Authors: M. D. Bowden
Daniel saw the
woman was reviving – she was OK.
Phew - she had responded to his blood.
He had only just managed to save her in time as Sarah really had not wanted to let go. He hadn’t relished forcing her mouth apart, ripping the woman away from her, but if he had not Sarah would have killed her.
He glanced back at Sarah now. She looked stunning; her blond hair was wild and tangled, she had blood smudged around her lips and her eyes looked feral. She looked like a beast, a demon.
But he could see her humanity glowing from within, deeper inside, in her soul – it was fighting the bloodlust that threatened to consume her. He gave her the briefest of smiles as she knelt down by his side and watched as the woman awoke. Sarah was doing well. Well – at least she wasn’t fighting him, wasn’t still trying to kill the woman.
That had to be a good thing.
He looked back at the woman on the ground. She was blinking - coming to but confused to be out in the dark, not knowing or remembering what had happened. Daniel could smell her blood, and he was hungry so it smelt divine. There was no way he could drink any of her blood. Even though his blood was healing her it would be too much of a risk to feed on her now, she was still too fragile.
Daniel could sense there were more people in the house as he could hear their hearts beating. He listened carefully and realized they were sleeping. It sounded like there was a man, probably the husband of the woman before him, and two children. Their smaller hearts were a giveaway with their faster rhythms.
He had stopped at the first house they had come to as he had been seriously worried for Sarah’s safety. He couldn’t bear the thought of the pain if she hadn’t gotten blood in time - his heart hurt just thinking of it.
As soon as they had arrived at the house Sarah had collapsed to the ground and, in a panic, Daniel had influenced the closest person to come outside. It had taken a lot of his power, and he still had a fair amount of influencing to do if he and Sarah were to leave here with no trouble.
For that he needed human blood. Animal blood just would not cut it - the bear had not been enough. He needed strength.
He wasn’t sure he had enough energy to influence the man to come outside, but he thought of another plan.
As the woman opened her eyes and focused on his, fear plainly evident on her face, Daniel quickly projected influence. He projected calming thoughts, easing her fear.
Then he said, ‘Forget you met us. Forget what happened. Go inside, clean your neck and return to your husband. Wake him up – tell him you heard banging and insist he goes outside to investigate. When he leaves the house go to sleep and rest, recuperate.’
She nodded, and climbed to her feet, turning towards her house. Daniel saw she was wearing a long, pale nightdress making her look like an apparition in the dark. But looks were deceiving – she was normal. It was he and Sarah who were out of place here.
Daniel turned to Sarah and took her in his arms, she felt cool and he ran his hands over her soft hair – pulling out a couple of leaves from the mess. She started to sob against him, and Daniel held her tighter, comfortingly, lovingly.
He heard footsteps from within the house, sneaking down the stairs. He didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so raised Sarah’s chin with his fingers until her eyes met his.
‘Sarah – I need blood too. A man is coming now – will you wait and watch?’
Sarah nodded uncertainly. He could see the doubt in her eyes, the fear at what she might do, but she stepped away into the shadows of the house, and he was proud. Proud she was showing some control and understanding.
He smiled to himself as the front door of the small, dark - yet neatly maintained - house opened. A man stepped out onto the porch, into the night and the danger that waited.
He looked tall and his face was lined too – he was probably about forty-five - yet he looked old for his years. Stubble graced his cheek and hair streaked with gray was flattened against his head. He carried a heavy torch, presumably as a weapon as he was holding it high - yet it was not turned on.
Fueled by thirst, by his own blood lust, he wanted to charge at the man – to sink in his teeth and drain his blood. But he had long been fighting that instinct. He needed to be strong, psychologically, to keep control. The thought of hurting people repelled him. If he gave in, just once, the guilt would consume him.
Also he had to be strong for Sarah as he had to teach her how this was done.
He knew she would be watching and he knew she would want the blood for herself.
He approached the man slowly, watching as he looked about. He was on alert for danger. Daniel could see him clearly as he had the advantage of enhanced eyesight. He would need to be very close before the man would notice him.
Daniel stepped into his field of view and waved to get his attention.
‘Hi,’ Daniel said. The man looked startled, not sure what to do. He lowered the torch slightly, but separated his legs and stood firm. He wasn’t sure of Daniel yet.
Daniel stepped closer and said, ‘Sorry if I disturbed you. I’m lost. Which way is it into town?’
The man looked like he wasn’t sure about answering at all, and stumbled over his words.
‘Th-, that way,’ he said, jabbing the torch through the air to his left.
Daniel stepped closer again, starting to project a calming, trusting influence. This took no-where near as much power as influencing someone to leave a house, and it had instant effect. The man in front of him visibly relaxed and Daniel stepped right up to him.
‘Now – don’t worry – this won’t hurt much,’ Daniel said, strongly projecting now.
Daniel held him on his shoulder with one hand, while using the other to pull his neck to the side, exposing his beautiful jugular. The man barely resisted, now so wholly under Daniel’s influence that he did not say a word.
Daniel watched his pulse for a moment, in awe of the life force beating inside him. Then he gave in. He let his teeth extend, feeling them tingle delightfully, and sunk them through the man’s skin, piercing his artery with a precise, practiced touch.
Warm liquid flowed down his throat, making him feel whole again, making him strong. Daniel gloried in the experience. It wasn’t often – well, not until recently anyway – that he fed on humans. Usually animal blood was enough to sustain his activities. His life of late had become more challenging and it required a higher cost. Daniel savored the taste and the way the blood made him feel. It enhanced his own life force, filling him with a sense of control, of all encompassing energy.
Of course – that which he gained; the man lost.
As he felt him weaken Daniel retracted his teeth. It still took serious effort to do this, but he managed; he always did in the end. As he pulled away from the man he looked up at his dazed face and felt pity as he saw the man staring off into the dark. He had fallen into a trance. That was sometimes the effect of the feed. When Daniel got truly lost in the blood his mind had a hypnotic effect on his victim.
Daniel extended his teeth once more and bit into his own wrist. He pushed it against the man’s mouth, letting a little blood enter. He didn’t need much, and as soon as Daniel saw his neck was starting to heal, he withdrew his wrist. It healed straight away.
Now for the influence again, thought Daniel, feeling weary. All he wanted to do was get back to Sarah, to be with her, to spend time with her, to kiss her . . .
He glanced back, wondering how she was holding up. He was impressed she had not jumped him, or any such thing, as he had been feeding. He saw she had emerged from the shadows, in fact his own heart accelerated for an instant as he realized she was close behind him. She had silently moved nearer while he had been feeding.
Her eyes were shining; a mixture of bloodlust, intrigue and beauty. Yet she was not soaring in for the feed, she was watching patiently – entranced by the blood, yet hesitant and unsure of her passions and where they could lead.
Daniel gave her a fleeting smile, before turning back to the man. In that moment he saw her return the smile, devastating him with her beauty, her understanding. Her eyes had sparkled with wild energy and his eagerness to be with her increased.
He hurried to influence the man before him.
‘Snap out of the trance and go upstairs. Clean your neck and forget this ever happened,’ he told him.
He watched briefly as the man turned and headed back into his house, before turning himself, but not to a house; to Sarah - beautiful Sarah who was his, who he loved so much. He took her back into his arms, holding her around the waist and looking into her eyes.
He grinned. He couldn’t help himself. All the worry about her turning; yet here she was before him. Amazing. Glowing. Succeeding at this life. She was still the same beautiful woman, but she was enhanced – her skin was more pure, her heart filled with compassion, she sparkled, and she grinned back. She grinned at him, his happiness seeping into her.
Of course; he
had
influenced her not to worry, or even think, about her children. That probably helped her ability to grin back. But he could not overload her, he would not. It was one thing at a time for Sarah. He would let her deal with this slowly and in the best way he could. His influence would wear off soon anyway, as it would not last long now she was a vampire. It helped that he was older than her, but with the blood consumption comes power; the power to resist mind control.
Thoughts of her children would soon break through.
He grinned at her harder, his jaw aching with the expression, and she sparkled even more in return. He held her tight and whisked her away from the house. She squealed in delight. Her new vampire senses were obviously kicking in.
He remembered the euphoria that came with his first feed. It had been sublime. Exquisite. He saw the same emotions on her face, and couldn’t help but play along, enjoy her experience with her.
He let her body go and took one hand, ‘Ready?’ he asked - directly into her mind. She saw his intention more clearly than if he had spoken aloud, and they both jumped together, catching hold of a high branch and swinging up into the tree. Sarah’s laugh was joyful, and Daniel laughed with her.
They stood on a narrow branch, which bowed beneath their weight, Daniel catching Sarah’s eye with another grin. He edged closer to the trunk, pushing Sarah between himself and the solid center of the tree, so the branch wouldn’t break beneath them, and so he could kiss her.
He kissed her there and then, and she kissed him back – losing themselves in each other. His heart was bursting with love; he couldn’t believe the strength of his feelings for her. He could sense her feelings through their embrace and he could feel her returning his love. It made him feel radiant with happiness, with euphoria himself.
Ahhh, she was heavenly. He kissed her passionately, letting his desire become clear, letting his love flow into her. He opened his soul to her, fueling their connection.
He felt her respond to him, opening in return as they sensed each other’s essence. Purity and goodwill streaked with darkness and the slightest innate compulsion to kill. The compulsion that was the package you got on becoming a vampire. It was a strange mix, yet he sensed it as strongly in her as he felt it in himself, and he felt her wonder as she sensed those things in him.
Desire rose within him as he felt Sarah clawing at his clothes. She was trying to rip them off him. He helped the process along by speedily removing his leather jacket and top himself, and his eyes flared as he watched her remove her sweater without a shiver. She was a vampire now and immune to the freezing air that surrounded them.
She was kissing him again and he was on fire as she ripped open his jeans and pulled down his underwear. He was so turned on by her and he wanted her so bad he could not wait. He pushed against her and felt her wrap herself around him, arms and legs entwining him in desire to be one. Her skirt was in the way and he yanked it up, ripping her pants without thinking, kissing, thrusting, ahh and he was in her and she was moving against him. It felt so good but he wanted to be closer, his desire was unquenchable. He pushed into her hard, no-longer having to worry about preserving her. She was strong now and she could handle anything he might want to do. He could let himself go.
He held her tight and jumped to the ground, rolling onto his back so she was on top. She was wild, lost in her passion. Her eyes glinted as a thin slice of moon appeared from behind the clouds that swiftly moved across the sky and she ran her nails down his chest, drawing blood. She ran her fingers over the red liquid, making patterns on his chest.
This was so good; he pulled against her rounded bum, and then grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back against the ground. She let out a yell of surprise, then recovered, laughing and ran her teeth across his collar bone as he pounded into her. She was divine, every touch brought shivers of ecstasy down his spine.
His love, her beauty, her sexiness – it was all too much. He let himself engulf her with his weight, grabbing her, stroking her, pulling her to him.