My Vampire Bromance

Chapter 26: Stop Panicking Phillip!

"What do I do? What do I do?!" I paced back and forth in the kitchen while Victor hovered over a hot stove. It'd been hours since I had eaten. I unsteadily sipped the coffee he handed me, eyeing it suspiciously before taking a sip.

"Stop panicking, Phillip Kosier!" Victor hissed at me. Black smoke rose into the air from the pan atop the burner. I ran to the sink, filled a glass with water, then dumped it over the onions. I grimaced at their less than inviting appearance.

"I can't help it!" I ran a hand through my hair– it got stuck at the back. I'd forgotten I'd put it up. "He has been in this house! He knows where I live! He was there on the night that my parents died! Oh god! Victor!" I smashed my palm against my forehead, pressing down between my brows.

Victor dropped the spatula in the pan, then took a step toward me, "I think you need to take a deep breath and relax." His strong hands grasped me by my shoulders and moved me towards the dining room table. I noticed it now dawned a burgundy tablecloth, a vase with white roses, and twigs of pine. In the short time Victor had been here, he my house feel more like a home than it had in years. Where he had procured the decor, I could only imagine– Christmas tree lots were starting to crop up everywhere.

"Here, sit down," he gently pushed me into the wooden chair. "Everything will be fine. We'll figure this out together."

He turned to walk back to his cooking. I watched as more vegetables went into the pot. One day I'd have to ask him why he was so insistent on cooking for me– taking care of me. What started out as an awkward situation had lent itself into full domestic romance in no time. I hadn't even tried to make Victor like me­– he just did. It was so natural that I thought that I must be the butt of a cruel joke at the end of it all. He was a vampire...and I was a human. We must be doomed for sure.

"But what I do know is that boy, Thomas, is, in fact, the vampire I saw that night that girl was attacked. As for his interest in you, I can only imagine what the allure must be. We can be quite obsessive creatures, and he seems to be on the more bizarre side of it."

"What do you mean?" I felt like a child asking a parent about something I didn't understand.

Victor sighed as he stirred the chicken he'd been cutting into the pan. "Let me put it this way. My obsession for feeding leans primarily towards women, but they have to be of a certain age and type. I don't go for the ones who are innocent. I go for the ones who have stolen, cheated, and murdered people.

"On the other hand, my romantic tastes lean towards one particular person." He looked at me, magenta eyes bright as flames. "The first time I saw you, Phillip Kosier, I knew I had to have you. I would do anything to get you to notice me. So much so that I always put myself in your line of sight.

"At first, I thought you might desire women, so I put the most beautiful ones in your vision, and then one day, I noticed that you only had eyes for me. And so, my game to win you over continued. I gave you that bookmark to see if I could sway your affection towards me. I showed up at your college campus after hours, following the trail of your scent I'd picked up repeatedly at the bar.

"I made sure that I put myself right in your way. I even made you slip and fall in the rain so that I could help you up. So close to you, I knew instantly that you were the only man I ever wanted to drink from and the only man I ever wanted to give my blood to. The obsession was such that I had to immediately feed, and within the hour, you came back across town for me. I should have said no, but I couldn't deny those beautiful bright blue eyes of yours. I couldn't stand for you to be frightened of me. And so, I begged and pleaded for you to take me in. To end my obsession by letting me be with it."

Victor's confession of obsession sounded more like a confession of love than anything else. Maybe I should have been put off by it; instead, it made my stomach flutter. Thoughts of kissing him arose again. "So, ever since you first saw me, you were willing to do anything to have me?"