It's been longer than I wanted it to be, but I'm back with the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it!
Eric is groaning before he even opens his eyes. His dark covers are all tangled up with him now, following the hard curves of his sculpted body.
I drag my fingers through my knotted hair as Eric tosses and turns, most likely trying to find an way to escape the discomfort that he is undoubtedly feeling from the change. It has the same symptoms of a bad hangover and a flu combined, if you multiply all of those symptoms a thousand times.
His hand lazily stretches out to his bedside table, slamming it down on his alarm clock.
I suppress a giggle. I turned his alarm clock off shortly after I turned him, knowing that he would be in no state to go into work today.
"Morning, sunshine." I say to him from my spot across the room. His body shoots up at the sound of my voice.
"Who are you?" He asks, putting one of his hands on his head and closing his eyes again, like talking pains him.
It probably does.
"Tris." I answer simply.
"The first jumper? How did you get in here?"
"I came in with you last night." I say. "I changed you." I thought about all night about how I was going to break the news of him being a newborn vampire. Of him technically being dead. I decided that ripping the band-aid off would be the best approach. "I killed you. Technically speaking."
His eyes narrow.
"Uhm no? If I was dead I wouldn't be talking to you right now."
"You look a look paler than usual, Eric. Are you cold? Can you feel your heart beating? Tell me something, are you breathing?" My voice has a harsh edge.
"This is ridiculous, I'm not fucking dead. A fucking stiff like you could never overpower me, much less kill me."
I'm across the room in less than a second, on his bed and straddling his hips with my hands on his face.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I did say technically speaking did I not?" I loosen my grip on his throat, gently scratching my nails against the soft skin. Aching to taste him again. "Technically, you are dead. You aren't alive. But here we are. Because I changed you into a vampire. Not alive, but not that close to death either."
Eric shifts his legs, and I ease up off of him. As he stands, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't at least a tad bit disappointed that he's wearing boxers, and not totally nude, but hot damn, is his body perfect.
"I'm what?" He spits.
"A vampire." I repeat. "I changed you into a vampire."
"Like a blood sucking, sun avoiding, human compelling, killer?" He seems confused.
"Yes." I confirm. "But we don't have to kill people, if we don't want to. We can just drink, and compel the humans to forget. As for avoiding the sun, it's not as bad as fiction says it is. If exposed to the sun for a long period of time we get headaches, but a simple advil will provide relief."
"This is crazy." He states. Pacing in vampire speed around the room.
"Do you believe me?" I ask him.
"I don't have a heartbeat. That doesn't make sense. Why-why am I moving so fast?" He seems to be talking to himself rather than me, but I answer anyway.
"Because you're a vampire. That's what happens."
"This is so fucking weird. My head hurts. Why am I so fucking hungry? I need to get some food." He's talking fast, pacing faster, working himself into a frenzy. He rushes out of the room and I follow him into the kitchen I walked by when I came in last night. He's tearing it up, and pushing chunks of food into his mouth.
I suppress a laugh. "You need blood. Real food is relatively useless."
"My fucking head." He's not listening to me.
He drops the bread he was holding in his hand and grasps his head hard, trying to stop the pain.
Talking to him is useless. He needs blood.
I slip out of the kitchen and make it to the front door before he says anything.
"Where are you going?"
"I have to get something." I tell him without turning around.
He waits a moment before responding. I turn around then. "Why do I want you to stay so badly?" He asks, a puzzled look on his face.
"Because I'm the one who changed you. We're connected now." This is the thing I've been most afraid to tell him. Everything could go so terribly wrong.
"So you'll be back?" Is all he says, and relief washes over me. So far so good.
I smile. "Believe me, you're going to stuck with me for a long time." I say, before turning around and walking out the door.
I walk around the compound for a bit, grateful that the initiates don't have practice until later. I know I have Eric to deal with, but I still do have to pass the stages of training.
Christina bounces up beside me.
"Tris! I haven't seen you all morning. You just missed me get my ass kicked." A small laugh escapes her mouth and I glance at her with a smile. The scent of blood hits me, and my eyes shoot up to a deep bleeding gash just above her eyebrow. The steady flow of blood reminds me of why I left Eric. He needs blood, I want to get back to him quickly and Christina seems to be the only person around.
I grab her arm, forcing her to face me, and look deeply into her eyes.
"Follow me. I'll get that cut cleaned up for you you'll be okay." My voice is slow, compelling her into following me. It's almost impossible for a human to resist, so it's no surprise that she nods. "Okay, I would like that."
The walk back to Eric's apartment is quick. Mostly because I'm eager to get back to Eric, already missing the feelings I get when I'm around him. I'm trying hard to keep my pace normal so Christina can keep up with me.
I'm about to knock on the door when Eric pulls it open.
"You're back." He's sick. All sweat and drooping eyelids. It's a good thing that I brought Christina here to save the day. If he goes much longer without blood this early after his changing, he might run the risk of dying. He looks at me. "You smell so good..."
His senses are coming through, soon he'll realize just how irresistible I am to him, it's already beginning. Everything should fully kick in once he's had his first taste of blood.
I'm kind of jealous that the first blood he tastes won't be mine.
But the main thing is he is mine.
"I brought you something that's going to make you feel better, less hungry, less sick."
He drags his eyes over to Christina as I step through his door.
"Who is this?" He asks.
"Her name is Christina." I say first. "drink from her."
We're in his living room and Christina is standing in the center, with Eric examining her. After a couple minutes, he speaks.
"So I just...bite?"
"Pretty much, but you have to be careful not to drink too much."
He's hesitant to move closer to her, but his hands are so tight around her forearms I'm worried about a bruise that might linger on her fragile skin.
"You go first." He says.
I shrug, and with no hesitation, sink my teeth into the skin on Christina's neck. The taste of her blood isn't nearly as good as Eric's was last night, but I don't think anything will ever compare, because of this, I take few gulps and pull away.
Blood dribbles down my chin and I wipe it with the back of my hand.
"It's simple, easier now, because now you don't have to bite, you can just suck from the wound I already made." His eyes linger on my lips for a few moments before he gets back to the to task at hand.
He moves quicker now, his mouth landing on the bleeding wound. His face is exquisite as he swallows mouthful after mouthful of blood. I pull him off her after a minute.
"Watch it, we don't want to deal with a dead body." I scold him, hand gripped on his shoulder.
"But, we're dead."
Smart ass.
"You know what I mean." I answer.
I look deeply into Christina's eyes. "You had an accident on the way back from the sparring room. Eric and I found you. Patched you up." She nods, and I know compelling her worked.
"We have to bandage her now?" Eric whines.
"Yes, well we can't have her walking around with a gaping wound in her neck." I say. "Do you feel better?" I ask him, genuinely concerned.
"I do." He looks it. He looks less clammy, his eyelids are no longer drooping. "Am I going to feel like this everyday?"
"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
"Like, is everything always going to be this aware of everything that's happening around me? I can tell everything apart. I can hear things that I could never hear before. I move fast without realizing it. Is it always going to be like that?"
"You're new." I tell him "Eventually you'll be able to control it. Turn it on and off at will. But it's something you'll have to deal with it for a while. Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life, Eric."
I hope you liked this chapter! I'll be back again with another installment soon!