Rosa

Chapter 9

Waking up felt like deja-vu. I could feel the soft linen under me once again, and the presence beside me on the bed. I had spent too many nights in this apartment rather than my own.

This time when I opened my eyes, Alexander was still with me on the bed, instead of running away. He looked down on me with worried eyes, and I softened at the sight.

'I wasn't sure you would make it, or if I healed you in time,' he confessed, stroking my hair behind my ear.

'Thank you,' I said, meaning it in all the ways possible. He had saved me, healed me, and cared enough to do so. No one had ever been there for me that much, so it meant that much more to me.

'You never answered my question last night, about remembering me.' he pointed out. 'How do you remember Rosa?'

'I never forgot you, the compulsion didn't work, I just pretended it did.' I confessed, not knowing how he would react to it, and there was a pause before he answered.

'Of course it didn't,' he laughed.

With that statement, thousands of questions came to me, and this time I wouldn't hold them back.

'What do you mean "of course it didn't"? Is it common for the compulsion not to work?' I started my questioning.

I heard him sigh as if my questions didn't matter.

'There's no point of me telling you anything, you have to forget everything anyway,' he said, his tone sounding a little bit sadder at that.

'Well, since your compulsion clearly doesn't work on me, what else can you do but tell me, because I won't forget you.' I answered defiantly.

Alexander looked at me, not seeming sure how he should react, and it took him a moment to answer me.

'Okay fine, I'll tell you,' he paused, 'not that it'll matter in the end.' he muttered to himself, thinking I couldn't hear him.

I waited patiently for him to compose himself to start answering my questions, and before he did, he put his hand on my arm absent-mindedly, starting to stroke it lightly. This was distracting, but I couldn't let it get in the way of getting my answers.

'Vampires are nothing like the ones you have read about in books, or seen in the movies. If we are old enough we can walk in the sunlight again, just as humans. Our bite doesn't change a human into a vampire, garlic or holy-water doesn't bother us. Almost all the stories you have heard about us are false.' he took a deep breath before he finished. 'And the reason I think you couldn't be compelled is that there is something special about you, your not a vampire, that is clear, but you are something else. You might just be very strong-minded, I can't really put my finger on it, but there is something about you.'

With this answer, I understood a little bit more of what had happened in the last few days, but at the same time, I was more confused than ever. Each answer felt like a piece of a puzzle, but I wasn't seeing the picture any clearer. However, my curiosity was nowhere near satisfied.

'You said that most of the stories aren't true about vampires, does that include how to kill one?' I asked before I could think about how it sounded. My cheeks blushed at my stupid question, but Alexander didn't seem mad, he only seemed amused.

'You've already seen me kill three vampires now, you should know the stories about that is true. Decapitation, wooden stakes to the heart, fire, those things will do the trick. But the older the vampire is, the harder it is to kill it.' he answered, not worried about giving this knowledge to me.

Not wanting to talk about death anymore, I asked more questions that had haunted my mind for the last few days.

'How did you find me last night? How did you even know I was in danger?' I continued.