Authors: DD Prince
“Yeah?”
He stared into the camera and shook his head, “Baby, don’t be afraid. We’re gonna figure this out. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“What the fuck w
as
that?”
He took a deep breath, “Sam is on the phone with someone who might know. He’s getting information. You okay?”
“Yeah. Um, is that something you usually do? Drink
that
kind of blood?” She let go of the button and reached into the fridge and found that it was stocked with bottled water, bottles of orange and apple juice as well as some vitamin shakes. There were boxes of granola bars and protein bars, too. The little freezer section had about a dozen IV bags filled with blood.
“No. Never,” he said softly. She glanced at the screen and he looked really confused. She opened a bottle of water and downed it.
She watched the screen. Tristan poured a drink for himself and for Sam. He looked really rattled. He was pacing and running a trembling hand through his hair behind Sam while sipping his drink. Sam was “Umm hmm’ing” on the phone and writing something down.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Sam ended his call. Tristan turned from the window and looked at him, all traces of trembling and uncertainty gone. Clearly he didn’t want Sam to see him as weak.
“Well, that was enlightening.” Sam took a swig of the alcohol, “It sounds like menstrual blood is the actual nectar in
this
scenario. It’s several times more powerful than her blood. To get to it, you probably would have killed her.”
Kyla broke into a cold sweat. But what did he mean “
this scenario
”?
“There are a few suggestions,” Sam continued, “She stays in the closet until this is done or we try to mask it to see if she can be around you.”
“How?” Tristan asked.
“Tampons or menstrual cups are worn inside a woman’s body. They could mask it, provided you’re not in the vicinity when she changes. It might work.”
“No,” Kyla said through the intercom, “My periods are too heavy. Tampons aren’t enough.”
“Too risky,” Tristan said.
“Then she stays in the closet for a week?” Sam shrugged, “Then go to Adrian’s Arizona compound until her next cycle. He thinks he can help with an experimental concoction he has that may be able to help you be numb to the effects but still reap the benefits. But it has to be tested. Adrian says it can be done in a controlled way. Here are his contact details.” Sam passed Tristan the piece of paper he’d scrawled on during the call.
Kyla slowly sat back on the bed.
“I’ll take the next week to organize things and then as soon as her period stops, we’ll go,” Tristan looked to the camera, “How long are your periods?”
“5-6 days, usually, when I’m on the pill. Not on the pill, I don’t know.”
He looked to Sam, “Let’s get back to the party. Go down and wait in the car. I’ll be there right behind you in like ten minutes. Kyla, we’re going to wrap things up and then I’ll be back.”
“Okay. Thank you, Sam,” Kyla said through the intercom.
Sam gave her a little salute and then disappeared from her view. Tristan followed him downstairs.
Kyla waited. Tristan was gone at least fifteen minutes. He’d seemed in control while Sam was there. Would that continue to be the case?
His phone rang several more times during that time with different names and numbers coming up, including two more calls from Dawn.
She heard his voice call her name over the computer so she hit the intercom button.
“Hi.”
“There’s a console for the camera on the computer. You can play with the settings to leave the intercom open. Then you won’t have to keep pushing the button. Listen, I’ll put some stuff in the closet near the door for you, including the key and the suitcase from the house so you’ve got some clothes. I want you holding the key. I’m going to put it there now and I’m leaving the apartment before you open that door to get it. I’ll be gone at least a few hours to wrap up the event. Just get the bag and go back inside and shut the door and hit the red button again. We’ll have to do this every time I need to send in something.”
“Okay,” she said. She felt like there was a lump in her throat, “But you said you can get through locks.”
“That only started after meeting you. It’s barriers I can remove or add but I need to be panicked or really focus for it to happen. I’m calm,” he said softly. Tristan disappeared from view for a moment and then she saw a picture-in-picture box appear on the screen with a view of inside of the closet. It must be motion activated. He put the big suitcase and a grocery bag on the floor. She watched him take a key off his key ring and put it into the grocery bag. Then he leaned his forehead against the wall beside the camera.
“I’m so sorry.” He sounded so sad.
“I know,” she choked out but had forgotten to hit the intercom button so she hit the button and repeated herself, “I know.” Then she fiddled with the settings to keep the intercom open.
He stayed put for a moment, staring at the camera and it felt to Kyla like he was looking right at her.
“Gotta go.”
“Wait. Your phone?” she said.
He shook his head, “It’s okay. I’ll take your phone in case you need to reach me. Your number is programmed in mine.”
“Okay. You missed a bunch of calls.”
“Doesn’t matter. I have no time to return calls anyway. I love you. I’ll be back soon. We
will
fix this.” He gave the camera a determined look and then disappeared from the closet. She saw him reappear on the larger portion of the screen to take her phone from her clutch purse, and then he disappeared from view. She started to fiddle with the settings for the software program and saw that there was a view of downstairs as well. She clicked it and saw Tristan exit the apartment. There was also an option to manually or automatically broadcast through all intercoms but she left that at manual but left all camera views open in a tiled format on the screen.
She hit the green button on the ceiling and the door clicked unlocked. She heard a text message ding. Kyla glanced back at the screen to see that the areas were all clear and then stepped out into the closet. She dragged the suitcase and the plastic bag in and hit the red button again. There was another ding, signifying the system’s engagement.
Inside the plastic bag were about half a dozen chocolate bars, a box of chocolate chip cookies, and a 2 liter bottle of Grape Fanta. She smiled a little. Was that an attempt at an apology? Creature comforts for captivity? There was also a box of super absorbent tampons and overnight extra absorbent maxi pads as well as PMS pain reliever and ibuprofen. Kyla found a pair of underwear, yoga pants, a t-shirt, and a towel from the suitcase and got into the bathroom and took a quick shower. She’d already started to bleed heavier.
She dressed and got into bed and turned the light out. This windowless room was about 8x9 and would be home for the next week. Thinking about that made her a little claustrophobic for a split second but that feeling didn’t linger. She would just have to think of it as a safe cocoon. She wished that it was a safe place for her
and
Tristan. The Tristan who made her feel safe, of course; not the angry monster Tristan, and certainly not the cold gray Tristan.
Two monsters. Scary monster and terrifying monster.
As she curled up under the blankets she wondered if she was an idiot to stay. He was down the street at the hotel. It could be an ideal time to escape. She looked up at that green button and chewed on her thumb.
What was out there? Happiness? She scoffed. Tristan was the only thing resembling happiness she’d ever felt so far. Being in his arms, being close to him... she knew how utterly pathetic that sounded and a few weeks ago she’d have chastised someone for staying in this situation but she just felt so drawn to him, so totally and completely addicted to him. She knew this bond existed so that she wouldn’t want to get away. He probably smelled like dessert to magnetise her in the first place. This bond existed so that she’d let him drink her blood. She guessed it existed at her own expense because it could very well be the death of her.
Right now, though, she felt like she could leave but was choosing not to. She felt like she had free will and could physically hit that green button and make a run for it if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to. Maybe there was a way that she could be safe around him. And he had held back, she could see it. Something stopped him from draining her. She felt a ray of hope somewhere because of that phone call Sam had made, too.
Or maybe the test would fail and Tristan would kill her. Maybe her birth control would fail and she’d get pregnant and die giving birth to some super royal vampire baby. Or maybe he’d come back from the party and smell her through the walls and doors and he’d click the lock open with his mind and kill her tonight.
The phone vibrated from on top of the bar-sized refrigerator that was beside the bed. It said ‘Kyla’. The photo on it was a picture of the sun. She picked it up and answered, “Hello?”
“Hey.” It was him. The softness in his voice alone soothed her aching soul. There was a lot of background noise.
“Hey.”
“You okay?”
“Uh huh. No. Shit, I don’t know. You?”
“Surviving. Nice sunset.”
“Huh?”
“The picture assigned to my name on your phone. Nice sunset.”
“It’s a sunrise. You brought me out of the dark.”
“Oh God.” She felt a pang of emotion in her chest.
They were both silent.
He broke the silence with, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Not running.”
More silence.
She moistened her lips with her tongue.
“I’ll be back soon as I can, okay?” he whispered.
“Kay,” she barely croaked out.
He switched off first and she put the phone down and closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
I’m a stupid idiot for not running. But how can I run? Sunrise? Why does he have to say the perfect thing like that?
She wondered how much agonizing she’d do over the next bit while waiting for him to get back. Her stomach was still crampy so she took some of the menstrual pain medication and then got back into bed. Time dragged on and she didn’t feel sleepy.
At 3:15, she’d been playing Solitaire on the computer, the phone buzzed a text message from him.
“Be there in 5.”
“Ok.” She replied.
She braced herself and said a little prayer hoping that they’d make it through the night.
A few minutes later a window of the view from the front entrance of the apartment popped up and she saw Sam and Tristan enter. They were in mid conversation,
“Created it five years ago and has been waiting for another test case,” Sam said.
Tristan was shaking his head, “Well, I hope so. It’s a big risk.”
Tristan was soon on the view from the bedroom. He was standing there, loosening his bow tie, “Are you okay?” He asked the camera.
Kyla reset the intercom for hands-free,
“I’m fine. I’m going to try to just go to sleep now that you’re here, I think.”
“Sam and I are camping out down in the living room. Distance the better, I think.”
“That’s probably best.”
“Goodnight, Kyla.”
“Goodnight, Tristan.”
Pain spread across his expression and then he moved away from the camera.
She saw him change into a pair of track pants and take blankets and pillows and go downstairs. Sam was on one side of the sectional sofa. Tristan tossed him a blanket and pillow and pair of track pants and settled on the other side of the sectional. She watched him fiddle with her iPhone.
A text rang through with her name on it.
“Hi”
Kyla lay down on the bed with Tristan’s phone and answered his text.
K: “Hi, yourself.”
T: “Are you ok, really?”
K: “Not really, but I’m trying to be.”
T: “I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight, knowing you’re alone up there.”
K: “I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight knowing you’re down there, maybe wanting to kill me. But let’s try. I think sleep will do us both some good. I’m fine, don’t stress.”
T: “Tell me what happened. I need to know.”
Kyla took a deep breath and a sip of grape pop and then started to text him back.
K: “I just started bleeding & then I came out to tell you that’s probably why I had that stomach pain and you grabbed me & …” She winced at the memory and wiggled her fingers, trying to think of how to say it, “You tasted down there and your tongue was freezing. Your body was cold. Your eyes turned black and your skin turned bluish gray. Your fangs were huge. Bigger than usual. I jumped back and you grabbed my throat and made vicious animal sounds. I got away and ran into the clost.”