Perfect Pet

Ch. 24: Here Again

"Tell me again how you got these bruises," Gwen asked during my weekly donation. "They look an awful lot like a handprint."

I somehow managed to hold in a cringe as she traced them with gloved fingers, studying them with an intensity any decent nurse would have when checking over a patient. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell her the truth though. I didn't want rumors spreading and the wrong people hearing things until I saw Malik again. She wouldn't talk. Her professional integrity was too good for that but up against vampires and their mind tricks? Nothing was safe.

It was better for those that hadn't been there to be left in the dark.

"I tripped down the stairs leaving Ms. Berg's room," I said, the lie slipping out easily after all the times I had repeated it over the past week. "A vampire- can't remember his name- reached out to catch me and accidentally caught my throat in the process. No biggie." I shrugged my shoulders to emphasize that it was nothing to worry about.

As far as lies go, it was pretty weak but I wasn't close enough with anybody outside of Kali and Claire for it to ring too many bells. People had their theories of course but there was no way to prove them. I had been one of the last people to leave that day so no one else saw what happened. That led to more attention than I was used to but even that was starting to die down as fresher news hit the circuit.

Thank God.

"Hmmm." I knew Gwen didn't believe me but she didn't press the subject. "It's not bothering you, is it?"

"Other than being ugly, no." That was the truth at least. After being tender for a few days, the pain had gone away and I was left with bruises that had darkened to a splotchy purple that refused to stay hidden no matter how much makeup I slathered on. I'd taken to wearing an infinity scarf Claire had stashed away somewhere to avoid the stares and questions. My voice had returned to a somewhat normal state by the time I'd gone to bed that same night, any roughness so faint you had to focus to catch it.

"Good, good. I guess it just looks worse than it is."

I only wished. At least with the bruises, I knew they would fade away with time. The memories of their cause, however, weren't so easy and the fear that Brielle could come back at any time to finish the job shadowed me like a waking nightmare. Eli had taken to following me wherever possible, walking me to classes and waiting for me after they ended. I appreciated the support and didn't blame him in the slightest for what happened- who would have honestly thought Brielle would be so bold?- but as more time passed, the longing for Malik grew stronger.

I wanted him to hold me in his arms, kiss me, tell me it would all be okay. That I was safe and nothing would get past him. Words that were laughable coming from someone else but honest and backed by a will of steel coming from him. Most of all, I just wanted my vampire back.

She moved on to getting what I had shown up for, wiping down the area where my arm met my elbow with an alcohol swab and then inserting the needle with quick precision. I barely felt it and I could tell Gwen was impressed. "You've come a long way since the first time we did this."

"I guess I'm used to it by now." I should be after having blood drawn at least once a week for the last seven months.

"You should be getting to that point where they let y'all watch the vampires feed," Gwen casually said, removing the needle and sticking a bandaid over the site.

"They do that?" I shouldn't have been all that surprised, honestly. The part of me that wanted to be a Pet knew that meant being fed from but I had never actually thought about it. About how it worked. Malik would have to insert his fangs into my neck and suck out my blood. The feeding process was supposedly intimate for both parties. The human experienced a unique pleasure unlike anything else and the vampire was in a vulnerable, exposed position.