Chapter 3: Vampire


The night came quickly and I fell asleep in his arms as he continued to run. When I woke up I was laying on a very uncomfortable bed…a bed I recognized. How odd, I thought. It was dark and I continued to keep my eyes closed as I welcomed sleep to envelope me again. The room was cold and I felt around in the dark for a blanket. When I couldn't find one nearby I opened my eyes. To my horror there was light protruding from the small window on the door, casting a yellow square on the wall in front of me – a synthetic light. I gasped. I couldn't figure out how I had arrived back in my dark room in the asylum. It felt oddly disembodying. Suddenly the door opened and Dr. Daniel Bradford walked through.

It was like I was reliving the previous days. I gasped in terror and jumped off the bed, realizing my leg was intact - my body was bruise free except for the old yellowing bruises of previous beatings.

"What did you see today?" he asked with curiosity, just like he did before.

Why was this happening to me? I pressed my body against the wall, my eyes wide with fear.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he moved closer in an attempt to comfort me.

Realization hit me like a lightning strike - it had all been a very vivid vision, one like I've never had before. My breath became quicker and I was on the verge of a heart attack the rate my blood was flowing in my veins. When I looked at Daniel he had a crease between his eyebrows and an expression of purest sorrow. I had to speak to him quickly before the nurse came in.

"Who are you?" I asked quickly.

"Dr. Daniel Bradford," he looked perturbed.

"No – not who are you..." I whispered, "I mean, what are you?"

In the light coming from the small window I could see his eyebrows raise at my question as a blank silence greeted my words.

"What do you mean?" he finally spoke.

"You need to listen to me because we only have a few more minutes before the nurse is going to come in here." I began. "You sparkle when the sunlight hits you, you move in such a quick movement when you are holding me I can't see anything but a blur and if you take me from this place a very strong man will track us to get to me."

At each of my descriptions his eyebrows rose higher and higher until they were at his hairline.

"Maybe if we do things differently," he whispered to himself.

I began crying. "I don't want to stay in this place anymore, but you have to keep me here - if not…"I trailed off because I knew the coming doom would include Daniel's end.

"The nurse?" he asked.

"Will beat me."

"I'm sorry. I can't let that happen," his face showed the concern that I saw from my vision.

"Then stop her, but don't take me from this place," I begged. "We only have a minute."

"I'm not leaving," he said sternly.

He sat in a chair, immobile like a statue, contemplating everything that I spoke of. Suddenly the door was being opened; the nurse came through brandishing a needle with a wicked smile upon her face. When her eyes caught sight of Daniel the smile slid quickly off her face.

"You need to go," Daniel said tersely to the nurse.

Her eyes narrowed at his words. "It's time for her treatment," she hissed.

"She will not be receiving anymore treatment," he snapped back at her.

"She is cured?" the nurse asked incredulously.

"There was nothing wrong with her in the first place," Daniel bit back.

"She sees…things…the 'future'," the nurse said in a disbelieving tone.

Daniel stood instantly and at his full height she coward away from him in shock or fear, I wasn't sure. "Leave now," his voice rang with authority.

"Fine, but I'll be back." The nurse slammed the door as she exited.

Daniel turned to me, his face grave. "I have to get you out of this place."

"No!"

"Yes, you can't spend your whole life in this place."

"What I saw…" I began but he cut me off.

"It doesn't matter, I will keep you safe, trust me," but his voice broke and he looked like there was something stuck in his throat.

"I know you will," I sniffled, "it's you I'm worried about."

He was silent at my words while unconsciously moving towards me. His arms were out stretched slightly like he was about to snatch me up and run. His mouth opened and closed several times, trying to make speech come to him.

A vision swirled into my mind as cloudy wisps of smoke surrounded shadowy shapes in a forest clearing. It was undefined yet there was something sinister about it. I tried to look further into the future but it was unclear and foggy. Maybe it was because Daniel had finally decided something but the vision was instantly clear. Daniel and the other man were standing in the forest, talking. I gasped in horror as I realized even if I weren't in this vision that the extremely strong man was still present.

There was a hunter like quality to him as he spoke to Daniel. As I became engrossed into the vision as other decisions must have made my vision clearer. I found out from their conversation that the man's name was James. He was curious as to why he reeked of human but not human blood. His eyes were glowing an ominous red.

Terror ripped through my stomach as the next vision sent my heart flying into wild palpitations. James had become curious of Daniel and followed him to the hospital where he ultimately ends up in my dark room. Unconsciously, I was grabbing Daniels forearm as the visions continued to flash into my mind. I felt a cool hand wipe across my face and when my eyes opened he was only inches away.

"What is it?" he asked, his breath flew into my face and it was a wonderful scent.

"He'll find me here," I whispered barely above a breath.

His eyes went blank like he was making contingency plans in his mind. At his thoughts several things whipped around and changed in my visions, becoming clear and back to foggy as he continued to think. Before my vision became solid I was being brought into his arms.

When I focused my eyes on what was going on we were flying in a blindingly fast motion past the nurse's station. I watched as papers on the desk went swirling around. I watched us fly past a stretch of blank wall before the door flew open. No alarms went off this time. We were out in the forest, sprinting far away from the asylum. The grounds around us looked storm swept.

When we reached the cabin from my previous vision he sat me down on my feet, looking around in alarm. I was able to stand this time; there were no broken bones I had to worry about.

"What's going to happen?" his eyes darted in every direction, looking for the doom I predicted.

I looked to the future again. I felt like a dark shadow possessed me as I dove into James' future. His gleaming red eyes were staring fixedly at Daniels crouched position in front of me. His breathing was harsh and ragged as he prepared to pounce. Our voices were distant and echoing and I was unable to hear our words. Things were happening differently than my very vivid vision I had.

"I can't tell," I said softly, looking up into his dark red eyes. "Are you going to tell me?"

"What I am?"

"Yes. What are you?"

"I am…a vampire." He spoke the words slowly as to make sure I didn't react badly.

I was robbed temporarily of breath before a silent gasp escaped my parted lips. I could feel the sudden realization hit me; the red eyes, his extreme strength, the cold hard skin and his fast motion. I was looking for the terror that didn't hit me. Surely I would be scared of a vampire. Shouldn't I? I looked at him and I was sure that the curiosity was squarely displayed on my face. Words wouldn't form as I saw the similarities of him and our apparent attacker that continued to show up in my visions no matter where Daniel decided to take us. James was like a magnet.

A word finally escaped my lips. "Oh," I gasped as if I had been doused with coldwater while I was overwhelmed with stunned disbelief.

My pulse was reaching a danger point. He kept his distance as he peered down at my reactions to his words. My heart slowed. "That explains a lot." I said while memories flooded my mind of our previous conversations.

A benign smile spread across his face at my expressions which were flickering so frequently I wasn't sure how I felt or what I was seriously thinking. As I continued to stare at him it was like he was radiating an indefinable sense of power. My face must have displayed something funny because a smirk was quivering on his lips.

"You're not scared?" he asked curiously.

"I see the future," I reminded him.

"That is true," he continued to smile as he suppressed laughter.

He must have been feeling relieved at my whole whatever attitude. His face showed a quizzical look, like he was dying to ask me a million questions. I couldn't tell what those questions were because he hadn't decided to ask them yet.

"I've been wanting to take you away for a long time," he was choosing his words carefully. "I have always loved you and I will always love you. I wanted to take you away a long time ago but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to control my thirst," he stared at me, waiting for my face to show the horror he thought it should show. "I've been…practicing." He barely whispered. "I would wither and die away if I were to kill you. I'm still not ready."

"I don't understand," I said in hollow tones.

"I want to transform you into a vampire," his eyes ran over my face looking for the terror that should accompany my eyes. "But I know that I can love you as a human, so I've kept you human. I thought you would be safe in the asylum, but I was wrong. I should have taken you away from there. I wasn't sure what you would think of me once you realized I was the…monster."

"You aren't a monster. You're my savior, my angel," I said in an awed voice.

He didn't speak at my words like there was an ongoing battle raging inside him. His face showed nothing but positive adoration.

It hit me like a ton of bricks, like a wrecking ball; a deluge of startling flashes of insight. An odd chill rose up my spine as I saw the vision that was so ghastly that my breath became rough and my heart began to speed up. I saw the torture that will be inflicted upon Daniel if he continued on his course to turn me into a vampire. It was a scene of total devastation. An invisible hand twisted my intestines. The next vision was crystal clear. My eyes were a bright vivid crimson red and I was lying in the forest, lost.

"You will change me," I said timidly. "When the time is right, it will happen." Tears seeped through my eye lashes.

"I won't kill you?" he wondered, drawing himself up proudly, satisfied with the information.

"No. When it happens…" I didn't want to speak the next words but I had to tell him. "You'll be hunted and killed."


Author's notes: Hi Alice fans! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for all of the fabulous reviews, keep 'em coming!