Shout the Call

I had heard so many ‘near death experience’ stories on documentaries and such; some people said that long passed members of their family met with them; others said they gravitated towards an intense white light. None of this was evident to me. Was I in limbo? Was this the world between worlds? Nothingness surrounded me; pure nothingness. That’s the only way to explain where I was. I felt like a will o’ the wisp, flitting and floating around in a place I couldn’t get out of.

All of a sudden, I felt like I was being smothered. I tried to scream but no sound came. I felt more pressure on my mouth and then a drop of liquid (or that’s what I thought it was) trickled past my lips and down my throat. It tasted so good. It refreshed me. A deluge gushed into my mouth and I gulped eagerly. What the hell was happening? How could I feel all of this if I was dead?

Soft, muted colours began to appear; it was like there was a pastel picture being drawn right in front of them. Then I heard muffled yet rich noises; someone was talking. I wanted to talk but nothing was happening. The liquid stopped, the sound disappeared and once again, I was immersed in nothing.

******

“Bea, honey, come on – please! Please wake up. You have to come back. I need you.”

My eyes flickered open and Aaron’s face filled the frame. I opened my mouth to speak, actually no, to scream; I wanted to scream out how much I loved him but all that came out was a rough, ragged, rasping sound. Aaron threw his arms around me, gathering my body up into his embrace. I could feel him shaking; he was crying.

“Fuck!” he shouted, “thank God. I thought I lost you.”

Something weird was happening. Aaron always smelled amazing but this was different. Not only could I pick out his aftershave and his shampoo and conditioner, I could smell his emotions. I could smell happiness and relief. I breathed it all in; I let it completely consume my senses as I closed eyes. After a moment, my voice made its debut.

“Aaron,” I croaked.

“Hey, shush – its okay.”

“Aaron, what happened?”

“It’s all okay honey. Don’t worry.”

Strangely, I didn’t feel worried at all; far from it. I did, however, want to know what the hell I had just gone through.

“I’m okay,” I said, starting to sound more like my usual self, “I promise. I’m fine.”

Aaron gently pushed me out of the hug and looked me up and down. He stroked my face tenderly as tears streamed from his eyes. He exhaled loudly and it was easy to hear the tremble in his voice.

“You sure?” he asked. I nodded.

“Did I die?”

“We all do,” he answered.

“No shit, Sherlock….”

“And she’s back in the room,” he interrupted. I smiled at him.

“Look, just tell me what happened okay?” I asked.

Suddenly, I realised that my father was still in the room. He was coming to, fidgeting and moaning on the bed he was dying on not so long ago. Aaron followed my gaze and looked over at him.

“Let’s keep our voices down a bit eh?” he asked quietly, “he’s not quite compos mentis just yet if you catch my drift. Let’s not scare him with the gory details the moment he wakes up.” I nodded again.

“Well, go on then,” I whispered urgently.

“Your Dad, to put it simply, drained you dry,” Aaron said, “He took you too far.”

“Too far as in…”

“As in you wouldn’t have come back of your own accord,” Aaron continued, “I’m really sorry Bea. What little blood I gave you the last time was just enough to bring you back but clearly it was not enough to protect you this time.”

“So, what you’re saying is,” I said sharply, already guessing what his response would be.

“You were dead for too long honey. I didn’t want to give you my blood again; I so wanted you to come back on your own.” Aaron said, dropping his head as he choked back tears.

“Hey,” I said, squeezing him tightly, allowing my face to sink into his mop of hair, “I wanted this. I knew I would turn once Dad fed from me. It’s not your fault, okay.”

“I just did what I thought was best, that’s all I could do,” he said, not even trying to hold back his emerging sobs.

“Of course you did and honestly Aaron, this is for the best.” I hoped my assurance was enough to drown out his guilt.

“You drank a lot,” he said as he raised his head to look at me.

“I did?” I asked, worriedly, “Are you okay then? Have I done any lasting damage?”

“I’m afraid there’s no getting rid of me Bea,” he answered, smiling sweetly at me.

“See, we’re all cool then and it means we’ll always be together.”

“Sure does honey.”

“So, why do I get this feeling that you’re not happy?” I asked.

“It’s me that turned you and that really gets to me; it’s like you had no choice in the matter.”

“Aaron, for Christ’s sake; I’m glad you turned me. I’m glad that it was you and no one else. We really couldn’t be any more connected and that makes me so happy.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Aaron and I were in our own little world; there was nothing or no one else that mattered and we totally forgot that my father was still in the room until he shot up on the bed like a rake that had been trodden on. He took a sharp, deep breath. I got up quickly and ran to his side. Aaron followed instinctively.

“Just give him a little time Bea. Let him gather his senses.”

Even though I just wanted to hold my father; to tell him how much I love him, tell him everything, Aaron was right. He needed to take a little time to come round. After a minute or so, my father was ready to speak.

“Beatrice,” he forced out, “what happened? What’s going on?”

It wasn’t the best time to tell my father that he had, not too long ago, fed on the blood of his only daughter. Somehow, I didn’t think he would appreciate it.

“Shush Dad, just relax. Everything’s fine.”