Indulgence

by Liz Crowe

  “Allison, please don’t be angry,” he begged. “I came here to see you, not to harm you.”

  I chuckled to myself. How could he possibly do me any more harm, I thought. A growl formed in my belly and crawled up my throat, escaping through my clenched teeth. I burrowed my eyes straight into Vincent’s, not wavering. I wanted him to know I wasn’t afraid of him and truth be told I wasn’t. Yet part of me was somewhat relieved to see him, to know that he was unharmed.

  Vincent stepped through the trees, his hands extended as if making a peace offering. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “Swallow the anger. Don’t let it consume you.”

  My eyes followed his as he slowly approached me. Swallow the anger, he had instructed me. I took a deep breath and smelled the sweet scent that was unmistakably his alone. I looked at his face and his sheer beauty was almost enough to calm me. I felt the anger start to subside and slide down my throat. I slowly stood up to meet his face as he stood just inches from me. I wanted so much to be mad at him for what he had done to me and what he had done to his brothers and sister. I wanted to hit him and unleash my fury upon him; maybe even kill him so as to protect my new family from having to carry out the unthinkable task themselves.

  “You looked like a seasoned professional,” Vincent whispered with a half smile, referring to my first attack. “Very nice. But these clothes. What did Max do to you?”

  “How did you know I would be here?” I asked through my still clenched teeth. I desperately wanted to show him that I was angry.

  “Max is quite predictable. He brings all first time hunters to this locale since there’s no chance of running into any mortals. I heard the helicopter take off so I ran here.”

  “You ran here?” I asked in disbelief. Lorenzo had said we could normally run this distance, but hearing Vincent say it, and knowing he ran it as fast as the chopper had flown it was a bit mind boggling.

  “Of course I did. I knew it was just you and Max and the others wouldn’t pick up my scent since they were heading in a different direction.”

  “So you know I’m here with Max now, right?”

  Vincent ran a finger along my jaw line, stopping at my chin. Part of me wanted so much to smack his hand away; another part of me wanted to pull him close and kiss him. As mad as I was right now, I was still deeply attracted to him.

  “I know,” he responded.

  “And you know what will happen if he finds you here, don’t you?”

  “There’s no need to worry about that. Max is focused on hunting. He knows your instincts will carry you and he doesn’t have to worry about you. We have some time before he finishes his hunt.” Vincent moved his face closer to mine, still holding my chin.

  “Time for what?” I whispered. Vincent, with the slightest touch, dispelled any anger I held for him.

  “To talk,” he whispered in response, sweeping his lips barely across mine. The slight touch of his lips on mine ignited a new feeling within me. An overwhelming sense of desire washed over me, yet there was a part of me that was somehow able to control myself.

  “About…” I pushed myself onto my toes as I waited for his reply. I leaned in hoping for a kiss. Vincent chuckled and stepped back, much to my disappointment.

  “Us, Allison. To talk about us.”

  The disappointment I felt from the lack of a second kiss was quickly washed away. But that brief sense of excitement was replaced with frustration when I thought about our situation.

  “Us?” I questioned.

  “That’s right. Us.”

  “What about us? There can’t possibly be an us after what you did.”

  “But there can be an us,” Vincent responded with a glimmer in his eye.

  “How, Vincent? You transformed me without my permission. You broke your society’s law and there’s a price to pay for that. So tell me how there can be an us? You ruined all of that.”

  Vincent chuckled.

  “Really,” I fumed. “I don’t think any of this is funny.”

  “You’re right, it’s not. But my dear, there is a way.” He placed both of his hands on my cheeks and steadied my face. His touch was magical, sending an electrifying current through my body. He stared deep in my eyes and I stared back into his beautiful, crystalline blue eyes.

  “How?” I whispered. His hold on me was astonishing. It was like any time I wanted to feel any anger or ill will towards him, one touch of his hand wiped it away, replacing those feelings with longing.

  “Run away with me,” Vincent whispered softly touching his lips to mine again. His lips were hot, as were mine, but supple and welcoming. I wanted more and moved my arms around his neck.

  Vincent grabbed my arms, stopping my embrace. “Did you hear me?” he asked.

  “Uh huh,” I muttered. Vincent backed away a few steps, allowing me to clear my head. I took a deep breath and came back to reality. “So how is this supposed to work? I’m just going to run away with you now?”

  “No, you can’t leave now. Max will be expecting you shortly and if you don’t show, he’ll suspect something and will come looking for you. It would only be a matter of time before he picked up my scent.”

  “Then when? How?”

  “So you’re willing to go? With me? No questions asked?” Vincent peered down at me as if I should have had a few questions.

  “Why don’t you just tell me what you are getting at so we don’t have to play these games?”

  “You realize, if you leave with me, we’re gone forever. We can never return here.”

  “Oh,” was all I could say. I hadn’t really thought about it.

  “And you’ll never be able to see Jenna again. Or Marlo, or my brothers.”

  “But why?” I questioned. “I’m not the one that did anything wrong.”

  “They can never know where I am. They don’t want to kill their brother as much as I don’t want to be killed. Once they realize you are gone, they’ll know you are with me. You being around them will only heighten their awareness of your scent. If they pick that up anywhere near where I am, well they might not be able to stop themselves from finding me.”

  “So you are asking me to give up the only family I have left in this world for you? You, the person that took from me the last decision of my mortal life?” The anger hiding in my belly was starting to swell again. “Why exactly could you not wait for me to tell you when I was ready? Why couldn’t you do that for me?” I yelled. My eyes stung with venom but the tears did not flow.

  “Allison, Allison, please,” Vincent pleaded. “After you lunged at Jenna, I was afraid one of my siblings was going to kill you. That after all, was the plan all along. We either transformed you with your consent, or we would have to destroy you if you posed a threat to our kind.”

  “Ugh.” I squeezed my eyes shut and what little I could remember from that night filled my mind. “I still can’t believe I lunged at my best friend,” I muttered.

  Vincent began walking in a circle around me. “Your symptoms that night, the night of the Halloween party, they were quite strong. But none of us spent enough time with you throughout the evening to notice the changes. Had I spent more time with you, maybe I would have noticed and we could have avoided this whole situation.”

  “What changes?”

  “Your body temperature was higher than it had ever been before. Marlo said you were light headed and in and out of paying attention to conversations. She also mentioned the tingling sensation you felt in your feet which you attributed to the boots you were wearing. On the contrary, that was the venom building up in your system.”

  “Oh,” I groaned. “You’re right. I felt the same sensation as I ran out here tonight.”

  I paused for a moment.

  “How did you know I was about to…” the word hung on my tongue, too painful to say. I couldn’t believe I almost attacked my best friend.

  Vincent let out a little laugh. “Allison, we’re vampires, we can tell when one of our kind is getting ready to attack.”
>
  “What did I do? What happened?” Marlo and her brothers had told me what had happened, but I wanted to hear it from Vincent’s perspective.

  “Jenna crept around the corner, looking for Lorenzo. When you smelled her, you stood up and your expression just changed. The gold flecks danced in your eyes like a hurricane circling over water. Lorenzo noticed and grabbed Jenna and quickly removed her from the room.”

  “So I didn’t attack?”

  “Well you did. You leapt through the air just as the door was closing. I caught you midair to stop you.”

  “I see,” I hung my head, ashamed of what I had almost done to Jenna.

  “Hey,” Vincent said. “Don’t beat yourself up. You didn’t know what was going on and we were able to control the situation. But now that you are one of us, we can teach you to control your needs. You won’t be a threat to Jenna.”

  “Are you sure Jenna didn’t suspect a thing?” I had to ask. If she suspected anything, that could pose a risk to her life.

  “No, she doesn’t suspect anything.”

  “What happened after you pulled me out of the air?”

  “Allison, you have to believe me,” Vincent pleaded, his eyes begging for forgiveness. “I didn’t have time to think. All I knew was that you had just almost attacked a mortal, which posed a great risk to exposing us.”

  “But you said Jenna didn’t suspect anything.”

  “True, but in that moment, I wasn’t sure what Jenna had or hadn’t seen. All I knew is what you almost did, in front of my siblings, and I was afraid they were going to destroy you. I had no choice Allison. I had to transform you.”

  “But you did have a choice,” I stated. “You didn’t have to put yourself at risk for me. You could have let your family do what they had to do with me.”

  “No, Allison. The thought of this existence without you was too much to bear for me. In my mind, I had no choice; I had to save you.”

  “Save me,” I whispered. The irony of the word save struck me. Vincent took my mortal life, destroyed my soul, yet he had saved me from certain death.

  “I am sorry,” Vincent deliberately stated as he pulled my head up. “Please forgive me?”

  I stared into the abyss of his eyes, his finger still holding my chin. There was just something about him I couldn’t resist. His rendition of the events on Halloween night made sense. I could understand his fear that his siblings would have acted upon their pact and destroyed me. I could understand his sense of hopelessness at the thought of losing me, because frankly, I felt the same about losing him. The hole that tore through my heart when I learned what he had done, and heard he could never return, was too painful for me to bear. And now he was here, my love, standing in front of me. Yes, he took away my choice, but in doing so gave me something more. He gave me eternity. And I wanted to spend it with him.

  “Of course I forgive you,” I said. “And I’ll go with you. Just tell me when.”

  Vincent’s face lit up. I wasn’t sure if his delight was in my forgiveness, or with my agreement to run away with him. Maybe it was both.

  “You do? You will?” Vincent questioned.

  “Of course, Vincent. I…I’m falling in love with you.”

  “You are?” he questioned as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

  “Yeah, I am. The return of my memories of us over the past year has made me realize how good we are together, how much fun we have together. Things may not have gone as planned when you transformed me, but sooner or later I was going to have to consent. And now I’m a vampire and have all eternity. To spend with you.”

  Vincent smiled. “Oh Allison, you don’t know how happy that makes me.”

  He picked me up and twirled me around. The stars and treetops bled into a blur above our heads. Vincent placed me back on the ground and grabbed my face, kissing me again. This time he didn’t stop me from wrapping my arms around his neck. He slid his hands down my back, wrapping his muscular arms around my waist and twirled me again. I threw my head back in laughter. I felt such pure joy in that moment.

  “Okay,” Vincent said as he placed me on the ground again. “Tomorrow, at precisely two minutes before midnight, you need to jump out your window and scale down the side of the castle. I assume they have you in the room with the painting of the ocean, correct?”

  “Yes, but why at eleven fifty-eight?”

  “The cameras will not be scanning that side of the castle at that time. I’m assuming Felix hasn’t changed the configuration as he figures I’m long gone by now and there is no need for such precautions. But you’ll have to hurry. You will need to move along the east side of the castle pretty quickly. When you approach the southeastern most part of the castle, break towards the woods, okay?”

  “Yeah, got it.”

  “Run through the woods until you reach the river and follow it north.”

  “North?”

  “Yes, you need to head north but can’t head that way from your room; too much exposure running across the front of that place.”

  “Okay, got it; to the river then head north.”

  “Right, follow the river until you see a huge boulder; it’s unmistakable – you can’t miss it. At the boulder, head west and keep running. You’ll come upon the lake in your backyard. I’ll be there waiting for you and we’ll leave from there. Got it?”

  “Yeah. What do I need to pack?”

  “Nothing, don’t worry about that, just bring you.”

  “No clothes? What about money?”

  “I have it all under control Allison. Please trust me. You have to get back; Max’s hunt is probably coming to an end and we can’t risk his suspicions.”

  “Okay,” I said, my mind whirling with all of these details.

  “Now compose yourself so Max doesn’t suspect anything.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay,” Vincent stated, “I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He kissed my cheek and then disappeared before my eyes.

  I stood still in the darkness absorbing everything that had just happened. I repeated Vincent’s directions to help remember them. A huge smile spread across my face. Vincent had just left, but I already couldn’t wait to be with him tomorrow night. I took a deep breath to compose myself and looked around. I couldn’t remember which way I had come from. I closed my eyes and took another deep breath and allowed my hearing to reach out, to search for my direction. I heard rustling to the west and a helicopter in the distance. I shot open my eyes and took off on foot.

  My feet glided over the forest floor. A slight breeze wafted past me and a familiar scent filled my nose. It was Max.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Max exclaimed as I ran past him.

  I dug my heels into the ground and slid to a stop, pulling up plenty of dirt in my path.

  “Oh sorry,” I said. I composed myself and was surprised I wasn’t winded. “I guess I just latched onto your scent and kept running,” I laughed.

  “How was your hunt?” Max asked.

  “Oh, um, fine,” I hastily responded.

  “Just fine?” Max looked at me with an inquisitive eye.

  “Yeah, fine. I got one doe. It wasn’t as bad as I expected. I dreaded this whole experience but it was actually quite amazing. I hadn’t really realized what I had done until it was over. And the taste was something I really feared but it was quite refreshing. And the relief I felt was most welcome to my throat and stomach.”

  “Are you still hungry?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Hmm,” Max hummed.

  “What?”

  “It’s your first hunt after your transformation; you should have been hungrier than that.”

  “Well you all did give me something to drink while I was transforming and after I woke up.”

  “I suppose, but that typically isn’t enough to satisfy a new vampire.”

  Much to my relief, the helicopter approached, cutting off our conversation.

  “How do we
get up?” I asked Max, quickly changing the subject.

  “The same way you got down,” he replied, still studying me. Max was buying my acting skills.

  “I’m supposed to jump?” I exclaimed.

  “Allison, if there’s anything you learned today, it should be to trust your instincts.”

  “Humph,” I replied.

  “After you,” Max said, waving his hand up at the helicopter.

  The chopper descended a bit but was still a good 60 feet up in the air. I looked at Max and he gave me a reassuring nod. I backed up as far as the tree line would allow in order to get a running start.

  “Don’t take your eye off the target,” Max yelled to me.

  I took off, taking seven steps. I stared up at the helicopter as I crouched and pushed off the shore. I shot through the air like an arrow at a target, and the cool air rushed past me as it had done on my earlier plunge. I reached the chopper, grabbed the edge of it and flipped myself inside.

  “Nice one,” Felix mused, giving me a thumbs up.

  Max hopped into the helicopter right behind me.

  “So how was it?” Felix asked, looking between me and Max before returning his eyes to the cockpit.

  “Not too bad,” I said, staring out the window.

  “Max?” Felix asked.

  “I’m not sure. Allison only killed one deer.”

  “Only one?” Felix craned his neck around his captain’s chair to look at me. “What happened?”

  “Nothing happened,” I replied.

  “That’s not right Allison. You should have needed more than that. Your instincts should have made you want more, especially since this was your first time out.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and continued staring out the window. I felt like I was under a microscope. “I wasn’t all that hungry after I finished. Maybe I filled up too much back at the castle.”

  There was a long pause and Max continued analyzing me. Felix maneuvered the chopper to head back to the castle.

  “He was there, wasn’t he?” Max asked in an accusatory tone.

  “What? Who?” I responded.

  “Vincent.”

  “Vincent?” I questioned, turning to look at Max. “No,” I curtly replied. “Why would you think that?”