by D N Simmons
“Well, I know what you mean, ma'am. It's like, you have to worry about all sorts of things now. When you walk down the street you have to be careful, not just at night like it used to be, but during the day as well. I've never met one of those shape-shifters, and I don't think I ever want to. It still creeps me out that my body smells like food to them.”
“Tell me about it. I saw one of them damn animal people one day on the news. They were doing some kind of report to try to ease our anxieties, or so they said. But the damn report only made me more nervous! It was like actually looking at proof that they really do exist!” She shook her head in dismay.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Natasha said as she sat up in her bed. “When I first heard about them, I thought it was a hoax, you know? I mean, really, vampires and werewolves? But it's as real as it gets. I heard that they all have superhuman strength and power-”
“And,” the elderly lady cut her off. “It ain't nothing like the movies, ya know! Garlic, crosses, none of that works! But at least the silver bullets work on them damn animal people. That's good news,” the woman said as she nodded. Natasha wasn't so sure if she could determine who was considered to be the most dangerous. Mortal men, who have plagued her and every other woman who had dared to walk the streets at night, or a supernatural creature. She rated both of the groups even, if you could call it even.
“So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you in here?” Natasha asked.
“Are you afraid I might give you something?” the lady joked. Natasha had not thought about it until just then.
“Well , now that you've mentioned it!” she said, laughing.
“Well, I was attacked by one of those damned bloodsucking monsters. I was coming home from my job when one of them grabbed me and carried me into an alley.” She paused, remembering the horrifying experience. Natasha's mouth had dropped open. Here she was, sitting in the same room with a survivor of a vampire attack. It was even more amazing than a survivor of a shark attack. The elderly woman continued. Her thinning grey hair was a messy mop around her head. Natasha wondered if she had any family, would anyone come to comb her hair, or talk to her? Natasha hadn't seen any friends or relatives come to visit the elderly lady since she'd been there. She was starting to wonder if the woman had any loved ones...who returned the love.
“The thing bit me! And I screamed, darling! Let me tell you, I screamed like I've never screamed in my life! Those long, sharp, painful teeth went into my neck. Then there was something else. It made me feel funny inside. These bloodsuckers are some dangerous things.” She was nodding, agreeing with herself. “So, how did you survive?”
“Well, I thought I was going to die, my body felt light and there was this tingly feeling in my arms and legs and...” she blushed and trailed off.
Natasha chose not to press regarding the intensity of a vampire's bite. She had heard rumors and had her own speculations. She was not interested in hearing about this sweet, old lady getting off on vampire sex. No, no, not at all. The mere thought made Natasha shiver with repulsion.
“Well, this tall, dark haired man came out of nowhere and saved me, he threw the vampire off me. And the funny thing is, he told the mean vampire to take care of me. At first, I was scared that meant that he was going to put me in a dumpster or something, but he brought me here, then ran away. Strange, isn't it?” the lady asked, obviously perplexed.
Natasha nodded, wondering who the lady's savior was. The elderly woman didn't know it, but Natasha guessed that the other man was also a vampire, a stronger vampire. She wondered if Xavier would know anything about it. Then she wondered if the woman's savior was Xavier. He was tall, and handsome, and had dark brown hair; she thought about how romantic that would be, Xavier, a knight in shining armor. Keeping the streets safe for damsels in distress. Then she came back to herself. Xavier was probably at the club when this elderly lady was attacked. But he was still a handsome gentleman, who's to say he couldn't be a knight in shining armor?
Natasha began to feel the increasing pressure in her bladder the longer she sat on the bed. It was obviously time to climb out of the bed even though she didn't want to. Her body was still slightly sore, like she had a good two hour workout after not working out in years. Even her buttocks hurt a little. She pulled the sheets back and headed for the bathroom. After she finished doing her business, she began her morning ritual of washing her body, and brushing her teeth; these things simply had to be done. After about twenty minutes she emerged from the bathroom, turning her attention to the TV. The other woman had turned on one of the reality court TV shows, where two people battled over who pays whom, because they found so and so sleeping in their bed with their best friend's dog, or some crazy shit like that.
“You like your court shows too, eh, just like my grandmother used to. She loved that one court show, every afternoon she had to watch Judge Walter,” Natasha said as she climbed back into the bed. The old woman laughed and nodded, then began to explain to Natasha what was going on in the court drama. Natasha pretended to care, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to pretend to care. That may spark up more details which she did not want to know.
“Oh, really, well, I hope she gets paid,” Natasha said to appease the woman, who had just explained that a lady was suing her landlord for not installing a smoke alarm in her apartment. Because of this, she lost her fur coat and other belongings in a fire that she started in her bedroom, from falling asleep while smoking a cigarette. The landlord was counter-suing for damages done to the apartment due to the fire. What was the world coming to? Natasha thought as she buzzed for the nurse. She wanted something to eat, even if it was hospital food. The same nurse from the day before came into the room, smiling.
“How are you feeling today, Miss Hemingway?” the nurse asked as she removed the IV bag and the needle from Natasha's arm. Natasha was relieved, she had wanted to pull the vicious little needle out and toss it across the room from the very first day.
“Oh, I'm fine, just starving. What's for breakfast?” she asked, knowing that it was nothing she really wanted to eat. No wonder people always lost weight when they went into the hospital. One thing was for certain, forget about Slim and Trimmer and all the other lose weight fast diet plans, all one needed to do was admit oneself into the hospital for two weeks and come out looking like a brand new person. Natasha smiled to herself as she thought about the weight loss alternative.
“Well, we have the lunch menu ready, that will be a side salad, strawberry gelatin, and turkey sandwich,” the nurse said as if she was at a restaurant, where the food was actually desirable. Natasha fought the urge to gag. She just smiled at the nurse.
“Well, I'm pretty hungry, so I guess I have no choice but to eat what they provide me.”
“That's right,” joked the nurse. Natasha made a face and chuckled. The nurse finished checking all the machinery and her chart. She walked over to her roommate to check on her.
“Hello, Mrs. Harnett. How are we feeling today? You'll be pleased to know that you will be going home today. As a matter of fact, both of you are going home today. Mrs. Harnett, we're still trying to contact your son, we haven't been able to get hold of him. Do you have another number so that we may be able to call him and tell him that you're ready to go home?” asked the nurse as she removed the IV bag that hung on the stainless steel hook connected to the pole. Mrs. Harnett seemed sad. She had not had one visitor while she had recuperated in the hospital. Natasha felt sorry for the old woman, who had a son that didn't even want to know what had happened to his mother. Natasha had seen Mrs. Harnett attempting to contact someone in her family so they could visit her, no one ever picked up. Natasha imagined how lonely the elderly woman must be. She would hate to be that lonely. What was the point of having kids if they didn't return the love and compassion?
“That's the only number he gave me, he said I should call it if I need to talk to him. I've tried to call my daughter too, but I haven't gotten an answer,” she smiled sadly,
knowing she wasn't wanted. No one wanted to have to take care of the old hag who had taken care of them. It made Natasha angry. She would love to set her eyes on the two good for nothing children of this kindly old woman. She'd tell them a thing or two about themselves!
“Well, if I'm going home today, my mother will most likely take me home. We can give you a ride, Mrs. Harnett,” Natasha offered from across the room. The elderly lady looked up, her eyes brightening. She seemed to relax all of a sudden. Natasha figured the woman was stressed out trying to figure out how she was going to get home on the bus or train, or both. She was still weak from her ordeal, it would be better for her to get a ride home. Well, now she had one if she wanted it. Her mother had always taught her to treat people the way she wanted to be treated. And there was no way she was going to let this kindly old woman continue to feel alone in her time of need.
“Thank you, dear, I really appreciate that. I'll have to get on those two children of mine. So busy, too busy for their own mother,” she said. She tried to hide her sorrow by making light of the situation.
“Cut them out of the will, that'll teach their ungrateful asses!” Natasha said, nodding matter-of-factly. Mrs. Harnett looked at Natasha blankly. She didn't know quite what to think of the young lady, but she liked her. She nodded.
“That is an option,” she smiled.
The nurse smiled and nodded, leaving the room to get Natasha something to eat. Natasha called down to her friend's room, waiting for her to pick up the phone.
“Hello?” asked Annette.
“Hey, how are you feeling?”
“Shit girl, my back still hurts, and my arms are sore. Man, this sucks. I see partying with your ass is bad news,” she said teasingly.
“I could say the same about you,” Natasha responded. “They said I could go home today. So I have to call my mom, hopefully, I'll be outta here before they serve me this nasty ass hospital food. If I have to eat one more bland-ass bowl of gelatin, I'm going into cardiac arrest,” Natasha said. Mrs. Harnett laughed from across the room, she had heard the young lady complaining about the hospital cuisine and had to agree. She too, was glad to be leaving.
“So, Miss I'm going to walk off into the sunset with my best friend's hot boss, what were you two doing last night?” she asked slyly.
“What do you mean, what could we have been doing?”
“Oh, lots of things, like getting your freak on. I saw the way you were looking at him. Fear not, I hold no grudges, the man is gorgeous. I'm not mad at you. Trust me, if I wasn't aching all over, I would have made the moves on him myself, you would have come into my room and found yourself in a predicament, let me tell ya!” Annette snickered as she imagined her friend walking in on her and her hot boss, with her bent over the hospital bed while he gave it to her from behind. Natasha knew why her friend was laughing, and shook her head.
“You're nasty. I know what your dirty mind is thinking of.”
“Good, don't act like you weren't thinking of switching places in my fantasy. So, getting back to the question at hand. I thought you were too scared to be around the...Unnnnndeaaad,” she said, dragging the last word out, making it sound eerie. Natasha did have to admit that the thought of being in the same room with a vampire did unnerve her. She hadn't expected to meet a vampire like Xavier, he was so romantic and such a gentleman. She had a hard time imagining Xavier feeding from a live, mortal victim. She could, in fact, imagine him wrapping his soft full lips around a bottle of Synblood. She wondered what Synblood tasted like to a vampire. She imagined it was like tofu to her.
“Well, we just talked, that's all. He seems so nice.” She related all about their time together, smiling to herself. She wanted to see him again, then remembered she didn't have his phone number. Did he even have a telephone? At least she knew where he worked. She was leaving the hospital later that day and she wanted to be able to give him her telephone number so that he could call her. She had no idea why she felt so comfortable around him, she barely knew him, but for some reason he didn't seem dangerous to her. She wondered just how dangerous he really was, when he wanted to be.
“Uh hmm 'just talked,' you say. So why do I hear something else in your voice. You like him don't you?” Annette asked, trying to get all of the juicy gossip.
“Well if you must know-”
“Yeah, I must know! I've got to know!” Annette snapped playfully.
“Yes! okay! yeah, I like him, happy?!”
“Are you happy? I know how scared you were, do you think you can trust him not to eat you?”
“I don't know, I mean, I can't stop him if he chooses to, but it seemed like that was the farthest thing from his mind. I think he wanted me in another way and let me tell you girl, the feeling was very mutual. It's been a long time for me. But I'm still kind of like, 'egh' on having sex with a vampire. I wanted to ask him if he could but didn't know how to form the words right,” she whispered, making sure that Mrs. Harnett didn't hear her discussing a sexual fantasy she had about a vampire, she didn't think that would be good for her to hear, seeing as Mrs. Harnett survived a horrible vampire attack.
“Yeah, I bet they can fuck better than any mortal man!” Annette speculated, her southern accent adding a certain twang to the words. She remembered how Xavier had made her feel, and a small tingle ran through her body.
“Yeah? I started to ask him and he just answered for me. He said that they could have sex and they could do it for hours if need be. I don't think I could even last for hours. If it is really good, I don't think I could last an hour!” Natasha joked.
“Okay! Girl, guess what? Xavier is so fucking beautiful but you should really see his boss, the man that promoted me. Darian Alexander. This man is...you know what? If you looked 'Unbelievably Gorgeous' up in the damn dictionary, you'd see a picture of him smiling, holding a rose. That's just how fine he is.”
“Really? Well, that's a dangerous type of 'fine', Xavier's bad enough, already I'm thinking of him as a potential lover.”
“So, why not, he can't do no worse than any mortal man. Unless I bring up the last contender,” Annette said gravely.
Natasha frowned “No, Miss rain on people's parades, you don't have to bring up that asshole. I know, I know, that's the only reason I'm even considering giving Xavier my telephone number. Think I should? What would you do? Well, wait a minute, I know what you would do. Do you think I should?” Natasha asked, doubting the relationship would grow. She had spent a good part of two years avoiding supernatural hangouts, now here she was, faced with the decision to date one and possibly more. Natasha wondered if she could really go through with it?
“Well, I say go for it. What's to lose? Either you do or you don't, hard to say. You've got to ask yourself if you want to put up with his nighttime hours, his appetite for blood and whatever else he brings to the table,” Annette advised. Natasha was silent, the other woman made perfect sense, she had to think about this whole situation on a totally different level. She wondered if a relationship could work out. She really wanted to give him her telephone number so he could call her and they could set up a date, just to talk.
“Okay, since I'm going home today, I need for you to give him my telephone number, and that's if he stops by. Do you have his number, I mean his direct extension at Desires Unleashed?” she asked.
“I can't believe you are really considering this,” Annette said, obviously shocked at her friend's newfound courage to delve into the unknown. Natasha seemed so straight laced to her, never wanting to party hard, never wanting to have a drink, always content to stay at home and read or watch TV. She never wanted to do anything at the spur of the moment. Now here she was, trying like hell to make a connection with a vampire. A beautiful, smart sexy vampire, but a bloodsucker nonetheless.
“No, I don't have his direct number, but I'll give him ours if he comes by. Tasha, what makes you think he'll come by?” she asked.
“He said he would. Test number one, can he keep his word?”
> “Shit, you can say that again. Men do seem to have a hard ass time keeping their promises, which includes keeping their wedding vows. That's why I'm totally against marriage. You can lie to me, but don't lie to God. If you have no intention of staying with me till death do us part, let's not waste the Lord's time. That's how I feel about it. Bastard-ass men, I hates them and loves them!” Annette said.
Natasha laughed. “It's the men that believe wholeheartedly in that 'till death do us part' that you have to worry about. That vow didn't say anything about dying of old age. Just only as long as you both shall live. Besides, you just hate spending any amount of time with them that would equal to a real relationship. You just like sleeping with them, and to get what you can out of their wallets.”
“Well yeah, shit, they got to be good for something. Damn, don't you think? I mean, I love men but they require entirely too much attention. And some can be downright annoying. Like taking care of a big ass baby,” Annette said, chuckling. Natasha knew her friend had a quirky personality on her. She just loved Annette, she had always made her laugh.
“So don't forget to give him my number, okay? I have to call my mom to let her know she can pick me up today. I'll go grocery shopping, we need some food in the fridge.”
“Okay, good, I hare shopping for anything but clothes. I can shop for clothes all day.”
“You have more clothes than you need.”
“Ha! Says who!”
“Okay, got to go. I'll stop by your room before I leave. Talk to you later.”