Chapter 2: Almost
I was suddenly oh-so-very hungry, and only a delicacy would do.
In an instant I was there, her pale neck exposed mere hair widths away from my trembling lips, and I could feel her heart beat pulsing, sending shockwaves through my body as I struggled to resist.
Against my will, my lungs expanded, and my mind exploded anew with her fragrance. My lips brushed her neck, and parted ever so slightly.
She gasped then, the first move sound or reaction I had stirred from her, and it made me look up, into her eyes.
And my hunger receded momentarily as the shock in her eyes became my own. She may have had no idea what was happening, indeed, by her figuring I may have only been there for a split second, but I didn't need Edward's gift to know what she thought of me.
Her cry echoed through my mind again, accusing. Pervert she had called him. And what would I be then? To give in to my desires, my curse that I had fought for so long, just because temptation came knocking?
My disgust grew, and with a feral growl directed at myself, turned and fled into the night at full speed, never once looking back.
I would have run for hours, had I the energy. Instead, I wound up collapsing on a park bench, only a few blocks away. And there I stayed, all night, trying to convince myself to get up and leave, for good, and forget about her.
Like that was going to happen. I could no sooner forget her than forget what I was, though I desperately wished I could.
Ever noticed how those things you want to forget always seem to be the hardest to do so with? Now imagine having to live with those memories for… eternity.
I barely noticed the time passing, and was completely oblivious to the sun as it crept over the horizon, or the silhouette of Big Ben in the distance.
What I did notice were the stares being thrown my way by a group of girls, eight in total, who seemed to find something uncontrollably funny in my appearance, draped over the park bench, is good clothes.
All but one of them that is. I sat, body tense and rigid, waiting for them to pass. Waiting for her to pass.
All in vain. A whispered request to her friends that they go on ahead, and the giggling increased. I began to panic. She waited until they were half a block away (though still whispering excitedly to each other and throwing looks over their shoulders) then turned and began to cross the street. Towards me. Towards doom and an eternity as hell's servant.
I rose swiftly, my back groaning in protest, and turned to walk away, trying pointlessly to make it look natural.
"Hey, wait a minute," she called, jogging lightly to catch up, and placing a hand on my shoulder. "I just wanted to thank you for… well… last night." She finished, blushing slightly.
Forcing my thoughts away from that red tone and the hunger it invoked was no easy task, but I hadn't taken a breath yet, and was determined not to. So for now she was just another, regular human being, embarrassed and confused by my actions. This I could deal with.
Unless I said something stupid. That's my curse. I may be in the 'right' place at the 'right' time, but the consequence of that is usually to end up saying the 'wrong' thing at, you guessed it, the 'wrong' time.
So what came out of my mouth was "And how are you going to do that?" nothing humble, no 'aw shucks it was nothin' or 'don'ta worry 'bout it'.
Can't I do anything right?
She was blushing more visibly now, but managed to spit it out. Other people say stupid things too.
"Erm, well… I'm going back to America in a few weeks, but until then, I was wondering if you wanted to, you know, go out sometime or something?"
Whoa. Back up a minute. This was just a little bit over the top.
"I ah…" oh damn. The look on her face. I couldn't bear it. So, not really an old hand at letting a person down easy, but having watched enough TV and read enough books to have some clue, I tried "Well, actually, I'm only around here for a few more days myself, so maybe we shouldn't-"
"Great! So, I'll see you later then, boyfriend." And then, if you can believe it, the idiot went and kissed me. A simple peck on the lips, nothing big, no big deal, right?
Wrong. The instant her lips touched mine, it was the night before all over again. I fought desperately for control, but ended up clutching her to me. Her arms encircled my head and she knotted her fists in my hair, pulling me closer still. Had I been at my usual strength, she would have been crushed. But then again, had I been properly fed, I would never have been in the situation in the first place.
After a few seconds of valiantly (I thought) resisting the allure of her lips, and the idea of just nipping them, oh so lightly, I broke away. She stared into my eyes, curious and confused, perhaps wondering at the fright so clearly displayed in their black depths.
And then I was running again, my very soul burning with the effort, but desperate to escape, before the unthinkable happened.
I could not let this… end badly.
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