The car radio was another surprise. There were radio stations in the capital, but having access to so many stations out in the apparent boonies was something I was unfamiliar with. I flipped through all the stations twice before I realized I might've been annoying Sookie. I settled on one that sounded like flutes and some other instruments I couldn't name.
"Umm…" Sookie stopped, biting her lip in hesitation.
"Whaff is it?" My fangs got in the way, ruining my pronunciation. I didn't bite myself this time though, so that was a plus. "What is it? Stupid fangs."
Sookie giggled at that. I wanted to be annoyed with her but frankly it was just nice to be able to share the troubles that came with being some sort of half-vampire thing. I'd had to keep everything to myself, but now I was in a place where apparently showing signs of being undead wouldn't lead me to getting shot in the head. I already missed my sister but it was hard not to see the upside of a change in venue. Not being in jail was nice too.
Sookie abruptly turned serious. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it, but do you mind telling me how old you are and how you ended up in the parking lot during the day?"
"It's complicated." It was the easiest answer I could give and had the benefit of being true - for both questions. Between my slowed aging and amnesia it was difficult to say how old I was, though mentally nineteen still rang the truest. And as for how I got there… wormhole, maybe?
"I see," said Sookie. "Do you have any parents I should contact? Or a sire? Ah, forget I said that. We should wait until you meet Eric."
'Sire?' More importantly, "Who's Eric? He's not a cop, is he?" I was basically a cop myself, but after a little time behind bars I was feeling somewhat leery of them. I doubted any of my identification papers would get me very far either, not that I even had them on me.
"Not exactly."
Her answer wasn't very reassuring, but something about her relaxed me anyways. She was just such a vibrant person. My eyes weren't even fully active and I could see her aura spilling out to fill the car like sunlight that miraculously didn't burn. It was awkward to do in the car but I leaned over and cuddled against her, head coming to rest against her chest. She had ample padding and I had my ear to the wrong breast but I could still hear her heart thumping strongly. I could smell the blood pumping through her veins, and it smelled exquisite.
"H-hey, what are you doing!"
I tried unsuccessfully not to drool as my fangs came to rest on her right breast. I ached to bite right away but instead I let them slide on her skin as I pressed against my seatbelt in order to reach her neck. I knew biting people was wrong but she had so much blood, surely she wouldn't miss just a little. I wouldn't take it all this time.
My top and bottom fangs clicked together with no blood to show for it as Sookie hit the brake. My seatbelt kept me from flying through the window but I was so far out of position that it didn't stop me from knocking my head against the dash. "Owe! What was that for!"
'Oh, right. I tried to bite her. Bad Annie." It was hard to feel too guilty though when she looked and smelled so tasty. It was like she was begging me to bite her.
By the time I looked up Sookie was out of the car. A car that was still moving. I was still out of it from the bump to my head and my desperate longing for Sookie's neck but I didn't like the way this was going. The last time I'd gotten stuck in a driverless car it hadn't ended well, and I was just as clueless about driving a car this time as last time. I didn't much fancy trying to guess which pedal was the brake again.
After fiddling with my seatbelt I jumped out and remarkably landed on my feet without a scratch. Not a mean feat considering I was barefoot. It seemed that improved balance was another benefit of vamping out. It was a shame it came with the nasty side effect of trying to bite good people like Sookie.
I cringed as the car planted itself in a tree. Me and cars just didn't seem to get along. But where was -
"Stay back!"
Well, she hadn't run off into the woods. That was a plus, I supposed. I didn't want her to get eaten by bears. Now I just had to convince her that I didn't want to eat her. Which I didn't. Mostly. Anymore.
"I'm really sorry."
"Don't get any closer!"
She was holding something. A long steel chain. Or, silver? 'Right, vampire myth.' It was one I hadn't had a chance to test yet. I was fine with running water and only moderately affected by sunlight but garlic made me throw up, at least when I was vamped out. I wasn't keen to see what silver did, assuming it did anything.
I tried to apologize again. "I'm sorry about trying to bite you. It was an accident."
"Your fangs came out by accident? And then moved to my neck?"
I winced. It did sound awfully bad when put that way. "It's just you smelled so good. Like really, really good. Good smell." I was starting to drool just thinking about it. I needed to get my mind off it. "Umm, I think the car's mostly alright. Want to help me get it back on the road?"
"You're just going to try to bite me again."
"I promise I won't. Just umm, maybe open a window this time."
"Because I smell so good?" she asked, lowering the silver chain.
"Right." Telling another woman she smelled good… now that I wasn't hyperfocused on her blood it was hard not to be embarrassed about that. The fact that she was so pretty made it even worse. Maybe it was a good thing I was in another world. At least so long as I was here no one I knew would find out I nearly bit Sookie's boob.
Sookie looked around, no doubt thinking about how it was dark out and we were miles from everywhere. "Fine, but no funny business."
With some wariness she got back in the car. Between her putting it reverse and me pushing the front of it with a small dose of vamp strength we got the clunker back on the road. Somewhat miraculously she didn't drive off and leave me stranded but instead waited for me to climb in the passenger seat. Before closing the door I said, "Windows."
"Right." We rolled the windows down, and then the ones in the back too for good measure.
"Thank you for this," I said. "I don't know where I'd be without you."
I either underestimated my charm or how pitiful I looked because she leaned over and gave me a hug to cheer me up.
"Ai!" She tensed and screamed but rapidly relaxed, melting against me. I thought she might've even moaned, though that may have been me. Her blood didn't taste like blood at all, it tasted like liquid sunlight and sugar and everything sweet. It was intoxicating. I already felt light-headed but it was a good feeling and I wanted more of it.
It was hard to think about anything apart from how good she tasted but I knew that no matter how good her blood was I needed to stop. It hadn't ended well the last time I let myself get carried away. Just… one last gulp.
Somehow I managed to pull away, hand over my mouth to keep from spilling a drop of the last mouthful I'd taken. Sookie looked a lot paler, though not nearly as upset as I expected. Her pupils were dilated and she was panting. Was that a side effect of blood loss? Shock, perhaps?
"I'msosorry!" I said quickly. "Are you okay? Did it hurt?"
She said nothing for a time, just blinking occasionally. "Just a little, at first." Her eyes narrowed. "Normally it's polite to give a few drops of blood back to heal your donor."
"W-what? My blood? Really?" I'd tried to heal someone before but it hadn't worked. Sookie wasn't fatally injured though so it might have a better chance of working. I wasn't sure I dared though. There was no telling if I was like whatever vampires there were around here. If I gave her the Animator virus and she turned into a zombie I'd never forgive myself.
'Unless… what if I already gave her the virus from biting her?' I didn't think I was contagious but there was no telling for sure. In fact, my blood might be the best way to immunize her.
"Okay." I looked around for a knife but then another solution presented itself. My claws were out and currently making a mess of her car's upholstery. Each was more than sharp enough to accomplish the deed.
It hurt a little to slice my wrist but the high I still had from her blood made it easy to ignore the pain. "Quick, before it heals." Surprisingly she didn't need much encouragement. She latched on with her mouth first, then both her hands grabbed my arm to keep it from getting away.
'Wow.' I was some sort of half-vampire and I was still more leery of drinking blood than she seemed to be. There was no way this was her first time doing this sort of thing. I was starting to better understand why she seemed so knowledgeable about where to take a new vampire.
There was something strangely satisfying about feeding her my blood, but it was also quite draining. She wasn't slowing down, either. She was sucking hard enough that my cut wasn't healing up as fast as normal. "Umm, I think that might be enough."
She still wasn't letting go, stuck to me like a lamprey and just as hungry. "You should stop now." No response. "Alright, that's enough!"
It took more effort than I expected to pry her off. I wasn't sure if that was because my blood made her stronger or because she'd drained me enough to make me weaker, but I did manage to stop her. She didn't go back for seconds once I drew my arm away but she didn't look very contrite either. Her color was restored and more besides, red in her cheeks as she fanned herself. I wasn't sure what to think of her reaction to my blood but a close inspection of her neck revealed that it had at least healed the puncture wounds in her neck.
Though her neck was healed there were still a few drops of blood left that I licked up before I could think better of it. She didn't move away, though she did shiver when my fangs brushed her skin. It was an effort not to bite her again but somehow I resisted.
I sat back in my seat, putting my seatbelt on to make it harder to reach her if I got hungry again. "We, uh, we should probably get going."
"R-right." Sookie took a moment to adjust her dress and bra before she put the car in drive.
The drive went smoothly after that, if one ignored the awkward tension between us.
The sight of the city as we arrived gave me a way to keep my mind off it. There were so many people… so many buildings that looked like they'd never heard of an apocalypse. Just where in the world had I landed? Or as was looking increasingly likely, was this my world at all?
