Vampire Days

Chapter 13: Benedetta's Child

Did you open my gift to you? Do you like it?

What gift?

"What gift?"

"Huh?" I opened my eyes and Champion's face was right next to mine that I could almost count the pores on his face.

"What gift?" Champion whispered to me with an amused smile. I beamed at him but then I realized what happened so I punched him on the face with all the strength I could muster. My fist connected cleanly on his face and he fell on his butt on the floor, groaning as he clutched his nose. Thank goodness he's not bleeding.  "That's brutal. Can't you wake up normally without murdering someone who's worried sick about you?"

"Vampire reflexes," I reasoned while flashing an apologetic smile.

"You've been talking in your sleep. So who gave you a gift?"

"I don't remember," I said, trying to recall the voice I heard in my sleep. It was my first dream ever since becoming a vampire.

"Where's Nurgis?!"

"They already left. Didn't even offer to take you home," he answered while sitting on the floor. His nose was starting to bruise.

"Want me to get some ice for that?"

Champion shook his head and reached out instead. He pulled my hand and pressed my palm on top of it like a cold compress.

"Ahh, this feels good. Vampires sure are handy."

"Haha, very punny," I said sarcastically and lightly pinched his nose.

"Ow, ow, stop!" Champion groaned. His larger, warmer hands were pressed over mine, like he's savoring the icy coldness of my palm on his bruise.

I wonder what I feel like on his warm skin. Even I am curious about it. I want to know if prolonged exposure to my skin could give him bad side effects like frostbite. It sure would be a relief to know if I'm not rigid enough to hurt.

"He wanted me to tell you that he'll come visit whenever he can," Champion said.

So it means they've made some sort of agreement while I was passed out. Hopefully.

"You two talked it out?" I asked him.

"We did. He gave me a lot of information. I can't believe we're almost the same age."

"What did he do to me? Did he tell you why I blacked out?"

"He said it's the perk of seniority. Like he's an Alpha or something, because he's older, or maybe because he turned you so he has some power over you. He said there's still a lot of things he doesn't know about your kind, so he's still in the trial and error stage. But when you lost consciousness, you slept like a baby. First time I've seen you sleep."

"Cool. How about you?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you know something about vampires that I should know too? You're 'Benedetta's child' after all."

"Benedetta. . ." Champion said in a sigh. "She didn't tell me anything, but I know some things from observing her. I'll write some down later."

My eyes caught the sight of my groceries so I buried my face on my pillow in embarrassment.

"If you knew, you should've told me immediately.  Ahh, I fucking looked like a fool."

"You should've just agreed when I said you were a vampire. But you kept on playing it safe. We're best friends so I thought I'll wait until you're ready to rely on me with your big secret."