Life Starts After Dark

I never thought I could be so stupid.

I was out of it, and of course, he took advantage of that, and asked.

“May I come into your home? You need help getting inside after that fainting spell.”

I was obviously not going to make it in on my own. I was out of it. That was my excuse.

“Yes,” was all I said. Then I lost consciousness again.

When I finally came around again, we were on the couch and my head was resting on Eric’s chest. His arms wrapped around me in a comforting way, as if I were something precious and fragile.

For a moment, not thinking, I snuggled in closer, wrapping my arms around his waist as I lay on top of him. He was surprisingly soft.

“Well, hello,” he said, and I could hear the smile in his voice.

Regaining my sense, I recoiled from him, which caused me to fall off the couch and onto the cold hardwood floor. He didn’t try to catch me either.

“I take it you are feeling better?”

“Damn, ouch,” I mumbled, rubbing the lump that would surely soon appear on the back of my head. I had also skinned my palm on the way down when I had tried to catch myself.

Eric could smell it. “You’re bleeding,” he stated.

“Well, thank you Captain Obvious.” However, he didn’t even seem to hear my insult, because he had taken my hand. I was too dazed to fight as he kissed my palm, licking the blood from his lips afterward. He closed his eyes and smiled.

“Your blood is intoxicating. I enjoy it, I must say. Perhaps one day you will not be so unwilling to let me feel from you.”

“I don’t think so,” I snarled, snatching my hand away from him and rising to my feet. I trudged to the bathroom, still a little dizzy, and Eric followed me. I went to the first aid kit.

I retrieved a band-aid, peroxide, and Neosporin from the cabinet.

“My blood can heal you.”

“Well, so can Neosporin,” I spat, dabbing the wound with peroxide then applying the ointment and the band-aid. After applying the band-aid, Eric looked at me with a sad expression on his face.

He was just pissed off that I wasn’t going to let him sink his teeth into me.

I went back to the couch, turning on the television to the news. It was really only background noise. The house was eerily quiet with just one silent vampire and me. Plus, I would rather pretend to pay attention to the news than pay attention to Eric. He made me feel things I didn’t want to feel.

Then, quick as a vampire, he clicked the remote, turning off the television.

“What did you see?” he asked. He was about two inches away from me, completely invading my personal space.

“Could you please back up, Mr. Personal Bubble Space Invader?”

He backed up and inch or so. I guess that was all I could really ask for when it came to Eric.

“I was…dying.”

Eric moved right back to where he had been before. He also looked genuinely concerned about me, which was startling.

“Explain,” he urged.

“I don’t know” I racked my brains, trying to remember what I had seen. “I was just lying there.”

“Were you in much pain?” he asked.

“My visions don’t work that way. I’m always observing what is happening. I am never actually a part of it,” I explained.

“I see,” he said thoughtfully. “How bad did it look to you?” he rephrased his earlier question into one I could better answer.

“Oh,” I began. “I was definitely dying. I had lost a lot of blood. It looked like someone attacked me. And you were trying to protect me.”

“How?” he asked.

“There was another vampire there, I think. And he definitely wanted to get to me. Only, you wouldn’t let him.”

“Very interesting. But I can promise you, as long as I am near, no one will harm you.”

Strangely, his words were a comfort to me. Because when I looked into his eyes, I knew that he meant what he said. I could not doubt the intensity there.

He wasn’t trying to glamour me, but there was something else in those eyes along with the sincerity that I couldn’t quite catch.

I looked at him with a question in my own eyes.

He leaned in closer to me and I felt his cool breath on my lips. I knew what was going to happen without the need of precognition, and I turned away.

“I’m tired. I should be getting to bed.” I rubbed my sleepy eyes and rose from the couch.

“Goodnight. Sleep well, and know that I will be keeping you safe.” He nodded to me once, and then left.

I slipped out of my clothes after he had left and changed into sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, and collapsed into bed.

I slept better that night than I ever had before.