"If you gave me your blood, then why aren't I a vampire now?" I said, still looking to where the tissue just exploded.
"You believe me then?" he slightly mumbled and I looked up. He was sucking his finger.
“What are you doing?” I asked confused.
“My finger will not heal in the sunlight,” he explained, pulling his finger out of his mouth. “Good thing not much will pierce my skin.” He smiled. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
"No, I don’t and I'm going to make sure you fill all holes before I even begin to."
"Like I said, there’s something like a virus within my blood and right now, the white blood cells in your body are fighting the virus my blood cells carry. Basically, you’re sick, but instead of getting worse, your body is healing itself and becoming stronger. The virus can't take control while there is so much of your blood still in your body."
"So you’re saying I will become a vampire slowly?"
"No. There’s not enough of my blood in your system to cause that; I only gave you about a cup full and a little more was absorbed through your skin. My blood can heal much faster than yours."
"What did you mean by life and death now run through my veins?"
"My blood is life, yours is death, but there’s nothing to worry about in that respect anymore; the transformation would have taken place by now if it was going to."
"How is your blood life? Didn’t you say you’re dead?"
"What better to keep the dead living than pure life, and what better to slowly kill the living but death? Every day after your birth, you get one day closer to death; every day after my creation, I become stronger and faster. Humans are a little conceited, thinking they are the ultimate form of life on this planet."
"Why is all this happening then?" I motioned to myself.
"My blood is enhancing your senses is all; once the virus all dies, you will be back to your normal fuzzy unseeing human self."
"So I’m not going to be a vampire? This enhanced senses stuff will wear off?"
"Yes."
I tried to take all this in; could vampires really exist outside of comic books and movies? My phone rang in the hall; Alik sat playing with Kiwi as I got up to find my phone on a table. It was Eugene and I ended the call without answering, walking back into the living room. My phone buzzed again; one new text message flashed on the screen.
-Please answer :( The Cool Guy Eugene says-
It would have been better if he removed that stupid ending off of his text messages. My phone began to ring again and I considered it for a moment and answered.
“Vanessa!” Eugene said in a relieved panic.
“What, Eugene?” I couldn’t hide my anger.
“Are you okay?! How did you get away from those crazy people?”
“I got away with no help from you is all you need to know.”
“I’m so sorry, Vanessa; I panicked. I don’t know what came over me.”
“Are you done?”
“I’m sorry, Vanessa. Really, I am.”
“Sorry that you’re a coward? You can’t possibly be sorry that you left me, don’t call me again. Someone who cared about me wouldn’t have left me to die! Also, take that stupid ass ending off your text messages, you aren’t cool.” I ended the call angrily. Nearly instantly my phone buzzed again.
-Really, Vanessa, I’m so sorry.-
“You know, you should really cut him a little slack; he was facing five vampire, not something any human could do on their own.”
“He thought you were human, which I’m not sure you aren’t yet.
“Some humans naturally fear us for reasons they don’t understand while others seek us out, driven by desires they don’t understand. Masteria works on similar principles from the enforcers around the edges to the elevated passions. It’s completely possible he ran for some unseen reason. Although, it is unlikely.”
“Anyway, these Elders? You are still set on me seeing them?"
"I'd like you to go willingly."
"Willingly?"
"You are talking to a vampire who is much stronger and faster than you; I could have you unconscious and in my car before you could get enough breath to scream. What you need to understand is that our secrecy is our highest law and the Elders must know about any human who knows anything about us firsthand. Otherwise, if the vampire that gave out the secret and the human were ever found out, they would be tracked down and killed."
"If you’re so scary, then how come you didn’t just force me to wherever last night?"
"Because if you never came home, your parents would be worried and it also gave you time to realize I’m not lying. And maybe I could still see you after all this is over..."
"Oh..." I fought the blush I knew was coming with all my might and changed the subject. "So... you’re really a vampire?"
"Yes."
"Vampires really exist?"
"Yes."
"What does this visit mean?"
"She will just want to see you and ask you to say nothing."
"Where do we have to go?"
"Jazz club and hotel about 40 minutes away."
"What's with vampires and night clubs?"
"So you believe me?”
"Kind of.”
"Night clubs originated from Masteria, they are loud dark and filled with passion and fun, it makes the blood taste better. Also, the atmosphere is very good when you want an unnoticed meal, someone can easily pass out from any number of drugs or too much alcohol." The look on my face couldn’t express my shock deeply enough; I didn’t have time to express that shock verbally as I heard a car stop outside my house. "Sam is here."
"I know, I heard her; vampire senses, remember?"
He smiled. "What you are experiencing is nothing. The sensory input that an actual vampire feels would overload your brain and drive you mad." He stood and I did the same. "I will go and be back at around seven this evening," he said, standing.
I sighed, "Apparently, I have no choice." We walked to the door. His hand was on the handle of the door when he turned to look at me.
"You know, you’ve gotten to taste my blood, but I never got to taste yours." He placed his hand on my cheek and lowered his face to mine. "There was the slightest hint on my tooth last night but not enough for me to really experience it." I was frozen; even my heart seemed to stand still. Was he going to bite me with Sam walking up the path to the door? He took a look into my eyes over his glasses and then lightly pressed his lips to my cheek and stood back. "Hmm…" he said, licking his lips. "I missed out, it seems." He opened the door and Sam's knock missed the door and landed on his chest. "Hi," he said with a smile.
"Uh... hi," she said, shocked and not realizing she hadn’t moved her hand, and then she flinched away with a “Sorry.”
“It's okay." I moved the door. I will see you later, Vanessa," he said, turning to me. Sam and I stood there until his car was out of sight, then Sam turned to me.
"Tell me everything, now!" For some reason, I couldn’t help but smile.
Alyon Alik
Chapter 11.0
“YES!”
Vanessa Stanton
Chapter 12.0
I couldn't tell Sam what was really going on because I didn’t really know myself. What I told myself was that I was keeping Alik's secret, but I lied to myself all the time. I settled her curiosity with a stupid story about Alik calling me and asking if I wanted to go get dinner. She made me thank her for passing out at Masteria and letting Alik get my number.
“So did you invite him over here as well?” was her reply.
“No, but he remembered my address from my ID.”
"Did he just show up?"
"No, he kind of helped me get out of a carjacking the other day after Eugene ran off." Her eyes exploded in her head.
"That stupid son of a... What happened?" In my head, I saw all of this in the mindset of someone watching a mildly entertaining drama, so that’s how I explained it to Sam. There was
a carjacking and I was a part of it. Alik saved me by killing the carjackers.... Knocking out the carjackers. I had to edit for Sam. Then he brought me home safely, and personally checked up on me this morning, this as he thought phone calls were too impersonal. She made an ‘awww’ at that and now here we are. “Wow, he must have seen something special in you,” she said after a moment of silence and I was glad she took that train of thought.
Sam insisted on helping me pick an outfit. A thin low cut gray dress with black leggings, black flats and a black beret she found while digging through my closet. She then refused to leave, stating “YOU ARE NOT going to skip a detail. So I will be waiting here. Your mom is still determined to teach me how to cook, since my mom gave up years ago. So I will help her make dinner."
"But I will have eaten by the time I get back."
"The world isn’t all about you, we need to eat, too." I glared at her, and she laughed.
Alik said he would be back at seven; I had been hoping he would come earlier as to avoid my parents. My mother was really intrusive in matters like boys, so when Alik rang the doorbell at seven, she beat me to the door, almost running. I'm glad he wasn't in his normal black suit, black tie, and black shirt with blacked out glasses. Instead, he looked more like a teenager, but respectable in the same sense. He had on a pair of dark black jeans, a nice black dress shirt, untucked, with gold and white lines crossing through it, and a pair of simple white shoes. His cotton jacket was also white with a small black rose on the pocket; three droplets of red... water... fell off the rose’s stem, at least I hoped that was water. I was too frantic to notice this morning, but when his eyes flickered to me under his lightly tinted glasses this time, there wasn’t that same sense of longing I once felt. I was like I knew what I was missing even without finding it. It wasn’t the most comforting thought, but it was an improvement from before.
"Hello, you must be Alik," my mom said with a warm smile.
"Hello, Mrs. Stanton."
"Please, come in." She more or less pulled him through the door; she then examined him under the light from the hall. She placed one hand on his cheek and looked at his face. “I think you need a bigger jacket dear; you’re freezing,” she said.
“It is a bit cold out for a June night is all.” He smiled at me
“Also, a bit more sun… you’re as pale as a ghost,” she stated, looking him up and down, even making a loop around him once to see every angle.
“Occupational hazard of working nights,” was all he said.
“Well, come sit down; we should talk for a moment.” She took his hand and led him into the living room where my father was sitting, watching the News. As she passed me, she mouthed “Wow” and I couldn’t help but grin a little.
"Hello, Mr. Stanton," Alik said, shaking hands with my father. It felt like a seventies sitcom. My father turned off the TV and then looked Alik in the eye.
"You’re taking my daughter to dinner tonight?" he asked with more authority than was really needed for this situation.
"Yes sir."
"May I ask where?"
"You could, and I would be happy to tell you, but it would ruin the surprise."
"Fair enough; I wouldn’t want to do that. What was that I heard you drive here in?"
"An Aston Martin DBS; I just got it a few weeks ago."
He gave a clichéd whistle, impressed at something. "That’s a nice bit of kit, for a…?" he trailed off to leave room for Alik to fill in the unknown information.
“For a nineteen year old; yeah I’d agree.”
“How’d you come across the money to get that? I would assume you were in college now. With how things are going in the economy, that’s a lot of money to spend on a car,” he asked, now interested.
"I’m not in college, but I have gone for economics; I graduated a year ago. I work for my mom now; I handle the financial side of her business.”
“What kind of business?”
“She owns jazz clubs and lounges in a few independent hotels throughout New York and a few other states. We are looking to expand into owning a few more of the hotels themselves very soon.” He then looked to my mother as if he was embarrassed to ask my mom a question. “Can I ask... Are you the Mariee Stanton?” he asked my mom.
“Yes, I am,” my mother said, blushing. From an inside jacket pocket, Alik pulled out a CD that had a picture of my mother in a little black dress taken almost twenty five years ago at her debut. It was used as the cover jacket for her first cassette; a CD of my mom’s hits was released recently and this was it.
“Could I get your autograph; my mother is a big fan of yours,” he asked and my mother hastily found a sharpie and signed the CD.
Throughout the entire conversation, my dad was suspicious, interested, confused, lost, and tactless. Alik, on the other hand, kept the same relaxed, calm, and cool tone the entire time. Nothing seemed as if it could bother him. My mother clearly adored him.
"Well, you dress nicely, have a nice car, and seem to know your stuff; my daughter seems to be in good hands," my father stated, standing up and holding his hand out after the nearly fifteen minute interrogation. Alik shook once more, but my father didn’t let go. "Just make sure she comes home at a reasonable time, got it?"
"Understood sir," Alik replied with a polite smile.
I was still standing at the doorway to the living room watching this whole scene unfold with my arms folded as Sam tried not to laugh next to me. Both my parents walked us to the door as Sam bounced in the background. My father took a moment to hug me. "Keep this one, Ness, I like him," he whispered in my ear.
We walked out to the car with my parents watching from the windows and Sam on the couch in the living room, peeking out through a blind. Alik opened my door and closed it for me. He then walked around slowly, got in the car, started it, and drove off slowly as well. He seemed to be putting on the gentleman's act for everyone, as they didn’t hide the fact that they wanted a show. It was about five minutes until he finally said anything.
"So, are you going to keep me?" he asked, falsely interested.
“I figured you would have heard that."
"That wasn’t an answer." This time the interest seemed more genuine.
"I have no intention of dating a vampire."
"Glad to see you understand what I am finally." His voice returned to its normal tone.
“Are you going to bring me home alive?” He was silent for a moment, and that moment grew into seconds. “Well?!” I said, raising my voice a little.
A grin broke out across his face and then he laughed. “I guess, although I am passing up a meal.”
“That’s not funny.” I glared over at him. It was silent for a moment longer. "I have a question."
"I thought you might have a few."
"What did you do to me?”
“I didn’t explain enough?”
“No, not about the blood stuff; I mean that first night I met you as the door boy... man. I felt… some pull to you.”
“Oh, that... Well have you ever heard of the expression, 'The eyes are the gateway to the human soul' or someone say 'Look me in the eyes and say that'? There is a reason for that; looking into another's eyes can give away a lot, and while it might not be what you experienced, the few who have felt it are somewhat infamous within the vampire.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Well, it’s not something just anyone can learn to do with another. Among vampire, it’s considered a rather… intimate aspect of a relationship.”
“We don’t have a relationship; you’re just some guy who happened to be a vampire I met as a door guy.”
“Well yes, I know that, but you asked me to explain; I did so in general.” There was another tone change in his voice, maybe disappointment?
“You haven’t told me what this is still.”
“It’s a feeling you get when I’m lying or you might get a flash of emotion that’s not your own if you look into my eyes and vice versa. Basically, w
e cannot keep secrets from each other.”
“Is that why it’s gone now, the feeling? Because you told me what you are?”
“Possibly, I didn’t want you to know what I was unless absolutely necessary, so in a way I made it a secret. Now that you know, it’s not anymore.”
Bitter Sweet Page 8