8Chapter 5: The Price of Peeping
It was eleven and Ulric still wasn't home. I know this because I'd just stirred from a nap to look at the clock. My neck creaked like an old door as I straightened. Switching off the TV, I padded off to bed. I wasn't worried about Ulric. He was a known alcoholic and he sometimes stayed out until two or three in the morning. Yawning, I grabbed the cordless phone off of the coffee table and tried his cell one more time. Again, all I got was the mechanical answer of his voicemail. I set down the phone and went into the bedroom.
Changing into my meager pajamas, I lay in my bed. All snuggled up, I had just closed my eyes when a horrible thought came to me. In my mind, I pictured Ulric innocently walking down the street when suddenly he was pulled into a dark alley. Clawed hands jerked his head to one side, exposing his throat. His attacker smiled wickedly, his fangs shining in the moonlight. Just as he descended on Ulric, I shot up out of bed. My heart was threatening to pound right out of my chest, and I had to take several deep breaths until it slowed to a reasonable beat.
"Fuck," I muttered. "Maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself." I wasn't even sure if Ivan was the real thing. For all I knew, he could just be a freak with some awesome dental work. In my mind, I knew that I was making excuses to calm myself. He had this supernatural pull, like he could make you want him whether you did or not. Or maybe that was just charm... Fuck.
Outside, I heard a woman laugh. In my neighborhood, this wasn't uncommon. There were no cars because everyone was already at their parties and you could hear anything on the street as clearly as you could in your home. So I don't know why I got up, straightening my long AC/DC shirt, and peeked out the curtains of my window. Curiosity? Or paranoia? I'm not sure
I could see the silhouette of two people walking toward my building. By the looks of it, one was a man that reached about six and a half feet and a woman two heads shorter than her companion. When they stepped under a streetlight I could see them in a little more detail. She had the darkest skin I think I've ever seen in my life, to the point where it almost had a blue tint. Her hair was braided into a very long tail that was draped over one of her small shoulders. She reminded me vaguely of a fairy with her small, wispy thin frame and large eyes. Her outfit left little to the imagination; a top that was open wide at the neck and jeans that hung dangerously low on her hips.
The man was, on the other hand, the palest I had seen (aside from Ivan). He had short dark hair that curled slightly around his large head, complete with huge nose and wide mouth, a charming smile on his face as he whispered something I couldn't catch. She giggled, covering her mouth with her free hand as she let him lead her down the alley right beside my apartment.
Now I have to clarify that I typically don't spy on the residents of New York. While I am a dirty old lady when it comes to romance novels, I do not watch others. Regardless, I found myself moving from the bedroom to the bathroom where I'd have a better view. Pulling back the curtains just a tiny bit, I watched the couple move down the alley until they were just a few feet down from my window and in perfect sight for me.
I watched as he took her in his arms, kissing her fiercely. Her hands were around his thick neck while his were roaming her back and buttocks. She moaned audibly when he lowered his mouth to her jawbone and then he was sucking and biting lightly on her throat. That's when, with a terrible feeling in my gut, I noticed his eyes. They were strikingly blue, but they were actually glowing. Just like Ivan's. Then he raised his head just a little bit, revealing his four long fangs. I panicked, fearing for the girl. Pounding on the window furiously, screaming, I tried to get her attention. But when she turned I really began to freak out. Her eyes were also aglow, a dark burgundy color that sent me recoiling in fear. They were both looking up at me, hungry smiles on their faces. I covered my mouth to keep from screaming, all but running from the window and into my bedroom.
I collided with another body, and to my horror, it was one of the vampires from outside. He grabbed for me, but I somehow managed to dodge him and run into the living room. I had almost reached the door when I saw the woman standing in front of it, laughing to reveal her own set of sharp incisors.
I literally felt my stomach sink, and I backed away from her only to step right into the male's grasp. My body went numb and I lost control of it. I could do nothing when I felt his hands skim up my shirt to my breasts, or when the female ripped the collar of it wide open.
"So, Will," she said with a heavy Cajun accent. "What should we be doin' with dis one?"
"I'm not sure, Ree," he replied, voice thick. "I would love to play with her a little first. She smells so... delectable." My mind was in full hysteria, but I couldn't move or speak to show it. As hard as I was urging my limbs to move, they refused. I felt his tongue trace the shell of my ear while she was busy following a plump artery in my neck with a well manicured nail. A whimper escaped me and I heard the man behind me chuckle.
"This will be very fun," he observed, hands still wandering over my body. I didn't want to think about what tortures they had in mind. I had always thought bondage and rough vampire sex looked fun in the movies, but I wanted them to just bite me and get it over with.
They placed my limp body on the couch in a sitting position. She sat beside me, taking one of my hands in hers, bringing it up to her lips. He was sitting in front of me, spreading my legs to a most undignified pose. Starting at my knee, he kissed slowly up my left leg, eyes on mine the whole time. When he was all too close to my certain spot, he raised his head just like before and sunk his teeth into the soft flesh of my inner thigh. At the same time, she had bitten into my wrist.
It was the most painful thing I could ever imagine. At both sites it felt like they had started a fire, and not the pleasant "white hot suns" kind. My blood was gasoline and their fangs were a lit match. It spread throughout my body and I thought I really was burning. I wanted to scream but couldn't find the voice for it. My eyes were to the ceiling, and I was actually praying that someone would come in and save me. Darkness was at the corners of my vision, but I was too afraid of what they would do to me if I blacked out.
Trying my best to stay awake, I thought of Ivan. I envisioned him biting me instead of these monsters, and the wondrous feeling his bites brought. It helped to alleviate the pain a little, or at least get my mind off of it. And then I realized how little I knew of him, and that brought me back to the present. Maybe they were just doing what he'd been planning all along? No, I didn't want to think like that. If I was going to die, I was going to die happy, even if I had to delude myself.
And all this time, I never gave one thought to Ulric. What a wonderful girlfriend I am...
Suddenly, they both ripped their heads away from my open veins. I tried to see what they saw, but I was too weak and couldn't move my head. I could hear them both hiss, and I heard something else emit a menacing growl.
"Leave," the male demanded. "She's ours."
"She was mine long before she was yours." I instantly recognized Ivan's voice. Intending to say his name, instead I made a pathetic whine.
"Who is you thinkin' you are?" the female said, her words not much more than her previous hiss.
Ivan chuckled. I saw the female go flying across the room to smash into the wall behind me. She fell to the ground like a rag doll.
"Ree!" The male was at her side, holding her broken form against his chest.
"Go now. This is your last chance to leave here alive," Ivan warned. They must've listened because one minute they were behind me and the next they were gone, so fast I didn't see them leave. Ivan was next to me in an instant, his hand sliding behind my neck to bring my head up. I could move a little now, but I was so weak. My head swam when it was suddenly upright, and I nearly fainted. My vision was blurred and I barely registered Ivan lifting me.
"Where...?" I didn't have the strength to finish. I could barely see past the darkness now. This must be what it feels like to die...
"You need blood." It was all he said as he carried me across the hall into his apartment. He took me back to his bedroom, laying me carefully on the bed. He kissed my forehead, smoothing the hair away that was stuck to my face due to the cold sweat that had formed.
I watched as he brought his wrist up to his perfect mouth. A pained look crossed his features for a second and then he was ripping open his vein. He held the bloody mess over my mouth.
"Hurry!" he said urgently. "The wound will close soon!"
I shook my head as best I could. I'd seen all those movies. No way in hell was I drinking his blood. "I don't want to be a vampire," I argued, coming out more meekly than I would have liked.
"Don't believe everything you read, Angel." Without another word, he pressed the gaping cuts to my lips. I gagged, and tried to shove him away but it was the equivalent of trying to move a brick wall. He only forced it one me more, and I could only submit.
It had an offensive taste at first, like eating pennies. But then it took on a more pleasant quality, sweet yet salty. Rich yet bitter. I felt myself swallowing in gulps, and the more I consumed, the stronger I felt.
Before long, he had to pull his arm away from me. I lay on the bed, licking my lips. A part of me was deeply disgusted with myself, but the rest was too busy wanting more.
After a while, Ivan came back over to the bed, sitting beside me. His hand traced my hair line, and he began twirling a piece of my bleach blond hair between his fingers.
"Feel any better?" he asked.
"Much," I confirmed, taking his hand in mine. I kissed the tops of each of his fingers, smiling. "I'm not a vampire?" I tentatively asked. How does one tell, anyway?
"No," he answered. "You'd know, believe me."
"How?" I sat up so that we were face to face, noses nearly touching.
He shook his head, but he was smiling. "You sure are a peculiar one, Angel." He turned my head, exposing my fading bruise from his previous love bite. "You'd feel more alive than you ever had in all your existence." His eyes went to the window, looking out over the city streets. "You could smell, feel, hear, taste everything. It's akin to being born again, I suppose."
I looked at our joined hands, and I couldn't help the giggle that flew out my mouth. "Well then, I guess you're right."
"Always am," he said, smirking. He bent over to kiss me, softly at first and then progressively a little deeper. When we parted, I caught myself pouting. "You better stay here for the night," he said, more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah," I agreed. "They might come back." My hands went around his neck, pulling him down on top of me.
His face was buried in my hair, inhaling deeply. Raising so that he was looking down at me, he scowled. Never had he looked sexier. "Damn it, Angel," he swore, his voice heavy. His mouth came down hard on mine, tongues colliding while eager hands jerked and tore at clothing.