The Embrace

by Jessica Callaghan

  Gabriel kicked the limp body of the alcoholic into the lift and the two of us ran rapidly up the stairs, Gabriel leading while I dragged the prostitute behind me.

  We reached the right floor, second from the top of this huge apartment block. The door was made of grey stone, with flecks of glittering dotted amongst it, while the peephole and doorknob were made out of a golden material like the lift.

  As we reached the door Gabriel pulled the key card out. Within seconds we entered our new apartment for the first time, pulling the prostitute with us. We didn’t even have time to look around. There was a fresh victim in the room, and we had blood to drain.

  The red curtain of hunger descended again as Gabriel surveyed the room. I was too absorbed in the deafening sound of this girl’s beating heart o take any notice. I pushed her down until she hit the black tiled floor with a thud.

  I picked up her quivering arm and saw a large cut running down her wrist, blood just beginning to trickle down her forearm. The girl looked straight at me, locking on to my gaze, and I saw her eyes fill with tears as the trance wore off and she finally felt the sting from her cut.

  Her pain was positively ravishing.

  Gabriel was the first to taste her. He took her arm and licked the blood away from the wound, using our healing properties to seal the open gash. I saw the ecstasy on his face and I knew my first kill in the new city would be a satisfying one.

  “You have to taste her.” Gabriel whispered before he bit into the girl’s wrist, the spot he always favoured when draining his victims.

  The strength of the red thirst was growing and I knew I had to drink soon. I leaned down and stroked the hair out of her face as Gabriel so often did to me. She was whimpering but when I touched her face she seemed to calm. Her body became still and she stopped making those pathetic noises.

  “She responds well to you.” Gabriel told me.

  I nodded, noticing how quickly she calmed down when I touched her. Maybe I did have the great potential Gabriel had suggested, the ability to influence humans more strongly than most newly created vampires.

  I took the girl’s left wrist and bit in to the raised veins as Gabriel resumed his position on her right arm. Her blood came thick and fast in a desperate exodus from her doomed body. The fluid ran more quickly than most victims, gushing forward and hitting my fangs in a glorious flood.

  Gabriel and I lingered on our chosen spots, draining the girl in what seemed like seconds. I could feel her heartbeat slowing the longer we spent on our meal.

  We could spend hours with this girl, intoxicating ourselves with the metallic blood that flowed through her. The taste was sharp and powerful, just what we needed to start our new life together.

  I found it fascinating how different each victim seemed to be, each with their own taste and a unique effect on the vampire who fed on them. This difference was all part of the exploration of a new vampire, the excitement of finding the perfect victim.

  It was just how I imagined a drug addict would feel. You would taste the kind of blood that seemed perfect, and then you would spend every waking moment trying to emulate this effect until you finally realised you couldn’t recapture it. That’s when you moved on to a new kind of victim, beginning the cycle again in vain.

  After a few hours of draining it seemed obvious that this girl was dead. Her heartbeat had stopped and I could no longer see the jagged rise and fall of her chest as she tried to cling to life.

  Gabriel turned to me and kissed me forcefully on the lips, as he liked to do after a particularly successful kill. He always experienced the full force of his lust straight after a kill and this had certainly been a strong victim.

  It was then that I realised I hadn’t even looked around our apartment. It was our new home and I hadn’t even seen it.

  Gabriel picked the dead prostitute up from the floor and threw her over his shoulder.

  “I’m going to get rid of her.” He said, kissing me on the cheek with a gentle love that replaced his previous lust.

  Gabriel left the apartment and I decided to take a look around our new home. The room we had used for our first city kill was an expansive living room. There was a black leather sofa in the centre, resting at the perfect position to see the huge plasma TV set on the wall. This would be of no use to us. I hadn’t watched television at all since my death five months before.

  There were expensive gold throws lining the sofa and I was beginning to sense a colour scheme. The black tiles glinted on the floor, perfectly complimenting the golden accessories and furnishings. The side of the room was made with darkened glass, probably the expansive window we had seen from outside. Gabriel and I couldn’t sleep in this room unless we wanted to face an untimely death at sunrise.

  I toured the rest of the apartment. The bathroom followed the theme with a claw foot tub and black, glittering tiles. The bedroom was just as beautiful, complete with a double bed and silky black sheets. There was a desk in the corner with delicate writing instruments and an expansive wardrobe which would suit me well.

  The whole apartment dripped luxury from its very walls. As I let myself wander from room to room I felt a soft buzz, signalling the vitality captured by the walls of these rooms. Gabriel and I had stumbled upon the perfect home.

  I returned to the living room to find Gabriel sprawled on the sofa. He was reclining like the master of a grand home, waiting for his mistress to return. I curled myself up in his arms, stroking his skin and letting myself relax. His body folded around mine as he held me close. I hadn’t felt such an affinity with him in weeks.

  As I felt my body loosen my mind returned to those three glorious months we had shared at the peak of our happiness. We had often fallen asleep holding one another, with peaceful minds and full veins, and now we had finally recaptured that contentment. I felt as if this city was already shaping up to be the start of a beautiful new beginning for us.

  Eventually I felt that unnerving, prickling feeling that is the first signal of the approaching sun. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I knew we had to find shelter from the large glass panels lining this room.

  I turned around to face Gabriel, rubbing his cheeks with my knuckles to gently rouse him. His beautiful eyes fluttered open.

  “The sun’s coming up” I whispered. “We have to take cover.”

  Gabriel nodded and led me to our new bedroom. There was one large window but it took us only moments to make the room sunlight tight. We had strong blackout sheets and our strength made it easy for us to attach the sheets to the window.

  We managed to secure the room just before sunlight and for the first night we curled up on the soft black sheets and fell asleep together with a renewed sense of optimism.

  Chapter 13When I awoke the next night it took me a few seconds to realise where I was, but eventually I felt the silky sheets and remembered the night before. We were in our brand new nest.

  My clothing selection was crippled as I had been forced to leave most of my beautiful garments behind. I put on the outfit from the night before and mentally planned the items I had to buy.

  Gabriel had stolen the wallet of the older man from the night before and he had left the two of us quite a handsome legacy. Of course the prostitute had quite a large sum in her handbag, probably after being paid for her night’s services. It meant we had a substantial amount of money to play with.

  Gabriel and I left the apartment to start the hunt, locking the doors behind us as we left. Outwardly we seemed like the perfect newlywed couple, and to our neighbours we would be nothing more than a loved up duo who had moved in without much fanfare.

  We took the stairs down to the foyer to begin our hunt. As we reached the bottom we found quite a scene.

  The lift was out of bounds with huge banners criss crossing the entrance, emblazoned with the warning: Police Line, Do Not Cross. There were blood stains on the floor but no bodies and no officers. A crowd of nosy neighbours had gathered around the scene, chatting with low voices
at the scandal that had hit this normally high class building.

  Gabe and I knew what this was all about: the people found in this lift were our victims. I wondered why he had chosen to leave the bodies out in the open, but I didn’t question him. He had been a vampire a hell of a lot longer than me and I knew he was far more knowledgeable than I was about these things.

  I raised my eyebrows at Gabriel, silently asking for his approval to approach the throng around the crime scene, and he gave a slight nod.

  I walked up to a plump woman at the back. She was wearing head to toe designer with an Armani handbag draped over her arm. Her plump face was frozen in a state of shock, tinged with an undercurrent of disapproval. She obviously didn’t like the fact that the reputation of her building had been tainted by a murder.

  I tried to mimic her expression to get some common ground between the two of us. Human emotions are difficult to fake for someone like me, but I was happy with my mask.

  “What on earth happened here?” I asked her.

  She shook her head, ready to engage in the sanctimonious neighbour routine.

  “Well, there has been a murder. It’s positively shameful. This building is meant to be the most exclusive in the whole city and I just cannot believe it.” She carried on with her furious act. “It was some escort who died. Some...prostitute.” She said the final word in a whisper, as if just uttering it aloud linked her to this woman of ill repute. “She was stabbed, bled to death the poor dear. Police took her away early this morning. Oh and as if that’s not bad enough, the lift will be out of operation for at least the next week! Goodness sake...”

  I shook my head again, hiding my secret delight at getting away with this girl’s murder. I made a show of checking my watch and sighing heavily.

  “Well, I think it’s just terrible. I’ve only been in this building a few weeks and I’m already regretting moving here. Oh well, I better go but it was lovely talking to you.”

  I smiled at this plump old woman and she smiled back, but I immediately sensed a wave of contempt when she took in my outfit. She was thinking my morals were just as loose as the dead girl’s. She thought I might be the next to die if I carried on in such a shameful manner.

  I rejoined Gabriel and we left the apartment building quickly.

  “Did you feel that? God, she hated me.” I chuckled, feeling nothing but relief.

  Gabriel smiled back at me. It felt good to see him smile so often these days. “So you left the girl there. What did you do with the man?” I asked.

  Gabriel took a more serious tone. “The girl doesn’t matter but the man would create too many questions. The police would start poking around his apartment, our apartment. I couldn’t risk it. You’ll learn to make the call one day.”

  I nodded at him, pleased that he was teaching me something. They may have annoyed me at first but I had started to miss Gabriel’s lessons.

  Gabriel and I walked into the nearest shopping area, ready to take full advantage of the weekly late night shopping. We spent a couple of hours in this area, splashing our cash on brand new outfits.

  The first shop we came to catered for women and specialised in one of a kind dresses, perfect for dinner dates and parties. The shop assistant was a young man fresh out of school, no more than 17 or 18 years old. He helped me to pick out several outfits, each more beautiful and expensive than the last. I could feel him growing enamoured with me as the spending session went on.

  I caught him glancing at me several times throughout my visit. I could hear his heart speeding up as he tried to hide his crush. His intense desire was flattering. I loved feeling as if my victims were infatuated by me and this youth’s love was already at it’s peak with no effort on my part.

  I played on his crush, laughing at his jokes and letting my hand linger on his arm. Gabriel waited at the shoe area on one of the comfy padded seats, but he could see me flirting the whole time.

  I sensed no animosity from him. I knew he was interested in observing my behaviour. I would have stopped if I had sensed Gabriel was uncomfortable, but he watched my flirting like an experiment, so I carried on.

  Eventually I secured several new outfits to fill my bare wardrobe, all to be delivered to the apartment by my doting follower, and I left the shop wearing a flashy red dress in a pencil skirt style. It pinched in all the right places, and I could sense the young shop assistant’s heart racing.

  I walked out of the shop hand in hand with Gabriel, flaunting my love in this youth’s face to increase his jealousy. I felt on top of the world with so much attention on me. I had come to realise that I thrived on a man’s desire for me, and now I was desperate to satisfy the hunger.

  We spent the rest of the night choosing our victims. With the ever decreasing hours of night we had to become quicker and stealthier about hunting. I was used to taking my time selecting victims, but now I had to take more risks. Taking risks had never worked out well for me before.

  I let Gabriel choose the victim to save time. He was far more efficient and skilful with this kind of thing, so it was much easier to let him work alone.

  We found a young couple leaving a quaint French restaurant and managed to corner them as they walked to the taxi rank.

  The whole kill lacked the excitement and flair of our usual attempts, but the two victims were in the prime of life and their blood was enough. My physical hunger was eased and so I had no reason to complain.

  After feeding, we returned to the apartment. I felt at home in this new place. Just walking past the lift, the scene of our first kill in the city, reignited my sense of purpose.

  When we reached the apartment I put my clothes away in the new wardrobe (the shop assistant had delivered them that very night despite my obvious snub of his feelings) while Gabriel reclined on our new bed, reading one of his precious books.

  As I finished I took a moment to look at him. He was certainly beautiful, to both humans and vampires. His hair was soft and downy, framing his face perfectly. His lips were full yet not too large and I knew that when he opened his mouth it formed a perfect smile.

  His sharp, expressive eyes were focused on the book, scanning the page at full speed. He was obviously engrossed in the story and I recognised a look of concentration I often saw when he was searching for his victims. I read the front and saw a flurry of Spanish words.

  I laughed softly to make my presence known, although I suspected he had known I was there all along. After all his senses were far stronger than mine.

  I had changed into one of the soft flannel shirts I found in the closet, probably something once owned by the man we killed. I didn’t recognise the scent so I assumed it was his.

  I moved over to the bed and kissed Gabriel, turning on all my feminine charm. He dropped his book on the bed and returned my kiss.

  Our relationship had seemed a little distant in the weeks preceding our move to London, as we chose to spend most of the night hunting. To be perfectly honest I had been glad about this distance. Ever since I experienced Gabriel’s display of compulsion I had been slightly unsettled around him, and I didn’t think I could hide this unease during more intimate moments.

  I had been struggling with the secret of my close shave, the sloppy killing of Ben, as well as the vampire who had been watching me. I worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep all of these secrets under control if I let my guard down around him.

  Now I felt as if the heavy burdens hanging over me had disintegrated. I was happy to be so close to Gabriel again. I hadn’t imagined just how positive this new home could be for us.

  I picked his book up from it’s spot on the sheets.

  “Your book looks...interesting.” I said. “Spanish, right? You know you never told me about when you were in South America. What happened over there?”

  Gabriel’s face took on a more serious expression. I could sense this topic was a no go area. I knew almost nothing about Gabriel’s past, and it didn’t seem like I was going to find out any more that night.r />
  Gabriel pulled me on top of him and kissed me with more force. I did in some part want to know about Gabriel’s past but at that moment I wanted nothing more than to let myself relax with him. In a matter of seconds I forgot my questions and let myself enjoy being in his arms. We spent the last moments of that night together, enjoying our desire for one another.

  Gabriel’s kisses were perfection. We fell asleep together after our night together, wrapped around each other as if our bodies were created just to be in that position. I felt as if Gabriel and I were each part of an intricate puzzle and I had finally found the piece that would fit with me perfectly.

  We slept side by side in that bed for the second night. I was already beginning to let go of all the baggage from my old home and my old life. As Gabriel went to sleep I could feel the details of my worries becoming more hazy. Finally my happiness was clouding over all my doubts.

  Despite this happiness, as I closed my eyes that night, just at the point of sleep, I felt that strange feeling again. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt as if somewhere, somehow, someone was watching me. They couldn’t be in the apartment but someone out there was thinking about me so strongly that I could feel their presence as if they were in the room.

  I knew it was the vampire who had been watching me weeks ago. I don’t know how I knew, but it felt as if he had imprinted his presence in my brain. I had moved across the country, but it didn’t matter. He was following me.

  **

  Our life in London slipped back in to a comfortable routine. It wasn’t in the repressive way that my former home had established, it was as if both of us felt at peace in this big city. A vampire should never be cooped up or made to feel imprisoned, it goes against our nature. I would come to learn that a vampire’s taste in nests is as different as their taste in victims. Some enjoyed the freedom that came with a hom in more remote places, but I was always attracted to the life contained within a large city.

  Our home was beautiful and it seemed like every night I found something new that I liked about it. I would find a hidden ornament and fall in love all over again. Gabriel was not as interested in the little aesthetic details as me. He found pleasure in the general atmosphere of the place, and he loved to travel the building and chat to the people he ran in to. Gabriel was an artist when it came to the kill and deception was his forte. He found great enjoyment in convincing people he was a new neighbour, making the women fall for him and the men admire him.