Blood Reaction A Vampire Novel (9 page)

“How many? Human hostages that is?” I questioned, my voice urging him to continue.

Raising his eyebrows slightly, he brought his lips together in a little smile before responding. “At most, I have revealed my true nature to less humans than I can count on two hands. I killed each one of them. These deaths I remember specifically, but as to how many humans I have killed in my existence, I do not keep a record. I do not have to kill to feed and so I do not always kill. If I had not found you in such isolating circumstances, chances are I would have drank a little and you would have lived, if I had even chose to feed from you at all. But you were too convenient. You can thank your choice of housing for your death.”

I supposed the old saying ‘mother knows best’ certainly fit here. I cursed myself mentally again for my lack of practicality.

His voice brought me back to the present. “Now before you decide that I have a conscience after all, you need to know the only reason I do not kill every time that I feed is simply that I do not want the authorities to become involved. And there are plenty of times that I kill simply for the thrill of it. Although it is unlikely they would find me, I do not see that it is worth the risk.”

He paused here as the waitress that replaced Lisa came to place the ticket on the table. Reaching into my purse, I pulled out some bills and handed them to her, indicating that I needed no change so she wouldn’t come back. When she was gone, I nodded for him to continue.

Smiling at me suddenly, he leaned in close. “As for sex, lust is lust whether it is for blood or sex. We carry the same desires from our human life into our vampiric life. Combine our lust for sex and blood and you have a powerful stimulant. Essentially, they are the same to us. It is hard to have one without the other. But you already knew that, Annalice, since you fucked me like a common whore today with your blood on my tongue.”

His eyes were intense and I could clearly see the desire on his face. I felt a flush explode on to my cheeks. I would like to say it was solely because I was embarrassed, but unfortunately I could also feel my own lust for him kick in. It didn’t provide me with any affirmation of my character.

Standing quickly to gain some distance from my own lust, my chair scraped roughly on the concrete floor, balanced precariously for a moment, then finally crashed to the floor. A hush fell across the restaurant as if someone had dropped an entire serving tray. I could feel Asa’s eyes on my face.

Looking down at him, I could see anger that I had brought attention to us evident in his expression. Smiling politely at the surrounding tables, I turned and walked out to the car. I didn’t hear his chair move or him get up but by the way my skin was crawling, I knew he was behind me.

We were about twenty feet into the parking lot before he jerked me around and delivered a resounding slap to my right cheek, sending my head ricocheting backwards. Knocking me to the ground, I didn’t have time to catch my breath before he had jerked me to my feet again. He was so angry that he was shaking slightly. Glancing around the parking lot, I was happy to find no witnesses either to the abuse or the sad state that I was in. I, at least, wanted to die with some dignity left.

“Now you worry about making a scene, but I know there is no one around; no one to see us because I have already checked, because I am not a weak stupid human,” he hissed at me, pulling my face around to look at him. “Are you truly committed to this, Annalice, because I have my doubts? Maybe you are not as committed to your daughter as I thought.” His voice was low but harsh.

Trying to apologize, the words only half-way came out, such was the force of his grip on my face. He didn’t listen, but instead began to drag me towards my car.

We had parked on the edge of the parking lot, my Camaro pulled in facing the restaurant, and behind it nothing but a grown over lot. Despite my fear and having learned my lesson, I didn’t fight as he pulled me across the desolate space, bypassing the passenger door of my car.

Sure that he had lost all patience with me, I was certain he would kill me now. Although I didn’t fight, I couldn’t keep from crying and he wrapped a strong hand around my jaw, muffling my tears.

A few steps past the door of my car, he swung me around, forcing me across the trunk. A moment of relief washed across me as I realized he wasn’t dragging me into the bushes to kill me. The relief was short-lived when it occurred to me he was going to put me in the trunk.

Unable to control myself, I begin to cry harder and even his hand couldn’t muffle the sound completely and so he slapped me again.

Losing consciousness briefly, I came back to myself just as I felt the fabric of my panties rip as he jerked them off of my body. My pants were already down around my ankles and I was still bent across the hood. In my surreal state, I could see the restaurant a hundred feet away or so and it was like I was looking at a different world, another reality.

I could see people leaving the restaurant, smiling and waving goodbye to their friends. No one looked or even glanced in my direction as he knocked my feet apart with one foot and I didn’t try to get their attention. I had made enough mistakes for one day.

I wasn’t prepared or ready for him this time since we had exchanged no saliva, but still he pushed into me with force enough to cause me to cry out if I had been able to breathe. His weight constricted my respirations to the point that I was forced to focus solely on breathing as he stroked forcibly into me.

Tears continued to roll down my cheeks as he took me against my will. Pulling my hair to one side, he bit into the back of my neck. I could feel blood run in a small rivulet down my back as his strokes got faster and faster. Finally, I felt him stiffen and the car shook slightly with his orgasm. As he stepped away from me and was no longer holding me up, my legs gave way and I sank down onto the cold pavement, my knees striking the ground hard.

Kneeling down beside me, he whispered into my ear, “You asked the questions. If you do not like the answers, quit asking. I am giving you a second chance, Annalice, because I need this and so far you have been a fun date. But I suggest you not make mistakes like that one again.”

Shaking like a rag doll, I was finally able to nod at his back as he walked around the car and out of my line of vision. I heard the passenger door open, then felt the car settle down with his weight. Using the bumper, I pulled myself up and resting against it, I pulled my jeans back up as well.

Taking a deep breath, I let myself have a moment to calm my trembling hands before rejoining him in the car. It was going to be a long ride home both from my humiliation and the now-familiar hunger, induced by his fluids, setting in.

We did not speak as I pulled out of the parking lot onto the highway and as each mile rolled under the wheels of my car, the silence became heavier until I felt I would suffocate under its weight.

As I had expected, the trip was longer and lonelier. Maybe it was that there were fewer cars on the highway, making it seem darker. Or maybe it was knowing that I was again leaving all semblance of normal behind as I returned home to my reality now. Blood and violence.

At some point, I had started to think of each day as a number;  day one and so forth. I was fast approaching day two. It was about midnight now and there were only four more days for me to live.

I continued to drive, turning off on the lonely dirt road that would eventually end in the circular drive at my house. No words were said by either of us so it gave me plenty of time to think.

My mind continued to stray back to the fact I would be dead soon. I didn’t think I was morbid, surely most humans my age would be thinking as I was. My past life now seemed so short and I thought about all the things I would miss. Mainly, Ellie growing up, her first prom, first boyfriend, graduation, choosing a college, her wedding, and finally, her children. Every time I thought of Ellie, it was with a mixture of regret and jubilation that even though I wouldn’t be with her, she would be alive and allowed to grow up.

And try as I might, I couldn’t help but feel the loss over the things I would never get to do. My twenties had been spent pursuing medicine and then in raising a child and building a medical practice. There had been no time for many outside interests or romance, hence my divorce, and now there never would be.

I looked over at the man beside me. No, not man. Vampire, monster, aberration. I’m not usually a person of much hate, but I hated him. I hated him with every ounce of me. I hated him for taking me away from my daughter, for putting me in this position, for raping me, and making me want him.

I had done nothing to deserve this. The rage boiled inside me and it felt like I would explode from the intensity of it. I almost felt like I could touch the emotion shimmering along my skin like currents of electricity.

For a split-second the rage was so intense that I forgot how weak I was compared to him and considered reaching over and breaking his neck. But Ellie’s face flashed in my mind and that is what saved me. I tried valiantly to push the rage to the back of my mind and after what seemed like an eternity, I managed to control it enough that my heart began to slow its race and the currents of electricity I felt running along my skin stopped.

“What were you thinking that made your heart race?” he asked, breaking the silence. I was surprised since I had been the one asking all the questions this evening.

My first impulse was to lie, but what did it really matter? I doubt he would be concerned that I wanted to kill him. He had probably grown used to that reaction over the years.

“Well, honestly, I was thinking about all the life I was going to miss out on and how I wanted to kill you. I’m sure you have had life enough for the both of us and it’s simply not fair.”

I heard his low throaty laugh but didn’t turn my head to look at him. I knew he would be wearing that condescending smile.

“You could not kill me. I am immortal. An unfair match for an ordinary human. So far, you have done well at accepting your lot. Except for that little mistake at the restaurant, but I taught you a nice lesson for that, right? It is what it is, Annalice. Do not forget what you are getting in return for your compliance.” He spoke into the quiet of the car. “Let us make this civil, Annalice. No drama or theatrics. It can be pleasant and I can promise you a painless end.”

I had nothing to say back to him, but I supposed I should be grateful that he was promising me a quick end.

I made the final curve in the road and the house stood eerily in the moonlight. Pulling into the garage, the heavy overhead door let down behind us. I felt like I was pulling into a crypt. I knew his gaze was resting on me. I could sense it without even looking over at him, but I couldn’t stop myself and turning towards him, my eyes locked with his. The hunger was easily visible and that was the best word to describe it. He was hungry again.

Jumping out of the car, I hurried towards the door. I, at the very least, wanted to be in the house before he fed again and not pinned down to the seat of my car.

Just as I was topping the last step into the house, his hands wrapped around my neck, jerking me around and throwing me back across the hood of the car. I slammed into the metal and the force caused me to instinctively close my eyes for a split-second.

Opening them, I found myself looking into his dilated gaze. His nostrils were slightly flared, lips parted and pulled back over the doubled fangs that were fully extended. They glistened even in the semi-darkness of the garage.

Taking my left wrist, he brought it up to his mouth and kissed the inside gently. Then, holding my hand in his other hand, he extended my wrist joint and bit cleanly through to my radial artery. Though it is a very sensitive part of the body, it hurt only for a few seconds.

He drank more deeply this time, long swallows over about a minute. Dizziness began to cloud my mind and I dropped my head back on the cold smooth metal of the car. He brought his head up and a drop of my blood escaped the corner of his mouth, his tongue flicked out to catch it before it dropped.

Leaning down, he whispered into my ear, “You are going to be a hard one to keep alive. You bring out the worst in me. I doubt you will last the week. Sleep well, my dear.” In the next moment, he was gone.

I lay there on the hood for a few moments, partly because I was too weak to move and partly because I half expected him to come back. But he didn’t return and finally I let myself slide down the hood until my feet were touching the floor. Taking a few seconds to steady myself, I walked into the house.

The old wall clock struck one just as I walked into the living room. My heart paused in its beating as I was so startled. Exhaustion was all that forced me to make it to my bedroom and I collapsed on the bed. I was asleep before my head even touched the pillow.

I dreamt of the sun. Bright, hot and shimmering. I had never seen it so vast or brilliant. The sky was a deep gemstone-blue and the golden orb took up at least a quarter of it with no clouds to shield the Earth from the power of its rays. It was mid-July or at least from the slant of the sun on the creek water and its intensity, I thought it was mid-July. The creek wound lazily through the Ozark mountains, the deep green of the trees reached up from the cliffs overhanging the water to touch the sky, creating the illusion that the world consisted of only the river in the valley, the trees, and the sun. There was no noise from the outside world and I lay back on the hot rocks that had been baking in the sun all day.

It was almost painful yet I enjoyed the sensation after climbing out of the cool water of the creek. The heat dampened by the water worked out the kinks of my muscles brought on by swimming after Ellie. We had made two trips back and forth across the stretch of water running between two sets of rapids and I was tired and sore.

She was a good swimmer and although I listened intently while resting on the rocks for her laughter as she played with Samuel in the water, I wasn’t actually worried about her. She was like a fish and had been swimming since she was two. The world always seemed perfect when we were here.

Opening my eyes, I trailed the edges of the cliffs. Unbroken by anything except vegetation and the occasional cedar tree that grew precariously in the cracks marking the cliff surface, I saw nothing out of place. But still I searched. For what, I wasn’t sure but inwardly, I knew something wasn’t right.

Sitting up, I scanned the surface of the water as I realized the sounds of her laughter were gone. A pit opened in my abdomen through which the entire creek could have poured. Starting to panic, I again ran my eyes over the cliff edges out into the distance until I could see them no more.

Instinctively, I knew the water wasn’t the danger and jumping to my feet, I ran to the water’s edge and dove in. Needing to reach the cliffs, I swam with as much power as I had but, as usual in a dream, rather than cutting swiftly through the water, it was like swimming through molasses. I finally made it to where the water and the cliffs met. Reaching up and catching hold of a crooked cedar, I pulled myself into a path cut through the cliff by the slow trickle of a millennium-old stream.

We had climbed it many times in the summer when the stream had dried up at its source from the power of the sun. This time of year, the moss had dried out and the footing wasn’t terribly slick. Somehow, as in most dreams, I had a sense of the terrible lying ahead yet couldn’t stop myself from following it. I couldn’t stop this nightmare from occurring even in my own mind.

I continued to scurry up the slope. Grasping at every small tree or shrub that presented itself, I managed to pull myself to the top and haul myself over the edge. Winded but now standing on the cliff, I went back to scanning the windblown edge, this time with a bird’s eye view.

West to east, I strained my eyes and finally saw her. Standing with her back to the edge of the diving cliff, her long soft tresses blew gently in the breeze of the sunny day. Here, the cliff arched out over the creek, a local jumping spot for lots of kids over the years. It was a short fifteen-foot drop into the creek at one of its deepest depths as long as you dove out far enough.

But I had no fear of the dive. My fear was of the animal I knew she faced. Her arms were pulled up defensively in front of herself and one leg was positioned farther back as if she might turn and dive at any moment. Starting towards her, I stopped abruptly as I realized the sun was gone from the sky, replaced by the cloudy gray skies of a February day.

Looking down from the cliff’s edge to the water, the placid waters had been replaced by the river’s winter current. Strong enough to carry vehicles from bridges and drown the most able bodied swimmer foolish enough to test its strength. The warm balmy air was gone and now felt cold against my still wet skin and swimsuit.

Looking back at Ellie, I hurried towards her and what she faced so defensively. Knowing what it was, I was unable to put it into words, to make myself think the word. Making my way across the distance standing between us, I stepped out to reach for her on the diving rock. “Ellie, take my hand,” I cried out above the wind. But she remained frozen on the edge of the rock.

Looking around, I still couldn’t see what had frightened her so terribly, but when I faced her again, I felt the terror rise up in me as well. The same hair-raising fear that had become a part of my life now and I couldn’t even dream normally.

It was him, the vampire. Turning back to Ellie, I reached out to her with my hands, not allowing myself to stroke her cheek or one lock of her hair for fear I would cling to her.

“I love you. Forgive me and forget me.” Smiling at her one last time, I jumped forward and shoved her off and over the cliff edge. Instinctively, she turned in midair and dove neatly into the gray churning waters below.

I wasn’t afraid for her for I knew she was in no danger now, and leaning over the cliff edge, I watched my beautiful daughter dive into the now sun-kissed summer waters of the river. Without looking back, she rolled over onto her back and looked up into the blue July skies. She was laughing as she swam back to a waiting group of friends where they picnicked with my mother on the heat-soaked rocks.

I laughed with her and paused for a moment before turning my back on the tranquil summer scene back to the dark and miserable cold day that awaited me. Wet and shivering, with gray skin and blue fingernails, I faced the damp sunless skies and the vampire waiting at the tree line.

I awoke, clammy and cool with the cold sweat of a nightmare to the point that even the low setting of the ceiling fan rose gooseflesh on my skin. I lay there unmoving for a moment, hoping my memories of the images would finally take on the quality of a dream and lose some of their reality. It didn’t happen.

The dream had brought to my consciousness what my mind had not dealt with until now. I had seen Ellie as she would be in a few months when I was gone from her life. Would she understand? I doubted it, but the images of her playing happily in the water gave me some peace that even if I wasn’t here, her life could and would go on.

I desperately needed to say goodbye to her. Somehow. But exactly how I would accomplish that I couldn’t yet decide. I knew I couldn’t call Ellie. My mother would answer and she could pick up trouble a mile away. She would know that something was terribly wrong and she would come. I’m a bad liar and I couldn’t fool her. But somehow I had to find a way.

And I wondered if it was a purely selfish need or would it help Ellie as well? It would be risky and I needed to think it through more clearly. I still had three more nights.

Right now, I needed to focus on surviving the day and that was going to take nutrition and possibly a blood transfusion. I laughed inwardly at the thought. I bet that would throw him off a little. Reaching for the bedpost immediately before standing, expecting to have to steady myself after the amount of blood I had lost during the night, I caught it in my right hand but discovered quickly that I didn’t need it. I felt pretty good. No dizziness or nausea this morning and no tired muscles.

The only bad sensation was a mild ache in the bones of my legs and chest. I must be making new blood cells, I rationalized to myself. Confused but not wasting much brain power on how well I felt, I headed into the bathroom to take care of the necessities and get a shower.

After rinsing off in the hottest water I could tolerate as it took the edge off of the bone pain, I stepped out and dried off. I slipped fresh underclothes on and then followed them with crisp scrub pants and a V-neck tee and headed back into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

My mother had always touted the importance of a clean mouth in the worst of situations. It was her firm belief that brushing your teeth could improve your outlook on any situation by at least fifty percent. It was a belief I shared and so after squeezing a generous amount of blue paste onto my brush, I brushed with fervor as I considered my situation.

I was working hard on the left lower teeth when I noticed again how unscathed the skin of my neck was. Lifting my wrist up to look at the most recent puncture wound, I inspected it under the bright light of the vanity. No trace of his penetration of my artery, not even any bruising. How was that possible?

As an ER doc, I knew trauma inside and out and bruises have a fairly predictable timetable. I should have had bright bluish purple contusions yet looking in the mirror, there were none. No puncture wounds, no bruising, and no redness. Yesterday I at least had bruises from where he had thrown me around. Now those were gone as well.

My skin was perfect and as I remembered back over the last two nights, I realized there had been little post-traumatic bleeding. I sat down on the edge of the tub and began pulling a comb through my hair. It was long and the events of the night had left it so tangled that the water hadn’t even made much of a dent in the knots. Lost in thought about the lack of bruising and bleeding, I pulled the comb slowly again and again through my disheveled hair.

How did he puncture a vessel, drink free-flowing blood, stop the bleeding, and heal the tissue? There had to be a scientific explanation, I was sure that it wasn’t magic.

Drinking free-flowing blood was the easy part. Leeches and ticks did that all the time. It was a protein in their spit. The medical field even used leech saliva therapeutically when patients had clots.

But reversing the process had to be trickier. His saliva had to contain an anticoagulant to keep the blood from clotting and a protein that was activated secondarily to clot the wound, as well as growth hormones to repair the damage.

But why would his body go to that much trouble? Evolutionarily speaking, DNA was not altruistic. There had to be more benefits to his spit for him.

I continued to think about this as I put the comb on the bathroom counter and walked into the kitchen to find something to eat. Pouring a large glass of milk and grabbing a left-over muffin from a few days gone by, I sat down at the kitchen table and continued to mull over the possibilities.

Clearly biology begets survival of the species. So how did this help him? I was now pretty certain his fluids also contained neuro-stimulators. Blood coagulation, tissue growth hormones, and neuro-stimulants no doubt allowed the prey to live longer, requiring fewer victims and therefore the ability to blend in more. My theory still seemed to be missing something, but I couldn’t seem to put my finger on what that missing element was.

Walking into the living room to rest my overactive mind, I slumped onto the couch. When you’re a prisoner in your home, you realize how boring a place it can be. Even in this roomy old house, I felt as if the walls were closing in on me.

Absentmindedly and out of habit, I reached for the remote. Looking at it in my hand, it occurred to me I had lost touch completely with the outside world. A war could have been going on and I would have had no idea.

Flipping on the TV, I hastily turned to one of the national news channels, jabbing at the next channel button when any image of violence popped up. I just couldn’t take that right now.

Finally landing on the news, I had seen all of the national headlines in ten minutes. Nothing too exciting, just the usual stuff and just as violent as the fiction so I turned to Discovery Channel. At least people probably weren’t going to die in front of my eyes.

Tossing the remote control down, I just sat there for a few minutes lost in thought. Something in the dialogue on one of the educational channels caught my attention and I listened intently to a Ph.D. discussing how the Internet was changing the face of American civilization.

The Internet. I hadn’t even thought about it until now. Not a huge web surfer, I had let it completely slip through my mind. I doubted Asa would be checking my search engines. He probably didn’t even know how. Perhaps others out in the real world knew something about vampires. Getting up quickly, I hurried to the computer and pulled up my favorite search engine.

At first, I typed in vampire and blood-clotting. Forty three thousand hits. I spent about an hour going through the first sixteen pages. Mostly it was about vampire bats and their ability to keep their prey’s blood from clotting. Nothing that helped me very much.

Deciding to try a less specific search, I tried vampire. Over three million hits.
I certainly don’t have that much time,
I thought irritably to myself. I spent another couple of hours and only got through about one hundred pages. Again, nothing much of any value. Usually my eyes gave out after that much time on the Internet but today I gave up first, deleted my search, and went back into the living room. My eyes felt surprisingly good, but my bones were still aching.

It was about three in the afternoon. Glancing around at the taupe walls, I felt more claustrophobic in the house. I really needed to get outside for a while, but remembering his warning, I decided the sun room might be a safer alternative.

Grabbing a drink as I passed through the kitchen, as dehydration seemed to be my constant companion, I went to the opposite end of the house and walked into the glass-enclosed room. I had always kept the blinds closed when the room wasn’t in use for energy purposes, but also the exposure from all of that glass always made me a little nervous at night.