Cake by Derekica Snake

in, and kissed my forehead. “You did very well tonight, my Little One. I am so proud of you.”
    “ What the fuck did you do that for?” I screamed once I’d been released. One minute I’d been in vampire heaven, thanks to that wickedly talented mouth of Claudius’s, and then I wanted to throw up those slimy pieces of cheese I’d scoffed down earlier as it felt like my balls had been twisted up into my gut.
    “ What did you do the first time you saw my red eyes?” Marcus’s voice was low and dangerous.
    “ I tried to get the farthest away from you, the fastest way possible.”
    “ It is the same right now with you, my little fledging. You have no control over many of your gifts at this moment and to take you back into the club with your eyes glowing the way, they are would cause a stampede. We need to calm you down. No hysterics.”
    “ Oh…couldn’t you have just used a glass of water?” My voice was still a little squeaky, and somewhat soprano-ish.
    “ Time is of the essence. Oh, and you cannot keep that shirt.” Marcus tugged at the front placket.
    “ But it’s mine.” I closed my hand over it, holding it shut at my chest.
    “ Once it was, now it is his. Everyone was watching you in there. They saw you leave with him. When his body is found in this alley, they are going to recall that this less-than-attractive man had a beautiful young thing on his arm. What I admire about the police in this day and age is that eventually they will find us when we are out hunting, and it would do well not to have any evidence hidden away somewhere.”
    “ But it’s mine…it’s all I have left of what I was.” My knuckles turned white with tension as I hung onto my past.
    “ This is a memory, a cherished memory from the way you are clinging on to it, but you still have to leave it here.” He poked me in the head as if to drive home his point and pulled the shirt from my shoulders. “I just seem to keep taking things from you, Little One, don’t I?”
    The bloodlust, or frenzy, or whatever the fuck they called it, just seemed to drain out of me at that point. I sat down resignedly in the piss and broken glass, and whatever else that got tossed into the alley.
    “ I want to go home,” I whined.
    Marcus sighed. “You cannot return to your family…”
    “ No, I want to go to your home. I could never go back to my home now. I’ve killed someone.” I don’t know why I was looking down at my hands when I said this; I had fanged someone to death, not killed them with my hands. I suppose I expected to see them blood covered.
    Marcus reached down and pulled me easily to my feet. He caught me in his embrace and wiped at all the crud that was still hanging off my ass.
    “ What’s wrong with my eyes?” I asked.
    “ Nothing.” He reached into the breast pocket of the leather coat he was wearing and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. “This is just to make sure your eyes don’t Flame up while we are inside.”
    The sides of the glasses were as wide as the lenses. They were a wrap-around style, which was perfect because that would ensure no one would be able to see my glowing, strange eyes from the side. Making sure they fit snugly, Marcus kissed my forehead, took a good hold on my wrist, and pulled me after him into the club.
    If I had thought everything was a little too intense before, it was now like standing in the blast zone. My head ached and throbbed in time with the beat, and the bass thumped in my ears, causing them to ring in agony. I tried covering them, but it didn’t help. Wanting to get out, I tried to push past Marcus and race out of the exit door, but he pulled me hard to his chest, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and burying my face in close to his jacket.
    “ Shh, we only have to stay here for a moment longer,” he crooned.
    Claudius appeared beside us. “I do believe that it is prudent for us to leave now. Whoever was feeding has spread the word that there is a fledging out, and they