Charm Bracelet Ch. 02

Writer's foreword: I'm so sorry this took as long as it did to publish. I was sitting on 80% of for a long time but school is a biiiiitch, so part of it might be written a bit differently? That and for whatever reason I decided to impose *standards* on myself when writing this chapter, which by no means is a promise it will be better unfortunately. But it's definitely longer, and it includes a sex scene at the end which I hope does not offend. I have some ideas for a chapter 3, but I don't know when I'll get to them. Pleease leave more of those comments, I love them so much.

Again, if it isn't obvious, all characters are 18+

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I woke up alone on the couch. I wasn't hungry anymore, but I felt tired. I hadn't had a reason to have experienced 'food coma' for the last couple of years so perhaps this was it. But I needed to find her. I just needed those arms again.

Dragging myself off the couch, I managed to pull myself around the annoyingly large house. My mind was still foggy and I found myself being unable to remember her name just for the moment, but I tried to call for her anyway. "Hello? Nnnn..."

I moved up the stairs, moaning like that, as a wordless complaint. Words were just a bit hard right now, and I needed to find those arms. But I heard her talking to someone. Apprehension dragged me down like a ball chained to my leg, but I remembered her telling me to trust her, and continued. Seeking out the source, I peeked into the only well lit room I'd come across so far and saw her dressed as though for a business meeting, talking on the phone.

"I understand your feelings on the matter, bishop, but you'll know there are many others of your rank and higher that feel the opposite way, for reasons I don't need to remind you of."

I opened the door a little wider and let her see me peeking in, rubbing my eye a little. She gave me her gentle smile, and seemed to cut off whoever was talking. "Apologies bishop, but duty has just called, so I'll have to leave you for the moment. Thank you for your time." She hung up on this bishop person without giving them a second more.

I reached up for her and she picked me up into a tight hug. "Hey baby." She squeezed me gently and began to look me over, rubbing a bit more dust from my eyes than I'd noticed I'd had.

"I don't have any clothes in your size, and we need to keep you clean, you small thing. How about we go for another drive back to your place, hmm?" I looked up into her eyes, trying to read her again. All I could see was concern and love. Maybe I stared too long because she leaned down and pecked my lips, and I felt my cheeks warm again. "M-mhm..." She smiled, a slightly scared smile, and looked me in the eye a bit closer.

"It's hard to tell sometimes if you're having a bad reaction to the charm or just being way too adorable. Promise me you'll tell me if you feel sick." I nodded a bit, and she scooped me up into her arms, eliciting a yelp from me for her efforts. She giggled and carried me down to her car.

I told her the address and she started driving where her phone told her to. This time I was awake and looking out the window the whole time, save for when I had to sneak a peek at her. Just to see her. Night lights flew by as did affluent neighborhoods, until we found ourselves at my apartment building. I got out of the car without her help this time, and she took my hand in hers telling me to lead the way.

I took to the instruction like a purpose, pulling her along into the building as she had asked. When we got in the elevator, I clung to her arm and looked up at her. She smiled back at me of course, but seemed a tad nervous. It occurred to me only then that just as I had kept thinking she was going to hurt me, it was entirely possible in her mind that I was going to lead her into a trap. I hugged her arm tighter, not wanting that for her at all.

I thought for a moment about what I could do to make it better. I thought about how her arms made me feel, and how she forgave me when I tried to run away, and how beautiful she was. She'd bought me food and comforted me every time I'd cried and I wasn't sure how I would deal if I had to go back to being without her. So I settled on something I could do, looking up at her and muttering...

"I... I love you."

She turned and looked at me intensely for a moment, then smiled as though she knew what was going through my mind and rubbed my head gently. "Thank you baby."

The elevator stopped at my floor and I led her out by her hand again, purpose renewed. My room was just around the corner, and we got there and,

And I saw Taylor waiting at my door.

I stopped right there, frozen, and she saw me, standing up from her spot in front of my door to approach me. I hadn't thought about her in a long time, I'd fed on so many people since she had gone out of my life, hundreds probably, and I certainly hadn't thought about how she would feel if she knew what situation I was in. Holly stopped behind me, seeing the unfamiliar girl, and I looked desperately between them both as though one would rescue me from the other.

"Um, you two were probably going to have some time together, " Taylor laughed, "Could I just borrow her for a moment?" I looked at her, then back to Holly, who was maybe even as confused as I was although far more composed. "I don't see why not" and she ushered me towards Taylor, watching me carefully.

Taylor knew me, knew my tells, and took my hand to gently pull me a couple feet down the hall away from Holly before hugging me tight. An idea burgeoned within me, and I bit at her neck, hoping perhaps that Holly in particular had some immunity to bites as a slayer. No such luck, I bit and sucked and started crying again. Taylor was of course surprised but let me try long enough to become even more surprised.

"Amber, are you taking them home now? We agreed that was a bad idea, and what's wrong? What's wrong with your fangs?" She pushed me back a bit, pulling my mouth open as quick as she could to feel around for where my fangs should be. This was obviously unpleasant, but somehow I hoped she would just find them and this would all be over.

"Your fangs are gone, what did you do? is that silver on you?" I just sobbed more as she put together the pieces and told me everything I knew. Holly took her time to step in.

"Please don't try to remove the chain. It's important for us" Taylor looked up at the taller woman and back at me, then moved to stand between us. "Did you do something to her? Who are you?"

Holly narrowed her eyes on my would be protector and the whole situation was too much. I dropped to my knees and hid my face. I didn't know who I wanted to run away to. Holly whose arms I could cry in or Taylor who I had known for years and could help me out of all sorts of awful situations. But Taylor had taught me how to survive like this, and Holly wanted me to survive entirely differently, and I barely knew her and maybe she would still do something bad. I still loved her, and I loved Taylor too in a different way, and now these two people I loved seemed just the wrong moment away from fighting. It was far too much.

"You seem human, but you aren't enthralled either. What do you know?"

"I know my childhood friend is crying on the ground, what do you know?"

I heard Holly's warm confident chuckle. "Let's get inside and I'll explain. I'm hoping not to make a scene"

Taylor paused, and then moved down next to me, trying to raise my eyes to hers for which I was reluctant while she kept an eye on Holly. "Is she ok to let in? Is it ok to go into your room?" I tried to nod and she acknowledged, doing what she could to get me to my feet where I could unlock the door.

Everything was dark as we all shuffled in, and I tried not to see anything I didn't have to. I didn't want to have to see, or think, with all this going on.

"Here... where's her bed" I heard, just before being lifted up and carried over to a bed by what had to be Holly's arms. I couldn't or wouldn't see, I think Holly leaned down to kiss my forehead, and I grasped for her hand to hold on to. "We'll sort this out baby, you'll see." I screwed my already closed eyes tighter shut and turned over to hide in a pillow, holding the hand in mine tight as Taylor got a light on,

"So you know Amber? You checked her teeth, do you know what she is?" Hearing Holly's voice, so much bigger and stronger than me, muffled through pillows and coming from above, I felt like I had been pulled into a different time, when I had been small and there were adults that needed to talk.

Taylor was as she always was, confident and a tad playful, even when the circumstances might have demanded otherwise. Even if now she sounded a bit stern.

"Of course I do. V."

"A." Holly continued, enabling the back and forth.

"M."

"P."

"I."

"R."

If not for wanting to fade out of existence in that moment, I would have laughed. Taylor always had such quick witted games, and Holly had caught on instantly.

"Yeah, we both know she's a vampire. Who is she to you, and why did she get so upset? What did you do to her teeth? Why isn't she burned around the bracelet?" Despite her wit and play, Taylor had just a bit of a threat in her voice. Even being unable to physically compare to Holly, I knew if she decided there was harm that had come to me, there would be pain of a kind to dish out. I heard Holly's warm chuckle again beside me, and I clung to her hand.

I did not want to be here for this, and tried my very best to fall asleep. It must have worked because I lost myself for a bit, and when consciousness returned, a chunk of the conversation had passed.

"But you don't actually know that she could survive like this, you could be killing her"

"I'm doing what's best for everyone. If it weren't me protecting her, there would be others very keen to put a wooden stake through her chest."

Taylor seemed stressed. "Why did you come here then anyway. Why couldn't she answer her phone and why would you take her back at all?"

"She'd been distracted. She slept in until almost noon today, and had a bit of a food coma after pizza" She chuckled and I lifted my head trying to look up at her or Taylor. Holly gave me those big concerned eyes, taking my cheek in her hand only to beckon me back down and stroke my hair. "Go to sleep baby. We'll sort things out while you're asleep."

"Did you do something to her? Why are you two so chummy anyway? When did she get so... inarticulate?"

"I don't know about that part. She's just been a cute little thing since I met her, even before I put the charm on. We kissed, which I assume she thought that was the easy way to bite me, and at a guess you taught her." There was another chuckle. "But she was never like this with you at all?"

"N-no. Except maybe once or twice, but... well certainly not after the change. You know about the other thing, right?"

"What's in between her legs? I do. It's not a bother."

Taylor sounded tense, and I lay where I was, at least trying to get to sleep like I was told to. "Before the change, she didn't look like

that. Wasn't my type at all. And after, everything was so complicated. I knew we weren't an option"

"Vampires tend to continuously take on traits that bring them closer to their own ideal self. We think it's a hunting adaptation. Did you ever have feelings for her?"

There was a sigh. "I would have if I let myself. I couldn't be sure she would feel the same way about me ever again, and hell, she might live forever. We couldn't."

There was a pause. I could remember having feelings for Taylor, back when things were simple. It felt strange to hear her say that, to know I hadn't been her type and then maybe I was. I tried not to make much of it. I needed to get back to sleep as soon as I could, but they kept talking.

"I want to make sure I'm not causing too much trouble. I picked her for many reasons, but a big factor was that I knew with whoever I took next, I would have to give myself to them and them to me. Even after I swore never to kill another vampire, I did, a few times. Self defence when the charms didn't work, charms that were too strong. I'm at a point in my research where I know if I'm careful, I can save her completely without ever hurting her. But we need to trust each other. Even until now, I had no real way to know she wasn't thousands of years old and perfectly trained to play me a fool. I'm glad I trusted her."

"...How old are you? You don't act like someone your age should. Unless vampire slayer academy is some big dumb cult."

"It is certainly also that, even if times are changing because of my work. Vampires can live forever so we also found ways to extend our lives, so the effort of training a master could be worth many life times. I am... forty five years old."

There was a snort from Taylor. "Old lady!!" followed by a chuckle nearer to me, and the information barely registered to me.

"She would outlive me though. I want everything to go right, and then when she ages normally, I'll make sure I do too."

"You said you only met yesterday? And you're ready to... spend your life with her?"

"I put a ring on her, didn't I?"

"Forcefully, and on her wrist. There's a finger you're supposed to use and you're supposed to get down on one knee and ask, freaky church ninja. I shouldn't have to teach you of all people how marriage works."

I felt a loving stroking on my head. "I wouldn't have done what I did if I didn't think I could go through with it until the end. It didn't have to be this intimate, but she's such a small adorable little thing. She's my responsibility now, and I'm so lucky for it."

"What if you can protect her but something happens to you? You said there were people who never wanted a cure found. Is there anyone who could take it off? Anyone that would know how to without, you know, also wanting to kill her?"

I felt the hand come away from me, and missed it, but I was trying to get back to sleep like she told me to so I didn't move.

"I imagine others will want to continue the experiment, and I'll let you be the judge of whether they can be trusted not to mistreat her. Otherwise..." Holly paused, and I could swear I felt her get heavier against the bed.

"Don't let her know this, I'd rather she not have any dangerous distractions. But it's just special silver. The enchantment doesn't make it any more than a magic bracelet. A hammer or big enough wire cutters would do."

I might have twitched hearing this, and I felt her weight shift instantly. Slowly her hand resumed rubbing my head, and I hoped as desperately as one can hope as sleep takes them that she didn't know I knew.

I woke up perhaps an hour later with her behind me, and pulled her hand into mine. It was so much bigger than mine. And the bracelet. Was it true I could really just get it off? I felt her shift behind me.

"Hey baby, Taylor went home, and I told her how to contact me so she can come visit some time." I thought about that. Taylor visiting me, or us. A part of me said she shouldn't, that Taylor and Holly had their staredown and then their talk and Holly won. I tried to remind myself that was silly, and Taylor had still been a huge part of my life. Of course I'd try to see her again, and maybe she'd help me get the bracelet off and I could have some blood.

I turned myself around and looked up at Holly for a moment, then pouted. I knew Holly didn't want me to take it off, and I didn't know how she'd react if I did. She leaned down and pecked me on the lips, and I let the fuzz in my head take all the hard thoughts away.

"You've slept in these clothes a lot baby, let's get you into the shower."

My apartment consisted of only three rooms, a living room office with a small kitchen, an almost closet like bedroom which was only marginally separate from the main room, and an ensuite bathroom. She led me into it, gave me a smile and began to lift my shirt off me.

"...Can I do it alone?"

She shook her head and smiled gently some more. "I'm not going to let you out of my sight for a while. Besides, it's only a body. I've seen plenty of those."

She tried again and I held my shirt on. She paused, then leaned forward to kiss my forehead. "I get it, I'll go first" and she began to disrobe. I saw glints of knives in that jacket alone, and once her immaculate tie was off, I noticed a missing button in her shirt. She undid the remaining buttons, the shirt must have been armored, to reveal her bra and a gun holstered to her figure about where she would reach in from the missing button. She removed the holster, and then her bra, and I felt my mouth water a little. Her breasts were perfect. Shapely and firm, and beautiful.

She caught me staring, placing a finger under my chin to raise my eyes to hers, then pecked me on the lips. "Just don't go looking for the scars, baby."

She continued with her pants, undoing her belt to lower what must have also been armored formalwear, revealing another gun holstered to the inside of her left thigh which itself seemed capable of crushing me. With that off, she lowered her panties that were by comparison conspicuously not armored, then lifted my chin to her eyes and hugged me against her with a grin. "Don't worry baby, that was a gun, but I am still pleased to see you. Let's get those clothes off you now."

She started pulling my shirt off and this time I let her. She revealed my bra and carefully moved her hands behind my back to unclip it. I looked away with anticipatory dejection, I didn't want to see her face when she saw my body, at least not compared to hers. But she pulled the bra off me and turned my face back to hers. "You're perfect baby, don't worry." She pulled me close and reached behind me to undo the zipper on my skirt, gently taking my tights down with them.

"Oh my goodness, you are so cute." I looked away as she realised, my cheeks threatening to cook. When the change came but my genitals stayed the same, I'd never had it in me to stop wearing boxers. Taylor had advised my fashion sense but had never pried too far, and I figured I could do with the extra room between my legs even if I didn't need too much anyway. As the changes intensified, the boxers came to stretch around my hips and butt only to accentuate them, and I'd had no complaints.

She stood up again and looked me in the eye as I felt her hand around the hem of my boxers, threatening to pull them down. "You're perfect, baby. You have nothing to worry about." And then, slowly, gently, she removed them and let them fall to the ground. I instinctively stepped forwards out of them and pulled her body against mine. I didn't want her to have room to see me like this, exposed.

I never let anyone see me like this ever, not with my... thing visible. I'd always pictured a moment like this ending in rejection at the sight of it. She held me and kept telling me I was perfect, and with so much bare flesh, I couldn't help but try to bite her shoulder. She giggled, and in my little fugue I let her pull me away, and just like that she had me to look at. My cheeks were hot and I frowned hard, wanting to run out and hide under my blanket until she let me put clothes on.

"Baby, I said look at me." With a finger under my chin, she redirected my attention to her again, looking into my eyes with those piercing warm brown tones.

"I mean it baby. You are perfect. I wouldn't have you any other way." I didn't really respond, only watching her with the awe I'd come to have.

"Let me prove it to you baby." She pulled me close into her arms, making sure her bare breasts pressed hard against me, and with her face so close to mine she bit gently on my lip. I reached forward and clinged to her desperately. She pushed forward and her lips were against mine with pressure and passion, and she would move to bite one of my lips gently before pressing hers against me again. I felt a warmness stirring in my abdomen and lost myself in her, and the moment she detected that weakness in me, she pressed with her tongue.