The Love of Blood - Part 2

*Warning - awkward moment! lol


         I woke slowly as the faint scent of blood and cool morning air filled my nostrils. I opened an eye to see Icarus closing the door and hanging his cloak on the wall. I shut my eye and feigned sleep, knowing the longer I slept the more time I had before meeting whatever cruel fate there was in store for me. When I heard no noise I remembered that I wouldn’t be able to hear his footsteps, and would have to simply stay still for a long time. That made me anxious. Was he watching me? I waited in the silence.
         “Bella.”
         I gave a shout and jumped as my heart practically leapt from my throat.
         “I know you’re awake,” he said, standing over me.
         “What the hell is your problem?” I demanded.
         He looked apologetic. “Sorry.”
         My nose wrinkled as I realized that the blood smell was slightly stronger and definitely coming from him. My empty stomach churned and my hear rate quickened. He was a killer.
         “Why do you smell like blood?” I asked quietly.
           His eyes widened as if surprised and then frowned. “Do I now? Hmm. I wasn’t  aware of that.” He turned his attention back to me. “Well, besides that, how are you feeling?”
         “Better.”
         His eyes sparkled. “Good. Because I have a lot to explain to you today.”
         And with that he went to the kitchen and started pulling things out of the fridge and cabinets.
         “Umm, where’s the bathroom?” I asked awkwardly.
         “Around the corner last door on your right.”
         “Thanks,” I said going to find it.
         There had to be a window in there. I was getting out of this place.

*****
         I stood frustrated. No matter what I did, I couldn’t change the truth; jammed. I felt as if I was going to cry. This guy was crazy, and I couldn’t find the strength to lift a stupid window. I gave a shaky sigh and jumped when there was a sudden knock at the door.
         “Bella, you okay?”
         “Yeah, I’m fine,” I called back, holding a hand over my fluttering heart. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
         “Okay.”
         There was no sound, but I assumed that he had walked away. I sighed and quickly wiped the tears from my eyes before returning to the kitchen. I took a seat at the small wooden table and picked at the floral tablecloth.
         “Scrambled eggs alright?” he asked from the stove.
         “Sure.”
         I watched as he busied himself with cracking and whisking eggs in a bowl. He was so graceful. If he was a killer, he would have killed me by now, unless he was messing with me just for fun. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t that bad. Maybe he was just crazy and harmless. He had to be, because he obviously wasn’t normal. The smell of blood, the way he moved, even the house he lived in was strange. The hallway where the bathroom was seemed fictional, the way it looked short but had so many doors crammed side by side.
    The clink of a chinaware being set shook me from my conflicting thoughts. I blinked at a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, as well as a glass of orange juice. Icarus handed me a fork and napkin and sat across from me. I didn’t realize it before, but I was really hungry. I started to eat, and looked up to see Icarus resting his head on one hand, watching me. My face flushed.
    “You’re not hungry?” I asked quickly, pointing out that he wasn’t eating.
    “I don’t eat.”
    A lump rose in my throat and I swallowed thickly. “What?”
    Icarus sighed and reclined in his chair. “Well, I was going to tell you eventually. I guess it should be now.”
    He looked up at me calmly and I looked back, not knowing what to expect.
    “Bella.” He paused. “I’m not human.”
    My fork clanged as it hit the table and my jaw was hanging open. Impossible.
    “What?” I whispered.
    “I’m not human,” he repeated. “I’m a vampire.”
    My blood froze. I pushed my chair back and made to get up.
    He really was crazy.
    He put up his hands. “Don’t worry, you’re safe. I promised earlier that I wouldn’t hurt you, remember? Sit down, you’re okay.”
    I stopped. I could barely hear him over the pulse of blood in my neck, but there it was again, something about his voice…that made me trust him.
    I slowly sat back down, my racing heart steadying.
    “Besides, if I wanted to kill you, you’d have been dead a long time ago.”
    “Thanks,” I said sarcastically, my voice cracking.
    It was then that I really took notice of his sharp teeth, unnatural pale skin, graceful movements - more importantly the silent footsteps. The freezing fingers and I could never forget the lingering scent of blood…
    “What is this?” I whispered desperately, threading my fingers in my hair. This wasn’t real. He couldn’t exist. He was….“Impossible,” I breathed. I swallowed thickly, my dry throat aching.
    Icarus looked pointedly at my glass of orange juice, and took it to the sink where he poured it out and refilled it with water. He set it in front of me.
    “Here, I think this is better.”
    I clutched at the glass with a trembling hand and drank half of it, not minding it was lukewarm.
    I set it back down and raised my uncertain eyes to him. “Okay, fine,”
    I started. “You’re a vampire. So what do you want with me? My blood?”
    “Again, I promised not to hurt you, and if it was your blood I was after, I wouldn’t have brought you here to kill you.”
    “Then what is it?”
    “Bella, I love you,” he said steadily.
    I pushed away from the table, dumbfounded. “No-no you can’t,” I stammered. “You don’t know me. That’s...”
    “Impossible?” he finished. “I thought you might react this way.”
    I froze as he stood and came around the table to me. My heart thumped rapidly. He was out of his mind...
    His expression was concerned. “This must be so sudden.”
    He reached out a hand to cup the side of my face and I recoiled on instinct. Looking hurt he drew away.
    “Why me?” I asked pleadingly.
    He took my hand to my displeasure. “Look, Bella. I want you to know that this isn’t irrational affection. We’re supposed to be together. You’re my soul mate.”
      Unbelieving, I tugged my hand away from his.
    “How does that work?” I asked shrilly.
    I tried to move away but he grasped my hand again and pulled me back.
    “Trust me, it’s natural. It’s the way…vampires are designed. We can tell who our true love is like no other species. From the moment I saw you, I became fixed.”
      “No, you’re wrong! Let me go,” I said, frantically beginning to back away. But he followed, practically clinging to my arm.
      “No, listen to me, Bella. It’s supposed to be like this! Please listen.”
    I yelped in surprise as I backed into something fell onto it. The sofa. Icarus kneeled beside it, still holding my hand. I steadied my breathing as some of the delirium faded.
    “I don’t want to scare you away,” he said in a hushed voice.
      “Well, you’re not doing a very good job.”
      “Sorry.”
      “And stop being sorry. Couldn’t you just have told me all of this instead of… abducting me like that?”
    He looked up, his black eyes watery and his pretty face gloomy. “And would you have believed a word of it? You would have run away, branding me as some creepy old guy.”
      “Wait a sec, how old are you?” I asked suspiciously.
    “Twenty.”
    I shook my head. “No, how old are you, really?”
    He growled a little, baring two sharp fangs. “One hundred and seventeen,” he said grudgingly. “My one-hundred-eighteenth birthday is in four months.”
    “Wow. You are a creepy old dude.”
    “Thanks,” he said sarcastically.
    I cracked a small, uncertain smile. Icarus smiled back. He released my hand and stood, turning away.
    I put my aching head in my hands. This was too much. He seemed too gentle for me to fear or hate, but this was too supernatural, too strange, too wrong. I couldn’t stay here.
    “Icarus,” I said softly. “I really can’t stay. I have to go home.”
    There was a pause of silence.
    “It’s improper for a vampire to be separated from his mate.”
    My heart clenched. He really wasn’t going to let me go. I tugged gently at my hair.
    “Could I at least call my family to tell them I’m alright? They don’t even know if I’m alive.”
    He was silent for a moment.
    “Will that make you happy?”
    “Yes,” I whispered.
    “Okay. Let’s go.”


*****


    “Mom?”
    “Bella! Where are you!?! We’re all so worried! Are you okay!?!” my mother cried frantically.
    “Mom,” I said, choking back tears. “I’m fine. I’m safe. I’m sorry. Don’t worry.”
    “Thank God you’re alright.” I could practically hear the relief drench her as she brook down in sobs. My heart clenched. “Honey, please come home now. We’re going to talk about this. Did someone hurt you?”
    “Nobody hurt me mom.”
    “Oh thank God, thank heavens. Bella, where are you? We coming to get you now.”
    I hated myself for what I was about to do. I tensed, and sensing my distress, Icarus put a comforting hand on my shoulder. But as soon as I opened my mouth, I started to cry.
    “Mom, I’m so sorry! I can’t come home.”
    “What!?! Why!?!”
    “I can’t tell you. But trust me, I’m okay. I’m so sorry, mom. I love you. Please, tell everyone I love them.”
    “Honey don’t hang-”
    I slammed the phone into the cradle.
      Icarus wrapped me a hug and rested his chin on my head. I felt his tears leak through my hair. “I’m sorry to cause you pain,” he said feebly.
    “Can we go?” I sniffled.
    “Alright,” he said gently, kissing the top of my head. “We should leave quickly anyways.”
    He led me out of the phone booth and picked me up before spreading his dark wings and taking off for home. It was broad daylight, but I knew everyone who saw us would see nothing but an inky blur.
         

*****


    My breakfast forgotten, I lied down on the sofa and curled up quietly crying to myself. I remember him getting up and telling me that he would be back shortly. Fine with me. I could think more about my ruined life in peace. Everyone I knew would be so heartbroken. I really couldn’t stay here forever. I glanced up at the clock; eleven-sixteen a.m. I hadn’t even been gone for a full 15 hours.
I sighed shakily and closed my eyes, trying to dispel the fluttering spasms and anxious clenches in my abdomen. Maybe if I slept….everything would go back to normal….

    “Bella?” my dad asked gently.
    “Yeah, dad?”
    Silence.
    “Dad?”
    A pause.
    “No, Bella. It’s me, Icarus.”
    I felt my hopes hit the bottom of my stomach like a stone. I hazily opened my eyes to see that it was really him.
    “Sorry that took so long. Here, I got this for you.”
    He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out. It was an iPod.
    “Oh, thanks,” I said taking it.
    I turned it on and went to scroll through the artists. I frowned.
    “Umm, there’s nothing on here.”
    His eyes sparkled. “It’s a special iPod. Just think of the song you want to listen to, and it’ll play.”
    “Impossible,” I breathed.
    He smiled. “I think you’ll like it. And now, so I’m not late, I’ll be leaving for work shortly.”
    I snapped out of my awed daze. “Work?” I asked as if he had lost his mind.
    He was over by the closet putting on a black jacket over the suit I hadn’t realized he was wearing.
    “Yes. What about it?”
      “Vampires don’t work,” I said incredulously.
      Icarus looked at me like I was crazy. “Yes, we do,” he contradicted.
      He motioned to the room. “Where do you think all of this comes from?”
    “From the wallets of the people you kill?” I suggested bluntly.
    He looked insulted. “No.”
    I squinted my eyes at him. “Then what do you do?”
    He returned to fixing his tie. “I’m a lawyer.”
    For a moment I was at a loss for words.
    “You’ve got to be kidding.”
    He looked sideways at me confused. “What?”
    “Lawyer? Bloodsucker? Don’t tell me you never got that before.”
    He grinned toothily, amused. “Oh, that.”
    “And if you’re supposed to be at work, why are you leaving so late?”
    Icarus walked over to me and planted a kiss on my forehead.
    “I have a case at 2 O’clock.”
    “Oh.”
    What should I have said? Good luck?
    He picked up his briefcase and went to the door. He turned back to me and smiled.
    “Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, I bought your favorites. If you get bored, try going up to the library - it’s the second door on the left. And don’t try to run away,” he added, as a matter-of-factly. “I know where you live.”
    The door closed behind him, and all was quiet. I stood for a moment before sitting on the couch and putting my head in my hands. I really wasn’t going to run away. What was wrong with me?
    My stomach grumbled. I guessed the forkful of eggs I had a few hours earlier did no good.
    I went to the kitchen and opened all the cabinets to find them full of the most junky foods I could imagine; cookies, candy bars, sugary cereals, Cheetos, popcorn, packaged cakes, jelly, peanut butter. I replaced my slack mouth with a grin. I could get used to this.


    After a helping of peanut-butter Oreos, cheese curls, and a can of Coke, I wandered back to the hallway, deciding I might as well check the library out. But the door past it…why hadn’t I noticed it before? While all the other doors were a dark wood color, this one a faded black. The hairs stood up on the back of my neck. I knew I shouldn’t…As if drawn by supernatural powers, I abandoned my first destination and moved towards the foreboding door. Swallowing, and cautiously grasping the cold doorknob, I opened it. What I saw sent an icy fear raking through my body. A coffin. Victorian style with the otherwise empty room’s black curtains drawn. I yanked the door shut, and feeling paranoid, glanced around, before dashing up to the library.


    He was so right. I’d always enjoyed reading. But this…..this was insane. I scanned…maybe 2% of what the entire library had to offer. I’m not even sure how it fit into his house. There were authors and subjects that I’d never heard of, and oddly enough, there was an entire section on magic. That was too strange for me to tackle on my first day. I was still trying to stomach the whole vampire thing. Vampires…That was definitely the first thing I wanted to read about.


*****


    I didn’t even notice that it was getting dark until I heard a sound at the window. Snapped from my engrossed daze, I looked up to see Icarus opening one window pane and stepping into the windowsill, letting in a cool gust. He leapt down fluidly.
    “Couldn’t you just use the front door like a normal person?” I complained.
    “I saw the light on and so I flew up to join you.”
    He threw his coat over a chair and came to look over my shoulder at my book. His presence unnerved me.
    “Ah, vampires,” he said teasingly. “Interested, are we?”
    I ignored his comment. “Do you kill your victims?” I asked not looking up from the book.
    I felt him become tense. “What’s with that question?” he hissed lightly.
    I had to stay calm. “Well, do you?”
    Silence.
    “Icarus…”
    “Yes,” he hissed quietly. “Didn’t you already know that when you questioned me this morning?”
    “I wasn’t sure,” I said defensively. “Besides, it says right here that vampires don’t have to kill their victims when they…feed.”
    Icarus moved from behind me and shrugged. “It’s what I do, Bella,” he said slightly annoyed.
    “Couldn’t you leave them alive?”
    I watched as he went over to a small bar and took out a delicate glass, filling it with golden wine. “I’ve tried. It’s harder than you think,” he said before taking a long swallow. That surprised me.
    “I thought you didn’t eat or drink.”
    “Well, I don’t have to. But I can still enjoy the taste of things that have a stronger flavor than blood.”
    I cringed inwardly.
    He sniffed. “Look, I know that it’s wrong to kill them. But it’s not in my nature to leave people alive once I’ve started to feed on them. It actually hurts to let them go if they’re not dead. Besides, it’s bad to leave people alive when they cam legitimately claim that they’ve been attacked by vampires.”
    “Doesn’t make it right,” I mumbled.
    “I know,” he said irritably. “I’ve tried leaving people alive before. Half of them died within an hour.”
    He drained the rest of his wine and inspected the empty glass, looking conflicted. “If you want, I’ll try harder not to kill.”
    He set down his glass and walked back to the window.
    “Where are you going?” I asked, looking up.
    He flashed his toothy grin. “Hunting.”
    And with that he sprouted his wings and stepped out the window into the air.