My whole body ached; it yearned for food. My stomach gurgled loudly; a few heads whipped round to face me. Silence was key at this point in the attack; silence gave us the element of surprise.

Ducking my head in apology, I focused back out on the groups of people stood in the town centre. A drinking festival; an event invented by vampires to make it easier to prey on our victims. They came already intoxicated; they were readily manipulated and didn’t put up much of a fight; perfect.

Somewhere in the depths of my mind an image from my human life surfaced. I struggled to remember it as the image flickered in and out of focus. I could vaguely remember my surroundings; it had been a drinking festival, much like this one. Only we were less civilized; it must have been about 35 years ago now; the night I became a creature of the night.

The more I thought about it; the quicker and clearer the images came. I had been 23; the year was 1992. My group of friends and I; 7 in total, had gone to the drinking festival for the first time; and after this night the term ‘drinking festival’ would take on a new meaning. My boyfriend of the time; a man I was convinced I would love for eternity; who I later killed, had told us it would be amazing; and it was.

The fairy lights; set against the midnight sky; had been bright and colourful. An all round merriment was shared with those there; this was a celebration; a celebration of life and its many luxuries. I’d never seen alcohol so cheap or in such vast quantities, or love so freely shared in public. My friends and I had hovered at the edge of the singing drunks; unsure as to what our next move would be.

Darren, the boy who owned my heart, stepped to the nearest vendor. “Two beers please.”

He sounded so sure of himself, but I could hear the faint hesitation in his voice; he was confident but shy underneath his masquerade.

He took the big glasses from the man and paid him, then turned to me; nothing but adoration in his eyes. “For you, my love.” He’d said in a fake French accent, giggling I took the beer and took a hesitant sip.

“Not to your taste?” He’d asked; knowing me better than I knew myself. I shook my head, my nose crinkling in disgust at the flavour. “We can go else where if you want? The guys won’t mind us leaving.” He’s promised; always eager to put me first.

I’d shaken my head, “No, no it’s fine. We can stay; I like it here; it’s fun.” I know now, that I had sealed our fate; my fate. But at the time, I’d just been happy to see him happy. Teenage romance - the killer of the human race; typical.

At the time I hadn’t known of the existence of vampires. Sure I’d heard about mass killings; often thought to be done by animals, but never had it been presumed vampires did it; that vampires even existed.

In all honesty I’m still not sure how they did it; the attack I mean. All I know is that one minute I was watching my group of friends mingle with strangers; drinking and laughing, basically having fun; my hand holding Darren’s and the next I was torn from it all.

All I could hear was screams. Nothing but screams; they still haunt me now. It got worse when I began to recognise the screams. I was forced to watch the attack unfold; I stood at the sidelines, hidden among the shadows; my limbs wouldn’t move and my brain was frozen. A creature stood behind me, seemingly controlling me like a puppet.

I watched the way the creatures jumped upon a human, tearing into their throats; blood sprayed upwards but did not last long, before a sharp tongue darted out and captured every single falling droplet.

The violence in their feeding disgusted me and soon the contents of my lunch, lay before my feet in an undecipherable mess of digested food. I heard the creature chuckle at my weak stomach, but I wasn’t aware enough to do anything about it.

I watched as the vampires spread like a virus; no one remained unbitten, no one except for Darren. He stood there with wide eyes just staring at me; I could see the fear hidden in his irises, but he wasn’t fearful for himself; only for me.

It hurt to watch him, to watch the creatures circle around him, having finished feeding off of the others. I cringed as I was shoved forwards unceremoniously; friends faces lay; half missing, separated from their bodies. Their eyes hollow and their skin shredded; they had died; it had been painful.

The creatures circled around me and Darren, slowly pushing us closer together, until we were within touching distance. I could hear the vampires laughing at me; at us. Anger rose within me, but I couldn’t do anything about it, the vampire behind me still had control of my body.

I stood silently in front of Darren for ages; it must only have been about a minute though. Darren’s eyes never left mine, not once. I could see he was trying to plan an escape, but knew as well as I did that our dance had ended; there was no escape from this.

And then the creature spoke.

His voice was like a broken whisper; it wasn’t the velvety, luring sound I had expected; instead it was like gravel; an inhuman noise that wasn’t supposed to exist. “Say your goodbyes.” He instructed.

I felt myself gain control of my body, but collapsed forwards; my legs not use to having to hold me up because I wanted them to. Darren’s arms caught me; he pulled me to my feet and held me close.

Placing one hand on the side of my face and the other on my hip, he kissed me long and hard, “Goodbye darling.” He whispered as he pulled away, tears brimming in his eyes. “I’ll love you forever.” He promised. I could only nod in response, tears forming in my own eyes.

A single tear ran down his cheek, which I quickly brushed away; I’d known Darren 11 years; not once had I ever seen him cry.

Hands grabbed him, pulling him away from me, one hand landed on my shoulder, holding me in place. Darren began kicking and screaming; fighting against those that held him. His eyes were locked on something behind me; but I didn’t have a chance to turn.

At first the pain felt like a small injection, and then it slowly became worse. My spine went numb, my legs gave way, I hit the ground; the pain in my neck spreading around my body. I was freezing cold and shivering, yet on fire at the same time.

My eyes shut and screwed up, my lips parted but my silent screams weren’t voiced, memories swirled in my mind; the majority of which were not mine. It was only as I saw the same memory played again and again, that I realised the man stood in the memory was the one biting me now.

He was showing me how he solved the hunger that began bubbling deep within me. My eyes snapped open again and I inhaled deeply, “Food.” I hissed manically. The man got off of me, allowing me to spring to my feet.

I saw the food; heard the heart beat; bit the human.

“Go.” His voice was unheard by humans but loud and clear to us vampires, pulling myself from my memories we leapt forwards like shadows in the night sky. We each took our victims as they mulled over their drinks, heavy hearts adding to their inability to spot us.

I drank deeply from every human I found and reveled in the power I gained from it. Then I saw him, stood at the edge of the clearing; holding steady a young human girl. I could see the fear in her eyes; for herself and for the boy who was also being held and currently circled in upon.

This was not uncommon, for the leader always went for the couples; the couples who meant the most to each other. He was cold hearted; he’d killed the girl he loved and so planned on spreading his misery through immortality.

I hated him for it, but wasn’t strong enough to stop him. Instead I had to stand back and watch as my past replayed itself in front of me every week. And every time I saw the final moment, where the girl leapt at the boy she loved; I couldn’t help the twist in my stomach and the sharp pain in my chest.

I hate the life I lead and love the life I left behind. But unable to do anything about it; I joined my people in surrounding the loved up couple. Their love hurt to watch, but I took some salvation in knowing soon; it’d all be over