“It was odd, actually, because when I emerged from that musty hole, I was no longer afraid. I felt taller, stronger, and my senses had become extraordinarily keen. The forest was roaring with the sound of insects, and here and there, I could hear rustling in the underbrush as creatures scurried about. The air was cool, yet it didn’t affect me. My clothes were but rags, and somewhere along the way, I had lost my shoes, and I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything except for the hunger burning inside of me, and that’s when I saw a rat. It was large and brown, and it saw me, too, but I was quicker than it was. Instincts took over as I lunged at it, and it squeaked but once before I silenced it forever. It was such a barbaric act, and it should have sickened me. It should have shamed me, yet it didn’t, for as its blood filled my mouth, this surge of unbelievable power rushed through me.” Max turned to Bennett. “You know of what I speak.”

“Of course.”

“Then you also know, I didn’t stop with one rat, nor did the others,” Max said, his expression turning grim. “Nothing was safe from our savagery that night or for many nights to come. We burrowed like animals near sunrise, hiding under dirt, branches, and brush to protect ourselves from the sun, and when it slipped from the sky, we started again. Sometimes we found caves in which to hide, and when we came across small villages, we’d use the huts for our protection and the villagers for our food. We hadn’t yet realized we needn’t kill them for the nourishment they provided, but as you know, we had developed another hunger, too.”

Bennett came to a stop, hanging her head for a moment before she glanced at Max. “Sex.”

“Yes,” Max said, continuing down the path. “Long before I had ever left my home in England for this adventure that would change my life forever, I knew myself quite well. It was men who turned my head, and it was men who I desired. The punishment would have been death if I’d been found out, but that didn’t stop me from seeking those who, for a bit of coin, would do what I needed. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t a lothario, and my dalliances were few, at least they were before I was turned. After, as you know, things changed, and with me, even though I didn’t want women in that way, I needed an outlet, and whether it was a man or a woman no longer mattered.”

Max stopped near a stone wall and beckoned for Bennett to join him as he sat down. “I don’t believe I need to go into the specifics of how it feels once we feed, especially when we overfeed.”

“No, you don’t.”