I Would Want To See You One Last Time.

Piece 17

        Waking up next to Maria felt like a dream, trying to tell what happened last night was a dream too. I kissed her and she kissed me. Let alone the fact that she was happy about it.

       I look over at my desk and the clock reads 6:01 a.m. I sigh at the fact that I've never been able to sleep in and slowly roll on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Since it's winter, daylight savings time has made the sun rise extra early, so the room is dimly lit. The early light coming from the window cast shadows all over the room.

       Laying on my back with my eyes closed, I take deep breaths. In and out, through the nose and out the mouth. I try to relax myself back to sleep when I feel Maria's body shift to her side, facing me. Opening my eyes, I look at her face. I watch her eyes move under her eyelids, assuming she's in a dream she won't remember when she's awake. I look at her resting eyebrows, the fullness of them. I look through the slight freckles on her face, splattered on her nose and under her eyes. Her lips pursed as she swallowed. She looks at peace, delicate yet strong from her power. I haven't seen her do anything with them but I know she has them. Maybe she is too fearful to show me them or just prefers to use them when necessary. Her eyebrows furrow for a second then slowly go back to resting. I get the urge to gently touch her face but don't since I don't want to wake her.

      I look back up to the ceiling where nothing is interesting to look at. I blink slowly, then turn my head to look back at her. Eyes still closed and I watch her chest rise and fall slowly. The occasional deep breath. Does she still think I'm afraid of her?

It's a thought. A quick one that left just as soon as it appeared. Am I still afraid of her? Will she seriously injure me one day? She has the power to and she knows she does. Nothing is stopping her from doing so.

      I blink a few times, letting my eyes readjust back to Maria's face. I focus on her mouth, her resting lips as she sleeps. The fangs underneath her lips, firmly in place in her skull and gums. Able to retract and protrude at command. My hand slowly moves towards her face, I gently touch her cheek as my thumb touches her upper lip, closer to the corner of her mouth. I think about what I'm doing before actually committing to it.

        I carefully move her lip up to see them. The sharp canine is larger than the other teeth. Barely lifted, I can already see it. The sharp canine rests over her bottom teeth.

Lifting her lip more, her gums are now visible. The sharp canine is there, planted firmly in her gums. Laying there, holding her lip up I admire the abnormalities of it. To me, it's abnormal. I've seen sharp canines before but nothing like this. This is something meant to penetrate through the skin. For the blood waiting underneath.

I glance up at the rest of her face and her eyes are open, Maria is giving me a weird look. I immediately retract my hand back under the covers and look at her.

"What were you doing?" She asks, sleepily. She closes her eyes again and rubs one with her hand. I don't know how to answer so I just stay silent. I was curious.

"I was curious." I blurt out. I blink.

"You could've just asked," She says as she stops rubbing her eyes but keeps them closed.

"They're real," I say.

"Of course they're real. You've seen them, now you have to believe me." She says with a smile slowly growing on her face.

"Do they hurt?" I ask, "Uh, as in like do you ever accidentally bite your lip or cheek with them?"

"No, not really anymore. They used to feel out of place with the rest of my teeth, but it's better now. I tend to keep them hidden in public so I don't get weird looks whenever I talk. Sometimes, like when I'm sleeping, they'll come out. As you saw." She yawns. Her words are getting more mumbly since she seems to be falling back asleep.