Thanks to all of you who R+R my story! Really appreciate it!
New Life New Problems
I floated in a dream-like state for a long time. I had no idea of how much time had passed, but it must have been a while. There was no pain where I was, and for that I was grateful. Deep in my subconscious, I could feel my body changing, writhing and cracking as I went through…whatever was happening to me. But that was at the back of my mind, so it was easy to block out any physical pain that went along with the changing.
Sometimes I could feel things on my skin- hands- and sometimes I could hear things- voices, shouting frantically, worried- but I couldn't respond to them. It was as if I were trapped in this dark world of numbness. Not that I minded, but it felt as if my heart ached to return to the normal world for…something, someone. I couldn't remember. Whatever had happened to me must have caused me to hit my head or something.
After a while, my conscious thinking ebbed and I returned into an even more peaceful place, where I dreamed. I dreamed I was in someone's arms, cradled there as that person affectionately stroked their fingers down my cheek.
"I love you," he murmured and my heart thumped at the sound of his voice. "I love you, too," I whispered, gently taking his hand and kissing each of his fingers.
"Please don't leave me," the voice begged suddenly, taking me by surprise. "I'm not leaving," I told him, but he swept on as if I'd never spoken. "I love you, Megan, I know that now. And I don't care that you're a vampire, just wake up! Please!"
I'm dreaming…I thought to myself. So why is this voice sounding so real? With a jolt, I realized that the voice was invading my dreams from the waking world, and I struggled to lift the peaceful veil of darkness just to get to the voice that I realized I loved, too.
Finally, I opened my eyes…and met the gaze of the boy I loved. Edgar. His anxious blue eyes widened in joy and shock and he turned around to call to someone. "Allan! She's awake!"
I blinked as my surroundings- my bedroom back at the comic book store- came in to sharp focus…whoa. Really sharp focus. It was as if I were wearing ten pairs of contacts all at once. I could see everything. And as I sucked in my first breathe since blacking out, I gasped in shock. I could smell everything, too! Sights, sounds, smells, all were focused so finely that nothing escaped my senses. I could hear every whisper outside on the Boardwalk, could smell every scent trail, even if it was more than a month old. And my heart, my new heart, thumped and fluttered wildly as the boy I loved said my name.
"Megan," he murmured and clutched at my hand. "Edgar…" I replied but my voice trailed away as my eyes met his. With my new, enhanced eyesight, I could see every detail of his dark blue irises, the way a thin ring of golden-brown surrounded his pupils, and how a thin ring of dark, steely gray tinged the outsides of the irises. They were so beautiful…like a storm out at sea. Yeah! I thought to myself excitedly, imaging creamy foam cresting the wave tops and splashing back down into the ever-churning sea…
"Oh, Megan, I was so worried!" he murmured and buried his head into my neck. Something went off inside me like an alarm, a red-alert, like how they'd ring the bell at school if there was a fire drill. A sweet, spicy, enticing odor wafted into my nose, setting off little fireworks in my head. My heart jumped crazily and my muscles tensed. And as the scent excited me, my eyes focused in on the vein in Edgar's throat, beating strong, swiftly pumping blood in a sweet-smelling river. Blood. Blood. An insatiable hunger, no thirst, had been triggered, and the nearly uncontrollable urge to bite deep into Edgar's throat almost overcame me.
At that moment, Allan rushed through the door and called my name. I snapped back to normal, as the shock and guilt rushed through me like flames that ignited a wave of feelings I wished I could ignore: mainly, thirst. I sucked in a quick breathe of the air- unpolluted by the scent of blood- that whooshed in as Allan opened and closed the bedroom door, then leaned as far away from Edgar as possible.
"Edgar…" I said through clenched teeth and tight lips. I tried to ignore the confusion and hurt in his eyes. And then he realized his mistake. "Oh, right…" he trailed off, looking uncomfortable and clearly frustrated.
"Well, I was going to give you a hug, too, but since you're a vampire now, guess I can't…least, not till you've been fed," Allan quipped after a moment of silence and I turned to stare at him, shocked. I had thought that Allan would be more furious with my being a vampire than even Edgar, who'd had to kill his parents because of creatures like me. Creatures like…me? I thought to myself again, and the full realization hit me. I was a vampire. I was a bloodsucking, night-stalking leech. How had that happened?
"Uh…guys? What exactly happened to me…?" I asked, interrupting some heated discussion the brothers had been having during my moment of self-realization.
"You got bit by that vampire dude," Allan told me. "Yeah, we almost killed him, too, but he got away! Filthy bloodsuckers," Edgar muttered and then his eyes widened. "Oh, uh, sorry-'' he said, beginning to apologize to me. "No, it's fine, it's fine, but…why was I bitten?" There explanation had done me no good, and I still didn't understand.
"Remember? We went to that old building?" Allan prompted. "Yeah, you heard someone getting killed…?" Edgar added helpfully. That's when it all came rushing back to me. The scream, the building, the vampires, the fight, the excruciating pain when my wrist was broken and the temporary pain of being bitten…
Unthinkingly, I flexed my wrist at the memories…and realized that there was no pain when I moved my arm. I carefully inspected my arm, peering deep into the skin, past the pores and blood vessels, trying to see any sign of my bones, trying to trigger some X-ray vision…Okay, so my eyesight wasn't that good, but I was able to feel around on the bones in my wrist.
I was no doctor, but I wasn't stupid. There wasn't even a crack in the bone, as far as I could tell and either that meant that it had never happened (which was unlikely) or I had healed super quickly (which was unlikely as well, unless...) Huh. Maybe the transformation had healed my wounds.
Realizing that the brothers were watching me, I quickly returned to the conversation. "Yeah, I remember now. So…you guys aren't mad?" I asked tentatively. "Mad at what?" Allan replied, seeming genuinely confused, which made me hope that maybe they wouldn't hate me for what I had been transformed into.
"About me being a…a vampire." I found it very hard to even think my name and the word "vampire" in the same context, let alone say it. "No," Edgar answered, seeming shocked that I could even think that.
"But…you guys are vampire hunters! Technically, now I'm the enemy!" "I could never hate you," Edgar murmured, and I was reminded of my dream, and the fact that Edgar loved me, too. Whoa, Edgar loves me back! I thought to myself, liking the sound of that. He reached out to me, as if to stroke my cheek, but then he remembered and he dropped his hand, looking frustrated again. And this time, I was, too. I had just realized that I loved the guy and my stupid (but extremely cool) new vampire powers prevented me from even being close to him!
"Ugh, it took you guys that long to realize you love each other? Jeez!" Allan cried, disgusted. I glared at him. "What do you mean?" I demanded, searching my now-easily-distracted brain for any times I'd shown (or even really known) that I'd liked Edgar. I came up blank.
"Dude, Edgar was nice to you. He's never nice!" At a protest from Edgar, Allan backtracked quickly. "Okay, okay, he isn't nice to people he doesn't know. But he barely knew you and he was nice immediately. And then the night you two spent hugging each other, that just looked a bit suggestive, especially on your bed. And then-'' "Okay, Allan, I get the point!" I yelled.
Allan put up his hands in a jeez-you-don't-have-to-get-so-mad gesture. "Okay, okay, but now that you've finally realized it, ask her out," he ordered, fixing his brother with a stern glare. Edgar rolled his eyes and then turned to me, smiling gently. "So, you wanna go out with me?" I grinned. "You already know the answer," I pointed out and then went on to say, "Yes."
"Finally!" Allan yelled, lifting his arms to the heavens. "Must you be so dramatic?" I demanded and he nodded. "Yes, in fact I do. But now that you two are going out, I'm sure you guys wanna do a lot of kissing, right?" We both nodded (with me blushing slightly). "Well there's one problem, and we're gonna have to find a solution to said problem," he declared, sounding like a politician. I blinked as I realized what he meant. Edgar and I looked at each other. "The bloodlust," he stated and I nodded.
Well, this was certainly a pickle…
R+R please! No flames.