Bitter Sweet (9 page)

Vanessa Stanton

Chapter 08.0

             
It felt like I lay wrapped in the blankets on my bed for hours, my eyes opened, staring at the ceiling and wondering what had just really happened. I know Alik explained it... I also know that I wasn’t the most understanding person, but could I have really gotten caught up in some kind of internal Vampiric conflict? I waged a war in my head, hope wanting me to blindly believe Alik while rationality beat on hope. Rationality screamed at hope that I was stupid and Alik was crazy. Rationality admitted that all this was a shame but Alik was still fucking crazy. In the end, rationality gave hope one last savage blow, screaming 'he was crazy' and all my hope died and I sighed, sitting up, I closed my eyes and rubbed them. Images flashed like the scenes of a movie with my eyelids as the screen and I was way too close. It started with Eugene trying to raise the car off the ground, ending in Alik close to me, slipping the key out of my hand, and closing the door to the car. He didn’t get in… Why didn’t he get in; he was supposed to get in... My mind was screaming and I looked around just in time to see him disappear into the dark. I turned around and saw Jessica sitting on the hood of the car and she punched through the glass. My eyes shot open and I was breathing hard.

              It was early, but the room was already lit by sunlight, and it felt as if I hadn’t slept at all. I rubbed my eyes and tried to remember my little dream better; but the cold sweat on my forehead made me think it’d be best not to. The bubbles of sweat clung to my fingertips, small flakes swirling within the bubbles. Was that skin in the sweat... How did I see that? I lowered my hands from my face and turned them over, flexing my fingers. When they came in contact with each other, the sensation felt strange; it was heightened and I could even feel the air surrounding my fingers as I moved them through it. I pulled my blankets off and swung my legs over the side of the bed to stand; it felt like I was doing this for the first time, the feeling was so different. The scary thing was that it wasn’t harder to move, just more effortless despite my exhaustion. When I stood, it seemed automatic; I wasn’t stiff from not moving in the night.

              I grabbed some clothes and got in the shower; the warm water hitting my skin was amazingly relaxing. I could feel every drop of water as it hit my skin and bounce off. After my shower, I walked downstairs to the kitchen. A strong scent of bleach hung in the air. My mom had always been a bit OCD when it came to her cleaning, but this was too much. I walked over to open the back door to air out the room as it had become hard to breathe. On the table, wrapped in cling wrap, was a plate with pancakes and a note.

              ‘I figured you’d want to sleep in but not miss breakfast.’

-Mom-

              I heated up the plate in the microwave and as I watch it spin, I heard tiny footsteps in the hall, but nothing was there, until I looked down. The puppy I had gotten last Christmas, Kiwi, was standing in the doorway and I knelt down and called her over. She stood there looking at me, then growled in the tiniest little voice. She had never done that before; she was always such a loving little thing. I took a step forward and she turned and bolted out of the kitchen, yelping in a blur of fur and clicking nails. I started after her when the microwave beeped. Still puzzled, I grabbed the plate and sat down at the kitchen table to eat. The first bite tasted better than any pancake I had ever had; the mixing of the butter and syrup was amazing.

              As I pulled the fork from my mouth, a strong taste of: garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper intruded and it nearly made me sick. I rushed to the sink to spit it out and reached for a glass to get some water. The water tasted amazing at first, but then a strong metallic taste like you would expect from rust filled my mouth and I spat that out, too. I went to the refrigerator and grabbed a glass bottle of Coke that sat chilling on the top shelf to chase away the taste; gladly it worked this time. I looked over at the plate of seemingly innocent food, then grabbed another soda and saw leftover pasta on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Did my mom make pasta last night? I tried to remember what she was doing before I left and the conversation I had with her last night as I was coming down the stairs, but it all came up blurred and distorted, voices muted like I was trying to listen through water. I tried to remember the night before that as well and the memories were there, but it was like trying to watch an out-of-focus movie with the volume too low. Then I tried to remember last night, but that was fuzzy also, that is until I opened my eyes in Alik's car.

              I closed my eyes and sorted through more memories and again and again, the only thing that came up clear was my time with Alik last night. With my eyes closed, I realized I could hear much more than I should have, not just inside the house, but outside as well. It slowly became too much and I tried to shut it out by placing my hands over my ears, but it did no good. Then there was a low rumble that felt familiar; it grew closer until I knew it was just outside and it shut off. I took my hands off my ears, opened my eyes, and looked down the hall to the front door. My attention focused on that spot; I heard very faint footsteps come up the path and stop at the door.

AlyonAlik

Chapter 09.0

             
As I drew closer to Vanessa’s house, I was at a loss as to how I would get her to willingly come with me. I didn’t want to fuck this up anymore than I had last night. Remembering last night was a big morale killer, but I had to forget about that and try to start new.

              “So, hi Vanessa, remember me...” I thought in a cheery voice. I felt stupid thinking that and gave it another try.

              “You have to come with me...” I said sternly in my head. Then I imagined her father punching me in the face. It would have to be something else.

              “Please! Please come with me, it won’t be bad, I promise,” I imagined, begging on my knees, I just sighed.

              “We got off to a bad start last night, can we talk?” I tried out very earnestly. In my mind, she started to close the door. “Please just hear me out, if you still think I’m crazy, I will go away and you never have to see me again...” in my head, she thought about it and then opened the door to invite me in.

              Yes, I liked the last one the most, I thought as I pulled up outside her house. I took a deep breath and steeled my courage, ready to do this. I opened my door and walked to her door, rehearsing my lines. I took a final breath and tried to knock as the door flew open.

Vanessa Stanton

Chapter 10.0

             
I ran to the door and opened it. Alik was waiting for me, his hand held up like he was going to knock.

              “It’s you…” I said. looking at him, narrowing my eyes in anger.

              “Is that bad?” he asked unsure.

              "Depends on whether or not you can explain exactly what the hell you did to me?"

              "What do you mean? I just got here," he said, trying to sound innocent.

              "You know what I mean," I accused as I pulled him inside and kicked the door shut. I pulled him into the living room and pushed him down on the couch. "Now explain what the hell you did to me last night, and no vampire nonsense."

              "We got off to a bad start last night, can we talk?" he asked calmly.

              “We are talking!” I shouted.

              “I mean, do you still think I’m crazy?”

              "I don’t know what the hell to think anymore! Nothing in my life makes sense anymore," I yelled in a sudden burst of anger.

              "I tried to explain a few hours ago, but you wouldn’t listen. I thought if you slept on it, it might help. Can you tell me what changes you have felt?"

              "I taste last night’s dinner on forks that have been cleaned like it just came out the pan. Everything has gotten sharper and brighter. I can smell things that should have died away hours ago, it’s way too loud in here, all my memories dating back to my childhood that were sharp yesterday are now fuzzy, and my dog even ran away in fear of me when she saw me," I explained, my heart rate increasing with every breath. At that moment, Kiwi trotted in and sniffed Alik; she then barked, wagging her tail and he reached down to pick her up, stroking her ears.

              "So your basic senses are stronger?"

              "If you wanna put it that way, yes."

              "Also your ability to remember got sharper since you woke up yesterday in my car?"

              "Yeah… where are you going with this?"

              "You know, animals like your puppy are much simpler creatures. In a way, it gives them advantages humans lost long ago even if you do have the thumb. They can sense life and death and changes in those around them much easier than humans can; it’s a part of their nature. Yet if you were to blur those lines, then that distinction would go out of focus and the puppy would react just like an angry crowd yelling because their movie went out of focus." He met my eyes for a moment and I think disbelief was still on my face. "What’s her name?" he asked, rubbing his nose to hers as she yelped happily.

              "Kiwi… wait, that makes no sense; stop with the riddles and give me a straight answer."

              "The human body is capable of much more than you have control over, I’m sure you know. When the transformation from human to vampire takes place, we trade certain limitations for others and gain strengths in places and lose some in others, like the need to breathe."

              "But you’re breathing right now..."

              "Of course, how else would I talk..." he stated like that was a stupid question and I fell into a seat. “We don’t really know what it is, but it looks like there is a virus that breaks down and rebuilds human blood cells, allowing them to carry another form of a life-giving substance.” He made air quotes around the word life. "Although no system is without flaw; vampire have lost the ability to create new blood cells, and without a heartbeat we can no longer ingest nutrients and take in oxygen as nothing is moving the blood. The only way we seem to survive is a sort of osmosis stemming from the stomach which leeches blood to the rest of the body to keep our strength," he finished.

              "There you go talking about vampires again; I’m not a vampire and neither are you, and its vampires with an s.”

              “You don’t say persons you say people, vampires just sounds wrong so we drop the s as you would with sheep or fish.”

              “Okay, but it’s daytime and you’re out in the sun, explain that!"

              He laughed at that. "I knew we would get to that, the sun does affect us, just not in the way you think." He bit his finger; a small drop of blood bubbled on his fingertip and a small spiral of smoke rose from the bubble. He then took a tissue off the table and the small drop was absorbed. He balled it up and tossed it into the direct sunlight coming through the window. It violently burst into flames and nothing was left well before it would have ever come near to hitting the floor.

              "If you gave me your blood, then why aren't I a vampire now?" I said, still looking to where the tissue just exploded.

              "You believe me then?" he slightly mumbled and I looked up. He was sucking his finger.

              “What are you doing?” I asked confused.

              “My finger will not heal in the sunlight,” he explained, pulling his finger out of his mouth. “Good thing not much will pierce my skin.” He smiled. “But you didn’t answer my question.”

              "No, I don’t and I'm going to make sure you fill all holes before I even begin to."

              "Like I said, there’s something like a virus within my blood and right now, the white blood cells in your body are fighting the virus my blood cells carry. Basically, you’re sick, but instead of getting worse, your body is healing itself and becoming stronger. The virus can't take control while there is so much of your blood still in your body."

              "So you’re saying I will become a vampire slowly?"

              "No. There’s not enough of my blood in your system to cause that; I only gave you about a cup full and a little more was absorbed through your skin. My blood can heal much faster than yours."

              "What did you mean by life and death now run through my veins?"

              "My blood is life, yours is death, but there’s nothing to worry about in that respect anymore; the transformation would have taken place by now if it was going to."

              "How is your blood life? Didn’t you say you’re dead?"

              "What better to keep the dead living than pure life, and what better to slowly kill the living but death? Every day after your birth, you get one day closer to death; every day after my creation, I become stronger and faster. Humans are a little conceited, thinking they are the ultimate form of life on this planet."

              "Why is all this happening then?" I motioned to myself.

              "My blood is enhancing your senses is all; once the virus all dies, you will be back to your normal fuzzy unseeing human self."

              "So I’m not going to be a vampire? This enhanced senses stuff will wear off?"

              "Yes."

              I tried to take all this in; could vampires really exist outside of comic books and movies? My phone rang in the hall; Alik sat playing with Kiwi as I got up to find my phone on a table. It was Eugene and I ended the call without answering, walking back into the living room. My phone buzzed again; one new text message flashed on the screen.

-Please answer :( The Cool Guy Eugene says-

              It would have been better if he removed that stupid ending off of his text messages. My phone began to ring again and I considered it for a moment and answered.

              “Vanessa!” Eugene said in a relieved panic.

              “What, Eugene?” I couldn’t hide my anger.

              “Are you okay?! How did you get away from those crazy people?”

              “I got away with no help from you is all you need to know.”

              “I’m so sorry, Vanessa; I panicked. I don’t know what came over me.”

              “Are you done?”

              “I’m sorry, Vanessa. Really, I am.”

              “Sorry that you’re a coward? You can’t possibly be sorry that you left me, don’t call me again. Someone who cared about me wouldn’t have left me to die! Also, take that stupid ass ending off your text messages, you aren’t cool.” I ended the call angrily. Nearly instantly my phone buzzed again.

-Really, Vanessa, I’m so sorry.-

              “You know, you should really cut him a little slack; he was facing five vampire, not something any human could do on their own.”

              “He thought you were human, which I’m not sure you aren’t yet.

              “Some humans naturally fear us for reasons they don’t understand while others seek us out, driven by desires they don’t understand. Masteria works on similar principles from the enforcers around the edges to the elevated passions. It’s completely possible he ran for some unseen reason. Although, it is unlikely.”             

“Anyway, these Elders? You are still set on me seeing them?"

              "I'd like you to go willingly."

              "Willingly?"

              "You are talking to a vampire who is much stronger and faster than you; I could have you unconscious and in my car before you could get enough breath to scream. What you need to understand is that our secrecy is our highest law and the Elders must know about any human who knows anything about us firsthand. Otherwise, if the vampire that gave out the secret and the human were ever found out, they would be tracked down and killed."

              "If you’re so scary, then how come you didn’t just force me to wherever last night?"

              "Because if you never came home, your parents would be worried and it also gave you time to realize I’m not lying. And maybe I could still see you after all this is over..."

              "Oh..." I fought the blush I knew was coming with all my might and changed the subject. "So... you’re really a vampire?"

              "Yes."

              "Vampires really exist?"

              "Yes."

              "What does this visit mean?"

              "She will just want to see you and ask you to say nothing."

              "Where do we have to go?"

              "Jazz club and hotel about 40 minutes away."

              "What's with vampires and night clubs?"

              "So you believe me?”

              "Kind of.”                           

              "Night clubs originated from Masteria, they are loud dark and filled with passion and fun, it makes the blood taste better. Also, the atmosphere is very good when you want an unnoticed meal, someone can easily pass out from any number of drugs or too much alcohol." The look on my face couldn’t express my shock deeply enough; I didn’t have time to express that shock verbally as I heard a car stop outside my house. "Sam is here."

              "I know, I heard her; vampire senses, remember?"

              He smiled. "What you are experiencing is nothing. The sensory input that an actual vampire feels would overload your brain and drive you mad." He stood and I did the same. "I will go and be back at around seven this evening," he said, standing.

              I sighed, "Apparently, I have no choice." We walked to the door. His hand was on the handle of the door when he turned to look at me.