Michael groaned as he began to wake up. His entire body was engulfed in pain and in his mind he could see fire all around him, licking his flesh and making his blood boil. With effort he brought his hands up, covered his eyes and struggled to remember what had happened. Talan’s face surfaced from the fog in his brain and he gasped. He cracked open one eye then the other. A sharp, stabbing pain erupted inside of his skull and he hissed, closed his eyes again tightly and held them shut with his hand. He rolled over to his side and curled up into a ball.

Images kept flashing behind his closed eyelids, exploding like fireworks against a dark night sky. Talan and his menacing black eyes boring into his as he held his face, Olivia, gloriously naked above him in her bed, smiling down at him as she straddled his hips. Her pale and broken body lying lifeless on the floor.

He didn’t know what was real or what was a dream. Everything ran together, blurred together. He could see her smiling at him as a drop of crimson blood ran from the corner of her mouth onto her chest staining her creamy skin. He shook his head violently and cried out. It hadn’t been blood it had been wine but the picture in his head wouldn’t change. The blood ran over her chest, not just one drop but many now, rained onto her bare breasts and he could see himself leaning in towards her to lap it from her skin.

“No!” He shouted but he couldn’t make it stop. He could see his own face in his mind, his pale face and black depthless eyes. It didn’t look like him at all; it looked like the face of a monster, the face of death.

 He reached out and pulled her closer, pressed her body against his and now he could see her face clearly as well. It wasn’t Olivia but some other dark haired woman, someone he had never seen before. She stood naked before him, smiling and beckoning to him, inviting him to take her. His mouth opened wider and revealed long, white fangs which he plunged into her neck. She cried out and arched her back beneath him as he drank from her. He held onto her as she bucked and whimpered. He held onto her until she was silent and still. He let go of her and watched as her body fell back onto the bed in slow motion. With an anguished cry he fell to the floor.

Suddenly he opened his eyes wide, ignoring the pain and looked around.

She was still there, lying on the bed, her eyes open and staring at him. He had to get out of there but he had no idea where he was or where he would go. He struggled to his feet and glanced out the window. It was dark outside.