Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Chapter 24

For once in my life, I tried to do something selfless, and what did it get me? A bump on my immortal head and a very bad mood.

You would think that it was impossible to render a vampire unconscious, but it isn't. It's just very difficult to do so.

Also, it is rarely done because if you let the unconscious vampire regain his consciousness, if you don't kill him, chances are he will murder you for what you did. No one in their right mind would paint such a clear target on their necks.

That is also why I know who has done this to me even before I open my eyes. There is only one person crazy enough, stupid enough to pull a stunt like this one.

How he managed to do it, I am not entirely sure, but I know it's Seymour.

If it were our enemies that hit me on the head, they would have dismembered me by now, they wouldn't have risked putting me on trial. They know how powerful I am. I wouldn't be slung across a strong shoulder that I know all too well.

Maybe that is a problem in itself. Knowing me as well as I know him, Seymour could anticipate my actions even before I knew what I was about to do. I honestly didn't know I would do something as stupid as that, and yet he knew. He realized what I was going to do, and he stopped me.

"Put me down," I growl through my teeth.

How he was even able to carry me in his weakened state, I have no idea, but it was clear that he has been carrying me for some time since our surroundings are quite different from the House of Healing. Not only that, but he is also running with me as dead weight slowing him down, decreasing his chances of survival.

"Are you stupid?" I ask the moment my feet touch the ground.

We keep running while I yell at him, but I can see that he isn't using his full speed. That he can't use it. Then why did he risk his life for me?

More importantly, why did he hit me on the head?

"You knocked me out!" I accuse him once my brain catches up with what exactly happened.

"I had to. You would have died." Seymour says matter-of-factly.

"You idiot, now we are both going to die! I could have kept them busy, given you time to escape!" I yell.

"I couldn't let you die! I couldn't leave you, not again!" He says passionately.

"Well, I guess I am interrupting a special moment here, but I found us a place where we can hide out, mask our scent," Alarcos says, appearing in front of us.

"Great, that's just great! Now the three of us will die because you two are bloody idiots!" I scream.

"Hey, no one is going to die. We'll just play dead for a while." Alarcos says.

"Huh?" I ask, lost for words.

"There is a nice little haunted cemetery nearby. I found it while scouting ahead. We can make it there before the Vampire Council catches up to us if you two snails hurry up." Alarcos says, picking up speed.

I swoop Seymour in my arms, bridal style, which he objects to vehemently, but I don't care. I'll get us where we need to be faster, and then I can decide in peace whether to kill him or not.

"What about Tobias and Cecilia? Did they make it out?" I ask.

"Yeah, they're fine. They are setting a false trail on all sides to mask the way home. They said to tell you that they'll see you at home, and you'll have a lot of explaining to do about your crazy actions," he says.

Great, just great. I will get another lecture about what the right thing to do is. Maybe I am better off dead, gone forever, than listening to another righteous talk.

"They wanted to help you, but I told them that Seymour and I got this covered. That the best way for them to help was to lay the false scent." Alarcos added.

Well, at least Alarcos and Seymour did something right. Tobias and Cecilia are safe, as much as anyone can be safe for the time being.

"At least you bear some good news," I say as we go through the cemetery gate.

I can already feel why Alarcos chose this place. There is so much supernatural energy here, that a couple of vampires will fit in perfectly. It will mask our scents better than anything else could.

The problem is that I will have to hunker down somewhere with my ex, with whom I have a love/hate relationship. Not only that but with my ex's ex as well, who doesn't know that I am the bloodthirsty monster who killed his family. What could go wrong?

"This looks like a good place to rest," Alarocs says, looking at Seymour.

When I slowly lower Seymour on the ground, inside the mausoleum Alarcos pointed out, I can see why he was in such a hurry for us to rest.

Seymour doesn't look good.

He is even paler than normal, and his movements are slow and uncoordinated.

It seems like the only thing that kept him moving was the idea of saving my life. Now that he managed to do that, for the foreseeable future, he has allowed himself to fall apart.

The carefully constructed façade is down, and I can see that he is in pain. I have never seen him this weak before, and it just breaks my dead heart to see him like this.

I quickly rub my eyes, not allowing the red moisture to come out of them. I had never cried when I was alive, I am not going to start now.

"Very well, I guess I might as well save you when I can't kill you," I murmur knowing they can both hear me but not caring.

I take out out the sharp dagger that, as a good huntress, I have hidden in my boot. Before either one of them can react, I pierce my neck with precision, making a hole that is just big enough for my blood to start pouring out.

"Come now, let's not waste food," I say as I pick Seymour up.

I cradle him like a child, adjusting him so that his mouth is next to the blood steadily pouring from my neck.

"No, Helen. I can't. What if I can't stop?" He asks.

"Yes, you can. That's why Alarcos is here, to stop you if you try to bleed me dry," I say confidently.

I don't feel confident.

In a weakened state, vampires are more likely to gorge on blood, human, and vampire, alike.

I have no idea why I am doing this. In all my afterlife, I have never once allowed anyone to feed on me, and here I am now, offering myself as a delicious snack.

I like to think it's because he saved my life, but I am afraid there is more.

Sharp pain goes through my whole body, and it takes all the self-control I have not to wrench Seymour off of me.

However, after he takes the first sip, I relax, no longer feeling the need to stop him.

After some time, I start losing myself, and I know that every second he keeps feeding, I am closer to death. Yet, I find myself not caring in the slightest.