Just a Sip

He held me tightly so that I couldn't escape as I wriggled in his grasp.

"Help!" I managed to strangle out as I felt his fangs graze my neck.

"You smell yummy. Are you one of those humanized spirit creatures?" he asked. His embrace was rough and unwanted and I was terrified.

I screamed out for Armand in my mind as this vampires teeth slowly began to sink into my skin. Suddenly, he was gone. I clutched my neck screaming. Armand was about a yard away, the new vampires neck in his hands. They began to fight sloppily and I wasn't sure what to do. They had only been fighting a few seconds and already there was blood all over them. Feeling that his fangs had only made marks and had not broken skin as I had feared, I ran over waving my hands.

"Armand! Stop!" I screamed. If this vampire knew what I was I wanted to know. And I wanted to know now. Armand looked up dazedly, the other vampires flaxen hair in his fist. The other vampire looked at me hungrily.

"Is she your human?" he asked blurring away from Armand.

"No." I said defiantly crossing my arms. Armand had said yes at the same time.

"I am most certainly NOT his human." I looked at Armand out of the corner of my eye. "We're only business partners." I was still a bit spurned and made that retort out of anger.

"I must taste you then." the vampire said not moving. I shook my head.

"Here's the deal. You tell me what I am, spirit creature or whatever, and I'll let you take a sip." Armand looked disturbed as the vampire looked from him to me.

"Deal. Radu Desalvo at your service." I leaned against the car shrugging.

"Well, what am I? Or at least what to I smell like I could be." Radu came over to me, quicker than my eyes could process. He sniffed me, his lips close to my neck. I was nervous, did I really just solicit my neck to a vampire? What if Armand let him drain me? Adrenaline kicked in as I stood still. Armand turned his back to us and shuddered.

"Well you smell like an angel for sure." he said flirtatiously. Oh god that smile. I thought as his eyes grazed over my whole body. "But to be technical-"

"You're a descendant of one of the most powerful medicinewomen in Vietnam." Armand said turning around. Radu backed away, his fangs slipping back into his mouth with urgency. I raised an eyebrow.

"So." I said staring at him. He ran a hand over his face and groaned.

"Medicinewomen are like witches, they have enough power to do things vampires can't control." I looked from Radu to Armand. Wait...I could practice magic? Whoa. This is some Jerry Springer shit. I thought, and suddenly I was afraid, not of them, but of myself. I slowly backed away towards the trees.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked Armand. He looked up.

"We can't let you have this knowledge. The things you could do to us are no joke." Radu answered for him. Armand looked at him sharply. "Medicinewomen once poisoned a whole coven. Very powerful if the magic is used properly. Now that she knows...we must, kill her." he continued looking to Armand. My blood ran cold and I turned and ran to the trees. Branches hit my face and my tennis shoes sunk into pits of mud, but I couldn't let them catch me. I thought praying that this was all a dream and I had drank too much of the tea potion. I tripped over a log and fell, hitting my head, hard, on a log. I felt the warm rush of blood as I put a hand on my temple, and I blacked out.
• • •
I had slept for so long that I thought I was dead. But I finally came to. When I opened my eyes, I was in my room, the blankets up to my chin.

"Thank god, it was just a dream." I thought rubbing my head, and then I felt it, a thick bandage around it. My bedside lamp turned on as Armand came and sat on the edge of my bed.

"I can heal that." Armand said pointing to my head.

"AGHGHHHHH!" I screamed grabbing onto my headboard and backing away. Looking down, I saw that I was in my Pjs.

"Why are you in my room? Why am I in my pjs?"

"I brought you home after you passed out in the woods. Your parents think that I was just driving and found you there. They're very grateful." he answered toying with a stuffed bear Rodrigo had given me. My anger peaked. "I didn't change you by the way...though I doubt you would have minded."

"Get out of my house." I growled. Armand rolled his eyes.

"Are you still hung up about all that witch stuff?" he asked.

"GET OUT I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!" I screeched. All of it was real, the witch stuff, the vampire that almost drank my blood, everything. My head throbbed as my bedroom door opened. My mom came in followed by my dad.

"Oh honey, please don't scream when you're so badly injured and at a man who saved your life. We were so worried." she said coming over to my beside. Armand got up, letting my dad sit.

"Thank you so much for returning her to us." he said shaking Armand's hand before sitting. I looked at them incredulously.

HELLO!! THERES A POWER HUNGRY VAMPIRE IN YOUR HOUSE!! PANIC!! I thought wildly. I was tempted to spill the whole story but realized that they wouldn't believe me. My mom kissed my wound and tucked some of my hair behind my ear.

"What are the odds of Mr. Servano finding you huh pumpkin?" My mom said softly.

"About the odds of you finding my brother." I grumbled turning on my side with my back facing them. Luckily, they didn't hear this biting comment. I'm sure Armand did though. I felt the bed give as my parents stood up.

"We're going to go make the tea that Armand brought for us. He said its new and will help you feel better." I scoffed, but at the same time longed for this aching pain in my head to go away. Armand's dream tea had become my drug...and I wasn't about to turn it down yet. My parents left me and Armand. It was silent as he crawled into bed beside me. I kept a still face as he laid on his back staring at my ceiling covered in glow in the dark stars.

"What happened to your brother?" He asked nonchalantly. I shrugged, pulling the covers over my head.

"He was kidnapped." I said as I hugged my knees to my chest. "Armand?" I asked after silence.

"What." He replied.

"Who was that vampire tonight?" I asked. Armand sank lower onto my bed.

"My psycho cousin." He said. "He followed me all the way from Romania just to show me up. Ibecile." I folded the covers over my lap and sat up.

"Why do you trust me with all of this stuff?" I asked on the verge of crazy.

"Why do you ask so many damn questions?" He said curling up on my bed as if he owned it...like he did with everything else involving me. I was silent, and he finally opened his eyes. "Same reason you trust me." I was a bit taken back when he said that.

"What makes you think I trust you?" I said avoiding his intense gaze. He crept a hand up my pj shirt his fingers like silk on my hip.

"I don't know, just a hunch." I slapped his hand away. The fact that he was right pissed me off.

"I'm not your human, I'm not your pet, I don't even want to be your 'business partner'. You weaseled me into this and I'm done. As of now." Armand made a mocking pout face.

"Awwee is someone feeling a little hurt?" He asked, slowly sitting upright so that our faces were now parallel. I balled my fists, aiming at his chest and hitting it. He laughed, barely flinching. He grabbed my wrists and flung me on my back hopping on top of me. He leaned down so our faces were aligned. His hands were now cold and I dizzily wondered how he could go from hot to cold, him being vampire and all.

"Fucking watch yourself." He said seriously. "Don't think that I'll let you get away with punching me or talking back to me just because i'm indestructible. Now drink your tea. Every. Last. Drop. Because I have things to discuss with you tonight." He said letting go and blurring to the window and out. I shook, full of fear as I was frozen in that position. My parents walked in looking around.

"What happened to Armand?" My mother asked fluffing her hair as she set the saucer with the teacup on my dresser. I was still so frightened, I could barely speak as they waited for my answer.

"He had things to take care of." I said watching steam curl from the top of the cup and disappear into thin air as I shakily reached for it and drank greedily.