“Cole?”

The music fills my ears, consuming me with rhythm. I concentrate on the path ahead, clad with the headphones that became my life all those years ago. A soft hum escapes my lips as the heavy metal beats drill into my head.

“Cole?”

I blink, tugging my right earphone out to come face to face with the beautiful Ava, her forehead creased in… pain? I purse my lips for a moment, drowning out the word. No thinking about the p word, Cole. It’ll screw up everything.

“Your Monitor’s buzzing again.” Ava says softly, peering at me sadly with ruby red eyes. She’s wearing sunnies to hide their oddity, but I see right through the darkened glass either way. She’s so close that it’s hard for me not to notice their radiance. I shake my head swiftly at her comment, proceeding to tug out my other earphone. My eyes skim over the Monitor strapped to my wrist.

“Crap.” I mutter, trying not to come off as sour. I can’t afford to let my levels drop any further than… this. “It’s not my fault.” I continue in a hiss. “I hate crowds. Shouldn’t have come.”

Ava rolls her eyes, her hands stuffed in the pockets of the patched up hoodie she always wears out. “I thought we needed some time out of, you know…”  She trails off with a sigh.

“Yeah.” I say. “I get that we can’t stay underground forever, okay?” My Monitor buzzes again as my anger washes over and I exhale in annoyance. If it gets under five I’ll have to resort to an injection. “But for me, it’s easier.” I finish tersely. “At least you reds don’t have to worry about fitting in with the public.”

Ava lets out a low grumble. “That’s not true!” She says defensively. “You have no idea how much self-control it takes not to reach out and…” The grumble turns to a faint hiss, coming from the back of her throat.

“Bite someone?” I ask. “Yeah, maybe you should save that for later.”

“You do know that it’s out of my control, Cole.” She says, eyeing me sceptically.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. And so is having feelings. For instance, all I can feel is happiness. Bubbly, bubbly happiness.” And boy does it piss me off… I think dryly, earning another warning buzz from my wrist.

Ava’s sensitive ears prick, probably hearing the noise. I follow her gaze to my wrist, where my Monitor is in plain sight. Disguised as a wristwatch, it could fool anyone. It fools me, sometimes. But alas, I know why it’s there. To tell the time? I wish.

“You’re low again, Cole.” Ava says.

“What?” I say in mock sarcasm. “But I’m so bubbly and happy!”

“Cole, you’re under five.” Ava snaps, breaking me from my ‘fit of happiness’. She takes my hand and leads me carefully around the crowd of people traipsing along the main street of Hobart. A frigid wind blows through my hair as I’m tugged into a deserted side street by my friend.

“What’s the problem?” I ask innocently, knowing what’s coming. Ava tugs the glasses off her face, revealing two cold, clearly furious red eyes. She’s at least a head shorter than me and with her blonde/white hair and sallow skin, she’s hardly menacing but without the glasses…

“Is this a joke to you, Cole?” Her voice rises an octave in anger. Man, I wish I could still get angry without the inevitable happening. “You’re verging on three now, and you’re acting like you don’t care!” She snaps.

I fold my arms, focussing on my Monitor’s number as it drops. In a few minutes, I doubt I’ll be able to wear the thing anymore. Maybe then Ava will take me back underground, where it’s safer. “You bitching about it isn’t really helping, Ava.” I mutter under my breath.

“And neither is you just standing there!” She yells back, clearly pissed. Her doll’s face is twisted into a crimson eyed nightmare. It’s common knowledge that a red has a short temper, but for Ava, this just doesn’t seem right. And then it hits me. The reason why she’s been so quiet and fidgety all morning.

“You skipped your feeding time, Ava.” I mumble, the pieces all fitting together in my head. “Geeze, and here you are saying I’m careless.”

Another buzz from my wrist tells me I’m almost on the dreaded zero. And to think that back underground, I barely ever get under five.

“Cole.” Ava warns, ignoring my accusation. Her eyes are focussed on my wrist.

“Okay, okay.” I sigh, reaching into my satchel and grabbing my pack of syringes. Ava’s lips are pursed shut as she watches me fill one with a thin yellow liquid: my so called ‘happy juice’. I glance at her sceptically as I edge the prepped needle towards my lower chest. A jab to the heart is best effective as the serum gets straight into my bloodstream and eases my… well, feelings. Before I can ease the cold tip of the syringe into my chest though, Ave lets out a low growl and raises a hand for me to stop.

“You’re right.” She sighs, lowering her head. “I missed my feeding. I’m thirsty. And right now…” She swallows tightly. “You injecting yourself right in front of me isn’t the best alternative. The needle will draw blood. It always does.”

My Monitor buzzes again, the numbers verging on two now. Ava and I both know what this means. I roll my eyes. “I mays well do it.” I say evenly. “You can’t hurt me, anyway. We’re both Nazarees.”

“No, I can’t kill you.” She says. “But I can hurt you. And since you’re green, that wouldn’t be the nicest outcome, wouldn’t it?”

“Who says I’m not keen to feel a little?” I mumble, rubbing my wrist as the numbers tick down.

Ava sighs. “Please, Cole. This is the first time I’ve been out since… the last time. Don’t ruin this for me.”

I exhale in defeat. I know how much this whole outing means to Ava, or any Nazaree for that matter. Particularly a red, though. Ava’s been working on her self-control for months, now. On her nineteenth birthday, which was the time of her curse’s deadline, she knew she’d have to learn eventually, if she wanted to try for a normal human life. See, a red like her is drawn to one thing and one thing only. Blood. Ava is what humans would call a vampire. But not the Edward Cullen sparkly type. Ava is sick. What she’s got; what all Nazarees have, is meant to make our lives harder. To Ava, every drop of blood is a drug. Once she smells it, whether it’s inside or outside a body, she can’t be stopped. I know that, because I’ve witnessed who she becomes first hand.

Ava is a killer, not by heart but by magic. And on my third year as a Nazaree, I became her next victim. She couldn’t have killed me, and the both of us knew that, but the moment her teeth sank into my flesh and the dreaded pain flooded through me, I shrunk. I remember her blood red eyes glint in confusion as my body reduced in size before her. Once she’d snapped out of her frenzy, she realised what she’d done… and spent the next week underground throwing her guts. I mean, literally puking. Reds can only drink fresh human or animal blood. Nazaree blood like mine will screw her system over for weeks on end. It’s why she’s got designated feeding times. They keep her sane, yes, but they also protect her from feeding on things she’ll regret later.

After she tried to drink me, the underground became both my home and her prison. The manager was kind enough to heal me and give me a roof under my head and a bed to sleep in. It sealed my fate of staying cursed forever, too. Last year was the end, actually. The clock in my head just stopped ticking, I guess.

So yeah: I, Cole Smith, will never be human again.

Let’s just say I’m still working on the acceptance side of that equation. I mean, come on? Who the hell can accept being like me? An inhuman freak who can’t feel pain? Who has to stay locked away from the outside world in an underground sanctuary?

That’s right. No one. No one can accept their fate of being cursed. So basically, I’m screwed.

“What do you want me to do, then? I’ve already felt too much. Any minute now I’ll, you know…” I mutter, staring at the needle still poised before my chest.

“Just… think of your happy spot.” She says with a small sigh. “That’s easier, right?”

I roll my eyes, before letting out a long sigh and shoving the needle back in its packet. One quick jab and it’d be all over. I think. Nope, this woman wants me to use my brain…

“You should be lucky to have feelings.” I grumble, before tuning the world out and shutting my eyes. It’s something I’ve learned to do ever since becoming green. All I have to do is think up a world away from this one, where everything is okay and I’m human. In that world, I find my happy spot. And once I’ve concentrated hard enough on that spot, I can wake up as dull and unfeeling as ever. I spose I can’t stay in my happy spot forever, after all.

A cold hand touches my shoulder, informing me that I’ve made it back to up to a level five. I open my eyes to find Ava’s gentle, smiling face. I don’t return the smile, knowing it’ll only result in new, dreaded feelings and emotions. Can’t have a green feeling, eh?

“Where to now?” I ask, trying to maintain my trademark façade of total monotone. Ava’s used to it.

“We can keep exploring, I guess?” She smiles, running her fingers through her hair. I try not to notice that they’re shaking. Ava’s thirsty, and she knows it. One slip up and she won’t be Ava anymore.

“Let’s find somewhere quieter.” I suggest, with that in mind. She nods, and we re-enter the main street, bustling through the crowd. Ava grips my hand tightly in her own, and I can feel her racing heart as it fights against her will. I’ve can’t help but wonder how much adrenalin Ava can withstand before her curse overpowers who she really is.

“C-C-Cole?” She whispers, as we enter a narrower street, lined with gift shops. Careful not to let my fear for her safety affect my monitor, I lead her away from the crowds of tourists.

“I know.” I say softly. “We’ve gotta get you home.” Ava opens her mouth to protest but it’s shaking too, now. Goddamnit! Why didn’t she just feed back underground?! “Shit.” I mutter, feeling her pulse quicken further. Watching a red lose control is like staring at a stopwatch. I can’t do anything anymore. It’s too late for that. Everyone underground knows the facts. When a red is thirsty, they go through a period of transition, where their mind fights with their instinctual adrenalin. We all know who wins.

“C-C-C-C-o-o-le…” Ava murmurs, her eyes darting in every direction behind their glasses. I swear under my breath, knowing full well the damage the words are doing to my levels. My monitor buzzes in warning.

“Ava.” I say nonchalantly. “You’ve gotta hold on. You can’t-“

But it’s too late.

Ava’s body goes limp in my arms, her eyes lolling to the back of her head. And then suddenly, as if she’s been electrocuted, her body arches back, bones cracking. When I meet her eyes again, they don’t belong to anyone anymore.

“I’d drink your blood, but it’d be a waste, Nazaree.” The vampire smirks, tilting her head back to sniff the air.

“Ava, snap out of it.” I hiss desperately, touching her wrist. She rips her hand away, the slight pain dropping my levels down to a miniscule two. Her eyes trail to my own wrist, and her smile widens.

“Did I hurt you, little green?” She leans in closer. “Won’t you shrink for me?”

I shake my head, trying to remain as calm as possible. “Not unless you snap out of it. This isn’t the right place for you to act like this.”

Ava touches my chin with an ice cold finger. “Act like what, sugar? This is who I am. And since you’re too booorrrrinnnggg to shrink for me, I think I’ll go find myself a nice human meal.” She hisses.

And before I can protest, the vampire that’s taken over my best friend has sprinted away in the direction of Hobart’s inner city.

“Bloody hell!” I snap, running after the insane Nazaree.