LAILA
Ugh, Gabriel’s so full of himself! And what was that all about feeding? Fabian needs a doctor to treat those wounds, for Heaven’s sake.
“Leave now.” Fabian whispered. Was he still in that much pain? But his eyes, those cool fogy eyes burned me with their intensity. Suddenly, his phrase seemed more of a question.
“No. You need help. Let me get you to a hospital...”
“You’re joking, right? They’d study me like the fascinating new discovery I am. Human doctors can’t help me.”
“Then what can?”
“Human blood.” I couldn’t help but shiver. “It will heal me instantly.”
“Then... go and do the blood-baggie snatching thing, you know.”
“I can’t.”
What? You’re a vampire, you’re so fast you can become almost invisible, what do you mean you can’t? Out loud I said, “Why not?”
“Because I’ve lost a lot of blood myself, in case you didn’t notice.” So that made him weak and incapable of inhuman speed now.
“And what happens if you don’t feed?”
“Nothing happens, Laila. I’ll still heal faster than a human, I just won’t be fully recovered for the meeting tomorrow.” He sounded irritated. Good, that made two of us.
“But you’ll need your strength if you’re going to some freaky vampire reunion!”
“Again with the shouting. Forgive me, but how does any of this concern you? I thought I told you to leave.” He was pacing slowly towards me, pushing me against the door.
“No.” I held my ground. “I know I’m being stubborn, but you need my help.”
Fabian raised one very elegantly arched eyebrow at me and asked, “I’m sorry, I don’t think I remember saying I needed a double cheeseburger.”
“No, you need something that I already have on me.” I felt him freeze beside me. Fabian - still and quiet, that was a rare sight. And I would’ve laughed at him too if my heart wouldn’t have been beating like crazy. Oh, my God. What was wrong with me? I just offered myself as a meal to a vampire!
But there was this other voice in my head, somewhere deep down, a voice telling me I had to do this. I couldn’t walk away.
“Do you know what you’re asking of me?”
“Fabian, I’m blonde, not retarded. Go ahead and eat – drink, whatever, before I change my mind.”
“Laila, this will hurt. There’s no pleasure in a vampire’s bite when they’re in a state such as the one I am. It usually feels good, but it won’t now.”
“You promise you won’t kill me?” He looked almost startled.
“Of course, I’d never...”
“Good then, do it. Bite me.”
What a brave little girl I was. At least, on the outside.
FABIAN
Laila sat down on the couch and swept her hair to the side. I followed her and slowly tilted her head to expose her neck. Drinking from a live donor was against everything I stood for, but it didn’t matter anymore. I was past that line. And it had only taken one little human girl.
As I put my lips on her warm neck, gently searching for a spot, the flow of sensations was overwhelming. I remembered the attraction her blood had exampled when we had just recently met. I remembered how I almost forgot myself and jumped at her. But I also remembered her voice, calling me back from the depths of my soul or whatever might be left of it.
Laila had closed her eyes and was looking like an Ancient marble statue. Skin so creamy, so sweet...
And then my fangs came out so suddenly they grazed that beautiful skin a little.
LAILA
At first, it was just a scratch and I almost gasped in surprise. But then, I felt what every vampire victim should really feel – no pleasure, no sexual urge, just pain somewhere in the background. And up in front, there was only the sucking. I felt the blood being sucked from me, the very essence of my life being drained. Not the slightest hint of a turn-on.
I also realized that this pain was a good pain. I was healing Fabian. I was giving him strength. It was like being an over-enthusiastic cheerleader.
But a minute later the energy around me changed. I knew when he’d healed because the biting started feeling good. The hell, it felt great. So great I clutched and clawed at Fabian, whispering over and over again – “closer, closer”. And the vampire defense I barely sensed before abruptly turned into some kind of a vampire magnet – for this particular vampire, that is.
Fabian’s hands were moving on my body now and every touch felt like fire. He had stopped feeding from me and was planting kisses on my collarbone. And then I entangled both my hands in that raven black hair and lifted his head up.
“See, I saw your fangs after all.”
Fabian watched me with such wonder in his eyes that I started feeling drunk with his very presence. He smiled his devilish smile, but this time with a hint of fang. A little bit of my blood was smeared like traces of lipstick on his lips and I bent down to kiss them.
But before I could ever reach them, everything blacked out.
Panic had engulfed me as deeply and completely as the dark. I had dreamed of this place before. Such an endless hall with walls painted in black. That thought didn’t seem to help pretend the pain wasn’t real, though. Such pain, such suffering...
I ran and ran and finally settled on the ground on all fours, gasping for air, but I just couldn’t seem to get enough into my lungs. “NO!” I tried screaming, but my voice didn’t function. Air, I needed air, I needed...
Blood.
I woke up in an unfamiliar bed that I instantly realized belonged to Fabian. He wasn’t there and I was glad. Because I needed to think about that stupid dream by myself. And all he’d do when I’d tell him – no, I’m definitely not telling him. He’ll frown and worry and torment me with questions.
My fear of being alone in the dark must have just gotten the better of me. And it’s understandable, really. I was losing blood, people are bound to hallucinate when they’re dizzy from blood loss, right?
But even as I told myself that I couldn’t stop thinking how my stupid hallucination had felt so terribly much like a real live memory.
the 22nd of October, 2010
FABIAN
Of course you’re an idiot, Fabian. Of course you couldn’t just have stopped after you were full, you stupid vampire. And of course she fainted from the blood loss.
But even as I blamed myself like this all night, I knew I couldn’t have stopped. Laila’s blood was electrifying, it was... inhuman, actually. And now, that’s impossible. You can see from a mile away just how human she is.
Even so, in all my decades I have never tasted anything like it. Besides healing me instantly, I also felt a surge of power. Vampire power I’ve only witnessed in Gabriel. How do I know for sure? Well, I went down to the grocery store to buy Laila some protein and forgot my wallet. It wasn’t until I told the angry cashier to follow some anger management classes that I found out what Laila’s blood had did to me. The cashier was so delighted with my idea, he just took off, quit his job and headed for the Clinique immediately.
So it’s true. I can hypnotize humans now.
LAILA
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Emily was shrieking at the end of the other line.
“Jeez, Em, if I had a mother, you’d sound just like her.” I laughed at her. “Relax, nothing happened after you two left. Gabriel likes to play pranks on hu- people, that’s all.” Oops, almost said humans. Spending too much time with the vampires, Laila? Neah.
“O...kay”, she finally resigned. “Listen, I have something to tell you that I’m worried about. It’s Will, he’s been having... migraines.”
“Migraines? Did he go see a doctor?”
“It’s not like that. I don’t know how to explain this. Can you please come by tomorrow? I’ll text you the address. And please come alone. No more strange neighbors.”
I finished talking with Emily on the phone and climbed out of bed. I found Fabian at the coffee table in his living room, gazing out the window. It was raining outside.
“Is it okay for you to be doing nothing?” He just ignored me like I thought he will. “I’m going to take a shower and change clothes. How do you think I should dress? Casual? Elegant? Casual-elegant?” Oh, that drew his attention.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m coming with you, of course.”
