What Kills Me by Wynne Channing Read Free Book Online Page A

landed on my
shoulder blade and did a backward somersault, hitting my head on
the back of the truck.
    “Ow!”
    The general walked out of the church
and crossed his arms. We stared at each other for a moment and then
he turned his head and spat on the ground.
    “Lock the door,” he said, and they
shut me in the dark.
     
    ***
     
    The street’s symphony blared outside
the truck. Over the drone of the engine, I could hear the Vespas
zipping around the vehicle like flies. And voices. Music from a
radio. A dog barking. A passing bus. Footsteps, the snap of sandals
against soles. The truck grumbled to a crawl and spluttered and
coughed before starting again. I could smell exhaust, French fries
as we rounded a corner, coffee at another turn. And then for a long
while, there was nothing but the wind assaulting the sides of the
truck and the smell of gas.
    I trembled with terror. My mind raced.
I thought of my family. Uther and Lettie. The general and the
soldiers. My new face in the mirror. I hugged my legs to my chest
and rested my head on my knees. When I licked my lips, the acrid
blood on my tongue startled me, repulsed me. I tried to register
pain, tried to determine where I was hurt. I touched my scalp where
I had smacked the truck. No pain, no bump.
    The coffee mug. The blood on my
legs.
    I licked my lips again and the taste
was still bitter and briny, but somehow comforting. There was
something soothing, something satisfying, about sucking my lips. I
opened my mouth, paused, and touched the tip of my tongue to my
knee. Tasted. Swallowed.
    I’ve been kidnapped by
vampires. They’re probably going to kill me. And now I want to
drink blood. Awesome.
    I tried to resist, tried to think of
something else but my head lowered and my lips gravitated back to
my legs. I lapped the blood from my skin, tentatively at first.
Then more eagerly. I felt pleasure and then guilt. But before I
could stop myself, I was dragging my tongue across my leg like a
cat. I hadn’t realized how thirsty I felt.
    When I had licked away the
last of the blood, I chewed the back of my index finger and felt
self-conscious, which was absurd because no one was
watching. I’m disgusting. I shuddered at the thought of ever having to bite
someone and rubbed the pad of my thumb against my dull
incisor.
    The general had fangs like
a wolf. Will I grow fangs? That would be hard to explain. I could
tell Mom and Dad that I got contact lenses and a chemical peel for
a perfect complexion, but why do I have pointy teeth? That is, if I
ever see them again.
    I couldn’t remember the last thing
that I had said to my father. Did I say, “I love you?” What did he
say to me? I tried to recall his voice. I pictured him calling my
name, the way he would when the phone was for me, or when dinner
was ready. I heard him chortle, the way he would when he was
laughing at his own jokes. He sounded like a barking seal. I smiled
at the memory.
    My nose prickled and I
started to fray at the seams. Don’t
cry. I could not come undone. I could not
lose control because I would never get it back. Uther said it would be okay. My
thoughts were unrelenting and so loud in the dark. And I had been
in the dark for so long—maybe hours. The truck hurtled up tortuous
roads. I teetered about like a bowling pin. I thought I could smell
salt water. I thought I heard crashing waves. The sound was so loud
I thought my head would burst from the pressure.
    The general had mentioned the
Monarchy. He’d spoken of the Empress, so the vampires had a queen
and she wanted to see me. She wanted to see the abomination. I
hoped that she would be kind.
     
     

Chapter
9
     
    The soldiers yanked open the doors of
the truck. Behind them, I saw a castle—a massive, gothic stone
structure, illuminated by floodlights at its base. The main tower
had three long vertical windows and the light inside shone
red.
    A soldier engulfed my head in a
velvety black bag, while others chained my hands behind my back.