Life Sucks but Love Bites

Vanessa's POV

Vic,

Shit, I had forgotten all about him. In the back of my mind I could see him rolling in the back seat in agony. The haunting thought sent chills rushing up my spine and my muscles twitch. Why had I left him there alone? My body moved on its own as I sprinted to the door with Danyelle on my heels. When I opened the front door I was not only greeted by the cold night air but also a red eyed, raspy breathing, tousled haired Vic. His eyes connected to mine and in them I could see how tired…and scared he really was. Even though he was leaning up against the frame of the door his muscles trembled at the tiniest use. Instinctively I reached for his arm to help support him, but he shakily jerked away. I felt disappointed in his reaction. I had just wanted to help him, and I had assumed that after the blood sweating training we would be past this point. Danyelle came up to him instead and placed her hand on his head. His eyes widened at her nearness as if…something was wrong.

Before Danyelle could speak, Vic crashed onto the floor out of breath and out of strength. Danyelle’s expression was one of pure horror; I could see her body tremble as she fell to her knees. I quickly followed her to the floor besides Victor.

"Vic…. Vic what's wrong?" Danyelle asked pressing her light colored hands against his pale skin. When Vic didn't respond Danyelle started looking franticly from me back to Vic. "Vic….Vic, VIC! Vanessa what's wrong with him?" Her eyes were wide as she ran her fingers through his damp midnight hair.

"I figured it out on the way here.” She stared at me with such intensity that I was became unsure whether or not to tell her the rest. Her hand shook as she combed it through her brother’s hair and it made me understand that she needed to know. “He isn’t getting enough blood." I whispered cautiously.

Danyelle looked terrified as she whispered. "What do you mean?"

I felt myself freeze at her response. That had not been what I was expecting her to say. I had envisioned her getting pissed that her brother wasn’t taking care of himself and beat the living crap out of him. But this…cluelessness put me on edge. “He has been drinking blood…right Danyelle?”

She was initially shocked by my question her hand suddenly found its way to her mouth as if to cover some unheard cry. She really hadn’t known.

Ice filled my veins and slowly pumped throughout my body as I glared at her brother. Surely he wasn’t that stupid. I looked back at his sister and her expression said it all. Fear and rage filled my body. I reached out for Danyelle and grabbed her shoulders. I gave her a light shake as if to bring her back to herself. “He’s not drinking blood?”

She slowly shook her head from side to side. "Not a drop." She said quietly stroking his hair. I gazed at Vic face, his smooth place face and untamed midnight black hair made my skin prickle.

"You damn idiot." I hissed at him through clenched teeth. I would have punched him if he hadn’t looked so damn weak and pathetic. I got up off the floor and started pacing back and forth frantically. What was I going to do now? My car had a fresh supply of blood but it was at some random theater miles away. I signed and rubbed my temples until I figured it out; I would have to go home and get some by using quick step. The only downside to this was that I wasn’t sure if I had enough energy to get there and back before Vic woke up.

“Why is it so important that he drinks it?” Danyelle asked worriedly.

I looked into her deep blue eyes and debated whether or not I should tell her. I didn’t want to scare her but then again he was her brother. She no longer had the luxury of staying in the dark.

“If he doesn’t drink blood he will go on a feeding frenzy.”

She stood there frozen for a moment as what I had just told her started to sink in. Her mouth turned into a grim line as anger started to take over. “What do you mean?” She spoke through clenched teeth.

Making my way over to the door I leaned against the frame where Vic had previously been. “When a vampire is refused blood for a long period of time their minds stop working properly. Their thirst for blood becomes too much for them to control and they basically go on a killing spree until their hunger has subsided. Right now Vic is struggling to stay in control of his thirst and it is taking its toll on him. If he doesn’t drink blood soon he will go on a rampage and… I might not be able to stop him.”

She looked down at her brother with anger. “Damn idiot.”

I smiled at her, “That’s what I said.”

Her anger turned into worry as she quickly looked back at Vic. “Does this mean that when he wakes up he will go on a rampage?”

I sighed as I made my way over to her and got down to her eye level. “Honestly, I’m not sure.”

Danyelle grabbed her brother’s shirt in the front and shook him. “You listen to me you dumbass. If you wake up as a rampaging vampire I will never forgive!”

I touched her shoulder. “He’s going to be fine Danyelle.” She dropped her brother in midair; his head knocked back onto the floor with a thud.

“For his sake he’d better be.”

I squeezed her shoulder in reassurance. “I promise.” She looked me in the eyes and nodded. “But just in case let’s get him upstairs.”

She snorted at my remark and helped me pick Victor up off the floor. Danyelle and I placed his long arms around our shoulders and attempted to drag him up the steps, and he must have been really out of it because we dropped him roughly five times going up.

He had it coming

When we finally got him to his room we dropped him on his bed. I followed Danyelle out of the room but before I closed the door I found myself staring at him. The question played over and over in my head. Why had he refused to drink blood? I realized that I wouldn’t be able to get anything from him while he was comatose, so I shut the door and followed Danyelle down. I walked over to the opened door and walked onto the porch. Danyelle sat down on the cool cement steps and started rubbing her tumbles.

“Your brother is a handful.”

She laughed at first but then stopped and faced me. “I’m sorry that he turned out to be such a hassle. I didn’t realize how far gone he was.”

Wickedly I smiled down at her. “With you and me together Danyelle, we’ll get him on the right track.”

She smiled back at me. “I don’t know he’s a pretty stubborn man.”

I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly “He’s just a vampire… we can break him.”

We both laughed for a long time in the cool night air. It felt refreshing to be out in the dark with her after a long day filled with worries and training. However, I couldn’t really bask in this moment for long; I had a thirsty vampire to feed. Our laughing ceased and I sighed at the passed moment.

I stepped off the porch and turned to her. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Where are you going?”

I turned away from her and started walking. “Back to my house to get some blood.”

She raised her voice as I walked farther away. “How do you plan on making him drink it?”

I shook my head, "We’ll worry about it when I get back."

When I reached the end of her driveway I turned back. Danyelle had already gone back inside. If I had the strength I would have taken her with me but the long day of training had left me worn out and exhausted. I prayed that she would still be there when I returned. I took a deep breath and looked at the road in front of me. This was going to be a long night.

***

When I reached my house I was out of breath. I wanted to curl up on the floor in the mud room and sleep. My breathing was labored and sweat was dripping off my brow. Maybe I needed rest but I needed to save that dumbass more. I made my way through the living room and into the kitchen. My father always kept a bottle or two of fresh blood in the fridge so I wouldn’t have to travel down to the cellar. I praised my father for his unknowing assists. I opened the fridge and grabbed both wine bottles.

“What are you doing?”

I jumped back from the fridge and almost dropped the bottles. My mother came up from behind me and shut the fridge door.

Shit!!

My mother didn’t know that I was training a rouge vampire and if she found out… I shivered at the thought. I started coughing to distract my mom from asking anymore questions. Once I regained my wit it was ease to come up with a quick excuse. “I was just having a midnight snack.”

She folded her long pale arms over her chest. Her glass green eyes glared at me. “I smell him.”

I could feel my composer drip away. “What?”

The tail of her silk night gown flicked before she used quick step. Suddenly, her nose was buried in my hair. “I can smell the rouge vampire.”

My spine stiffed in response.

Shit

“Mother it’s not like-

She ripped the two bottles out of my hands and placed the on the nearby counter. “Save it.” She gestured me over to sit at the counter as she stood on the opposite side.

My head was bent downwards in disgrace as I obliged. Maybe if I could convince her that Vic could save our lives she wouldn’t be so mad.

“I want you to tell me everything Vanessa Kay, and don’t you dare lie to me. Now what are you doing with a rouge vampire?”

Nervously I tugged on the edges of my shirt. “I was training him.” I glanced up at my mother. Her expression hadn’t changed. I sighed as I raised my head and looked her straight in the eye. “I’m training him so that he can kill Winden and stop my arranged marriage.”

She slammed her fist down on the counter. “I thought that we had already agreed that you would go to the summer cabin before you wedding.”

I straightened my back and slammed my own fists on the counter. “No mom. You and dad decided that.”

“You should listen to your father and me.”

“And what? Let you both die?”

Her eyebrow cocked back at that. “What are you talking about?”

I growled as I pushed out of my chair. The chair cracked onto the floor and made my mother’s expression soften. She always had a soft spot for a bad temper. “You know that if I run away from this the prince will take it out on you. As your daughter I can’t allow you to be so reckless. So I will train this rouge and when I’m done with him he will be strong enough to kill Winden. Then we’ll be free from his rule mom, we’ll all be free.”

She flicked her unbound chestnut hair off her shoulder as she leaned against the table thinking about what I had just said. A few minutes later she looked back up to me and smiled. “I was hoping you would find another way.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I walked around the counter and gave her a hug. “So you’re confident that I can pull this off?”

Her laugh echoed through the room. “If you’re training this boy he will be invincible.”

I pulled away and looked up at her. “You really think so?”

Her smile was radiate. “Of course I am, after all I am the one who trained you.”

I found myself smiling as I went and picked up the bottles. Speaking of Victor, I needed to get back there before he woke up. I pulled a stray piece of hair off my cheek. “How did you know what rouge vampire smelt like?”

She twirled a strand of her long hair as she looked up at the ceiling in remembrance. “Back before I met your father, I used to date one.”

What?

“Oh don’t give me that face. It wasn’t against the law back then and besides he could really show a girl a good time.”

The tree tops came to mind at that comment and I found myself smiling as well. It had been the longest time that we had sat so close to each other and not argued. Not to mention the fact that we had basically watched the sunset together. “Yeah I know what you mean.”

“Oh and don’t tell your father about this conversation.”

“Why?”

“Because I love keeping secrets.”

I nodded before I turned around to leave with a smile still plastered on my face.

***

I had made it halfway down the road before I had fallen. Damn it I don’t have time for this. A growl escaped my lips as I lifted myself off the ground. I had wasted enough time conversing with my mother I didn’t have any more time to waste. My legs were sore and stiff from being used all day. They felt as if they were going to give out on me again. As soon as I could get them to stop wobbling I started running. Every muscle in my legs burned and cried out for me to stop but I refused. When I thought my legs were going to give out from under me again I finally saw the start of their driveway; I almost cried. “Thank god!”

I got to the front door and rested my body against the frame. I moved one of the bottles to my other arm and used the free one to knock on the door. As I waited, I gradually felt heavy weight settling on my eye lids and before I knew it I was rocking back and forth on my feet. I was awoken by the feeling of falling. My heart was pounding against my chest and I found myself gasping for air. I looked up and saw that Danyelle had opened the door.

“It seems like every time this door gets opened there’s a fainting person on the other side.”

I smiled up at Danyelle. “Sorry.”

She rolled her eyes. “Hurry up and get your butt in here.”

I stood up straight and walked in. When I saw the stairs I didn’t even think about going up them, I simply walked right over to the first step and sat there with a sigh.

“Vanessa what are you doing?”

“Shush” I hushed

I peeked at her when she started tapping her foot. “Vanessa.”

“I’m sleeping here!” I resumed to laying down on the step. Danyelle huffed and started stomping into the kitchen, meanwhile; I curled up on the step in victory. I felt depressed when I heard her return a few moments later. Something vile filled the air and I found myself gagging. I looked up at Danyelle to see her holding a green bubbling mass. I scooted back onto the next step and plugged my nose.

“What the hell is that?” I yelled.

She smiled wickedly. “Last night dinner,” She took a step towards me. “Wanna try some?”

In defense I took one of the blood bottles that I had and smacked the mass out of her hand. It hit the side of the wall and started moving up it!

She has created life!!!

She put her hands on her hips and sneered at me. “Do you have any idea how long it took me to catch that thing? Damn it now it’s going to stink up the whole house. You’d better go wake Vic up.”

“Why?”

She gave me a look that made me question my intelligence. “Because it likes him.”

“What?”

“I was joking. Shesh when you get tired you sure do forget shit.” She pointed down to the blood bottles. “People already think my brother is weird I don’t need them to think he’s a killer too.”

I slammed my forehead against the wall. “Damn it.” Unsteadily I picked myself up off the steps and ran to his room. Damn it I can’t believe how much time I’ve wasted. I prayed that he was still sleeping or at least sane by the time I got up there. The fear of opening the door to his room was great. Had I made it back in time or was it too late. I took a deep breath to compose myself and then opened the door. He laid there on his bed in the exact place Danyelle and I had left him. Relief washed over me as I walked over to his bed and sat down next to his head. I set the blood bottles on the floor and with my free hands moved strands of hair off of his brow. He didn’t look like he was in pain anymore and it left me a slightly frightened. Did this mean that he had won the battle or lost? I didn’t hesitate as I grabbed one of the bottles off the floor and uncorked it.

I looked at the bottle and then to his unconscious state. I put my lips up against the lip of the bottle and filled my mouth with blood. The sweet liquid danced around my taste buds in a taunting manner, unfortunately this was not for me. I then put my hand on the back of his head and raised him up off the bed slightly so that it would go down easier. Before I lost the nerve to do it I smashed my lips against his and pushed the blood into his mouth. Unconsciously he swallowed the blood and after the blood was gone from my mouth I pulled away. The feel of his lips left a tingling sensation on mine.

I licked my lips gathering any reminisce of blood that might be left and then looked at Victor. As soon as my eyes locked onto his lips I was lost. I could feel the heat rise up to my face in embarrassment and it vibrated through my body in massive waves. I put the opened bottle back on the floor and ran out of the room.

I just kissed him!

Oh please you were giving him blood so that he wouldn’t go on a rampage. Don’t put too much meaning behind it.

But still, my lips touched his!

Yeah but he was unconscious for it. So it doesn’t count as a kiss.

I turned back and looked down the hallway. That was right he wouldn’t know that I had just kissed him. My embarrassment died down a little at the realization. I found myself a little disappointed as I walked down stairs. I probably shouldn’t even call what I had just done a kiss, it was more like I had just defused a bomb. Actually it was exactly like that because bombs are very deadly and defusing one held no romantic notion at all.

I found Danyelle in the kitchen sitting at the table playing with some old pizza boxes. She stopped playing with them when I joined her at the table.

“How did you get him to drink it?” She asked.

I fought off my embarrassment and shrugged my shoulders. "Are you sure Vic's never had blood before?" I asked. She began tapping her long black painted finger nail against the wooden table, as I waited for a response.

"Well," She began, "we used to own a lot of animals until quite recently. Let me see we had a black lab, umm... a black cat, a hamster, a pair of goldfish and a duck. But then our dog went into Vic's room and never came back out, my kitty just went missing, and I think our hamster died in its wheel…. Well at least that's what Vic said. Then our fishes just went belly up one day."

"W-What happened to your duck?" I stuttered.

"Oh he's alive; at least until I find him, he's hiding in the walls… now I told Vic Wally wasn't a good name for him. That duck always had a crazy-"

"Danyelle, he's eating your animals!" I interrupted.

She started to laugh shortly afterwards.

"Ha-ha, man I am good. Vic's not eating our animals I just made all that up. Except we really do have a duck named Wally that lives in the walls and my cat really is missing."

"Wow Danyelle." I shook my head in disbelief until I couldn't hold my laughter in any longer. Danyelle's cheeks turned scarlet red from laughing so hard and mine were possibly the same color. We were interrupted by a short and loud sound that came out of nowhere.

"Quack,"

"Told you so" Danyelle spoke in-between laughs. We continued to laugh until our sides began to hurt and then we finally settled down. "Vic never really liked that duck." She giggled.

I stopped laughing.

Vic,

I stared at her until the smile on her face finally faded.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

…

"Vic," I started. "I want to know how he became a vampire.”

Danyelle's eyes widened as she shook her head. "I’m sorry Vanessa but I don’t think I can tell you.”

I watched as a strand of her black hair fell across her face. "Will he not drink blood because of something that happened the day he was turned?" I asked calmly.

She stiffed at my question and that only hinted to me that I was on the right track. I was about to bombard her with another question where I notice a tear slip down her cheek. She wiped the tear away before she replied. “Yeah I think it is.”

I got out of my seat and walked over to her. “Can you tell me what happened?”

This time she didn’t vocalize her answer she simply shook her head no.

“Were you there when it happened?”

She hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

“Then please Danyelle, I need to know what happened.”

She got up from her chair and went across the room to the window. The pale moon light touched her white skin and made it glow. Her dark hair was spread against her bare shoulders and made her skin look ghostly. When she turned around to look at me she didn’t even look like the vibrate girl I had been laughing with only a few moments ago. This girl looked completely dead. “I can’t tell you.”

I took a step closer to her. “Why?”

She looked me dead in the eye. “Because I don’t remember,”