Blood Rose (32 page)

“Now why on earth would I ever leave you when I’ve only just found you?” He smiled to my whispered words.

“Damien, what’s going on? What’s happening to me?” Mumbling out in a low rumble, my throat tickled in a strange manor. My voice sounded different or perhaps it was my ears. I couldn’t tell. The confusion was overwhelming.

“Well-” Damien started to say.

The sounds of the forest filled my head like a million drums set to an ear splitting volume. Like a nature CD turned to max power in one of those sound rooms.

“Why is it so loud?!” My words came out in an angry hiss deafening to my ears. Frantically I looked around me. We sat on a hard wooden floor in an otherwise completely empty room. No furniture, not even a bed. At some point he had moved me. Maybe he destroyed the other room. A memory scratched at the back of my id insinuating such possibility.

Damien’s arms embraced me tight against his chest. His voice filled with heartache. “You’ll be okay. Just try to tune it out. Just focus on me. You have to focus, Anna. It will get better, easier. I know it’s loud but those sounds get softer I promise. It all gets much easier.” A hand wove into my matted hair.

Nodding softly, I felt like a small child. A child just born into the world and distracted by everything. “Anna, can you listen to me?” His voice was soft but demanding. Dire.

Nodding, I stared up into his pitch black eyes. The whites so contrasting it was almost shocking. Mentally putting us into our own world, I tried to block out everything else. “You died, Anna but not in the way you think. It was just your body.”

Time slipped away from me. Memories flashed in a blur. A haze of snapshots that I vaguely recalled. A storm, oil pastels., warm embers burning in a fire place, broken glass, a dandy. No. A vampire? Maybe. Dark flesh on top of me. A Dragon? Pictures of fairy tale dragons fluttered through my thoughts. Pain. So much pain.

“You’re a Vampire. Do you understand?” His hand brushed my cheek and tangled into my hair with the other. A black fire burned in his eyes. His lips were white and dry and for a long time they entranced me.

It was as if looking at them made me almost remember something. It was important I knew but I couldn’t focus enough to think exactly what I was supposed to remember.

The spinning in my head made everything wobbly. I stared at him as if he had told me the world actually exploded and we were on the moon.

“I died.” My hand cupped over my throat. It felt strange to speak. The words did not sound like my own. The key was off. It barely sounded like my own voice at all. “I died slowly. I remember the pain. I’m dead now.”

A flash of a memory. I saw myself lying with Damien. Him holding me, feeding me his blood.

“No. You’re not dead. Well, you are. Your human life is over, yes. But you turned, Anna. You’re a Vampire now. Demetrius-” He sounded furious with that one word. Damien carefully pulled my hands into his own- his eyes seeking my full attention.

“Demetrius bit you,” his voice rippled, a throttling snarl rumbled through his chest. He pulled me into his lap slowly. My hands ran across my arm where I knew the skin should be torn but it wasn’t. I was whole. My fingertips brushed my jaw. I thought it should hurt. But it didn’t.

“He bit you. For the time it had kept you alive. You would have died before I could get to you, if not for the venom. It’s very complicated. I will explain it to you thoroughly, I promise, but now is not the time, Lianna.” Damien looked ashamed as his fingers stroked my cheek so tenderly. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. He watched me as if I wasn’t real.

Damien was hiding something from me but I didn’t have the energy now to find out what that might be. As he spoke, the memories were flooding back. I fought to keep my sanity. What little I had. I mumbled, “You saved me. Thank you. I owe my entire existence to you.”

Something felt wrong with me. Like hunger but much worse. Wild and angry starvation. The feeling shook my entire body to its core. Achingly, I fought the trembling until I could control the feeling ripping through my veins. My body felt as if it may explode.

“Fight it. The hunger will take you over if you let it.” The feeling that surged through my body was like an electric current. It was insanity. “I know it’s difficult. It’s like having a demon inside of you, gnawing at your sanity, begging you to let him take over.”

Yes, that was exactly how it felt. And that demon was promising power and relief. It would be so easy to just let go…

“Don’t.” His thumb stroked my cheek before brushing my lip and holding there. “You’re going to have to fight it, Anna. Yes. I brought you back. I saved you and then I cursed you.”

Damien’s voice brought me back to focus as I looked up to him with wide lost eyes. “We have to get you blood, Anna. I made a call last night. It’s not much. Nor is it human, but I was able to get you some blood.”

“Blood?” I sounded uncertain. Sure, I understood that he had told me I was a Vampire. But still, did I really want to drink blood?

As I thought on this, my mouth became dry. My tongue flicked against dry lips and over my teeth, which were much longer than I recalled. Four fangs. Just like Damien’s. Two on top, two smaller ones on bottom. “Okay.” Desperate for relief, I finally nodded.

“I will be right back.” He started to stand but my hand grabbed his wrist clutching him to me. I wasn’t ready to be alone.

“Anna, I will move so fast you won’t even realize I’m gone. I promise, sweetheart.” He smiled weakly before sobering again. “You have to drink though. Alright?” Gently he pried my fingers off his arm before kissing each of them. The next second he was gone.

It wasn’t like I would normally ever have been so needy. However, this situation wasn’t exactly ordinary either.

My gaze darted around the room, following dust motes as if they may turn into monsters. The panic surged through me so intensely I nearly screamed as he flew back into the room, startling me.

“It’s alright.” Damien’s voice was gentle and a bit amused as he sat back beside me. He carried a small red cooler. The same kind hospitals used for transporting blood or other things I didn’t want to think about. There was a veterinaries logo on the side.

“Where are we?” I whispered simply because I didn’t like how strange my voice sounded.

“We’re still at our home in Vermont. This is just another room of the house. I didn’t think you should see the other one, when you first came too.” He answered stiffly while opening the cooler to pull out a blood storage bag.

My eyes went wide as it became my only focus. As my mouth watered, I realized my body knew how badly I needed and truly wanted what was in that bag, even if my mind wanted to deny it. He tore it open with his teeth before handing it to me.

Ravenously I drank it down in mere seconds. My breath ragged as my body screamed for more. He instantly handed me another, taking the empty one and tossing it back into the cooler. I drank the second one down with just as much greed. Sucking each one of them bone dry. One drip ran from the corner of my mouth.

Reaching a hand out, his thumb wiped it up and back to my lips. My eyes closed as I suckled softly on his thumb.

The flavor was overwhelming. It wasn’t at all as disgusting as I thought it would be. In fact it was the most perfect thing I had ever tasted in my life. It was power. This was a charge of life. It brought my senses to a new focus. Made me feel free. Animalistic even.

Damien stared at me with a smile slowly creeping onto his lips. “You’re stronger than I thought you would be.”

He took the second empty one and handed me a fresh bag. “I’m sorry there is only one more. My contact couldn’t get much on such short notice.” I could almost hear how that conversation went. Damien could be quite frightening when he wanted to be.

Pulling back, I shook my head no. It took every ounce of will power to turn it down though.

“What’s wrong? I know it doesn’t taste very good, but it will have to do for now. Come on now, drink up.” He held the bag out to me persistently but all I could do was shake my head no. I didn’t trust my lips not to betray me.

I swallowed on a burning dry throat, forcing myself to answer him. “You need it.” I managed to whisper, clinching my hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

His lips parted to a weak chuckle. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m fine.”

I shook my head, my brow arched as I stared at him warily. “Don’t lie. You’re not fine. I saw you. You’re sick.”

His brow furrowed as he looked to me questioningly. “What do you mean,
you saw me
?”

XX

“NEW LIFE”

“In your room, on the bed. You drank from me… You drank from me and it made you sick from the bloodstone and the venom. You are still sick. Now drink it.” I pushed his hand away from me, which still held the little clear bag filled with rich crimson. To be honest, I was rather proud of my self-control.

With a sigh, he accepted defeat and quickly guzzled down the bag with a sneer. It was obvious he didn’t care for it as I did. I guess after a few decades you acquire a finer taste than old bagged animal blood.

Once he was finished, his hand brushed my cheek, leaning slowly to me. Hesitant, as his eyes focused on mine, which were still wide with unease. Slowly his lips brushed mine.

A whole new thrill of emotion took me over. In seconds, my arms were around him and I was nearly pushing him over as I climbed into his lap kissing him back aggressively.

He groaned as his hands found my hips and pulled me into to him. It didn’t last nearly as long as I wanted it to though. In moments he was easily prying me off him and sliding out from under me. “You torture me, my sweet,” he said in a huff as he collected himself.

Shrugging helplessly, I looked down away from him, mumbling, “Sorry.” His hands found my cheeks once more, as he kissed lightly onto my lips. However, before I could get carried away, he pointedly pulled away.

“Never be sorry for any kiss you grace my lips with. We need to get you cleaned up though. We need to be leaving as soon as possible.” His lips brushed mine again before he quickly pulled back.

Damien drew me into his embrace and stood with me, setting me to my feet. My legs trembled and nearly gave. They felt like jelly fish legs.

With a small faint version of his old smirk, he swept my legs out from under me. Then his sobriety switch. “Do me a favor and close your eyes for just a moment.” Looking to him doubtfully, he forced a rueful smile. “Just trust me.”

Clinching my eyes shut tightly I locked my arms around his neck. He carried me a brief way reminding me again to keep my eyes closed as a strange smell wafted through the air. Blood. It smelled far too good so I clung to him even tighter, burying my face against his chest.

In another second, we were in the upstairs bathroom. He carried me to the counter and set me down onto it.

Curling myself into a tight ball on the marble counter I watched him turn the hot water on only. Steam quickly filled the room.

There was too much to take in. I couldn’t focus on any one thing. The steam looked so different now. I could see every individual molecule of water.

They all grouped together making beautiful swirling patterns dancing through the room. My tongue flicked out from my lips. I could taste them all. It didn’t taste the same way I remembered water tasting. My tongue flicked with distaste. It was grotesquely sweet.

When Damien turned around he saw me with my neck craned out forward and my tongue stretching out as far as it could. He laughed of course but it seemed weak, tired really. Even the way he moved seemed less fluid than I was used to.

He looked weaker than I had ever seen him. “Damien?” My mouth parted to continue but nothing came out. Glancing up at me briefly, Damien turned away just as quick. He wasn’t going to answer my unspoken revelation. He
was
very ill. And it was
my
fault.

Every inch of the bathroom was tiled with beautiful stone. More beautiful than anything I had ever seen, intricate and alive. The pores of the granite seemed to devour the moisture making it swell and the color become that much richer than before.

He smiled as he came back to me. Damien’s hands rubbed along my arms as if he needed to keep me warm. I wasn’t cold just very uneasy with my new self. He knew though. Damien leaned forward and softly kissed my forehead. “How are you feeling?” I nodded some, not sure what response he wanted. “Good. We need to get the blood off you.” I nodded again looking down at my blood stained hands.

Well, anywhere I looked was covered to be honest.

His hands took to my hips lifting me up for a kiss before setting me to my feet. Without a smirk or hint of modesty my hands took up the bottom hem of my tank top and drug it up to hook my running bra and pealed them off together. His brow arched high as I slid my thumb into the top bit of fabric of my shorts and slid them down. That was it for my clothing. Without a word or even glancing back at him, I walked into the shower.

“You’re positively horrible for my self-control, sweetheart.” He grumbled with a slight chuckle.

Holding back the grin for all that I was worth I turned to look at Damien. “Well, aren’t you coming?” His expression of pure bewilderment was enough to make anyone laugh. I didn’t. Though I couldn’t hold back the smirk any longer as I slid under the water and ran my hands up through my hair.