No one had ever looked at me the way he did…..
The vampire standing high above me… His eyes were glowing with an intensity I'd never witnessed. They were burning so bright, I swear they were almost glowing- actually glowing. He was looking, nay ogling, me like I was the first woman he'd ever beheld. I was the first woman to walk the earth in his eyes; the first "human" woman….. That thought stuck in my throat nervously a little.
I felt like a lamb- pure, innocent, and naïve- being eyed by the world's most ravenous tiger. I could tell it took every last drop of strength he had not to come down here and suck every last drop of blood from my veins. He was more monster than human in that instant; he was rightly and truly a vampire. There existed nothing in the world but me and my blood to him just then; he wanted me, he craved me, he needed me, lest he fall down and parish of thirst. He saw me, and I knew that his thirst would be unquenchable from this moment on… He would never again walk on earth not knowing a yearning this intense. I almost felt sorry for him…..
Being a "human" myself, I didn't have the same fundamental vampire DNA make-up as the others. It's like we were two different species of vampires, which I guess we were. Blood acted purely as food- nourishment- for me like it would for any other human. I drank it, digested it, and moved on with life. Charlie told me though that for other vampires, it was another story. Your typical, traditional vampire's DNA was as solid as diamonds. It didn't change, and once it did, it could never change back. Anything that happened to a normal vampire after turning was permanent, etched into who they were as living entities in a way I'll never understand or experience. My bodily and mental experiences were all the same as a regular human's; their emotions and transitions were completely alien to me. All I knew was that Charlie grew to love me as a daughter, that became a permanent part of who he was in a way I would never know myself.
And here… Here I saw the same thing happen again before my very eyes. This man, this vampire- whoever he was- took one look at me, and I could tell his DNA, his very essence had forever altered. This part of me, this untiring desire for me, would follow him for the rest of his life. He would never forget my face, or my scent….
It all happened in the blink of an eye. My foot slid back slightly and my hand unconsciously raised up to my pounding heart. I didn't know what to think right then. I know he wanted to suck my blood to quench his own thirst, but the sad part is that even if he did drink all my blood, he'd still be thirsty for it afterwards. Even if I was no longer here, he'd still desire me. It wasn't until I died; it was until HE died, which made it all the more tragic. And I'm sure he knew this; he must have known this somewhere deep down inside. Gorging on me now would only temporarily solve the problem. I couldn't donate my blood periodically to him either, cause once he got a taste, I wouldn't be alive much longer.
The shimmer in his eyes also revealed something else. Something interesting and a little insulting…. He stared as if he didn't know what to do with me. I was an anomaly to him; a mystery, a riddle to be solved. He knew I was a vampire, like him, but he also saw me more of a human than fellow vampire. The lines on his face reminded me of those on Charlie's face. Not just a human, but a child; a helpless entity in need of constant protection and supervision. You'd think an inconvenience also, like this was something they HAD to do, whether they liked it or not. Of course I did not see it this way, but I had the sneaking suspicion that what I thought- or wanted- was of little consequence. He saw me, and that's all there was to it. He would be bound to me forevermore, and judging by his expression he was not happy with this revelation. It's akin to a werewolf imprinting onto me, someone he so desperately did not what to. This male vampire did not want to be tethered to me, and yet he had to have me. This was purely a need to possess, to hold and keep near, to own. At first all he wanted was to possess me- nothing more.
First possession, then came love.