lAwakening – Chapter One of Part Two
I woke.
My eyes were sharper, I realised. A lightbulb was positioned directly above me and I noticed an eighth colour at the edge of the spectrum which I couldn't name.
The second thing I noticed was my sense of smell. I picked out coffee brewing, and with my new, sharper ears, I estimated the shop to be over five hundred metres away. The smell was strangely unappetizing.
One by one, I honed in on my senses.
Everything was newer, brighter, sharper, like a shiny present that wanted to be opened. And I wanted to open it too. I wanted to explore my new body, see what I had become.
But with that thought, I froze in the middle of the rush of sensations.
What had I become? What was I?
The whiff of coffee came again, and with it, I heard a rush of flowing blood, of a healthy heart pumping away under a thin, very thin layer of skin. So easy to bite through. And the scent...
A flare of pain seared up my throat, and I gasped, making my first sound since waking up. The door of the room I was in opened quietly. Someone walked in, head covered by a cloak, but the stride seemed familiar, and I struggled to place it.
"Kebi?" I asked. The figure drew back her hood and Kebi's face smiled down at me.
"Hello, Tia," she said gently. "How are you feeling?"
"Wonderful!" I exclaimed. "So strong, so fresh, so... thirsty..." I trailed off. What had happened to me?
I cast my mind back, past the pain of transforming – I skipped over that part quickly – and back to my last memory. It was of flying, of falling, of complete freedom. It was exhilarating.
Kebi was studying my face. "Tia? Do you know what you are?"
Mutely, I shook my head.
"You're a vampire, Tia."
When I was human, this sort of thing would have made my head reel and I would have clutched onto something for support. But now... I froze.
Memories clicked together in my head. Pictures flashed before my mind's eye.
Was it possible?
Benjamin's face. Amun. Kebi. The waiter at the coffee shop. The strange lady who spoke to me...about...Benjamin... being... a vampire?
So. It was true.
"Yes, Tia. It was true."
"Huh?" I asked, taken aback. I must have thought aloud.
I stood swifly, casting off my blankets. The tiled floor no longer felt cold to my icy, diamond hard soles. Benjamin had lied to me after all
He had lied.
My vision was suddenly tinged with red, and my fingers unconsciously clenched into fists.
"Where is Benjamin?" I asked calmly and politely. Kebi suddenly looked shifty.
"I'm not entirely sure, Tia. The last time I saw him, he was going outside."
"Bullshit," I hissed. "He's hiding in your room."
"How did you know that?" Kebi asked, obviously startled. In truth, I didn't know myself. It was as if a sixth sense had flicked on in my brain. I cast my eyes in the direction of the other room and I saw a silhouette outlined in blue crouched against a wall. My feet unconsciously carried me in that direction, and I walked forward with my eyes closed, until an obstruction blocked my way. My eyelids flicked open and I hissed irritatedly.
"Please, Tia," Kebi implored, ignoring my cold, red eyes. "Please... don't hurt Benjamin. He's like my son. Please..."
I looked in her eyes, and for a minute I was thrown. I saw a deep, strong love for Benjamin and Amun. I saw protective instincts flaring in response to my attack-mode stride. And I didn't see anything for me except wariness.
It hurt. It hurt a lot. From murky human memories, there was always affection in Kebi's eyes. That had changed. And I knew that I wanted to see that affection again. Something inside me broke.
"Fine," I conceded, avoiding Kebi's eyes. "I won't hurt him." She looked relieved.
"Physically," I added, walking away. I didn't look back. I reached Kebi's room and pushed open the door. Benjamin was sitting there and he didn't look like he was hiding anymore. He just looked expectant. A wave of pain rippled through me at the sight of his face. It infuriated me. How many times had he lied to me, hurt me? It was stupid to hurt over him.
I took two deliberate steps towards him. Suddenly, he spoke.
"What was the first thing you smelled, Tia?" he asked me. I flinched at the sound of his voice. He ignored me. "Was it coffee brewing, by any chance?"
I was a bit thrown for a minute. I had come here to do the talking, and now...
I opened my mouth to speak, but he cut me off.
"There's a coffee maker about five hundred metres away. He passes by this house every morning. And when I first changed, I had to fight so hard not to sink my teeth into him, because the thirsty, drowsy humans would notice me for sure. If Kebi hadn't entered and distracted you, you'd be out there now, wouldn't you?"
He rose, and came closer to me. My fingers clenched into fists.
"You can resist it, can't you?" Benjamin said. His breath, cool and sweet-scented, brushed against my face. I resisted the urge to inhale deeply. His voice slipped into the background and I just focused on his scent and his how his lovely deep voice rose and fell.
"...surely you don't want to hurt me, Tia..."
That did it. I snapped out of my reverie and saw that Benjamin had fixed a pleading look on his face.
The lying bastard.
My hand moved without me consciously ordering it to. I grasped him by the back of his neck and pulled his face close to mine.
"Do you know why I jumped off that cliff, Benjamin?" I taunted, waiting for that fake flash of pain. It came. He hid it quickly, though.
"I jumped so that you couldn't get my blood. And guess what? Just when I thought I could safely go to the afterlife, I woke up. Back in your house."
"Tia – " he tried to intercede. I didn't let him This time, there wouldn't be any mind games.
"No, Benjamin. I loved you. Past tense," I added when he looked hopeful. "And you lied to me," I continued. "Even after that woman... Tassara or whatever her name is... even after she told me and I saw the blood on your fingers, still you lied. I might have forgiven you if you at least told the truth. But you lied, and not only that, you turned me into a monster as well." I shook my head in disgust, but a stab of pity erupted inside me when I looked up at his face. At the word "monster", his face had contorted into something only real, bone-deep pain could create.
I pulled myself together. I had to finish up and get the H-E- double L out of here. Avoiding his eyes, I leaned closer and whispered in his ear, "I'm leaving, Benjamin. You can't get my blood anymore, what use am I to you?"
"Tia - !" he cried. I closed my eyes and blocked the part of my mind which so badly wanted to stay.
"Goodbye, Benjamin," I said lightly. "It's been fun."
Then I walked out of the front door with a slight, sad smile for Kebi and ran all the way to my dormitory. I collected all my possessions, including a sock stuffed with my savings from my job at the local stationery store. There was no time to give my notice the traditional way, and besides that, no one would recognise me with my new face, I realised when I looked in the mirror.
I walked right past the mirror in the hall, then I paused and rewound. Was that really me?
The woman in the mirror was a goddess. It couldn't be me. She had vivid crimson eyes and her nose was straight and fine. Her beautiful skin was flawless and diamond-hard and every curve of her body was defined.
Was it really me?
I touched my hair. The goddess in the mirror mimicked me.
The strands of gorgeous, shining hair felt so alien in my fingers. I wasn't used to the softness, and I was acutely aware of every separate hair in a strand.
From the next room, my sensitive ears picked up the sound of movement. People were waking and getting ready for the day. A quick glance at the clock told me it was five in the morning. Another fleeting look at the calendar told me that it was three days ago that I had jumped off the cliff.
As sounds of movement resounded from all sides, I decided to move. It wouldn't do for the humans to notice me – or I to notice them, and their veins, chock full of hot, sweet blood. Swiftly jumping into action, I grabbed my things and crept out through the back window. Everything, both physical and mental seemed easy to me.
Someday, I told myself. Someday, when you've escaped from Benjamin completely, you can test yourself. Find out what your body is capable of.
I comforted myself with the thought that soon, very soon, I'd be free from Benjamin. He wouldn't be able to track me down if I were in a different city.
I had no definite plan, just that I was going to Cairo and that a train for it left at nine o'clock. It would take me about three hours to reach there. When I actually got there… well, I'd find somewhere to stay and get a job. Wouldn't be hard with my new face.
Getting to the train station was easy enough – getting onto a train was different. As soon as I got close enough to smell the humans, my throat ripped into flames like throwing sparks into a tank of oil. Luckily for me, I got a hold on myself before I got out of control.
It was apparent to me that I needed to feed – pronto.
I slunk into a secluded side alley and waited for someone to come along. Someone did, and it was a young man, very handsome for a human. He was shouting profanities at someone I couldn't see and more colourful language echoed back to me from their end of the alley. Their noise got softer and softer as they left the alley and went back into central Alexandria. The young man that I had first seen, however, was still staggering in my direction.
Studying him critically, I deduced that he was either drunk or hurt. After the scent of his breath reached my face, I knew he wasn't drunk.
And after the smell of his breath – ugh, I could tell exactly what he'd had for breakfast – came the scent of blood.
He was bleeding.
Unable to control myself, I jumped out into his path, startling him. Before he had time to say more than "Aa-!" I had pounced.
As if they were on Autopilot, my teeth found the exact place where the blood flow concentrated. They cut easily through the thin covering of skin and I drank down his blood until I there wasn't anything left.
Disgusted with myself, I shoved his corpse off me. What had I become?
I checked up and down the alley for people, but there was no one. Then I checked my clothes. No blood. Good. I left the man's body in the dirt of the alley, murmuring a quick prayer to the gods with an apology attached to the end. Feeling able to control myself, I ran back to the train station, hoping that there was still a ticket left for me.
"One ticket to Cairo, please," I asked the fat man behind the ticket counter. He gave me a slow once-over that made me feel so exposed that I wanted to hide my body. Then he tapped in my request and printed my ticket. I thanked him and turned to leave. Before I could, some more men joined him behind the counter.
"Hey Ra – wouldn't mind getting that one into my bed. What say you, eh man?" One of them nudged the fat one.
"You said it, man. I'd love to get my hands on those curves!" They leered at me, focusing their gazes on an area a little below my neck.
Anger mounted inside me. I turned and flipped them a view of my middle finger. One of them reached out and grabbed my wrist.
"Come on, darling, we won't hurt you…" one of them said. I slapped him across his face with more force than I knew I had; he flew halfway across the room and hit a pillar. The others looked on with sudden fear, but with a glance from the fat guy, they advanced on me again. They obviously thought four of them could overpower me.
They had another think coming.
Unfortunately, before I could smash them into powder, someone intervened.
"Didn't you know that it's bad manners to touch a lady without her permission?" a voice asked. A grunt came from behind me and I assumed that the unknown person had cinched fat boy in an armlock.
I turned around to face my savior – and gasped.
He was a vampire. Like me.
When he caught sight of my face, he also seemed surprised. Fat guy took advantage of his distraction to try and free himself, with no luck. The strange vampire picked fat guy up by the scruff of his neck and slung him into the other three, causing all of them to end up sprawled against a pillar.
It was strange, but I hadn't noticed any security around the station at all. Normally they would have intervened long before the strange vampire could.
"I'm Alejandro," he said, holding out his hand for me to shake. I put my hand in his and he clasped it gently before letting go, as was respectful.
"Tia," I replied, absorbed in the sound of his voice. He had a very nice accent, something Spanish, I'd guess. It made me think of warm things like barrels of honey and melting chocolate.
"Where are you going to? If you don't mind me asking," he added.
"No, it's fine," I replied. "I'm going to Cairo… hoping to find a job somewhere there."
"Forgive me if I'm wrong… but are you a very new vampire? Your eyes are not dark red like mine, they're a very vivid crimson."
"No, no… I am new to this life. In fact, I just woke up this morning," I told him. He seemed a bit surprised, so I asked him why.
"Are you not dying to feed on all the humans around?" he asked. "Your thirst must be unbearable."
I frowned as I considered this. "Maybe so," I conceded, "but I just satisfied my thirst. I'm alright for now."
"Still, you are admirably strong for such a new vampire." I nodded my head in thanks. "I'm going to Cairo as well," he added. "Mind if I tag along?"
"Not at all," I said. "Any company is fine with me."
He held the door of the carriage courteously open for me and I climbed in, feeling a bit like a queen. He followed me to my compartment and sat opposite me.
"Is it alright if I ask why you're going to Cairo?" he said.
"That's… a little personal," I replied. "But to put it simply, I need to get away from Alexandria. For many reasons."
Alejandro nodded thoughtfully.
"I'm leaving because I'm trying to make some honest money. I feel ashamed to admit it, but I've been stealing money so far. You should see my house," he laughed. "Full to the brim of creature comforts – except, obviously, human food."
"What kind of job are you looking for?" I asked?
He shrugged. "Anything, I guess. As long as I can keep some dignity."
I laughed with him and soon he changed the subject. The train ride was interesting and enjoyable – far from what I expected. I was sorry when the train groaned to a stop at Cairo station.
"Will I see you again?" Alejandro asked me, as the train lurched off like it was going to collapse under a hedge.
"That depends. I don't really have definite lodgings yet, so that's my first mission. I can put myself up in a hotel for the night, I suppose. Where are you staying?"
"I have a house in west Cairo. I'll give you the address." He wrote it on a scrap of paper and presented it to me.
After tucking it safely in my pocket, I turned to leave, my heart suddenly sinking. What was I doing, alone in a city of this magnitude?
Alejandro stepped close behind me. He seemed to sense my anxiety.
"Remember querida," he whispered, making my skin tingle, "you are a vampire." Then he was gone.
And somehow, his words did fill me with confidence.
It wasn't hard to get a taxi from the train station. And then even easier when I checked into the cheapest hotel I could find. A total fleapit, but it wasn't like I'd be sleeping there. No, I'd be looking for my next meal.
The thought didn't fill me with revulsion, and I took that as a bad sign. I was already turning into a monster, was I? I worriedly chewed my lip as I sat down on the bed.
Since I didn't want to think about it further, I put it off and went looking for a job. With my new face, I easily hooked a spot as a waitress somewhere in west Cairo. My first shift went excellently.
I could see other waitresses eyeing me enviously as I got suggestive glances from the men in the café. Oh well, I thought. It was only to be expected.
It was on my second day of work that I met Alejandro. Since I was on duty, I greeted him as I would any other customer. But when I knew no one was looking, I spared him as wink. As I turned around, he slipped a note into my palm. Then he stood up, stretched and left.
I excused myself to the ladies' room and quickly unfolded the note.
Meet me outside when your shift is over. – A
I glanced at the clock. My shift ended in ten minutes. Reluctantly, wishing I could go outside right away, I returned to the café.
The next ten minutes seemed to crawl by, the way time always does when you're wishing for it to go faster. I laid tables and served customers, impatiently glancing at the clock. At last, the ten minutes passed and I left the restaurant with a smile and a wave.
Alejandro waited silently outside, leaning casually against the wall with his arms folded. His muscles stood out in lean definition. I almost drooled, he looked so good.
"Hi," I said shyly, stepping closer to him. He looked down at me and smiled. "Hi, Tia," he replied. He started to lead the way down a side alley.
"Where are we going?" I asked, keeping pace easily.
"My house," he answered. "I thought you might like to stay there instead of that fleapit you took a room in."
"Thanks," I said gratefully. "That's… really kind of you."
"It's not a problem, " he replied, smiling at me. We chatted about this and that and soon we were facing a beautiful, small house. It was sheltered by tall plants all around, and it had a wide, sweeping balcony curving around it.
Alejandro held the door open for me and I smiled at him as I passed through the doorframe. My mind automatically skipped back to when he had held the door of the train open for me.
"You'll be sleeping here," he told me, opening the door of a spacious, comfortable room. "Is this alright? I could get you something else like a painting of some sort…" he trailed off, waiting for my response.
"No, no, this is perfectly fine. I'll be fine. Thank you." He watched me look around for a minute, then withdrew.
After five minutes, I sat down on the bed. There was no need to; I could have stood in the same position for a month, but I wanted to be as human as possible.
The aroma of blood came floating down the hallway and, as if in a trance, I followed it to the living room. Alejandro had poured some blood into a mug and was chugging it down. I stared at him curiously for a minute, wondering how he had got it.
"Stole it from the hospital," he explained. "That's my gift. I tell the nurses or whoever's on duty to get it for me then I tweak their minds so that they'll forget about it. Sounds evil, I know," he added, noting my expression, "but it wasn't going anywhere. This stuff was meant for blood transfusions, which by the way, no one needed. Not to mention, I prefer stealing over cold-blooded murder."
My hands twitched involuntarily. I wanted to snatch the cup from his grasp. He didn't miss it.
"I was just about to come and offer you some." He held out the cup. If I hadn't been so thirsty, I would've felt embarrassed at the way I snatched the cup and glugged the delicious liquid down.
"More?" I requested. Alejandro smiled and refilled the cup. I drank it more slowly this time, trying to identify what the taste reminded me of. I thought about it for almost a full five minutes, then shook my head. No, I couldn't pinpoint it.
When I finished, I put the cup to the side and with a happy smile for Alejandro, I went back to my room. I wanted to change out of my waitressing clothes – I looked like a plastic doll in them. Digging around in my bag, I found a t-shirt and a pair of loose-baggy pants – both of which had belonged to my father. I closed my curtains and turned my back to the door. Unbuttoned my shirt and pulled it off. Then I grabbed the other shirt and eased it on.
Since I wanted to change my underwear, I turned and headed for the connected bathroom – and gasped.
Because someone was standing in the doorway.
As soon as my eyes had reached his face, I realized that it was Alejandro, and I wondered why I hadn't noticed before that he was standing there.
"A-Alejandro," I stammered. "How long – how long have you been --?"
"Through the entire performance," he said with the hint of a smirk. He took a deliberate step towards me and gave me a slow once-over, from my head to my toes. He took another step, bringing us nose to nose, so close that I could feel his breath on my face. His hand lifted and caressed my cheek gently. His other hand reached around and curled around my waist. Then, very slowly, he bent and kissed me.
It was… quite boring, really. There weren't any fireworks, no spark, no chemistry, no… nothing. But I enjoyed it while it lasted. His lips, despite their hardness, felt soft to me and my arms automatically wrapped around his neck.
In the back of my head, a sixth sense flickered on. Someone other than myself or Alejandro was in the room.
But Alejandro's lips were still pressed to mine, and I couldn't concentrate. It was only when a strangled, choking gasp came from behind us that we broke apart. We turned around. Both hissing defensively, we noted the intruder's scent and appearance.
Smell – familiar. Something I'd smelled before, definitely vampire, but I was still dizzy from our kiss and I moved on.
Black hair.
Well-muscled.
Expensive-looking clothes.
Brown skin with a strange chalky pallor.
And red eyes. Eyes that were… disconcertingly familiar.
Oh Isis…
I stopped dead in the middle of categorizing the vampire's features.
"Tia?" he said in a voice that sounded half strangled.
His face was twisted, contorted in what could only be pain – and anger. Most of which appeared to be directed at me.
"Benjamin." I replied stonily.
A/N: Hey guys. :)
So, I'm really sorrrryyyyy this update took so long! Actually, the chappie's been ready for weeeeksss. But I forgot to upload. I know. Smart, ain't it?
So... song of the week: Love Remains The Same by Gavin Rossdale. Listen to it, it's damn sweet. :)
PixieFlies: Damn, I'm sorry. And yeah. I hated the last chapter too. :( Hope this one is up-to-standard!
new york gal: Aaaah, I can't update without seeing your review. :) Hope you like the chapter! :DD
'Twilight for eternity' : Hahah. :P You know you're the only one who actually liked the last chapter, right? :P
SalluSocialites: Yay! The next chappie is up! :) Hope you like it!
As always, my love to: Alyaa, Neliz, Taka, YooJin, Andreas, Saloni, Mitali and Mridula.
P.S. One more thing... I'd like you to go back and read chapter 8 again, because I posted only the draft last time. Sorry, guys. :(