Healing Hurts
Marlow regained consciousness enough as the blood of Iris flowed from his skin into the wound and his own bringing him back to a semblance of life to see the sun was threatening to rise. He forced himself up to crawl and under a house waiting, too weak to bury himself as he panted. Everything on fire and biting as flesh tried to re-knit. He pulled himself out into the shadow of the house and onto the back of a truck that was getting ready to leave. Covering him with a tarp, gripping the metal for something to dull his pain, or to focus on beside the pain. He spat and forsake this place already left behind by his pack. Alone. He felt the truck stop and froze listening hard, pitch black eyes looking through the slit to find the truck on the boarder of another town. He slowly moved out of the tarp he had used to cover himself peeking and found a human speaking in curses checking under the hood. The sun was coming, he could feel it. Pushing himself he fell and landed in the powdered snow and pushed himself harder, his blood already dry rolling down the small hill he found himself facing a small cabin house.
He urged his body to move and hid behind the shack so close to the cabin. He stiffened listening to see the human that had broken down walking in his direction and stilled his body, tensing in case he needed to attack. He heard movement from the darkened house to see someone come out and a sound he was all too familiar with. A shotgun was pumped and aimed the man stopped dead in his tracks. The person stepped down to the lowest stare and was a young woman. She was younger than those he had seen in Barrow and younger than his beloved Iris.
She was strange though, a deathly pale. The kind not normal for a person amongst the living, she had long dark brown almost black hair. It was down and cascaded around her shoulders of her long sleeved turtleneck. Breathing out steam vapor rose from her pale ashen lips that had a pout to it, face soft but firm showing her youth, but not the youth of a child. Her eyes were a gray hazel. She wore long black pants and long black fur trimmed boots. Hands in fingerless gloves.
The man put up his hands and swallowed; Marlow could smell his fear and taste the near frantic heartbeat as she trained the shot gun on him. "Get off my land." She kept to the shadow of the porch as if the coming dawn made her uncomfortable. Marlow watched her fire once when the man tried to explain his case and he bolted after that, afraid she would shoot him. Breathing out she looked out to the horizon and glared a bit in a moody annoyed way. Turning and looking back at her Cabin home she hit a button on the remote on her other hand and the shades closed. Marlow could see the house sealing itself from the light and it compelled him to get inside. He pushed his body and took the opportunity to slip in through the back and looking around his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he hid in a closet for coats. Hearing her come back inside, locking up the house.
He leaned and looked out the corner where the crack was as she started the fireplace and stood there watching its depths. He felt a tingle; he too had a fascination with flames. He waited for her to move and saw her come into the hall and just outside the kitchen. Being slow he slipped out; she would make a small meal for him. She glanced then looked right back in a double-take seeing him she moved at his lung and grabbed his arm to move into the direction and put pressure. Hearing something pop before the momentum helped her take him in a Judo throw. Marlow felt his world shift before he almost literally kissed the floor. He felt a boot at his throat and gripped it to look up at the woman. She blinked confused by his state. "What the hell…who…what…are you?" She stepped away and grabbed a knife for protection. Marlow swallowed past his bruised throat gripping his arm and hissed in pain. His strength left him and he berated himself for being so stupid.
She heard someone drive past shouting words like vampires, and vampires attacked. She looked back at Marlow and he watched her back, waiting for the knife to send him into oblivion where he should have just stayed. "Are you a vampire?" She asked him watching speculating. He didn't answer but gave the weakest nod, what was the point of denying it? She put the knife away back in the knife holder. Looking in a lean she tsked and looked at him. "Look here's the deal, I'm allergic to sunlight and we all know you can't be in the sunlight…so…you behave and I'll behave." She went through a case and looked at him. Turning on him she held up a gun and aimed he flinched when she pulled the trigger but the pain he felt wasn't bad, just an irritating sting.
Looking down to see a few darts in his chest. He pulled one out with a hiss but the world was already going fuzzy. Soon his eyes grew too heavy and the world just disappeared. Marlow soon jolted awake to find himself in a bed and his clothes gone and replaced. He was in pants and long sleeved shirt that had belonged to a man he hadn't known. Looking to the right he saw a picture on the window sill of that strange woman and a man that had to have been a brother. Turning to the left he found…her! She looked at him to arch a brow. He hissed she gave him a look, "hey I didn't want you to go a bite me and you better buck up, and you have months to put up with me or go into the light."
He eyed her, wondering where she was going with this and why she hadn't just killed him. "I don't want to kill you, I could use company for once, besides I'm allergic to the sunlight, I go out there I die." She reached out slowly he growled and stopped he tensed but she didn't harm him, touching his forehead. He felt the warmth seep into his cold flesh and for once he shut up and let it move through him. He snagged her arm and his talons traced in his grip, wanting to pull her wrist to his lips and sink his teeth into her. "Hungry huh?" He blinked and looked to her she had opened something and he found a pack of blood. "I have to keep them for when I need to have a transfusion when I get too anemic. My brother used to give it to me but he's dead so…" She shrugged and ripped the edge of the pack. "Let go please…" He did slowly to feel that hand go under his head and neck and pull he was elevated a bit and he gripped her other wrist a bit confused.
Then he felt the plastic trace his lips before the cool liquid traced across it and into his mouth, swallowing. He felt a shiver move through him and recognized the taste. It really was blood. He relaxed his grip on her wrist and gripped the pack to suck at the pack. Trying to get everything, feeling the warmth of the woman supporting him. He finished it off only to find another in its place, and another, nearly six pints of six packs later he was satisfied for the moment. He watched as she sat beside him still, she smirked. "I guess that answers my question. You got a name?" He looked at her hating the human language, it felt weird to form it in his mouth but he managed. "Marlow," he answered and it was difficult.
She smiled though, "alright Marlow my name is Elizabeth, Liz for short." He tilted his head, "Hey you don't mind me climbing in with you do you? I mean you are in the only bed in the house and I am feeding you, but only until the sun goes out for a month." She meant it as a joke but Marlow sensed no lie in her words. He snagged her hand. Liz blinked feeling her hand snagged in a soft but cold steel grip and that he was staring at her. Pulling she slipped from the chair his hand let go and went around her slim waist to rest on the small of her back and pull her closer pressing her body to his. She shivered and tensed a little afraid by his sudden speed and strength.
Marlow didn't kill her; it was pointless to kill her. Yet. He would wait until the blood ran out or the night came. He was still healing. Marlow traced against her spine, she couldn't help but gasp and blushed feeling stupid for doing so and even more for getting this much in his reach. For letting her guard down, but she felt trapped not just by his hold but also by his pitch black eyes. There was almost no white to them at all. He was frightening yet beautiful at the same time. Touching his cold cheek she wondered why he had been so hurt anyway.
Marlow felt himself a bit disarmed under the gaze of her grey hazel eyes and eased up on his grip, she relaxed and decided what the hell, if he was going to kill her he would. She relaxed her head on his shoulder and neck and was tired falling asleep despite the cold. Marlow soon felt and heard her breathing ease slow and soft. Sleeping. He felt a bit perplexed by her and breathed her in. Being careful he lightly cut her cheek by her ear with a claw. Watching the red swell up in tiny beads. Leaning without waking her and licked with the tip of his tongue. Tasting her and he shivered to pull her closer. The warmth, richness, and sweetness swept through him that he moved and kept her close. Closing his eyes and slipping into a sleep. This was going to be an interesting year…
