When I knew she had gone with the sounds of her breathing and stopping of her heart, I held her to me.
I didn't feel grief. I felt worry.
I laid her down, adjusting her hair around her head, feeling the need to cover her with a blanket.
As I predicted when she slept in my casket, she is beautiful dead.
Her silence the pit of my fear.
I gained so much comfort in her breaths that not hearing them stirred a type of panic inside me I didn't know possible.
She'd be so beautiful. I wondered if her eye color would change like mine did. I had brown eyes that became blue when I woke up.
Everything looks so much healthier even though your dead. Hair, skin, body.
She was already so beautiful but there were so many changes that were going to come from this.
I sat beside her all night until I had to leave for work.
I dreaded this, my boss said I could take off Friday as that would be day 3 which is the most crucial day of change and I thanked him.
I killed who he needed me to kill, threatened who I had to threaten, etc.
Got home to her as soon as I could.
Everything in me still burned but without her voice I felt better. I love her voice.
I removed her clothing, grabbing room temperature water and a cloth as I wiped her skin.
This would help regulate her death, she increasingly got colder overtime and with this it would help prevent to large of a decrease. She'd be more comfortable and I hoped doing this would wake her sooner.
I put lotion on her body afterward, pulling a hoodie and sweatpants onto her.
I kissed her cheek, holding her hand as I sat and watched until the next morning.
Call me creepy but I was desperate for her wake.
Repeated this process the following day.
Friday I spent monitoring her progress as well as cleaning the house top to bottom, getting a bouquet for every room, emptying to fridge and getting rid of the bulky kitchen appliances and instead installing a cooler with hospital donations of all kinds of blood for her incase she wouldn't like mine.
I hoped she'd like mine. But I can't control her taste.
Mine was her delicious AB-.
I fixed up her closet, getting a few belts since she would no longer have a metabolism therefore she might lose a bit of weight.
I kept checking her temperature and it was dripping rapidly.
Today I wanted it to hit -1° F.
That was the goal. That was more than halfway and that meant physical changed would begin tonight.
And she was at 13°F. Still a bit warm.
I bought more jewelry and shoes for her since she could come to work with me if she desired.
I got her pantsuits and changed her again, into shorts and a light long sleeve so she would cool more.
I bought her more of those nightgowns she liked and wrapped it all in wrapping paper for gifts.
I was losing my mind.
I got her roses to replace the dead petals on the bed.
I re-sprinkled them, pulling her body up to brush her hair, after she woke, she wouldn't have knots any longer.
But for now I wanted to brush her hair.
Then I debated what to do now.
-
All weekend I'd been by her.
Her skin was at -13°F. I needed it down 3 more degrees.
I kissed her knuckles and up her arms, savoring the skin only barely warmer than mine now, my body burning for her, the pain less alive and more of a hollow ache.
I kissed her face, peppering small ones across her forehead and cheeks.
I debated a larger ring but I bought myself one so I could wear it and recall I had a beautiful wife.
A beautiful vampire wife.
I was excited. She loved dark things but she was about to become what she was so curious about.
-
I changed the sheets from white to black on Sunday, placing her on the couch as I did, then placed her and the petals back.
This was day 5, with this I put her in a thin gown.
Her collarbones were much more present, the imprints of her ribs visible as she laid and her face grew more defined, her features turning sharp and dark.
Cheekbones high, jaw pointed, eyebrows blackening and perfectly shaped, cupids bow deep with fuller lips, hair blacker and thicker and softer. Eyelashes long and full.
She was stunning.
I opened her eye with my fingers, shining a flashlight, the color a light grey.
I was confused with that shade.
But I'd see when she was woken.
I brushed her hair, finding it soothed me when I missed her too much.
Her natural eye bags dissipated but I knew they would come back when she was hungry or starved like I was.
I kissed the tops of her feet, her calves, stomach, chest, neck, arms, hands.
I worshiped her change as it was a selfless action so I could keep her for myself, forever.
I called a nail tech and asked if she would be comfortable working on my wife while she was asleep and she said yes as she was a shifter.
She came that night.
"What does she like?"
"When I met her she had black nails, a bit long, but she likes things that accents her pale skin."
"Do I have free reign?"
"I'm sure she'd be fine with whatever. If not, we can come back and change them."
So I let her do her nails.
I have never felt so protective over her. She wasn't even vulnerable, she was running the line of indestructible and I'd never felt so anxious with someone touching her hand.
They were beautiful though.
She painted her toes the same color.
-
It was Monday, day 6, sometime in the next 3 days she should be here.
I charged her electronics and kissed her before leaving for work.
I made sure she could see her ring present on the nightstand whenever she would wake.
I removed it and got it smaller in size since she thinned so much it became to big for her to wear.
I tried it on her this morning and it was a much better fit.
I also changed her into a nice dress so when she'd see herself she'd be happy with everything.
I sat in my office and did paperwork from last week I procrastinated and hammered out a bunch of overdue shit.
"Where the hell is my husband!" I heard shouting and my frozen heart sank.
"Ma'am, he's busy-"
I stood and ran to the elevator, going to the main level.
"I'll ask you one more time-"
"Look, miss he is currently-"
"I'm here." I said and the doors opened, she looked at me, back hair parted messily to the side, once brown eyes were bright grey, face sharp, skin icy, smell sweeter than ever, it was more Elira than her human smell.
"My god." I cursed, my wife the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on.
All the pain completely calmed, seeing her.
She studied me.
"I've missed you." She smiled.
That woman was...
All fucking mine.