After a long moment of silence, broken only by the sobs of the young girl, Sven once again turned to look at the blonde.
"You should go home." He said quietly.
Melinda looked up and managed a weak smile. "I don't have a home to go to. P-Papa was all I had."
Sven closed his eyes and searched for a nearby cluster of humans. The nearest life force was miles from here. He slowly opened his eyes.
"I was under the impression you lived in a village. I don't think that is entirely possible, seeing as the nearest humans are leagues away."
Sven looked straight at the girl and almost gasped. Even after all she had been through, on her tear and blood streaked face, was a grin.
"Yeah. Sorry for lying. We lived on our own. There…wasn't enough money around to move to a populated area."
"Sven…" Hearing his name on Melinda's lips sent a shiver through him.
"Sven," she began again, "I don't have a home to go back to and I don't want to live in a homeless shelter. Will… you take me with you?" she hazarded.
Sven stood there in shock, eyes wide, not able to comprehend why a human woman would want to be near a vampire for so long. Not to mention she had an incredible talent for bluntness.
"Why in the world would you want to come with me?" he questioned.
"Well…you are nocturnal, and you drink blood. Sounds like a nice change of pace." She said in mock seriousness.
"Plus, you are the only other person I know well enough to stand living with. Now that I think about it that sounds kinda sad. I mean, I've only known you less than a day, not to mention-" Melinda snapped her mouth shut as soon as she realized she was babbling.
It is amazing how quickly her emotions shift. Sven said to himself.
"Do you have any idea of what you are asking? I am a vampire. Even if that were inconsequential, I have no experience in with the social or political handlings of this time period." Sven stated somewhat half-heartedly. He was torn between the instinctual desire to keep the girl close to him and the warnings going off in his head.
"Does it matter?" she retorted. "In case you haven't noticed, I happen to be dirt poor. I don't exactly have a lot of experience with 'social handlings' either." Though, probably more than Sven, she silently added.
Melinda just stared at him for a while, waiting for him to respond. When no answer to her question seemed to be forthcoming, she sighed.
"Well?" she asked. "What do you say to letting me tag along?"
Sven looked at her. He couldn't believe he was actually pondering the idea. Then again, he couldn't believe a lot of things that had happened in the last few hours. Everything in his soul told him to do what was best. Meaning he should protect the woman. But, wouldn't his presence just bring her trouble, as it already had? On the other hand, shouldn't he be there to prevent things like this from happening to her again? Didn't he owe her that much?
Moving past his sense of duty toward her…Sven honestly wanted to be around her. The light of day had tossed him aside forever, but looking at her, he could almost see the sun shining in her hair, feel its warmth on his face. Sven wanted to hold onto that feeling.
For some reason…he couldn't deny her.
Sven looked into her deep blue eyes and knew that it was true, though he had no idea why.
"You have no idea what you are getting yourself into." Sven mumbled.
Melinda stood and wiped the grime off her face. Then she smiled. "Maybe not…but I have a feeling I won't be bored."
Sven looked at her and sighed internally. Oh well. I suppose I don't have much of an argument against that. He thought.
"Alright. As you wish."
Sven had to fight the urge to cover his eyes, for the smile that now sat on the girl's face was blinding.
"Thank you!" She ran up to him and stopped herself in mid-hug. She awkwardly patted his shoulder instead.
"So," she continued, "dawn will be coming soon…shouldn't you go to bed?"
Sven shook his head in amazement before answering, "Yes. You should go and gather your things."
"Huh?" Melinda looked up at him confusedly.
"I have no attachment to this place…" he stole a quick glance at her, "and I doubt that you would be happy staying here. I plan on leaving tomorrow night. I'll come get you."
Sven looked towards the horizon. He needed to go. "Don't worry about the wolves. They won't be out again tonight. Get some sleep."
He turned around and just like that, was gone.
Melinda stood in shocked silence for a few moments. She had expected to be rejected. But, he was telling her to pack up and he would whisk her away somewhere. It was like she had walked into a fairy tale.
She was going to have to get used to him poofing in and out of existence like that she supposed.
She had a sudden fit of hysterical giggles. She knew this situation shouldn't be funny…but somehow she knew she had been waiting all her life for this chance.
She pulled herself together and set off towards her home, a determined gleam in her eyes. She was going to do this. She wouldn't back down. Tomorrow's eve would be the dawn of her new life.