Without a Sound

The man began to talk to me as I cried, still disgusted with myself. I couldn’t believe I had drunken all of his blood.

“Why are you crying?” he asked. “Are you scared of me? I won’t hurt you. I’m glad you’re feeling better now. See? All you needed was a little blood. And you still need more. If I had any left in me, I’d let you have it.”

My tears increased at his words. How could he be so easygoing about it? He wiped away my tears and frowned. “You don’t feel guilty about that, do you? I know you couldn’t help it. You must’ve been really thirsty if you were eager enough to drink from a vampire, though. Even so, I don’t blame you.”

I was shocked when he said the word “vampire.” I stopped crying and looked at him in horror. So I had been right? I was a vampire, and so was he? I wished I could’ve asked him questions.

I didn’t have to ask, though. He continued to babble on, seeing that I was starting to stop crying. “Look at you!” he exclaimed quietly. “You’re practically a skeleton. You had to have been locked in that mausoleum for years. Decades, maybe.”

I didn’t know how long I had been stuck. I had guessed around half a century, but I wasn’t sure. I searched deep into his eyes with mine.

He stopped talking and looked into my eyes. In the dim light, his eyes looked black. He seemed to be searching for as many answers in my eyes as I was in his. He pursed his lips.

Very carefully, he took the leather jacket that was draped over me and stuffed my arms into it. As he zipped it up, I realized how big it really was on me. It was almost like a dress to me, and my arms were far too thin for the sleeves.

“There you go,” he murmured so softly it did not echo in the cave. “That’s much warmer and more comfortable, isn’t it?”

I was too confused to answer him. He sighed and set me back against the wall. Sitting directly in front of me, he said, “Okay. I don’t know how to help you unless you talk to me. Do you understand me at least?”

He looked at me for a long time in deep concentration, as if he was trying to will an answer out of me. I stared back at him dumbly for a long time. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I had to trust him though. Ever so slightly, I nodded.

He smiled. “Good. My name is Mikey. What is your name?”

I grinned back at him. Mikey. I liked that name. It fit him perfectly. It just sounded right. I was glad I could finally call him something. He finally had a solid name. He was not just “the man” anymore. He was Mikey. Somehow it made him feel more real to me. It made it harder for me to imagine him disappearing into thin air.

Mikey leaned in a little closer. “Do you have a name?” he asked, slightly rephrasing his question.

I nodded mutely. Of course I had a name! Everyone had a name. It was just the way things were.

“What is it?” He actually looked really curious. Like my name meant something to him.

I felt my eyebrows furrow together in concentration. What was my name? What was my name? Of course I had one! I knew it! I just couldn’t remember. I put my head in my hands, my palms pressed to my temples. I pulled at my hair. I squeezed my eyes shut. Still, I could not remember my name for the life of me.

Tenderly, Mikey peeled my bony hands off of my head and untangled them from my hair. My hands were so small that he could hold them easily in one of his.

“It’s alright,” he crooned. “It’s okay if you can’t remember. You will eventually.”

A single tear fought its way out of my eye, and I tilted my head to wipe it against the jacket’s shoulder. How could I not remember my own name?

He patted my shoulder, saying, “Come on. It’s almost morning. We should go to sleep now.” Knowing I wouldn’t answer out loud, he didn’t wait for me to. He just picked me up and carried me to the back of the cave.

Within minutes he was sleeping, but I still couldn’t sleep. I stayed up all day listening to him breathe. I also listened to myself breathe, and liked how it sounded and felt. When some sunshine made its way to the very back of the cave, I looked at Mikey’s face.

It was still too dark to see much, but the sunlight didn’t suck out color like the moonlight did. His skin wasn’t as pale; it was almost tan. His hair was still jet black, though. His lips interested me the most. They were pink. I thought pink was a pretty color. It was a delicate color.

I knew he would wake up soon when it got darker. I wanted him to wake up, but I was afraid he would leave me again. I did not want him to leave me ever again. I despised being alone. Right then, though, I was happy. I did not mind that I was in a cave and the rubble on the ground was imprinting red spots in my legs. I liked where I was. Somehow I knew it wouldn’t stay that way. This was a different world then that of my crypt. Things changed here.

This was proven when Mikey opened his eyes. He didn’t get up, but he asked, “Did you sleep at all?”

I met his eyes evenly, just looking at them. I was too mesmerized to even shake my head in response. It made me feel very stupid.

He sighed. “Well, I should go get you some more blood tonight. I’ll try to go quicker so that we can start heading towards my house. It’ll take a few days to get there, but it’s much more comfortable than this cave.”

I liked the idea of him taking me home with him, but I was terrified at the thought of him leaving me again. I was frozen except for my trembling. I wanted blood, but not if it meant he had to leave.

When he started to stand up, I reached out and wrapped my lanky fingers around his wrist. I think it took him a few seconds to even realize it. Was I that weak?

He looked at me curiously, and I begged him with my eyes not to leave. He saw this and replied, “I know. But I have to leave. I promise I will be back. Oh, and here.” He lifted me up and took me to the cave’s entrance. “You can wait here, where it’s not so dark.”

When he pried my fingers from his wrist, beneath them I saw the wound from my teeth. I recoiled from it, repulsed. Hadn’t I hurt him? Wasn’t it sore?

Mikey smiled at me reassuringly one more time before walking away. And then I was alone again.