Only Two Of Us

by Cassandra Russell

  which would have lost her minutes later... "He shook his head, scared of the memory, and almost without

  thinking, was filling the bowls in the clear intention of toasting romantically to our union.

  - Exactly. "That's all I was able to stammer in the face of that olfactory disturbance,

  I stepped toward my food, suspended in his anxious hands.

  He obviously had a strange feeling about my behavior, especially the way he looked at it, and almost

  who instinctively took a step back.

  - Stephanie? What's it? Do not want to toast me? He suspected. "It's our wedding night."

  "You let me suffer all afternoon," I accused him, feeling shaken and

  one hand.

  "I did not want you to see me like that." I was worried that my image would

  shocked too much.

  Richard took another step and set the glasses on a bedside table. His breathing was

  making it clearly irregular.

  "But it was getting better, and yet ..." I drew closer, intimidating.

  Now he could see it with striking clarity. Wow!! Tremendous movie screen!

  "It took a while, and we had no way of knowing if it was something purely momentary. Do not look at me

  That way, love, your father agreed too, "he said, and took his last step back,

  getting stuck in the wall.

  "It was very cruel of you, you know that?" I even thought you were dead! I held your shirt.

  and I gave a hard tear from top to bottom, looking at that definite masculine breast.

  Damn it! How had he not noticed it that way before?

  - Cruelty? She asked again. "I did not mean to make you suffer, I swear." I just wanted to

  it was a surprise, to appear whole to you, not to pieces! His eyes changed color,

  becoming black as pitch.

  - Yeah, and it took too long, so it deserves the change. I pushed him further against the wall.

  My hands seemed to release sparks.

  - The change? As well? Stephanie, this can only be the effect of transformation, the instability of

  initial mood Do you feel anything abnormal? He began to gasp.

  - Yes, why? Was my husband afraid? I challenged him with malice and held his arms.

  Impressive.

  The strength I had gained far exceeded my expectations. Maybe even more than

  he waited.

  - No, of course not. I'm just ... strange, "he said stumbling, cornered, while I

  ferociously inhaled his perfumed neck.

  "You will not mind proving your own poison now, will you?" I stared at him in

  your mouth.

  Did her taste also change? I could bet it would. The way she attracted me ...

  - Poison? What poison? He asked, moaning and feverish. He looked confused.

  And it was not for less. If on the one hand I intimidated him with words, actions

  just the opposite, instigating his desire even more.

  "The one you gave me!" What are you doing to me, Richard? I asked, still watching the

  movement of your lips.

  What a stuffy hotel room! I thought.

  - I? I did not do nothing! I can not even move ... You're the one who's almost crushing me!

  What I felt could not be normal. Was not it for the newly transformed vampire to freeze? Because,

  after all, so hot? Why could not she look away from him again, as if she were bewitched? Per

  that my mind was shuffling like that, losing my mind? He must have been hypnotizing me,

  could only be.

  By the way, what was my revenge?

  - Stop hypnotizing me! You said you never would! I complained.

  "Stephanie, I've never done this to you!" Tell me what you feel so I can try to help you!

  - I'm burning!

  - You...? His eyes widened in surprise. "So that means-" He smiled and

  continued. "Are you loving ... and wanting me as hard as I am?"

  My patience ran out, he talked too much. If I did not do soon what my new instinct

  spontaneous combustion.

  Finally, I put his feverish face between my burning hands and finished:

  "Richard, shut up and kiss me, I can not stand it any longer!"

  Bonus

  But he did not say anything. He was silent.

  Only this time it was different. This time there was the promise of a "forever."

  Take a peek at When Humanity

  Prevails, the sequence of only two of us

  Chapater 1

  Ibiza, European summer.

  What a delight of sensation!

  It had been some time since I had had the pleasure of enjoying this sea wind blowing in my

  hair as well as hearing the magnificent sound that the sea, in its fullness, could give me.

  That was a real symphony to my ears!

  Just looking through that hotel window, I became impatient to set foot in the soft sand and

  feel the softness of the grains in contact with the crystalline water. After so many months working without

  interruptions, I confess that, intimately, I was longing for a short pause to restore my energies.

  Of course, to put it literally would seem redundant.

  I did not need that.

  Tiredness and indisposition were words literally scratched from my dictionary. Although

  many other words had the same fate, after I had drawn my life alongside Richard. Such

  like him, I was a vampire now. And I had not regretted a single day of decision.

  We had to try to adapt to the myriad aspects and obstacles that life with humans

  brought I was able to fully understand how difficult it must have been for my husband to live for so many

  years between them, fighting thirst and continuous exposure.

  And what is worse: alone, at a time when there were no blood banks available.

  That sounded like one of those endurance tests that constantly appear on television,

  measuring to what extent you are able to withstand for 24 hours the aroma of what was your worst

  addiction and not savor it ...

  The century might have changed, but even with time, the panic of repulsion and

  distrust of others was something almost impossible to avoid. Our antennas always

  alert to any change. Every time a person mentioned with strangeness the aspect of our color

  without appetite or appetite, we had to reformulate all

  coexistence, seeking more viable solutions and compelling excuses so that we could continue

  coexisting.

  Relatively simple things, such as watching the news to know the temperature of the day, helped us

  much, especially when it came to knowing what to wear, since our body did not feel these variations

  easily. As for that aspect, I was still a crawling baby with no experience whatsoever. And, maybe

  for that very reason, much more susceptible to be discovered.

  At first, I needed full-time isolation to not let my new instincts

  overcome willpower. It was a very complex period. Certain humans

  exuded a very attractive odor, and, even if unwilling to succumb to such temptation, my canines

  did the great favor of appearing, growing without due permission.

  Worst of all was keeping a temporary detachment from family and friends. Just thinking that I

  could hurt someone accidentally, could not lay his head on the pillow and sleep in peace.

  To contain everyone's curiosity, it was not too difficult for Richard to invent a

  to prove my need to stay home from "rest" or to justify sudden pallor.

  And to confirm, we had the support of my father.

  In this context, I considered that my biggest problem was not just

  permanent, but a terrible inconstancy of humor. The new condition of life brought with it,

  init
ially, an instability of feelings and, certainly, intensified each of them in his own way,

  depending on the moment. It was not uncommon, in an hour of irritation, to lose your temper and to advance or break

  something. I could compare my situation to that of a turbine-powered car: it had the power to

  accelerating from zero to two hundred in a matter of seconds, it was enough to step on the pedal. Only the danger

  He lived right there. When this happened, bodily strength increased on an immense scale, and

  anyone who was around could, unhappily, suffer the terrible consequences.

  In short: owning a fast car would be anyone's dream, but would it have a brake

  efficient, able to stop in time and prevent a tragedy?

  Learning to contain such an imbalance has become, in my view, one of the greatest challenges to

  be overcome, and the only solution I found to my initial despair was the

  our home, falling into Richard's arms.

  And that alone was enough.

  Any and all access to anger, anguish, difficulty, disappointment, fear ... Anyway, everything was

  canceled when I met those blue eyes and his smile of happiness stamped on his face.

  Richard had the patience of a Tibetan monk with me. He was my safe harbor, peace in the middle of the

  chaos, the reason for my existence. I believe that no human being would have been so

  perseverant in the face of so many episodes of lack of control. He lived with his eyes wide open to prevent

  any mistake of mine was fatal to anyone. Most of the time, I could only master myself with

  sweet words. At other times, however, I used intelligence and insight to

  impulses. His ability to distract me from my thoughts was extraordinary. There was no

  only one day when it did not appear with any news, whatever it was: movies, songs, games,

  books, two mid-morning walks, home-made activities, flowers, gifts ...

  ... and kisses, lots of kisses.

  What struck me most about all this was the fact that, at any moment,

  signs of incomprehension. Quite the contrary: at every step I climbed toward self-sufficiency,

  there was a toast showered with caresses and many words of encouragement.

  Soon he, who had always been classified as annoyed and picky!

  That same year of my transformation, we left São Paulo and came to Rio de Janeiro.

  We found a discreet house providentially near the hospital where we started working.

  I mean, he started working first.

  It was only almost two years later that I felt fit enough to go back to the activities,

  strong smell of fresh blood that the patients exhaled. It was even too easy for my husband

  to get the same position he had at the other hospital. He could too! His curriculum was

  Unbeatable!

  As he practically demanded that I be his assistant, we worked almost the whole time

  together. There was only a small revolution in the kind of patient he set out to treat: children. That

  This was due to a constant observation on my part, as I have noticed, over time, how Richard

  was different before them, especially near my brother. I assumed that this might be due to the

  the fact that she was an only child, or, perhaps, had to fill somehow the lack of being able to be

  father one day. It could also be a simple latent vocation.

  Anyway, aside, that change was perfect, and the child hematology sector profited

  this - the parents of these children who say so.

  The thing is, I've never seen him work so exultant. So much so that, from time to time,

  whistling or humming some music of his time during the service. And this, frankly,

  for someone like him, who always maintained rigid standards in professional conduct, was a reason for

  set off fireworks.

  I felt that way too. Not only for liking and having patience with children, but also because

  His happiness filled mine. Besides, I got so used to having that coexistence

  constant with them that, when she was on days off, she would miss that buzz.

  In fact, we worked more for satisfaction, appreciation or personal pleasure than for

  obligation or need to pay the bills. I say this because Richard, because he did not have much

  Over the course of the century, all he did was uniquely accumulate possessions. And its comfortable position, incredible

  who never seems to care about him. As I had long ago,

  money has never been able to supply its emptiness. It was basically a facilitating

  escape in a case of need. So much so that we took our daily lives in a way that

  very basic, without great attachments to material goods. And, as I could see for myself, there was no

  far greater than the love we found in each other.

  Since I got married and moved to Rio, Dad decided to go back to Brazil, setting up a

  a huge laboratory and a research center in the south of the city. Your relationship with Janet

  shipwrecked, and I suspected that this sudden change of country had a strong connection with the

  trauma that he suffered, necessitating intimately greater family coexistence, or, what is more

  likely to want to be closer to my mother, in the vain hope that she would relapse.

  Well, if that was his intention, he could only regret it. She was still irreducible. It was said to be closed

  to balance because she can not forget her deceased husband. Had a peaceful relationship of friendship

  with my father and that's the end, that was all. To tell the truth, I suspected that she had never

  really loved, only felt safe, protected by his presence. After all, when my grandmother

  died, Mama found herself alone and without direction, while he was already a man centered, responsible and

  unconditionally in love.

  In other words: a burrow in the middle of the storm.

  Of course, my father is not stupid and he came to realize that it was all a wish

  impossible, giving up investing. Although he took some pity on him, he could not deny that

  his constant presence made me happy, as well as being the only human conscious of our secret.

  Dad was not the only one to visit us from the start. Ava - my friend and vampire sister-in-law -

  He also offered me his company, friendship and unconditional dedication, which was very important.

  for me, especially at the times when Richard was working in the hospital and I have not yet

  could share. She knew exactly what I felt, went through the same problems and anxieties,

  which gave me more security.

  Ava also knew how to be a fun person when she wanted to. I liked to enjoy the moment and did

  very easily, so much so that it was quite common to see her going out with her court colleagues in a

  good, as if it were one of them. He quietly justified his lack of hunger as "a diet not to be

  get fat "and told to see.

  Occasionally, it was necessary to even control his excesses and jokes a little. If left,

  made anyone stand up. Taking their usual little jokes, which did not bother me

  in any way, decided, from time to time, to preach some pieces in me or in Richard. When the

  reason for the joke was banal, all right. But when the subject at home involved the word

  abandonment ... the thing literally changed shape.

  Feeling alone, rejected or abandoned were not very easy things to forget.

  my husband, especially for having been in this condition for more than a century. It took me a while to

  that Richard was really sure about the reciprocal of my love, and yet he went

  affected twice by this talk to sleeping ox that I had abandoned him.

  The first time w
as light and early in the wedding when we were still living in São Paulo.

  Richard just came home from work and heard this nonsense told by Ava while I

  remained there, in the back of the house, removing clothes from the clothes line for fear of soaking them in

  result of a sudden rain. You know when people get so nervous about something

  can not find what they are looking for, the object being a span of their own nose?

  Well then, that was exactly what happened.

  He knew that I was not yet able to go out alone on the street, and when he rolled inside

  of the house and did not find me, was more targeted than usual, to the point of not trusting his own sense of smell.

  Just did not change any more because immediately after I entered the room, distracted, bringing the change of clothes in the

  hand. He ended up throwing the couch cushions at his sister, trying to carry on the joke.

  Trying.

  No matter how hard he tried to prove otherwise, I realized he was shaken. Only she did not.

  The second time happened three years later, when I was already working and living in Rio de

  January. That day, I decided to do one of those boots out in the closet, collecting what fell into disuse

  in a suitcase to deliver to a church near my mother's house and then leave to do some

  Pantry shopping - I knew I would receive visits soon, for the proximity of my birthday.

  The only problem was that I had forgotten to warn him, and when I tried from the street, his cell phone did not answer.

  As I remembered that Ava would come by later, I asked her to do me this favor.

  Ready. It was the cue she wanted.

  I do not know exactly what she told Richard to be like that, though I suspected she had

  Something to do with the suitcase I took with me. The thing is, when I got home, he was

  visibly affected. So much so that this time did not digest well the joke and went up the stairs, angry,

  retiring to the room with discretion and without saying goodbye to his sister.

  I did not like to see him that way, so I had to intervene:

  "Ava, you know I consider you as a sister and that I owe you a huge debt of gratitude,

  but I'd like to ask you not to play that kind of joke with Richard anymore.

  - Stephanie, let's face it! As you yourself just said, that was a joke! How is it

  that a vampire over a hundred years old can believe such absurdity? Just mine