Stay With Me, Forever and Always

I stumbled out of the forest and into my backyard. Gasping for air, I leaned against a nearby tree and closed my eyes.

“You know, it’s impossible to run from me.” Vincent’s voice came from right in front of me.

I sighed. “I figured as much.” Opening my eyes, I saw that he was standing in my backyard, gazing up at the sky. I stayed where I was, sinking into deep thought.

What is he? He took on a bear for me, is freakishly fast, and likes.... likes....

I froze, my memories taking me back to when he sniffed my wrist.

“So, you’re a vampire, huh?” I clapped a hand over my mouth as soon as the words were launched into the air.

He turned his gaze from the sky to me. “And what would you say if I were to confirm that I am?”

I paused. “Well, it wouldn’t really surprise me. I mean, you’ve already made it clear that you can run faster than any human can, and have the strength to take on a bear. Plus,” I added as an afterthought, “you did that weird sniffy thing with my wrist.”

And then he was pressing me up against the tree, his hands resting on either side of my head. He paused, hesitant, before drawing a long breath. “Yeah. I do that a lot.” He his went to the side a little. “Your heartbeat isn’t really helping things, either.”

It was true, my heart was pounding inside my chest. “That’s not really my fault, though. And you have super-hearing?” I asked, curious.

“If answer your question, will you answer mine?” He asked, a serious look on his face.

“Yeah, I guess.” I said, trying to act nonchalant in an attempt to calm my poor heart. “But can we go inside? I’m kinda tired from all that running.” I said sheepishly.

He laughed. “All right.” He picked up my bookbag, swung it over his shoulder, and proceeded to go toward the house.

“Hey!” I protested, jogging to catch up with him. “That’s mine!”

“Yeah, I know. And I’m carrying it for you.” He raised an eyebrow. “Is that a problem?”

We both stopped at the back door. I blushed slightly. “Well, I guess not.... but you still don’t have to feel obligated to carry anything of mine. I am perfectly capable of doing things by myself, you know.”

“I know all too well.” He murmured.

I gave him a questioning look, but when he didn’t elaborate, I shrugged, unlocked the back door, and walked inside. He followed me inside, then put my bookbag down on the floor. I flopped on the couch, both physically and mentally exhausted. I felt him sit next to me, and looked over lazily at him. “So, what was your question?”

He scooted closer to me, to where I could feel the heat radiating off his body. Putting a stray lock of hair behind my ear, he leaned in and asked, “What is it about you that draws me in?”

My face turning beet-red, I managed to stammer out an intelligent response like, “I-I don’t know.”

He rested his head on my shoulder and continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “There’s just something about you.... I can’t pin it down. You’ve got a fiery personality, which I admire,” I flushed an even deeper red, and he continued to stroke my hair. “and then there’s this smell that you’ve got.”

Oh God. I have b.o.I was horrified at the thought. Maybe I shouldn’t have ran from him. I attempted to sniff my armpits subtly, but didn’t smell anything nasty.

“It almost comes from inside you. It’s like.... jasmine and honey combined. It smells....” Vincent trailed off, inhaling deeply. “delicious.”

I decided I’d better put a stop to this before things got out of hand. “Look, I don’t care if you’re a vampire or whatever, but comments like ‘you smell delicious’ don’t exactly fly well with humans. It’s kinda creepy.” I started to shove him off of me, but he pinned me down between the couch and his body.

“I need --” He began, a feral look in his eyes, but I interrupted.

“Get the hell off of me!” I struggled against his iron grip.

He growled, clearly not happy with my response, but let go. I wriggled out from under him and fell into the floor. “What the hell did you think you were doing?!” I demanded.

“You don’t understand. I haven’t.... eaten.... in a while. And you smell so.... appetizing.” His voice was an apologetic tone, but his eyes were still feral looking.

“Okay, we’ve had this conversation before. We don’t give humans compliments that are strange and creepy. Have you got it this time?” Needless to say, I was a bit freaked out.

“Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you.” He murmured, and suddenly I found myself thinking about how stupid it was to be this freaked out.

He hasn’t hurt me before, so why would he hurt me now?

And then another part of me was screaming obscenities at my stupidity.

Eventually I was sitting beside him again. Desperate for a change of topic, I said, “You never answered my question earlier.”

“Oh. Yeah, I can hear anything within a two-mile radius of here. Does that answer your question?” I nodded and clenched my hands, trying to think of something else to talk about.

“Why are you so nervous all of a sudden?” He asked after a few minutes of silence.

“I....” I stopped, trying to think of a reason other than ‘you’re freaking me out.’

“Charlotte.” He said so sharply that my head immediately snapped over to meet his penetrating gaze. “I need.... can I feed from you?”