Red Velvet

Her skin was vibrating. Tingling or something. She looked at her hands. The lines on her palms stood out, vibrant, almost raised. The face in the mirror looked leaner, more sharp. She ran her hands over her face. The skin felt tight but wondrously soft. When her fingertips passed over her eyelashes and brows, she could feel each individual hair.

Over the past week, her senses had become heightened. She hadn’t noticed at first, now it was obvious. Lights were brighter, she could see and hear farther than ever before. When she’d tried to eat lunch yesterday, she’d almost vomited because it was so salty. It was leftover pasta she’d made herself. There was no reason for it to be so drastically different than the night before. She couldn’t even eat the beautiful cupcake she’d found, again, on her desk. She’d given it to a coworker.

She turned on the taps and brought warm water to her face. She could feel the minerals as it washed over her skin. She grabbed a towel from the door and wiped the water away, wincing at the scratchiness of the material.

“What is going on?” She whispered to herself. Frustrated and frightened, she walked into the bedroom and grabbed her phone. She pulled up the number to her doctor.

“Dr. Olomune’s office.”

“Hi. This is Leticia Felts. I’d like to schedule some time to see the doctor. When is her next available appointment?”

“Sure, Ms. Felts. It looks like she’s booked out the next two weeks. No, wait, she had a cancellation tomorrow at noon.”

“I’ll take it.”

Details finalized, they hung up. Letty grabbed the silk shirt she’d taken out to wear today. The cool fabric slithered over her skin. She gasped because it felt so good.

“Jesus.”

She walked to the foyer, put on her sunglasses, grabbed her keys and headed to work.

Letty pulled into her parking space and snagged her ID from the glove compartment. She got out of the car, locked the doors and quickly made her way into the tall, glass building. She waved to the security guards as she tapped her ID to access the elevators.

The trip to the 13th floor took no time. She was sitting at her desk by 9:00am sharp. Another beautiful cupcake awaited her. She’d somehow managed to forget about this new daily occurrence getting ready for work this morning. The panic about what was going on with her physically hadn’t left room for speculation on the mysterious appearance of these cupcakes.

She smiled, pleased to see that today’s delight was her favorite. She picked up the plastic container that held the red velvet cupcake and was pleasantly surprised to see a small, folded note hiding under the cupcake. She pulled the note off and set the cupcake aside.

“This is the last treat for you for all the deaths of you I’ve reaped. The power now inside of you will grow until it’s peaked. Run now, little dove, for I’ll come for you soon. Once I do, I’ll have you too and blood’ll flow beneath the moon.”

The note fell from her hands. Real fear settled in her belly. Letty looked around the office. The normal morning shuffle was happened around her. She grabbed the note and stood. The tingling in her skin was back, worse than this morning. She turned to go, not sure where, and almost ran into John. She jumped.

“Hey Letty. You alright?” He put a hand on her shoulder and immediately snatched it away. “Ouch, shit!” He cradled his right hand against his chest. “That’s some serious static shock, girl.”

She whispered, “Sorry,” and hurried past him, careful not to touch him or anyone else.

She was trying not to panic and failing. When John touched her, she’d felt something inside her. Heat, energy, something. Still feel it. Letty rushed to the elevators avoiding eye contact and ignoring those who called after her. She rushed into the nearest elevator going down. A woman in street clothes leaned against the wall opposite from her.

They rode down in silence. When the doors opened on the 1st floor, Letty rushed out. An hand around her arm stopped her abruptly. She whirled around to face the woman and said, “don’t touch me!”

The woman smirked. “You’re going to hurt yourself or someone else if you don’t control this better.”

“I don’t know how!” Tears threatened the back of her eyes. Letty swallowed. She was not about to cry.

“What do you mean you don’t-” the woman stopped and looked at Letty. Her eyes widened and her hand fell away. “Oh my God. You’re Unbloodied. Get to your master, now.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t have a master. This just started happening to me!” Not knowing what else to do, Letty thrust the note at the woman.

The woman scanned the paper. “Not again.” She sighed. “What’s your name?”

“Leticia. Letty.”

“Well Letty, I’m Kadijah. And it looks like you could use my help.”

“I’m going to the doctor tomorrow.”

“Honey, you can cancel that appointment. You’re not sick. You’re a fledgling. A bit old, I might add.”

Letty just stared at her. Kadijah looked around them. “We can’t talk about this here. Let’s grab some coffee.”

“I have to work. I have meetings today.”

“You can cancel those too. You’re life has changed and there’s no going back.”

She frowned. “What? No.”

Kadijah crossed her arms. “No one in there can tell you what you need to know. I can but it’s your call.”

She looked at Kadijah. “Will this go away?”

“Never.”

“I’ll...go with you. But I’m still going to the doctor tomorrow.”

Kadijah smiled, “Let’s do it.” She walked out the glass doors without a backwards glance.

A sense of foreboding settled over her. Letty hesitated, afraid. She read the note again. Chilled, she hurried after the woman and into the warmth and sunlight.