First Death Pt. 06

I was running on the treadmill upstairs when I heard Max's knock on the door. I was lost in my own thoughts, panting and sweaty when I was jarred back to reality—it was dinner time. He gave me a funny look when I opened the door and handed me a duffel bag, "Working out?"

I followed him as he strolled in nonchalantly, this time to the living room instead of the kitchen, "Not much else to do," I admitted.

He dumped the chick onto the couch and I was finally able to get a good look at her—she was beautiful; not the supernatural kind of beautiful that embodied every aspect of Lily, but the kind of beautiful that the airbrushed ads in magazines sell us. Under all of that caked on make-up, all of that hairspray and what I assumed was a paid-for nose, was most likely a plain and dull insecure twenty something that wanted to be a fictitious, computer altered version of a woman. Her heavily green shadowed eyes were closed; black fake lashes made her seem like a cartoon character that was squinting. She was dressed in a short plaid skirt and a white button up shirt, trying to play to every man's dark fantasies. The perfect pile of manufactured brown curls on her head were tied back with a red bow. I knew her kind--remembered them from high school--so desperate to grow up, so desperate to look like a desirable sex object. Well, she succeeded in her intent and caught the eye of an older man. Unfortunately for her, however, it wasn't sex he was after.

I looked in the duffel bag and found new clothes for both Lily and I, as well as a bag that appeared to have been stolen directly from a hospital; he shrugged at me before walking off for his smoke.

I wrapped her arm with the tourniquet before I assembled the needle, tube and bag. It took a while but when her vein finally popped out, I slid the needle through her skin. I held my breath, almost praying that I remembered how to do this correctly so that I didn't have to kill her; when the red liquid started to ooze into the tube, I untied her tourniquet and watched it flow into the bag with a sigh of relief. It took a few minutes to fill up but then I put pressure on her vein with a cotton ball and slid the needle out before slapping a band aid on.

As I twisted the needle off and threw it into the portable sharps container in the medical bag, my hands started to shake. I wasn't sure why, at first, until I realized that I had managed to spare this woman's life. It was adrenaline coursing through my veins—it was my choice to either end her or let her live. I was playing god. To have that much power in my hands was almost frightening—it gave me an insight into Lily's world. The people around her were alive, because she had allowed it.

It was a lot easier to pour the blood down her throat using the bag instead of a glass; I clipped a corner off and it slowly trickled down, not spilling a drop. When I put her back to bed, I decided to roll her to the other side, thinking that it would be good to move her throughout the day so that she wouldn't get stiff.

Max was sitting on the couch when I made it back upstairs, "I have to say, I didn't expect you to do that so well. You're full of surprises, Matthew."

I sat down on a chair, starting to feel a little bit more at ease around him, "Back when I first started college I volunteered at a clinic--it was just something to boost my resume for when I applied to grad school. There were a few hot nurses, though one in particular flirted with me relentlessly--she was a cougar but I wasn't going to turn her down. I was working the closing shift one night; it was slow, thankfully and there wasn't much to clean up after hours. I found her in the small lab, restocking supplies; that is when she asked me if I wanted to learn how to draw blood. I have to admit, it was a little bit of curiosity and a lot of male hormones--she was hot and I wanted a piece of ass. She showed me how to assemble the bag, how to tie her arm off, walked me through finding a vein and made me slide the needle into her arm; it was pretty weird to begin with, but the fact that she enjoyed it way too much took it to a whole other level. Watching her blood seep into that bag got her excited and as soon as it was full, she pulled the needle out of her arm and we had sex right there on the floor. Not exactly the most sterile practice but it was bizarrely satisfying, until I found out that she used the blood that I drew to make a love potion, which she dumped into my coffee, so...I quit."

"Huh," he said, "well, good thing you did. She was probably a witch. Love potions are nasty things—they never end up working quite right."

Not the answer I was expecting, I shuddered. Changing the subject, "How long is this going to take? For Lily to wake up?"

Max shrugged, "Hard to say, really. I'll continue coming nightly for the rest of the week—if she moves at all, or wakes up, or her color improves then we can cut it down to every other day. The last time that she was exposed to sun it took her about a month to heal, but she was unconscious for most of it."

"What happened?"

"Her and Lucas. They never told me the details, but to my understanding she saved him from a horrific death. I know they still go after each other all the time, but deep down they share a bond. I've always gotten the feeling that if one of them goes, the other one will follow shortly after."

His words gave me a chill, "How long have you known them?"

"It's been several centuries now, I lost count but I was with them when they were still on the same side. I'd follow Lily any day but she has made it clear that she works alone so I stick with Lucas."

"Who changed you?" I wondered.

"Ian was my benefactor."

At the mention of his name, I immediately grew tense.

"Nah," Max said, smirking at me when he noticed my worry, "it's not like that. I hold no allegiance to that man—he dug his own grave years ago." He got up, hefted the woman over his shoulder, his hands grasped the backs of her bare thighs, "See you tomorrow Matthew."

...

The week droned on as I fell into a new fucked up routine. I would wake up around lunch time, Jinx and I would eat. After a few hours I would hop on the treadmill in Evan's small gym and run until my lungs screamed, around which time Max would arrive with a new donor. I'd draw blood, feed Lily, chat with Max. As unnerving as it initially was, I discovered that I was no longer bothered by seeing red eyes and fangs; in fact, it seemed almost normal. Max would leave for the night and I would lift weights to pass the time, before taking a bath. With Lily.

I had kept my distance from her at night but the lack of social interaction quickly started grating on me. It was wrong and very fucked up, but spending time with her naked body against mine put me at ease. It wasn't sexual—well, I mean, aside from my dick being constantly hard—I never violated her but simply holding her, feeling her skin touching mine was enough sate my desires.

After dressing Lily and putting her to bed, I would spend time reading on the couch or watching TV. I knew what I was going to do—it had already formulated in the back of my mind nights prior, I just tried to push aside the thought because honestly, it frightened me.

"If you can get a good look at it through the window, tonight it is the blood moon. It's a pretty spectacular thing to watch—one of the few mysteries still left in this life," Max had a man thrown over his shoulder, walking towards the front door.

"Yeah I think I might take a look," I replied before bidding him goodnight. I locked the door and pressed my ear to it, waiting until I heard his car retreat down the drive and I knew he was gone.

Watching the man's blood swirl in the kitchen sink and down the drain, I felt a pang of guilt at the waste of it.

"Meow," Jinx purred to me, rubbing against my leg. I don't know how, but I felt like he knew what I was up to.

I turned off most of the lights, leaving only the dim lamp in the living room on before I carried Lily up the stairs and gently rested her on the couch. I flicked the TV on, muting the news, only half paying attention to the updates about the eclipse. When it started, I watched it from the window in the kitchen; the slow shadow of red creeping across the white surface of the orb hanging low in the sky. It truly was beautiful sight.

I grabbed the tourniquet and tied it off on my arm, I pumped my hand into a fist over and over. When the vein popped up, I slid the needle into it. It hurt like a bitch and I thought I had fucked it up and missed the vein, until blood trickled, slowly at first before flowed into the bag. I untied the tourniquet.

Watching the blood swishing in the bag reminded me of a few years ago; Teddy and his family came to visit me when I was on winter break. His girls were dying to see this new vampire movie, with some hot Brit hunk in it. Teddy had bought four tickets to take them, but it had gotten to the point where he just couldn't do it. He was never good with crowds, especially crowds full of screaming pre-pubescent teenage girls. Janie wasn't looking forward to doing it alone, so like the good uncle I was, I offered to take the girls so that they could have a night off to themselves.

Up until a few weeks ago, it was one of the most awful nights of my life. I had to fight myself from turning around and taking them back to their hotel; the girls bubbled and gushed over the lead actor the whole way to the theatre. My oldest niece thought it would be cool to wear a bag of fake blood around her neck and a t-shirt that said 'Vampire Bait.' It was so, so wrong. The younger one said that I kind of looked like him, except that I wasn't as pale, I had glasses, and my hair wasn't as perfect. And that I was her uncle, so it was kind of gross. They tried to get me to wear matching t-shirts--I can't help but shudder at the thought still. In order to get them to simmer down, I had to agree to wear a pair of fake vampire teeth, like the ones from Halloween.

There was a long line of the fairer sex out front of the theatre--none of them had tickets. I guess each one of them was hoping they'd find a scalper or some mysterious, tall dark and handsome man would sweep them off of their Prada clad feet. I was amazed at the age range; there were some girls as young as nine I think and old women in their forties.

When we were walking past them down the side walk, I remember spotting one really hot chick, close to my age, just so upset that she wouldn't be able to see the movie on opening night. I couldn't help it--it was too easy. I popped in the fake vampire teeth and flashed her a grin and two tickets, and said 'Would you care to accompany me this fine evening?' She was so excited, she almost fainted. My nieces thought it was hilarious--all three girls didn't shut up the whole time. The movie was as bad as I expected it to be and she made me wear the teeth when I fucked her later that night. I dated that girl for six weeks before she completely got on my nerves.

I sat on the couch next to Lily, holding the warm bag of my own blood in my hands. It was a terrible idea. Eventually she would find out and probably kill me for it, but I knew that I needed to help her in whatever way I could. Though I wasn't quick enough or strong enough or brutal enough to fight by her side, this was within my capacity to give her. I knew she didn't want it—and to me, that was justification enough to prove that she was worthy of it.

I clipped the corner off of the bag before sliding my left arm behind her neck; tilting her shoulders forward, her head fell back and her mouth opened. I brought the bag up to her faded red lips and held my breath as I poured it down her throat. I'm not sure what I expected, but as she finished the last drop, nothing happened. I watched her for a few moments before I got up and went to the kitchen, tossing the bag in the trash.

On my way back, I heard a low, guttural growl from Jinx. It immediately sent a chill down my spine; I rounded the corner slowly, looking over the living room—nothing had changed. My heart started to pound as I made my way over to the couch and sat down next to her. I barely started calming down, when her body twitched, scaring the ever living shit out of me. I jumped up in time to watch her muscles tense, her body lifting upwards by some unforeseen force, as if drawn by a string attached to her chest. With her arms hanging lifelessly at her side, her head back, she rose up with her spine almost impossibly arched, to her tip toes. She made a sound like she was choking. Then she fell back against the couch, still and quiet as if nothing had happened.

My breathing was ragged and adrenaline pulsed through my veins—I was seconds from bolting out of the house as fast as I could. I didn't move—I watched her for almost an hour—nothing changed. The rest of my night was restless. Just like when I was a kid after watching a horror film, I couldn't stay in a room too long without getting nervous. I tried carrying a kitchen knife around with me but the fact that I wasn't good at chopping vegetables let alone killing didn't offer me much solace. Though she had terrified me, the only way I felt comfortable was with Lily, so I put her to bed. I stripped down to my briefs and crawled in beside her; I left the hall light on so that I could see her face. I stared her down, relieved when Jinx slinked into the room, made dough on the bed between us and fell asleep. I wasn't far behind.

The next day continued on schedule; after uneventfully feeding Lily, I was sitting on the couch next to a complete stranger, an Asian man, who was slumped over the arm, his eyes closed. Max sat on the chair, petting Jinx.

"How does reading blood memories work?" I asked randomly.

He looked at me surprised, "Where did you hear about that?" His tone was almost defensive.

It occurred to me that Ian had only speculated about Lily's skills, which meant that she probably didn't freely share her resume, "Uh, well...Lily. She read my blood back in the states."

Max nodded slowly, looking me over, "I'm surprised. She never out right told me she had the ability, but I knew Lucas did. Still though—she tends to keep everything close to the vest."

"Yeah," I replied, recalling that she left out the details about Lucas being her twin brother, "I figured that one out already."

There is a long pause before Max continued, "I don't know exactly, neither of them would teach it to me. From my understanding, drinking someone's blood carries their most recent memories—a sip might give a few days, a week's worth, while draining a person would provide their entire life. Though, I do know it is harder with humans; the human mind has a tendency to forget small details, skip over things that seem unimportant and in general lacks a keen focus—everything gets jumbled. A vampire however, remembers every second in full, each seemingly unimportant bit. Draining a vampire passes all of this knowledge—I've seen Lucas read blood memories before as he sucked an old vampire dry. It took a lot out of him, that depth of focus; he wasn't able to process everything as there was simply too much data, but that soul's existence was essentially transferred into Lucas' mind, where it was stored. After the fact, they are able to go back through the memories and search, review bits."

"So, they don't comprehend it all at once?"

"Oh no, that would be impossible. With the hundreds, maybe even thousands that those two have drained, it is a wonder they aren't nutters. I imagine that now, unless it is important, they don't bother reading the blood; I'm sure the information still gets transferred, they just choose to ignore it."

I nodded slowly, "Will Lily have the blood memories from this week?" When I saw the curiosity on his face, I quickly added, "I'm not thrilled about her knowing how badly I fucked up while killing that man."

Max immediately chuckled as he remembered the night, "No, at least I'm pretty sure not. We don't ever shut off, Matthew—none of us sleep, we don't get tired, we get hungry; but severe trauma knocks us out—Lily is unconscious for the first time in a few hundred years. When she wakes, she the last thing she'll remember is whatever happened at Ian's. That aside, having the energy and focus enough to read blood memories, fleet, influence, hell even her strength will probably take her at least a month to get back. When she does finally start coming around, she will be more similar to a human—well, aside from needing to drink blood and remain out of sunlight."

I nodded, counting myself lucky that she wouldn't have my blood memories of the past week, "Well, hopefully she wakes up soon."

Max left shortly after our discussion; I made and ate dinner with Jinx before lifting weights, trying to keep my mind away from Lily though it always wandered back to her. I pushed myself harder, straining my muscles; the burn felt good. I glanced at myself in the mirror, pleased to discover that I was gaining some definition on my lanky frame—if nothing else, at least I'd be in shape by the time this whole debacle was done.

Down stairs, I ran the tub while lighting the candles. I had grown fond of their soft illumination, the way their uneven shadows flickered across the room. Checking the water, I let it fill up more before turning it off and stripping naked. My cock pulsed when I walked to Lily, knowing that I would slowly take her clothes off and soon feel her soft skin against mine.

I had gotten better at undressing her though my muscles strained from my workout earlier when I lifted her to my chest. I stepped into the tub and eased down, resting her soft, ample ass in my crotch, my now aching cock pressed between her back and my stomach. I leaned back against the tub, her naked form against my chest, my arms wrapped almost protectively around her waist. I sat with her body on mine, the tension easing from my muscles, just content to be near her. I closed my eyes and nuzzled into her neck; she still smelled faintly of smoke, but I was pleased to note that the smell grew fainter each day. I lingered there, breathing her in. When I opened my eyes and glanced up, my muscles instantly tensed; her bright red orbs were staring back at me. She was awake.

My heart was pounding so hard I knew she felt it even if she couldn't hear it. My face grew hot as my stomach rolled—this was bad. It never occurred to me that she would wake—of all fucking moments--while we were in the tub together. This was bad. Very, very bad. I casually pulled my head away from hers, turning my gaze forward. She blinked slowly, watching my movements with her stoic expression. Though my chest heaved rapidly against her back, I reached out and grabbed the wash cloth and bar of soap, lathering them up. It was a nerve wracking experience, washing Lily while her piercing gaze tracked my every movement like a hawk, but I figured the best way to explain why we were in the tub naked was to do so by example.

Washing her hair proved to be the worst part of it—I slid out from under her until I straddled her hips, resting my ass on her thighs with my cock across her stomach. It was the only position I found that would allow me to keep her above the water line and my hands free at the same time. Her dark red gaze studied my face while my shaking hands massaged her scalp. I leaned back and flicked the lever for the drain, turning on the shower head to rinse her hair out while the water disappeared from the tub below. After shutting it off, I climbed out of the tub and hastily dried off before wringing out her wet hair with a towel. Grabbing a larger, softer one, I gathered her up into my arms and carried her to the bed.

I gently laid her on top of the covers, avoiding eye contact as I patted her exposed flesh dry. I turned to leave, to get her night gown when I was stopped by her hand wrapped firmly around my wrist. I almost couldn't breathe when I looked down into her face, expecting her anger to flare up at me. Instead, she pulled my arm closer, forcing me to bend over her. Her other hand reached up for my throat and I almost jerked away—but then, her soft fingers slid across my skin to the back of my neck and she pulled my face down to hers. Her chest was rising and falling as she unnecessarily drew in air; when she tipped her chin up, her lips pressing against mine, all of my fear, all of my doubts washed away. Her tongue darted into my mouth, her firm grip on my neck made her desires clear.