Life Starts After Dark

I was not pleased to see the sunlight filtering through my curtains in the morning. It was the first night in a long time that I had not had nightmares of some sort of premonition. Often times I had premonitions of deaths. They were people I didn’t know, and I didn’t know their location, so there was no way I could save them. Everyone dies at some point, and there are so many people on the planet that I had an abundance of these dreams.

I wished I could go back to that wonderful night’s sleep I had been experiencing before. It was extremely pleasant.

Tonight would be my second night of working at Merlotte’s, which gave me a feeling of satisfaction. I had obtained a job on my first day in Bon Temps. That was pretty good, I admitted to myself proudly.

I was also looking forward to when the sunset. A part of me was anxious to see Eric. It had been tense the night before, mostly because part of me knew that he wouldn’t leave me alone after the night in Fangtasia. When he had finally appeared, it eased my anxiety, only to be replaced with frustration at his infuriating personality.

The truth was that I wasn’t sure how I felt about Eric being present in my life. I knew from the stories that being involved with vampires in any way brought on a lot of baggage with it. I wasn’t sure if that was how I wanted to start my life. I also didn’t want to get used to having him around. I knew I would be disappointed in a way when he would finally realize that I wasn’t very interesting and leave me to my human existence on my own.

Surprisingly, I had already started making friends with the employees at Merlotte’s, which was strange. I had wanted to keep to myself, but that didn’t seem like it would be possible in a town like this.

When I had finally motivated myself to get out of bed, it was almost 1:00. I had spent a lot of time in bed pondering my new life. I decided to take a shower, and was relieved when the hot water soothed some of my worries about the coming day…and night.

I decided that since it was cool outside and not nearly as humid as the day before, that it was a good time to ride my bike and explore the town a little. I needed to get out a little bit more.
I changed into a pair of cut-off’s and a white cotton t-shirt. I wore my red Converse.

I pulled out of my driveway on my bike, and decided to go in the opposite direction of Merlotte’s. I made my way down the long dirt road. There was a dilapidated mansion to my right next to the cemetery, and I kept riding until I got to the woods along next to a creek.

I sat down next to the waters and watched the steady stream of water. It was so peaceful and quite that when I heard the bark of a dog, I nearly had a heart attack.

“Hey there, dog,” I said as he trotted up to me, leaning against my side. The dog was a collie, and an adorable one at that, with kind eyes. Those eyes looked familiar to me.

“You are such a pretty dog…or handsome?” I lifted the dog’s leg to check. Yep, it was a boy. “Sorry about that, dog. I just had to check.”

The collie licked me from chin to temple, and I wiped off the slobber with the back of my hand.

I scratched behind his ears, and he seemed to enjoy that. Eventually he laid down next to me, resting his head on one of my crossed legs.

The dog got up a few minutes later, and I scratched his chin once, kissing the top of his furry head before he trotted off again.

Eventually it was time for me to go too. The sun was starting to set, and I had to get to work.

So I rode back home, washed my face, and changed into my uniform. Then I drove to Merlotte’s, and started my 5:00-12:30 shift.

“Hey, Sam,” I said as I grabbed my first order and walked to the corresponding booth. He smiled at me, waving. He had a weird look on his face too, as if he knew something I didn’t.

When Eric came in again at 11:00 pm, I got a bottle of TrueBlood for him. This time we did have AB negative, and I warmed it up for him. As much as he infuriated me, he was a paying customer.

“Here you go,” I said, placing the warm bottle of synthetic blood in front of him.

“How are you doing this evening, Skylar?” he asked with perfect courtesy. What was wrong with him?

“Great,” I said with a smile, knowing for some reason that my answer was actually the truth. But then I had to end the conversation there (thank God) because one of my customers started yelling for another pitcher of beer.

“Fine,” I said when I put it in front of them. “But after this I am cutting you off. You have had enough fun here for one night.”

“Why you gotta be that way?” one of them asked in a nearly inaudible slur.

I didn’t even bother answering his question. I just continued on with my shift.

When my shift was over, I walked out to my car in the dark, and started it.

“Hello,” Eric said from the passenger seat.

I yelped in surprise, and he laughed. “How the hell did you get in here?” I asked.

“You left the doors unlocked. Not a very bright idea.”

I started the car, rolling my eyes. “So, what do you want this time?” I asked expectantly. He always seemed to want something.

“Is it impossible for me to just appreciate the pleasure of your company? Do I have to want something?”

“No. Besides, the last couple of times you have wanted something from me it has always been unpleasant on my end.”

He said nothing more, but I did hear him laugh again. I just decided that it would be easier to accept the fact that he was going to follow me into my home again. There was nothing I could do to stop it.

This time he walked into my house as if it were his own, and stood in the living room like my own personal statue. I looked him up and down. I did have to admit, he was extremely handsome, and I was sure most girls would kill to have him following them. Not me.

My stomach grumbled. I hadn’t eaten since before my shift had begun. I was famished.

Eric suddenly turned on his heel and made his way to my kitchen. At first, I didn’t do anything about it, but then I heard the opening and closing of cupboard doors, so I checked to see what was up.

Eric had pulled out spaghetti noodles and a bottle of sauce. He pulled a bag of frozen meatballs from the freezer, and then brought a pot of water to a boil.

“What are you doing? You don’t eat.”

“But you do. I heard your stomach growling.” He stated this as if I were stupid for asking him such a question.

I wondered why he was doing this. From my observations of his character, I gathered that he was not a very giving person. He was selfish, only looking out for his own wellbeing. It didn’t seem very likely that he would do anything for me unless there was some motive behind it that I couldn’t see yet.

In a few short minutes, he had placed a steaming plate of spaghetti in front of me. He handed me a fork, and our fingers brushed as I took it from him. I didn’t let this bother me too much, mostly because I was ravenous.

I had to force myself not to start shoveling. I speared a meatball and popped it into my mouth, savoring the taste. I even closed my eyes. It was perfect.

“You humans are so strange. But then again, so are we, in your eyes.”

I cleared my mouth before I answered. “You aren’t strange. You are what you are. Who am I to judge?”

“You, Skylar, are very strange. I have never seen a human that acts the way you do. For instance, humans fear being in close proximity with me. But you can be not even a foot away from me, and you act as if I am a normal human being.”

“Well, just to let you know, I have never even been comfortable with human beings in my life. I don’t know why vampires should be any different…they just are.”

“And you don’t fear me?” he asked, moving closer to me.

“No.” My voice was firm, and I knew that I had answered truthfully.

He was silent. He looked surprised by my response to his question. How strange it must be, after centuries of life, to come across a human who did not tremble at his very presence.

This silence made me feel self-conscious as I ate, mostly because I knew he was watching me. I wondered if it bothered him, seeing people eat when he could not. Then again, he didn’t have a taste for food anymore, did he?

“I’m surprised you haven’t come up with some sort of snide comment yet,” I noted as I ran my plate under the sink and then put it in the dishwasher.

“I seem to be out of those tonight,” he said, and looked forlorn about it.

“Why?”

“I have realized a few things. I suppose you could say that I am in shock. It will take me a while to return to my normal self again. This has never happened to me before.”

“You aren’t going to elaborate on that, are you?” I guessed.

“No.”

“Well, I didn’t really expect you to…oh well.”

I yawned, and then made my way back to the living room. I turned on the television and flipped through the channels until I fell upon Interview with the Vampire.

“Oh, this is just too good!” I cried, laughing aloud.

“What is all this nonsense?” Eric asked, scanning the scene that played out on the television screen. He did not look amused.

“Are you telling me that you can’t even laugh at this? It’s hilarious! Besides, you had to have expected this to happen. I mean, it’s right around Halloween.”

“I still don’t see how this is supposed to be funny.”

“Well, for one thing, this movie was made when people still didn’t know anything about vampires. And they got it pretty dead on, didn’t they? No sunlight, no fear of crucifixes, and there was nothing about burning to a crisp when doused with holy water.”

“True.”

“Besides, Brad Pitt is gorgeous.”

“Do you really find that man attractive? After all, in reality, he will wither and die just like the rest of the humans in this blasphemous movie.”

“So will I,” I pointed out.

Eric didn’t say anything in reply to what I said. He simply looked like he was in pain.
I didn’t know what was going on with him, so I didn’t ask. He would probably only give me a vague, puzzling answer again.

So I rested my head against the back of the couch, and watched the movie in silence.

Eventually, I must have fallen asleep, because I opened my eyes and the movie was over. The television had been turned off, and my head was now resting on Eric’s shoulder. Eric’s fingers were combing their way through my hair with surprising gentleness. His fingers stopped moving, entwined deep in my hair, when he heard my sharp intake of breath.

“Skylar?” he spoke softly, and the way he said my name sent a shiver down my spine.

I did not like the way he made me feel. Against my will, my body was drawn to his. Why was this happening to me? I found myself wanting things that I was not supposed to want, especially from a vampire.

But it was too late for that, because I was looking into his blue eyes and there was only one think that I wanted more than my will had the power to stop me from doing.

He seemed to sense this, because he leaned in, and his cool breath fanned across my face. I inhaled the scent of him, and then his lips softly touched my own. My eyes closed.

It was as if I was no longer in control of my own body. Against my will, my arms reached up and entwined themselves around him. Our lips touched again, and then he deepened the kiss. A sigh escaped my lips, and that must have awakened something in him. He let his head fall back, and then his fangs popped out.

That was when I snapped out of it. I flung myself back, almost toppling over the couch completely, and stood hastily, putting as much distance between us as I could.

I was disgusted with myself. How could I have even thought it would be a remotely good idea to kiss him?

He looked almost embarrassed about his fangs just popping out there like that. I was shaking, and I forced myself to remain completely still until I was steady on my own two feet again.

“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “You should leave now.”

Without saying anything, he got up from the couch and walked out the door.

I didn’t sleep at all that night.