at the dark living room, Gu Yao took a deep breath, rushed out of the villa, and disappeared into the darkness.