The next morning they decide to just stay in bed together and discus their future.
"So where do you want to do it?" Ken asks.
"Do what?"
"Get married of course. We need to start planing for a wedding don't we?"
"I'm not sure if we need a wedding."
"Really? Don't you want to dress up and dance the night away with your new husband in front of all your friends and family?"
She sits up from the bed and looks down at her lap. "Ken, out of all the time we have been together have you ever once seen me on the phone or even on the computer with anyone from my past?"
"I've never really thought about it, but now that you mention it... I mean, I know you had troubles with your ex but I would think you would still have someone you would want to throw a wedding for."
She shakes her head. "I stayed with my ex for so long because he was all I had. My parents disowned me when I was a teenager after I told them about my sexual appetite. They just threw me out of their lives like a piece of trash. They called me all sorts of names like whore, slut, degenerate. If that was how they were going to be I didn't want anything to do with them either. As for friends, I never really talk to anyone outside of work so, no real luck there either. Now all I have is you, and that's why I want to do everything in my power to help you be happy."
He sits up next to her and rubs her naked back. She tilts her head while enjoying the sensation and he slides his fingers up to her neck and massages her shoulders as well. She moans as her eyelids twitch with pleasure.
"I want to do the same for you Ruby. That's why I want to do whatever it is you want to do."
She turns to him excited. "Then let's do it! Right now!"
She hops from the bed and starts getting dressed.
"Right now? What do you mean?"
"We'll just go to one of those twenty four hour chapels and get legitimized. I already have a ring so all we need to do is pick one up for you and we'll be set."
He stands up from the bed. "Ruby, are you sure this is what you want? I mean you can take all the time you want to think about this."
She wraps her arms around him. "I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life. I want to be with you forever Ken. For better or for worse."
"I love you so much," he utters softly.
"I love you."
They give each other a long, passionate kiss then continue getting dressed. Once Ruby thinks they look good enough for a half decent wedding photo, they head downtown to get hitched. The ceremony is quick. Ruby places a ring over Ken's finger, they sign their marriage papers and give their 'I dos.' They kiss for the first time as man and wife then leave as quickly as they came. Suddenly feeling very hungry they decide to head out to a near by restaurant to celebrate.
While being seated they see a two person table near the front windows that looks perfect. They take a seat and look over the menus as they discuss their honeymoon plans.
"So, where would you like to go?" Ruby asks.
"Oh gosh, I don't know. I've been all around the world already. What about you, where would you like to go?"
"I am thinking somewhere to the east."
"Like, the east coast?"
She giggles, "No, no. Like Asia. You know, somewhere far away, new, different. I think it would really be good to just get away from the city. Away from what I'm use to and just escape for a while."
"Sounds good to me. We can make arrangements and head out as early as next week."
"That sounds wonderful."
"Okay, let's do it."
Ken holds up his glass to clink it with hers. She reciprocates and then they both take a big swig. For the first time their lives seem perfect. Everything has fallen into place and they feel as if things were meant to happen this way just so the two of them would one day meet and they would be even more happy after so much sorrow.
Just then, before the two of them even knew what is happening, a high pitched squeal from a set of tires can be heard from the opposite of the windows. Ken watches in horror as a small pickup truck looses control and crashes through the window next to where Ruby is sitting. Before he can warn her, the hood of the truck strikes Ruby in the back, then continues forward, sucking her under the hood of the truck. It then becomes stuck halfway. Panicking, the man in the driver seat tries to put the truck into reverse but can not get the truck to budge. As he exits the vehicle, Ken can smell a kind of sourness to him. It is a smell that Ken has experienced on some of his victims in the past. The man is high from huffing air duster cans. Knowing the cops would be showing up at any minute, the man hurries down the street, running from the scene.
Having become pinned against the wall, Ken pushes the table away from himself. Too worried about Ruby to care about his own injuries, he searches under the car for her. She is unconscious, face down against the floor. He takes her by the arm and pulls her out from under the car. Blood seeps from a deep gash in her back, soaking the floor. The scent causes Ken's instincts to cloud his judgment. Seeing the one he loves motionless on the floor, while the smell of her blood fills the room, he forgets about the other people watching in the restaurant. He flips her over on her back and checks for a pulse. He can't find one.
"Oh god, Ruby! Ruby please! Please don't do this to me!" He yells.
He hears the other witnesses immediately call for an ambulance but he can tell by the amount of blood loss that she isn't going to live long enough for them to get to her. His hands become soaked in her warmth and he just wants to cup the blood into his palms and drink in her deliciousness. Somehow he manages to keep himself from doing so. He needs to focus on saving her. But what can he do? Thinking quickly, he grabs a knife from the floor and uses it to cut his wrist open. He crawls on top of her and holds his dripping wound over her face. The other patrons realize what he is doing and stop him before he can get more than just a few drops of his blood to fall between Ruby's lips. They pull him back from her body and restrain him.
"No! Let me go! I need to save her! Please, let me save her!" He yells hysterically.
His heart breaks in two as he is forced to watch her lying before him, helpless to do anything, as she continues to bleed out. He wants so badly to take her warmth into his mouth even one last time but at the same time and hates himself for having such thoughts.
The cops soon show up along with an ambulance but to Ken it feels like hours have passed. They load Ruby into the ambulance while giving her treatment so he holds a ray of hope that she has not yet passed on. The cops throw him into the back of their car and take him down to the station where he is placed in a jail cell until they can find someone to question him.
The day passes and Ken is going mad with the lack of knowledge if Ruby is still alive or not. Every few minutes he smells his hands and shirt that are still stained in her scent. 'Why is that all I can think of?' He asks himself. 'She could be dead and all I can think about is filling myself.' An officer eventually comes to his cell and they take him into the interrogation room. They handcuff him to the desk and the two officers sit down on the opposite side of the desk with information from witnesses and both his and Ruby's personal files.
The cop speaks first, "So Mr. Grady. How are we feeling today?"
"I want to see my wife," Ken demands.
"You're wife?" The officer mocks. "How about you start from the beginning?"
"What do you mean start from the begging? I want to know if my wife okay or not." He says annoyed.
"You see, we're a little fuzzy on the details. According to our records both you and Ruby aren't married nor have you ever been."
"That's because we just got married a few hours ago. Of course you guys are not going to have it on file yet."
"Do you have any proof? Any documentation on your marriage?"
"Yes, it is in my car, which is back at the restaurant. Look, I don't know why you guys are being such dicks about this, just tell me if she is okay."
"Well, frankly Ken we don't have to tell you anything. Without proof of next of kin we don't know who you are to Ms. Ivy or what intentions you might have towards her."
"Intentions? I don't understand. We were having lunch together."
"That is not all you were doing. According to eye witnesses you slit your own wrist and tried to bleed into Ms. Ivy's mouth. Now to us that doesn't sound like the actions of a man who was just sitting down for lunch. So how do you explain that?"
He sighs unsure what he should say, "I thought I could help her."
The cop raises an eyebrow. "Help her? Help her how?"
"That's none of your business. You wouldn't understand anyway."
"What?" He thinks to himself for a moment. "Oh I get it. You two are into that occult stuff aren't you? Huh? Maybe you and a few of your friends get together to have blood orgies?" The officer teases.
Ken just shakes his head at him in disgust. "I don't appropriate your sarcasm officer. Why I did what I did is between me and my wife. I know my rights. So you either charge me with something or you let me go."
The officer thumbs through his paper work until he gets to some photos then presents them to him. "Well, Mr. Grady, since you claim to be Ruby's husband maybe you can explain how she got these." He points to the bite marks displayed in the photos. "According to her doctor Ms. Ivy has a number of these types of marks all over her body. Though they look like they may have come from her being bitten by a number of miniature sharks, he told us that some of the marks are fresher than others. As if this is happening to her on a daily basses over the past few months. So the only explanation has to be that either she or someone else is doing this to her intentionally. Care to enlighten us about that?"
Ken just looks away becoming more angry by the minute.
"No comment? So either this is more stuff 'we-wouldn't-understand', you're abusing your so-called wife, or she has been frequent by another person who has been performing some rather kinky ritualistic behavior on her in some rather personal places. So which is it Mr. Grady?"
"The marks are from me. Their something both she and I agree to do mutually. That is all you need to know."
"And do you have anyone who can verify that your relationship is legitimate. Anyone who can let us know that you two are in-fact happy and these are not just signs of abuse?"
"Ruby and I don't have anyone else. No friends, no family, only each other. And that is why I would appreciate it, if you would stop yanking my chain, and just tell me what is going on."
"We're sorry, Mr. Grady but we contacted some of Ruby's co-workers and they informed us that Ms. Ivy has been hiding these marks for several months now. They suspect foul play so unless you come up with a name of someone who can validate your story or until she wakes up out of her coma and tells us herself that she is not being physically abused by you..."
"So she's in a coma?"
The police continues uninterrupted, "... you are under a restraining order of no less than five-hundred feet of Ms. Ivy at all times. You will be kept here over night for observation and if everything checks out, you will be free to leave in the morning."
The officers finish their interrogation then bring Ken back to his cell. He does not sleep a wink the entire night. As the guards mock and taunt him through the bars, he knows not to engage them since it would only make matters worse. He also knows that one way or another, as soon as one of them opened the cell door he was walking out of the station either a free man or by killing the entire police force.
He is surprised to find the officers are good on their word and that morning he is set free from his cell. The guards warn him again about his restraining order but of course he doesn't listen and heads out to the nearby hospitals to check up on her. He searches each one in the area for her scent and after arriving at the third option he catches wind of her. He climbs up to the second floor windows and pears through each one to find her. Eventually he finds a room with someone fitting her description. It is hard for him to know for sure if it is her at first because of all the tubs covering her face but there was no misjudgment about her aroma. Luckily for him, the day has been warm so her window just happens to be open. He realizes she does smell a bit off however as he climbs inside.
Seeing her laid out on the hospital bed unconscious causes his heart to suddenly feel as if it has fallen to his stomach. The sound of the heart monitor steadily beating does keep him somewhat calm but he finds it hard to breathe as he reaches his shaking hands out to her. He places his left hand on her head, petting it, while taking her right hand into his and squeezing it. She does not give any response.
"Thank god, Ruby. I was so scared you were dead. You need to hang in there for me, okay? I don't know what I will do if I lose you."
He hears a doctor and a nurse talking as they walk towards her room. He darts out the window and stands on the ledge just out of view to listen in on their synopsis. They enter the room.
"So, has she been responding to any of our treatment?" The doctor asks.
"No, doctor. Unfortunately we discovered that there is something in her blood that is causing her to be none receptive to any of the blood that we try to use for a transfusion. We haven't quiet figured out the cause but we do know it has something to do with a kind of virus that has attached itself to her red blood cells. The lab is working on it now."
He sighs while looking over her clip board, "Unfortunately, I don't think this young lady has enough time to wait for lab the results. With the lack of oxygen to her brain becoming more critical by the hour, if she doesn't get that blood transfusion soon I am afraid we will just be treating nothing more than a vegetable."
"Is there anything we can do doctor?"
"No. Inform her family. They might want to know she most likely isn't going to make it through the night."
The two of them leave the room and Ken re-enters through the window. Unable to keep himself from crying he does his best to approach her quietly as to not draw attention. Needing to finish what he started, he removes her oxygen mask then uses his fingers to open her mouth ever so slightly. He uses his teeth to bite open his wrist and allows his blood to fill her mouth and slide down her throat. As he prays for her to give some kind of response. There is nothing. He can't even hear her breathing through her nose as the blood begins to drip from her lips.
"Come on. Please let this work. Please wake up."
There is only silence for the longest moment. Only the sound of the heart monitor measures the passage of time. Ken squeezes her cold hand tighter and tighter until his fingers go numb. Suddenly Ruby lets out a loud gasp as she sucks in a large amount of air into her lungs. Ken's heart dances with joy to see that she is awake.
"Ruby, you're alright! I'm here! I'm here!"
Things quickly change from bad to worse as she begins to convulse and gag. The sounds that escape her throat is like nothing Ken has ever heard before in his life. Even the fatal screams and gargles from his victims can not hold a comparison to this. It is as if she is choking but also being suffocated at the same time and the sound becomes worse and worse with each breath she takes into her lungs. The heart monitors don't help as it beeps loudly and inconsistently, causing him to panic that much more. He tries to keep her from thrashing about by holding down her head but she overpowers him as her head whips back and forth from the pillow to being lifted part way off the bed and back again. As she gags her eyes open revealing them to be solid black and her hair quickly turns white. Ken is not sure what to do at this point and can't believe what he is witnessing. She continues to deteriorate before him as her skin turns pale green, drys out, then cracks all over. His once beautiful goddess is dying and becoming nothing more than a withered corps.
"Oh my god Ruby! What have I done! What have I done! What-what..." Ken yells hyperventilating. His body becomes heavy with guilt. "I'm sorry my love! I'm so sorry!" He kisses her head as she continues to convulse and his tears soak her face.
Very suddenly her body becomes stiff and she falls limp to the bed. Her heart monitor draws out into a flat line that echos throughout the room. He looks to her eyes which are wide and unblinking. She is gone.
"No! No! No! Ruby! Ruby please! Please!" Ken screams.
The staff rushes into the room having heard all the shouting. They are not prepared for the horrific scene laid out before them. Out of the corner of their eyes they see a figure jump out the window like a shadow in the breeze, then become confused when they notice the dried up, dead, body laying in Ruby's bed. The nurse checks the window but there is nothing to be seen but an empty lawn. The doctor examines the body.
"What the hell is going on here? Where did this corpse come from?" The doctor ponders.
The nurse turns away from the window but doesn't join the doctor. "This is really strange. Is this some kind of prank?"
"If it is, it would have to be an elaborate one. To think that someone would have had to not only carry this body in here through the second story window but then also leave again with Ruby in hand... it just seems very unlikely."
"Are you saying that the body in the bed belongs to Mrs. Ivy? How is that possible?"
"I don't know. I'll have to run some tests."
"Do you think it is contagious? Should we put the hospital in lock down?"
"No, I don't think we need to cause a panic just yet."
"I'm still going to notify security. Maybe they caught whom ever it was fleeing the area."
"Alright but hurry back. I'm going to need your help with this."
The nurse leaves the room in a hurry, not wanting to spend even another second near the body. The doctor leans in close to Ruby's face trying to find any resemblance of her former self. He places his fingers over her lips and opens them wide to check her teeth. He recognizes their unique shape and now knows for sure that the body laying before him is indeed Ruby's. 'But how can this be?' He asks himself. As he continues to look over her mouth. Though they are stained with blood he notices something off about the lining of her gums. They seem swollen which appears even more off considering the rest of her body has been depleted of fluids. He uses his index finger to press down on one of the small lumps and to his surprise a small, shark-like, tooth retracts from her gums.
"What the fuck is that?"
He suddenly feels hot air caress his fingers. Startled he instinctively pulls his hand away. He notices Ruby's eyes have shifted and are now staring directly at him. They call out to him as if to say 'Help me.' Slowly she reaches out her thin, bony, arm to him.
"Holy shit. You're still alive?" Remembering his bedside manner he takes her by the hand. "It's alright Mrs. Ivy. I'm going to take care of you." He turns to head towards to the door to call for assistance but Ruby keeps a tight grip on his hand. He tries to pull away but she refuses to budge. "Mrs. Ivy you need to let go so I can get you help." She still doesn't budge. He tries again to pull away but her hard fingers dig into his hand keeping him in place.
Beginning to panic the doctor does everything he can to remove himself from her grip but with each pull she just grips tighter. Soon her fingers are holding on so tightly that they pierce his skin. He tries to call out for help but before he can get out a single word, Ruby digs her fingers into the doctor's mouth to muffle him. Now having hold of his jaw, Ruby pulls him down towards her and bites a large chunk out of his neck. The doctor watches in horror as she chews his flesh around in her mouth for a moment before swallowing it.
Trying anything to get out of her grip at this point, he bites down on her fingers which to his surprise break away fairly easily. He spits the severed fingers onto the bed which disintegrate into two small mounds of blood that soak into the white sheets. Unfazed by this however, Ruby bites into the doctor's neck once again, ripping another chunk of flesh from his tender body. He falls backwards onto the floor and Ruby immediately pounces on top of him and continues to fill herself with his warmth even after he stops moving.
The nurse reenters the room and screams at the amount of blood that covers the tiled floor. Ruby turns to her like some kind of ravenous animal who's meal has been so rudely interrupted. The nurse stands in shock as her mind tries to process what it is seeing. A young woman with long, silver, hair is crouched over her colleague who lays motionless on the floor with his face and arms completely torn to pieces. As the woman stares at her, her lips drip with blood that stains her neck, down to her hospital gown. Rediscovering the feeling in her legs, the nurse tries to make a run for it but Ruby swiftly lunges at her and keeps her from even reaching the door. Just as she did with the doctor, she shoves her newly grown fingers into the nurses mouth to keep her from alerting any other members of the staff. Wasting no time, she sinks her teeth into the nurses throat and rips out her vocal cords.
Once Ruby has dined to her fill, she stands up from the floor and takes a look around the room. Having no memories of how she got to where she is, and worried about why she is in a hospital in the first place, she checks herself in the wall mirror for any sign of an injury. The first thing she notices is her hair. In the orange light of the sunset that casts through the window, it almost looks like fire at first but then she notices its metallic shine. The next thing she notices is her eyes. Though no one who just met her would give them a second glance, she can tell that they are much darker than they were before. Her iris is only a few shades lighter than her pupils but in contrast to her skin and now her hair they seem very dark. As for her skin, she notices that it is much softer than it use to be. It is also a very healthy shade of pink. Not too pale but also not tanned. It is as if her skin has never even been grazed by any kind of element, except for the blood that still stains her face.
As she washes her face in the nearby sink, she continues to check herself over. She finds no scaring, no blemishes, just soft skin all the way down her body. It reminds her of Ken's skin. Now picturing his handsome face, her body becomes very hot and she feels as if she could fuck every man in the city. She feels more energized than she ever has before in her life and her hormones are fighting to match it. She tries to keep herself calm however, knowing that there are more pressing matters at hand.
She removes the bloody hospital gown and grabs a clean one from the bedside dresser. Knowing there would be no way for her to leave through the front door without being seen, she checks the window. It is a long way down to the grass below but she figures if she holds onto the ledge and extends her arms out as far as she can, then it will only be a one story drop instead of two. She gets into position then takes a deep breath as she releases her grip from the ledge and falls strait down. As she lands on her feet she is surprised to discover that the impact has no effect on her limbs. Not giving it a second thought, she hurries away from the area and does her best to stay out of site as she makes her way home.