father bite. She had seen the light glimmer off his alabaster-white fangs, and then those fangs coming away dripping red. She would never forget that terrifying sight. Now, however, it seemed that if Marcus were to bite her and drink all her blood so that she died tonight, it would be okay…worth it to be near him. Suddenly, that gave her an idea.
“Marcus, if you were to bite me…well, could you like, transform me?” she asked, starry-eyed.
He shook his head. “That’s another myth. The Sangranista are born to two parents, just like humans. It is not possible to ‘make’ one of us. I’m sorry,” he added when he saw the crestfallen expression on her face. “I would if I could.”
“You would?”
“Yes.” He leaned over and kissed her gently, because she looked so sad and he thought it might help her feel better. But then he pressed his mouth more firmly on hers as he felt her lips moving against his, as sweet as the first kiss. She put her arms around his neck, hugging her body against him, their mouths conjoined until they broke apart for a breath. Michele giggled.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s not funny at all,” she said, their faces close and gazing into each other’s eyes. “These are the sweetest kisses I have ever had in my life. But the thought just occurred to me that I’m making out with a vampire – sorry, but that’s the word that came to my mind. I’m laughing because it is just so strange, and because I’m not afraid.”
Marcus smiled and kissed her once more, soft and quick before he settled back to sit at her side. “I will never hurt you, I promise.”
“I know that,” Michele answered with conviction.
“That’s not to say that I won’t nip you sometime, though.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, but don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. In fact, I think you’ll like it. But I have no room for more blood tonight and when I taste you for the first time, I want to have an appetite.”
He’s going to bite me and drink my blood. I should be scared to death but instead, the thought is really exciting me, Michele thought, smiling to herself. “So, you don’t have to kill to drink human blood?”
“No we don’t, but that doesn’t mean we don’t kill sometimes. But when we take a full life, it is usually to relieve a human suffering, or for the benefit of society in general.”
Michele thought back to the night she saw his father kill. Of course, his victim was going to mug him. He was a criminal and a menace to society. She wasn’t in the mood to think about the morality or rightness of that. She imagined it as a future discussion between her and Marcus.
“When I said that we don’t like the word vampire, it’s because there are vampires out there, and a Sangranista hates to be mistaken for one of them. You are a Homo sapien. I am a Homo sangria. Vampires are Homo vampira. They are a lower class race; a brutal, violent people who always kill when they feed and make no distinctions about who they feed on. They are ignorant and have no desire to educate themselves, or enjoy the benefits of human society. They are truly more like animals.”
“Marcus, it sounds like you are prejudiced against vampires,” Michele observed. Having suffered discrimination many times, she recognized the distaste in his expression and in the tone of his voice.
“I suppose I am, but with good reason,” he answered seriously. “But as far as my family and our friends are aware, there are no vampires currently living in New York City.”
“Oh, well that’s good.” Michele snuggled against his shoulder for security, feeling slightly alarmed at his description of vampires. She wanted to believe that if Marcus was a racist, it was with good reason.
“Michele, I have an idea. I’ll have to talk to my parents, but, would your mother be upset if you didn’t come home?”
“Hmmph,” she emitted a short sardonic laugh. “My mother would love it if I moved out. I’m competition for her now, and it would be easier for her with me out of the way.”
“Good…I mean, not good that your mother feels that way…well, you know what I mean. But…hey, I think my folks are coming out of the club. Wait here, I’m going to talk to them.”
Michele wrapped her arms around herself, feeling chilled as Marcus left her and walked toward the attractive couple coming out of the Crystal Cave. She recognized Marcus’s parents. Yep, just as I thought.
“Mom, Dad,” Marcus hurried up to them, grinning broadly. “You know how I’ve always wanted a pet, and, well…there’s someone I want you to meet.” He grabbed Elizabeth by the hand and Orion by his jacket sleeve to propel them toward the wall where Michele waited. “This is Michele!”
“Ooh, how adorable,” his mother cooed. He knew his mom would take to Michele immediately. “I’m Elizabeth, Michele.” She offered her hand and Michele laid her own in the soft, white hand with long, elegant fingers. Elizabeth gave her an affectionate squeeze.
“It is lovely to meet you. My name is Orion.” Marcus’s father scrutinized Michele in more depth than his wife had, but also kindly offered his hand. Her clothing seemed a startling contrast to what he sensed in her manners. A nice young lady!
“We’re in a lot of the same classes at school,” Marcus explained enthusiastically. “I was surprised to see her tonight, but she’s trying to earn money to go to Columbia University. She’s really smart, and I want to help her out.” He beamed proudly.
“That’s very sweet, dear,” Elizabeth said. She looked at Orion, raising her eyebrows, noting the crease in his brow as he contemplated the situation. “Darling,” she said to her husband, “I see Paul driving up with the car. Why don’t we step over there for a few minutes?” She hooked her arm through his and drew him away.
“They’re going to talk about you,” Marcus said, stepping behind Michele and putting his arms around her.
“My love, it’s the same girl, the one who saw us a few weeks ago. The one you said we should leave alone,” Elizabeth said when they were out of Michele’s hearing.
“I believe you are correct,” Orion agreed.
“Darling, your instincts are so perceptive as usual. You had a feeling we should leave her alone, and now I think she just might be a marvelous solution.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Perhaps she could be persuaded to attend Harvard rather than Columbia, especially if we pay her tuition and expenses. Marcus could go to college with his own food supply. I’m worried about him having to rely on hunting for himself. Even if his skills improve between now and next fall, he just may not have time to hunt during the school term. You know how busy he’ll be with his studies and student activities.”
“Yes, well, we have talked about driving up there on weekends. Cambridge isn’t that far away.”
“No, but it will be tiresome going every single week. And what if he isn’t ready to hunt independently? You know what almost happened tonight. Can he learn to control those urges by the end of summer? Maybe he will, but maybe not, and we won’t be there to supervise.”
“No, you’re right. I’m beginning to follow your line of thought. If Michele is there and he feeds on her even just once or twice a month, well, that could sustain him and no harm to her.”
“Yes, and I’m sure there will be many parties and student activities where he can supplement his supply. She appears fit and healthy, and with her available, I wouldn’t worry about Marcus getting the proper vitamins and minerals.”
“Right, and we can still visit him, but not out of necessity.” Orion kissed his wife. “My dear, you are brilliant, as always.”
“Thank you, darling. Michele obviously already knows our nature, and she seems to have accepted Marcus completely.”
“I agree. I have seen this sort of bond form between a host and pet before, and it is a truly marvelous, symbiotic relationship. How fortunate for our son!”
“Shall we go see what arrangements need to be made to bring her home?”
“Absolutely.” Orion and Elizabeth walked back to where Marcus and Michele waited, holding hands.<
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“Michele, you are welcome to stay with us. We have an extra bedroom with its own bath that we can offer you. Do we need to make arrangements with your parents?”
“No, it’s fine. I just need to stop by where I live to get my school books and a few other things.” Michele looked up at Marcus with adoring eyes.
They strolled to the Mercedes and Elizabeth, Michele, and Marcus climbed into the back while Orion took the front passenger seat.
“Paul, please drive us to the address the young lady will provide,” Orion instructed when they were all seat-belted.
“This is absolutely wonderful,” Elizabeth declared. “Michele, Marcus says you want to attend Columbia, but have you considered Harvard?” Elizabeth and Michele chatted amicably, getting to know each other and finding they shared many opinions and tastes.
The Fledgling Page 7