[Herbert freezes when the taller boy starts sniffing him. What on earth is he doing? Why would he do that, and why is he licking him ... ? A shiver shoots up his spine, doubtless because of the nerve clusters in his ear lobes, but why would Maxim want to lick him? Is it because the saliva is rather unpleasant feeling, or is he just trying to act like an animal, to scare him?

It's working.]

Of course it's red- [he stammers out, voice trembling, eyes squinting shut at the pain of his skin parting, the fear at having something so sharp so close to so many vital points] The hemoglobin ... iron in the blood ... it ... oxygen ... look, just let me go ...