The Dead of Night

Almost Human

Chapter Twenty Four: Almost Human

I sat in front of the mirror and stared, just stared at myself. The blurry reflection I gave off messed with my eyes a little, but I didn't care, soon I wouldn't have a reflection at all. I pulled my knees up to my chest and drew my little finger down the mirror, in a vain hope it would make everything clearer. The Vampire said it would take time for the 'poison' as he called it, to take over me completely; however, his version of 'time' was fifteen minutes. I only held a fifteen minute sized scrap of my humanity, and as I sat before the mirror, I could see that scrap gently being tugged out from between my fingers, with one yank at a time.

I placed a clock beside the mirror and set a timer, so I could tell how long and how little of being human I had left; it, so far, read thirteen minutes, and my blood was still fresh on my arm. The Vampire had to find a direct route to my vein, or one close to it, and my arm was one of the only less compromising places; his teeth marks were just now beginning to heal. He sat on the couch behind me, glancing back at me every so often, or, so I guessed, since I actually couldn't see him--only a depression in the couch where he sat. We hadn't spoken since he bit me; he knew I needed space to comprehend everything that would happen.

Now the clock read eleven minutes and the beating of my heart began to pick up its pace; the 'poison' was getting closer to take over, soon my major organs would be shutting down, and I would be in a lot of pain. My cheeks flushed and I stared hard at the mirror, my feet slowly disappeared! And, in correlation with their disappearance, a tingling, cold feeling took homage. I looked down at them to see my skin turned the color of the whitest paper, and my toenails began to turn grey.

Eight minutes.

Tears formed in my eyes and I let the droplets of salt water roll down my still warm cheeks-there was a searing pain on my left side and I let out a cry of surprise, my hands pressing on the painful area, trying to make it go away! The Vampire knelt down to me and placed his hands on my shoulders, his long fingernails brushing against my skin. The pale color which once effected my feet now drew all the way up my legs and took over my thighs; simultaneously, my legs and thighs disappeared in the mirror.

Five minutes.

It started to become hard to breathe; my lungs felt like they were aflame and constricting at the same time! Next, my breathing became shallow, for it was all I could do! And I was overcome with dizziness! My stomach and torso area roared with pain and my hands were balled into fists, with tears dripping in floods down from my eyes. The Vampire sat beside me, rubbing my arms and trying to encourage me with quiet words; however, I wouldn't tear my eyes away from the mirror.

Two minutes.

My arms were pale to an extreme, as well as my chest and stomach; all of this had disappeared in the mirror, and all that remained was a bit of my neck, my head, face, and ears. My neck disappeared and so did my ears, and as they did, the pain in my body began to stop and my heart, once pumping at an alarming rate, thumped slowly and languidly.

Thirty seconds.

My face was taken over by the pale color, and the only things to be seen were my eyes; they stared, desperation and fear filled, back at me, especially as I felt my heart slow even more...and more...and more...until.

Five seconds.

It stopped; and I took my last breath as part mortal.

Zero.

***I opened my eyes and looked about with an acute sense of dizziness and confusion; glancing around, I found that the room was dark and I laid on the bed with my back to the mattress, the white covers lifted up to my shoulders. Lifting myself up, I sat, using my elbows to hold me, and I saw the clock had been turned away and the alarm had been silenced-other than that, there were champagne eyes staring at me through the darkness, which, surprisingly, wasn't dark at all! With a few blinks, the room seemed as light as day! "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty, tell me, how does it feel to be dead?" He asked, smirking. I let out a sigh and placed a hand against my heart, shaking my head when I felt it was devoid of beating.

"I don't like it" I whispered back. "I'm cold and I won't be able to taste anything anymore. "

"Oh, save me from being melodramatic, Junie. Blood and ice cream both still have tastes, and as for warmth that will come to you; don't worry, the elements cannot bother you anymore, nothing really can." He explained, moving and sitting on the bed beside me; he patted my hand. "Don't worry, I've been through everything before, June, even though it was years and years and years ago, I still remember. We're going to relax in the darkness of the room for a while, and then I'm going to give you some of my blood, just to get you acclimated to it." Said he, brushing his hand through my hair. I nodded and he opened his arms to me, letting me curl up against him.

"Can you feel your fangs yet?" Asked he quietly, rocking me back and forth; to this I raised my hand up and gently moved my lip away, feeling my teeth, and, sure enough, there were two sharp fangs in all of their glory.

"Yes" I answered softly, my fingers still feeling them with morbid curiosity. "Does this mean...I have to kill things now?" Asked I, fear in my voice. The Vampire only let out a laugh and shook his head, still chuckling.

"Not unless you want to! Contrary to popular belief, I have not killed a human in twenty years! I have a blood bank which I have a deal with; they supply me with blood, and I don't kill people. I will have to speak with the manager there, and add you to that deal." Said he, murmuring the last part, more to himself than to me.

***We relaxed together in the room a bit more before he rolled his sleeve up, stopping it right above his elbow. Next, he moved his arm out, before me and clenched his hand into a fist. "Bite it" he instructed, pointing near to the vein. "This is how you will feed for the next few months-it will get you acclimated to biting and drinking blood, however, I don't think you'll like other blood compared to mine, and, yes, vampires do still have blood. It's not like it all drains out." He explained, pausing and shaking his arm.

"Bite it" he instructed again, a more stern tone to his voice. I could only nod, for, going against his orders, why, I would never do that again! I took his arm slowly in my hands and brought it up to my lips, glancing once more up to him, to make sure it was alright; I didn't want to hurt him! He nodded and with a reluctant sigh, I dug my teeth into his arm and bit down, his blood dripping into my mouth slowly. There came a groan from his end and he growled.

"Suck--that's the only way the blood will come out quickly." He tried to keep his calm, but I could tell he was in pain. I attempted to pull away, but with his free hand, he kept my lips pressed to his arm. "No, June, it doesn't hurt that bad, now drink, you need it." He hissed, his voice turning deadly stern, and as soon as I began to drink, his blood poured between my lips and when it touched my tongue, I found it tasted amazing!

His blood was rich and thick and swirled around my tongue before being drawn down my throat; blood tastes unlike anything else. It's salty and, well, in his case, lukewarm, and, to me, it tastes like a liquidized doughnut. The Vampire had to pull me off of him so I would stop drinking his blood! He laughed when he saw the small smile on my lips, covered in his blood and he wiped it away with his finger, letting me lick it.

"Welcome to life as a vampire, my dear."