The hospital room

Julia wakes up lying in a bed a windowless hospital room. An electric blanket is over her body, but she still feels cold. She had an IV saline drip attached to get elbow. She feels her chest: stitches. Her muscles ache. She is so hungry. Julia sees that a hospital meal has been left for her. Green beans, soup, chicken. It smells terrible to her, but she figures that she should try eating. She tries a green bean. It tastes horrible but she swallows.

Something's not right she thinks. She leans over the bed and starts retching. She lies back down. Slowly, the events of the previous night return to her. Antonia and I were attacked in our apartment by...**** addicts? There was a lot of blood? They bit me. I drank her blood. What disease did those animals give me? Is that why I feel so weak?

She sips the cup of water on the stand next to the bed. Thankfully, it stays down, but does nothing to quench her thirst.

A nurse comes into the room. She is older, slightly heavy, but has a pretty face. "I'm glad to see that you're awake. You've been through a lot" the nurse says kindly. She looks at the monitors and frowns. "Hmmm, body temp...20° [Celsius]... That can't be right...." She mutters. She retrieves an oral thermometer from a cabinet and walks over to the bed. She smells so good Julia thinks. She puts the thermometer in Julia's mouth. The nurse gets Stethoscope and starts listening to Julia's heart, a concerned look on her face.

The nurse's head is only about a foot from Julia. She smells so good Julia thinks. Julia feels her fangs painfully elongate for the first time, and the thermometer falls out of her mouth. Julia has an out of body experience, she watches her actions but her instincts are fully in control. She grabs the nurse by the neck and jerks her down towards Julia's mouth. She grips the back of the nurse's neck and her arm, and sink her fangs into the nurse's throat. The nurse shrieks weakly and struggles, but Julia is pinning her in place.

Warm blood spurts into Julia's mouth. Julia closes her eyes, savoring her first meal. The blood tastes rich and complex, more satisfying than anything she's tasted before. The nurse has settled down as Julia drains her, sucking greedily. The nurse is exsanguinated, and collapses on top of Julia. Julia lays her head back on the pillow, eyes closed, catching her breath. The soreness, the headache, they are gone. She feels amazing, rejuvenated. Feeding on the nurse was the best sensation that she had ever felt. She is aroused, and hungry for more.

The high of the kill passes though, and a mix of panic and shame set in. Shit! Shit! Shit! I killed her Julia thinks. She rips her IV out, and jumps off the bed to close and lock the door. The previous night now makes more sense to her. She feels guilty about the kill, but self preservation takes over. She drags the nurse's body to a closet, and closes the door. The sheets are bloody, and she covers them with a blanket. Julia cleans herself up at the sink, and finds a clean set of hospital clothes in a cabinet. She changes, throwing away the bloody clothes, and slips out of the room, closing the door behind her.