Blood for Love

Nerina

There was so much blood… I don't know where it came from. It was everywhere on the pillow, in my hair, on the sheets; just everywhere. I began to writhe in agony as my body registered pain. My head turned to my left and laying there staring at me with wide emerald eyes was him…

Life was fun and full of happiness; I never thought anything could go wrong. I was just a normal 15- year old girl; good grades, popular, a cheerleader and a loving family – I don't know if it could get any better. Maybe I should introduce myself, I'm Nerina, my mother's and father's little angel and a compassionate loving sister to my little brother Brett. Although our schedules are busy we always find time for each other no matter what.

Even though my life seemed so perfect there was one thing I constantly wished for- love. Not family love or friend love, but true love. It seems as if I will never find love and it will never find me.

It was a typical day for me- wake up, go for a run, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, do my make-up, then off to school, but what I didn't know was that my day was not going to continue to be typical.

School went by slowly, class by class, none of it really registering in my mind. Finally the school day came to an end and it was cheer time. My favorite activity of the day- spending time with my family- was approaching fast. Soon I would just be able to relax, laugh at my day and not have to worry about anything.

Practice ended and as I checked my phone mom sent me a message asking me to pick up a movie. After changing I left to walk to Blockbuster then home. Night was settling in fast as the sun left for the day. A cold wind blew hard and as it hit my face it felt as if someone had slapped me. I felt as if someone was watching me and shuddered in fear. My pace increased to a light jog trying to focus my senses to see if I was just being paranoid. When I did this I expected for the fear to dissipate, but it didn't the feeling only intensified because what I heard was not just my footfalls or the sounds of nature, but a second set of footfalls.

It felt like my heart was going to burst from my chest as it sped up to match my footsteps. I bolted increasing my speed to as fast as I could go wanting to get to safety. Whoever was following me sped up as well and was getting closer and closer. Breathing seemed next to impossible at the time as my body was tired and burning with exertion as my heart was working overtime to get oxygen that wasn't there to my muscles.

All the running was over now; I couldn't go any further. I slowed slightly and fell to the ground as someone tackled me. My eyes roamed searching for something and they met a set of beautiful emerald eyes. A silent scream escaped my lips as the eyes disappeared and everything in my world went black.

I didn't know where I was and couldn't remember anything of what happened. Everything is so bright and cheery, I thought to myself, This must be a dream. Not wanting to be here any longer I forced myself to awaken. My eyelids fluttered open and all I saw was red. I blinked multiple times and soon realized that the red was blood!

There was so much of it; I didn't know what to do. That was when my body registered pain and all the memories came swarming back. I looked to my left feeling helpless and that was when I saw him with his wide emerald eyes watching me writhe with agony.

Nevan

She was so beautiful; long wavy light brown hair, beautiful eyes the color of water just like her name meant, even only being 5'4" she was the most beautiful thing on the planet to me. Her name was Nerina and I wanted her to be mine for eternity. Nerina wasn't like the other girls who supposedly loved me. She was humble, honest, intelligent, and just amazing, always caring for others before herself.

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Nevan, I was born in 1993 and was changed into a dark disgusting creature a year ago right after my 16th birthday. Now my day is the night, I must feast on blood to live and from what I have found I am stuck like this forever.

Tonight though that was going to change; I wouldn't be alone anymore. Instead it would be me and my love Nerina. It would be a special event tonight- I would change Nerina into a vampire and then we could live happily ever after. As the set time approached I sat counting down the minutes and wondering what she would think of me for changing her and taking away her family and friends and everything she ever loved.

Finally it was time and she exited her school walking slowly the wind playing in her hair. I followed safely behind her struggling to not make any noise. Soon her speed increased and I knew that she had sensed me. I kept with her increasing my speed when she did hers. It did not last long though after about 5 minutes I tackled her to the ground and she passed out.

I knew I could not take her to her home so instead I took her to the second most comfortable place I knew, a hotel. Gently I lifted her from the ground being sure not to jostle her too much. Carrying her with as much care as you hold a newborn baby I ran to the nearest hotel. No one noticed us thankfully and her breathing was normal enough so that it seemed as if she was sleeping.

When we checked in it was right around 10 pm and her phone held 5 missed calls and 20 text messages all from her home. I carried her into the room and set her down on the bed being sure not to disturb her. All that was left for me to do was for me to mix our blood and then wait until the transformation was complete. The room had all the basics and I searched for the extra sheets before I mixed my blood with hers because it could become messy. After setting the extra sheets beside it was time.

I pulled out my pocket knife and pulled up my shirt sleeve scraping the sharp edge across my skin. Blood welled up from the opening swiftly and I crossed the room to Nerina. Her arm was delicate and I carefully rolled up the sleeve of her jacket. Again I scraped the knife only this time it was along her skin not mine. The blood quickly came running from the cut and before I knew it the smell was over whelming, filling the room. I pressed my bloody cut to hers and it mixed sending my vampire blood into her so that it could overtake her human blood.

It was going everywhere, especially onto her clothes and the bed that held her. After about 3 minutes, I knew she had enough of my blood for the change to work. All that I could do now was wait and pray that she did not die from the change.

The time passed; minute by minute, hour by hour. Finally around 1 am I watched as her body began to shake slightly and knew she would awaken soon. I moved to her side and waited until about 10 minutes later when she awakened. At first she seemed fine, then she began to writhe and I couldn't stand it. She seemed so helpless and innocent and then she stared into my eyes pleading with me to make the pain either stop or to kill her before the pain did, but I just couldn't do either. All I could do was sit there and wait. To make her not feel as threatened I held her hand and wiped the hair from her face.

Soon she calmed down some and the writhing was not as bad. It was like a light twitching now. "Shhh, it's ok. I'm Nevan, please don't be afraid," I whispered gently to her. Her lips opened slightly as if to say something then closed as did her eyelids. She tightened her grip on my hand and her back arched off the bed as the transformation took its final step.

Nerina

Pain, pain and more pain was all I could feel. Having him here was sort of comforting as I searched his eyes and saw love and sympathy for my pain. After a while the pain dissipated some and I continued to look at him. He was gorgeous with dark brown rumpled hair, strong cheekbones, muscled body, and his green eyes; he looked like a god.

When I thought the pain was finally over a sharp bolt of pain jolted my body into the air my back arching off the bed, I scrunched my eyes shut and I gripped his hand tightly searching relief. The pain didn't last long this time and after 2 minutes all of the pain was gone completely. I lay there afraid to move or speak only breathing, which was hard with the overwhelming burn that was in my throat. It felt as if my throat was on fire, or like how you feel when you have drowned and your throat is raw. I needed a drink and I couldn't wait any longer.

"C-C-Could I please have something to drink?" I whispered almost silently straining the little voice I could find. The bed gently moved and his hand left my grasp, I cracked opened my eyes to see him getting me a cup of what looked like fruit punch. He returned and helped me to sit up before handing me the cup which I slurped down fairly quickly, extinguishing the burn.

"Better?" he asked concerned. I nodded my appreciation and began to look at my surroundings.

"Where are we?"

"My hotel room, I found you on the street bleeding and I couldn't find a phone or a person." He replied kindly. I looked down at myself and saw that my left arm was bandaged and figured that must be why I'm so bloody, but I knew that he didn't find me on the street because he was the one who attacked me, but even knowing that I felt comforted by his presence.

"Thank you, you're very kind, by the way I'm Nerina. Do you mind me asking who you are and how old?" I said with genuine curiosity.

"I'm Nevan and I'm 17 and your welcome Nerina." he answered me with a kind gentle tone. He walked across the room to a chair and sat down. "There are some things you need to know Nerina, and I need you to hear me full out before you do anything. Okay?" All I could do was nod sort of frightened by this.

"Well have you ever heard a story about vampires?" I nod that I have. "And do you think they exist?"

"No, of course not." I said confidently.

He sighed, "Maybe you need to rethink that then because they do exist. Nerina, we are both vampires." I was shocked, this guy must be crazy.

I shook my head "Um, have you been hit on the head or something?" I laughed. That was when I saw a spark of anger cross his face. He looked up at me and smirked, that was when I saw that his canine teeth were larger than a normal human beings. My heart skipped a beat and I stepped back now truly afraid.

He stood and took a step towards me reaching out his hand in a gesture of reassurance, "Please don't be afraid. I'm not a monster like they say we are in the books." Another inch closer he came to me and I began to feel a pull towards him. "It's ok I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

"I know you won't hurt me, I can feel it." I took a step towards him and fell into his arms and held him close to me.

In a whole day it seems my entire life has changed. I am no longer a human and I can never see my family or friends again because I might kill them and I have found love. Nevan has told me all about my new culture and now I must learn it, all of it; hunting, keeping to the night, avoiding any real human contact, and of course drinking blood. I knew my life would never be the same again it just couldn't be according to Nevan and even though I loved him now I could not face the truth and I searched day and night for a way to make everything normal again.

Book after book, experiment after experiment and for a while I found nothing. After about a month of my new life I came across a new idea and strived to test it, but since it had never been done before supposedly I was frightened. Soon enough I built up the courage and decided that I would use the idea and see if I could make my life go back to what it was before.

For 2 days me and Nevan gathered the ingredients until finally there was only one remaining, a sacrifice of one you love. I couldn't believe it, how could I ever kill someone who I love. That was the answer right there, I apparently was not prepared to test the theory I found. Tears streamed down my face every moment when I thought of how I failed and Nevan tried to comfort me, but he could not, no matter what he tried.

The tears always came back even when they disappeared and I had stopped searching for ways to make everything normal. Nevan on the other hand continued to search and one day came to me with another theory and all the ingredients except the two most important, a crystal and a vial of human blood. These would be much easier to get and if this worked I would love him forever and he knew it for I repeated it every time I thought about my family that day.

The same day we went and got the crystal and blood I decided to try the theory. I have to admit that I was scared, but I wanted to get back to my family I could no longer go on without them especially when they were searching for me, everyday putting up posters, going on the news, doing everything I could think of and more. It would all be over soon and I could be back in the safety of my room and Nevan and I could still be together; together as humans until we die.

Nevan set the ingredients up as he saw in the diagram he found as I prepared myself. When he was done I gave him a quick kiss then did as he told me and laid down in the center of the ingredients. He took a knife and sliced my arm letting my blood spill. I grasped his hand and lay there as the sun came over the window and hit the crystal, which then hit the mirrors creating a pentagram with me bleeding in the center and an object representing each of the elements in 4 of the points of the star and the last point held the vial of human blood.

My eyelids closed expecting pain and what came was warmth. I felt as if I was lying on the beach during the summer just letting the sun rain down on me. It was wonderful and full of bliss I giggled in delight. All too soon it was over. I opened my eyes and felt weak, but I also did not crave blood which meant I must be human yet again.

I looked to Nevan and a smile lit up my face, "It worked!" I shouted. He grinned to show he was happy for me, but it did not reach his eyes. In those emerald depths I saw despair and sadness as if he had just lost the best thing in his life and it made my smile falter.

"I'm not leaving you," I stated with confidence. "You can change back too and we can still be together. At least if you want to." My eyes wandered too embarrassed to look him in the eye.

"Of course I want to be with you," he smiled from his lips to his eyes that time. "It's just that I have been a vampire for so long I don't really remember human life to well." This time he was the one who looked embarrassed.

"Well that's simple I can teach you," I smiled at him and leaned into him holding him tight to me never wanting to lose him. "So did you by any chance get a second set of ingredients?"

His head tilted downwards to look me in the eye, "Well of course because I'm not going to lose you." We reset the pentagram and soon it was time for Nevan to be human yet again. He did the same as me and laid down in the center. I took the knife and sliced his arm from the crease of his elbow to his wrist. It went by so fast that I didn't think it had worked at first, but when it was all over I knew it had worked, for he didn't have that slight predator like gaze in his eyes.

All the hardships were over for now we could be together and I could be with my family and friends and have the love of my life right there with me returning the love that I felt for him. In the end everything turned out perfectly with everyone happy.