by Jemma Grey
“Not blood… at least not yet. You’ll feel like eating mostly red meat, lots of it, and it won’t be that much different from hunger,” he explained and I nodded as relief flooded me. At the very least I wasn’t going to turn into some kind of blood thirsty animal.
“What’s the third stage?”
“It’s the most painful. It's like you're asleep… You feel and hear everything around you. That’s when your inheritance awakens, it’s like fire running through your veins, burning you from the inside out…” he trailed off and I swallowed loudly, not knowing what else to say to that.
I nodded, sucking in a breath, mentally preparing myself for the next question. “How do you get blood..?” I whispered, biting down on my lower lip.
“Well…” he began, swallowing loudly. “Committed pureblood couples usually feed on each other, it’s one of the only times that blood sharing is allowed in Thirdworld…”
I frowned at his answer instantly. “It sounds like you’re not allowed to share blood?”
“We’re not,” he smiled at me and I wondered why. “Our blood is sacred and pure, kind of like holy blood so to speak, so it’s against our law to give it to someone that doesn’t belong to the same bloodline…”
“So…” I wondered, “blood sharing for purebloods is like what sex is - well supposed to be - for humans?” I frowned at him, trying to figure it out in my head, make sense of it somehow.
“Yeah… it’s kind of like that.”
“You know, you guys have a lot of laws,” I told him just as something snapped inside my head. He’d said that committed couples fed on each other, what happened to the uncommitted ones?
“I was hoping you wouldn’t pick up on that,” Eric sighed, locking his jaw. For a moment I just stared at him confused, and then it finally dawned on me. He’d read my mind. The son of a bitch, I hoped he heard that. “I did, and it’s not very nice, Jen.”
“Get out of my head, you peeping Tom. Sheesh, would you die from giving me privacy?” I snapped, slapping his arm.
“Sorry, but I need to know that you understand these things. I’ve never had to explain them before so I don’t know if I’m explaining it right or not,” he defended himself.
“So are you going to answer?”
“Do I have to?” My only response was a nod. “Well…” he started and his voice went up a notch. “We feed from our girlfriends… Well they're not exactly girlfriends… more like one night stands…” he trailed off and I felt my jaw drop.
It took me a minute to find my voice. “Eric,” I said carefully, remembering the very first conversation I’d had with Charde. “How many ex’s do you have?”
“Um,” he frowned, his eyes super glued to the road in front of us, “do I have to answer that?”
“Yes,” I almost shouted at him.
“A lot,” he muttered after a long while of staring ahead.
“Oh come on Eric, it’s not going to change anything. It’s not like I can dump you.”
“If it isn’t, why are you so interested in knowing?” he asked in a voice that was way too defensive.
“Because I just am. I mean… you wanted to know about Daren…” I trailed off. “So how many?”
“A lot” he said again.
“How much is a lot?” I pushed. “I’m not dropping this.”
“I… don’t know… I lost track,” he muttered almost silently. My jaw instantly dropped again and my eyes bugged out. He honestly couldn’t be serious. It took a minute for that to sink in.
“How much of them were serious? Like relationship wise?” I asked instead of asking the question I really wanted to.
“Um… none of them…” he cleared his throat.
I swallowed preparing myself for the question I should have asked first, the question I knew he was dreading. “Okay,” I nodded, “and how many of them have you had sex with?”
“What?” he squeaked instantly, his voice going up several notes and he’d gone paler than possible.
“You heard me.”
“…All…of them,” he muttered and I almost didn’t hear him.
“Are you kidding me?” I burst out shocked. Charde really wasn’t exaggerating. “Oh my God, Eric, what the fuck?”
“I was engaged to you,” he defended himself and my eyes bugged out again. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My hands went to my head as I tried to wrap my mind around this. I didn’t know which was hurting me more; that he’d had sex with so many girls that he couldn’t count, or that he did it because he was engaged to me.
“Just let me explain,” he said as I turned away from him staring at the trees passing us again. “I hadn’t known what you would be like. I didn’t know that I would love you, Jen. I thought that I was destined to marry someone I was going to hate, and I was having what I thought was fun while I could,” he explained.
I didn’t respond, I couldn’t. I was so close to tears that if I said anything I was going to cry. The silence dragged on seemingly never ending. It made the rest of the ride to wherever we were going awkward and tense. All the way I fought back the tears. I understood what he meant, but it still hurt like Hell.
About twenty minutes later, the road swerved and instead of the endless trees, a huge towering hedge rose up in front of us. A big old fashioned gate was directly in the middle, already slowly sliding open. This was the only building I could see, perfectly hidden around the trees.
Eric drove through the gate and we came up directly in front of a circular fountain. At the top of the fountain was a black widow spider with water pouring out of where its legs should be. As soon as we were in, the gate slowly began to close as Eric parked the car and then turned to face me. I could feel his eyes boring into my face and heating my skin. “Are you mad at me?” he whispered, his voice so low that it seemed to blend into the silence instead of shattering it.
Slowly I ripped my eyes away from the beautiful house in front of us and turned, facing him. “No,” I whispered back, shaking my head. “I’m not mad at you, I’m just,” I paused, frowning at myself. “I don’t know…” I sighed and turned away from him, about to open the door and get out of the car.
The second my fingers connected with the door, Eric’s hand was suddenly in front of me pinning me to the seat. “Stay,” he ordered in a firm voice, his eyes warning me not to disobey. At his touch, the heat in the car flared up, and suddenly the only thought in my mind was him and how very close he was. Before I could blink, he was standing at the other side of me. The car door was open and he was holding out a hand, waiting for me to take it. It took me a moment to get my heart out of my throat and then I took his hand, getting out of the car, looking around as he shut the door.
The place was amazing. Beautiful didn’t even begin to describe it. There were flowers everywhere, barely leaving enough room for the gravel path that led to the front door. I was beginning to realize that Eric was like a fairy tale, or at least the places he took me to were.
“Where are we?” I asked as he wrapped his hand around my waist and began leading me to the front door.
He opened the door and pulled me into a bright room. Amber lights hung from the ceiling and walls making the room feel homey and warm. As far as I could tell the entire house was made ofwood. The walls and floors were a dark brown wooden color that seemed to sparkle in the light. Looking down I could make out my reflection in it. Everything was bright and almost dreamlike - it was so beautiful that it didn't feel real to me. In my head, I was having a hard time convincing myself that it all was. “This is the family’s lake house. Would you like to eat first?”
I shook my head. “Eric,” I said, fully turning to face him. “I would have been happy with a simple movie and a big bucket of popcorn with a shitload of butter,” I said. “All of this,” I gestured to the house, “is unnecessary and you didn’t have to do any of it,” I paused for a second staring up at his face, wondering. “You know that, right?”
“I know,” he said and a smi
le spread across his face as he walked over to a door that was right under a huge staircase and got out two thick, heavy coats. I opened my mouth to ask what they were for, the sun was out and the place was warm. Before I could, he cut me off. “Jen, you’re one of those girls that likes simple things, and really unhealthy food,” he chuckled as he grabbed my hand and began leading me through the house. “But you deserve to be fussed over. I’m only giving you what you deserve…” he grinned excitedly, pushing a door open to reveal what I assumed was the back of the house - he was blocking so I couldn't see anything but his back.
Just as I thought that, air whipped around me and somehow Eric was now standing behind me, his front pressing up to my back and his hands covering my eyes. “Eric,” I began, raising my hand to my face.
“Just… trust me, Jen,” he breathed out and after a long hesitant minute, I dropped my hand. Seconds later I felt myself moving forward.
The walk was slow. Not once had Eric let me walk into something or fall. I hadn’t even stumbled. Then finally, after what felt like we’d been walking forever, we stopped. “I’m going to move my hands now, but you have to keep your eyes closed, okay?” I swallowed, nodding. “No peeking,” he warned, slowly removing his hands away from my face. I kept my eyes shut.
My heart was pounding in my chest, and at my sides, I felt my hands shaking. My stomach was in knots. I could barely think straight. In my short life, never have I ever been this nervous. I felt like I was a debuting performer about to go on stage. It was a heart-wrenching feeling to the point where I could almost feel physical pain circling my chest and stomach.
I felt Eric’s hand wrap around my waist from behind me and I jumped at the unexpected contact. Then I felt his head rest on my shoulder, making the knots in my stomach pull tighter than I would have thought possible. I opened my mouth to ask him what was happening but somehow my voice had vanished. Seconds later Eric and I started moving again. Only this time I wasn’t walking anymore. Instead it was like I was sliding. The movement felt out of control and I didn’t like it. Despite still feeling the warm afternoon sun on my skin, cold air whipped past me, and against it I shivered. Eric must have felt it because he instantly tightened his arms around my waist pulling me closer.
“Open your eyes, Jen,” Eric whispered in my ear, and hesitantly I did, blinking against the brightness. When my eyes finally adjusted, I sucked in cool air, completely and utterly amazed at what I was seeing.
This couldn’t be real. Things like this weren’t possible, at least not in my world. Eric and I were standing in the middle of a huge lake that had somehow been frozen solid. Around us were giant trees standing tall and protective around the lake. I literally couldn’t speak. My voice had either shut down or gotten lost in the amazement, and for a long moment all I could do was stare at the heavenly sight around me. Then finally after I had found my voice, I turned to Eric, gaping.
“Eric…” I began but didn’t know how to continue. I decided to try again. “How… What…? Oh my God…” I shook my head, turning to face him, commanding my voice to work.
“Perks of knowing a few witches,” he explained grinning.
“Eric,” I whispered looking up at his face. “This is amazing,” I laughed and began turning around gesturing to the frozen lake under us. “I love-” suddenly my foot slipped and I was instantly falling, which made me annoyed with myself. I had just been given the most amazing, romantic date of what was sure to be my life, and I was going to start bleeding all over it.
I never hit the ground though, and not knowing when I’d closed my eyes, I opened them to find myself staring into Eric’s eyes. He was holding me up, midair, like the first time we’d met at my school.
My heart began pumping harder and faster in my chest, as the almost painful, nerve racking feeling jumping around inside me came back. Eric’s eyes glowed blue abruptly, and I could tell that he was feeling the same thing I was. The same thoughts were going through his head.
I didn’t know how much longer I could fight this feeling, this lust and desire for him. Eric only had to walk into the same room with me and I wanted to jump him. Whenever he touched me, or I breathed in his scent, my brain cells fried and I couldn’t think clearly. I couldn’t focus on anything else but him or satisfying the desire coursing through my veins. I didn’t think I could fight this feeling any longer, it was becoming too hard and too painful.
“Neither can I,” he answered my unspoken thoughts, his warm breath washing over my face. That was my undoing. I raised my hand and gently touched his face. My fingers ran along his perfectly sculpted jaw line, so gently it was almost as if I wasn’t touching him at all. My body was acting without thought, and I felt myself pull his face down to mine. The moment our lips met, fire heated my soul, pulling me away from this world and shoving me into another that belonged only to Eric and I.
He tried pulling us up without breaking the kiss and then once again I was falling. This time I hit the ice with a thud, but it didn’t hurt as I thought it would. Confused, I opened my eyes and found that Eric had broken my fall. I was halfway on top of him and halfway tangled up with his arms and legs.
“Oh God,” Eric huffed out, pained. “Jen, you elbowed me,” he groaned lying flat out on the ice.
“Wasn’t that bad,” I muttered, untangling myself from him, sitting at his side.
“That’s because I fell first and you conveniently landed on top of me,” he groaned yet smiling.
“Are you okay?” I asked, staring down at his face. He let out a breath and raised a hand, giving me thumbs up.
“Good,” I said getting up off the ice. “Now can we migrate because I’m freezing my butt off,” I laughed, standing up above him. He stretched out a hand to me and I instantly took it, pulling him up.
“Sorry,” he murmured gathering up the coats. “I forgot about that.” Eric then held out one of the coat to me. After I had shrugged it on, he pulled out a pair of white gloves from the pockets of his coat and without asking if I wanted them, took my hand and began putting them on me.
After they were on, he opened his coat and I realized that it wasn’t a coat. Instead there were more articles of clothing meant to keep me warm. Some minutes later , after I was all bundled up in thick, warm clothing Eric suddenly vanished in one of his flash movement. A second later, he materialized behind me, almost scaring me to death. I would never get used to him doing that.
Eric stooped down, taking my foot in his hand, replacing my shoes with skates, one at a time. When he was finished, he put on his own skates and then he was slowly pulling me along.
“Aren’t you cold?” I asked, gripping onto him for life. “Do you get cold?”
“Yes we do, well purebloods do… but it takes a lot more than this…” he trailed off, making a move to release me.
“Don’t you dare let go of me, Eric,” I warned.
A dazzling smile flashed across his face as he released me sliding away. “You can do it, Jen.”
I shut my eyes and pushed myself to move towards Eric. Surprisingly I didn’t fall. I found myself smoothly gliding towards him. “Oh my God,” I cheered excitedly, clapping my hands. “I’m not falling, Eric,” I giggled, “I’m actually really doing it!”
“I knew you could,” he chuckled unsurprisedly, skating up to me and wrapping his arms around me. We stayed on the ice for a little while longer, but then I got hungry and he led me back towards the house. We didn’t go inside, instead he led me to the back of the deck, towards the smallest table at the end.
During our meal Eric asked me what must be thousands of questions. He wanted to know about things I liked or hated. The music I listened to. He asked about the things I’d done and the books I’d read. But mostly, he was curious about the people in my life. My friends back in Trinidad and the life I had there. My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when he mentioned Kris.
When we were finished eating, Eric took me back to the lake. We skated for a long while after the sun had gone d
own and stars had started blinking in the sky. Hours had drifted past us before we knew it.
I couldn’t remember having so much fun, ever. I spent most of the time giggling and laughing it seemed. The evening was perfect and I was glad that Eric had done it for me. I would never admit this to him, but I was happy he’d tricked me into coming on this date with him.
We didn’t get back late, which was surprising, but when we did I was beat. As soon as I got back, I changed into one of Eric’s shirts and shorts, and curled up on the couch in front the TV. I turned it on and began flipping through the channels, not really looking at anything, but hating the silence of the big house.
Eric dropped down on the couch, a moment later staring at me. “I’m glad you had fun, Jen,” he smiled.
I scooted closer to him, draping my arms over his chest. “Did you have fun?” I asked.
He took my hand and kissed it, smiling. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off me. “Of course,” he smiled, pulling me closer to him. I didn’t protest, instead I went along with it, placing my head just where his shoulder and arm met. He smiled down at me, kissing my forehead, hugging me closer to him. “How could I not?”
“I’m glad you had fun too, Eric,” I smiled back. A silent moment passed us and then I said, “Tell me something about you that no one else knows.”
“I will if you will,” he chuckled amused. I nodded and then he sighed, thinking. “I get scared a lot now... for you that is… When we’re not together I worry about you. I wonder if you’re okay… Sometimes on mornings, when I wake up and I can’t find you, I start to panic… I think that somehow they’ve found you…” he trailed off. I didn’t have to ask who ‘they’ were. It wasn’t easy to forget an entire species wanted you dead.
“But then I would sense you, your smell… your light footsteps. I would hear you singing to yourself,” he chuckled lightly, “and I would know you're safe.”