My eyes flickered open and closed as a pillow slammed into my face. I pushed the cushion off to the side, squinting. The sunlight from the window beside his bed blinded me with bright light.

My eyes shot across the room at Erin's bunk, breathing deeply. The room smelled of dirty laundry and burning wood. "Dude, are you okay?" Erin nearly ruptured my sore eardrums. I pulled out of my bedsheets and walked over to Erin, rubbing my throbbing temples, keeping time with Erin's thumping heartbeat. Buh-boom. Buh-boom. Buh-boom.

"What the fuck, Erin?" I whacked Erin with a pillow and sat up.

"What the fuck?"

"I didn't even want to come," I growled.

"Hey, this is vacation; live a little." Erin reached over my abs to grab my pillow and whipped it back toward my bed.

"Funny," I said, rolling my eyes. Erin yawned, pulling out from under his covers, stretching out his arms, wearing only a pair of red and black boxers.

"Somebody's getting grouchy. Are you hungry?"

   "Shut up!" I scowled, walked to my dresser, grabbed a fresh change of clothes and glasses, and wandered to the bathroom.

   After a hot shower, I turned off the water, my chest burning as my stomach rumbled. I smiled in the mirror, my fangs barely protruding from my gums, a faint thumping heartbeat filled my eardrums, and the curdling smell of sweet blood made my stomach flip-flop outside the doorway. Buh-boom. Buh-boom. Buh-boom. I perked up when Erin knocked hard.

"Are you okay in there?" Suddenly, excruciating pain hit me in my gut, and my fangs grew as I staggered back, tripping over the bathroom carpet and falling into the glass shower door. It shattered in pieces, and I lay still on the floor, licking my braced teeth and running my tongue along with short k9s.

"Adam, are you okay in there?" There was silence as Erin knocked again. "Adam, if you don't answer me, I'll get my dad."

   I pulled my knees into my chest and closed my eyes, remaining calm as heartbeats thundered harder. Buh-boom. Buh-boom. Buh-boom.

"ADAM!" I cup my hand over my mouth. "That's it; I'm coming in!" Erin yelled, bursting through the door. I sat on the floor; sharp fangs elongated from my gums. My eyes glowed fluorescent crimson under the lights as my eyes fluttered to the still darkness.

∆∆∆

   Erin paced the room. I sat on his bed, my head in my hands, licking my teeth. "What the fuck? I thought something had happened."

"I'm sorry. I'm starving," I whined. Erin paced quicker, and I chucked a pillow at him. "Stop pacing," I growled.

"I'm sorry, okay?!" Erin groaned.

   I huffed. "I know."

"You scared the fuck out of me," Erin said, taking a seat on his bed, sitting back, and staring at the ceiling. "This is fucking crazy! You're a vampire." He boasted.

"Big whoop," I muttered. "You're a fucking werewolf prince. A prince. You know this is your fault, right?"

   Erin scoffed. "Me?" He mumbled.

"If you hadn't forced me to go to that party, this would have never happened."

"They bit you, not me," Erin countered. Erin and I sat up at the same time. He pulled out of bed and paced again.

"It's not like I asked for it." A sudden sharp pain tightened my chest. Heartbeats quickened. Buh-boom. Buh-boom. Buh-boom. I hunched over on his bed, wincing in pain.

"Your eyes are turning red," Erin noted.

"I-I'm hungry." I stuttered in pain. Erin took a few steps back, knowing I could still bite him. I groaned in pain. "Is this going to happen all the time?"

"I-I don't know," Erin panicked. My teeth grew about half an inch long, and my stomach lunged.

"We needed this trip, and right now, we need to get you something, like blood." Erin frantically panicked while searching for his car keys.

"Where the fuck are you going to get blood? It's not like—" I flopped around on the bed. The pain was getting worst.

"The store." he took a deep, reluctant breath. "It's a couple of miles from here. Trust me; I have a plan... I think?" However, I wasn't sure I could trust him at all.

∆∆∆

Erin and I slid into a black corvette-Erin's corvette. I removed my sunshades and hooked them to the collar of my shirt, shutting the door. My fingers sunk into the leather on the door handle, my handprint staining the metal.

"Be gentle with my car," Erin growled.

"Sorry," I shrugged. Erin rolled his eyes. He shoved the key into the ignition and started the car.

"You know I can't get that door fixed."

"I didn't mean to dent your car." We both glanced at the dented handle.

"But my dad just gave me this car. You always break my stuff."

   I chuckled through the pain. "I do not."

"What about my phone? You accidentally dropped it off a balcony." He took a breath. "And when you dropped my toothbrush in the toilet at camp." Erin pulled out of the parking spot. I chuckled again.

"Yep," I smacked my lips, falling against the seat. Erin turned up the radio, alternative rock blasting through the speakers as he focused on the road.

∆∆∆

   I threw on sunglasses, weaving down the candy aisle towards the deli with Erin. My hyper senses kicked into high gear. The smell of fresh deli meats hit me dead, and Erin's heart raced. I groaned, stopping in my tracks, feeling pressure in my chest as I clutched my gut.

   Erin nudged me. "You still hungry?" Erin asked me.

"Yeah, no shit," I snapped. Erin grabbed a handful of candy and threw it in the cart.

"What the hell do we need those for?" I asked. Erin didn't answer. Instead, he approached the deli counter, tapping the bell. A deli man smiled and walked over, greeting us with a grin.

"What can I get for you, Erin?"

"Can we get two steaks and a pound of hamburger meat?" Erin said. The man pointed to the meat at the front window, and Erin nodded silently. Then the man packed the heart in silence, tagged it, and slid it in front of Erin.

"On the house," the deli man pushed the meat forward. Erin grabbed the meat and slammed it into the cart.

∆∆∆

   I watched Blake Andrews scan the meat, my eyes on her, while the hot blonde distracted Erin in the background, working the check-out counter. She pushed the meat near the bagging section and smiled at me.

"Hey, Blake," I blushed, watching her scan groceries. For a moment, hunger was no longer on my mind. "How's your dad?" I asked her. Erin wiggled his eyebrows at Blake, and she rolled her eyes, annoyed and bothered by my question.

"Are you guys having a party or something?" Blake dodged my question as she scanned a juicer and started bagging items. Or something was more reasonable. She clicked a button on the register and smiled. "One hundred and eighty-two dollars twenty-seven cents." She faked a smile at Erin and genuinely smiled at me. Erin pulled out his wallet and tapped his credit card from his back pocket. Blake grabbed the receipt, wrote something on the back, and handed it.

"I'll see you guys around the school." She said.

"Cool," Erin nodded awkwardly, grabbing bags, and then we walked off.

∆∆∆

   Erin taps his fingers against the steering wheel and focuses on the road. I removed my sunglasses, hanging them on my shirt.

"I think she likes you." Erin pulled into the cabin lot. A surge of pain hit me again, and I fell forward, grunting. The seat belt barely caught me.

"Whoa. WHOA! You good, bro?" Erin yelled as my fangs grew again, and I curled up in my seat. "She gave us her number," he said. "Damn, Wiccans." Erin held up the receipt between his fingertips. "Here," He mumbled, slipping it between my seatbelt while focusing on the road.

   My jaw tightened as I grunted deeply and fell forward again, clutching my chest in pain. "Dude, I need something, NOW!" I growled.

   Erin pulled over and hit the brakes hard. "Chill, man. You have the candy. It's between your legs."

   I leaned forward, grabbing a candy bar. "Snickers? You've got to be kidding me." I rolled my eyes, starting at the calorie count.

"Eat the damn candy, Adam," Erin roared, pulling into a parking spot nearby. I yanked off the wrapper and took a bite. The scent of chocolate almost made me puke, but the savory protein relaxed me. I watched my red eyes flicker to blue in the mirror as I melted against the seat.

"Better?" Erin asked me.

"No, but I'll settle," I said, my stomach gurgling.

   Erin shut down the car and scanned me with his eyes. "You scared me a little," he said.

   I huffed, taking another bite. "Yeah, me too." My seatbelt whipped across my side, and I took another indulgent bite of snickers.

"You know what I think is crazy?" Erin asked me with a grin, plucking the keys out of the ignition.

"That I'm a fucking vampire?"

   Erin swung his door open. "Exactly," He said. Erin got out of the car with a bag full of groceries while I grabbed the rest of the bags between my legs and popped on my sunglasses, following Erin back to the cabin with a bag of groceries and a snicker bar in my hand.