The Embrace (31 page)

“It’s ok. You’re with me, remember?” He whispered to her.

My stomach gave a sickening rumble, reminding me of my need for blood. I had thought the tears were gone but I felt a lone tear trickling down my cheek. I was both weak and threatened, a deadly combination for a vampire.

“Don’t turn her, Gabriel. Please don’t.” I begged.

It was the only request I had, and I knew he could sense my desperation. We had a lot to talk about but that would have to wait until a better time. We had to calm Dahlia down before she attracted attention, and that came above our issues.

He looked up at me from his crouched position. The black clouds above him had faded and he seemed like the Gabriel I knew. As he turned back to Dahlia I expected him to put her under his spell again. We could deal with her if she was under his compulsion, but I wanted nothing more to do with her.

But to my surprise he bent down towards her neck, and before I had time to take stock of what had happened, his fangs were embedded in her jugular.

I hadn’t expected him to taste her, but I thought he must be hungry after our fight. We hadn’t hunted yet and I was finding it hard to control my own hunger pangs. 

He took his head away from the wound. Dahlia was almost at the point of death already. Her eyes had rolled back and her sweat stained skin had turned a sickly pale shade. Blood was coated around Gabriel’s chin and I could see the effects of her taste taking hold of him.

I saw him bend down and press his lips against his own wrist, coating his skin in Dahlia’s blood. He used his fangs to rip at the veins and then, before I had time to stop him, he pressed the exposed wound to our victim’s parted lips.

My body was frozen and I let out a guttural noise. I knew this had been coming, and I knew what it meant. He had taken her blood and then replaced it with his own. It had been less than a year since he had completed this very transaction with me. He was turning her in to one of us.

My legs collapsed under me and I fell to the ground. Gabriel pulled away from Dahlia and began to dry the blood with a blanket that had been placed on the sofa behind us.

As I tried to process what had happened, I found myself staring at this poor woman. I remembered the embrace all too well. There had been a burning pain and then a feeling of release, as if I was letting go of the human world for something better. It’s a unique experience and I had never seen it from an outsider’s perspective.

Her whole body convulsed violently and a trickle of blood fell from her lips. She was dying before my eyes, but I knew this wasn’t the end. In a few hours or days she would be back in front of me, more alive than ever.

Gabriel joined me. The cut I had inflicted during my moment of anger was almost non-existant now. The only sign of my fleeting power over him had all but disappeared.

“Why?” I was still crying but that one word conveyed everything I need to say.

He smiled at me in the patronising way an adult smiles at a child. “I’m the one in charge here Louisa. You hurt me and I hurt you, that’s how it works.”

He left me crouched on the floor and a few seconds later I heard the door slam shut. I was left in the nest by myself once again, watching Dahlia transition before my eyes.

Every few seconds she let out a strangled cry. It was a desperate, animalistic sound which left me chilled. It felt strange to watch the transformation from the other side just months after going through it. I could almost feel the way Gabriel’s blood was flowing around her body, tearing her veins apart. I knew that the pain she was experiencing was excruciating, and despite my jealousy I felt sorry for her. I had chosen this life, but I had no idea whether Dahlia had.

I crawled over to her. I couldn’t stand yet as my legs still felt weak after the shock of the night. Her skin was deathly pale and her glorious red hair had been plastered to her forehead in a cold sweat. Her clothes and skin were coated with a mixed concoction of her blood and Gabriel’s. 

After a few minutes I saw her body relax. The rhythm of her heart, which had been beating at full strength to replace the loss of blood, had now slowed right down. If I didn’t know better I would have said she was sleeping.

After a few moments, her heart stopped. She was finally dead. I didn’t know how long a human usually spent in limbo before being reborn but I knew I couldn’t leave Dahlia, just in case.

I took a leaf out of Gabriel’s book and carefully brushed the dead girl’s sweat soaked hair from her brow.

“You’re going to be fine.” I whispered to her before kissing her gently on the forehead. I felt threatened by her, but I had to put that behind me and make sure she had someone waiting for her when she woke up. I knew from experience that this wouldn’t be easy on her.

I must have drifted off while I was waiting for Dahlia to change. I finally awoke when the hunger began to tug at me and I realised how desperate I was to start my nightly hunt. For a moment I thought Gabriel might bring back a victim for me as a peace offering, but that was foolish. If that night had taught me anything it was that I didn’t know Gabriel as well as I thought.

I buried the pangs of thirst deep inside and tried to focus on Dahlia. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been resting but I wanted to be certain she wasn’t alone when she became one of us. From a selfish perspective, I knew she could be a powerful asset to have on my side too.

I looked over at the spot where Gabriel had tied her up and my whole body froze. She wasn’t there. The rope he had used to keep her in place was still hanging over the railings but the new vampire was no longer at the other end.

I calmed myself and tried to think logically. She couldn’t be too far away. I closed my eyes and reached out to see if I could sense her location. The soft sound of falling water hit me, coming from the bathroom.

Obviously I had used the bathroom, in fact I had slept there during my first major argument with Gabriel, but we had never used the bath the way humans would have. I knew it must be Dahlia in there.

The water stopped as I made my way to the source. I hadn’t expected Dahlia to finish the transition before I could wake up, but I had so many things I wanted to talk to her about.

The door was ajar. When I pushed it open it made an eerie creaking noise. The bright bathroom lights were on and the opulence of the room was on full display. The bath tub was one of those antique, claw footed ones that always seems to make a room more beautiful.

The bath was filled with water and there was a layer of bubbles on top. Dahlia was lounging in the suds with her back to me. Her red hair was piled high on her head, free from the sweat and blood that had coated it the last time I had seen her. Her alabaster skin was flawless and I could make out her figure beneath the water. She was truly beautiful, even more so now that she had joined our ranks.

“Nice to see you again.” She said.

She didn’t need to turn around to know I was there, and so I knew the transition must have taken hold. It seemed as if there was a smile in her voice that I hadn’t expected from a newborn vampire.

“How do you feel?” I asked. It felt like a pointless question but it was all I could muster.

She still didn’t turn to face me. “I’ve been better.” 

She was just like the Dahlia I’d always known but there was something more intense about her. Her confidence had strengthened in to something far more intimidating.

I walked over and perched on the edge of the bath, facing her. Humans always place an emphasis on the eyes, as if they’re the centre of the soul. Vampires don’t have souls but the eyes are still seen as a key to understanding what’s going on inside, and Dahlia was no different.

Her eyes were a glittering green shade, like a field of grass. There was a knowledge and a wisdom there which she had possessed as a human. It had been enhanced now that she was a vampire and despite my experience, I found myself feeling intimidated by her.

She looked back at me with those piercing eyes and I saw a sarcastic smile grow on her face.

“Want to join me?” She laughed, clearly mocking my interest in her.

She lifted her leg out of the water and flexed her toes. The way she moved, the way she let her skin soak up the water, reminded me of a mystical water nymph.

I tried to move the tone back to something more serious. “Dahlia, we have a lot to talk about.”

She nodded but I don’t think she was really listening. She was too busy caressing her legs and admiring her new found perfection.

“He told me I’d look better after he turned me but this is just...” She hadn’t listened. She was too concerned with her own beauty. I was about to raise my concerns again but she cut in before I could speak. “So how are we going to do this?”

I was confused. I felt very uncomfortable around this newborn monster. There was something unsettling about her confidence and brazen attitude, the very things I had admired while she was a human.

“Do what?” I asked. My brow crinkled in confusion and finally she seemed to take notice of me.

She laughed. It was even more grating this time than before. “Well I’ve never been in a menage-a-trois so I don’t really know how it works.”

She could see by my blank face that I was still perplexed. She sighed and rolled her eyes as if she was talking to a simpleton. “Gabriel. You don’t expect him to stay monogamous do you? He created me to be another mate to him. He’s not a one woman vampire anymore.”

I was stunned. Dahlia stood up in the soapy bath and stepped on to the bathroom floor. I had always had a slender build so Dahlia’s curves felt like another weapon to show she was better than me. She took the clip out of her hair and her red waves fell down her back like a subject in a baroque painting.

She gently dabbed at the soapy bubbles on her legs and caught my glance. “See something interesting?” She asked.

In a moment of shame, I quickly looked away from her while she wrapped her body in a towel.

She left the bathroom, walking with grace, and I followed her out. I still had things to talk about so I knew I couldn’t just leave her with so much unsaid.

“Wait. We need to talk.” I called after her. She stopped in her tracks and turned round but I could see she wasn’t particularly happy about it. “You’ve been through a lot of changes and there must be something you want to ask me. I went through this less than a year ago, I can help you.”

She walked towards me with that beautiful, womanly gait. Her hips moved with a fluid sensuality and the atmosphere around her almost intoxicated me. I had fed on her blood just days before and it had overpowered me. Now that she was a vampire, her effect was even stronger.

She stopped just in front of me. Had she been human I’d have been able to feel her breath on me but now there was no sign of the life she once had. It took all my strength to look away from her gaze. She touched my chin and moved my face back so that she could lock on to my eyes.

I took in her countenance and her stature like an artist laying eyes on his newest muse. The cupid’s bow of her lips was pronounced and full, while her cheeks had a natural pinkness. She was taller than me and so she had to tilt my chin up to look me in the eyes.

She leaned in and those perfect lips pressed against my own. I saw her lids close over her shining eyes and I followed her. The kiss grew more powerful and primal. I felt as if she was sucking all of my energy out as she placed her hands on my cheeks in the moment of passion.

I don’t know how long we stood there. When she pulled away I wanted to go with her. The advantage of being dead is that you never have to break a kiss for air. It can last as long as you want and Dahlia pulling away left me empty. She left her face lingering just inches in front of mine and kissed along the crease of my chin like Gabriel used to.

I could feel her lips opening against my ears and she whispered gently to me. “You’re nothing like he said. I don’t understand why he wants to trade you in for a better model.”

I pushed her away. The feeling rushing through my body turned to anger in a flash.  I felt as if she had done all of this to degrade me. She had tricked me into making myself vulnerable and then she had insulted me.

She laughed again in that taunting way. I could hardly stand it. I had felt such a connection to her but it had all turned around in a second, and now I wanted nothing more than to run away.

“Stay away from me.” I yelled. I was growing more agitated and her nonchalant attitude made me crazy.

“Lighten up. It was a joke.” She turned to walk away from me but I couldn’t let her. My blood was boiling and I needed to show her that she couldn’t mess me around.

I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. The coldness behind her emerald eyes turned to anger. She may have impressed me with her new found power but I still had the edge in terms of experience, and my grip was strong.

“Get off me, you psycho.” She yelled.

I felt tears fall from my eyes but it wasn’t down to sadness. They were the signs of raw emotion. I had gone through so much over the night and her taunting had pushed me over the edge.

I felt my fangs extend and a flash of fear pushed through Dahlia’s confident exterior. I hadn’t seen any vulnerability in her up until that point, but I knew it meant I was gaining the upper hand. She tried to push me away but I grabbed her other arm and held her tightly in place.