Chapter Ten

   The sun began to set and its dimming light cast dark, eerie shadows through the trees. The canopy above faded slowly until it was pitch black and textureless. When I could barely see my own hands, I stopped and waited for my eyes to adjust (we had no lights to guide us).

   ‘Can vampires see in the dark?’ I asked a little unsure of myself.

   ‘Yes, very well. Just give it time.’

   ‘What types of changes will happen to me, physically?’ Obviously, I already knew of mental changes.

   ‘There are abilities we all get but some of the others have extra ones. Why that happens, who knows?’

   My eyesight gradually improved and I could see as though it was daytime. ‘I wonder if I’ll have an extra advantage,’ I thought aloud.

   ‘Only time and training will tell.’

   ‘Do you have one?’ I asked curiously.

   ‘Nope, I’m normal.’ I laughed quietly at that. ‘Well, normal for us,’ he added.

   ‘I wonder if I’ll be able to turn into a bat.’ A surprised silence emitted from where we stood and then briefly followed by laughter.

   ‘That’s two you’ve mentioned now.’

   ‘Two what?’

   He rolled his eyes, which I suggested that I was being slightly slow-minded. ‘Two apparent abilities vampires have, according to humans,’ he said matter-of-factly.

   ‘Well, are there any that are true?’

   ‘The fangs you already know exist. Erm... bats, no; skin, no; mirrors, no; we still have hearts.’ He sent a warm smile my way with gently narrowed eyes. ‘Also, not sleeping, yes but you’re an amazing exception; not eating, no; can’t think of anymore.’

   ‘Garlic? Wooden stakes? Holy water? Crucifix?’ I quickly listed.

   ‘They’re all ways we can be killed, apparently. Why do you mention them?’ he asked.

   ‘So I know what to avoid.’

   ‘Oh, well, since you mention them. We can die just like any human; it just needs more energy because our strength increases. That’s due to us only drinking blood.’

   ‘Uh, don’t mention it. The first taster I had was diiiisgusting. I don’t know how you can even bare the taste.’

   ‘That was before your smell enhanced. It happened to me. Before the first time, I couldn’t smell it like I do now. And the taste was bad; but, after, I was able to tell the difference between a room of vampires and a room of humans. Also, the next time I tasted it, it was totally different. Unfortunately, the second time was after I let the hunger build up.’ I nodded sympathetically as he looked shamefully at me. How hard that must be on his mind? I wished there was something I could do to help him forget it as much as possible. It seemed he needed me as much as I needed him.

   ‘Do you know when you need to feed next?’

   ‘No, it’s a sort of... spontaneous thing. Why?’

   ‘So I know when to expect to smell human blood next because I’m with you neither of us will be sane enough to stop me.’

   ‘Who said you’ll be with me? I prefer to go alone.’

   ‘But you shouldn’t. Let me share the... guilt with you.’ A small clasping rock caught in my throat. ‘Take some weight off your shoulders for once,’ I offered.

   ‘Thanks but are you sure you could handle the strain?’

   ‘Yes,’ I said stubbornly. ‘No...’  I added after seeing the disbelieving look on his face.

   ‘See,’ he said.

   ‘Yeh, but the earlier, the better. Plus, I don’t want to end up doing what you did.’

   ‘Tif, I asked you not to remind me of that.’

   ‘Sorry, but we both don’t want that to happen to me.’

   ‘Are we just going to spend tonight standing here arguing?’ I had no answer ready for that.

   ‘What else did you have in mind?’ I asked after some time’s thought. He walked off and I scowled after him before slowly following. When I caught him up, I took his hand in mine and stepped in front of him, walking backwards carefully and pulling him along slowly. ‘Let me guess, you thought I meant that, didn’t you?’

   ‘May be, but I’m not risking it again.’

   ‘Then what was that about before?’ I asked as I held his other hand.

   ‘Testing myself, I can’t afford to bite you again. You’re lucky I managed to stop the first time.’

   ‘Are you determined to make me hate you? Because it isn’t working.’

   ‘No; you already told me I’m not a monster, even though I am. And I hate to tell you this, but you’ll think the same about yourself eventually.’

   ‘Hah, I already do,’ I told him. Childishly, I leant up, pecked him on the lips and sprinted further on. After running for about a minute, I slowed down to a jog and looked over my shoulder. He wasn’t following or hadn’t followed. I stopped and turned to face the way I’d run from. I began walking backwards with a hard expression on my face while I looked around me. My feet trod carefully with each unseeing step. Some time passed without a sign from him or a word from me. Until...

   The air suddenly grew much colder. Goosebumps appeared on my arms and legs. My teeth started chattering together and my steps grew slower. Eventually, the only part of me that was moving was my eyes. I looked left, centre, right and then back again. Is this what it felt like to be hunted, I thought.

   Suddenly, a colder chill hit my back and made me stiffen. My eyes fell to look at the ground before me. My breathing slowed and shallowed.

   ‘Are you afraid?’ The cold, emotionless voice made my skin crawl with what seemed like fear. A shiver ran down my spine as though the flat of a blade had been pressed against my skin. I turned my head an inch to the right bringing my eyes up to stare at a nearby tree. It was strange to know I couldn’t smell or hear him, except his voice.

   The rustle of leaves sounded from my left. More fear rose within me making my breathing quicken. I snapped my head up towards the sound, there was only empty space. Then a whistling came from the front of my body. Before I had barely turned my head back to see, a cold constriction took my throat. I was thrown backwards by the force. My back was thrust against a tree somewhere behind me. As soon as the contact with the bark was made, my head was pushed left and up from under my jaw. I kept my eyes tight shut. The constriction tightened slightly but I was still able to breathe. The pressure was more on the sides of my neck, where my veins lay.

   ‘Tiffany, are you afraid?’ he asked again in that bitter tone.

   ‘Yes,’ I managed to say, though my voice was barely audible in my ears.

   ‘Don’t be.’ He gently released my throat but I was too shocked to move or even open my eyes. ‘But did that change your mind?’

   ‘Of what?’ I asked still frozen the way he had left me.

   ‘On seeing what I am?’ he replied.

   My mind began to thaw from the scare. ‘Yes.’

   ‘That’s as monster as I can be. There are some who dare to go further.’

   I opened my left eye and, then seeing that he was only stood there, opened my right. I bit the right side of my lower lip out of nervousness.

   ‘Then that makes you not evil.’ That was the wrong thing to say to him. In one fluent movement, his eyes flamed, he bared his teeth and stepped so close that there was only an inch between any parts of us. His hands had shot out and lay either side of my head; palms flat against the bark of the tree I still leant against.

   ‘Take that back,’ he snarled. I put on a brave face but it was soon replaced by a frightened one. ‘Would you have me bite you to make you take it back?’ he threatened.

   In answer, I turned my head to leave my neck free from obstruction. I watched him feebly. He bared his teeth more and opened his jaw slightly. For the first time I saw the white tips of his fangs. They glistened in the night’s darkness, ready to sink into my flesh. His eyes still beheld the flame as he watched my eyes back. He slowly neared. My eyes closed in fear again and my breathing sped up and shallowed too. I felt the warmth of his breath on my neck as he got closer to my blood.

   When his lips touched my skin, I took in my last gasp of air. I waited for the sharpness; the pain, the last thing I’d ever feel – but it never came. I could still feel his lips there, in place, but that was it. He removed them so only to replace them under my jaw line. In a rhythmic beat, he made his way to my lips. By the time he had, I had taken in a slow wisp of air through my nose. After the first touch of his sweet kiss, I brought my arms up to around his neck and under his right arm. His hands slipped down off the bark onto my shoulders. One slid down my left arm and then onto the side of my chest. The other slid down my other side and rested on my waist. All my senses then refocused onto my kissing him, but again it turned to more than that. His tongue met mine but nowhere near recoiling did I get. I hadn’t been near this area of ‘socialising’ before but it was such a compassionate feeling I just let him lead me on. However, there was the weariness of how close I was getting to his fangs. Time seemed to have been thrown out the window and I was no longer cold.

   Gradually we slowed down and let it just be our lips that touched. Awhile later his lips left mine and his arms slid around to my back. He rested his cheek against my temple and I could hear and feel the relaxing motion of his breathing.

   ‘Tiffany?’ His soothing voice melted my mind. It was such a difference to his leering one before.

   ‘Mm-hm.’ I was too content in my own world – fantasy – to say words.

   ‘Will you go out with me?’ He didn’t sound too sure of himself from his tone; as though he thought it was the wrong thing to ask. I thought about my answer and tried to word it together. ‘Why the silence?’ he asked ordinarily.

   ‘Thinking,’ came my one word answer.

   ‘If the answer’s no, you can say it.’

   ‘It’s not a no.’

   ‘You would?’ he asked with slight shock.

   ‘Mike, if you know me by now, you’ll know that if it’s not one it’s the other.’

   He moved his head to look me in the eyes. ‘Yes, but are you sure you’re ready to say yes?’

   ‘Yes,’ I said with a small smile.

   ‘I don’t know how long it will last, after everything that’s happened or will be happening.’ His eyes seemed sorrowful and unsure still of what he might be thinking.

   ‘We’ve been friends long enough so I don’t think it really matters between us.’

   ‘Isn’t it weird from your point of view?’

   ‘Nope. It doesn’t mean anything to me; length of time I mean.’

   ‘Hmmm,’ he pondered. ‘So am I allowed to call you my girlfriend?’

   ‘Doesn’t me going out with you make me that anyway?’ His unemotional lips now smiled warmly and I was just happy to be with him.

   The night wore on as it had done every night before now. The sky was veiled black with clouds; even the moon’s usual faint light could not penetrate the wispy blanket. All around was shrouded in silence except for the continuing flow of the river. A breeze would arise now and again on the air.