Stacy Got Bit Part 2
Synopsis: Stacy, a marketing executive, gets bit by a mysterious woman, and is transformed in more ways than one.
Stacy awoke in her own apartment, the sun peeking through the curtains and illuminating her disheveled bed. Her head pounded, and her mouth tasted like a combination of tequila and something metallic she couldn’t quite place. Panic surged through her as she tried to piece together the events of the previous night. Rachel’s voice echoed in her mind, her laughter, the vibrant lights of the club... Selena.
The vampire’s crimson eyes and sharp fangs flashed in her memory, and she bolted upright, her heart racing. She stumbled to the bathroom, the room spinning around her like a carnival ride gone haywire. As she bent over the toilet, her stomach heaved, expelling the remnants of the night’s indulgences.
Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she staggered to the sink and turned on the faucet. The water was cold and refreshing, but it couldn’t quench the burning thirst that seemed to have taken residence in her throat. She drank greedily, the liquid cascading down her throat in an attempt to soothe the ache that grew more intense with each swallow. Yet, no matter how much water she consumed, it was as if her body was craving something else entirely.
Her reflection in the mirror was a stark reminder of the previous night’s events. Her eyes were sunken, and dark circles painted the delicate skin beneath them. The bite marks on her neck stood out like twin points of accusation, surrounded by the spiderweb of black veins that had formed from Selena’s venomous kiss. They pulsed in time with her racing heart, a grim reminder of the vampire’s embrace.
“What the hell are those?” she yelled out, her voice bouncing off the tiles, echoing her horror. It had to be a hallucination, a hangover from hell. Yet, the pain was too real.
Stacy’s trembling hand reached out, tentatively touching the bumps that had formed at the base of her neck. They felt like tiny bee stings, swollen and sensitive to the touch. “Did an animal bite me?” she murmured to herself, trying to make sense of the situation. But the marks were too clean, too symmetrical to be from any creature she knew.
The room spun again, and she staggered back to her bed, collapsing onto the softness. Her headache had morphed into a splitting migraine, piercing her skull with a ferocity that made her eyes water. She squeezed them shut, trying to block out the light, but it was as if a spotlight was shining directly into her brain. The throb grew stronger, pulsing in time with the marks on her neck.
When she dared to open her eyes again, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the dresser mirror across the room. Her pupils had dilated to the point where there was almost no white left, and her irises had taken on a sickly yellowish tint. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, and the dark circles under her eyes had deepened into purple bruises. Her eyes looked like those of a creature from the depths of the ocean, not a human.
Her stomach lurched again, but this time it wasn’t from the alcohol. It was hunger, a gnawing emptiness that seemed to consume her from the inside out. She stumbled over to the kitchen, her legs feeling like lead pipes attached to a marionette. The fridge was a mirage of light and color, each item inside seemingly more appealing than the last. But as she reached for a bottle of water, her hand froze. It wasn’t water she craved; it was something much more primal.
Her eyes fell on a half-eaten apple on the counter, the fruit’s flesh looking tantalizingly red. Without conscious thought, she picked it up and took a bite, the juice trickling down her chin. But the taste was wrong, too tart, too thin. She spat it out, her teeth aching with the need for something more substantial.
“I’ve got to get to work,” she murmured, staggering to her closet. The business suit she’d laid out for the day seemed to mock her with its crisp lines and professional allure. She tugged at her usual bra, but the material strained against her swollen breasts, the underwire digging painfully into her flesh. Her panties were no better, the waistband cutting into her hips as she struggled to pull them on. “What the hell, did my clothes shrink?” she exclaimed, frustration lacing her voice.
The fabric of her dress shirt clung to her body like a second skin, emphasizing the changes she couldn’t quite understand. Her reflection in the full-length mirror was a grotesque caricature of the professional woman she knew herself to be. Her breasts looked two sizes larger, pushing against the fabric of her blouse in a way that was both painful and embarrassing. Her hips had widened, and the slacks she’d chosen now clung to her in a way that screamed of indecency.
“No choice, got to go,” she murmured through gritted teeth, grabbing her sunglasses and a beanie hat. The sun was already high in the sky, casting a harsh glow through the windows. The light felt like it was burning her, a stark contrast to the frigid cold she’d felt the night before. The sunglasses offered some relief, but the hat was a must. She couldn’t risk anyone seeing the marks on her neck.
The Uber ride to work was a blur of painful light and nauseating smells. The driver’s cologne was like a sledgehammer to her sensitive nose, and she rolled down the window, gulping in the fresh air. The chilly breeze stung her skin, but it was a welcome respite from the cloying scent. She kept her eyes closed tightly, trying to ignore the world outside.
When she finally stumbled into the office, her colleagues shot her confused glances. Stacy was never one to show up looking so... disheveled. She offered a weak smile and a mumbled excuse about a wild night before making a beeline for her office. The door closed with a gentle click, and she let out a sigh of relief. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the relative darkness, the dim light from the hallway spilling in under the door.
With trembling hands, she reached for the blind’s cord, pulling it down to block the harsh daylight. She flicked off the lights, plunging the room into a soothing gloom that washed over her like a cold compress. Her desk chair welcomed her with its familiar embrace, and she collapsed into it, letting out a gusty sigh. The leather was cool and comforting against her feverish skin.
Rachel’s voice pierced the silence. “Dang, it’s really dark in here,” she said, peeking her head through the open door. Rachel looked as fresh as a daisy, her blonde hair bouncing with every step she took. “How was last night?”
Stacy forced a smile. “I don’t ,” she lied, her hand reflexively moving to her neck. Rachel giggled, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
“You were the life of the party!” Rachel exclaimed, her voice bubbly with amusement. “You were dancing with that gorgeous redhead, Selena, all night long. You two were inseparable.”
Stacy’s smile tightened, her mind racing as she tried to recall the events of the evening. Rachel’s words were like a foggy dream, hinting at a reality she couldn’t fully grasp. “Oh, really?” she replied, feigning nonchalance. Her hand slipped from her neck to her pocket, her fingers curling around her phone for comfort.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden wave of nausea that crashed over her. “I’ll be right back,” she mumbled, bolting for the bathroom. Rachel’s laughter followed her, oblivious to the turmoil within. The hallway spun around her in a blur of colors, the fluorescent lights glaring harshly in her sensitive eyes. As she stumbled, everything shifted. The world around her was suddenly cast in a palette of blues and greens, as if seen through a bizarre Instagram filter gone awry.
The bathroom door swung open, and she barely made it to the toilet before her stomach emptied again. But it wasn’t just her vision that had changed. She could hear the faint hum of life, the steady beats of hearts echoing through the walls, growing louder as people ed by. The veins in her arms looked like pulsing rivers of light, a vibrant purple against the pale canvas of her skin.
The sounds grew overwhelming, the cacophony of human hearts thundering in her ears. She hovered over the sink, her hands gripping the porcelain edge to her steady. The water was a blessed relief, cool and calming on her feverish skin. But as she washed her face, she saw the reflection of Rachel in the mirror, her own heart beating a bright red in her chest, a pulsing beacon of life that seemed to call out to Stacy’s newfound hunger.
Her stomach churned again, but this time it was not from nausea. It was a hunger like she had never known, a ravenous craving that made her teeth ache. Rachel’s heart was a siren’s call, drawing her closer, whispering sweet nothings of warmth and sustenance.
It’s like she had some sort of combo of x-ray and thermal vision, she bolted for the toilet again and locked the stall and threw up.
Her hand flew to her mouth, and she felt one of her fingernails had extended slightly, and coming lose. She pulled it out with her thumb and forefinger, her eyes widening in the mirror. The nail underneath looked longer, sharper than it should have. “What the...?” she gasped, her voice barely a whisper. She poked at it with her finger, feeling the pointed tip, and realized it was sharp and black.
With trembling hands, she took hold of the other nails and tugged. One by one, they popped off with a disturbingly wet sound, and she stared in horror as each one grew out, thick and pointed. The transformation was painful, but it was happening so fast she didn’t have time to fully comprehend it. The nails grew, stretching into claws that curled from her fingertips, shiny black and menacing.
Her hearing had become so acute that the whispers of the office were like a cacophony of shouting in her ears. She could hear the rustle of papers, the click of keyboards, the gossip of her colleagues, their heartbeats, a symphony of temptation. The cube farm was a minefield of pulsing life, each beat louder and more enticing than the last. Rachel’s voice grew clearer, and she could almost taste the sweetness of her blood.
The once-familiar office space was now a kaleidoscope of reds and purples, each person a potential meal. She clamped her hand over her mouth, her teeth hurting. The smell of their blood was intoxicating, a sweet perfume that made her gag and drool simultaneously. Rachel’s voice grew distant as she sprinted through the maze of desks, her hearing now so sharp she could make out the rustle of a pen on paper.
The door to the stairwell loomed ahead, a beacon of escape. She threw it open, the sound of the slamming echoing through the hallway. Rachel called out after her, but the words were lost in the thunder of her own heartbeat. “I got to get out of here!” she screamed in her mind, her voice trapped behind the hand clamped over her mouth. The stairs were a blur under her feet, the thundering of her pulse drowning out any noise she made.
Her apartment was a sanctuary she hadn’t realized she needed. Stumbling inside, she slammed the door shut and leaned against it, her chest heaving with each breath. The safety of the darkness washed over her, a balm to her overstimulated senses. She peeled off her clothes, the fabric scraping painfully against her newfound sensitivity. Her skin felt tight, like it was stretching to accommodate her swelling body, and the scent of her own fear was a cloying perfume that made her stomach lurch.