Freefall

Saturday finally came, and Paul came early in the morning. I thought it was because he was as eager to see me as I was to see him.

It was an insanely windy day, so I had my hair pulled back tightly. Paul seemed unperturbed, though. He had the biggest basket I’d seen in my life, filled with food. That boy had more appetite than the entire football team. He drove us to a forest path and we were walking down it when I tripped.

After that, it all happened so quickly. I caught myself against a tree, but my hand got all scraped up. Paul was by my side a split second later. “Are you alright?” he asked, unnecessarily worried.

Before I could tell him that I was, his posture changed. “Stay back,” he warned. “Don’t move.”

“Why?” I asked, and I got my answer almost before the word had left my mouth.

Someone had run up to us and was poised in a position to attack. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, though her skin was deathly white. I knew from Paul’s descriptions of them that this was a vampire.

It was hard to follow what was happening. Paul and the woman both moved insanely fast. I hardly saw her arm flying towards me before it hit and everything faded to black.

I heard a steady beeping noise. “Cut it out,” I said.

“Lydia!” Someone clutched at my hand. “Lydia, I’m so sorry.” I opened my eyes and saw that it was Paul.

Of course it was Paul. “Why?” He looked so pale, and so worried.

“It’s all my fault. I should never have taken you out to those woods. I should have…”

“Really? You’re blaming yourself?” I thought back over what had happened. “How did she find us?”

“She must have smelled your blood. And because of the wind blowing so hard the other way, she could smell us and I couldn’t smell her.”

“So really, it’s not your fault at all. It was mine,” I pointed out. “If I hadn’t tripped…”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I should have been more careful. If I’d lost you… This won’t happen again. I’ll stay far, far away from you.”

My heart started racing, and the beeping machine sped up to match. What was he saying? “You’re saying you’re… leaving me?”

He gave me an agonized look. “If you’re not around me, these things won’t happen. This sucker, she’s been skirting around town for the past couple of days. I thought that if I was careful, you wouldn’t be in any danger. I thought I would know if she was around. Besides, her last tracks led far away from the reservation. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” I tried to think of what to say, but I couldn’t. How could I talk him out of this? The look on his face was terrifying. He looked dead set on staying away from me. “Then why are you here at all?”

“I had to make sure you’re okay. I’ll stay away after this. I’ll leave right now.” He stood and took three steps toward the door, then spun around and rushed toward me. His lips crashed on mine.

I hardly had enough time to worry about the last time I’d brushed my teeth before he pulled away. “I just had to do that one last time.”

“Don’t. Please don’t.” I knew my voice betrayed how close to tears I was, but I didn’t care. If he left, I didn’t know how I’d bear it. He didn’t look back. He was out the door before I could say another word.