Just a Taste of Your Blood, That's All I Want

*beep...beep...beep...*

I groaned. What the hell is that annoying noise? I thought groggily to myself.

I slowly opened my eyes, but then cringed at the brightness of the room and closed them. I laid there as the last moments before I had passed out came to me. My eyes shot open and I sat upright, but suddenly realized that that was a bad idea. I felt the pain before anything else, and collapsed back to what I assumed was a bed. I thought back to what had happened before, and glanced down to my left wrist, where a huge bandage and an IV was.

So it wasn't a dream. What the hell happened?! I thought to myself, becoming scared. It was then that I remembered the beeping noise, and looked at my surroundings. I wasn't in a hospital, surprisingly, but rather a room with a lot of medical materials. There was a flat screen TV hanging up on the wall, and I was tucked into a queen-sized bed with yellow sheets and a black comforter. There was a dresser on one side of the room and a desk on the other. To the right of the TV was a door which I assumed led to the rest of the house. There was a small bedside table to the right of me which held an expensive looking first aid kit. The IV that was hooked up to me appeared to be normal, but I did not understand why I wasn't in an actual hospital.

I looked up to the ceiling as the night of my injury replayed in my head again. I didn't even know how long I had been out for, or where the hell I was. Most importantly, I didn't even know why the hell that man had bit my wrist, or why it hurt so much.

With all these questions swarming in my head, I didn't even hear someone walk in until they spoke.

“Emma?”

I jumped. I hadn't heard anyone walk in.

I raised my head up to see Alexander. It would be him, I thought to myself. He had bags under his eyes, and it looked like he hadn't slept in years.

He spoke again, but didn't move any closer. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” I wheezed. I guess it had been awhile since I had spoken-my voice sounded very raspy.

He looked down, and I spoke again.

“Care to explain?” I whispered slowly.

He looked back up at me, sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I-I just don't know where to start or what to say...”

I just looked at him, waiting for him to say more. When he didn't, I finally replied with, “How about at the beginning...?”

He sighed again and then proceeded to walk towards the bed I was in. I scooted over to the left to make some space where he could sit.

Why the hell am I taking this so well? I don't think I really even know why. I had just been bit; I'm in pain; I'm in (I suppose) Alex's house, more so, his bed; and I'm letting him sit next to me to carefully explain things to me?! Maybe I'm more worse off than I thought...

“Earth to Emma, anyone home?”

I was snapped out of my thoughts. “Oh, sorry. I guess I got lost in thought.”

“It's okay.” He moved his right hand towards me and brought it up against my cheek. I winced slightly, unaware of what I assume to be a nice sized cut there. He kept it there, slowly rubbing his thumb back and forth. Surprisingly, it felt good and it didn't feel vile against my skin.

“What I'm about to tell you will probably scare you, or make you think I'm insane, but I promise I'm not trying to frighten you and that I'm completely sane. Okay, Emma?” His voice was soft and slow, as if I were a child and he was trying to explain something to me.

Instead of speaking, I simply nodded, relishing in the warmth radiating off of his hand.

He closed his eyes, but still did not remove his hand. I subconsciously leaned into his hand, and his eyes shot open.

“My family are vampires,” he murmured to me, so softly that I barely heard him, but I still did.

My eyes about popped out of my socket and I snapped my head back, laughter flowing freely out of my mouth. His hand dropped to the bed and a crestfallen look appeared on his face. If I hadn't been laughing so hard, I probably would have said that I was offending him.

Once my laughter quited down, I looked back over to me. “Okay, now that we have that out of the way, what's really going on?”

He stared into my eyes, sending shivers down my spine. “Emma, I'm being serious. Why would I lie to you?”

“Maybe because you've made my life hell for the past eight years? Maybe because our families hate each other? I don't know, you tell me,” I replied.

He looked away. “What will it take for you to believe that I'm being serious?”

He looked back at me and grabbed my hand. “I've been so mean to you in the past because I have been forced to. Mortals and vampires should not be friends; my kind is dangerous. Especially with your family. Many centuries ago, my Great-Uncle fell in love with your Grandmother's best friend, who was treated like family. He was like me, but she was a human. It is forbidden to mix between the races, and they were forbidden to see each other, but their love was too strong. She ran away with him, breaking your grandmother's heart to the point of suicide. Your grandfather blamed my family for losing his wife, and ever since then your family has hated us. We have respected their wishes and have stayed away from you all.”

I let the information soak in, still not sure if I was believing him. “If you're-If you're a-a v-vampire...then why aren't you sucking me dry right now?”

The right side of his mouth curled up into a smile. “We aren't like the beasts you see on TV. Yes, we kill because we need blood. Yes, sunlight does affect us, we don't burn into ash, but it makes us very weak and very sick. No, we don't sleep in coffins and crucifixes don't work on us. I'm not sucking you dry because I am full, and I do not wish to harm you whatsoever.”

“Okay,” I said, “So if, hypothetically all of this is true, then why did you behave so meanly towards me? You said you agreed to stay away, but that didn't mean you had to hate me or treat me so cruelly.”

A look of pain flashed on his face. “I swear Emma, if I could, I would take it all back. The first time I saw you, I was hooked, even while human. When I was turned and I first smelled your blood, it was so much worse. I was so much more attracted to your blood than anything else. So I thought that if you hated me, I would hate you too and I would not harm you. I am so sorry for what I have put you through. I hope to one day make it up to you, so that you'll forgive me.”

I sat there, processing it all. I still didn't understand a lot, but I think I believed some of what he was saying. I decided to test out what he was saying. I glanced down to my wrist, and with my right hand, I slowly began unwrapping the bandage.

Alexander caught my hand. “What the hell are you doing Emma?!”

“Testing out what you just told me,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

He released my grip. “Okay, but be careful. It took my awhile to wrap it.”

I continued unwrapping it as my face turned a slight reddish color. He wrapped my wounds?

I peeled back the last bandage and gasped. There were two little puncture wounds about an inch apart on my wrist. Each one had a red, half-inch thick ring around it, and they looked disgusting. I quickly looked to the right and closed my eyes. Tears leaked out of my eyes as I felt Alex's hands re-dressing my wound. Why does everything have to happen to me? I asked myself over and over.

Once he finished, he moved his hands to my face and wiped the tears away.

“You've been out of it for three days, Emma. You're at my house, in my room, in my bed. I've been taking care of you. I promise I won't hurt you, but can you please tell me why you're crying?”

I quieted my sobs, aware that my eyes were probably bloodshot. “Why does everything have to happen to me?”

His face contorted to anger, and I was confused. Was it something I said?

“Emma,” he breathed, “lift up your shirt.”

“Excuse me?” I snapped. Oh my God, no, please tell me he doesn't know...

“Emma, do as I say,” he growled.

“And if I don't?”

He jumped on his bed and held my arms down. A flashback came to me.

He pushed my arms above my head and held them there with one hand.

His other hand ran up and down my body, feeling it.

I closed my eyes and continued sobbing as I felt his greasy hands rip my shirt open.

My eyes opened immediately and I started thrashing around.

He just hit me over and over again.

I could taste blood in my mouth as it dripped down from my nose...

“No, no, no, please stop.” I started hyperventilating and crying, while I tried to push him off.

“Please, get off me, please,” I sobbed, and Alexander jumped off.

I rolled over to my left side and buried my head into my arms. I felt him sit behind me and put a hand on my arm, but I shrunk away from his touch.

“Shush, Emma, I'm sorry, I won't do it ever again.” He reached his hand over again, and this time I let him. Understanding that I was calming down, he got onto the bed and laid down behind me. I sniffed one more time, then turned around to face him. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me in closer.

“I'm so sorry for whatever I did, Emma. I swear I won't ever hurt you, okay?”

I nodded my response, still a little shaken up. “I'm sorry I freaked out on you,” I whispered.

He pulled away and looked down at me. “Don't apologize, it's my fault.”

I laid on my back and he rested his hand on my stomach. He looked at me and asked, “Emma, I promise I won't hurt you, but I need to know, okay?”

I closed my eyes and nodded. I felt his hand slide up my shirt first, then I felt the coldness of the room hit my skin.

He gasped, and began to pull it up further.

I blushed as he pulled it up and over my breasts. He ran a finger over the cut on my collar bone that was still fresh and pulled my shirt down.

He slowly moved his head towards mine, and planted a soft kiss on my forehead.

“I'm so sorry Emma,” he whispered, “I won't let them hurt you ever again.”

And for once, I actually believed him.