Turned- the Inari Council

by Katherine Rhodes

  “Thank you, Michael. I appreciate everything you’ve done.” She walked through the kitchen checking out the place. “Everything here is more than I can pay back.”

  “You don’t have to pay it back.” He smiled. “I’m going to head back. You have the smartphone and my number. You can call me anytime you want, for anything. Don’t hesitate.”

  “Thank you.” She walked over and found herself standing in front of him. They instantly locked eyes—again. She pursed her lips, and Michael studied her. He leaned down and kissed her, hard. The lust between them rose until she could barely keep herself from ripping his clothes off. Michael seemed to sense than and pulled back. “Call me if you need me.”

  He was gone. Shit. She’d scared him off.

  Keelan ran off the plane and ran right for her standing in the waiting area, his 7-year-old enthusiasm infecting everyone around them. “Yeay! Sissy, I missed you!” She squatted down and hugged him, smiling. “Miss Sandy was so nice, but I really missed you.”

  “I missed you too, Kee,” she said. “Come on, I'll show you where we live now.”

  “We're going to live here? What about Chicago?”

  “No, no more Chicago,” she said, taking his hand. He pulled his little carry on roller behind him. “I have a new job, and we're going to a little bit of a different life.”

  “Why did the policemen tell me you were dead?”

  “Well, that has to do with why we're going to be living here and changing our lives a bit,” she said. “They thought that I was dead, but what really happened was that I had a very very bad allergic reaction to the sun.”

  “The sun?” Keelan gasped.

  “Yes. It was so bad they had no idea that I was still alive. But Michael--”

  “Miss Sandy's brother,” he said as sagely as a seven-year-old could.

  “Correct. Michael and his family found out, and he helped me. I was with him learning how to... live without sunlight.” She had practiced this half truth for days. It wasn't a lie, but she didn't think that her little brother needed to know his sister was now a vampire. “I think we'll do a great with the new job.”

  “You can't go outside?”

  “Not when the sun is up, Kee. But we can still go out once the sun is down.”

  “What about school?” he asked.

  Sara laughed lightly. He was trying to get out of it. “You can still go out, I just can't. The windows in the house must stay closed during the day. You can't lift the blinds, Ok?”

  Keelan sighed. “That's a stupid allergy.”

  She couldn’t disagree. “Isn't it?”

  “What about Ian?” he asked.

  Sara felt her heart break a little, then tighten angrily. “Ian died, Keelan. He was killed in the car accident.” She still wasn't sure what to think about him; he had been nice, but at the same time, he had filled her wineglass with his vampire blood and Turned her in the car wreck. It would have been nice if he hadn't gone into the sun, but knowing what she knew now, she wasn't completely heartbroken that he was dead.

  “Oh.” His answer was quiet.

  She could almost feel his thoughts churning. “Keelan? Did you like Ian?”

  “I... he was okay.” He shrugged. “There was something weird about him. He never did anything bad to me, but I kind of think he didn't really like like you.”

  She snorted. Of course, he didn't like her. She was a blood donor to him. She pushed the thought away and smiled at him. “Well, I'll tell you what kid. Next time I have a boyfriend, if you think there's something weird about him in that not a cool kind of weird way, you let me know.”

  “Deal,” he smiled. “I'm hungry.”

  “What do you want? We'll do fast food tonight to celebrate you coming home.”

  “Wendy's!”

  She realized they were going to have to go food shopping as well. There wasn't anything in the house at all for him. The smell of the hamburger and deep fryer fat on the french fries made her stomach turn violently, and Sara was glad she decided to let him eat in the car. Staying in the restaurant would have been impossible.

  Food shopping wasn't as bad. Everything was packaged up, so the smells were minimal. She picked out things she could make small meals for him easily. She caught herself staring at the blood in the tenderloin wrapper, wondering what it would taste like warm. She pulled her eyes away, only seconds before she knew her fangs would descend and swallowed hard. Ok, she had to remember to avoid staring at the meat.

  ~*~*~

  “Sara, would you like to get dinner with me this weekend?”

  Sara gasped, and was really glad she had turned off her mike. She had not expected that at all. She had become friendly with the other techs during their office meeting once a week at the headquarters in Albany at eight. The meeting was perfect because she hired the girl down the hall to watch him from seven until midnight. The meeting never ran more than an hour, and she was able to go out and feed after.

  She just hadn’t realized that Marius, the hot tech who purposefully sat next to her each week was even interested—even though now it was obvious.

  “Sara, you there?”

  She flicked on the mike. “Yes, I'm here, Marius,” she answered. “You just... surprised me was all.”

  “Well, you're a sweet girl, and I think that I'd like to have dinner. Maybe a movie?”

  “Um...” she stuttered. “Sure. I'll go to dinner with you.” She stared at the little square of the good looking smiling tech. “Sure.” He was very good looking.

  Dressed in casual black pants and a shirt, he was at her door promptly at eight. She opted for a longer winter skirt a pair of boots and a simple sweater and was happy that they matched pretty well.

  “You look lovely.”

  “You’re looking pretty good too,” she said.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “Sure, let me grab my purse,” she smiled. She walked over to where Keelan was involved in a death tournament on Mario Kart with Rayna, the babysitter. She kissed his head. “Be good, dude.”

  He swatted her away. “I will.”

  “Rayna?”

  “Ten thirty, no later,” she said. “Got it. Look out, noob! Bombs away!”

  Sara smiled and grabbed her purse off the counter, walking back out the door and locking it behind her. They chatted all the way to the restaurant about little mundane things having to do with work and were seated right away. It wasn’t a fancy restaurant, but the place wasn’t cheap.

  Worse, she found herself relieved to find a prime rib on the menu. She had been experimenting with different cuts of meat over the past few weeks; very rare prime rib was one she could handle easily. Filet mignon was also a good one, and even duck went down pretty easily. She’d had some luck with undercooked hamburgers and meatballs. But never any luck with the bread. She sighed; she couldn’t eat the delicious sounding red potatoes, but at least she’d be able to look like she was eating.

  “So, tell me about this allergy?” he said. “I did some internet searching, but…”

  Sara had this lie at the ready. “It’s called erythropoietic porphyria, and it’s not really an allergy per se but a disease. I react very very badly to sunlight. My skin will crack and bleed. My teeth will turn brown, and my lips pull back and crack and bleed too. It’s just awful. The doctors were really confused why it didn’t manifest at birth because CEP is hereditary and it should have been there from birth.”

  “Porphyria…” he mused. “Isn’t that the disease people had when they thought that they were a vampire?”

  She grimaced. “Yeah, it’s got a pretty shaded past.”

  “People would drink blood to alleviate the symptoms,” he said.

  “That doesn’t really work, either, because what your body needs from the blood it destroys in the stomach,” she said. “I get transfusions once a week.”

  “Ah, that explains it,” he said, putting the menu down.

  “What?”

  “We’ve all noticed
that usually on Wednesday nights, you get angry and short with every one,” he said. “I guess you go for transfusions on Thursday nights.”

  He already knew too much about her. “Yes, before work,” she said. “I have a book club meeting I go to and then the transfusion.” What a strange way to explain going out hunting for a deer to satisfy her hunger.

  “Well good,” he said. “Since it’s Friday you won’t be trying to slake that bloodlust with me.”

  It took everything Sara had not to blanch at that statement and force out a little laugh. The waiter saved her from completely losing it by arriving to take their order. Marius ordered the filet, which made her feel better about ordering the prime rib, blue rare. She stressed that. Blue. Extremely rare. The waiter looked disgusted, but she didn’t care.

  “And a drink?” he asked.

  “A house chianti,” she said without thinking.

  “May I see your id?”

  “Crap. I forgot.” She had to think quickly. She couldn’t sit there without anything, and the soda had been a complete disaster the other day. “Do you have a cranberry or pomegranate juice?”

  “We do,” he said, suspiciously, “but we generally serve that for children.”

  “You are losing your tip quickly there, my man,” Marius said. He nodded and took Marius’s drink order, and walked away. “Jerk. I didn’t know you liked wine? Where were you that it was legal?”

  She did blush. “It’s never been legal,” she said. “I like wine. It has so many different flavors.”

  “Your parents let you drink?” She pursed her lips and didn’t answer. “Ooh, sorry.”

  “It’s not what you think,” she said. “My parents died when I was sixteen. They had a choice while they were still alive. Let me drink or let me…” she cleared her throat, “Let me chase the dragon.”

  He was genuinely surprised. “Heroin?”

  “Heroin,” she said. “From thirteen.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Wow. How did you kick it?”

  Sara shrugged. “They died. I had to take care of Keelan. I knew I didn’t want him turning into what I was, and I took part of the money they left and went to rehab. It’s been hard. I had a few relapses here and there, but I’ve been clean for eighteen months, and I don’t see myself going back ever again.” She couldn’t even imagine what it would to her now. Apples made her puke.

  “So moving here was part of the plan to stay clean?”

  “In some way, yes, I guess it was. It was also a chance to get Keelen out of the Chicago school system.”

  The waiter came back and put the drinks on the table, along with salads. Sara swallowed and stared at for a long minute. Marius had already devastated the tomatoes and was heading in for the kill on the onions when he stopped and looked at her just staring at the salad. He looked horrified. “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t eat salad,” she said. “I can’t eat a lot of things. Dietary restrictions. My stomach can’t handle it. It’s all tied up the CEP.”

  “Oh, I didn’t even think about that,” he said. “I’ll send it back.”

  “No, no,” she said. “It’s OK. I just won’t eat it.”

  “Are you going to be able to try the carpaccio?”

  “Car whatio?”

  He laughed. “Carpaccio. It’s a raw meat appetizer. I ordered for both of us.”

  She sighed in relief. “Yes, I can do that. Meat is usually okay.”

  “Oh, good,” he said.

  The carpaccio, as it turned out, was delicious. She’d never had anything like it in her life. It was super thin, nearly see through slices of filet laid out on a plate. Marius insisted that it would be even better with salt, and Sara took a chance with it. He was right, and she discovered another food she could eat and enjoy without sicking up.

  The prime rib was presented, and it was perfectly blue rare. She had to take care that she didn’t let her fangs show when she cut it, and the blood pooled. She ate the whole thing as delicately as she could. And to her delight, she had guessed right on the pomegranate juice. There was something about the taste and texture of that was very close to wine, and it didn’t bother her either. By the time they got to the end of the meal, she was happy. She had eaten food, and he didn’t think a thing about it.

  They sat talking at the table until the waiter had to mention that they were closing up for the night. She was surprised it was so late, nearly midnight. Marius laughed. “Well, I guess that squelches my movie idea.”

  Sara laughed. “I’m sure that you don’t have two in the morning movies here the bustling metropolis that is Albany.”

  “Not even remotely, though we did just miss the eleven thirty,” he said. “Well, this was better. I got to talk to you. Maybe… we can do it again soon?”

  She gave him a little smile. “I wouldn’t mind at all.”

  He held the door open for her. He was a very sweet guy, and while she was a little iffy on the age difference, she was more iffy on a serious relationship at that moment. She was still trying figure out this night life and how she was feeling about Ian. Still, he was a gentleman, and he was good looking. No harm in some casual dating, she smiled to herself.

  He walked her up to the door of the apartment building. “I had a wonderful time with you, Sara. I really did. I thought I might like you before, but now I know I do. Can I take you to dinner and more than the promise of a movie next Friday?”

  She laughed. “Of course, Marius. It was a great night.” She pulled out her keys and leaned up to give him a quick peck on the cheek.

  He turned his head to do the same, and through a miscalculation on both of their parts, they wound up right on the lips. She didn’t back off. Neither did he. The kiss lasted, and she felt his hand against the small of her back, pulling her closer. She reached up and put her hand on the back of his head to keep him there. The kiss turned deeper, and she parted her lips and felt his tongue gently with hers.

  It was an odd kiss. She felt light headed, dizzy, and was enjoying it, but the passion that usually fueled kisses like this was distant and fuzzy. He pulled away slowly and moved to the side of her neck and trailed his kissed down her shoulder. She found her lips on his neck at the same time.

  His pulse was hot, quick and she could almost taste him beneath his skin. He smelled deeply musky, and she knew his blood would taste like wine and sugar. She let her fangs drop…

  She yelped, covering her mouth with her hand. Oh my God, what did I almost just do!?

  Marius grabbed her elbow. “Sara? I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

  Tears welled up in her eyes. “No, I can’t… I can’t do this. Oh, God, I’m so sorry Marius. I can’t…” She slammed the key into the lock and was in the apartment in less than a heartbeat before he could even start to form a thought. She leaned against the door.

  I almost took his blood! She forced the fangs back but still held her hand over her mouth. I’m a monster.

  There was a tap on the door behind her. “Sara?” Marius’s muffled voice came through. “Sara? Are you alright?”

  “I’m sorry,” she wept. “I’m sorry. Please go, Marius.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Go home, Marius. Just go home.” She smeared the tears off her face.

  She heard his footsteps retreat in defeat and she sank down against the door. “Oh, God.” She buried her face in her hands. That was why the kiss felt strange; it wasn’t lust, it was bloodlust. She used the word for the first time. There was no hunger in that action. It was pure, unadulterated bloodlust.

  Her phone pinged on the floor next to her. It was from Marius.

  I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.

  She replied. It’s not you. I’m not a good person. You should probably stay away.

  I think you’re a good person.

  Trust me, Marius. You want to stay away from me.

  She put the phone back down and ignored the next text from him. She had to keep him away. All it would do was wind her
up until she couldn’t control it and she took from him. And then she wasn’t an iota better than Ian had been. She curled her fingernails into her palm and crushed her fist as tight as she could.

  She knew exactly what she felt for Ian in that instant, and she would never be like him. She would never do what he did to her and the dozens of women in his wake.

  Two

  Marius kept texting her. He was relentless, and she felt awful that she had slammed the door in his face. But how was she supposed to explain to him that she had nearly sunk her fangs into his neck and sucked out his blood? He was a nice guy, and he needed a nice girl. Not one like her. She made a personal resolution to not date again, not for a long time. Not until she was completely in control of the bloodlust.

  She dreaded going to the weekly meeting the following Wednesday. She would have to face him, and she didn’t know what to do. Ignore him? Use Ian as an excuse? Try to explain? Definitely not that. Using Ian as an excuse was a brilliant idea, except that meant that he would keep trying to go out with her to ‘undo’ the hurt he caused. No one could do that, and he wouldn’t understand that.

  Sara tried to calm down on her replies to him. She softened them from 'stay away from me' to more, 'I was scared' and 'I'm not ready' and taking the blame as she should. She finally talked herself down from the ledge before the meeting on Wednesday night.

  She was ready to turn around and walk out when she saw Marius in the lobby that night. She steeled herself and walked in. He didn't waste any time and was over to her in a moment. “Sara,” he said, grabbing her elbow. “Why won't you answer your phone or the chats.”

  “I'm sorry, Marius. I got scared. I didn't mean to freak you out. You're a very nice guy, but I'm clearly not in a place to go out with nice guys yet.”

  “Something else happened to bring you to Albany, didn't it?”

  “Please,” she said, trying to remove his hand from her elbow.

  He let go. “Sara, I had a really nice time on Friday.”

  “Oh, Marius,” she sighed. “I'm not ready.”