Bit/ten

1.

    I couldn't remember why I had gone to the party. I knew that it wasn't my norm. My norm wasn't being in a dark house, late at night, ears assaulted by pounding music, sipping abhorrently strong liquor, floundering through a crowd of people who had far more rhythm than me. But it didn't matter why I had gone to the party. 

    She was standing right in front of me, the absolute centre of my attention. How could she not be? Standing alone in the kitchen under the only light on in the party, leaned slightly against the counter with her cup of liquor held gracefully in her hand. She effortlessly exuded a graceful elegance that made her stand out amongst the crowd, aided in no small part by her breathtaking looks. My skin was dark, most people in the party had varying shades of darkness, but her skin was like a mirror with how flawless and black it was. It was complemented by her pink floral sundress and her curly black hair done up in a ponytail. Relatively short, though she extended her height with pink high heels. Busty and curvy. Round face shape with full cheeks. An ear full of extravagant gold piercings and eyebrows shaved to dots. Big, pouty lips painted pink. And those eyes. Almond shaped, dull amber eyes, framed with large lashes that snatched the breath from my lungs. 

    As I took her in piece by piece, stood still in the rapidly shifting crowd, I could feel those eyes calling to me. Like a siren's call, full of milk and honey, they demanded I look at them. And when I did, I saw a longing and hunger within them that evaporated everyone else in the room except for her and me. And with the ghost of a smile she walked away, gliding through the crowd and up the stairs, never once looking back at me. No one else watched her leave but I could feel that she didn't want anyone else to follow her but me. 

     With her gone I had a moment to try to remember what I was even doing at the party. Someone invited me I think, I surprisingly agreed to go and now I was stood staring up at those stairs, knowing that I would again have to make a choice between doing what I think to be safe and following my heart's desires. I had burnt myself before, deciding to blindly follow my instincts, but I still decided to push through the crowd, heading towards the stairs. I couldn't remember exactly why I had gone to the party but I was going to make sure I never forget her.

~

    My heart thundered as I walked towards the door as it cast a spotlight on the wall in front of it. Why was I doing this? Were the weird stares from people by the stairway worth it? Was it worth invading the host's private space? For what? This complete stranger? But even as I had these second thoughts, I followed her into the room, the music fading to background noise. It looked to be a bedroom, maybe the host's or just a guest room. It was sparsely decorated with potted plants and a couple posters, and a couple clothes strewn about. 

    There was also a bed opposite the door with two nightstands on either side. And she's on it, sitting on its edge, propped on her hands, rubbing her thighs together sensually, eyes burning holes into my soul. She opened her legs, flashing the white garments under her dress and whispered in such a husky, alluring voice, "come". Heart still thundering, I walked over to her, stripping my shirt off as I approached. Before I could rethink my decisions she wrapped her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck and pulled me down into her snake-like embrace, twisting to lay on top of me. She was as soft as she was shapely, with enough weight that though I wasn't suffocating I couldn't move against her will. She smelled faintly of cannabis and lavender, though they were overpowered by the alcohol on her breath as she breathed raggedly centimetres away from my face. 

     Interestingly, I could see her breath come out in wispy clouds even with the warmth of the room. In fact her whole body was cold, like she just left an air conditioned room. But downstairs was stiflingly warm with its low ceiling and dense crowd. 

    "I'm Carmila. And you are?".

    The question jolted me out of my thoughts as I gave her my full attention. 'Don,' I answered flustered. This close to her heavenly body, nose full of her alluring smell, with such a pretty face so near mine and eyes that almost glowed with lust, I was at my limit. I knew that in that moment I would do whatever she wanted me to do. Agree to whatever she asked of me. So when she asked, "Do you let me in, Don?", I didn't even question the strangeness of the question, I just nodded my head. She smiled at me then, allowing me to see that her canines were encased in pointed rose gold fangs. And in a flash I found out their purpose as she snapped her mouth open and dug into my lower neck, just above my left shoulder.

~

    What did she do to me? Eyes closed from a headache clouding my thoughts, I assessed myself. My body laid weightless and unmoving on the bed, sprawled over the wet, sticky sheets. Is that blood, I thought, noticing how drained I felt, how raw my nerves felt. Is that my blood? The memory of our moment was already disintegrating in my mind, fragmenting as it went. Only a few pieces stuck, parts of a whole moment reduced to a single sense. The smell of her spit overpowering her scent, the soft cotton of her dress as it rubbed against my stomach, her softly moaning as she sucked at my neck, the taste of sweat and her sticky love coating the entirety of my tongue. Mostly I remembered the pain from her initial attack, pouring into my body like a bolt of lightning creeping through my veins. Spikes of searing hot pain radiated down my body, nearly zapping my brain to nothingness. And the pleasure. 

    Pleasure that sent my mind flying through the clouds. It was a roaring wildfire set ablaze by the lightning strikes before it. It was heaven. I was brought back to the present as she shifted her weight forward over me. I opened my eyes then, taking her in as she loomed over me. Carmila's hair now out of its ponytail hung down to the bed like a dense forest. Her lips were still stained pink, slightly wet with spit and blood that flowed down her neck. Drying streaks curled their way down her neck and chest like thin bloody roots, ending in a dark red patch in her cleavage. Her dress was pushed down to her ribs, exposing her bare breasts which swayed slightly as she breathed. There was a spot on her right one just above the nipple that looked odd but I couldn't tell why with her blocking the light. 

    My attention was pulled from her breasts. Again she drew my eyes to hers but gone was the hunger when I looked into them. Within a facial expression of benign intrigue were eyes filled with malicious satisfaction. Even in my lucid state they filled me with terror. When she tilted her head to the side, that terror solidified and I stiffened in anticipation of another attack. This seemed to amuse her because she flashed a toothy smile. As I saw before her fangs were covered in rose gold, shiny and sharp, with no clear distinction between where the tooth ended and the metal began. They shimmered in her mouth as she began to talk. 

    "Blood is like rum, eh? Strong and sweet like nothing else. It'll fill you with fire, ife mi. Can you stand the temptation?", she said with a smirk. I tried to say something, anything, in response but she cut me off with a kiss on the cheek which sent my heart fluttering. She giggled, rose up off of me and continued, "Burn bright, my dear, like a falling star". I saw the mark on breast then, four incisions are the areola connected across thin perforated lines. Bite marks. She got off the bed, adjusting her dress back into position, grabbed her heels and walked out the door. Left to sluggishly gather myself together, I felt a chill run through me. She had me hooked, coiled around her finger, like a dog awaiting its next command. I stumbled out the door, rushing over to the stairs. But the party was done, people were leaving and she wasn't there. Gone like she never existed. But I could feel her on my skin, in my neck, trapped within my blood. She was real and I needed her so desperately. Carmila, I-