Only Exception

We came upon a small village that I hadn’t known about. There were only five or six cottages. It was night time and there weren’t any people filing about. They stayed indoors because of the wolves and bears that surrounded them in the forest. They weren’t going to take a chance.

“Everyone is asleep,” I whispered. Klaus simply grinned at me and pulled out a knife. “What are you doing?” I asked worried. Without answering me he took the knife to his skin on his forearm. In a slow but forceful movement he moved the knife up to his elbow successfully making a large cut that immediately began bleeding.

“Why did you do that?” I asked fiercely. I was immediately worried that he’d bleed to death. Again he didn’t answer my question but simply winked.

“Stay here,” he whispered fiercely. Then he walked into the village. He went up and knocked on the door of the first cottage. After a couple minutes the door opened a crack. A man held a candle in his hand and he was dressed in nightwear. Klaus must have said something because the man opened up his door and invited him inside.

He shut the door after that and I didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t hear or see anything. Suddenly the door opened up again and Klaus stood there. He motioned for me to come forward. When I stood in front of the door I tried to go inside but was stopped. I tried again to move forward but I couldn’t.

I stared helplessly at Klaus. I could smell it inside. It was what I wanted. I craved it. I wanted it more than anything. Klaus opened the door all the way and behind it stood the man. His eyes were wide with fear as he held the candle. I could hear his heartbeat in my ears. I was immediately honed in on him.

“Invite her in,” demanded Klaus. His tone was harsher, angrier than he had ever used with me. It left no room for debate.

“C-c-come in,” stammered the man. Suddenly the force blocking me dissipated. Slowly I took a hesitant step forward. My foot crossed into the doorway and I grinned. I crossed completely inside and smiled at Klaus. I was showing off that I had made it inside. He lowly chuckled at me, amused with my behavior.

The man stepped back and then my eyes instantly locked onto him. I had forgotten about him while I was celebrating my victory of getting inside. But now he had captured my attention again. Once again I could hear his heartbeat in my ears. I could smell the fear coming off of him in waves.

I took a step towards him and he stumbled backwards in fear. He mistakenly tripped over his own feet and while catching his balance dropped the candle. As it hit the ground the flame snuffed out. The cottage was plunged into darkness. Within a second my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The moonlight was bright enough inside the cottage to allow me to see like the candle had never gone out.

The man couldn’t see in the dark and he stumbled backwards again. He backed up into a chair that was part of the living room arrangement. He barely managed to catch himself before falling. Lunging forward I grabbed the front of his shirt so he could not escape.

“Don’t hurt me,” the man begged in a whisper. I simply ignored him and licked my lips. He smelled so good. I couldn’t figure out what it was. My eyes traveled to his neck and I could feel desire rage up inside of me. Then catching the moonlight something shone on his neck. A liquid of some sort. I was mesmerized by it. The drop ran down his neck and onto the edge of his shirt.

Another drop appeared on his neck in the same spot. Leaning forward I could feel myself salivating at the want of it. I knew it would taste wonderful. Without hesitation I put my mouth around the drop and licked it off. It was the best thing in the world that I had ever tasted. I eagerly sucked on his skin feeling more of the liquid pour into my mouth.

Suddenly I was overcome by an intense pain in my jaw. I silently cried out as it felt like my gums were splitting open. I gripped the man’s shirt tighter and felt my fingernails puncture the fabric and graze his skin. I put my other hand on my mouth feeling like I wanted to pull out my teeth. And then just as soon as the pain had started, it stopped.

With my tongue I felt around my jaw for what had been the cause of the pain. Where my canines should be was something else. Where my teeth had been small and slightly dull, they were now long and sharp. Fangs.

I knew now that I was fully a vampire. If I had thought everything was clear before, it now seemed ten times brighter. I could hear the sounds of the family sleeping in the other room. I could smell their individual scents. They were tantalizing.

A small sound suddenly came from the man and I snapped back into focus. I kept getting off track. But now he had my attention. As I stared him in the face his face visibly paled and it looked like he was going to pass out. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could I lunged forward and bit into his neck. I knew what I wanted now. It was all I could think about. Blood.

I sucked on his neck, ignoring the struggles of the man. Eventually he stopped struggling but still I drank from him. I drank until I had the last drop, until he was drained. When he was I dropped him, disgusted. He hit the floor with a thud.

Suddenly there were stirring noises from the other room. “Time to go,” said Klaus. He took my hand and dragged me out of the house. We just got into the forest when there was a loud shriek from the cottage. I could hear sounds coming from the other houses as they woke up from the woman’s loud screams.

Klaus continued to pull me quickly through the forest, not allowing me time to look back and see what had happened. He stopped pulling me once we were safely deep inside of the woods. He then turned to me and an expression of surprise crossed his face.

“Victoria, relax,” he said gently. He took my face in his hands and stared into my eyes. I could feel myself relaxing under his gaze. Slowly I felt my fangs retract and the blood that had filled the veins beneath my eyes disappear. Klaus smoothed away the last of it with his thumbs. “There you go,” he said and kissed my forehead.

Instantly my eyes widened at how forward he was. I knew we were close. I knew there was something between us. But to kiss me was putting it at a whole other level. “Klaus,” I said in a strangled voice. I stopped there though. I didn’t know what else to say. I didn’t know how to put it. And honestly I wanted it. He had given me a whole other life, another existence.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized looking sincere.

“It’s okay,” I said quietly. “I liked it.” I immediately blushed and looked away at the words that had come out of my mouth. Never before would I have spoken so openly. I never would have been so forward. But since becoming a vampire I had felt so sure in myself. I felt so sure in everything that I have done.

Klaus cupped my chin and turned my head so I was forced to look in his eyes. Once I did, I didn’t want to look away. Ever since I found him being tortured in the woods I cared for him. I wanted to protect him and take care of him. But now it seemed he was doing that to me. I knew I would want to be there for him.

“Victoria,” he said in a deep velvety voice. I almost felt my knees give out. I could see how he could seduce women easily. I could see how they’d fall for anything he wanted. His eyes searched mine endlessly but at the same time it seemed to last less than a second. “Never die on me again,” he said finally. His tone was firm and held emotion that threatened to come to the surface.

“I don’t plan on it,” I smiled. But Klaus didn’t share my smile and turned away putting his back to me. He remained silent for a minute. I decided to fill the silence. I couldn’t take it much longer. “What are we going to do?” I asked.

“I’m thinking about that,” he admitted. “Obviously my family cannot know you’re alive, especially my father. He would rip you to pieces.” He remained silent again for a couple minutes. I shuddered at the thought of seeing his father again. It would always be too soon before I did. Klaus turned around to look at me. “What do you say we go to London?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

“London?” I said shocked. “What could be in London?”

“An escape. We could very easily stay hidden from my family in such a large place. They would never find us.” His eyes were hopeful. He was still waiting for me to agree, for me to approve.

“Sounds wonderful,” I said. “I would go anywhere with you.”