Chapter 15 Avoiding
Lamech
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Aideen had mind-linked me, the telepathic way that made it possible to talk to any vampire within the clan wherever they were, and told me that Crimson was awake and had eaten all of the food. She also let me know that she had delivered my message and I could hear the reproach in her tone, even in my mind. I took it that Crimson hadn't taken my message all too well. I couldn't blame her. I had even felt the disapproval from all of the staff when I had told them that everything regarding Crimson had to go through me, though none of them had voiced any of it.
I stayed in my office. Tried to get some more work done. I had decided that the best way to push Crimson away was by ignoring and avoiding her. I knew that if I interacted with her, I would risk breaking my resolve. But I wanted to see her again.
I had once again barely left her side while she had been unconscious. It had been three days until I had heard and seen signs of that she would soon wake up. I had then finally left the room again, asked the chef to prepare a meal for her that would be ready for when she woke up. Then I had locked myself up in my office.
I worked for maybe half an hour more after having received Aideen's message before I cracked. While walking through the corridors, I reminded myself that I had to push her away, that it was for the best. I could see her, talk to her and make sure that she was alright, but I had to remain cold, rude, and hurtful.
I stopped outside the door to listen. All the rooms in the house had sound isolation. With the vampire hearing, if they didn't, we would all constantly be able to hear what everyone was up to. The isolation wasn't perfect though and I had expected to hear the sound of some movement or anything from the room, but all was quiet.
Hadn't she woken up? Was she alright? Had the second draining left her far too weak?
I tore the door open, anxious about what I would find on the other side.
My eyes immediately fell on the bed. She had almost covered herself completely with the blanket, but some of her black hair could still be seen. Once inside the room, I could hear her breathing and heartbeat. My anxiety subsided.
I walked over to the bed and sat down on it next to her. Drew the blanket back a little so I could see her face.
When awake she had been so fiery. Her sleeping self was in great contrast to that. She looked peaceful and soft.
A few strands of hair were in her face and I brushed them aside to see her better. As my fingers touched her skin, her lips turned up. Just very little. Almost so little that I didn't notice.
I caressed her cheek. Her skin was soft and smooth. My fingers traced down her jaw line, over her lips, to the tip of her nose and up to between her brows. They followed the arch of her brows and to the outer corner of her eye. There my fingers stopped and I frowned. I looked down on the fabric underneath her. There was a small darker spot on it, wetness.
She had cried.
I wanted to wake her up and get her to tell me why she had cried. I wanted to hug her and make whatever pain she felt go away. But I knew very well that her pain was most likely related to me and instead of making it go away, I had to make sure that the pain stayed, that it intensified.
I was on my way up from the bed and out of the room before I could do something I shouldn't, when a sound from her made me stay. It was a soft rumbling from her stomach.
Having never been human myself, it took me some time to understand what the sound meant. I also didn't spend particularly much time around the humans that lived with us, most of the time I was too occupied by work. But a second rumble came, I understood. She was hungry.
But she had gotten food. Aideen had even told me she had eaten it.
I looked around and sure enough, there was an empty plate of food in the room. Had it not been enough?
As I kept on wondering and thinking, I realized how little I knew of such things. How much did she need to eat a day? How often? Was she maybe extra hungry because her body had been forced to replenish all her blood? Twice even.
I took the empty plate and left for the kitchen one floor up that most of the humans used. As I had expected, I found the main chef there, Kyle. He had lived and worked in the house since he had been in his early twenties. He was now pushing fifty. Generally he was kind-spirited, though when it came to the kitchen he was incurably stubborn. If there was equipment or specific ingredients he thought was needed, there was no way talking him out of it. I always relented to his requests, or demands was probably a better word for it, partly because it would take too much of my time talking him out of it and because his food was worth it.
It was a general misconception that vampires didn't eat food at all. Many other magical creatures were astounded when visiting and tasting the food served. Vampires didn't need to eat food, but that didn't mean we wouldn't enjoy some on occasions. And besides, there was plenty of humans living in the house as well.
"Oh, she's awake, I see," Kyle said when I stepped into the kitchen, looking at the empty plate I carried. "Did she like it?"
"I wouldn't know," I shrugged. "She was asleep again when I got there."
I placed the dirty dishes into the machine, all the while feeling Kyle's stares at me.
"I think she'll need more food when she wakes up," I said, hoping to dispel Kyle's stares because it was making me uncomfortable and frankly I couldn't understand why he stared at me. "It'll probably be best if you make something that you can just leave there. Like sandwiches or something. And make a lot. More than you think she can eat."
Kyle still stared at me and I decided to just turn to leave to get away from it.
"Alright boss, I'll have something ready in half an hour or so. You can come back and take it to her," he answered and started moving around to make the food.
"You can just take it straight to her when you're done. No need to wait for me to bring it over to her," I said. If I went in there again, I was sure I would do things I shouldn't.
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