Shout the Call

As I let the rain pitter-patter on my upturned face, hoping it would calm me down; I heard a voice coming from behind me.

“Beatrice,” Jim said, patting my back gently, “you okay chick?”

I wanted to shout and ball at him; I thought I could trust him, hell, I think I trusted him more than Aaron. How could the man I trusted almost as much as my father betray me so badly? I knew though that no amount of screaming and shouting would help anything.

“Oh, hi Jim,” I answered through gritted teeth, “I’m fine, honestly. I think it all got a bit too much for me in there. I just needed a breather.”

“Okay chick, I get ya,” he replied, “I can appreciate it, I mean, you’re not accustomed to being in the crowd now you’re a big name in the music journalism field.”

I clenched my jaw in anger. How patronising. Again, I fought the urge to scream at him.

“Oh, I’m not sure about that Jim and anyway, I’ve been to more than my fair share of gigs as a punter so I think I still remember how it feels.”

“Or not, in this case,” Jim said, giving my shoulders a squeeze.

I laughed; that’s all I could allow to come from my mouth.

“Seriously though, Bea,” Jim went on, “you sure you’re okay? You know you can talk to me, right?”

“I know Jim. Thank you but I’m fine, really.”

“Good girl. Now are you coming back in?”

“You know what? No, I think I’m just going to head back to our hotel. I assume Aaron told you we wouldn’t be on the bus for the next couple of nights?”

“He sure did and actually, Bea, it’s really nice you’re getting some alone time together, especially after what happened with Jack the other night. You know something Beatrice; I haven’t seen Aaron like this in a very long time. I do believe he’s smitten.”

“He is eh?” I asked, unable to stop the huge smile spreading across my face. Jim had redeemed himself almost instantly, “Well I do believe I am too. Hey, can you tell Aaron I’m sorry for not sticking around and I’ll see him later?”

“Course I will chick and I’m sure he’ll race back after the gig once he knows you’re there waiting for him.”

Jim shot me a knowing wink before opening the double doors and disappearing back into the club.

******

Half of me wanted to kick off big time at Aaron. Some blood transfusion, right? The other half of me wanted to wrap myself around him; couldn’t wait to tell him I felt exactly the same as he did, if he didn’t already know. I would never have dreamed that I would end up in a hotel room, let alone in the bed of my biggest crush and yet that’s exactly what was happening.

I removed my makeup and brushed my teeth. I decided upon the non-suggestive pair of plaid pyjama’s that had been left out at the foot of the bed; at least then, Aaron would take me seriously when he came back. I just needed to keep my head in the game; I needed to keep my cool.

******

The sound of bumping and tumbling woke me. I shot off the bed and grabbed Aaron just before he fell to the floor. It was clear he was drunk.

“Beatrice,” he sang in a cheesy, opera style, “my Beatrice; where have you been my gorgeous, amazing beauty Queen.”

I stifled a giggle. I had to stay angry.

“I’ve been here Aaron; waiting for you.”

He sashayed up to me, pulling me to his chest and kissing my nose.

“And what a wonderful thing that is sugar; I’ve never had anyone to come home to.”

He may have been drunk but he was quickly softening my stern resolve.

“Jim said you left early,” he hiccupped, “how come honey?”

I couldn’t push him away, or maybe I just didn’t want to, as he smothered me in soft kisses. I moaned with pleasure as they travelled down my neck. How could I be angry with him when he was doing that?

“I just needed to get out of there,” I replied breathlessly, “I needed some space.”

For Christ’s sake, I thought to myself, get a grip and tell him the real reason. I pushed him away.

“Actually Aaron,” I continued, “I felt like shit in there one minute and the next, I was over aware of everything and everyone around me. My senses were in overdrive and I thought I was going to go mad. I felt ravenous.”

“What?” he replied, sobering up instantly, “how do you mean?”

“I want the truth, Aaron,” I said, looking deeply into his beautiful eyes, “we need to talk.”

“Shit! You’re breaking up with me aren’t you?”

“I think this is a little more important than whether we’re still an item or not, but actually, no – I am not breaking up with you.”

“Thank God for that,” Aaron said, sighing heavily, “I was starting to worry.”

I pulled him down on to the bed so that we were sitting opposite eachother.

“I didn’t get a transfusion, did I?”

Aaron averted his gaze immediately; his silence alone was enough to confirm my suspicions.

“Well?” I asked.

“Baby, you lost so much blood, so, so much. They tried to bring you back; you were in a coma. I’m so sorry angel, I should have been there. It should never have got that far; I should have kept my eyes on Jack like a hawk.”

Even though I had guessed correctly, I still felt a deep sense of shock. I may have wanted the truth but I wasn’t truly prepared for it.

“They wanted to turn off your life support,” Aaron went on, “but there was no way I was letting you go. So, you obviously know what happened next.”

I nodded; feeling like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

“I had to do it; please, you must believe me. I’m so sorry. I know it was selfish of me but I don’t regret it one bit and I don’t know if this helps any, but I didn’t give you enough to turn you, not completely. I was careful, I promise.”

“Careful?” I shouted, feeling rage flow through me, “Really? Then why is it I could hear blood pumping through the veins of all those people? I felt like I could have fed there and then; luckily I took myself out of the situation.”

“Ah, you see Bea, that’s the thing; I only gave you enough to bring you back which means you won’t have the same reactions as a true vampire.”

“Right, so I’m no danger to the community then?” I asked sarcastically.

“Well, no – not at the moment.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I shouted.

“It means that you are not a threat to anyone, yet.”

“So, will I become a true vampire or am I going to be stuck in this limbo forever?”

“The moment you have to give your blood to another person; then you’ll be fully converted.” Aaron answered with an awkward smile. His attempt at humour did nothing to brighten my mood, not even slightly.

“And why and when would I ever want to do that?” I asked again feeling more and more scared every second.

“When you drain for the first time.”

“So, I am essentially a vampire then? I mean, I really felt like I could have done something terrible tonight.”

“But you didn’t Bea; you resisted. That’s why you’re not a full vampire – your humanity is strong enough to overpower the urge.”

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?” I asked angrily, “So what you’re saying is, I have to avoid people just in case I fancy a quick bite to eat?”

“Well, yes and no,” Aaron answered, “If you carry on resisting the urge, carry on making a choice; it will just become second nature. It won’t be so much of a battle.”

I pondered over his words for a moment.

“Aaron, I couldn’t handle what I was feeling at the gig….”

“Which is why you did the right thing by removing yourself from the situation,” Aaron interrupted.

“Yes, I know that but it means from now on, I’m always going to struggle in those situations. I’m supposed to be doing a god damn job here Aaron! It’s going to look totally unprofessional when, one minute I’m shooting and the next, I’m legging it because I’m worried I might kill a gig-goer.”

“Oh Bea,” Aaron said, pulling me into his lap and hugging me, “Jim and I have agreed – you need only shoot for as long as you can manage. You’ll have free reign which isn’t much different to what you have now, is it?”

He had a point.

“I’m scared Aaron,” I said, feeling like I could cry at any second, “what if I lose it?”

“You won’t, Bea; I’m sure of it.”

“You can’t know that; none of us can.”

“I’ll say it again honey; you just keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll get through this,” Aaron reassured me, “if you were a true vampire, there’s no way that you could have resisted. I know what you saw me doing the other night repulsed you Bea but believe me; I don’t feed after every gig we play. The other guys feed more regularly than me but that’s up to them. Let’s just say, we had some very willing volunteers that night…”

“What the hell, Aaron! And that’s supposed to make everything okay?”

“I know. I know that doesn’t excuse what we do,” Aaron jumped back in, “but we don’t feed like that on a regular occurrence. We do it only when it’s absolutely necessary and that’s normally when we’ve run out of the bags Jim gets from the hospital.”

“Blood bags?” I asked, feeling nauseous.

“No, leather bags,” Aaron replied, realising quickly that his attempt at lightening the conversation fell on deaf ears, “of course blood bags, what else.”

“How did you arrange that then?”

“Let’s just say we have a mutual agreement with our local hospital. That’s all you need to know.”

To be honest, that’s really all I wanted to know. My brain couldn’t handle any more shocks and revelations but I knew that Aaron was telling me nothing but the truth.

“Hey Bea,” Aaron said as he pulled me down so that we were lying on the bed, faces, and more importantly, bodies just inches apart, “I love you too much to hurt you and I will never let you hurt anything or anyone else.”

“I know; me too!” I said and placed a kiss on his lips.