Disclaimer: (you know the drill by now) I own Vivian, Faith, Geena, Christine, and August. (And the plot line)
Chapter Twelve: Vampire Heart
"Let's see, how do I explain this?" Ville tried to think of a way to say it, but he could only put it bluntly. He rubbed his eyes with his finger tips. "Viv, I'm… not exactly…human," he began tentatively. He looked over at Vivian. Her eyes slightly wider, but she urged him to continue. He still waited. Stalling for time.
"Just tell me, I won't think any less of you," Vivian took his gloved hand. Ville couldn't help but smile.
"Vivian. I'm a Vampire." Ville blurted. He turned away from her, almost ashamed.
Ville couldn't see her face, but he could read her mind.
Oh god. A what! Did he just say vampire. I let a vampire into my house and now I'm holding his hand!!
Ville couldn't stand it any longer. "Please. Say something."
What the hell does he want me to say?
Ville felt her squeeze his hand. I guess that's better than nothing.
"What about Geena?" Vivian asked.
"She really is my sister; it's too bad she turned out to be normal. My mother married a human and they had my sister. Then they got divorced and Geena went with her dad so she wouldn't have to be exposed to this life. My mother then married a Vampire and they had me.
"My step dad got slaughtered by a vampire when my sister was 18," Ville said, leaving out who exactly the Vampire was even though he knew. "Then she found out about her true mother and turned to hunting Vampires. She staked my mom and dad when I was 20. The she found me and almost got me as well. That's what happened last time I was in Manhattan." Ville concluded. "Normally we can heal cuts quickly and end up with no scars. Unfortunately, this one took all my energy and I couldn't heal it. I had to go to my friend faith for help. So naturally I got left with a scar across my chest." Ville ran his hand across the gauze padding on his chest and winced. After so long, it still fucking hurt like hell.
"Can I see it," Vivian's voice seemed like it was echoing like some sort of background noise.
"What?" hand pausing on his chest.
"Can I see it?"
Ville gently shrugged off his trench coat and pulled his shirt over his head. Then slowly pealed back the medical tape to reveal the hideous mark.
Vivian reached out her hand to touch it, but stopped herself.
"Go ahead," He encouraged. "But gently."
Vivian ran her nail down the full length of the scar.
"She never stops. Geena has been hunting me for 300 years."
"300 years!" Her eyes widened. "You don't look a day over 23."
"Vampires age slower then humans. About 13 years to a human is 1 year to a vampire. I'm really 299 years old."
"But what about Geena, I thought you said she was human?"
"Human with Vampire blood. That's the only irregular thing about her."
Vivian laid her hand on his chest, but immediately regretted it. She pulled it away, her fingers felt frost bitten.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ville said, his attention snapped like he had just come out of a trance. He took her hand in his gloved ones and rubbed them. Then he pulled them up to his mouth and blew on them. Ville could tell that they were warm form the look of relief on her face.
"Better?" he asked and kissed her hand with parted lips. The cold-ness of his lips was equalized by the warmth of his breath. Vivian blushed and by instinct Ville read her mind.
I wonder if that would work if he kissed me. His cold lips equaled by his breath.
Ville would have blushed too if he had any blood left in his body. So all he could do was smile.
Did I say that out loud?! Vivian's features slowly turned to embarrassment. "Why are you so…?"
"Cold?" he finished.
"Yeah," She answered sheepishly.
"Well," he paused as he pulled his shirt back over his head. "I don't even know that answer to that one. All Vampires I know are the same. We are really cold on the outside and really hot on the inside. That's how I can warm you fingers when I breathe on them. I can only protect you when I wear my jacket and gloves because it's only when it's skin on skin."
"When you touch another Vampire, do you like freeze together?" Vivian joked.
"No… nothing happens." Letting out a small laugh. The question was surfacing, Ville could sense it.
"And what would… what would happen if you… kissed a human?" her cheeks flushed pink.
"I've never tried," the pattern of the rug became extremely interesting at that moment.
Vivian was stumbling over her next sentence. "Well, with your cold lips and hot breath, wouldn't it even out?"
"I suppose," Ville brought his attention up form the floor and looked into her eyes. He slowly and gently placed his hand on her cheek. Then he leaned in and Vivian met him. He had to know what she thought.
I would never be able to describe the sensation of this kiss. My lips are freezing one minute, but warm up from his breath just like I thought. His tongue scorches the inside of my mouth, but his lips froze the whole bottom half of my face anyway. In the end, it did even out. This is so odd, I –
Ville broke the kiss abruptly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't do that when I'm hungry. I need to feed and you are temptation."
Vivian's hand automatically flew to her neck.
Ville laughed softly and lowered her hand, "I would never hurt you." He smiled at her, showing all of his teeth.
Ville saw her eyes flicker from his face to his teeth.
"Where are your fangs?"
"They are in their sheaths. They only came out with the promise of blood."
"Oh, is that why you wouldn't look at my hand that night on the balcony?"
"Yeah, sort of. That is also why I couldn't watch you on your bathroom floor."
"I thought you had to have my permission or something to come in my house. How did you end up in my doorway?"
"When I heard you smash your mirror, I had to make sure you wouldn't do anything stupid. When danger is involved, there is always room for an exception. But when I saw the blood, I had to leave. It took me hours just to get the smell out of my system."
"Why weren't you in the mirror?" Ville began to believe this game of question and answer was turning into a game of dominoes. Every answer triggered a new question.
"Vampires have no reflections."
Ville could see another tumbling domino. "When you jumped off my balcony-"
"I was wondering when you would ask me that. The rumor of Vampires being able to turn into bats is only a myth. But they can fly slash soar. Personally I'm better at climbing. Kind of like some sort of freakish Spiderman. We don't need hand hold's, our hands and feet just kind of stick."
"Well Hun, the thought of Vampires in general was a myth too. But vampire bats have nothing to do with actual vampires, correct?"
"For the most part, yes." Ville glanced over to the clock on Vivian's nightstand. "I know you probably have a lot more questions, but they are going to have to wait. I have to hunt before the sun comes up." He took her by the hand and led her toward the door, but stopped. "There something I need to tell you before I leave. Something I think you should know." He waited, then finished. "You're a half Vampire. Just like Geena."
"What! That's not possible."
"Your father, August Bennett was a vampire married to a human. Your mother Christine Bennett died in child birth. Your father left you with your mothers parents and fled to Europe."
"No, my father died from cancer."
"No Vivian. Your father is still out there. Some day I'll take you to him." He paused then continued, "I'll be back tomorrow." Ville hated to leave her like that, with so many unanswered questions. This part wasn't in his job description, in fact, it wasn't a part of it at all. He planted a small open mouthed kiss on her cheek. "Now watch closely." Then just as he had before, he swung his legs over the rail and disappeared.
Ville free fell until the ground began to actually make sense; the scaled up the building across the street. He poised himself on the ledge in almost a cat like position and blew her a kiss.
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Ok, so now Vivian knows. About Ville… and herself. I'm excited. This story is actually going somewhere. Please read and review.