The Dilemma
A bearded man with auburn hair sat by himself deep in thought. The faint light of a flickering lamp lighted the room which was adorned with antique equipments.
Alex stood at the doorway and looked at the man with empathy. She remembered the first time they had met.
The clock at Harvard's medical science library struck three in the morning. A lone student sat on one of the desks hidden behind a mountain of books and journals. He was so engrossed in his reading that he did not notice when she came and sat opposite him.
Alex pulled out a journal from Reid's stack which immediately caught his attention. He looked at her with an annoyed expression.
"Are you Reid Oliver?" Alex's voice was calm as ever.
"Do I know you?" Reid asked.
"No, but I know you."
"What do you want?" he retorted.
"I have to tell you something. There's something about you that you don't know," she said.
"There's nothing about me that I don't know," Reid said dismissively. He hated wasting time talking to other people, but more than that he despised talking to inebriated students who would only blabber nonsense.
"I have to go." He sounded irritated.
"You are a vampire. Well, in the pre-transition period, that is to say." Alex got right to the point. Beating around the bush never worked that well. And besides she knew that there was no rational reasoning she could offer to make the truth seem any less bizarre.
"I'm not wasting my time talking to you." Reid's voice was as cocky as always. Alex only smiled. That was pretty much the standard reaction she got when she told them the truth.
"Wait," she called out to Reid who had started packing up his stuff. This time she did not say anything to him but only glinted at him the sinister red of her eyes. It had its due effect. The young Reid looked at her with alarm and wonder.
"You can't be a vampire." His voice was dead serious with no hint of sarcasm.
"As a matter of fact, I am one," she answered.
"Prove it to me." He demanded.
Had it been anybody else Alex would have shot down any such demands. But the young doctor intrigued her like no other. Most of the people she talked to she could conclude at first sight that they were just not meant to be vampires. She would only hope that they would be lucky enough to never see her again. And many were. But somehow Reid seemed to be born with the aura that hallmarked her kind.
"Let's go outside," Alex whispered.
Reid nodded and followed her.
The street was deserted and dark. She took out a small pen knife from her pocket and reached for Reid's wrist. She admired the fact that he did not once flinch as the knife made a sharp incision across his arm. At the sight of his blood her features transformed dramatically. Her eyes glinted red and her teeth became monstrously sharp and long. Reid watched, aghast as she clenched him tighter with her deadly claws and then buried her fangs in his arm. He tightened his fist as a sharp pain shot through his body.
When Alex had transitioned back to her human self she asked, "You believe me now?"
Reid looked at her, shock and disbelief visible in his blue eyes. Whatever he had witnessed in the past few minutes was far beyond a practical joke. Yet it was difficult to believe what he had, till now, considered a myth.
"See you around, Reid." Alex smiled.
"I hope never," Reid replied making a silent resolve.
He stood still on the deserted street as he watched Alex disappear into the night. The gloomy melody of a soft October wind did little to assuage his worries.
"It ain't gonna happen, ever," he whispered to himself. However, something inside him had stirred and deep down he knew that one day he would have to accept the inevitable.
From then on he buried himself in his practice. He worked with utmost dedication and established himself among the top doctors in the world. Over the years he came to the realization that despite his proximity to human blood he had never had any desire for it. Between his tight schedules and surgeries, the strange encounter with the vampire was soon forgotten.
"You have tasted it, Reid. You can't deny that," Alex began. She had appreciated the prudence with which the young man usually conducted himself. However when it came to Luke he seemed completely bereft of his reason.
"But it was my own."
"It was blood, nevertheless."
"I won't make my presence known." Reid was almost pleading.
"Reid," Alex sighed sadly, "I'm sorry to say this but you are as much of a danger to Luke as any of us."
"You underestimate me."
"No, I don't. You, no doubt, have a steely hold over your urges. The kind of restraint you have shown is commendable. I'd even say that you are doing as well as I did when I was your age. And trust me when I say that my strength of mind has remained unmatched all these years."
Reid was silent. Although Alex's years of wisdom and abundant experience never showed upon her face, there was an aura of authority that defined her. He knew he would be a fool to doubt her judgment.
"The first time I met you I knew that you were born to be one of us," she continued, "I trust you more than anyone else and yet I have these nagging doubts."
"But there is no way in hell I'd ever do anything to hurt him. And being a vampire doesn't change that."
"I know."Alex agreed. "I would be the last person to keep two lovers apart. It's just that I wouldn't want you to do something that you might regret later."
"Don't worry. I won't," Reid stated firmly and then walked out of the house.
Alex watched him leave. In spite of having the power to stop him, she did not budge. She knew that if there was someone whose sanity and reason persevered even in the silliest of moments, it was Reid.
