by J. L. McCoy
I looked up at him, a bit surprised by the sudden intimacy but oddly comforted at the same time.
Someone cleared their throat behind us and it immediately broke the spell. I twitched my mouth apologetically at Hagan and Pádraig and took a step up the stairs.
I can’t tell you the surprise I felt when “walking” up the stairs was a foreign concept to my new body. I flashed involuntarily, it seemed, up the stairs and crashed into the small wooden table in the center of the foyer.
I gasped and caught the crystal vase that had toppled off as I righted the table I had knocked over. Hagan’s laughter echoed up the stairs as I pushed the hair out of my face. I took a deep breath and prepared to feign normalcy again.
“Don’t hurt yourself, Morrison,” he said, suddenly beside me, as he shoulder bumped me playfully. “Just breathe and try again.”
I heard Archer, Pádraig and Oleif behind me and was instantly embarrassed by my clumsiness. I took a cautious step forward and was suddenly ten feet away. I growled in frustration and tried again. I deliberately put my leg down slowly, rolled heel-to-toe, and took a step. When I saw that it worked, I spontaneously whooped with joy and took another step. I was suddenly in the kitchen.
“Dammit!” I swore as I looked down at my treacherous feet in frustration.
“It takes control to walk like a human, Morrison,” Hagan chuckled as he flashed next to me. “You’re fresh out of the coffin, so it may take some practice.”
I cringed at the word coffin. It was yet another reminder of my new condition. I still felt the disappointment of realizing I had been turned instead of killed like I asked, and it quickly morphed into anger. “Practice, HELL! Who has time for practice? Oh, that’s right… ME! I have all of eternity free now!”
Sensing the dangerous shift in my emotions, Aoife flashed over from the couch and took my arm. “Bath time,” she sing-songed as she turned me toward the hall.
“She doesn’t leave my sight,” Oleif growled, suddenly on the other side of me, as he took my right arm.
“Whatever floats your boat,” Aoife shrugged and steered me down the hall. To my surprise, I had managed a somewhat slow flash.
When we got into my bathroom, I had a sudden flashback of the last time I was in here. I was curled up on the floor a foot away from where I stood now, vomiting blood. The room was spotless and I took a deep breath in through my nose. The strong scent of bleach hit my airway and I wrinkled my nose at its harshness.
Aoife started the shower and I looked back at Oleif’s massive form that was filling the doorway. “Can I have some privacy, please?”
Oleif cocked his eyebrow, crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the doorframe and shook his head.
“Are you seriously just going to stand there and watch me undress?” I frowned deeply as I crossed my arms as well.
He gave me another cock of his eyebrow, his bored eyes saying this was the last place he wanted to be… babysitting a “creature”. I sighed in frustration and rolled my eyes.
“Fine,” I growled as Aoife put a waning hand on my arm.
“Just ignore him,” she said calmly. “I’m sure you don’t have anything he hasn’t seen a million times before. Take a deep breath, relax, and meet me in the kitchen when you are done. I’ll go heat you up some blood, okay?”
I made a face at the mention of blood even as my mouth watered. I watched Oleif momentarily step aside to allow her to leave before his towering form filled the door again.
I can do this, I silently pumped myself up as I faced away from him and began peeling myself out of my stiff, blood soaked tank. Parts of it were crusted to me and I couldn’t wait clean all the dried blood and God knows what else off me. I kicked off my shoes and when I went to peel my socks off, my new strength ripped them off my feet instead. I looked at the two torn pieces of fabric in my hand and sighed. Oh well. It’s not like the blood stains were actually going to come out in the wash anyway.
When I was completely naked, I took my clothes and threw them in the wastebasket a few feet away. I flashed to the shower and accidentally slammed the glass door upon closing it. The glass shook violently and I was sure it would shatter any second. I carefully poked the door with one finger and it instantly stilled. I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to ignore the snicker coming from Oleif.
The blazing hot water felt heavenly on my newly sensitized skin. Each droplet of water was an assault at first, but silkily caressed my skin as it slid down. The sensations I was feeling were completely new to me and I spent a few minutes studying how each droplet felt on different parts of my body.
After the newness wore off, I went to work meticulously scrubbing each inch of my skin with liquid soap and a loofah. My back was hard to reach, but you better believe I scrubbed the hell out of the spots I could. Once my skin took on a weird shade of pale pink, I moved on to my hair. Half a bottle of shampoo and conditioner later, I was satisfied that was enough.
As gently as I could manage, I turned off the shower and smiled widely when the handle didn’t break. Opening the door was equally as successful and I whooped in excitement. I suddenly remembered Oleif was still there and my eyes flashed to him in embarrassment. Good thing I suppressed the urge to do a victory dance. I’d never live that down.
I quickly wrapped my body up in a towel and did the same with my waist length hair. As I went to brush my teeth, I was surprised at what I saw in the bathroom mirror. I ran my finger over the bridge of my nose where my freckles used to be and was shocked to find them missing. I checked the tops of my shoulders, my chest, and my arms and saw the freckles had disappeared from them as well.
“Weeeird,” I whispered as I smiled. I liked my freckles, don’t get me wrong, but my complexion was utterly flawless now. I looked like I had been airbrushed to perfection.
I saw Oleif staring at me out of the corner of my eye and I quickly set about brushing my teeth and hair. My walk-in closet was right by the bathroom door so I was forced to be closer to Oleif than I wanted. I flashed in as fast as I could and eagerly dressed in the jeans and Led Zeppelin t-shirt Trey had so thoughtfully laid out for me. He knew they were my favorites.
Upon turning around to leave, I saw that Oleif was standing in my closet doorway watching me again. It was so unnerving and I wanted to know if this was what I had to look forward to for the next thirty days, having no privacy whatsoever. “So, are you going to follow me around every minute of every day?”
As usual, Oleif cocked his eyebrow, his disapproval of me palpable, but said nothing. I sighed and ran my fingers through my still wet hair. “Okay. Well then. I’m hungry, so… care to escort me to the kitchen?”
He silently stepped to the side and unblocked the exit. I bit my lip as I gathered my courage and flashed past him. His sudden rough grasp on my elbow stopped me just outside my bedroom and I yipped at the unexpectedness of his touch. He growled at me, obviously not happy that I couldn’t control my speed, and proceeded to walk at a human’s pace down the hall. I tried my hardest to slow down, honestly, but I didn’t do very well. He had to keep jerking me back to his side, each time emitting a progressively louder growl. In the end, I just stopped trying all together and let him drag me down the hall and into the family room. He let go of me with a fling and I stumbled and almost fell into Quinn and Lochlan’s game of dominos they were engaged in at the card table.
“Hey, man,” I complained, righting myself. “Take it easy, okay? I’m sorry I wasn’t walking slowly enough for you, but that’s no reason to manhandle me.”
“Teach it to slow down,” Oleif growled out to Hagan as he came over to see what the disturbance was about.
“Patience, Oleif,” Hagan sighed as he looked me up and down to make sure I was unharmed. “She is but a child.”
“She is an abomination. Don’t confuse the person you knew with the creature she has become,” he growled as he jammed his finger in my direction. “Does Ruarc know you coddle this…thing?”
“
Hey!” I yelled indignantly, thoroughly insulted by his words.
“Shut it, Morrison,” Hagan growled, never taking his eyes off of Oleif. Their body language was dangerously aggressive. “Get your ass to the kitchen.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared back and forth between the two of them a few times, not ready to let the insult go, but Trey flashed to me and slid his arm around my shoulders as he pulled me away from the scene.
“Come on, honey,” he said gently. “Let the two of them work it out. You need to be smart right now and not argue with Oleif even if you feel like you need to. You’re in a very delicate position at the moment and we don’t want to do anything to rock the boat, now do we?”
“No,” I sighed as I saw the wisdom in his words.
Trey led me to the kitchen and set me down at the table. Archer, Hunter, and Aoife smiled at me as I carefully scooted my chair in. I was getting a little better at my control and I bit my bottom lip to keep from smiling at the small accomplishment. Trey went to pop a bag of blood in the microwave for me as Archer gave me one of his slow, sexy, crooked smiles.
“How do you feel?” he asked from his place across from me.
“Clean,” I smiled appreciatively, “and ravenous. How many bags of blood will I need to drink a day?”
Archer relaxed forward and put his forearms on the table. “You’ll drink four to ten pints a day usually, depending on activity. It’s different for all vampires, though. I normally don’t need more than three. Quinn over there eats like it’s going out of style. He usually puts away nine or ten a day.”
“I’m a growing boy,” he defended with a chuckle as he slammed a domino down on the card table.
“Yer over a century old already, yih gimp!” Seamus howled from the sofa. “Growing boy my arse.”
I giggled as I watched Quinn playfully launch a domino at him.
“Oy! I was about to use that one!” Lochlan piped.
“Well, will you look at her,” Aoife remarked, drawing my attention back to the table. She was looking at me and smiling.
“What?” I asked, not understanding.
“You actually laughed. No one has heard you laugh in a long time.”
“Oh, yeah,” I bit my lip as I looked down at my hands, “I’m really sorry about that. I guess I’ve been a complete nightmare to be around lately.”
I opened my mouth to explain to Aoife what I had learned about Amun sharing his soul with me and how his rage had been effecting my emotions, but a swift kick to my shin stopped me. I looked up at Archer with wide, surprised eyes as he very minutely shook his head once.
“Your blood is ready,” Trey sang happily as he walked up to the table. I eyed Archer for a second longer, confused and wanting to ask why I couldn’t say anything to Aoife, when suddenly the metallic scent of my first meal drew my attention.
Trey set a wine glass down on the table in front of me and carefully poured half the bag of blood into it. It smelled downright delectable. My fangs descended with a familiar pinch as I stared at the now full glass. I didn’t know whether to wrinkle my nose in disgust or lick my lips. My former human self would have been appalled at what my new vampire self was about to do.
“Well go on, honey,” Trey encouraged. “Take a sip.”
“That wine glass doesn’t hold much. Why didn’t you just put it in a regular glass?” Hunter inquired in his deep southern drawl. “She’s going to be ripping the rest of the bag out of your hand in two seconds flat?”
Aoife and Archer chuckled knowingly as Trey defended his decision. “I wanted her first meal to be a sophisticated experience,” he shrugged one shoulder with a coy smile.
I heard movement behind my back and jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see Hagan and Oleif standing behind me.
“Take it slow, Morrison,” he frowned as he nodded to my drink. “Your first meal as a newborn can send you into a frenzy of bloodlust if you let it. Prepare yourself now. Breathe deeply; know you can handle any excitement you may feel and overcome it. Remember who you are and most importantly where you are.”
His warning to me was received loud and clear. If I lost control and let the part of my existence that was fused with Amun’s came forth, Oleif would probably kill me on the spot. “Yes, sir,” I nodded to Hagan, my eyes meeting his and hopefully conveying that I understood the seriousness of what I was about to do. “I will.”
The house was eerily quiet as I turned back to my glass. Not a breath was taken by anyone as I picked it up and looked across at Archer. “Well, here goes nothing I guess.”
Chapter Five
I tentatively brought the glass to my lips and felt the warmness of the thick blood as it passed my lips and hit my tongue. The coppery thickness first coated and then exploded on my taste buds. I was expecting the most amazing thing I had ever tasted based on the smell of it but was sorely disappointed as I swallowed. The blood tasted old, like the dried blood on my fingers had. I was also picking up heavy notes of plastic and some sort of… anticoagulant agent maybe? It was hard for me to know since I had never drank blood before, let alone bagged blood. But I can tell you one thing, it was absolutely disgusting and definitely undrinkable.
After I swallowed my first sip, I carefully put the glass down and dabbed at my lips with the napkin Trey had so thoughtfully put down next to me. “How do you guys drink this crap?” I asked, meeting Archer’s anxious eyes.
A light chuckle sounded around the room as Archer smirked. “It’s not the best, but it meets our needs. You’ll get used to it in time.”
“I don’t think so,” I said, scooting my glass to the center of the table and further away from me. “I’m not drinking that shit again. It’s revolting. It tasted like plastic and it’s just…wrong. It’s seriously disgusting.”
Archer’s brow furrowed as he picked up the bag the blood came in and studied the label. “It was drawn three days ago, so it’s still relatively fresh. It’s O negative, maybe we should try another blood type and see if you like that one better.”
I sighed, not thinking it would help, but nodded my head because I was willing to try anything at this point. The pangs in my stomach had started to become overwhelming.
Trey heated up every blood type they had, which had been all of them, but nothing tasted any better than the O negative.
“Archer, I can’t drink any more of this garbage,” I bit out in frustration as I pushed the last glass away from me. “I’m sorry, but it’s making me feel really sick. I need to eat something… right now. The pain is becoming unbearable. There has to be something else. Can’t I just eat an orange or maybe some crackers?”
Archer’s brow furrowed deeply as he stared at the multitude of full glasses on the table before us. “Human food will only make you vomit. It is not compatible with our needs. I just don’t understand it, Skye. Can’t you force yourself to drink any of it? It’s not that bad really. We all do and it doesn’t taste as bad to us as you say it does to you.”
Oleif reached around me and picked up the glass I had just pushed away. I glanced over my shoulder to see him sniff its contents and then guzzle the blood down. “Tastes like bagged blood. What is the problem here? Drink it or starve,” he shrugged with indifference as he set the empty glass in front of me.
An unexpected wave of nausea slammed into me and I flashed from my seat, knocking my chair and Oleif and Hagan several feet back, as I ran for the kitchen trash can. Every bit of the blood I had just swallowed came heaving out of my stomach in a rather loud and unglamorous bluuugh.
I felt a soothing hand rub my back as another pulled my long hair out of the way. “Well, this isn’t good,” I heard Trey mumble next to me.
“Aye,” Archer replied with a sigh.
“Why don’t we try a feeder?” Hunter offered in solution.
“That’s a good idea,” Trey said as I spit the last of the fetid blood from my mouth and leaned back up. “Would you be willing to try that?”
An
involuntary whimper from my extreme hunger was my only answer.
“I don’t advise this,” Oleif growled, crossing his thick arms over his broad chest. “We don’t know of her control yet. What if she tries to kill the human?”
“She won’t,” Trey frowned as Archer stood up.
“We won’t allow that to happen,” he explained as he pulled out his cell phone and hit a few numbers. “And, I doubt you will either, brother.”
Oleif scoffed and turned his head away from me. Hagan shot me an encouraging smile as Trey led me to the couch to lay down. Trey fluffed the throw pillow as Seamus pulled my feet into his lap.
“You jus’ take a few deep breaths, wee wan,” he said as he patted my shin. “We’ll get ya a proper meal ‘ere soon.”
“Just try and relax, honey,” Trey smoothed my hair before he went back into the kitchen to clean up.
“Well, come on boys,” Aoife called from the table. “Let’s not let all this good blood go to waste. Grab a bag and a glass and drink up.”
Oleif sat down in the overstuffed chair across from me and studied me silently. His face was a jumbled mix of anger, confusion, disgust, and boredom. I was so tired of him always staring at me and I wanted to stick my tongue out at him, but I refrained. I had a feeling that antagonizing him would only make the situation worse. He didn’t want to be here any more than I wanted him here… which was not at all.
“I have four feeders on their way here now,” Archer said as he kneeled down next to me and took my hand. “We normally do not invite outsiders to our house but I will make an exception just this once. Quinn will have to alter their memory of where we live, but that won’t be a problem. If this doesn’t work, Skye… I don’t know what else to do.”
“It’ll work,” Trey piped up from the kitchen. “She’s a vampire for crying out loud. Vampires need blood. End of story. Stop worrying so much.”