by Atha, DL
Placing my cooler hands over his, I pulled them away. “Detective,” I told him quietly, “it’s not what you think.”
Staring at me silently for a second, he let his hands fall down to his side and took a step back. “Call me Michael and keep my card close by. It’s got my cell phone and office number. Call me if you need anything, Annalice. And I mean anything.”
He stopped there with a quiet sigh. I could tell he was debating whether to really tell me what he thought or to just softball his concern to me.
He must have chosen the latter because his voice was slightly softer when he resumed. “I don’t think everything’s OK, but I can tell you’re not ready to talk and I can’t make you. But I want you to know that we can work through whatever the problem is.”
Tipping his hat again, he walked towards his car, this time without stopping or sparing me another glance. And I didn’t watch him go this time either.
Instead, I went back into the house so I didn’t have to see my last and only hope, no matter how small it was, disappear down the driveway. I was in this for the long haul and there was no other way out for me.
But this man shouldn’t have to die. I was certain that Detective Rumsfield, or Michael, wasn’t going to give up. He didn’t believe my story and I really couldn’t blame him for that. I was pretty certain he would keep surveillance on my house tonight, which was a terrifying thought. Certain he wouldn’t catch Asa unawares, I knew the opposite wouldn’t hold true.
It probably didn’t matter. He had probably signed his own death warrant along with mine by just coming here. If only there was some way I could warn Michael, but that was simply not possible. He wouldn’t believe me. I couldn’t blame him. If someone had come into the emergency room with this story, I would have called psych immediately.
eleven
Back in the house, I felt better and I think it was partly due to being away from the sun. With the blinds closed, it was mostly dark except those few pinholes of very small but exquisitely bright shafts of light that I couldn’t seem to protect my eyes from. I thought about putting blankets over the curtain rods but decided that might make Asa suspicious so I left my sunglasses on instead.
Lying back down on the couch, I fell asleep almost immediately. I remember dreaming but could only recall images. Images of Ellie, Asa, and Michael all rolled together and tumbling over each other. I couldn’t identify a cause and effect in my streaming unconsciousness, only pieces of a complicated puzzle that no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get to fit together.
I awoke as anxious as my fitful sleep had been. Dreading to open my eyes, I kept them closed as I stretched, arching my back up and off the couch. Surprisingly, I didn’t have a kink despite my hours on the couch.
Reaching up to run my hand across my forehead to wipe away the expected sweat after my dreams, I was surprised to find my skin drier and cooler than previously. Not cold and not a distinct enough difference that it couldn’t be attributed to severe anemia.
The sun had set. I knew before I even opened my eyes that the fiery globe that had wreaked havoc on my eyes all day had disappeared behind the mountains. I’m not sure what told me it was dark yet I knew, and I felt better with the knowledge. A slight unease that had nothing to do with the vampire or the detective had been hovering in the back of my mind throughout the entire day, and now it was gone. I attributed my lack of tact with the detective to it as well.
Not gone, however, was my anxiety for the detective's safety and that caused a fear that overshadowed the sun. Since night had fallen, Asa would be back soon and I had no false hope that he wouldn’t pick up Michael’s scent before he even reached the house. Certain he would plan to kill Michael, I wondered if he would track him right away or confront me first.
Given the constraints of our arrangement, I was also certain that Asa’s first thought would be that I had betrayed him and so I paced the house from one end to the other, waiting for the vampire who would decide the fate of Michael and myself.
The sun was well past set and I expected him any moment. Strangely enough, I wanted him to be here even though my heart palpitated at what he would do when he arrived. I was craving him and I needed him for something, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was.
Walking into the bedroom, I grabbed up the sheets where our agreement had been consecrated on several times and buried my face in the crumpled material in my hands.
His scent was so much more powerful than that of Michael’s and after taking several long inhales, I felt slightly calmer despite the fears in my mind. Rolling over on my side, I kept the sheets pressed to my face and let my senses expand outward, hoping to hear some sound of Asa’s approach.
Finding it hard to concentrate because of the sound of my own heart, I couldn’t help but listen to the slow thump of an organ I had taken for granted for thirty years. I also knew from its sounds that it was diseased and dying, a race against time to see if my human body could hold up long enough for the vampire one to form from it.
Sluggishly sucking blood from my lungs, I listened as my heart struggled to pump the partially re-oxygenated blood back out and willed it to keep going. Did it have the strength? Only time would tell.
Despite the fact I was dying, I did appreciate the beauty of the process. Obviously, vampires are an anaerobic species as was evident by my lovely lilac nail beds.
Part of my blood must now be vampiric cells and no longer oxygen carrying, which was in part keeping me alive and contributing to the fact that despite my failing heart and lungs, I didn’t feel short of breath. My lips, once lovely and pink, were no longer as vibrant in color; explainable to Asa that I was suffering from lack of blood. I thanked the stars again that he didn’t understand his own physiology.
Forcing myself to tune out the sounds of my own mortality, I turned my attention to the echoes of the house around me, only to find it alive with noises I couldn’t recognize. The acuity of my new hearing was impressive, but was obviously going to take some time to get adjusted to. Loud sounds could bring me to my knees, but what was even more frustrating were all of those that I had never heard before tonight. There was definitely going to be a learning curve.
Listening intently, I could hear nothing that sounded like the approach of a vampire, or a human for that matter. Soft swishing sounds emanated from the upper floors of the house, which I eventually attributed to the smallest branches of the oak trees brushing against the house.
Footsteps, small and quick, ran quickly back and forth through a wall in the washroom, which I decided had to be a field mouse. Reminding myself that I needed to call the exterminator if I survived, I tried to suppress the sounds of the house and move out into the yard, ignoring for now the myriad of sounds that remained unrecognized.
The beginning drops of light rain could be heard landing on the trees and vegetation outside and the wind picked up a little more. Having to strain even further to catch other sounds over the din of the rain, I had to refocus and listen even more intently for some sound indicating Asa’s arrival.
Sifting through the fainter sounds that existed outside the house, I could hear numerous heartbeats, all of which were either too fast or too slow to be human. The heavy thump of my horses could be heard faintly from where they stood at the back of the field. The light humming of birds’ wings along with the rapid pace of their hearts could be heard in the trees that surrounded the porch. A couple of dogs barked down by the crossroads, along with an occasional car down on the highway.
Although I could hear cars distantly in the background, I couldn’t make out any traffic near my house, nor could I hear the squeak of leather seats or a radio to suggest there was a parked car.
If Michael was out there, he was being exceptionally quiet and I couldn’t help but let my breath out slowly in relief that at least for the moment he wasn’t here. Having no false hopes that he wouldn’t return, I was relieved at least that I might not have to listen to him die tonight.
I conti
nued to focus on the night around me, listening expectantly for Asa. Why wasn’t he here yet? I could still catch the scent of the detective. My smell had not improved as much as my hearing, but it was definitely greater than the average human’s and Michael’s scent hung slightly in the air. Just enough for me to catch it when a draft moved the air around inside the old home.
It was then I caught a new sound. Very very faintly, I could hear the light fall of footsteps coming up on the porch, but before I could analyze them to any degree, he was in front of me. His speed was amazing.
Opening my eyes, I found him beside me on the bed. Eyes closed, legs crossed in front of him. He seemed to be listening as well, either mocking my pose or perhaps he was listening for the detective like I was.
Studying his expression, I could see his rage was only barely concealed. His beautiful face was stony. A muscle in his left jaw twitched and I could see his teeth were clenched, causing the muscles in his neck to stand out slightly. I could have sworn his lips were even redder than normal. A fact I attributed to a recent feeding.
Wondering who he had drank from tonight, since he obviously had, and whether or not they were still alive, I watched him closely. The rain I had heard had left a light moist sheen on his hair and skin, adding further to the suppleness of his skin.
Feeling my eyes upon his face, he opened them suddenly and I gasped in response to the depth of hatred and anger radiating towards me. A deep green rim surrounded the black pools of his dilated pupils and knowing it would be nearly impossible to escape his gaze, I didn’t resist.
Raising his left hand, he moved it slowly towards me with none of his usual speed. He must have done it intentionally for it prolonged the agony as I waited for his supernaturally strong hand to reach me. Would he snap my neck, choke out my life, or pull me to him?
Time nearly stood still, but when his hand finally reached me, he simply stroked my right cheek, slowly moving his fingers along my cheekbone just at the corner of my eye and tracing it down towards my lips.
Using only his thumb, he traced the arch of my upper lip gently before following the contour of my lower lip. He repeated it about twenty times. I sat there quietly and without moving, fearing that the slightest movement would bring his wrath without warning. But then again, maybe that would have been better than the suspense of not knowing when or if he was going to strike.
Languidly running his hand behind my neck, he pulled me towards him until our faces were even and our lips were nearly touching. His fangs were fully exposed, shockingly white against the bright red of his lips. He pulled further until I was no longer able to balance myself and would have fallen face first onto the floor if he weren’t holding me. Instead, he twisted me around and back onto the bed until he was kneeling over the top of me.
A drop of water fell from an overhanging lock of his dark hair, landing on my cheek. I had watched it fall, able to follow its movement in a way I had never been able to do before tonight, until it was beyond my line of vision. With even slower movements, he leaned down further and licked it off with a flick of his tongue.
His lips moved to mine and he kissed me more gently than he had ever done, just barely grazing my lips with his fangs. His tongue tasted sweet and softly swirled around mine while his fingers traced perfect circles from my cheeks to my chin. In spite of myself, I couldn’t help but relax in his powerful yet soft grip.
Lifting his face from mine, we were eye to eye again. “You little human whore.” His voice remained soft despite the message in the words. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but doubtless it had something to do with the earlier presence of the detective.
Trying to keep my face expressionless lest he read the wrong emotion, I fought to keep my voice calm as well when I responded. “Why do you call me that when this was part of our agreement? I do what you want and you let Ellie live. I’m only keeping my word.”
His grip tightened around my face but I didn’t struggle. “You little fool. I can smell him here and I can smell your lust for him in the air. All this talk about your little girl yet you spend the time you promised to me lusting after a human man. You are obviously not as concerned about her as you act. As usual, you humans never fail to disappoint me and I owe you nothing now.” He hissed his final words at me.
“Are you sure it’s not fear you’re smelling? I don’t remember any lust while I was trying to explain to a cop why I was with a man who threatened to strangle me in a parking lot and why my neighbor was found dead with her throat ripped out. For a vampire trying to avoid publicity, you might start with not choking me in public spaces!” I hissed the words right back at him.
His hand was still wrapped around my chin but I managed to get the words out. I was so angry remembering what was left of Ms. McElhaney that reaching up, I gripped his wrist with both my hands and dug my fingernails into him as deeply as I could. I thrashed from side to side using all of the strength I had. Despite landing one slap to his cool face and a few kicks, he gave no indication as to whether or not he felt it nor did he try to stop me.
His only response was to lower the full length of his body onto mine, which stopped my thrashing easily enough for a couple of reasons. First was his sheer weight and strength, but also I was feeling the beginnings of lust, which was quite disturbing in many ways but present nonetheless. He was after all a beautiful creature, with an emphasis on the creature part. But there was also something else. Again I longed for something from him, although exactly what, I wasn’t sure.
He was right about the detective. I did find him attractive but it wasn’t sex I had wanted from him. I still couldn’t name the desire or want that he had caused in me.
Pheromones are very powerful and Asa had clearly picked up on something that even I wasn’t aware of about myself. But with Asa it was different. Yes, he was beautiful and any female would have responded to his beauty, but I was certain that a new part of me was identifying with something in Asa that I would never be able to share with Michael. It was a vampire thing and my pheromones recognized Asa much more strongly. He and I were now of the same species. At least in part and becoming more so every day.
He laughed quietly in the dark room. “I am certainly smelling lust now, but we can get to that later.” He spoke quietly still. In the dim lighting of the room, I could make out that his face no longer held the rage from earlier. It was beginning to look like I might survive another night.
“Tell me about this human?” he demanded, positioning his forearms on either side of my face so I couldn’t look away. Even my newfound strength was no match for him yet, despite the fact I was gaining strength every hour.
“A detective. Report came in from a passerby who thought I was nearly strangled in the parking lot of that store we stopped at last night. They wrote down my tags and called it in. That report just happened to coincide with Ms. McElhaney’s family finding her murdered. It seems I was a logical place to start.” I glared at him now from my position underneath him, hoping he didn’t notice I was lying about who called in the report.
“And so what did this detective want?” His voice was still low and controlled, but I could detect a bit of concern.
“He wanted to know who my ‘boyfriend’ was and where you were now, of course,” I explained. “I had to look at photos of poor Ms. McElhaney and see your handiwork. I even had to lie and tell him that you’re not a murderer.” Staring up into his face when I was done, his face was like a beautiful mask, cold, hard, and emotionless.
“I thought you were more careful. I thought you tried to avoid the police. Of course, they’re not looking for a vampire, but they will be looking for someone who fits your description. I have no doubt that the detective will probably stake out my house, making this all the more difficult,” I added, sweeping my hands up to take in us and the house. Still not having learned to keep my mouth shut, I had probably said too much as the anger returned to his face.
“I am usually very careful. Maybe consorting with humans is a ba
d idea after all. You seem to bring out the recklessness in me,” he growled back at me.
Sitting up now, he moved to lean back against the headrest leaving me lying beside him in the bed. The embers of lust were dying away, and so rolling over, I moved to join him stretching my legs out in front of me.
“It’s not consorting with humans that’s the bad idea. It’s the killing them that’s the problem. Your logic is flawed,” I noted into the darkness of the room, since I had not bothered to turn the lights on again.
“My logic tells me to kill this detective after obtaining the name of the passerby who called in this report and then kill them too.” His voice became even harder as he said the words.
Throwing my hands up in exasperation, I retorted back, “NO, NO, NO! Killing them will solve nothing. That’s insane. The reports have already been filed so killing the detective will only raise more suspicion. Logically, you should just lay low or move on.” I was practically shouting, but his logic was flawed so I reiterated again, “Killing more people is not the answer.”
I stared at him incredulously as it was hard to imagine anyone, even him, couldn’t see the absolute craziness of his plan. He had clearly lost all of his former human perspective.
“Why did you try to protect me? Why not tell the detective that I would be back tonight and let them try to catch me? Or did you not want them to catch me?” His voice was huskier again and I knew his mind was leading in another direction again. He had lost all interest in the detective and whatever potential threat he considered him.
After having my life threatened for several days, I guess I was losing my fear and out of that numbness, I was forgetting my condition. Laughing out loud at the absurdity of his question, I answered back, “Don’t flatter yourself. We had an agreement and I protected you only to protect my daughter.”
“Your precious daughter. How could I forget?” His voice was cold, but his eyes were hot. His pupils dilated even wider than I had thought possible and he lowered his lips to mine again, nicking my bottom lip with his fangs. Feeling the blood bead lightly on my lip as he pulled away momentarily, I watched as he lowered his head and kissed me slowly, pulling my lip into his mouth and sucking lightly.