We Are Different
Lacey walked into the classroom cautiously. She hadn't seen Danny since the revelation on the dance night. She had called Mrs. Hillman to inform her she wasn't feeling well. It was a good thing that they had raised enough money to get a clean up crew for the dance.
They had a small vacation after the dance due some flooded roads. The school was shut down for a week. Most students and teachers celebrated. Lacey did as well. One week without seeing Danny was needed for her to collect her thoughts.
Lacey sat in her normal chair. She bit her lip wondering where Danny was. Phoebe was followed in by Jo and Rico. Jo and Rico were holding hands. Lacey had received a long detailed phone call from Jo explaining they were a couple. Lacey wondered how Jo could be so close to someone so quickly. Rico and Jo had already had sex. Anyone could guess that by the way Rico smiled at Jo. Lacey didn't look bad at Jo for her values. Lacey was just different with her own values for her own body.
Those thoughts brought her back to Danny. She wanted him in every way if things were normal. Lacey admitted to herself that if she and Danny were normal seventeen year old people, she would've already made that step into intimacy. But there was nothing normal about them. They were different.
"How's Danny?" Jo slid into the seat next to Lacey. That was usually Danny's seat.
"What?" Lacey took a deep breath.
"Mom got a call from Karen Desai. Danny isn't feeling too well. He's really sick again. He may not return to school." Jo breathed out in one long breath. "I thought you'd know."
"Oh. Well, Danny and I kind of got into a fuss the night of the dance. I haven't spoken to him since." Lacey admitted. "I didn't know he was sick."
Which to Lacey meant on of two things. One, Danny was done with pretending to be a teenager. Or two, Danny hadn't partaken of blood and was really sick.
Lacey swallowed uneasily as she opened her notebook to get ready to take notes. Mrs. Hillman walked in to the class. Her eyes had red rims around them as if she had been crying.
"Students, I know this is a small town. That means we all get close to one another. I admit that I am very close to my students." She took a deep breath. "It has been informed to the staff by Danny Desai's mother that Danny has taken a turn for the worse with his ailment." Mrs. Hillman glanced at Lacey. "Mrs. Desai said Danny may not make it through the week."
At those words, Lacey jumped out of her seat. She didn't think twice before she darted out of the class. Her legs didn't seem fast enough to make it to the Desai home. Was Danny really dying? Or was he deciding to go from Green Grove and be yet another persona?
"Mrs. Desai!" Lacey pounded on the door. "Mrs. Desai!"
Karen opened the door peering at Lacey. "You came."
"Is he..." Lacey tried to catch her breath.
"Convince Danny to eat, Lacey." Karen pulled the girl into the room. "I don't know how long he's been without nourishment. But he has bypassed his..." Karen paused as she took in air. "..his monstrous state. He locked himself in the attic and hasn't been seen. I heard his screaming in pain. Finally, Danny was weak enough for me to get in there. He's not doing well, Lacey. Not well at all."
"I need to see him." Lacey pleaded. "I need to explain."
"Of course." Karen led Lacey up the stairs. She unlocked the attic door without announcing their presence. She pointed to a small bed in the corner. Danny lay curled up in it. "He's over there."
Lacey nodded as she walked in to the room. Candles were lit throughout. No natural light or modern day lighting was used. "Danny..."
"He's weak." Cole stepped out of the shadows. "Very weak."
"Mr. Farrell?" Lacey questioned. Then she held up her hand. "Never mind. I don't want to know."
"I'm a friend." Cole laughed as he stepped up. "Call me Cole."
Lacey sighed out. "I see." She remembered his name from their story. She bit her lip before touching Danny's shoulder. She ran her hand along his back to get his attention. "Danny, what have you done to yourself?"
Danny rolled over to look at Lacey. His eyes had lost their glow. His skin was an ashen color. "I'm trying, Lace." His voice came out low and weak. "For you, I want to be normal. I don't want to be hidden in the darkness. For you. Maybe if I am mortal, you could love me easier."
Lacey ran her finger over Danny's face slowing tracing his sunk in cheeks. At that moment, her heart outweighed her mind. To lose Danny was not an option. "Silly vampire, don't harm yourself."
Danny half smiled. "It's okay." He breathed out. "None know what I am. Perhaps, if I do without the blood of a mortal.."
"You'll die." Karen walked in. She laid Danny clean clothes at the bottom of the old cot. "Cole, help him to New York. Danny needs to feed. Lacey will be here when he returns."
"Mother." Danny sat up slumping. "I can do this."
"Nonsense." Karen glanced at Lacey. "Tell him..."
"Feed, Danny." Lacey took in a deep breath as she spoke. "I'll be here waiting."
Was she really giving him permission to murder?
Cole grabbed Danny up under his armpits. "Now let's go find some lowlife that needs stopped."
They seemed to disappear with Cole's quickness. Lacey looked up at Karen. Karen smiled as she stepped towards Lacey.
"They think I'm mad." Karen stated as she sat beside Lacey. "I'm not mad. I know what my son is. I know how old my son is. I know how much you mean to him."
"I don't understand." Lacey glanced at her hands. She hadn't realized she had being wringing them nervously.
"Now is not the time." Karen stood up. "If you're going to be waiting on Danny, you need to help me prepare for when he gets home."
Lacey did help Karen. However, she wasn't ready for the experience she was about to see. When Danny came in, he was strong again. Yet, he was covered in blood. Even his tendrils of hair were sticking together due to thickness of blood. He peered at her with his glowing brown eyes. Those eyes begged for her to understand what he was, who he was.
Lacey stayed in silence as Karen busied gathering Danny's clothing to wash from the blood. She glanced at Lacey. "He's weak because of the sun and the exertion in his feeding. Help him."
With those words, Karen left the two alone. Lacey took Danny's hands, which were stained with blood, and led him to his bedroom. Lacey realized she had never really been in his bedroom before. She half chuckled thinking about him sleeping in a normal bed.
Danny's eyebrows raised. "We don't sleep in coffins. That is just a made up part of the myth. It makes us creepier."
Lacey turned to look at him. "I'll make your bed. Go get in the shower."
He nodded as he made his way to the bathroom hooked to his bedroom. He stumbled slightly causing Lacey to run to him. She placed his arm over her shoulder and led him to the shower. She helped him remove his blood stained clothing without looking at his body. Her eyes stayed connected to his eyes. The removing of clothes continued as Lacey continued to try her best not to look at Danny's body. Soon, he was stepping into the shower with the aide of Lacey.
Puddles of water mixed with blood pooled around his feet. Lacey watched the water go down the drain in a swirling pattern. She glanced up at his body not meaning to gawk at him. But he was beautiful in his entirety. Lacey took a deep breath before she poured shampoo on her hands. Water cascaded from the shower onto the floor in his bathroom due to Lacey standing outside the shower.
"You could join me in here." Danny smirked as his strength began to come back. "It would be a lot more interesting. That way I can look at your body as you've been checking out mine." Danny leaned over to whisper in her ear. "But I won't be sneaky about it."
Lacey smacked the shampoo in Danny's hair. She resisted the urge to run her fingers over his dark locks. "Wash yourself, Immortal."
She teased before she walked away to make the bed. She heard Danny chuckle as she left.
Danny made his way from the shower to see Lacey standing by his bed in one of his shirts. She glanced at him.
"I got a little wet." Lacey pulled at his shirt, which she was wearing. She glanced up at Danny. His beauty made her take a sharp intake of air. An overwhelming feeling of needing him encompassed her. He was her Danny.
"Danny, can you hold me?"
Danny held Lacey as she had asked earlier that night. She had fallen to sleep due to exhaustion. He watched her sleep as his memories of all the other females, who he had not only bedded but tasted, played in his mind. Not one of them compared to how he felt about Lacey. The looks of her ancestors matched her in an eerie way. However, even those females didn't have the inward beauty that Lacey possessed. Danny could feel the kindness and gentleness of Lacey's soul. He didn't deserve such a wonderful female to care for him as Lacey did. However, he was drawn to her and her heart. He was in love.
He raked his finger across her softness of her skin eliciting a deep routed desire in him. He watched her chest rise and fall in breathing. It was such a new feeling of being in love. Lacey made him want to be human more than he ever had wanted it.
Lacey's eyes fluttered open. "How long have I been asleep?" She asked before slowly sitting up from her position of lying onDanny's lap.
"For a while." Danny answered. He immediately missed the feeling of Lacey's head lying in his lap. "You had a really rough night."
"It isn't every day that you face the man you love is a vampire." Lacey's eyes widened at her admittance. "I mean…"
"I love you too." Danny ran his finger over Lacey's hand. "But you know that already. Don't you?"
Lacey nodded her head as she stared at him. His eyes were sparkling against the darkened sky. "I'm afraid of you still."
"I know." Danny sighed out lowly. "It is obvious that you look at me differently now."
Lacey smiled slightly as she stared at him. "I'm not a fool, Danny. I know you have to kill to survive."
Danny exhaled deeply as his hands clasped in his lap. "True. However, I'd never harm you."
Lacey moved her head to be on Danny's shoulder. "Yet. You crave me."
Danny chuckled mischievously. "In more ways than one it seems."
Lacey's cheeks flashed a crimson red as she realized the implications of Danny's words. Danny loved the red hue of her cheeks against her dark skin tone.
She bit her lip. "Honestly, I crave a kiss about now."
Danny pulled Laceys face up by the chin. His lips met hers in a kiss of need. He needed to feel accepted by her. He needed to know that they were okay despite the fact of what he was. The kiss was telling a story of that acceptance.
His tongue begged for entrance in Lacey's mouth. She never hesitated when her mouth opened slightly to allow his quest. Her breath came out with her sigh of lust. Danny could feel himself becoming overwhelmed by the playing of her tongue against his.
He growled.
Lacey immediately pulled from the kiss. She stared into his eyes as their sheen became more luminescent. The green was so intense that Lacey's breath harnessed in her lungs. He moved her body to straddle in Danny's lap.
"Lacey, I want you so much." Danny whispered huskily before leaning to lick Lacey's neck.
He felt her shiver as he kissed her neck. He closed his eyes knowing that the shiver was not only desire but fear. She feared he'd do more than kiss her. She feared he'd taste of her blood.
Unfortunately, Danny feared the same. As his tongue savored the delicate skin of Lacey's neck, the distinct smell of Lacey's blood tickled Danny's nostrils. He could feel his longing for her increase as his tongue ran along her skin.
His heart pounded harshly against his chest. Each thud alerted Danny that he not only desired Lacey sexually but he desired to taste of her. His body craved the taste of her blood.
The pumping of her heart beat in his ears. He could also hear the way Lacey's blood ran through her veins and arteries. Once again…
He growled.
Lacey moved her body into a thrust in Danny's lap. His body in turn thrust upward into the core of Lacey's. She moaned illicitly. Her fingers twisted into Danny's hair as her slow thrusting continued. Danny matched Lacey's movements with his own.
He had sexual encounters with many females with his many years on this earth. That fact didn't make the hunger for Lacey lessen nor did that fact compare to the overwhelming want for her.
Danny had killed more females than he had actually made love to as of late. Yes, females could be as evil as males. Danny wasn't one to care when he was in need of feeding. If a female was doing an injustice, she'd die as easily as a man.
There was a definite difference between feeding from a female than tasting of her in a sexual manner as a vampire. Danny hadn't really craved that sexual intimacy for years. Now he was craving that intimacy full force.
The smell of Lacey's blood was more overpowering than any time in his past. He had brought many females pleasure. Yet, he never craved a female so intensely in this sexual manner. He knew that he could bring Lancey a pleasure that she had never known. Her first time at making love could also be a time he took of her blood as well as her body. The pain that a virgin felt during a regular sexual encounter would be nonexistent when it came to Danny taking her. Lacey would only feel the pleasure of her senses peaking to a height of euphoria.
Danny could definitely make that happen. But he wouldn't cross that line until he knew that Lacey was ready to cross it. As of this moment, she wasn't ready to explore the life of living an eternity as a female that lived only because she would taste of her male partner after his killing spree.
Lacey could feel Danny's hesitancy as he pulled back from the kiss.
"Don't you want me?" She whispered breathily.
Danny's eyes were closed as he answered her. "I want you so very much. I've said that."
"But you are pulling away from me?" Lacey continued whisper as her hands released Danny's hair. Then she moved her hands to Danny's chest.
"Lacey, I want you." Danny's eyes opened revealing a glowing light that emitted from them.
Her hands began to shake as she ran her fingers over his chest. She knew exactly what he meant when saying the words. It enticed her to a point of wanting nothing more than to be tasted by him.
"Take me." Lacey whispered seductively. "Taste me if you must."
Danny's eyes narrowed. "Don't you see, Lacey? I have the power to seduce through my eyes. You are only another victim to my powers. I want more than that with you...with us."
Lacey watched curiously as Danny closed his eyes again hiding their glow from her. Lacey leaned to kiss Danny's eyelids one at a time. She pulled back stating profoundly.
" I am immune to your powers of seduction. You seduce me because I want you. There is more to us, Danny. Much more." Lacey leaned to close the gap between them. Her lips teased his as she whispered. "We are different."