Charlie
As if a bolt of lightning comes down from the sky, I'm jolted awake. Instantly, I observe my surroundings. My heartbeat relaxes just a little as I realize I'm lying in Maxwell's bed. Nonetheless, memories of last night flood my senses. I rip off the blanket and begin slapping parts of my body that should have deep gashes Henry inflicted on me. Except, my once bleeding body is healed and there's no ounce of blood or even scars to prove the events even happened.
"Maxwell," I yell.
He comes walking in, not running...walking. "Charlie, I can explain," he says slowly.
"What the hell did you do, Maxwell?" My voice is uneven from fear. I know the answer, but I don't want to know the answer.
"What I had to. I wasn't going to let you die."
My heart feels heavy in my chest, my lungs burn with dread, and my mouth immediately goes dry. "I should've died. You should've let me die. It's unnatural...people don't get second chances in life for a reason."
"Charlie, would you listen to what you're saying? People don't get second chances, but you do and you should be grateful."
"Grateful? I should be grateful for your selfishness." I get out of bed and stalk up to him. I have so much anger, so much regret. I don't know how I feel. All I know is that I'm not ready to be a vampire.
He puts his hands on my shoulders and leads me back to bed. He even pushes me onto the mattress and covers me up. "I know you didn't want this, but I couldn't let you die at Henry's hand. You deserve better than that and I'm sorry if I believe I can give you better. You just need to rest and come to terms with this. It'll take a while. I know it took me a while to get used to it."
"Where's Henry?" I want to get past the fact that his once best friend tried to kill me...scratch that, he did kill me.
"Dead." Is all he says.
My hand covers my chest to feel the dull thump as it beats against my ribcage from nervousness. "Why do I still have a heartbeat?"
"It takes a while for the transition to be completed."
"How long?" I say in a stern voice.
"Long enough," he says, skirting around the answer to my question, holding my hand in his.
I yank my hand out of his grasp. My voice rises with anger at his words. "Maxwell, don't make me more irritated than I already am. You can count on me knocking you on your ass as soon as I have the strength. Now, how long."
"Three...maybe four days," he reluctantly admits.
"I need to go to work," I say as I whip the blankets back off me. It's the only thing I can think of to make me feel the slightest bit better. Plus, in three, four days I won't necessarily have my work to fall back on anymore.
"No can do—" Maxwell starts to say, placing the blankets back over me.
I cut him off mid-sentence with clenched fists. "What do you mean no can do? Can't I go out into the sun for these last few days of my normal life?"
"You're just as human as before you were stabbed in the chest, but you nearly died. I already—"
"Nearly died? I did die...I'm going to die," I interrupt him again.
He huffs at my lack of respect in not allowing him to finish what he's trying to tell me, but I can't help it. With one deep breath inhaled and slowly exhaled, he continues talking. "I already took the liberty to call Morgan, telling her you won't be coming in today. You might feel fine, but you need more rest." With that said, he leaves the room and shuts the door behind him.
I can tell he's angry with my ungratefulness, but I can't help it. He thinks of my not wanting to be a vampire as an insult, but I just wanted it to be...more romantic maybe. Not so painful and bloody. And now I'm stuck in this room all day, most likely by myself, to face nothing but my own taunting thoughts. I fall back down onto the pillow and stare at the ceiling for what seems like hours. Boredom sets in and my stomach growls with hunger.
"Can I at least have a book or watch a movie? I'm hungry...so hungry," I say into the empty room, hoping that Maxwell will hear my whines.
A few seconds later, he enters with a tray in his hands. He sets it down on the nightstand and I take a look at what he brought me. A book that he must've stolen off one of my bookshelves at home, a few magazines that were at my house as well, and a bowl of what looks to be chicken dumpling soup.
"Soup...you brought me soup. I'm dying, not sick. I won't have the joy of eating anymore and you bring me soup. You could've at least brought me a cheeseburger and chili cheese fries or lasagna." I continue to rattle off all the food I'm going to miss. "Ice cream and strawberries and soda and brats and pizza and popcorn..."
"Okay, I get it. You'll miss food. It'll take some time, but with plenty of supplement you'll be able to retrain your body to digest."
"Supplement? What the hell is that?"
"Blood. Blood makes us alive."
"Oh." I might be disgusted, but it doesn't stop me from biting into a dumpling. Even though I complained about having soup, it's delicious.
I eat alone since Maxwell leaves the room. He feels guilty and therefore he can't quite look at me. The blame he puts on himself makes me feel awful. It's not his fault and I did express on many different levels that I'm on board with him, with us.
But that doesn't solve my problems. How am I going to inform Morgan of my soon departure? Not to mention how in the world am I going to handle parties? I could close up shop and move past it or I could leave Morgan in charge.
The thought of leaving my one true passion just brings another obstacle to mind. What about my house? I could renovate it, making it possible for me to live in it once I become allergic to the sun or I could sell it. Then again renovating it seems better than the thought of living in this small hotel room with Maxwell. I decide not to breach the subject with Maxwell just yet. Instead, I'll let him pamper me.
After three chapters read of the book Maxwell left me, my eyelids begin to get heavy and the book slowly starts to fall to my chest. It's not until I feel the slide of the book underneath my still clenched fingers that I realize I fell asleep. I mumble a few incoherent words as I stretch my stiff body.
"Go back to sleep, Charlie." I hear Maxwell whisper inches away from me. He brushes his hand through my hair, moving strands away from my face. Within seconds, I feel the familiar coldness of his body as he crawls into bed.
I unwillingly drift back to sleep. No matter how mad at him I tell myself that I am, I can't deny how comfortable and safe he makes me feel. Just knowing that he's by my side makes facing being a vampire tolerable. I don't know if I could do it without him.
Without the sun shining into the room to alert me morning has arrived, I rely on the clock. With a quick rub of my eyes, I read the bright red numbers that say seven forty-five. It has to be seven forty-five in the morning because I was up past ten last night.
"Rise and shine," I yell, shaking a nonresponsive Maxwell.
"Morning already?" he grumbles.
"Oh please, let's not pretend that you actually asleep. I have to go to work and I just wanted to...well, I don't know why I woke you up exactly."
"You don't have to go to work today. I'm sure Morgan will understand."
"Funny, but I'm not lying in this bed all day again. I have to face the music eventually and figure out my life. I have to tell Morgan something. It has to be a really good believable lie on how I'll be 'missing' during the day, but beyond active at night."
"Maybe you should just tell her. For all you know she knows about vampires because of James," Maxwell says, offering his opinion.
"I don't think so. It'll sound crazy. The conversation will sound something like, oh, Morgan, I'm sorry but I can only come out of the house at night because the sun will kill me. What? You want to know why the sun will kill me...well, you see, Maxwell is a vampire and his once best friend who is also a vampire, you know, green eyes killed me with the help of Daisy on Monday night. Maxwell being too attached saved me by turning me into a monster as well." My hands fly up into the air, "See, sounds stupid. The only way she's getting the truth is if she tells me about James or about the existence of vampires first," I retort.
"Suit yourself. The truth is the easiest way around things."
"And you'd know all about spitting the truth out." I tease. "It's also the easiest way to get me admitted into the psych ward." I jump out of bed and in a rush get dressed. I ignore Maxwell's protest as I grab my purse and head for the door.
No one is out the kill me anymore, since they already succeeded in that, so the world safe...for now.
"No kiss goodbye?" he asks, leaning against the kitchen table in his boxers.
"No, I'm still mad at you. I know I should be appreciative I'm not having to get buried, but I'm just not used to the fact that my heart is going to stop beating. I need time."
"I understand," he says with his eyes on the floor.
"However, while you sit here all depressed by my lack of compassion, you can think of what I need to do to make my house vampire safe, because I'm not staying here."
"We can always start fresh and move away seeing as this place has left you with such bad memories."
"Move away? To where?"
"My home. It's not far from here, just a few states over."
"My home is here, my life is here."
"Your human life is here. Maybe it would be better to start fresh with your new life."
"I'll think about it after this is all over with." I compromise as I walk out the door, letting it slam behind me.
He has a house? Like actually lives somewhere instead of a hotel room? I never even thought he had a life prior to tracking me down. I never even realized he left everything behind to convince me to become his bride. The least I can do is consider leaving everything I have behind to convince myself that I belong in this new world that waits for me in a few days' time.
Preparing myself for the sun to blind me as I exit the hotel, to my dismay the sky is a cloudy gray. My hopes of seeing the bright orb before I can't see it again gradually get squashed. The parking lot is mostly empty as I pull into my usual spot. Morgan hasn't arrived yet and thank goodness, because the walk to the front doors brings up nasty memories of Daisy.
My shaking hands show my uneasiness as I sit behind my desk in hope of getting through the day. I look around my office and think about how I'm going to miss it. Not soon after I arrive, Morgan gets here. I can hear her running footsteps coming down the hall.
A breathless Morgan huffs and puffs as she tries to catch her breath in my doorway. Sooner or later she finally speaks. "Charlie, you're back." She might be tired from her run, but not that exhausted because she sprints over to me and engulfs me in a hug, cutting off my airflow.
"Morgan, I'm fine. Really. Not a scratch." I manage to get out of my mouth.
She holds me away at arm's length, inspecting me. "The way Maxwell sounded last night I thought you were dead."
I quirk an eyebrow up at her statement. "Morgan, sit down, I have to tell you something. You see, I'm faced with a very difficult situation that leaves me unable to be here. Either I can close down or if you're willing, I could leave you in charge. You'll still be able to reach me, but I'll be unavailable during certain hours...daytime hours, to be exact." I don't bring up the possibility of leaving the whole city behind. No need to worry her with that until I actually make that decision.
I brace myself for her response. "You don't have to leave, I understand fully. You can come in and work at night and I'll be here during the day. In fact, your situation can give you more business."
"What are you talking about? I'm thankful for your understanding, but you don't exactly know about my situation."
"Charlie. No more lying. I've known about Maxwell for some time now, since you went to Austria with him for your presentation. Why do you think I keep pushing Maxwell on you? I know all about Henry and Daisy and how they tried to kill you. I even know that Maxwell saved you and you're one of them now, but things don't have to change," she pleads.
"One of what now?" I want to play the dumb card and act like I know nothing about what she's talking about, but the things she said were so spot on.
"A vampire, Charlie. James told me everything. I'm in this just as much as you. Well, not as much as you, but you're not alone. Now, instead of leaving, you need to think of new fresh ideas such as parties at midnight and stuff. I'll let you get to work. Glad you're back." With a wink, she leaves my office without anything further to say.
What the fuck just happened? I question myself, shaking my head in disbelief. Morgan has known about Maxwell...vampires altogether for how long? Not as long as me...at least I don't think she has. Yet she's more comfortable with everything more so than I am. That went much easier than I expected. Now, if only this whole transition thing goes just as smoothly.
Turning toward the papers that litter my desk, I put all of my attention on the party that's this Saturday, because for all I know it's going to be the last one I do and it'll be a fun one at that. The ideas that fill my mind for the red carpet themed birthday party makes the time go by faster.
Before I know it, Morgan knocks on the doorframe. "I'm heading out. Are you coming too or are you going to stay for a while longer?" She patiently waits for my reply.
"No, I can leave. I have a lot of preparations to make for the big change." It feels weird and more than awkward talking to Morgan about this whole thing. The idea of being able to talk to someone about it was relieving, but part of me wants to keep it all in, wanting to shoulder the burden myself.
Within several minutes of reassuring Morgan that I'm fine and that I'll see her tomorrow, I finally make my way back to Maxwell. I can only hope he did what I asked of him and has a list of things I can go buy to keep my mind off the inflexible list of things to come. Nothing cures depression like a little shopping.