Bliss and Bloodlust

It's true what they say, you never really know a person. And I truly hadn't known Jayson.

Who is Jayson, you ask? Up until a few hours ago, I assume it was hours, Jayson had been my love. I had thought he loved me. Then he turned into the man who left me for dead in the woods. I never thought he would hurt me physically, verbally maybe, but physically no.

“His name is Jayson.” I said quietly to Daniel, but he heard me all the same.

I shut my eyes and took in a deep breath.

This night had been a long and crazy one. It had begun so sweetly and ended so nasty. How could this had happened.

Jayson had planned it all out. Except for the part about me living. He took me into the woods, my hand in his, a smile on his face, only to turned on me.

It took me a moment to speak again, and even as I spoke it still didn't seem real to me. “This night has been a real bitch.”

To my surprise Daniel laughed. He had a nice laugh, if you didn't look too hard at the fangs that were slowly retracting. “And this Jayson person shot you... because?” he asked.

How did I explain it without it hurting me further. I had found out a lot about Jayson, things I think I was being deliberately blind to before. “He was always possessive and jealous.” I muttered. “He thought of me as his property.”

He raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And he shot you because he was jealous and possessive?”

I coughed. “Something like that.”

“Could you elaborate further?”

I took a pause then said, “Short version, he thought I betrayed him by sleeping my ex, which I hadn't.

So he's been screwing my friend as revenge. And shot me to get the point across even further.” I sighed. “Plus he said he couldn't stand the idea of me being with someone else.” I continued. “Stupid bastard.” even as I said it I felt tears come to my eyes.

“So it was the classic, If I can't have you no one else will.”

“Yeah... Classic.” We grew silent as I tried to gather my thoughts. “You saved me.” I said as I realized he was the reason I was here and not a corpse in the woods.

“It was my pleasure.” he said and his eyes darkened.

I swallowed hard. “How did you find me?”

“I was taking a walk.”

“A walk?”

“I take walks to clear my head.”

“In the woods?” I asked.

“Yes. I heard the gunshot, so naturally I came to investigate.” Naturally? He reached over to my bedside table and picked up a glass of water and told me to drink. I took a few sips before he continued.

“I thought it was a hunter, but then I smelled your blood. I knew it was human, the smell is different from animals, so I wasn't surprised to find you.”

“You really aren't human, are you?” I asked and he shook his head. I thought about that for a moment. “If you are what you say you are, then why didn't you just finish me off? I mean the blood should have make you loose control, right? But you saved me. Why?” I was surprised I could even think about all of this rationally.

“Well I had no reason to kill you.” Daniel said almost offended. “Believe it or not I don't kill for the hell of it. I didn't loose control because I had a goal, which was to save you, it occupied my other need. Mind over matter.” He frowned. “If you weren't nearly dead I could have followed the scent of your ex-beau but that wouldn't have been pretty. Plus I don't really think you would have appreciate if I ripped his head off and suck all the blood from him until his body was dry.” he said with a low dark voice that raised the hairs on my arms.

As I thought about it, at this moment that sound like a pretty good idea but I said nothing at all. After a minute of silence I spoke. “You still didn't tell me why you saved me.”

“Because I could.” was all he said as he locked his gaze with mine. I couldn't look away.

“How did you do it?” I asked softly. I little part of me was terrified. Something about his gaze was predator-like. But another part of me concluded that if he wanted me dead, I'd be dead.

“I sucked out the bullet.” he said as if that were a common thing to do.

It had been painful but I also remember the sweet sensation I felt as he removed the bullet from my body.

“And licked the wound so it would heal faster.” he continued. “My saliva can heal you. Your wound will be closed up soon, but you may have a scar.” his eyes were a shade darker now. “I'm fairly certain you won't have any internal problems, the bullet wasn't in too deep, and it seemed to have missed the important stuff.” I tried to rise up again. “No, don't try to look at it now. Wait till the morning.” he said quickly. “And to let you die in the woods would have been just plain rude. Plus I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress.”

“Ha,ha. Funny.” I said dryly.

“You were still hanging on, you stubbornly wanted to live. I like that, you're strong. So I didn't hesitate, I made my decision, and I think you were worth it.”

As he tucked me back under the covers something dawned on me.

“You undressed me?”

“Yes.”

“And bathed me?”

“Yes.”

“So you saw me... naked?” I said feeling embarrassed.

“Mm-hmm.” he mumbled. “But I wasn't thinking of your body, just trying to get the blood off of you.” “I drank your blood.” I said suddenly as I remembered him making me drink from his wrist.

”It was for your own good. You had lost so much blood, you need some of mine. It'll help you heal quicker. Now enough talk, you need to rest.”

“But I've got more to ask you.”

“Twenty questions will have to wait.” He kissed my forehead and sat in a chair next to the bed, folding his arms onto his lap.

“Close your eyes.”

“What if I never wake up again?” I asked, more afraid than I liked to admit.

“You're not dead or dying or dreaming or anything of the sort, I promise you and in the morning you'll see, you'll feel much better.”

“But you'll be gone when I wake up.”

“Maybe.” he shrugged, “Maybe not.”

I shut my eyes but spoke a minute later. “Daniel? If you are a vampire, then why did you tell me all those things?”

I heard him answer, but it was as if from far away. “Because you might not remember any of it come morning.”