Rosa

Chapter 6

'What will I do with you?'

I heard a soft whisper in the back out my mind and woke up by a soft, warm, hand stroking my cheek.

My eyes fluttered open, and the presence I had felt beside me seconds ago was now gone.

Waking up I remembered what Alexander and I had shared this morning, the intimacy, the pleasure. I felt the way my heart beat faster and how I got butterflies in my stomach just from thinking about him. We had shared something, it may not have been that big of a deal to someone else, but for me, to share that with him only made me feel more for him than I had before.

Feeling and looking around myself I noticed I was still on the bed, dressed only in my underwear and a large t-shirt. The wound from Alexanders bite was already healed, just as the first one had healed, and I knew that had to have been Alexanders doing.

I could feel that Alexander was still in the room. I knew it had been him lying beside me in the bed since the warmth of him were still there.

I wondered how he was so warm now when earlier, his skin had felt much colder when he had tried to compel me.

I knew I probably shouldn't be asking a lot of questions right now, but my curiosity got the better of me.

'How are your hands so warm? I thought vampires were supposed to be cold?' I asked shyly, making it known that I knew he had been next to me, that I had felt his hand stroking my cheek before I woke up.

There was a long silence before he responded, while he contemplated if he should answer or not.

'I'm warm from the blood I took from you this morning, while we...' he stopped in the middle of the sentence, looking away from me.

'Oh,' was all I could answer, my head filled with thoughts and questions.

'You have to stop asking me questions, I will have to make you forget it all anyway, there is no point in wasting any more of our time.' he said this coldly as if he was detaching himself from what he was about to do. I felt my heart break a little at his statement, even after the morning we shared, he still wanted me to forget, maybe he didn't want me as much as I wanted him. Too ashamed to answer because of his rejection, I waited for him to talk again.

'Now that I've had more of your blood, I think this should work better, I shouldn't be as distracted' he mumbled to himself as if I wouldn't hear him.

A part of me wanted to forget this, everything, the attack, our intimacy, him. But another part of me, the bigger part, didn't want to forget Alexander, and the moments we had shared. I knew he would try to compel me again, to take my memories away, but secretly, I hoped it wouldn't work again, even though it hurt me that he would try.

Alexander stepped up to me by the bed and sat down softly.

I wanted to be closer to him, for him to touch me again, but I didn't want to embarrass myself by assuming he wanted me back. He had probably only wanted my blood, and he had gotten it so now he was over me.

He reached for me as his hand stroked against my cheek one last time as if he was saying goodbye, and his green, sharp eyes, locked on mine. I could feel his hypnotizing gaze again, but just like last night, I was still aware of what he was doing.

Sitting there, caught in his gaze, I realized that he would never let me go if I didn't forget about him, about the vampires, so I knew what I had to do.

'Rosa,' he paused, 'You will forget about the vampire from last night, you will forget that he tried to compel you and that he attacked you. You will forget about me rescuing you, you will forget our intimate moment.' at this, he took a second to think.

'All you will remember is that your shift felt long and exhausting, and you went home and fell asleep right away from exhaustion. When you come home, you will think that you woke up from that sleep and spent the day at home, all the memories of vampires, and of me, will be gone.'

I kept eye-contact through all of this, and some part of me wanted to give in to the compulsion, the pull was so strong, his words, and the truth fighting beside each other in my mind, but the memories of all the events that had happened, could not be erased.

I tried my best to keep a blank face, to calm myself to make it believable, and it seemed to work since Alexander sighted deeply.

He bent over to kiss my forehead, and it took everything in me not to sigh into the kiss. I got up and got dressed, looking detached at the same time, hoping it would look believable, and without one last glance, I walked out the door.

On my way home, all the thoughts, and shock came rushing. I knew that what I had learned was impossible. But still, all the evidence said it was real.

Vampires were real, I had gotten attacked and almost died. Alexander had saved me, then I had shared what was my most intimate moment ever. My fright in the new city hadn't been from paranoia, it had been real, the vampire from the bar had followed me, just as he had said, and I wondered what would happen to me now.

I had no idea what my next step should be, should I run away, move, quit my job? I didn't know what the right move was, and what would happen if Alexander found out that I still remembered everything?

I knew I couldn't tell anyone, they would just think that I was crazy, which a small part of me contemplated if I was. Thinking about it, I also knew I couldn't quit my job right away since Alexander would know that something was up. With a sinking feeling, I realized that I would have to keep working around vampires, around Alexander, pretend as if nothing was wrong. I wasn't terrible at lying, but this wasn't a small white lie, this lie would complicate, and endanger, my whole life.

That night I had my fourth shift and the last shift for the week. I dreaded having to go there, wishing I could call in sick, but knowing there was no way I could. Mentally, I was the most unstable I had ever been. But physically, my body felt healthier and stronger than ever before, and I guessed I had Alexanders blood to thank for that.

With a weak mind, and strong body, I went into the restaurant, filled with mixed emotions.

It was hard not to panic while walking through the restaurant. I knew the people in there weren't actually people, and I knew that they would hurt me, kill me, if they had the chance.

While waiting tables, I noticed that the stares from the guests had changed, they weren't glaring with the same hunger or anger, but with confusion. I noticed how the customers felt my new scent, they must have registered that it was Alexander's blood in my system because each vampire that noticed my scent stared a lot at first and then tried to keep their eyes of me, almost as if they were trying to be respectful.

Contemplating this, I guessed it was probably Alexanders blood in my system that had changed my smell, and that had made the customers assume that I was off limits, which was no problem to me, to feel the lack of eyes on me was a heavy-weight off my shoulders.

However, there was another feeling in the restaurant now, instead of the hunger, there was tension and I was frightened that someone would figure out that I knew about them, and that my secret would come out.

Time seemed to have stopped, the hours never ended, and my nerves didn't make it any better. As soon as a guest made a sudden movement I jumped out of my skin, thinking they figured out what I knew and that they were going to attack me. I was sweating lightly and my heart was pounding. I thought these things would reveal my secret, but the vampires in the restaurants, seemed to almost be wary of me now, and no one questioned my jumpiness.

The only one I knew would notice my reactions, was Alexander, but luckily for me, he didn't come into the restaurant that night. I knew I had to compose myself before the next time I saw him, otherwise, he would see right through me, and who knew what he would do then.