Turning Point

by K M Smith

  Stunned by her outburst, Adam drew back as she launched herself off the bench to run away. Sensing what was about to happen, he rushed to catch her as she tripped over a bleacher seat that had caught her foot during her attempted escape. He appeared in front of her, and she crashed into his chest nearly causing the pair to tumble down the bleachers. Not so fast! Adam thought, and leaned into her to keep them upright. This night was not ending at all how he had planned it. It was supposed to be a little fun and a snack at the fraternities, and then home by sunrise. Nothing fancy. Now? Now he found himself in the middle of a full-blown crisis of the mind with his human offspring. Daughter didn’t seem like the right word, but in a way, she was. He knew it from the beginning. There had been no doubt in his mind throughout the years, but this episode confirmed it.

  Alice beat her fists against Adam’s chest as he held her. Turning his head to keep from being punched in the face, his upper body bore the brunt of her anger. She was understandably frustrated. Trying to calm her, he spoke her name again. “Alice, please, settle down. Let me help you.”

  She pushed at him. Her arms weren’t strong enough to make him move, but Adam thought if he let her feel strong, she may come out of her hysterics. Loosening his grip, he let her push herself out of his arms so that both her feet returned to the bleachers. She attempted to run off again, but Adam grabbed her wrist.

  “Please, don’t hurt me! Please! Oh god.” She tugged her arm away from Adam and struggled against his grip. When it was evident she wasn’t getting away, she curled her body into herself, self-preservation instinct kicking in. Still, Adam made no move to hurt her.

  “Look at me, Alice. I’m not going to hurt you. Just, look at me. You’ll feel better if you just look at me!” He wanted to charm her, calm her down, help her forget any of this night had ever happened.

  “No way! Uh uh.” She kept her head low and refused to look up. “The last time I looked at you, I saw Hell.”

  “I know. I know you did. I saw…something unexpected, too. I’m not going to hurt you. Please, try to relax.” Tension buzzed through Adam as he closed his eyes and listened for any signs they’d been followed across campus. Alice’s voice would’ve carried, no matter how remote their current location. She needed to stop screaming. Running from the police, or from anyone, was not his usual method of operation, but this situation demanded finesse and a distinct lack of human authorities.

  “Relax?” she yelled. “How can I relax? I don’t know how I got here. Or who you are. Or, frankly, what you are! No, I don’t think I’ll be relaxing any time soon.” Her voice reflected her turmoil. Again, she struggled to break out of his grip.

  “Alice,” Adam put every ounce of soothing charm he had into his voice, willing her to be charmed simply by proximity. “If you stay still, I’ll let go of your wrist. If you run away, I’ll be forced to grab you again. I won’t ever get tired, and you won’t get away. I don’t want to keep you, and I will not hurt you, but I can’t let you leave without making sure you’re okay.”

  Alice’s wrists went limp in his hands. “How do you know my name?” She blew the hair out of her face with a sharp breath and shook her head to get the rest of it to tumble down her back and away from her face. “I-I never told you my name. How do you know my name?” She glanced up and made the mistake of looking in his eyes. It was only for a split second, but that was all it took.

  ‘Stay calm,’ Adam thought at Alice. He pushed the thought into her mind, and he accompanied it with wave after wave of calming air swirling around and caressing her face.

  Alice’s eyes went soft and dewy. She wasn’t focused on him, but she was looking in his direction. Confident his attempt at telepathy had finally worked, he stood still while she worked through it on her own.

  ‘I can’t,’ Alice replied telepathically.

  Adam’s shoulders relaxed. If telepathy worked, this whole situation would be much easier to manage. He could explain things—he could try to explain things. Where to begin?

  Suddenly, Alice cried out, “Oh god!” She clamped her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide and her body tensing up again.

  ‘It’s okay. You’re okay. Just stay calm.’ Adam projected his thought out to her again. Even though she was tense, she struggled less, and a connection had been forged. He kept throwing calming winds in her direction. Her posture eased a little, and Adam thought at her again, ‘I’m going to let go now. Please, don’t run off.’ Using telepathy calmed her. Focusing all his attention on her, he hoped it would be enough to convince her to stay. Slowly, he released his grip, and Alice let her hands fall to her sides.

  ‘Good,’ Adam said in her mind. ‘I’m going to talk out loud now, okay?’ He kept his eyes on her face looking for any sign that Alice might be willing to comply. If she would listen—to what, he didn’t know, exactly—he could figure out a way to make things manageable for both of them. “Are you okay?” he asked.

  Alice nodded and sniffed. She wiped her nose with the sleeve of her shirt. She wouldn’t meet his eyes, but she didn’t try to run off. When Adam first saw her on those cushions, she seemed so strong, so confident. Now, she radiated confusion and pain. Pushing the hair off her face, she tucked a stray strand behind her ear then cleared her throat before speaking. “Who are you?” she asked, and the air around her crackled and fizzed.

  Colors bloomed and popped in sparks around Alice’s head and swirled their way toward him. Alice tensed at the changes in the air as well. Was she creating this? Was he? Perhaps it was some combination of their energies. Regardless, it was the most beautiful sight he’d seen in decades.

  Ignoring the beautiful storm between them, he searched her face for some level of understanding, an even keel. The next few words would change her life forever. They already had changed her life, she just didn’t know it yet. “My name is Adam, and I’m a vampire.”

  Alice laughed. Very loudly. She threw her arms up, signaling her disbelief and turned to walk down the bleachers. The word vampire apparently had provided the solvent she needed for her feet to become unstuck. “Okay, I’m outta here.” She was still laughing, though there was no humor to any of it.

  ‘Wait. Alice, if I’m not a vampire, explain tonight’s events to me. Give me a rational, reasonable, human explanation.’ He paused, watching her reaction. She kept going, but hesitated. ‘I’ll wait.’ He stood still with his arms crossed over his impeccably clean t-shirt.

  Alice stopped on the bottom step and turned around. She tilted her head and looked up at him, avoiding his eyes. Popping her hip out, she rested her hand on it while wrapping the other arm around her middle. “I can’t,” she said as an explanation.

  Adam leaned toward her as she spoke, sending out waves of interest. “I don’t know,” she squawked. “It’s late? I’ve been drinking?” Her voice went up an octave at the end of each question. Adam didn’t need to be supernatural to know she wasn’t convincing herself. She hadn’t been drinking, actually; there was no alcohol smell coming from her, aside from residual fumes on her clothes that lingered in the cotton from being in the same room with drunken co-eds. Alice snapped her head back around to face Adam, still avoiding eye contact, “I’ve really gotta go. My friend needs me to walk her home.”

  “Give me two minutes, and I’ll take you back and help you with your friend.”

  “I don’t need any help. I’m going. Now.”

  Dammit. “Please, Alice. Just listen.”

  She turned and walked along the bottom step toward the exit to the stands. He couldn’t let her leave, not without explaining things to her or at least not without charming her. Vampire 101 dictates that you never let them leave alive if they remember you. There were many rules that Adam was willing to break, but that was a pretty smart one. He had no intention of breaking it. The problem was he didn’t think she’d trust him enough to look at him, and he wasn’t certain he could charm her anyway. This could pan out in so many directions, none of them good. Deciding to go big, he called out, “
I saved your mom the night of her accident.”

  That got through. Alice stopped in her tracks and gripped the metal railing. She started shaking again, but her next movements were measured and deliberate. She tugged on her sleeves, one at a time, to pull them down to cover her hands as she slowly turned around to face him. This time, she looked him in the eyes. Adam saw pain and anguish. Ashamed, he looked away knowing his strategy had worked.

  Adam stepped down the bleachers to meet her. Alice’s eyes welled up, but she didn’t move away from him. Strong currents of electricity surged out from her forming an invisible barrier around her body that Adam could feel. As a tear rolled over her lower eyelid, he reached out to wipe at her cheek.

  The electric shield around her sparked, and Alice faced him with a steely stare. “Don’t. Don’t touch me. Ever.”

  Stunned, Adam brought his hand back and shook his head, “Of course. No, of course, I’m sorry. I was just—”

  “What do you know about my mom’s accident?” Alice narrowed her eyes and wiped the tears from her cheeks.

  Adam searched her face. How much could he tell her without sending her away screaming? The vampire cat was already out of the supernatural bag, so why stop now?

  “Alice, I was there. She’s alive—you’re alive—because of me.”

  “Oh good, a hero complex as well as fantastical delusions.” Exasperated, she turned her head away.

  A small smile crept on to Adam’s face then. ‘Just call me Batman,’ he thought at her.

  “Stop doing that! I don’t know how you’re doing that, or what kind of tricks you’re trying to play, but they’re not funny! None of this is funny! Now if you don’t let me leave, I will scream and go directly to the police.”

  ‘Okay,’ he thought, again his voice invading her mind. ‘I guess you’ve never wondered why she didn’t bleed out that night, or how the ambulance knew to be there for her. That’s fine. You’ve got it all figured out. You may as well go.’ Going big had hooked her, reverse psychology would keep her.

  “You were there?” Alice shifted her weight back and wrapped her arm around her middle. “What did you do? Nobody has ever been able to explain why my mom didn’t bleed to death. The doctors said it was because it was so cold that her body shut down, kind of like how people can survive in frozen water for much longer than they should be able to.” Something had clicked, and once her brain had switched gears, she could barely get the words out fast enough. She leaned toward Adam, gesticulating as she spoke. “No one has ever supported me in trying to figure this out. I’ve always been told to leave well enough alone. And now, you come here and start talking about vampires and superheroes. Please, enlighten me.” She raised her eyebrows as a challenge, daring Adam to add to this narrative of hers in a meaningful way. And he would, even though she obviously wasn’t buying it. Yet.

  “I was there,” he began, crossing his arms over his chest and letting out a long, slow breath. “I saw the whole thing happen. I went to her, and I called EMS. I tried to stay out of it, but if I hadn’t intervened, she would’ve died. She’d already lost so much blood.” Adam shook his head, thinking back to the night in question and trying not to get caught up in the reverie.

  “How did you save her?”

  ‘I think you know.’

  Alice’s eyes went wide with realization. “Blood? You gave her your blood? But, but that’s not how it works. People don’t drink blood to replace their blood. That, that’s not medical science! That’s science fiction! No, not even—that’s fantasy!” She paced as she spoke.

  Adam let her say her piece. He tried to be understanding, but it had been many years since his world view had changed so dramatically. She acted absolutely sure in her knowledge of science and the way things worked, and he wished that were the case. If ever there was a double-edged sword, it was immortality. You live forever, you never have to wonder what lies beyond the great beyond, but your loved ones, your friends, your homes—they all die or disintegrate eventually. So, there he stood in front of her, undead, not actually breathing, but still existing on this plane, and she would have to come to terms with that eventually.

  “That’s what happened,” Adam whispered, not wanting to spook her more. “You know. You know in your heart that I’m telling the truth. What reason would I possibly have to lie? Why would I bring you out here? If I didn’t want you to know who or what I was, I could’ve just ki—” Adam stopped abruptly at Alice’s reaction to his near slip. He cleared his throat then continued. “Anyway, I’m not lying. And I’m not going to hurt you. But I do need you to believe me.”

  Alice put her hand up to her forehead and grabbed at her hair. “This is too much. I can’t. I don’t know what to say, what to think.” Nervous energy propelled her as she walked down the steps to exit the bleachers. Adam watched her closely as the gears turned and connections were made. “None of this is making sense. What am I supposed to do with this information?” She stopped short and turned around to find Adam right behind her. He had been staying close by as she walked and was unprepared when she stopped so suddenly. She flinched at his proximity but kept talking; a development Adam appreciated. “What happened earlier? You said you felt something, too?” Alice cocked her head and rested her hand on the railing, waiting for his reply.

  “I don’t know. Really. And, yes, I did. I saw snippets of your life. Things that I would have no way of knowing about. Things you’ve never told anyone, much less a stranger.”

  “Is that what I saw? Glimpses of your life?” She started walking again, a look of disgust masking her face. “But there was so much blood. And death. And gore. And awful, creepy music. And strange costumes.” She stopped again and turned around. This time Adam was ready and stopped several steps back. “Why was there so much blood? And what’s with those costumes? Humongous wigs, dresses with ridiculously wide hoop skirts, and corsets that no woman would be able to breathe in. But, mostly, there was blood.” She looked into his eyes again and held her gaze. She blinked slowly, her eyes red and her skin raw from crying.

  Adam looked her over. She radiated exhaustion and confusion, fear and sadness. He couldn’t go through this for her, he had to wait for her to get through it herself. As she stood there ragged and drained, Adam thought he saw a glimmer in her eye. A tiny little spark of realization. Like a match that has been struck in total darkness, it illuminated only the objects closest to it, but flickered on the rest, casting macabre and distorted shadows in her mind that paraded across her face.

  Alice’s face twisted in anguish, she grabbed at her stomach, and bent over making retching sounds, but nothing came up.

  Come on, Alice. You can get through this. Unable to do anything, Adam watched as she physically processed everything she was thinking. Alice stayed bent over with her hands on her knees for several moments, breathing slowly, then promptly stood up and wiped the back of her hand across her face. She cleared her throat and pushed her hair back, a new strength beginning to show. “That blood, you…drank it? Why?”

  Adam did not want to hurt her—not now, not ever—but he needed her to believe him. The best way to do that would be to show her who he really was. Forcing his fangs to drop, he closed his eyes to slits before thrusting out a small hiss in her direction. As he hissed, the air surrounding them both crackled with electricity. He drew on his powers to grab snow and force it up from the ground so that it swirled and stung Alice in the face. He raced over to her with vampire speed and grabbed her in his arms. Cradling her like a victim, he forced her to expose her neck to him. With a low growl, he lunged for her throat.

  Alice screamed and thrashed, tightening every muscle in her body. Adam held her close and tightened his grip on her. She was afraid and going through hell, but it had to be this way. Alice sobbed as Adam held her. She struggled to get away, and Adam had the fleeting thought that in her fear her body continued to lure the predator in by reacting the way it was instinctively programmed to do. He’d never thought about that before, ne
ver taken a philosophical look at the situation as he was involved in it, but it was different with Alice. Everything was different with Alice. After a moment, she stopped actively struggling but remained tense in his arms. Her eyes were no longer wide with shock but lazy with resignation. She’d expected him to bite, but he hadn’t and now her body didn’t know what to do.

  Adam breathed heavily as he pulled his fangs away from where they had rested on Alice’s skin. Still holding her close, he could smell her fear. He hated that he’d had to do that, but she needed to know this was no joke, no trick. She didn’t know it, but she was never in any real danger. He had no problem restraining himself. Where he would normally give in to the pull to feed, there was no such pull with her. Quite the opposite. There was a strong desire to push her away and to get as far away from her, from this situation, as possible. He didn’t understand exactly why, but he could guess. He hadn’t the luxury of running; he had to stay and make sure she understood.

  Sending her comfort and confidence through his charms, he slowly released his grip on her. He forced his voice to be hard, to cut through the waves of comfort. He needed his message to stand out, unquestionably. “You are alive because I told you I wouldn’t hurt you. But do you see now what I am?”

  The after-effects lingered after his demonstration as Alice’s body continued to shake and her heart continued to race. Tears involuntarily rolled down her cheeks, and she let out a low moan. She stumbled backward, away from Adam, and he reached forward to help her. She flinched, but she let him grab her arm to steady her. The fear in her eyes had been replaced by curiosity and a genuine desire to understand. “You’re not lying. What—what are you!”

  Adam dropped her wrist and said plainly, “I told you. I’m a vampire.”

  “No,” Alice moaned, louder now. “Nononono,” she shook her head, her mind refusing to accept his answer, and stepped further away from Adam, her hand on the railing steadying her as she moved.