Blood Desires

She eventually had no choice but to crawl out of bed. Her laptop set on the table seemingly staring her down so that she would go to it and work on her article. Taylor sighed, shaking her head but knowing what she had to do. She walked into the kitchen and plopped down at the table instantly going to work as she had the day before.

After an hour or so Seth walked through the door, finally back from work. "Morning", he whispered in her ear.

Taylor giggled as she closed her laptop and stood up. "Morning. What are we doing today?" Seth grabbed a glass of orange juice and handed it to her.

"Well, I have some vampire things to take care of today. One being that I have a feeding scheduled later, and I need to do some research on the vampire that came for me yesterday. I'm not sure what else he was after, but I was lucky that it appeared."

Taylor nodded solemnly, knowing that he had a busy day ahead of him. She knew Seth wasn't reading her mind, but it felt like it as he swooped in and kissed her. "I'll make time for you."

"I'll be fine for a day without you", Taylor replied. She didn't need to be a burden on him. He needed to figure this thing out. She wanted him to, because she was worried as well. Seth wasn't usually so stressed. For as long as she'd known him he was the calm and collective type.

"I'll miss you", he smiled leaning down and pecking her on the lips.

Taylor's grin stretched from ear to ear, and like that he was gone in an instant. One of these days she would get used to that.

Sighing Taylor stood up and went to her their room to change into something. Might as well get out of the apartment. It felt like she had been there forever and it was starting to suffocate her. The feeling of being caged came to mind and she hurried to get ready for a day out.

After getting dressed into a tight pair of skinny jeans and a zebra print blouse, a devious thought came to mind. Taylor strutted over to Seth's nightstand. He wouldn't miss his credit card too much she hoped.

Tucking it into her wallet and slipping on some black ballet flats she headed out the door, locking it behind her. A shopping spree would be good for her health.

She whistled loudly for a cab, delighted at one of the few things her dad had taught her. Climbing in she just barely missed the rain as it began to fall and hit the window. Taylor stared out into the gray sky as a sudden feeling came over her. Fear and sadness. Taylor looked away at the horrible traffic and leaned back against the seat. The feeling vanished.

Taylor sprinted to the mall doors to get out of the rain, but her hair still ended up damp. She ran her fingers through it as she spotted her favorite store. Forever 21. Somehow the shopping gods had been looking over her. A sale was going on in the store. Taylor had never been more excited to shop.

She stayed in the store as much as an hour, rummaging through the clothes. So much of what she saw she liked, but she only picked out what she felt she would wear. Swiping Seth's credit card through the machine felt a little horrible, but she knew that in the end he wouldn't care. Taylor waltzed out of the story, happy with all she had picked out. With two shopping bags adorning her arms she stopped, grabbed a Starbucks coffee and sat down in the food court.

Drinking her coffee she spotted a small, hole in the wall type of bookstore. Taylor undoubtedly loved to read as much as she loved to shop. Finishing her coffee she went over it to it. The shelves were organized by genre and author. Skimming through the romantic section Taylor got bored. Instead she slipped over to Fiction and her heart skipped a few beats. A book about Vampires caught her eye and she glanced around to see if anyone was around her. After realizing that the store was nearly empty except her and the cashier, Taylor plucked the book off the shelf and settled herself in one of the beanbags scattered in the back of the room. She placed her shopping bags down next to her as she opened the front cover.

Skimming through the index she found it was much like an encyclopedia. It had different sections within the book about vampires. Taylor picked the one about their abilities and began reading. She nodded at a few of the passages. Lightning fast reflexes, impeccable hearing and eyesight. A few suggestions made her laugh. "The ability to taste every ingredient in a dish." The author was clearly trying to humor the reader, but it prodded Taylor's interest. Maybe she would try that with Seth sometime.

Taylor finished the section and flipped to the next out of curiosity. It read: "How to Kill a Vampire. Natural weaknesses and strengths." Taylor swallowed and looked up from her book at the store. It was just as quiet as it had been when she had sat down. Flipping the page Taylor began to read. Her mind getting lost as she imagined some of the horrible things. The typical was there. A wooden stake to the heart of course. Setting a vampire on fire was the most recommended of the choices. Taylor shivered as she saw that decapitating a vampire was another option. Some of these sounded just like myth, but who was she to doubt the were true?

"What an interesting choice of reading."

Taylor jumped at the voice and looked up to see Daniel looming over her, a big grin slapped on his face. Closing the book she stood up, pulling her bags up on her shoulders. "Yeah, just caught my eye." She walked over and slipped it back on the shelf, cursing at herself. How could she get caught in such an odd situation?

Daniel chuckled, "Has he not told you everything yet?"

It almost sounded like an accusation. As if Daniel were accusing Seth of holding things back. This sparked a thought in Taylor's mind. Why hadn't he told her everything?

"No, not everything, but he has opened up a lot." Taylor wasn't going to put Seth down in front of Daniel, although she could see in his eyes that's what he had hoped for. He blinked and that emotion was gone though.

"Well, where are you heading? I'll go with you if you don't mind."

Taylor froze for a second. Should she tell him the truth and let him come along, or lie and have him go away. The thought bounced around in her head for a few seconds before she said, "I'm just going to head home." The truth was a safe bet.

"Oh, well I'll give you a ride home if you want. We do live in the same apartment building." His earnest hazel eyes bore into Taylor's. She began to weaken the longer they looked at each other until she finally nodded. A smile stretched across his face as they left the store together, walking out and to the parking lot. She wasn't sure what to expect, but the black Mercedes that they walked to reminded her of Seth. Maybe all magical beings just loved to flaunt their wealth because Taylor knew Seth had a convertible hiding out somewhere. He'd mentioned it before, but when you could run as fast as he did and lived in New York, a convertible wasn't a necessity.

Taylor slid into the passenger seat and Daniel closed his eyes as he turned the key in the ignition. The car seemed to purr as it sprang to life and he whipped out of the parking lot quickly.

It was clear to Taylor he was trying to impress her and she couldn't help but smile to herself. His attempts were cute, but her brain was still stuck on Seth mode. Daniel seemed he would have been a good fling guy before she met Seth, but not now.

Daniel pulled around back to the parking lot of their apartment building. Taylor smiled and thanked him, grabbing her bags quickly and getting out of the car. Daniel was just as quick to jump out. "It was great seeing you again."

His words lingered on her ears for a few moments and Taylor whispered a few more curses under her breathe. She shouldn't be stopping to turn back at him. She should leave now before she started to flirt back with Daniel. It was wrong to lead him on when she was in love with Seth. No matter what her brain said, her stomach could feel the butterflies and she turned to wave a last goodbye at him. His hazel eyes twinkled as he took the last few strides between them. "We are heading in the same direction." He winked as they strode to the back entrance.

Taylor's pulse began to rush as he opened the door for her and managed to keep pace with her. They got in the elevator together and she was thankful that as she pushed floor three he pushed floor five. A sigh escaped her lips and she began to relax, until the door closed, leaving them alone as the elevator slowly rose. The tension seemed to rise as she felt him grow closer to her. Or maybe it was just the feeling of being in that small space together?

The elevator finally stopped on the third floor and she hastily went out, waving at him again, but for good this time. He called from the elevator, "Au revoir Madam Taylor." Her heart fluttered for a second until the doors closed and she rushed off to her apartment. Her hands shook as she unlocked the door, finding Seth sitting on the couch, leaned forward. His head propped up on his hands. Worry lines seemed to fill his face as Taylor closed the gap between them.

"I've missed you." She kissed him and he relaxed. She really had missed him. Daniel made her feel like the flirty Taylor that she had been before Seth. Now she was settled into being with just him and her world revolved around him.

"I've missed you too." They kissed and settled in cozily on the couch. With a laugh Taylor reached into her purse and handed Seth his credit card. With a grin he took it back, placed it on the table and went right back to kissing Taylor intensely. He was never mad at her.

They kissed like that for a long time until Taylor began to feel sleepy and as she started to yawn, Seth picked her up gently and carried her to their bed. She dozed off fast into his arms, and a dream overcame her. The one where she was running through a forest, in a panicked search for Seth and Daniel was with her. The only thing was, it felt so real. As if it wasn't actually a dream, but happening to her. The panic rose and the two scrambled through the forest in search of Seth until they came upon a large clearing where three vampires stood, sly grins on their faces. They walked closer towards her and Daniel, crouching lower, ready to pounce at any second. One leaped from where he stood, tackling Taylor to the ground, her heading hitting hard as the vampire's cold eyes stared into hers. Daniel was busy and swiftly staked one vampire. His body crumpled to the ground and Daniel moved onto the next one. Taylor realized now that she had a stake gripped in her hand but she couldn't raise her arm to actually use it. Fear crept into her and the vampire leaned toward her neck. That's when Taylor screamed and Seth shook her awake from her dream.