I dug my hand into the sand frantically, running my long fingers in between the grains of sand and rock. The world was a blur around me; my eyes out-of-focus and my ears clogged with an unknown, non-existent substance.
  The desert was shockingly hot – my skin burned with layers and layers of sunburn. The once-pale color of my soft skin morphed into a brick-red, slightly frightening me. It seemed as if someone was lighting a candle on my arm…or using my arm as a candle. It felt as if my blood was literally boiling.
  I lifted my right hand up to my forehead. A wave a sweat stuck onto my hand as I pulled it back down. My body was shacking uncontrollably, and I knew that my temperature had to be above 103˚.
I turned my head away from my sweat-soaked hand – whilst being slightly disgusted – over to my other hand, buried in the flaming-hot sand. I pulled my hand out, gazing at the beet red speckles dotted along my skin. This was torture.
  I looked up in the sky; the endless robin-egg blue blinded my eyes, followed by the blinding rays of sunlight bearing down on me. A thin drop of sweat trickled down the side of my face, leaving a sticky path in it’s’ wake. My eyes were tired, and I fought agitatedly to keep them open.
  It was as if my entire body was slowly shutting down.
  I let out a slight cough – forgetting that I was also, at the least, able to breath. Everything was quiet; no snakes rattling in the distance, no quiet whisper of something at least somewhat resembling to a breeze. Absolutely nothing.
  I bit my lower lip as hard as I could, my desperation for blood reaching an all-time high. No blood came out of my lip, though. I yelled in irritation.
  When was this going to end?
  I inhaled the smell of sand, sweat, and heat. The sweat-smelling air almost knocked me into unconsciousness.
  I looked into the distance. My heart skipped a beat. Walking around was a human. From the distance the human and myself, I calculated how tall it was, gender, and blood pressure.
  For once in a long, time, I smiled to myself.
  As I bolted up from the ground, every part of my body screamed and shivered with incredible pain. This was my only chance, and trivial pain wouldn’t stop me. As I landed on my feet, my knees buckled, and I fell back to the ground; my limbs quivering, my hands and dress dug into the sand, and my throat coughing up blood.
  As I spat into the sand, I noticed the crimson trickling in between the grains, soon disappearing from view. As I let out a sob, tears began to smudge my already-blurred vision; my chance to quench my blood lust was lost. Utterly, hopelessly lost.  
  I almost slapped myself though. Every sane, blood-lusting vampire knew that if you even had a drop of your own blood, you would be choking and sputtering, then, soon after, dying a slow and excruciating death. Afterwards, you’d be damned and sent to hell for your foolishness.
  My knees trembled as I attempted to stand once again, the ends of my dress swaying to and fro, the fabrics dusty from sitting in the endless desert.
  I took a step forward, my worn-out Stella shoes sinking into the sand, small grains slipping through the exposed laces. The pain wasn’t too bad. No matter. I would’ve kept walking even if my arms and one of my legs were ripped off, and just walk on with only one attached leg.
  As I continued walking, I could taste the anticipating blood lust in my mouth. Each step was one step closer to the only chance I had to survive in this everlasting desert. The sand continued to sink into my Stellas, and I could feel my thin tights slightly tearing from the grains rubbing on them.
  I got sick of the anticipation. As I started running, every vein and every nerve shrieked with antagonizing screams. My breath quickened, as my body attempted to keep up with my spirit. I had to catch that human.
  My life depended on it…literally.


  The pain was listless.