James had to call the doctor in. It was as simple as that. All we had to do was wait fifteen minutes too. How a physician had time like that to spare was beyond me, but really, what prompt service, especially at the measly $250 dollars the whole thing ended up being. It went from at least $700 dollars to a flat $250. How could I argue that? James even bagged the What, How, and When to Do It manual.
I think I finally understood the dirty innuendo of the title too after the look James had given the both of us. I found myself wondering for the first time if this was just a way to get sex for the paying customer, sort of an under the table brothel masked as a gothic boutique.
The large hand at my neck, checking my pulse, paused. "You have an elevated pulse," he said mumbling, carefully counting the seconds on his watch.
"Well, you would too if you were surrounded by..."
"Maggie!" I said, interrupting her before anything dirty tumbled out of her mouth, but it was louder than I anticipated, seeming to echo off the crimson colored walls. Feeling my face flush, my gaze darted towards Dr. Sutter and then quickly down when I saw his amused expression pointed at me.
It occurred to me then that this doctor could've had black hair and blue eyes too, which would've been a disaster. I would've been a puddle of gooey mess. I wasn't completely immune to Dr. Sutter's ash colored hair and green eyes either. It just didn't affect me the same way.
His green eyes weren't like mine either, which were mixed with a little brown and could be considered two different colors. They were a pine crispy green that reminded me of healthy grass on a sunny afternoon. But his complexion didn't match the sun analogy with his eyes. He was so pale he was almost pasty, like he was allergic to the sun.
Oh, you are hilarious, Annabelle, I thought to myself, practically taking a chunk out of my cheek to keep myself from smiling.
Dr. Sutter had the buff, shoulders-twice-as-wide-as-me physique with the popping arm muscles, which really made the fact that he was practically albino strange. I always thought people, who made a habit of going to the gym, cared about appearance and took the time to tan or go to a tanning booth. Cancer in a box was always really important.
I let out a tiny snort at my sarcasm before Dr. Sutter's voice interrupted my thoughts. "I'm going to draw your blood now."
I nodded instinctually, feeling the wet alcohol swab and then the sting of the needle piercing my skin. I glanced down, watching as the blood welled quickly into the once yellow capped tube. When it was full, he quickly changed the tube for an empty one, letting that fill as well. It was the third vial that caused me to be suspicious.
Did they really need that much blood?
"Do you plan on giving me a muffin for this donation?" I asked him, glad that the heavy dose of sarcasm wasn't lost on the good doctor when the corner of his mouth lifted.
Without responding, he turned with the tubes and handed the contents over to James who promptly took them towards the back of the shop. I lifted an eyebrow as I managed to read the sign on the door matching the walls of the boutique. "No humans allowed," was scrawled across the face of it in a blocky, bold, black design.
Everybody was a comedian. Even doors, apparently.
"Touch the tip of your nose," Dr. Sutter said.
I glanced up, surprised to see him standing back in front of me and once I did what he said, he gave off more instructions. I quickly followed each command, thinking I could do this in my sleep. It wasn't my first rodeo.
When I was finished, I waited patiently for Dr. Sutter to perform the same tasks on Maggie. Or rather I tried to wait patiently, but the ache in my feet now that I was standing up again was bothering me. I glanced around quickly noting that the only other chair was behind the counter where James used to be.
I shrugged, not thinking it over much, as I hurried over to the simple black and silver stool. Leaping to get on the rather high chair, I shifted so that I was sitting straight up with my hands folded in my lap.
I bit my lip, tapping my fingers against my arm as I watched the doctor with Maggie. Where James was a roar of beauty and wildness, Dr. Sutter was subtly graceful, poised even, like he was born royalty. There was arrogance in the way he carried himself, but it wasn't obnoxious or overwhelming like I'd noticed with James. His presence commanded attention, but never demanded it. I had known instantly when he'd come into the boutique through the backdoor.
I cocked my head to the side letting the corner of my mouth perk upwards. I'd do him.
I paused in my verging gutter thoughts, feeling an itch at the back of my neck. I was being watched was my first thought. I scratched at the back of my neck, rocking in the squeaking stool and dismissed the eerie feeling, but when I felt the air stir behind me it was too late to respond.
Two large hands spanned around the sides of my waist, nails digging slightly into my stomach as I was pulled backwards. The feeling of the cool male chest against my back wasn't what I expected. The gulp of air seemed to catch in my throat as my eyebrows shot up my forehead and my eyes widened with surprise. Past that I didn't have much time to react to the touching before that same someone had pushed my hair completely, away exposing the column of my neck.
I didn't know what was wrong. I couldn't move my body. I was like a living statue, frozen. My eyelids slid shut at the feel of a soft kiss against the juncture of my jaw and throat. Inhaling shakily, I felt the plumb smooth skin of a male cheek brushing against me, settling flush against my own cheek.
"You smell as good as you taste." The deep, hypnotic voice whispered.
Man oh man. James had an orgasmic voice. I clenched my thighs together, trembling as aftershocks seemed to caress like fingers teasing between my legs. It was a strange contrast of need and gut tearing fear of feeling like prey.
"Aw, snuggles." Maggie called in her cutesy voice.
Snuggles? Couldn't she see that I needed help? I'd been dosed with something. It was the only explanation as my muscles trembled from being so deathly still. I wanted to scream for her to help me, but I couldn't even manage a whimper.
Luckily, it seemed her interruption was enough for whatever happened to me to stop. I instantly slumped down with relief before quickly yanking at the arms wrapped around my midriff. I leapt up from the seat, rounding the corner of the counter using it as a safe barrier between the two of us. A tiny sob escaped my lips before I managed to smack my hand over my mouth. The deep breath I took was filled with a muffled scream that sounded like a horse neighing and the satisfied, almost dreamy expression on his face as he lazily lifted his mouth into a seductively dark grin made me want to puke.
"A.B. what's wrong?"
Maggie hadn't felt it. Nothing had happened to her, but I felt almost violated with an unwanted gripping fear that had nothing to do with James hugging me. Something had happened, something wrong, sinister, and completely against my will.
"James!" Dr. Sutter's voice boomed with authority, startling another scream from me that sounded like a grunt beneath my warm, clammy hand.
James shrugged nonchalantly and went to round the counter towards me. I held up the hand that wasn't covering my mouth, warding him off. I hadn't even noticed I'd been shaking until I watched my hand waving at him to stay were he was.
It was then I noticed his eyes were no longer blue, but black. His pupils were dilated. That son of a bitch! He dosed me with something. Soon it didn't matter that his appearance still made my knees turn to jelly because all I could think was what drug could've done that. It would figure that we chose a boutique full of (a total of one) drug addict with swift access to his very own personal physician.
"Are you high?" I screamed in outrage. "If you gave me something..."
He shook his head, his grin never wavering, but also avoiding the answer. "Ladies," he said, turning towards Maggie who was sitting on the stool with Dr. Sutter standing right next to her. "We need to know which one of you is doing what."
Was he serious?
"Look, we aren't doing anything if you're back there snorting shit. What did you dose me with?" I demanded to know, widening my stance and bracing myself for a verbal fight. The thought of a physical fight made my heart clench as he started walking towards me again. I wouldn't win; I could barely throw a punch and Maggie was just utterly hopeless. "I have a tazer and I'm not afraid to use it!"
The lie seemed to sour on my tongue as I watched his shoulders stiffen at the threat. He looked like a King Cobra ready to strike as he bristled like a disturbed bird. I focused on his fully dilated eyes, noting that there was no more beautiful blue, just black, as he stared at me.
I felt sick with fear and I was angry because of it. This was ruining my love of being, un-harmfully, afraid.
"I assure you there are no drugs but your blood."
The stabbing bouts of nausea that continued to make my stomach upset turned and rolled, wreaking havoc as I bowed over the counter.
Huh?
"What?" It was all I could manage.
His hands folded together about five inches away from his chest and he turned towards me. I felt the blood drain from my face. This was not normal. That was not a normal turn. It was a turn that sent my heart to my stomach and caused me to have flash backs of The Gentlemen from a Buffy episode called Hush.
The Gentlemen were gray white colored men with smiles as wide as their face in black suits that floated a few inches off the ground, taking a towns ability to speak so they could cut the hearts out of people without being interrupted. They took the voices because there was no one to hear you scream as they held you down and cracked your chest open.
When he cocked his head like a curious animal the heat dissipated from my hands like magic, turning them cold as ice. It was moments like this that caused me to have those real nightmares. The ones I wasn't happy about. If he glided towards me like he was floating, I'd run screaming.
"Gees, A.B. relax. He's a vampire that sucks our blood," Maggie said, making air quotes around vampire and blood. "He probably put contacts in to give us the effect. Don't you remember?"
James huffed and tapped the tips of his fingers together like a psychotic murdering child, contemplating what Maggie said. "Contacts," he said in a mutter, like it baffled him.
Contacts?
Contacts.
Maggie had paid for this. Of course they'd put on a show. This is what both of us had wanted, realism of supernatural creatures for Halloween. I let out a relieved sigh, dropping my forehead against the cool glass counter top. I laughed, ignoring the niggling warning scratching at the back of my mind at how afraid I'd been just moments ago. Nothing normal could cause that. My mind tried to reason with me. No. James was just a very gifted actor and-and black hair and blue eyes are my downfall. That's all it was.
I rolled my eyes and with a laugh I apologized. "Wow, do I feel stupid. I'm really sorry about that. So I guess you're one of the vampires?" I asked the question as casually as I possibly could given the fact that my pulse was going like a rabid jack rabbit.
He nodded at my question. "I'm a made vampire."