A Dark Night with a Dark Stranger Ch. 13

"He's undergoing the transformation," Patrick said.

"That's if he makes it," Clyde said arrogantly.

"What?" Bell asked, her eyes open wide in fear, as she turned to face Clyde. "What do you mean if he makes it?"

When Clyde didn't answer, Bell removed her hands from Ryder's jugular vein, and turned to stare at Patrick, waiting. She wanted to scream at him, to hit him, anything to bring back her friend; her pseudo brother.

Patrick could sense the anger in Bell, and he said, "it's what he wanted."

"And if the vampirism doesn't take?" Ragon hissed.

"It's a risk he said he wanted to take," Patrick said.

Bell thought she saw the tiniest hint of regret in his eyes, but any sympathy she might have felt towards him was smashed by the realisation that Ryder could die: for real. She paced around the room, her eyes constantly drawing back to Ryder.

"How long?" she asked simply.

"When the moon comes up again, we will know," Clyde said.

"I want to stay with him," Bell said, but Sandra moved over to her, and taking her hand in hers replied, "Oh sugar, if he wakes he will be a fledgling, their unpredictable and ravenous for blood, in fact it might be a good idea for you to get out of the house for a while."

Bell looked over to Ragon, who was nodding his head slowly.

"What?" Sameth asked, and Clyde turned to look at him.

"Sameth, you know full well what trouble fledglings can be. What's the point of us all being here to protect Bell from Kiara when the first thing Ryder wants to do when he's a vampire is drain the first person he sees, which will be Bell?" Larissa said.

"I will take Bell to..." Ragon began, but Bell interrupted.

"No. I need you to stay here, I need you to watch Ryder," she pleaded.

Patrick looked incredulously at her, and was about to argue when Ragon beat him to it.

"But... Kiara could come at any moment," he began, his eyes mirroring her concern.

"We've been saying that for days, but nothing has happened. Besides, one of the others can look after me," Bell said.

"I would like to volunteer my services," Clyde said. "My car has full grade UV filtered windows, we could leave now. I am sure there is a motel that we can stay at for the day," Clyde said, unable to hide his grin.

Ragon shook his head, but Bell moved over to him, "I want you to stay here. Please, for me?"

"I will watch Bell," Sameth said, now moving into the room, and placing one firm hand on Ragon's shoulder. "I am the oldest, I will be best to match Kiara should the need arise."

Ragon glanced at Bell, his sad eyes meeting hers, and nodded once saying, "Okay, if Ryder's transformation goes smoothly, I will join you tomorrow night."

"And I can come too," Sandra said.

"No," Sameth said quickly then added, "Ryder will need as many of us to control him as possible. The last thing we need is for Ryder to cause a scene that the Elders find out about."

Clyde looked disappointed but did not argue; he was watching Sameth, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Well there's no point leaving until it gets closer to night fall. Better to get some rest now and leave an hour or so before sunset," Cambridge said, his loud booming voice slicing the tension in the room.

"It's settled then," Ragon said.

Bell had forgotten entirely about her and Ragon's conversation prior to Ryder's transformation. When the pair went back to their bedroom, neither talked for a while; Bell lay awake, resting her head against his chest, unable to remove the horrible image of Ryder's body from her mind.

After a moment Bell rolled over, "what's it like to be a new vampire?" she asked, thinking of Ryder.

Ragon, like Bell, had been unable to sleep, and whispered, "close your eyes."

For a moment Bell hesitated, but then did so, thinking that he was trying to get her to fall asleep. She felt him rush away, and then a moment later returned, gently replacing her head back onto his chest,

"Close your eyes," he reiterated, having seen her peeking through them on his return.

She closed them, blushing, "It's hard to explain," he said. "I remember feeling like a vampire more than I do being a human, but the first time; the first time you realise that you can do almost anything, every sense is heightened."

As he said this Bell's nostrils were assaulted by something floral smelling; jasmine? Ragon was holding a few stems of the sweet smelling flower, gently brushing the petals over her cheeks and lips. She breathed in deeply, letting the delicious smell intoxicate her.

"Every smell was intense, completely overriding the senses. It was like everything was new; and each touch was a different experience."

Next he placed a cube of ice against Bells warm skin; Bell felt the icy object, trace a path along her collar bone, sending through her arms and down her spine. The path was highlighted by tiny droplets of water that had been formed as the ice melted against her scorching skin.

"You could hear everything and see everything, and for a while that all felt wonderful. Then eventually, as time passed, there was less and less mystery in the world, and there weren't any surprises left," he said. "Until I met you."

Bell listened to his soothing voice, keeping her eyes shut, until around 10am, when his words had gently lulled her to sleep. As she slept she dreamed of Ragon, of him turning her into a vampire, so that the two of them could spend eternity together. Together they watched the centuries unfold, different wonders in the world were unveiled, but none of that mattered, they had each other. Suddenly a soft knock at the door dragged her from her slumber.

"It's time," Sameth said from behind the locked door.

Bell moved sluggishly out of bed but replied, "ok," while searching for a pair of jeans to put on.

When she had finally dressed, Ragon was sitting up in bed watching her.

"I'm sorry," Ragon said, and when Bell looked confused added, "about before; when you asked if I would disassociate you. Part of me wants to," he said, watching Bells face fall. "But I don't think I would be able to."

Bell didn't answer. She knew exactly what he meant and moved over to the bed, quickly kissing him on the lips saying, "I need you in my life."

"The moon isn't going to slow down for you," Sameth said from behind the door.

Ragon grinned, and swept Bell into his arms saying, "promise me that you won't do anything foolish."

Bell smiled, jumping out of his arms reluctantly, and over to the door saying, "me, foolish? Never."

Bell had wanted to check in on Ryder, but Sameth's insistence that they had to leave immediately, prevented this.

"Look after her," Ragon said from inside the house as Bell and Sameth moved towards the car.

Sameth had not answered, as he had been racing over to the car door, in an attempt to escape the sun, before throwing the door open, and launching himself inside. It was about 5.30pm, and the sun, though defiantly dampened, still had enough powerful rays in the sky to cause him discomfort. In those short moments he had been exposed, his skin had already begun to blister, and he felt the horrible tightening of his skin that followed this as his body tried repairing the damage. From behind the UV protected glass of Ragon's car however, the sun was tolerable, and the rays, though still able to penetrate the glass slightly, caused mere discomfort.

Bell wound down the window to wave, and Ragon, who was still watching from the door, looked up annoyed for a moment at the sky, then said, "I love you."

Bell smiled quickly, her heart skipping with happiness, but before she could respond, Sameth's foot was on the gas and they were driving away.

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