The Kiss of Death

Chapter 5

Eleanor's POV:

    Shock courses through me, pulsating throughout as my body stiffens and my fingers claw desperately at the hands holding them to the bed, struggling to get free. The pleasant dizziness from moments ago dissipates altogether the second the sharp fangs dig into my neck. Replacing that warm tingling sensation is a cold, harsh wave of fear that pulls me under so completely, I feel as though I'm drowning in it. My instinct is to fight, to push and claw and kick until I can free myself or go down trying. I don't care that it's Will or if I'm hurting him. All I care about is saving myself.

    As I struggle, another strange tingling begins at the back of my neck, working its way up the back of my head. A very faint voice sounds in my head, so faint that I can't pick it up at first. As the tingling spreads farther down my spine, the voice grows louder and louder, as if the two are directly correlated. I concentrate on the sound, straining hard to pick up what it's saying. Am I going crazy?

    "El... Stop fighting me.." The voice echo's around in my head, calling me out by name. "It hurts worse when you fight. Sit still.." I freeze on demand, my hands falling to the bed and gripping hard to the sheets, my body still tense even as the voice works to calm me. "That's it, calm down. This will all be over soon.. I had to do something or he would've seen us. Just hold on a minute longer." 

    The more the soothing voice speaks the calmer I feel and rational thought starts coming back to me. That's right, the voice is Will's. He's my soulmate. That's probably why I can hear him in my thoughts like before, though we aren't in the shimmery room so this must be a lesser version of that. He wouldn't hurt me. Over time, I relax completely, bringing a hand up to tangle into his hair reflexively. Just like he said, when the tenseness in my muscles starts to lessen so does the pain in my neck, until all I can feel is a dull ache and the feel of his arm wrapped around me, gently lifting me against him.

    Just as suddenly as his teeth had embedded in my neck they're gone again and I can feel the mental bridge we'd been forming snap the instant that he pulled away from me completely, leaving me lying alone in the middle of the bed as he rolls the other side of the bed, half sitting up and leaning back on his arms. The warmth that had surrounded us just seconds before dissipates completely and I'm left dizzy and shocked. I can feel myself sluggishly lagging behind mentally, struggling to concentrate. It's like someone hit fast forward on my life but everything is too muffled for me to make sense of it.

    I roll my head to the side and look up at Will, opening my mouth to ask him to slow down or clue me in when I hear someone speaking over by the door. I turn my head and slowly attempt to sit up but my arms are too weak and my head starts to spin, so I never make it up and eventually my head lands back on the pillow in defeat. The conversation between the mystery voice and Will continues and I struggle to make sense of it as I lay still on the bed, eyes closed, trying to recoup. 

    "I'm sorry to interrupt sir."

    "Yes I'm busy, what do you want?" Will questions, annoyed and very obviously not caring to hide it.

    "Unfortunately sir, we do not have record of your pet's documentation on file. It is required upon check-in to present this information if one wishes to stay overnight at the Inn." The man's voice gets shakier and quieter as he speaks, his nerves shining through his professional demeaner. 

    I turn my head towards Will again and notice my blood still present on his mouth, staining his teeth and dripping in a slow river from his chin. The sight makes my stomach turn and I quickly turn my head away which causes my head to spin as well. "Ughh.." I groan, trying to keep the contents of my stomach right where they are as the world tilts and spins around me. 

    "You will receive your papers tomorrow after I stop by the local hospital to retrieve them. Given my superior rank I expect that this is not going to be an issue. I'd hate to have to speak to the owner about the terrible service I received during my stay because of a lowly houseman who would apparently see to it that I'm removed from my room for such a slight mistake such as this." I hear Will's response and feel him rise from the bed, his footsteps echoing through the room as he walks towards the door and holds it open for the unexpected, and clearly unwanted, visitor. 

    "No sir. I would never sir. It's just my job, you see. Tomorrow sounds perfect. I assure you there is no problem. I am terribly, horribly sorry to have disturbed you. Please enjoy your evening." The man stutters through an apology and I can hear his footsteps stumbling out of the room as he makes his nervous escape. The door closes firmly behind him and in seconds I feel the bed dip as Will returns to my side, his warm hands pulling me into his lap, my head resting in the crook of his arm as he looks down at me.

    "Eleanor." He whispers urgently, shaking me softly as I work my eyes open and gaze up into his worry filled eyes. Its so hard to stay awake now and I don't even try to move or speak since wrenching my eyes open was such a challenge. I grunt once, and close my eyes again. I'm so sleepy and my body feels so heavy. I don't have the energy to talk with him. 

    "El.." He murmurs my name softly again and I can feel his fingers brushing the hair off of my face. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think I had taken this much. I must have drank much more than I had originally thought last time I bit you." He pauses and I can feel his fingers running down to my throat and pressing on the fresh bite gently as he tries to inspect the damage. "I can make it all go away if you want." 

    I open my eyes again, trying hard to keep them open as I gaze up at his face, my vision going out of focus.

    "Just say the word and I'll help you." His roam back up to mine and he peers into my soul as if searching for something. His eyes soften and he seems to have found what he was looking for as he nods once and shifts so that his wrist is in front of his mouth. He pauses, hesitating for several long moments before he savagely bites into his own skin, his blood pouring out of him and streaming down his arm in tiny rivulets before puddling onto my chest. My mind revolts at the sight of him bleeding but my eyelids still feel so heavy and without permission they fall closed once again.

    Next thing I feel is Will pressing his lips to my forehead and whispering, "Trust me and just drink.. I promise you'll feel better soon." 

    Drink? I can't even keep my eyes open and now you want me to take a drink? I can't even think to argue with him before I feel his wrist press down on my lips, forcing my mouth open and allowing the dark, thick liquid drip into my mouth and pour down my throat. I can't help but gag at the taste and after just a few accidental swallows I can feel my strength returning to me. My eyes shoot open and I look up at him, panic-stricken. God, what is he doing to me? I can't let him do this to me. I use that newfound strength to grasp at his arm with my hands, pushing as hard as I can against it in an effort to get him off of me as my eyes plead with him to let me go.

    "Shh Shh." He shushes me, shaking his head and leaning closer to my face to lock eyes with me. "You haven't had enough yet, just a little more." He says, trying to reassure me I think. 

    I try to turn my head away, to wrench myself away from him as I push my feet into the mattress, arching my body up off of the bed in an attempt to wriggle free. I try to keep from swallowing but the flow is too steady and too fast to keep from choking me and I sputter and cough as it continues to trickle down my throat anyways.

    What is this? What could this possibly be doing for me? Aside from the obvious traumatic affect, I can't see any benefit to me having Will as a midnight snack. Although I am able to move and think again which I can't say is a coincidence given my mental capacity just a few minutes before all of this was slim to none. And he did say that he was going to make me feel better. Is this it? Are there healing properties in his blood? 

    I gasp and sit up straight, sliding away from him when he finally releases me, spitting and choking on what remains in my mouth as I wipe the excess from my chin. I forgot that his blood had pooled on my chest and I groan as the warm, thick liquid runs down my chest, soaking into my clothes and staining the bed. 

    "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have fed from you again but I couldn't risk being caught mid make-out session with a human. Word would spread too fast and I don't know that I would be able to get you away in time. I needed to protect you. I just had to go at it a roundabout way. I'm sorry I hurt you and scared you." He explains, watching me closely for my reaction as he wipes the blood off of his now completely healed wrist.

    I shake my head, trying to clear the confusion. "So your blood healed me?" I look down at his hand and notice that I can see the veins popping through his skin, see the blood pumping through in spurts. Shocked, I look up to his face and yet again I can't believe what I'm seeing. His eyes, crimson now because of all the blood he'd consumed today, still hold flecks of the grey-blue and the indigo ring is still present. The detail in those eyes exceed by far the detail I could see in them just hours ago in the forest and I know something is different. "What else did it do?" 

    He smiles a crooked smile and starts with an explanation. "Vampire blood has a lot of perks for humans, its just that most don't know it because we don't tend to keep them around long enough to find out. Even if we did we wouldn't waste a drop of our own blood on them. Normally." He tacks on the last bit as an afterthought and stands from the bed, moving to the bathroom for the umpteenth time to grab yet another wet wash cloth to clean up the blood. He wipes his face and neck, his chest and then finally his wrist and arm before handing me the cloth to do the same. 

    I wipe the blood from my mouth and neck and look up at him, lifting my eyebrows in a silent invitation for him to continue as I leap lightly from the bed and make my way to his bags.

    "It can also heighten your senses, which is why everything might seem brighter, like its been brought into focus. And you'll hear better, maybe even be a bit more emotional than usual. You may react more strongly than you would normally for a little while, at least until the blood works its way out of your system. Should take a day or two so I hope you aren't too uncomfortable." He pauses as I pull the soiled shirt over my head and drop it to the floor, my back facing him as I grab the cloth and continue to clean the blood from my chest and belly.

    "I'm not really sure I like it, but I can manage it for a couple days. It's kind of nice to see the world the way you do." I toss the comment over my shoulder as I don a t-shirt I had pulled from his bag and then turn to face him, kicking a pair of shorts in front of me as I look him in the eye. I watch him closely, challenging him to say something as I shimmy out of the sweatpants. I hear his quick inhale as I begin wipe the blood from my thighs before pulling the shorts on to cover my skin once again.

    "Not quite how I do, but close enough." He licks his lips, tilting his head to watch me as I push all the bloody clothing into a pile and head to the wardrobe to pull out some clean sheets and a new quilt. He stands from the bed and begins to remove the bedding as I make my way to him with the new. We quickly get to work making the bed together and when that's finished I take the pile of dirty clothes into the bathroom to the hamper before coming back out to sit on the bed. crossing my legs, I pat the space in front of me, beckoning him to come join me.

    "So aside from the super powers and healing abilities, I don't have anything to worry about?" I ask, leaning forward as he sits in front of me and crosses his legs before reaching a hand out to push the hair out of my face for me. 

    "You're not in any danger of turning if that's what you're concerned about. It's a much more complicated process than that. I'd have to feed from you three times, almost draining you each time, then feed you my own blood directly after each feeding. You'd have to get a good amount too or you'd risk coming back undead, as in walking zombie kind of thing." I make a face of disgust and shake the thought off with a shiver. He nods and shrugs as if he agrees with my assessment that that would absolutely be the worst.

    "Yeah, I couldn't bare to see you become some mindless, brain eating, diseased monster. Not that becoming a blood sucking demon is much better." 

    "So just three times and I'd be like you?" I look down at the blanket, tracing the little black swirling design with my fingers, trying not to think about it as though living forever with him wouldn't be the worst thing.

    He presses his thumb between my brows and rubs gently. "Thinking too hard gives you wrinkles." He jokes lightly. "Don't worry yourself about this, It's not something I'd resort to unless there were no other options." He smiles reassuringly at me and drops his hand back down to his own lap. "There's just one last step and then it's a waiting game. But I don't think I could ever do it so there's nothing to be scared about. You'll stay a human as long as I have a say in the matter."

    I look up into his eyes and frown, trying to think of what the last step could possibly be. Before I open my mouth to say anything or ask what it could be he supplies the answer.

    "Just remember I'd never do it, don't be afraid." He licks his lips and looks away from me, staring at the door for a few silent moments. "The next step is killing you. I'd have to kill you within two days of the last feeding in order for the transformation to begin. Usually, in the books I've read on the topic, it's normally a dagger to the heart." He continues, avoiding looking at me as I process the information. 

    I almost don't hear him because all I can see in my minds eye is Will, my Will, driving a knife into my chest. I never want to see him that way. I never want either of us to go through that. The guilt would eat him, to see me lifeless and bleeding because of him. And I can't say how I'd feel but I'd imagine maybe scared. I never want to be afraid of Will again, not now that I know we were meant to be together.

    "Everything heals with the transformation, the only problem is that it's never guaranteed that you'll wake up. Some humans can't make it through the transition and either stay dead or come back as the walking dead. I couldn't live with myself if I killed you and you actually stayed dead." He finishes, looking down at his hands as he plays with his fingers, trying to distract himself from the images no doubt flitting about in his head.

    I watch him for a moment, imagining the same things I'm sure, before I shake my head clear of them and climb into his lap, wrapping my arms and legs around him and pressing my lips to his jaw. "Stop thinking about it. Like you said it's nothing for either of us to worry about unless we have no other options. Lets just be here now and worry about the rest later." I whisper to him, kissing my way up his jaw, across his cheek and to the corner of his lips as I talk.

    Will wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me snug against him as he stamps his lips firmly against my own, catching them in a kiss so earth shatteringly sweet that I almost forget myself and tackle him to the bed for another make-out session. I must've leaned against him pretty hard because he chuckles into my mouth before pulling away from my face and looking me in the eye. "We should get some sleep. I've got a long day of gathering tomorrow and I need to take you by the hospital to make sure you're up to date on everything and collect your medical records for future reference." 

    He pulls me down to lay beside him on the bed and lifts the sheets and comforter over us in one fluid motion. I laugh shakily, and nod, resting my head against his chest and burrowing into his warmth as he shuts out the bedside lamp that had illuminated the room, effectively shutting us into darkness. 

    I listen to the sound of his breathing and try to relax as he begins to hum a lullaby under his breath in an effort to get me to sleep. I smile and press a sweet kiss to his chest in thanks, closing my eyes and focusing on the warm pocket I'd found against his side and the calming thrum of his heart beating a rhythm against my ear. 

    As I feel my body growing heavier, my mind settling further and further away from consciousness, all I can think of is Will. My thoughts, my senses, are filled with him completely. And just as I drift over the edge into sleep, all I see is he and I holding each other close, two sets of bright red eyes peering down into a city drenched with blood and full of the dead.