Chapter Four: Now There's Something You Don't See Everyday

Duncan

I was still lying on the couch when I heard her scream.

I didn't need to think about who it was. In that one moment where her shrill cry pierced the air and I knew. Rae.

Without thinking, I threw myself off the sofa and sprinted to the bathroom where the sound of the shower was still going. I hesitated. Rae could just be singing in the shower and I had mistaken it for screaming (it had happened before). But then I heard the sobs emitting from behind the door and all hesitation vanished.

"RAE!" I shouted.

But there was no response.

"RAE! OPEN THIS DOOR OR I WILL BREAK IT DOWN!" I tried to keep the panic from my voice.

Thud.

Without waiting, I grabbed the knob and wrenched the door off of its hinges. I threw it past me onto Rae's bed and was almost immediately choked on the sweet scent of blood.

It was…addictive. I couldn't get enough of it. It was impossible to say no. Not when I was thirsty. It just…smelt so good. The need to feed overtook me for a moment and I felt the sharp fangs extend where my canines should be.

No! My mind snapped and I remembered. Rae…

I shook my head, clearing it of all hungry thoughts. Then, I saw the scene before me:

Rae lay on the tiled bathroom floor, naked and unconscious. Glass lay shattered below her puddle in a mix of blood and water. Her wavy brown hair tumbled beneath her body, stained with red water from the shower. While her torso was sprawled across the bathroom floor, her feet remained in the shower, when the nozzle was still spewing water.

Hurriedly, I pinched my nose with my left hand, trying to block out the tempting smell and knelt by Rae. Gently, I took his wrist in my hand and listened to her pulse. Still alive. She must have knocked herself out.

I shuddered.

It had happened again. The nightmares left from that memory had returned and the demon inside her had stirred.

I closed my eyes and held my breath. Then, I pulled a towel off the rack and lifted Rae off the glass covered floor. Carefully, I carried her out to the kitchen and placed her on the now spread out towel. Then, I raced back to the bathroom trying to find the first aid kit.

Again, it hit me this time with renewed force. – the sweet, delicious smell of Rae's blood. It was so…tempting. Filled with longing, I licked my lips and knelt on the floor, about to lick up the spilt blood.

NO! Again the stern inside voice hit me, slapping me out of my zombie-like state. Think of Rae! FIRST AID!

I just wanted to get out of that bathroom. I grabbed the medical bag and sprinted back to the kitchen where Rae lay on the floor, still unconscious. She was bleeding all over the towel. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to drive my senses wild. As I lifted her up into a sitting position, I saw that the scratches weren't as bad as I had first thought. The water had made it seem worse than reality, I realized as I washed the blood off her back and wrapped up her wounds.

Slowly, my head grew dizzy and what little self control I had began to waver.

Her neck…it looked so pale and fine. A vein filled with blood, just ready to bleed. All I had to do was bite into the soft flesh and…I found myself stroking her pale neck with my teeth. Immediately I threw myself away from her, watching her slowly slump back to the ground.

This was not good. There was no way I could control myself in a situation like this. Her blood…it was just too desirable.

I sprung up and grabbed on of the kitchen knives off the counter and a dishtowel from the draw. Gently, I ran the sharp side of the blade across the palm of my hand and let the warm blood seep out. I pressed the dish towel too it and clutched the now soaked dishtowel to my nose. The faint smell of my own blood filled me. Vampires do not thirst for their own blood otherwise I would have drained myself by now.

Still holding the dishtowel to my nose, I slid across the floor to Rae and pulled her small, frail body against me. I saw her eyes flicker and my heart beat sped up.

"Rae…" I whispered.

"Mmm…Dun…can…" she murmured, eyes still half shut.

I closed my eyes. "Rae, I'm going to leave you for a bit, I have…to get out…"

"No!" She half screamed, half sobbed. Her hand grabbed my wrist in a tight grip unrealistically strong for someone who had bee unconscious a moment ago.

"Rae…I have to…the blood…"

"No!" she cried. "The demons…will come back! Don't leave me! Please! I can't be alone…the darkness will consume me again."

I took a deep breath of my blood on the rag. "Okay, okay. I won't go. Uh…" I couldn't think of what to say, or how to distract her from the demons. "Rae…"

"Yeah…?" She murmured, her fear vanishing with my promise to stay by her side.

"I've never told you about how I became a vampire…"

It was the only thing I could think of to distract her. However, it's not a happy tale and was more likely to give her nightmares than calm her. But it was the only thing that came to mind. I saw Rae's eyes open and she stared at me. After a moment of gathering my thoughts I began:

"I was born in the year 1511…to King Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon. But, I was not…a normal child. In England there was a coven of vampires who were interested in experimental human-vampire relations. To test this theory they secretly fed blood to Queen Katharine every night during the pregnancy. Only, it wasn't normal blood. It was the blood of vampires."

"You see, the vampires had bewitched one of the Queen's maids and she dutifully fed the Queen the blood every night mixed inside her usual medicine. The pregnancy became a difficult one, just like all the others. So when the baby was born, no one was surprised that it had been reported dead. But, unbeknownst to all, the child was still alive. Well, not alive by any normal standards. The child was a vampire. A born vampire. One that would grow and age unlike any other. The child was kidnapped by the maid and handed over to the vampire coven."

"The coven spent the next few years teaching the child the ways of vampires. It drank blood like any other and was inhumanly strong, but unlike others the child grew older. But, as it reached the age of ten, the aging process slowed down and eventually stopped altogether."

"But during those years the child watched his true family from the sidelines. He watched his father banish his mother from his side and take on a new wife. He watched as wife after wife of King Henry was executed. It was from watching the repulsive family that led England that the child learned to hate all humans. He saw them as weak, rotting things that destroyed everything they loved and cherished. To him, it was repulsive. Soon the boy began to feed on humans without remorse. He fed when he was hungry; he fed when he was angry, bored, or sometimes just for fun. It didn't matter to him. Humans were just weak things, meant to be dominated by vampires. Even after King Henry had died and his children fought for the throne, the boy became one of the most feared vampires around. Hunters came and tried to destroy him, but the bitter child, now a young man, was too great for such pitiful humans. He avoided them easily and killed them just as calmly."

"But soon, the young man became hated by his own clan. They feared him and his demonic nature, so they plotted against him. But the man knew of their plans and killed all of them. Eaten up by bitterness and hatred, the vampire spent the next four hundred years travelling over Europe. He fed in all the capital cities and enjoyed many a beautiful woman, only to feed off of them afterwards. The vampire, born to humans, was a monster."

"Eventually he grew bored with his life and travelled to America. It was a new and more interesting nation, one that was just developing. There he found a new life. The vampire began to work as a normal human being and helped the colonies fight off Britain. He felt an odd sense of happiness in just being able to live. He never had any close friends all through his years of life. But he was happy. Happy not being a monster. The years passed by and he watched the world change through distant eyes. Then, when the vampire was 450 years old, he was found by an organization called the Night Hunters. They offered him a job and live blood supply if he would kill rogue supernaturals. After consideration the vampire agreed, figuring it would help him pass the time."

"But despite living among humans all those years, the vampire still felt nothing towards them. He hated to be near them, hated to touch them, he felt nothing but disdain for such creatures. Then, one night he wandered across a hoard of demons feasting on a human family. It was not his job, and the vampire probably would have left them to die. But as this family were slowly murdered by the demons, the vampire felt a twinge of sympathy. One girl started running away. She was young, only about fifteen or so, but beautiful. Beautiful in a way the vampire never thought humans could be. He decided to help her. Just like that, the heartless vampire chose to save the life of one human. And when he saw that she was injured, the vampire took her to a witch acquaintance of his and had her healed. Somehow, this girl that he had seen for only a second, had become the most important person in the world to him."

I laughed aloud. It was not a happy laugh, but a disdainful and hating one.

"What a pathetic creature I was, Rae – a monster, a demon…something that fed simply out of boredom. Humans meant nothing to me. I hated them. But when I saw you afraid and in pain, I had to save you. Isn't fate spiteful?"

Carefully, I pulled her into a hug, her warm skin pressed against my cold body. I rested my chin one her forehead, bloody rag still pressed to my nose and mouth.

"While you were struggling against the demon poison I was so afraid. So terrified that you were going too died. I didn't know what I would do. It never occurred to me that I would simply go on living like I did before. I just couldn't. From the moment I first saw you, you changed me."

I felt something soft and warm touch the side of my face. I looked down to see Rae's small hand pressed lightly against my cheek. Her eyes were half closed as if she were waking from a dream, yet her face was so peaceful. Gentle tears ran down the side of her cheeks as she stared up at me through sorrowful eyes.

"Did I scare away the nightmares?" I asked.

"You did," she murmured. "Nothing will hurt me when you're beside me."

I carefully pulled her closer to me. "I probably scared all the nightmares away. I'm just that terrifying."

She laughed softly. "Don't ever leave me, Duncan. We're partners, right. You and me, fighting the world. That's the way we're meant to be."

Chest aching, I closed my eyes.

Yes, you and me against the world, but you will grow old, Rae. You'll die one day. And I shall watch you through ageless eyes. Untainted by the decay of time. I don't think I can live through that. I don't think I can watch you die as an old lady. We can't be together forever. But you don't seem to be able to understand that.

I stared at her ashen face. She was so beautiful. Too beautiful to be human. Dark hair, long, thick lashes that brushed lightly against her cheeks. I smiled miserably.

An eternity's pain for a lifetime's pleasure.

It was an odd sight, and if anyone had decided to enter our room right then, they probably would have fainted from shock. A vampire with a blood stained dishrag pressed against his face, holding a naked girl with bandaged cuts all across her back, lying on the kitchen floor in an endless embrace.