In Exchange for Magic

About three seconds later, we were in handcuffs together.

Well, they were more like strips of leather than metal cuffs, but they were sturdy all the same. Ez had whipped them up effortlessly, and he'd slipped my end onto my wrist in a matter of nanoseconds. The cuffs looked like two loops of leather, with a strip in between, creating about six inches of slack.

"No!" I cried, yanking on the leather cuff. "No way am I wearing you as a charm bracelet!"
He chucked and grinned, satisfied.

He then tugged me over towards the fire pit, so that we could eat dinner. We could each only control one hand, so the usage of utensils was quite awkward.

I thought about lying and telling him that I had to go to the bathroom, but, knowing Ez, he'd probably shrug and say, "Okay... What's stopping you?"

As the minutes passed, I grew angrier and angrier. Whenever Ez moved the hand that was cuffed to mine, I'd let out a giant sigh.

The worst part came at night. We couldn't sleep separately - as we had done the past couple of nights, because of the fact that he'd tied me to him, so he shrugged it off and tugged me into the tent.

"Since we're going to be close all night," he told me, smirking. "We'll have to sleep in the tent. The moon would make it too dangerous."

The night air was making him cockier, just like the vampire he was. He kept shooting me suggestive glances and making sly comments. It was pissing me off.

We both awkwardly zipped up the front of the tent, and fell asleep to the sound of Attannian bugs chirping and clicking. It wasn't long before the problems began.

Ez rolled over.

Now, that might not seem like a big thing... But it is when your hand is tied to his. I was now hugging his middle, and pressed firmly to his side. My nose was squished into his back, causing me to snort from the lack of air.

"Ez!" I hissed, poking him sharply.
"Mmm?"
"Roll back over!"
He wearily obeyed, and my arm flopped back over to my own side.

But it was mere moments before he did it again. The side of my face was pushed into the crook of his neck, and I was nervous about the distance from his teeth... Especially with that episode from last night.

I struggled.

"Ez! I don't want to hug you all night!" I yelled, and slapped his shoulder with my free hand.

This woke him up a bit.

"Sorry," he mumbled, and flipped back over, yawning and wiggling his pointy ears.

About ten minutes later he did it again.

"Ezekiel!" I cried. "This is the last straw! For Pete's sake, I don't want to hug you all night!"

He groaned and grumbled sleepily, "Don't call me Ezekiel. And be quiet, Rose. I'm comfy."
"I don't give a damn how comfy you are!" I informed him. "Either quit rolling over, or cut my wrist loose!"

He ignored me. "Deal with it."

I looked up and saw the source of his stubbornness. At the top of the tent, where the large branches met, there was a slit of nothingness. Where the tops of the poles connected, a small patch of night sky was visible. A single, white moonbeam was pouring through the patch, and falling directly on Ez's face. It made his blonde hair look silver.

During the day, the Elf part of him took over. He was quick, sharp, impatient, observant, and at one with nature. This is when he could control trees and speak to Dolores (because she's a tree-nymph). During the night, though, he became a bit more vampire-like. He grew cocky, romantic, impulsive, self-centered and strong... And under the moon's light, all those were magnified.

I decided to defy this strange half-breed boy and fix the situation myself. I followed my hand and crawled over his body. Now, I wasn't so pressed up against him. True, I was still a bit too close for comfort, but at least I wasn't touching him any more.

He mindlessly brought his hand up under his face, laying his palm against his ear and using it as a small pillow. There wasn't much slack in the cuffs, so my hand was brought up along with his. It now rested, uncomfortably touching his shoulder. I tugged on my hand, and he shifted in his sleep, turning his head so that his jaw was brushing against my hand.

I tensed immediately, and began pulling wildly. But he didn't notice. I guess that, when you're half vampire, a girl using all her strength feels a bit like a soft breeze.

His breath was tickling my fingers. I struggled for a few more moments, and Ez stirred. He shifted his head so that he was using my palm like a pillow, not his own.

"Ez? Ez?" I hissed.

He didn't answer.

Sighing, I let him win this one. But, the second I got these cuffs off... Boy, did he have it coming!

-_-_-_-

I fell into an uneasy sleep. My dreams were all muffled and strange... They involved Ez and a deformed version of Dolores... And I think there was a cactus in one of them.

Suddenly, I was brought from that last dream by thrashing. Ez was wiggling around, yanking my hand as he went, and whimpering in his sleep.

"Stop it... Stop it! STOP IT! STOP IT!" he cried out, swinging and kicking at invisible monsters.

"Ez!" I tried to yell over him, while simultaneously avoiding his flailing arms and legs. "Ezekiel, calm down! You're dreaming!"

"NO! NO! NO! NO!" he bellowed.

I pressed my hand to the ground, pinning him down with me. Throwing my leg over the other side of his body, I straddled him and sat on his stomach.

He struggled even harder, repeating, "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

I used my free hand to slap him hard upon the face.

He awoke instantly, blinking hard, and gasping for air. Sweat poured down his face, and I could feel that he was shaking. Breathing heavily, he flopped down onto his pillow with his chin in the air.

I used my free hand to gently push the soaking bangs from his face. I could hear the scritchy sound of my fingernails gently running on his scalp. His chest heaved, and his breathing was ragged and torn.

I realized that I was panting too, not only from the physical effort that was required to restrain a vampire-elf, but from fear.

Ez looked up at me, his eyes full of confusion, delirium, and... He leaned upwards, leading with his chin... As if he wanted to kiss me!

I sat up straight, keeping my lips out of his reach.

"No! No way!" I scolded him.

A blank, brainwashed demeanor inhabited his face. He looked like a sweaty, confused china doll. He leaned up towards me again, further this time, his face concentrated and determined. I pushed him down firmly with my free hand.

Then... There was a split second when I thought he was going to kill me.

The blank stare he'd been wearing was suddenly washed away, and, in place of it, was this murderous look of longing. It was the same look I'd seen on his face last night, when the moon was full and... And he was looking at my neck.

Then, with a force I didn't know he possessed, he shot back up and wriggled out from under me. With a crazed look in his eye, he grasped my neck with his free hand. I could feel his thumb pressing into my pulse, and his purring smile showed that he delighted in the fact that it was running about five times faster than normal right now. His eyes were trained on my jugular... His teeth were much longer and sharper than I remembered...

I panicked and slapped him across the face. He blinked and the smile dripped off his lips.

"Ez, what are you doing?" I whimpered.

"I..." he said, coming back to his senses. "I..."

He let go of my neck, and I scrambled away from him. Well, as far as the handcuffs would allow. I guess I must have looked quite terrified, because Ez seemed to be utterly remorseful.

"I... Oh, shit. Oh... Oh, Rose. I'm sorry... I'm feeling the guilt thing again..."

"Ez," I said firmly. "Let me out of these handcuffs. Now."
"No," he protested. "No, Rose! Don't go! Really, I'm truly sorry... Shit... I didn't mean to... I didn't know what I was-"
"Let me out of these damned things!"

With an expert flick of the wrist, he had the complicated knot undone. I was free.

"I'm sleeping outside," I told him, grabbing a pillow.
"Rose, don't-"
"You tried to kiss me, Ez!" I cried. "You... You... You tried to bite me!"
"No! I would never..." he muttered, but trailed off.

"I'm sleeping outside."

I snatched a blanket and unzipped the tent. Once I'd stepped into the cold night air, Ez poked his head out from the structure.

"Rose, please... I want you to-"
"Stay?" I finished for him, horrified. "You want me to stay with you in the tent after that?"
"It's only after the nightmares! That's the only time when my bloodlust levels are high! I promise you!"

I scowled. "I've never heard a bigger lie! You just randomly get bloodthirsty! Excuses, excuses, excuses! Oh, the human was wearing off, there's too much moonlight, and now... nightmares? Bullshit! There's no telling when you're going to go off!"

"Rose," he pleaded. "There are all kinds of creatures out there!"
"Well," I hissed. "There probably no worse than you!"

His mouth fell open in slack-jawed embarrassment.

And, without any further complaints from Ez, I slept outside that night.