Black Blood

Clair still hadn't been impressed with me, even after Adrian had gone into great detail about what he had seen me do. She had simply scoffed, said something to Claude in French that had made him frown, and then wandered off.

Adrian had been guided off to someplace else, to talk with the other males. The brunette had introduced himself as Arthur. It seemed a fitting name considering his accent. I wondered where he had learned French.

Claude had led me off to another room as well. This one was so pristine and white, I had nearly been blinded upon entry.

Now I sat on the patient table, with Claude checking my vitals. I watched as he checked my blood pressure.

"We're going to have to make some big noise to catch the attention of big shot Edward Blackblood, I think," I said. Claude glanced up at me.

"Oh, definitely." he said.

He pulled the device off my arm, and then went to scribbling on a clipboard he had on the counter. I stretched out my arm, rubbing at the tender skin. After that I watched him concentrate a moment. He hadn't used any devices to take my pulse, and check my lungs. I imagined he didn't need to. He continued to write after a moment.

"So... What kind of noise do you suppose we make?" I asked. Claude paused, and I could see the gears in his head turning.

"I'll have to take a look back through the archives," he said, going back to writing once more. "Before I can give you any useful answer."

I nodded at that and chewed on my lip. I felt very tired as the last of the energy from the vampire left my system. My heart fluttered in my chest, a sensation I wasn't used to. I grabbed at my chest as I tried to catch my breath.

Claude looked up at me and dropped his pen, his eyebrows knitted together as he listened to whatever was going on. He stood up abruptly and walked back over to me. As much as I wanted to crack a joke about him staring at my chest I knew he wasn't so for any lewd reasons. He was simply listening.

Finally his gaze met mine.

"Are you alright?" he said. I could only nod and shrug.

"As alright as I can be, given the circumstances," I sighed. He raised an eyebrow at me. I raised both of mine, but he didn't make the connection. "Well, just a few days ago I was abducted by a group of crazy vampires, who intended to use me as food. And since then I've just been tossed back and forth from vampire to vampire. Granted not as food anymore, but still. Oh and one even had the audacity to actually bite me. He's dead now at least."

Claude's expression softened, and I flinched. It was the first time I'd seen a vampire make an expression like that. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, watching me still.

I rubbed my eyes. The weight of it all was really hitting me. Really, truly hitting me and pulling me down. I felt like I was getting sucked into an abyss.

"I just want to go home," I whispered. "Forget that all of this ever happened. Forget that vampires are real."

Claude remained silent a while longer.

"Maybe you can," he said when he'd had time to think. I looked up at him. "When all of this is over."

"You really believe that, don't you?" I said, and he nodded. I shook my head and shakily stood. "At least Adrian is able to face the reality- my reality. I'm going to die, when I meet with Edward Blackblood. At least, that's the only way I can see everything going down. And maybe I'll take him with me. But I'm going to die."

Claude was shaking his head, but I held a hand up. I was tired of his hopefulness. For a vampire who'd been around a long time, he just seemed so young. Somehow he seemed younger than I was.

We continued to stare each other down. And then I smiled.

"I need sleep," I said. Claude nodded at that.

He pushed himself off of the wall and walked to the door. He pulled it open and then looked over to me, waiting for me to follow. I did, and he led the way to a different room.

This one was darker, and longer. There were several beds lining the walls. Claude led me over to one with blue covers, and he pulled them back.

"You can sleep in my bed," he said. He cut me off before I could protest. "I haven't used it in a long time. Don't be worried about catching some strange, supernatural disease."

"Okay," I said. "I was actually going to crack a coffin joke." Claude shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips.

"I'll leave you to it, then," he said with a nod. He tucked me in after I crawled onto the bed. "I'm going to go make sure Adrian isn't causing any trouble."

With that he left, and I was left to feel the full weight of my exhaustion. My eyes fell closed and sleep pulled me in hard.