《...》
《Miss Wright, can you hear me?》
Suddenly, Ackroyd's voice brought you back to real life and you answered him with a smile to see that he was worried about your condition too.
Inside you, you were like a beast about to break its chains and imagining a possible encounter with the vampire doctor, or with your Creator, made your heart beat rapidly...still, you managed to disguise your true nature perfectly.
《...Dr. Ackroyd, how is he now?》 You asked with absolute sweetness despite the difficult moment.
《Well, he seems to be doing better, but it will take time for the wound to heal completely. The stitches will keep it closed until then, but he will have to refrain from getting out of bed frequently not to make it worse again. For anything, please call us without problem.》
Ackroyd had said "us" but it was obvious he meant "me", it was unbearable when Strickland thought he was taking control of the situation. You saw that frustration in his eyes and smiled slightly before nodding to what he said and thanking them for their hard work.
The dawn was near and you didn't have time to rest or hide. Now that you were alone again, you knelt in front of the bed and brought the back of his hand to your face...he was weak and cold, but you could still feel his blood moving regularly inside his body.
Then, you tried calling him.
《Geoffrey...?》
But his eyes didn't open. He had to sleep very deeply to not even be able to hear you.
You left a kiss on his hand, so rough and manly, just like he generally was and leaned with your elbows on the mattress.
《Please, wake up soon...》
You said softly right before squint your shiny eyes, but watching over the one you considered the most important man to you now.
* * *
You open your eyes before the sunlight lit up the London sky. Of course, your windows were blacked out to prevent it from coming in your room, but now that McCullum was sleeping in your bed, you decided to remove the black paper. That way, the light would have given him the warmth you didn't have.
His expression seemed more relaxed, maybe because the bruises bothering him less than earlier.
Before the light separated you from him, you leaned towards his body, moving a few tangled strands of your hair from your face...inside you, you felt the need to give him a kiss, but something stopped you.
A violent thirst hit you suddenly and the smell he emanated made it difficult for you to hold back. However, you managed to move as far away as you could by hiding in a corner of the room.
The panic increased when you realized that your blood supply was finished; generally, you had always been able to resist, despite the small dose you could afford to keep from going insane, but now that there was an "abundant stock" lying right over there, the monster inside you wanted to drain him instantly.
《I...I cannot do it, not to him!!》 You screamed at that inner voice as your claws clung to your head.
You stayed there, crouched between two tables and under the windows. At that moment, you were hoping Geoffrey didn't wake up to not see you in that state, because you didn't want him to hate you again.
Then? What would you have done once you got over this? It was obvious was going to happen again, stronger than before, so that you wouldn't have been able to control yourself anymore...and you couldn't let that happen, or you would have risked harming the people you cared about.
Jonathan was right, you thought, how could you think loving someone you could have risked killing...if it hadn't been McCullum who killed you, you would have done it by killing him, sooner or later.
When it was sure that you had finally calmed down, you walked in his direction; nothing had changed compared to a few minutes ago, but you needed to say something, that weight was too great to let it live in your heart.
《...tonight, this will be the last time I will see you. It's better for both of us if we go our separate ways and forget about each other...》
Soon, the skin around your eyes turned vividly red and invisible tears began to flow down your cold cheeks.
Then, you stretched out an arm but without touching him, as that pain would have just increased more.
And with just as much suffering, you uttered those words.
《Goodbye forever, my love.》
But just as you were about to turn towards the exit, something gripped your wrist firmly.
There, you saw his blue eyes spying on your gentle figure beside the bed as you tried to leave.
《By now, I recognize the smell of your bullshit from a mile away, you really think you can fix this shit by walking away...》 He added with an arrogant grin 《...but you can't hide from me, Y/n. Never.》
Why did this man always have to make things more difficult? And why did you get chills hearing his voice call your name? This was all absurd for you...
《Please let me go, I do not want to hurt you anymore! I am just a leech, no?》
But Geoffrey's serious expression seemed to say the opposite and he didn't let you go for a second.
《You are a leech of course, but definitely with some good attributes, ahahaha!》 Suddenly, his laughter stopped because of the pain on his side.
《...so you learn.》 You raised your chin clearly offended by that.
But that was just a laugh and nothing he had said before was a joke; for a moment, he looked around remembering he was in your room. Apparently, he had slept until dawn and his gaze returned to you again.
《Hey, you notice it's daytime, right?》
He said that in a different tone, like he was worried about you. Anyway, you insisted that he free you from his clutches.
《...that's why I was going to leave before you woke up.》 You looked away; you had to make him understand that he could do nothing to stop you, but it seemed a very demanding undertaking...in a way, that made you happy.
But then, another touch caught you off guard and soon after you were on him, with his arm wrapped around your narrow waist and the other trapping your face in front of his.
《If you want to stop me, just do what you did earlier, maybe trying to kill me this time...》 His lips were inches from yours. It didn't matter if he had a serious wound on his body, he wasn't going to do what others want. What you want.
《I could never do that...》 You whispered in a thin voice; anyway, you had never thought about it until now.
Satisfied with that answer, McCullum stole your lips for another kiss, kinder than the other. This man was really mean, you thought with a pained look, but at the same time enjoying that impudent touch.
You leaned on his shoulders paying attention to his wound; luckily, the smell of blood wasn't enough to drive you crazy again, as there was something else that was definitely doing it...
Soon, his fingers ran over the tear of your dress and then down your bare back.
It seemed like a tickle for you, although a young lady like you always had to avoid such contact with the opposite sex, of course.
He hated to admit it, but Geoffrey liked you and although he hadn't said it out loud yet, his gestures were unmistakable.
When he heard that you would have been gone away forever, he couldn't think of anything else; for a moment, he had put aside his role as a vampire slayer and his duties in Priwen's Guard to fully focus on that beautiful girl with elegant ways, but who underneath hid the fangs of a bloodthirsty creature.
He was deep in his thoughts and what he should do next, until he was awakened by some of your taps on him.
《S-stop doing this, or it will be harder for me–》
《I already told you, you can't go anywhere. Neither now, nor ever.》
After that, he buried his face in the hollow of your neck leaving kisses there too. You could have rebelled against a wounded man, but the truth was you didn't want to part with him.
Your heart was beating fast on your chest and were hoping he could feel it.
But you jumped when he suddenly grabbed the straps of your dress, looking you straight in the eye and not hiding an obvious smile.
《Remember, you're not a reputable young lady anymore and I've never been a gentleman.》
His deep tone boomed in your ears, however you noticed he immediately took off your dress, showing off your white corset.
Geoffrey stood staring at you in silence, while you tried to cover yourself, clearly embarrassed.
《Tsk! You women, always with this ridiculous stuff on...》 Geoffrey looked frustrated and not just because of the pain in his side, but because it made more obvious to you what he wanted to do.
You looked down, you never felt so vulnerable and McCullum's presence made you even more nervous and awkward; anyway, he had thought you were unaware of these man-woman things and so he decided to play au pair by unbuttoning the gray shirt he was wearing.
《W-what are you doing, stop it now!》 Your gaze fell on that big chest, you didn't imagine a man could be as virile as him and it was really hard not to avoid looking.
Then, his noisy breath returned to touch your bare and never explored before skin, making strange and shameful noises come out of your mouth.
The spots he touched turned red and the sensation it caused you was indescribable, but pleasant.
《My god, this is completely different from the books I used to read...!》 You were able to think with your eyes closed.
At that point, Geoffrey let you lie down beside his good side. His expression was more serious than ever.
《I hope you know what will happen from now on.》
Even though it didn't seem like it, those words were trying to comfort you and you couldn't help but smile...after all, he wasn't as cruel as he wanted to appear.
You swore that would have been the best moment of your life and the presence of the sun outside made it even more wonderful.
Soon, his roughness turned to sweetness from the way he had taken care of your body, and of your first time...those new sensations were so intense that when they reached the peak of pleasure, you sunk your fangs into his skin, letting the blood fall from his shoulder.
McCullum chuckled in the sweat as he watched you lick around where you bit him and he was certain that nothing before would have been able to beat it...that pristine body of yours had freaked him out and he wasn't sure you would have felt good, until he heard your sweet voice calling his name and he was enveloped by that insane pleasure.
One managed to mark the other in that explosion of feelings. When it was over, you closed the eyes to enjoy that happiness till the end, before facing the darkness had enveloped your life...
* * *
When Geoffrey woke up a few hours later, he found himself alone in bed.
He knew what you had done and didn't have the strength to chase you now, because he was sure he would have found you again...
The time passed, he scoured all the streets of London to find you.
But nothing.
His anger grew more every moment, until he realized there was something wrong with him...when he slowly began to lose his own humanity, he swore he would have hated you for all his miserable life.
Until he found you.
* * *
Somewhere in the United States of America...
100 years later
As you finished speaking, you closed the book you were holding.
《That's it for today, guys. See you tomorrow afternoon at the same time.》
You said with a smile as you let your students leave the classroom respectfully.
In the conservatory, you were their favorite teacher; besides, your music was absolutely divine, they were sure that no one in there could play the piano as well as you did.
It wasn't easy for you to reach that position without due caution; before World War II began, you left London to start a new life in the Land of Opportunity, leaving behind everything that bound you to your old home.
You weren't Y/n Wright anymore; over the years, you had been forced to change your identity because of your special condition; besides that, you didn't know anyone and the few people you dated ended up getting lost in the course of history.
It was wrong, but you couldn't help but appreciate the tranquility that you were able to build yourself...and in a period definitely far from your original costumes.
You put the last few things on your desk before going home; when you heard they were looking for teachers for the evening class, you immediately took that opportunity. However, you had chosen a cloudy area to live, away from the hustle and bustle of the modern city.
But you often thought of London; when your father died, you used some money from your inheritance to leave for the USA...you always hoped he had fallen asleep without pain.
But there was another person you couldn't stop thinking...although you had known other men, some of them very important, you were sure that they would have never measured up to him...
No matter how long it was, Geoffrey McCullum was and always would have been the only man for you and now that you had become an independent woman, you surely didn't need someone by your side, let alone get married.
As for your vampire nature, you were able to keep it at bay by settling for little blood you could get in order to survive, without running into risky situations for your new reputation.
Now, the screen of your phone showed eight o'clock and the task of locking the front door was up to you; but when you went down the stairs to reach it, you thought you saw something on the other side of the opaque glass.
The closer you got, the more it resembled the silhouette of a man. In any case, it was unlikely he was a teacher, since no one else had classes at that time, apart from you.
You had to get close in order to understand who he was and why he was there...
《The school is closed sir, do you need anything?》 You asked politely but without opening the door to the stranger.
But there was no answer.
You had a strange foreboding and suddenly a shiver ran down your spine, as if to warn you of imminent danger.
Whoever he was, it was obvious he was looking for you. So, you decided to push the front door to open it.
You looked closely those dark eyes and lost your grip on your briefcase, falling hopelessly to the ground.
《No, this is not possible...》 You said to yourself by passing a hand in front of your mouth.
The moonlight cleared your vision and recognized the man standing in front of you.
Although a century had passed, he hadn't changed at all...without understanding how and why, Geoffrey McCullum was really there.
You didn't know whether to be pleased or scared of that, until those cold-touched words came out of his mean grin.
《...》
《I found you, Y/n.》
...the hunt had begun again.
* * *
𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙴𝙽𝙳