Dark Hunger

The corridor that led to the restaurant was empty. Since it was a lean season, the hotel was mostly empty. 

At first, Mavis was apprehensive about what she was going to do. She wanted to call out the girl wearing white pants and sweater with the black shades, and challenge her in front of everyone. However, as she strode towards the restaurant's door, her resolve to call her out, withered. She decided to change her plan a little and instead of storming through the doors, she waited for all of them to come out. She was thankful that the girl in the bar had given her the tip about the vampire. She was going to save the girl and her community. Thinking that, she rubbed her hands with excitement. 

Almost half an hour passed while she paced up and down the corridor. A stray waiter or a bellman gave her wary glances, but none said anything to her. Pacing up and down the corridor only riled up her emotions. She contemplated getting inside the restaurant and going straight to the girl or at least telling her companion that she was fooling him. At the end of it, she lost her patience. She was at the end of the corridor. She turned and then marched to the double doors of the restaurant. However, when she was barely a few steps away, she saw the door opening and a girl in white with black shades and golden hair pinned in a pony coming out. She was beautiful. Perfect trap. 

Mavis' anger flared and she stomped her way to the girl when she saw a tall, muscular man emerging behind her followed by yet another one, talking about the weather in the Highlands of Scotland. But it was too late. On the pretext of getting inside, she bumped into the vampire, making sure that her left shoulder hit hers hard. She even punched her stomach with force under the façade that she was holding her, but mismanaged herself. 

Already feeling too exhausted because of her hunger, Elize stumbled and landed on her ass on the floor. Her black shades slid down her nose on the floor as she struggled to balance herself and not shout in pain. A moment later when she realized that her goggles had fallen, she looked up and her eyes met with that of the woman who was now sitting in front of her, staring at her face and mumbling, "You vampire—" but suddenly she snapped her mouth shut. 

Elize's face blanched. With eyes as wide as saucers, she looked at the woman. Caleb rushed to her side, snarling at the woman. He collected her goggles and helped her to stand up, but Elize's body was shivering as fear skittered through it like waves in a stormy sea. Fearing she would fall again, he lifted her up and said, "Wrap your legs around me, Elize." She wrapped her legs around his waist and he pressed her face in the crook of his neck. He gave Mavis such a dark stare that she flinched. 

Auril came right in front of them, glowering at her. "Watch your step lady!" he snapped. Then he turned his head over his shoulder to look at Caleb who was holding Elize. "Take her up. She is not well." Caleb gave a cold, dark pointed glare to Mavis and gave a tight nod. 

"Jesus!" said Mavis. "I am so sorry. I am so very sorry!" she said, feeling utterly stupid. She had bent down in front of the girl to check her eyes whether they were red or not, but the girl's eyes were a soft blue. That stupid woman at the bar had led them to believe that she was a vampire. Did she have a personal vendetta on the fragile creature? She rushed after the couple who was now walking towards the lift. "I didn't mean to bump into her." 

"You may leave," Caleb snarled, as he pressed Elize's face into his neck. He went to stand right in front of the lift and pressed its button. 

Mavis was very embarrassed and flustered at her act and highly irritated at the time she wasted—all because of false information spread by that girl. She was happy that she didn't go all out and insulted the woman, because if she had done it, the insult would have fallen on her.

Laurel, who was watching it all from a distance, saw how Mavis was running after the king and queen, saying sorry profusely. No, no, no, no. She walked fast to them. Her plans were falling apart quicker than she had framed them. The lift's door had opened with a ding and she ran with the blood bag dangling in her hands. She wanted to stall them. She shouted breathlessly, "I got— I got the blood!" By the time she could reach, Caleb had entered the lift with Elize in his arms with Auril on the heels and the door had closed with a ding. "Shit!" Her eyes flared wide open, the blood bag dangling in her hands and the big bulky woman looking at her with disbelief in her eyes. 

Mavis rolled the sleeves of her shirt high. "Blood?" she asked in a hoarse and dangerous voice. "You said that the girl was a vampire." She took a step closer to Laurel like a hunter towards its wounded prey. "You said that she had red eyes? How dare you try to humiliate a girl like her who is so sick and fragile that she needs to be carried in arms? Disparaging others for your own benefit? Do you have a personal vendetta against her?" 

"What? No!" Laurel shook her head. "You are mistaken." And then she realized that Mavis' eyes lowered to the blood bag dangling in her hand. "This— this— is animal blood! Not for me, for her—" she pointed at the lift.

Her nostrils flared with anger flooded through her. Mavis signaled her group to come over. "You misguided us," Mavis hissed. "It is you who is the vampire, and not her. You are deranged enough to think that you need blood to live." The men of the group neared. "We have the culprit!" Mavis said to them. "Call the Sheriff." 

Laurel watched them all with horror.