Blood Reaction A Vampire Novel (11 page)

I massaged his neck and shoulders while I straddled him, his lips warming to the temperature of mine until I felt I couldn’t tell where I stopped and he started. The kiss became harder and more insistent, his tongue curling around mine. And as I expected, the cut continued to bleed although slowly because of how small it was. I had done the right thing as he couldn’t pull his mouth away from mine.

Pulling away from him as the cut finally sealed over, I could now see his fangs more clearly as his lips were pulled back for the first time tonight. They were more extended than they were earlier. I couldn’t look away from the sharpness of them as he lifted my right arm to his mouth.

As he kissed the inner aspect of my elbow, chills started at my neck and raced down my back. I shivered in expectation despite myself. His arrogance concerning human women was well deserved. Still watching me, he pierced the soft skin overlying my brachial artery and I gasped at the pain. Several drops ran down my right arm and landed on the ivory piano keys below, brilliant red against the sharp white. He brought my other arm up and did the same thing. There was a quick sharp pain with each bite, but now his pheromones had reached critical mass in my cerebral circulation and all thoughts of pain, or anything else for that matter, were gone.

My blood flowed like a gentle tributary down both arms and he followed it with his mouth, consuming it as he made several smaller bites along its path. Reaching up with one hand, he easily pulled my t-shirt apart at the seams. I was wearing a newer red bra. I had thought of the irony when I pulled it out of my closet. It accentuated my skin nicely. He sucked his breath in slightly.

“How I love that color,” he murmured to himself. Pulling it slowly off of my shoulders until my breasts slipped out, he dropped it to the floor with one hand while he cupped me with the other.

He removed my panties just as easily and lifted himself off the chair to push his pants down. My eyes slid down his muscular abdomen. Pulling myself up on him while I looked up to watch his face, I slid myself down the length of him. He gasped slightly and I did too as a thousand nerve endings seemed to catch fire internally, spreading down my legs and simultaneously up into my lower abdomen. Starting to move up and down, I had only just begun when I climaxed so thoroughly that I had a few heart palpitations.

Certain that the enhanced sensations were part of the conversion process, I questioned whether or not my circulatory system could handle the change. But I didn’t have time to consider it long for he started to move himself. His strong strokes brought me to climax over and over until finally, with quite a bit of force, I felt him shudder and come inside of me. When he was finished, I nearly collapsed onto him and without thinking, I rested my forehead on his shoulder. I half expected him to flinch from my unintentional casual contact, but he didn’t and I continued to rest. For the first time, I noticed he had a scent. I hadn’t noticed it before. He smelled somehow manly and spicy at the same time. Always suffering from allergies, I had never had a particularly strong sense of smell, but apparently that was changing now.

Sitting up, I took in a deep breath through my nose. I could smell the scent of sex and the slight mustiness of the old house. Smells that I had never particularly noticed before tonight. Glancing down at him, I saw he was looking at me intently.

“You made me lose my breath. I’ll be okay in a couple of minutes,” I lied, telling him the first plausible excuse that came to my mind.

“I have that effect on humans. I always make them lose their breath, one way or the other,” he replied with a slight smile on his face. Then he pushed me off into the floor. Hitting my head on a nearby bookcase as I fell, my vision tunneled. I tried to hang on, but lasted only a second or two and then everything went black.

I awoke not immediately knowing how much time had passed. Finding myself in a different room than where I last remembered was very disconcerting and it took a few minutes to reorient myself.

When I finally recognized I was in my bedroom, I sat up and swung my legs down. My feet touched the carpet and shock caused me to jerk them back before they were even flat on the floor. A multitude of increased sensations had burst onto the soles of my feet and I was unprepared for the heightened sensorium. I had never realized how thick and soft the carpet was and putting my feet back down, I ran them back and forth through the carpet until they were warm from the friction.

I recognized the now familiar warm stinging sensation again in my mouth and now enveloping my throat and continuing on down into my abdomen, almost like I had swallowed whiskey. I reveled in the sensations for I knew I was making progress.

Getting up, I walked into the living room and found Asa intently studying my cell phone. I had a moment of panic before I realized that I hadn’t called Ellie.

Looking up at me as I walked towards him, he pointed towards the phone, saying, “Teach me.”

I nodded slightly, feigning disinterest. My head hurt and I wanted to scream at him for throwing me on the floor, but I was so happy about the ongoing conversion that I was able to hide my anger at least momentarily. I taught him the basics in a matter of minutes, my heart dropping as he realized how much could be hidden on a phone. I wasn’t surprised when he crushed it easily in his hands.

I sounded almost cheery when I told him, “I didn’t have anything to hide, Asa.” Smiling at him, I put the cell phone in the trash and began to look for the car keys. “I’m absolutely starving. Can we go eat?”

Looking at me reprovingly, he asked, “Do you not eat during the day? You should be keeping your strength up for me.”

“Thanks to my new vampire hours, I party all night and sleep most of the day, and besides, I’m not much of a cook. So, come on, let’s go eat, please. I mean, let me go eat. That way, I’ll have plenty of energy for you to suck out.” I smiled at him as I said it and he gestured towards the door but didn’t look happy about it.

Grabbing a jacket off of the back of a chair, I folded it over my arm, still feeling too warm and tingly to put it on. Walking into the garage, I was surprised to find Asa waiting at the driver’s door of my car.

“Tonight, I am going to refresh myself with driving,” he told me, “but I forgot to get the keys.”

Sighing, I took one last look at my car while it was still whole and tossed him my key ring. Sliding into the passenger seat was a new experience. It had been a long time since I had ridden with anyone else, let alone a vampire.

I gave him directions to a city located in the opposite direction from where we had previously gone. He didn’t want us to be seen together repeatedly by the same humans so I chose a steakhouse to the north side of the county. But by the looks of things, we were never going to make it there.

“We’re as slow as a funeral procession,” I groaned out loud, but mostly to myself. I must have really been developing a morbid sense of humor because I laughed out loud at my unintentional joke. “At this rate, we won’t make it by dawn and you’ll burst into flames in the sun. Go ahead, slow down some more.”

Continuing at his snail’s pace and still never even sparing me a quick glance, he muttered, “You humans act invincible, which makes no sense given the fact I can snap your bones with one hand.” His voice held a shade of anger.

Now it was my turn to be snide. “For someone who’s invincible, you drive like you’re made of glass,” I retorted back at him.

“You ARE made of glass so be careful,” he shot back, making it clear he was tired of my driving commentary.

Silence ensured as we made our way through the mountains. Coming to a straight stretch as we exited the foothills, I gestured at the two-lane road that would lead us into town. An old country store, just about to close, marked the turn off.

I was angry, restless, and emotionally labile which seemed a new constant for me. “Please pull in here. I’m so thirsty, I don’t want to wait till we get into town. It’s a pretty long drive still,” I tried to ask politely, but it sounded a little strained. I wasn’t used to having to ask anyone’s permission for something as simple as a drink.

Surprisingly, he did what I asked without saying anything. He very carefully parked and reaching for the door handle, I started to get out of the car but before I could, he pulled me backwards into the seat.

“Do not draw attention to yourself.” His voice was hard and the grip he had around my arm was even harder. He wrapped one strong hand around my neck, cutting off my breathing. I nodded with as much movement as his grip would allow. Slowly, his hand relaxed and pulling my arm out of his grip, I stepped out of the car, slamming the door angrily behind me.

This old store had certainly seen better times. The building was squatty but long. The interior had never been well lit and the paint on the walls might have been bright forty years ago. Now it was dingy and the old concrete floor was cracked with age. But with age sometimes came nostalgia and that is what had kept this place open through the years. A woman in her mid-seventies sat behind the counter appearing to be oblivious to my presence, but I knew better. She had, like any blue-haired southern woman, eyes that wouldn’t miss a thing.

I walked up to the counter with two twenty-ounce sodas and a couple of candy bars; she rang me up without saying anything but the amount. I handed her a ten and she counted out my change.

Never making eye contact but instead unnecessarily bagging my snack food, she asked, “You need any help?”

I cringed slightly at her words. She must have noticed our exchange in the car.

Drawing attention to my situation hadn’t been on the agenda for the night and I did my best to sound calm and reassuring as I answered. “No. I’m good. We were just playing mostly. But thanks.” I could tell she didn’t believe me, but there was nothing else I could do so I wished her a good evening and walked back out to the car.

Asa was still sitting in the car, with the windows rolled down and the engine off. I knew he had been listening to see if I had said anything to the clerk.

Getting into the car, I twisted the lid off of one of the bottles and drank until I had emptied over half of the bottle without stopping.

“You seem exceptionally thirsty,” Asa commented, studying me too intently for my taste.

“Well, I have to replace my blood volume. I’m just being careful so I don’t get dehydrated. I don’t want to shortchange you,” I told him before starting to drink again.

Starting the car, he pulled slowly back onto the road and drove towards town. I finished up the bottle of pop and started on the second while downing a candy bar. He was right. I was extremely thirsty and hungry. I had also felt shaky over the last few hours, a symptom of low blood sugar. Pretty certain that my body needed the extra sugar for the cellular conversion, I ate the second candy bar too.

Having eaten two candy bars and two sodas, I felt full for the moment. Getting food off of my mind for the first time in a while, I suddenly realized how claustrophobic I was. I so badly wanted to stretch my legs and get outside for a little while. “Do you mind if we stop for a little while so I can get some exercise? There’s a hiking trail up ahead that goes into the mountains that would let me stretch my legs. The restaurant will be open for a while.”

He shrugged his shoulders in indifference and I pointed out the trail as we got close. Stepping out of the car as soon as Asa had parked, I reveled in the slight breeze blowing in from the mountains. Reaching up, I rubbed the back of my hand across my forehead; I was startled to find I was sweating and my skin felt a little warm.

Realizing I was running a fever, I considered turning back to the car, but instead pivoted to face the trail into the mountains, not wanting to give Asa any cause to suspect anything other than anemia was bothering me. Taking a deep breath, I rubbed a few chills off my arms with my hands and began walking.

The cool breeze lifted my hair off my neck as it trailed down onto my back, causing chills to race along my skin where the light sweat had built up. My heartbeat had increased slightly to the point it was just at the cutoff to be called a true tachycardia. My joints and muscles stills ached slightly, but I forced myself to walk fast enough to not slow my ascent into the hills.

I knew this trail well. It was one that Ellie and I had climbed many times. Part of the Ozark Highlands Trail; it would eventually take us to a large overhang that was big enough to camp in. Legend said Native Americans had lived here and by the looks of the place, I had no doubt. A workout on a good day, I struggled to climb quickly enough that Asa wouldn’t recognize my weakness, but his perceptive ears were my downfall.

“Your heart is racing.” He made the statement with a tone that was accusing, which caused my heart to race even more with fear that `he recognized what was going on.

My stomach dropped to my knees. Of course he would know. That’s why every other human companion he had in the past had died. They were never allowed to complete the conversion.

Not planning on giving up, however, I stopped in the trail and turned to face him. “Of course my heart is racing. I’m walking up a mountain with very little blood. That’s also why I’m sweating and breathing heavy. For someone who’s killed a lot of humans by exsanguination, you sure don’t seem to know the signs.”

Crossing my arms across my chest, I tried to look exasperated as I waited for his response. Although he was walking about twenty feet behind me up the trail, he now caught up in the blink of an eye.

“I kill so quickly that there is no time for signs,” he intoned with his unblinking gaze leveled at me.

“What about your other ‘companions’?” I asked, making quotations in the air with my fingers. “Didn’t they get weaker the longer you stayed?”

He had walked past me now and I turned and had to hurry to catch up to him, which accelerated my breathing even further.

“They were not as lucky as you,” he answered back and then was gone. I couldn’t see him or hear him and so I stood in the path for a moment not quite knowing what to do. Finally, I decided to just keep walking. It felt so good out here in the cool of the night that I vowed not to let him ruin it.

“Lucky my ass,” I muttered under my breath as I resumed my walk.

The path was rocky but thanks to my newly enhanced night vision, I was able to make my way a little better than I would have in the past. I followed the trail around until I came to the Indian cave; heading inside its damp coolness, I rested until my heart rate had dropped a little closer to normal.

The muscles in my legs grew somewhat stiff as I sat there so I left the cave and continued on the trail. I kept walking without seeing a trace of him again. Coming to the vista at the peak of the mountain, I sat down on a rock and focused my vision on the points of light out in the distance. About twenty miles away, I could see the lights of several towns. Even at this height, they still looked fairly bright; maybe it was because of the contrast of the dark black of the mountains.

I was lost in thought when I felt the hairs on my neck and arms raise, accompanied by the pure terror of his presence and I knew he was there. Not having breath to spare on him yet, I didn’t speak. Honestly, I had little to say for once. The night was beautiful and even though I was technically dying, I could still enjoy it. I didn’t want his mouth or mine to ruin the peace of the moment.

Of course, that didn’t last long but for once it was the vampire that broke the quietness. “My former human companions died fairly quickly. I realize now it was most likely because it was too much of a mental and physical strain on them and they were unable to adjust. It is likely you will die more prematurely than I desire as well, although thus far you have outpaced them all. I wonder why that is?” He was looking at me while he spoke.

I could feel his eyes on my face so I turned to look at him. “Maybe you should make an effort to not knock me unconscious by throwing me to the floor or consider not wrapping your vice-grip hands around my throat. That might increase my shelf life.”

Laughing at my words, he answered back, “I suppose if I want to keep you around for much longer, I will have to be more careful with you. So I shall endeavor to not throw you around or choke you. As far as blood drinking goes, I will attempt to slow it down a little too, but unfortunately that just comes with the territory and at least I will get pleasure out of that sort of death. I would not derive nearly as much enjoyment if you simply hit your head and fell over dead. But tell me, why do you want to live longer? Why have not you just given up like the rest? You are going to die so how do you find the strength to go on with this charade?”

Turning towards him, I found he was staring at me with wide dilated eyes showing true interest now like I was the weird freak in a science experiment and not him.

“Tell me about the rest?” I asked, as interested in his response as he was in mine.

“You first,” he insisted, “and if your answer satisfies my curiosity, then possibly I will answer your question.”

Honestly, his questions didn’t deserve answers, but this charade, the one I was living now was my only chance. I nodded at him slightly, indicating my intent to play along. “This so-called charade is my life and therefore I don’t intend to waste any moment of it. Even if those moments are with you. Besides,” and I gave him my most serious expression, “I’m still trying to find a way for this weak human girl to kill you.” I ended my words with a smile, hoping to make him think I was just joking, but I couldn’t have been more serious.