Love Bites

LOVE BITES Chapter 13 : Tasting Red Part 2

The look in Alsa's eyes caught my attention. He was standing behind Mommy, looking a little... sad. It made me feel sad. Alsa never looked like that.

"Some vampires feed this way, Nikki. And you see, they don't worry about the human reporting our existence because..." she paused, glancing quickly at Alastair, "well because they are killed. They die, Nikki."

My eyes widened. Die? I knew what that word meant. When you hear of someone dying, it means you never see them again. I wouldn't be happy if Mommy died. Or Daddy or Alsa. I would be all alone. Always sad.

My bottom lip trembled. "Are there really vampires like that, Mommy? Vampires that like to hurt people?"

"Many vampires do not care what happens to the humans," Alsa broke in, his voice softer than usual. It had a certain emptiness behind it. "They choose whether or not to use the power we naturally develop, intentionally inflicting pain if they choose not to." He looked angry, his eyes aching with a pain I hadn't seen on him before. "The vampires that disregard this natural ability already decide beforehand that they wanted more than to drink the blood of a human; they wanted to drink their life."

My chest grew heavy, not from what I was hearing but because of the face Alsa was making. My prince wasn't allowed to make a face so sad and angry all at one time.

I walked over to him, tugging lightly on his trench coat. As if remembering I was there, the look on his face immediately disappeared, replaced by a gentle smile.

"Don't you go worrying about me," he all but chuckled. His hand fell to the small of my back where he rubbed soothing circles over the fabric of my gown. It warmed my skin and sprang goosebumps along my arms. "It's my job to worry about you."

I looked up at him with my bottom lip puckered. "Yeah but-"

He poked my nose to shush me and I giggled.

Mother moved beside Daddy, watching Alsa and I with the edges of her lips drawn up in a smile. She rested her hand delicately on her husbands chest while her head fell on his shoulders, her midnight hair cascading down their backs in loose ringlets. From the corner of my eye, I saw Daddy wrap an arm around her small waste, holding his beloved even more close.

Alsa and I were going be like Mommy and Daddy one day. No one could ever love someone as much as they loved each other. And that's what I wanted. Alsa better love me good, I thought humorously to myself.

After a while, Mother said to me and Alsa, "Alright you two, it's getting late," putting a halt to the game we were playing.

Daddy nodded in agreement. "Yes. Time to get on with it, child."

Laughing, Alsa returned my nose to its rightful place in the middle of my face. He was always taking my nose, holding it higher than I could reach. It wasn't fair that I was so much smaller than him.

"Nikki, the reason we came out here tonight," Mommy pointed to the women who still sat alone at the other end of the park. "We want you to go over to that human sitting alone on the bench. And don't worry, you'll know what to do when the time comes."

"Alsa come too?" I asked giddily.

Mommy shook her head. "Not this time, baby."

I glanced at Alsa who also shook his head. "Oh." So I really had to do this all by myself?

Sucking in a breath, I nodded once then ran off. My toes sank in the damp green grass with each step I made, reminding me of what they were expecting from me. I was nervous, ignorant. I didn't fully understand what they wanted me to do. Bite them? Drink their blood? What could urge me to do such a thing?