Natalia leads me into a massive crimson lit room. Blood red loveseats make a half ring around this immaculate suite with a bigger leather sofa at its center. In front of it is a glass lounge table, the middle sitting two empty wine glasses and a bottle of Merlot.
"Merlot is my favorite...what an odd coincidence...
Natalia motions for me to sit as she stands at the foot of the sofa, pouring the scarlet colored wine into both glasses. Yet I hesitate as I am still deep in my conflicting thoughts.
"I know this is all confusing, Sydney. But you're safe with me. I can assure you that."
"How can you?" I ask deliberately. The woman now takes a seat, delicately crossing her legs as she leans forward.
"Don't you think we're past distrust, Miss Miller? If I wanted to harm you, I surely would have already. You wouldn't have been foolish enough to be up here otherwise. Can't say I'm not tempted now that you are..." Natalia smirks, taking a slow sip of her drink yet realizes she's crossing a line as she watches me basically gunning down the door to escape.
"Fuck...I think I made a mistake. What do they do up here with all of these sofas anyway? I certainly don't want to find out..."
The woman simply chuckles as she can see me reeling, only for her eyes to be more sincere as she puts down her drink and sits back.
"Look...I'm sorry. Okay? I promise, no ill harm will come to you. Just, please, come sit." She pats the couch, and I feel a pull to finally go over.
We sit in silence for a moment...the Merlot calling my name.
"I didn't spike it you know. Go on, take a sip. It won't bite." The woman winks.
With this I quickly pick up my wine, instead of a sip taking a long drink to ignore this woman being both intimidating and sexy at the same time. In turn she begins to speak.
"I know you must have a lot of questions, of who I am, why you were invited here..." With this I put down my half drunken glass, now looking to Natalia solemnly.
"How do you know so much about me?" I ask right away, yet not getting the answer I hope for.
"That's a discussion for later I'm afraid. Yet it all starts with what I am, Miss Miller. I see you already know don't you?" I am frozen for a moment in disbelief.
"It...it can't be possible."
"And yet you know so much about us, correct? Maybe not everything you write is true but you know more than most humans."
"How do you know about my books?" Natalia picks up her wine again, watching it intently as she swirls its contents.
"I've done my research on you Sydney. Let's see how well you have done yours." Natalia now looks to me with a darkness in her eyes.
Tell me what you think you know about vampires... Natalia says cooly as she takes another drink.
"That they're fake." The woman's eyebrows raise at me, only for her to reveal a smirk as she sets her drink down, now leaning close to me.
"So you don't believe me?" Natalia then disappears. I rapidly rise off the couch, looking around the spacious room desperately for the woman that has just vanished before my very eyes.
This isn't real, this isn't real...vampires can't actually be real..."
Suddenly I am taken at intense speed, forcefully pinned to a wall as Natalie is now towering over me. Her eyes are yet again a glowing red.
"Not real...How about now, Miss Miller?" I now see fangs as the woman speaks with seduction in her tone, making me internally panic.
With this she smiles wide before letting go of me. I quickly return to the sofa, watching the vampire with cautious eyes as she begins to pace slowly around the room.
"How old are you?" It just comes out.
The vampire now goes to sit.
"A couple hundred...more or less." She says nonchalantly as she looks at her finger nails.
"What about your maker? You have a maker right?" I ask another question, only for Natalia to somberly gaze forward.
"Let's just say I haven't seen my maker in some time. Although I have a bond with the vampire who turned me, at the end of the day we just don't see eye to eye on things..." I didn't dare to ask what kind of "things" she is referring to, thinking it best that I didn't ask. Instead I ask something even more foolish.
"Bond? Like... a romantic relationship?" Natalia just scoffs as she now looks to me.
"It's nothing like that. More like a mother daughter relationship, if you will. The bond of a vampire family is different, far more intimate than a human one."
"What about your relationship with the sun?" I ask another question. Natalia gets up, looking out tempered glass to the club below us.
"I haven't seen the sun since before I had been turned in 1825."
My eyes widen.
"1825?!...wow so she is really..."
Natalia quickly looks back to shoot her eyes to my shocked ones, "Old Miss Miller? You really should learn to guard your thoughts." Natalia says.
"So you have been reading my mind." I say in disbelief.
"I can on select humans...humans who have let me in..." I cannot begin to wrap my mind around all that Natalia has shared with me thus far, as if all of it was perfectly normal. Instead I choose to ignore this for now as I continue to investigate this odd woman.
"Now that I know what you are, tell me how you know me...how did you learn so much about me? Natalia smirks,
"Let's just say I have a source." She says as she looks back at me.
"You know what Ive learned about you the past couple months Sydney, is that your unique to both your kind and my own. You're of very rare blood. I know you have a fascination for vampires, so I thought of bringing here tonight.
"Wait...I had been seeing my therapist these last two months...were her and this woman working together? Is this some kind of vampire blood cult?"
Tuesday. October 31, 2023
It was Halloween night. Most adults by now were giving out candy to trick or treaters. Instead, I was beginning sex therapy. I didn't believe I was unable to perform. I just had a lot of... baggage, loose ends unresolved and inner questions that were unanswered. Two weeks before I had moved out of my ex husband's house. My parent's still live in the south, but bought a vacation house in LA just in case they ever wanted to visit, so they offered me to live there as long as I payed rent. That was all fine and good, sort of. I could barely afford it, and I am newly single, in the process of divorce not knowing what to do. My last few years of marriage I could hardly keep my husband satisfied. I didn't even know what would satisfy myself for that matter. It just felt like something was wrong with me.
"Am I truly broken? I don't know what I'm doing anymore...Did I ever really?"
I heard a knock on my front door. I am filled with nerves as I begin to head to the door. I contemplated in circles whether to get a therapist, what kind of therapist I really needed. But I was hoping to get some guidance, some freedom to decompress without judgement, maybe just even someone I could tell my darkest secrets to.
My hand shook as it hit the handle.
"Sydney?" A sweet voice rings out on the other side. With this I open it, revealing a beautiful brunette woman.
"Good evening Miss Miller, I am your therapist, Mae Petrov." She grins as she extends a hand to me, immediately drawn I take it, a long pause ensues as I take the woman in.
"She's breathtakingly pale...and freezing as fuck..."
"May I come in?" I snap out of my stare, letting go of the woman's hand from both her cold temperature and not realizing I was probably weirding her out. But she appeared calm and collected. There was something about her, something off yet immediately drew me in.
"Of course...come in." With this the woman steps into the house and heads to the couch. I motion for her to sit, going to my wine cabinet to grab a bottle of merlot.
"I was going to pour myself a glass of wine. You know, about to talk about some heavy stuff...would you... like a glass?" I ask awkwardly with a smile.
"Do you offer wine to all your therapists?" The woman raises her eyebrows, making me flustered as my smile fades.
"No...I mean...you're my first therapist...Not that I'll need another one...I just thought..." I fumbled my words. The woman silently chuckles with a playful grin.
"I'm kidding, I'd love a drink." I am now nervous as fuck, flustered by this entrancing woman. So I continue to stall.
"Are you hungry? I could get you something." The woman simply shakes her head. "I grabbed something on the way. I'll take you up on that offer some other time though." The woman although polite felt like there was more behind her words, her eyes deep yet dark. I continue to stare at her.
"You're stalling...Miss Miller. I assure you there's no need to be nervous. I'm here to help...please." Mae motions for me to sit next to her on the sofa. With my glass of wine I take a seat, yet can't seem to stop my senseless rambling.
"Sorry you're spending Halloween night working. Bet there's plenty of other things you'd rather be doing than being with a client." Mae just smirks.
"I work most nights these days. And for the record, there isn't much else I'd rather be doing. My life isn't that interesting. Not until recently anyway."
After a few more seconds of awkward silence Natalia begins to speak.
"So...why are we here?"
There's a long pause.
"Are you sexually active?"
Another long pause
"...Not at the moment...no."
"Anything that's happened in your past, or present fears about sex?"
After yet another moment of long silence Mae puts her pen down, looking at me intently.
"So you're not having sex...not really seeking help in sex yet I'm here Sydney. So there must be a reason. Look, take your time. This is a safe space. Everything you say here is confidential. You have my word." With this I take a deep breath, letting it all out.
"I need...someone to talk to. Direction too, I guess. And who said...I wasn't seeking help with sex." With this the therapist just looks down to the floor with a grin before looking to me with an intense gaze.
"Well then...I'm sure we can come up with a good action plan for you, Miss Miller." She now smiles, making me almost internally lose my shit...panicking as I started having sexual thoughts about my new therapist Mae Petrov...
"Have we met?" I ask, now more confused than ever. I remember grabbing Natalia's hand earlier and how familiar it felt, as if I recognized her from somewhere.
"Have we? I have come to meet many people in my lifetime. Yet I can surely say none have been quite as intriguing as you..."
"So it's just a coincidence you found me?" I ask anxiously now, trying to keep my firm composure yet beginning to crumble under the woman's spell.
"Nothing is a coincidence Miss Miller."
Suddenly Natalia inches towards me, her face becoming inches from mine. I couldn't pull away, and intensity burning between the two of us.
"Theres much i need to tell you. But tonight I thought I could simply show you.."
"How?"
"By reminding you how this felt..."
"What do you..."
With this the woman doesn't let me finish my sentence, pulling me in to put her lips on mine. I should have pushed her away, yet instead I let my desire take over. It was as if something had taken over me. The woman soon laid me onto the couch with lustful eyes.
"And the truth of the matter is I'm starving." With this she kisses me again. She runs her nails up my shoulders as our kisses more intense, slipping her tongue into my mouth. This is beyond sensual. It is heated, intimate, unlike anything I have ever experienced before. In a few moments Natalia is suddenly above me, her eyes again aglow.
"Do I have your consent...Sydney Miller?" It is as if something finally connects in my mind, bringing me back to over a week ago at my last therapy session, my recurring wet dream that is now exposed to being real.
"Sydney...please..."
"Yes..."
"NO!" I shove Natalia upward. The woman's nails nick my shoulder blade as I fall off the sofa, stumbling back with my hands on the gash. Natalia has my eyes locked with hers as they are a heavy lustful crimson.
"Who are you? You can't be my..." The air is extremely tense, in utter disbelief as the woman in front of me finally speaks.
"Your therapist?" Yes Miss Miller. As I told you before I have learned a lot about you..." She says darkly.
"It was you the whole time...you're Mae Petrov?" With this Natalia's eyes return to their natural hazel, not moving as I step back.
"Not exactly. Mae is my middle name. I was known as Natalia Petrov when I was alive. King was inherited to me by my maker, making me who I am now. Now you know the truth about me..."
"Not nearly enough." I respond coldly.
"Yes there is more...if you will allow me to explain. But I need you to trust me. Do you think you can do that?" I just look to her aghast at the woman's request.
"You bit me that night and tried to again just now, knowing you've been lying to me about who and what you are. That you're the sex therapist i've been seeing for months, being fully transparent with you, sharing my deepest insecurities. Only to find out you're a fake, a vampire that messed with me and my memories. How in the world do you think I can fucking trust you?!" With this Natalia finally steps forward too fast for me to move back, only to grab my the side of my face tenderly.
"I'm sorry I haven't been fully honest with you. But there are reasons why. Please...give me a chance to make this right. If you decide you want nothing to do with me I will make sure it's so." With this I cautiously take a seat, still grasping my neck. I am not only angry, but I am deeply hurt. My therapist and I being intimate was no dream. It was all real, and it was kept from me until now. I want to believe from those memories, from the connection we shared these last two months, that Natalia did have a good explanation for why she did what she did to me.
"Was it all just to fuck with me...with my emotions? I was fragile that night...telling Natalia the full truth about my past. Did she just take advantage of the situation? Of me? But...it felt like she honestly cared about me...like we genuinely shared a raw attraction to each other..."
The woman now sits down next to me, looking at me intently then at my neck with dark eyes.
"I can heal your neck... if you'd like."
I am suddenly anxious as Natalia inches forward, fearing of what is going to happen next. She trails her tongue slowly along the wound. I have to keep myself under composure, yet it was hard with her doing this. However in seconds I no longer felt pain, the gash vanishing. The woman pulls back slightly. I notice to my heightening fear Natalia's eyes are now a deep crimson, surrounded by darkness as they are still locked onto my neck. There are veins appearing around her eyes, obvious she is trying to fight her hunger. They were different from before, as if the monster was fully taking over.
Natalia pulls back from me in an instant, closing her eyes for a moment. As they are closed the veins begin to vanish. When she opens them again, they are back to their natural warm hazel. The woman now looks to me with clear guilt showing on her face.
"I'm sorry, it is no secret anymore that your blood is my darkest temptation. I don't mean to frighten you...I wish this had never happened..."
"What happened?" I ask now curious, trying to steady my breathing as I am still in disbelief of what just happened. Natalia takes a deep breath before speaking again.
"My family and I have owned this human blood donor club for decades now. My job here as well as owner is to expand female clientele." I look to Natalia both in shock and infuriation.
"Wait what? So you just use your job as a sex therapist to reel in women for your family blood bank business?" I ask angrily.
"Not exactly. I have been a therapist for a long time, particularly for LGBTQ women. People like you, Sydney, are usually of rare blood. Those who don't feel like they belong..."
"So you used me...and what you thought sending an email and revealing your true self would get me to sign off being your blood donor? I shared so much with you, things I've never shared with anyone. And now you're going to sit there and act like this is all okay?" Natalia turns tense to my words.
"Sydney... you're different from any client I've ever had. Not only did your blood sing to me...but your soul did too." I suddenly fall blank, stunned at what this woman is now saying.
"You're really BSing me now aren't you?" Natalia is not tense anymore, now appearing calm as she responds.
"I've been doing this for a long time Sydney. Ive mostly done it for self preservation of myself and my kind, to keep our true identities hidden. But with you, it turned out I was doing it for something more. Intimacy, Connection... Maybe even to salvage my own humanity."
"Why me...?" I ask in a whisper. Natalia now inches closer to tenderly caress my cheek.
"Because our connection is real...I hope you can at least see that. With this she goes down to my neck.
"Never forget...You're one of great value Sydney, allow me the honor again of showing you...May I?" She asks softly onto my skin. With this i nod my head as Natalia's eyes turn crimson again, her teeth elongating as she lets out a harsh breath before soothing the skin with her tongue. It was erotic.
"Her tongue feels amazing...I wonder how it would feel in other places..."
My dirty thoughts are interrupted as I Suddenly hear a growl come from the woman I feel the her fangs replace her tongue as they graze my skin, internally panicking until I hear the door open. A woman also in her late thirties appears in the room. I could tell like Natalia she was also a vampire. Yet although this woman was beautiful she also appeared to be more cold in demeanor.
"There's a fight breaking out on the main floor, Natalia. There's no time for this nonsense."
"I'll be there in a moment, Meredith." The woman looks me cold in the eyes before leaving the room. Natalia sighs as she stands up, eyeing me as she speaks.
"I wish to continue with our meeting, but it'll unfortunately have to wait another night." I stand up now, at my brink with this woman.
"Another night? What are you playing at?" I yell, now shaken up as I am confused, not knowing what to do with any of this. Natalia is instantly right in front of me, her face inches from mine as she speaks with a soft sincerity.
"I know I lied to you. If you wish to never see me again I understand. Yet I truly hope it doesn't come to that."
With this she pulls my head up to look into her eyes, her pupils dilating as she looks at me.
"I will give you three days. You will not share what I have told you with anyone. If you decide you want nothing to do with me, I will erase your memory of all of this, so you can forget me and continue living your life. Go home and sleep peacefully. Goodnight, Sydney."