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The next morning, when I finally dragged myself out of bed and into Jace’s room, I found that he was already awake and dressed.
His blue t-shirt was on backwards and his favourite tan shorts were on inside out. I laughed and walked over to help him, my movements sluggish. Jace didn't usually have trouble getting dressed but some days he just threw his outfits on, without paying much attention.
Sleeping had given me some energy, but not a lot. And I had woken up extremely groggy.
He picked up on it immediately, as I pulled his shirt over his head. “Are you okay, mommy?”
I smiled at him. “I’m fine, just a little tired. Now, let me fix your pants and then we can go downstairs and have breakfast before I take you to school.”
Jace immediately started shaking his head furiously. “It’s Saturday. I get to play with my toys today.”
Although I had forgotten which day it was, I couldn’t help but laugh at Jace. He was so serious, his face set in that stare of his, making sure he was going to get his way. Jace always got his way. He had a million dollar pout and the world’s most stubborn attitude.
I fixed Jace’s clothing and made him put a pair of socks on and then we went downstairs. All Jace wanted was a bowl of cereal so I got that for him. I, of course, I wasn’t hungry for human food at all. Jace, however, smelled absolutely delicious.
I could practically see the blood that flowed through his veins in his neck and wrists. His skin was pale so it took on a translucent quality, letting me see right through it. I could feel his body heat, even from all the way across the kitchen.
I closed my eyes, biting down my lip. It split and I tasted blood but it wasn’t the blood I wanted.
Deep breath. This is Jace.
As fast I could, I grabbed my cell phone. I couldn’t trust myself not to hurt Jace.
“Hello, Genesis.” A girl answered right away.
“Hey, Kiera.” I sighed, pressing my eyes tighter. “I hope now is a good time, because I need a little help.”
“Babysitting? You want me to come there?”
“I need you to come pick up Jace and take him out for the day. I don’t care what you do, just take him to zoo or something.”
Kiera was quiet for a minute. “I’ll be right over!” Her voice was cheery and excited. Clearly, she had a bubbly personality.
I opened my eyes and turned towards Jace, looking just above his head instead of at him. “Wanna go play with Kiera for a while today?” I asked, trying to smile as normally as possible.
Jace’s face lit up and he immediately jumped up. “I’ll go get my shoes!” He started to run up the stairs, only to stop and run back down. He took one last bite of cereal before taking off up the stairs again.
I laughed, slightly breathless from the amount of energy that even took me. I braced myself on the counter, waiting for Jace to come back down. When he did, he was hopping precariously down the stairs, trying not to trip on his laces.
“Come here, bud.” I said, reaching down for his feet. He held them up for me, keeping his balance on his other foot perfectly. I tied his shoes tight and then wrapped my arm around his shoulder.
There was a knock on the door. “Have fun, okay, baby?” Jace nodded and gave me a hug before getting up and running to the door.
I heard him open it but I didn’t have enough energy to get up with him. A minute later, Kiera and Jace walked into the kitchen, Jace with a look of excitement and Kiera with a look of concern.
“Jace, go and get your jacket incase it rans.” Kiera told him, smiling. Once he was gone, she hoisted me up and helped me up the stairs. “You really aught to feed.”
I laughed once. “Not even if I was able.”
She sighed. “You should try and sleep, I’ll take Jace to the zoo and then we can go and eat lunch. Maybe we’ll catch a movie after lunch.”
“You better keep your hands off Jace.” I glared at her as best as I could. “I don’t care how hungry you get, you feed off him or hurt him at all, or even scare him, and I’ll make your life hell if it’s the last thing I do.”
She just laughed. “Don’t worry, Genesis, some of us can actually control ourselves.” Her tone implied I was uncontrolled, which made me mad. I’d been very careful so far and I hadn’t slipped up. This chick barely knew me, who did she think she was?
“I’ve been doing good. I haven’t fed once!” I argued.
She chuckled. “Exactly my point.”
I was uncomfortable with her carrying me. I easily could have walked up the stairs...it just may have taken a little longer.
When we reached my room, she deposited me on my bed. “Get some rest, I’ll bring Jace back tonight. You might want to try eating some human food. It won’t put you up to our levels but it might give you as much energy as a human has. For an hour or two, at least.”
She turned to walk out. "Hey, Kiera?" I called.
"Yes?" She asked, turning and smiling politely at me.
"Why are you doing this for me?"
She turned thoughtful for a moment. "Mostly because Theo asked me to and I owe him. But also because Jace is a good kid, and until you feed you're risking his life. If I can help him be safe, I will." She smiled and left.
I ground my teeth. I was not risking his life.
Jace came into my room, gave me one last hug and then left, too. I rolled myself onto my back, covering up with my comforter. My room seemed to get colder by the second. I let my eyes drift closed, listening as the front door opened and shut. I had to strain my ears to pick up on it.
~
Over the next few hours, I dosed in and out of consciousness. I’d just get to sleep before I’d start coughing and wake myself back up. I wasn’t sure if I was catching a cold or if there was something wrong with my chest, but every time I coughed my chest seized up, like someone was squeezing it. I tried very hard not to move, as even the slightest movements triggered nausea in the pit of my stomach.
Who knew vampires could get sick. Or cold. Or tired.
I was about ready to pull my hair out. Being a vampire was turning out to be harder than it was worth. And I hadn’t even asked for it!
Several times, I considered going downstairs to get something from the fridge but my stomach rolled at the thought of moving and of eating food, so I just stayed where I was and tried to ignore my hunger pangs that we no where near my stomach.
My throat hurt. Like someone was shoving knives down it. Imagine waking up with an extreme cold, having had to breathe through your mouth for the past three days and then drinking scorchingly hot coffee and burning your throat more. Now multiply that by 3. I’m not awesome at math but that seems about accurate to what I felt like.
Eventually, once I finally did get more than two minutes of sleep, I dreamt. It wasn’t of Alekzander, but of myself. Hunting. I was jumping from a building and then I was landing on top of someone. It was the boy from the alley. He screamed but I didn’t care as I tore his throat out, literally.
I woke up, gasping for breathe, with my hands stretched out in front of me. I wasn’t really sure how I’d moved them, since I lacked the energy to even bring them back down. I just let them drop of their own accord and didn’t bother rearranging myself when I realized I was curled awkwardly in the sheets.
~
My clock stopped working at some point. It had turned 3:47pm and then never ticked again. It was probably due to the gaping whole that my gaze was burning into it, but I still didn’t look away when it stopped working.
What else was there to stare at, anyway?
~
I’m pretty sure I fell asleep. I’m not exactly sure, though. I might have just blacked out. Maybe I hallucinated.
That would be a good explanation for why Alekzander was glaring down at me. I blinked at him twice before, on the third blink, I forgot how to open my eyes again.
He shook me awake, even though I was already awake. He continued shaking me until I opened my eyes and glared at him as well as I could.
“Do you mind?” I croaked out. “I’m probably dying from some weird disease that effects vampires and all you’re going to do is shake me? What kind of rubbish that?” I was surprised I could get the whole thing out but I don’t think he really paid attention, anyway.
“You’re going to kill yourself.” He stated loudly. My head throbbed at the unwanted noise and I made a face.
“I’m just sleeping, I’m fine.” My voice was thick and I tried to clear my throat, wincing when it hurt worse.
“You need blood.”
I nearly sighed. Again with this. “We’ve been over this.”
“Yes, and you’re not getting it.” He picked up my wrist and shook that, both of us watching as my hand just kind of...dangled there. “You’re dying. You’re a newborn vampire and newborns cannot go as long without blood as mature vampires can. Ergo, you’re going to starve yourself in the next few hours unless you feed.”
I just stared at him. Die? Wasn’t it a rule that vampires couldn’t die or something?
“That’s why you have no energy.” He continued. “Vampires don’t tire. They also don’t get sick.” His tone was thick with implications.
I was going to die if I didn’t eat? An image of Jace flashed in my mind. I couldn’t leave Jace, he’d have nothing. But I wasn't about to feed off a human, I was not a murder. I needed to find some way to be human again.
Alekzander saw my resolve weakening. “Do it for your kid. You can’t just leave him alone, and I’m assuming the father doesn’t play a huge role in his life, since you’re the only one here.”
I didn’t bother to correct him about Jace. What was the point? I didn't care what he thought about me and Jace's life was certainly not his business. “I’m not feeding from a human.”
He sighed and rubbed his head. “It takes too long to catch an animal.”
I glared. “Aren’t vampires supposed to keep secret stashes of stolen blood bags or something? Or like, a big pool of blood that they swim around in like little fish.” I wiggled my fingers, immitating fish swimming.
Alekzander’s face blanked. “You need blood.”
"If you say that one more time, you're going to need blood." I threatened.
“But yes, generally we have blood bags." He continued, acting as if I hadn't spoken. "You’re too weak to actually be able to go anywhere to get them and I don’t know where I’d get one quick, besides Theo’s house, which is currently out of stock.”
“So what I’m am I going to do, mister smarty-pants?” I tried to lift my head but I couldn’t do it so I just settled for staring up at him from supine position.
He didn’t reply at first but then he sighed. “I won’t force you to drink human blood. Right now, however, you cannot get animal blood for yourself.” I opened my mouth to argue with him, thinking he was going to try to talk me into drinking from a human. He continued talking before I could. “I’ll give you some of my blood. It’s not going to give you all your energy back, but you’ll have enough to hunt for yourself.”
I stared at him. His blood?
I hadn’t really thought about drinking vampire blood before, except when I'd dreamt about it. I’d never really noticed it but now that I tried too, I could easily pick up on Alekzander’s scent. There was no alluring heat and it didn’t call to me like human blood did. It smelled bland and boring.
Alekzander quickly put his arm behind my neck, supporting me as he lifted me into a sitting position. He bit his wrist and then held near my face. I eyed it warily, irritated that he was just holding it there, letting his blood stain my comforter.
The smell of blood so close to me gave me a little energy. Enough to lean forward and lick the dripping blood off of his pale wrist. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried not to think about what I was doing and to whom.
The nausous feeling returned, and not because I was sick.
I felt my fangs extend but my energy was waining and I wasn’t able to hold myself upright long enough to get anymore blood. Alekzander sighed and took my shoulders in his hand. He pulled one hand away from me long enough to lick his wrist, before reaching up to his neck, dragging his nail along his vein.
His skin split where he touched and blood started to ooze slowly from it. His blood seemed to be a bit darker than human blood, more rusty brown than red. It wasn’t nearly as alluring as human blood but it was seductive in it’s own way. The smell that wafted slowly over us made my throat burn more.
Alek helped me, pulling me towards him and then letting me lean against him. I avoided falling on my face by putting my hands on his shoulders and just letting my body lean limply on him.
The smell intensified with my close proximity to his blood and that in itself gave me enough energy to lean my head into his shoulder. I felt my control slipping and didn’t even think about what I was doing, as I placed my mouth over his wound.
I thought I wouldn’t know what to do, but there wasn’t any thinking to it. I just sucked softly at the wound in his neck, my tongue flitting out to make sure that the blood didn’t run down his shoulder. I wasn’t going to ruin my comforter, regardless of how hunger crazed I was.
Some small part of my brain realized how familiar this was, that it had already happened in my dream, but I ignored that and continued on drinking. I didn’t really want to stop. While it didn’t hold the same appeal as human blood did, it still tasted better than the best human meal I’d ever had.
My whole body seemed to heat up as I scooted closer so that I wasn't reaching so far. I reached up and tangled my fingers in the hair at the base of his neck, pulling his head back slightly to allow more neck for me to access.
I couldn't get enough. My throat wasn't burning but my body was. It wasn't a bad burn, though. Much less like fire than a passionate warmth. It reminded me of when he'd pretended to be a professor and then taken me back to his office. I was human then, but the feeling was similar. It was all I could do to stiffle a moan against his skin as I continued to feed and my stomach started to fill up.
Before I could drink too much of his blood, Alek stopped me. He stroked my hair lightly and then pulled my shoulders away from him. Now that I wasn’t half dead, I could hold myself up just fine.
I licked my lips, realizing I probably looked like a huge mess. “Sorry.”
Alek smirked and shook his head. He looked down at his shoulder and then back up to me, almost expectantly.
“What?” I asked, suddenly panicked. I hadn’t gotten blood everywhere had I? If I did, I was blaming him.
“You’ll have to close it, since I can’t very well lick my own neck.” He titled his head to the side slightly, waiting.
“Er...what?” Close it? Lick his neck?
He gave me a look that clearly told me how slow I was. “Vampire’s saliva heals. Haven’t you read any vampire books?”
He titled his head to the side again. I scooted closer, more nervous than I had been before. Before, I’d been completely driven by hunger. Now, I wasn’t. And I had to lick his neck. Could it get any more awkward?
Probably.
As I neared his shoulder, his musky scent filled my nose. Some of his blood had run out, onto his shoulder. I quickly licked it up before it could drip and then I ran my tongue his cut. It wasn’t very long or very wide so I only had to do it once but the entire time I was fighting the urge to just sink my teeth into his neck and feed again.
Why was I still hungry?
When I pulled back, Alek had a weird expression on his face. He had an intense look of concentration and it almost looked like he was biting his lip.
I looked back at his wound, to find that it was all healed up into a faint pink scar. I gaped at it for a minute, until I realized I had an audience and tried to compose myself.
Alek snickered at my openmouthed expression.
“Are you ready to do some actual hunting, or what?”