Call out to the Dead

He accepted the offer with a little smile creeping up his face as well kicking off his boots at the foot of the bed.

“Be careful.” I reminded him like he was some clumsy mortal man who’d ram his shoulder into the bite on my hip by accident. After the words came out of my mouth I knew they were a waste.

He climbed up onto the bed one knee at a time moving in the most skillful way obviously thinking of what his every move will do to me. His left hand coming to my side telling me I could wrap my arms around him then.

He turned us so it’d be me laying on him. The way he moved me, like I was nothing more than a rag doll, was oddly nice. Knowing that he could just swoop in and save me from anything was a comfort. As much of a feminist as you want to be it’s nice to know someone’s got your back.

Once we’d both gotten comfortable –well as comfortable as I got at the time- his other hand came to rest on my cheek. His thumb ran in small circles over my cheek bone before pulling my lips to his in a soft tender kiss. He was cold but there was a fire that ran through that kiss that made my heart race.

His lips moved against mine in the perfect sort of rhythm. My hands easily went to his neck and into his hair tangling in the long dark locks.

He pulled away for a moment. I was catching my breath and hadn’t opened my eyes when he reconnected our lips. His mouth taking control effortlessly and pushed my lips open letting the thick sticky liquid on his lips flow into my mouth.

The sweet metallic taste flooded my senses before I could really understand what was happening. I was drinking Michael’s blood. He’d bit his lip when our lips were parted. Something in my head was telling me that this was horribly wrong. I shouldn’t be drinking blood at all. The same part of me that was reserved to believing that I wake up soon and realize that vampires didn’t exist. Yet, I couldn’t, it was intoxicating. Everything was beautiful, the world was on fire, and nothing hurt.

Next I knew I was sucking on his bottom lip like an addict and his blood was my drug of choice. He let out a groan of pleasure and his hands went to my hips pulling me close. There wasn’t even a twinge of pain, the wound there was gone.

One of his hands came back up to my face to gently brake us apart once again. The blood still in my system running it’s course leaving a hint of elation in every cell of my body. I threw my head back relishing the feeling.

“Slow down there champ.” He joked. “You don’t want to experience the hangover that comes with this sort of binge.” He licked his lips getting rid of the excess and making sure the wound healed.

I’d never done drugs before but I was guessing the feeling I was feeling then was just like being high. Every breath I took felt like magic, every sensation was magnificent.

I brought my eyes back to his and saw the amusement playing in his eyes as he pulled my lips back again. His mouth met mine and he licked my lips getting the rest of his blood off of them before deepening the kiss and flipping our positions as he didn’t have to worry about hurting me anymore.

Our tongues were openly exploring each other’s mouths, tangling delightfully and it was euphoria. Some people make references to the relationships as something of an addiction, this man was a drug. Well… Most definitely his blood.

Had I been in my right mind I might have thought we were moving a wee bit fast when his hands moved to my chest. The moan that slipped passed my lips encouraged him. He even broke our lips with his trademark devious grin falling into place and a little chuckle escaped him.

“That has to be the most beautiful sound you’ve ever made.” He spoke right in my ear, lips brushing against it as he spoke. His lips didn’t reconnect with mine instead they started dancing down my neck slowing only to gently nip at different spots trying to find the magic spot to linger. Once he did find that sweet spot on my collarbone he worked magically away with it.

God granted this man with lips like these because he knew the man would do beautiful things with them, I was certain.

As we were there -getting more caught up by the minute- not thinking about anything else, my legs wrapped around his waist.

Of course this couldn’t last.

“Oh, get ‘em!” Phil spoke enthusiastically after he walked in seeing us and hearing the moans Michael was encouraging out of me that may have been the reason neither of us noticed him sooner.

I snapped back into my good senses. My face flushed and my hands dropped to cover it. This had to have been the most embarrassing thing ever.

Michael let out a groan again lamenting the dreadful timing all of his friends seemed to have. His face dropped down into the curve of my shoulder.

“Don’t mind me, I just forgot my pants.” He spoke with an easy chuckle as he started walking toward the bathroom.

“You left my bathroom without pants?” I asked pushing past my mortification.

Phil walked back out the forgotten pants tossed over his shoulder. “I walked in on you two nearly fucking, you have no room to judge.”

“Touché.” I spoke softly the blush coming back.

Phil just stood there arms crossed over his chest like he was waiting for us to start again. The awkward just started to fill the room even higher.

“Phil, get the hell out.” Michael spoke obviously irritated.

Phil let out a sigh like we’d just kicked his puppy. “You two are absolutely no fun.”

After the door closed behind him Michael turned his head to look at me and the deep red blush still crept through my cheeks.

“Well, that was awkward.” I couldn’t not state the obvious. “But it’s good, I mean, we were getting a little carried away.” It was that thing you said because you thought it had to be said so you wouldn’t feel so vulnerable.

He grabbed my chin and held my face so I couldn’t look away from severity of his gaze as he spoke. “Never validate the things you’ve done. Your life is too short for regrets.”

I realized for him I was going to be nothing more than a moment in his history. A history with so many stories, so many lifetimes of stories, that a woman -even one invoking a previously unmatched feeling- would be forgotten. That was a hard pill to swallow.

But he was right. Regrets were pointless, I’d known that for so long but it’s hard to really implicate the concept.

“Everything you’ve done was something you wanted even if for only the most fleeting of moments.” He finished.

We are trained to be restrained and proper but in the end that just leaves you with a whole slew of what ifs doesn’t it?

The next day as Jo and I ate lunch together my mind stayed glued to the night before not making to be much of a conversationalist. She hadn’t asked yet why I was only slightly limping now either.

Finally she couldn’t handle the quiet. “So Phil said he walked in on you and Michael.” The words quite abruptly rang out.

That definitely got my attention. “Philip said what?” I spoke in a measured tone.

She smiled. “Only that the two of you wouldn’t let him watch. We drew our own conclusions.” Then she let the real curiosity take over. “So did he give you his blood? Is that why you’re healed up today? What happened? You’ve got to tell me everything!”

This was my best friend, an overzealous maniac who was way too curious for her own good. I’d never trade her for anything but sometimes she made me think about it.

“Yes he did and we were just kissing.” A tiny falsehood. Mostly true but not quite “honest” exactly.

“I don’t think good ol’ Phil would have been so bummed if it was just a kiss.” She knew me better than that. She knew all my evasion techniques.

Well, I knew her curiosity way better. “Did you see Aaron? He said something about some ritual.”

If my love life ever held any interest to her you’d never know it with the way her expression sparked then. “What sort of ritual? Are they going to preform it here?”

“It supposed to make them not need to be bound to travel anymore. It sets them free.” I said trying to figure out what was really said in such a rush the night before. “I think they need to. I think they need me… Or at the very least a little bit of my blood.”

So many different expressions crossed over her face so quickly it was hard to read. She settled on worry. “What?”

“Aaron said they couldn’t hurt me. It had to be a donation. It’s like to prove a coexistence with humans is possible for them.” My voice dropped at the next part. “Aaron mentioned a book. He looked over at me like I wasn’t supposed to know about it.”

“They have a book on vampire magic and rituals? I’d shave my head to get a look at their grimoire.” She said with a dreamy sigh. Weird that she’d talk about shaving her head in such a way. “I’ve seen so many books on magic. Some just mumbo-jumbo put out for bored teens to feel rebellious but the ones –and you have to wade through a lot of the former to find even one- that are legit are fascinating.”

“I’m pretty sure you’d never get to see it… Well unless you said that shave your head thing to Phil. He might get pretty excited to see you shave your head but I’m pretty sure Aaron and the less impulsive of them wouldn’t let him show you.”

She smirked like a fiend. “DJ would probably be pissed at Phil for trying to shave my head.”

Finally her mind was away from my love life. “So what’s going on with you and DJ?”

“A lot of flirting. I’ve been trying to get the guy alone for a week though to try and jump his bones, not so easy with all these other douchebags hanging around.” The sigh that came with this one was a bummed one.

“Wow. Seriously Jo?” I said with a laugh, “You’re just trying to jump his bones?”

In faux defense she said, “Well, not just, I hope it’ll tell me if there can be more.”

“So sex is the interview.” I very seldom tried to understand her logic but I was trying then.

She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sexual Interview with the Vampire.”

I groaned and the phone rang. Impeccable timing as I wanted that conversation to die. Jo captured the phone first though.

“Mother fucker. It’s Stone.” Then she hit talk and the speaker button.

“You’ve got the old O’Shea house, this is Eliza.” I really only wanted to push his buttons the way he’d pushed mine the day before.

“Hello Miss O’Shea,” His gruff voice sounded different, less confident. Michael really had put the whammy on him last night. “We’ve gotten some forensics back.” Or that could be it. “The remains found were Janet but the way she was killed has ruled the two of you out as suspects… For now.”

“Well thank you for taking the time to tell me what I already knew. I knew Jo and myself hadn’t commit any crime. Have a nice day Mr. Stone.” That was all code for a grand old fuck you.

Jo looked at me suspiciously. “You’re like feisty. Not in your usual way either.” She hummed to herself trying to figure it out. “Maybe that’s the little bit of vamp blood in you.”

He had spoken of a “hangover” I wondered if that was only the tip of the iceberg.