Abby Whistler's eyes opened. She felt like she'd only just put her head down when she heard a muffled cry coming from the recovery room that was set up for this stranger, this Hannibal King. She felt like she ought to check on him; make sure that Danica wasn't coming to get her little pet back. Abby picked up a solid silver knife and quietly made her way into Hann-
"No, King," she corrected herself, "He calls me Whistler, I call him King."
She crept into King's room, looking all around, making sure that she was safe, and so was the weakened man on the bed. She saw no one trying to hurt King, and frowned deeply when the man cried out in his sleep. Abby studied King and sighed when she realized that he was having a nightmare. She wasn't thrilled with this turn of events, and definitely was upset with herself for letting King tag along with her in the first place.
Finding King had been a bit of a shock to Abby, and she found herself in a weak moment, offering the vampire his mortality once more. She remembered his face. He'd looked up at her, his eyes sad, as though he'd resigned himself to his fate.
"Kill me," he'd said, watching Abby, and studying her weapons. "Please."
Abby had been thrown off by that response.
"Why?" Abby had asked.
"Because it's what you do. And maybe they all escaped, but I don't want to. I don't want this life," King said, his voice eerily calm. "So, please. Just take that gun, and put some silver in me, or whatever you're gonna do."
Abby watched King toss and turn, watched his uneasy sleep. She thought of their first meeting, two nights ago. Sommerfield assured Abby that the vampire genes in King were safely human ones, but Abby still wasn't sure she still wanted to get near King. His whimpering scared her a tiny bit, though, and she needed to get him to quiet down so she could fall asleep.
As Abby approached the bed, she heard King mumble, "No… I can't kill-"
Abby made it all the way over to the bed before noticing that King's shoulders were shaking. At first, she grew suspicious. Abby had never witnessed a man crying and didn't think that this would be the first time for that. A thought flashed across her mind. Maybe this was a trick, and she was being set up. That thought was silenced when she saw that King was really crying. She frowned a little and sat down on the edge of the bed. King's back was toward her, and she reached out and placed a warm hand against his skin. King flinched a little and woke up, still sobbing. Abby reached up and stroked the man's hair gently.
"It's okay. Shh… it's okay. It's over," Abby soothed, hoping that the man would calm down.
King still trembled, whispering, "I should be dead. For the things I've done, I should be dead."
"You did what you had to do to survive."
"I could have-"
"King. From what you've told me, you were turned against your will," Abby reasoned softly, still petting King's hair, "This wasn't your fault." She slid her other arm around King, pulling him into a gentle hug.
Abby was startled when King hugged her arm to his chest. She could feel King's fingers pressed to her wrist, feeling her pulse. Abby remembered hearing once that a human heartbeat was like a lullaby to a distressed vampire, and she supposed that King still craved the feeling of comfort it once gave him. Abby tugged up the blankets, planning on disappearing once King was asleep.
King settled back into Abby's warmth, quiet for the first time that night. Abby closed her eyes, drowsy. She needed sleep. Just as Abby was drifting off, she heard King whisper to her.
"You're so warm," he murmured.
"So are you," Abby replied, just as soft. She closed her eyes once more and fell asleep. King followed suit, and when they awoke, they were curled in each other's arms.