Chapter 51

VALERIA. I lean closer to my hand, inhaling deeply as the scent of Eden’s blood creeps up my nose. The smell is almost intoxicating. I bring it against my mouth, and slowly, I part my lips…. “What are you doing?” Eden’s voice snaps me back to reality. I flinch and look around, then I find her exiting the bathroom with a roll of gauze and a bottle full of liquid disinfectant. She’s staring at me with wide eyes, her gaze flitting from my face to the blood on my hand. We face each other like we’re sizing each other up. Suddenly, everything starts to dawn on me. What happened and what I did. Or about to do. I was about to taste Eden’s blood. Questions start to flood my mind. I want to run out of the room and perhaps have some time alone with myself to ask all of it, but I find that I can’t move. Eden is staring at me with badly suppressed fear in her eyes. “What were you doing?” Should I tell her the truth? That I was tempted to taste her blood for some reason, that its scent attrac