Wrong Place Wrong Time

[Daeus]

Charlotte started to consider that she may never be able to trust Ian ever. She tried to remember if there was any truth that escaped his lips beside the one time he exploded due to having his friend taken. Part of her worried she was trying to put her misery on Ian. She usually wasn't this angry. Usually when she was upset she preferred to seethe in silence. He made her temper flare up so easily.


She took the cup from him and eagerly downed it's liquid contents. God she was so thirsty. She'd never been this thirsty in her entire life. Once she had gulped down all the water and held the cup and stared at it. Nothing. Oh god she was thirsty still. She knew that drinking a large amount of water in a short period of time could cause a person to vomit... enough water and they could die. She thought that the cup would have eased the painful itching of her throat even just a little... but it had done nothing.


She released the cup then and hugged herself.


"What's wrong with me?!"

 

[FaithWynters]

There it was. The realization hit her face the instant the cup left her lips. The water was gone. She was still thirsty. Without the one fundamental thing that she needed, she would remain thirsty until she could no longer stand it. It took Ian about a week the first time; he was sure it would take her less time. She was much too thirsty to last.


“Nothing is…wrong with you” He cleared the space between them quickly, pressing an arm on either side of her body. If he let her keep going, she was going to have some sort of panic attack. “This will be easier to explain if you calm down, Charlotte” He had leaned himself into her, whispering in her ear. His eyes were closed. He could take in her scent now; it was much stronger than before. He was sure that with her new senses, she would be able to do the same to him.


“There is only one way you can stop that thirst” He was trying to keep calm as he explained it to her. He wondered how synchronized with her instincts she would be at first. With Ian, he had almost known. It was a quiet voice in the back of his head telling him that he needed to latch on to someone and taste them. Farrah had described her instincts differently. She had almost starved because she couldn’t tell how to make the thirst go away.


With her scent, he could feel his teeth shifting to make room for his fangs to elongate. It was safer for her to figure it out this way, especially if she had such a strong reaction as he did. Ian didn’t need her ripping someone’s throat out on the street because she got a little too excited.

 

[Daeus]

She didn't understand. This wasn't logical. This wasn't real. This was a dream. She needed to wake up. Maybe during the torture she had passed out and this was the result. She tried to keep her breathing calm and even. Even if this was a dream panicking wasn't going to help her situation. Even after he told her there was nothing wrong with her she didn't believe his words. Who the hell didn't have a pulse and was walking around?


Oh god the thirst was getting so unbearable.


He wanted her to calm down and she had been trying to remain calm since the moment she had saw herself in the mirror and was failing miserably. If her heart had been working properly she was certain it would have been pounding in her chest... but there was nothing. It was just a void.


She didn't pull away from Ian when he leaned in. If she had tried she probably wouldn't have succeeded and would have probably fallen onto the floor in a heap again. The closer he got the more her throat ached and burned. His proximity was making this worse and she wanted to shove him away but against didn't since she was tired of flopping on the ground like a fish out of water.


"Water didn't do anything though!"

 

[FaithWynters]

She wasn’t calming down. He kept himself pressed against her in an attempt to not only keep her on her feet, but to sway her to feasting on him. It was the only way to keep that thirst down. The longer she was at this, the less she would have to feed, but this feed was the worst. He waited there while she spoke, listening to the sound of her breathing. She didn’t particularly need to breathe, but it was something that came naturally without thinking about it so it just happened. He still breathed and he hadn’t had to in almost a century. It just felt right to do so.


“Do you feel something happening within your mouth?” The question was simple as he pulled his face away from her ear. He wanted to make this as simple as possible. “Is something different in your mind?” As he spoke, he made sure to articulate in a way that made his mouth open often. He was trying to help her without scaring her. He wasn’t sure he was being particularly successful. He watched her a moment before his eyes drifted down to her throat again. Two small scars were apparent on her neck from the night before. No matter how many times someone fed on her from now on, the two small spots that appeared afterwards would always go away. These two spots on her now, however, would stay with her forever.


He was fighting his urge to lean down and bite her. He had his ass kicked too many times this weekend; he bled too much. The urge was strong, but he could ignore it. He wondered if because of the way she died she was much thirstier than she should have been. She had lost a lot of blood, and he had drank some of the blood that she still had. From the way she was acting, it seemed like her instincts weren’t as strong as his. That would help her later if it was true. She could go longer without blood. She could survive much easier.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte's thirst was only increasing and she was ready to claw her own throat out or bite her own tongue to just make it stop. To feel something other than this horrible craving. It had started out as just a simple thirst and had only gotten worse and worse since she had awoken till it was now some urge that felt completely foreign. It didn't feel like a hunger for food or a thirst for water. It was something else.


When he asked her about anything happening within her mouth her teeth felt like they were aching... like a cavity that had come into contact with sugar. It was throbbing and slightly painful. Her rational mind was fighting hard to keep her in the realm of sanity but it was starting to lose. When he spoke her eyes caught a glimpse of something that disturbed her deeply. There were fangs. When he had spoken to her before and smiled at her his teeth had been completely normal.


"No. No, no, no, no. Not real."


She shook her head and closed her eyes tightly. This wasn't real. Vampires weren't real. If she accepted that vampires were real and if Ian was actually a vampire then it meant her life was completely destroyed. She had risked her life to save someone who fed off overs. She had saved someone who had possibly used her to save himself. He had lied to her from the moment she heard him shouting in the laundromat. It would mean that she had died and was dead.

 

[FaithWynters]

“Yes. Real.” She was starting to understand what all was happening and she was probably taking it better than he had. She hadn’t told him how he wasn’t supposed to exist. She hadn’t fallen into a crumpled heap of sobs realizing that her life was ‘technically’ over. She didn’t push Ian away with her new strength and call him a monster. He wasn’t a liar yet. He wasn’t a demon. This just wasn’t real yet. He was most thankful for the fact that she hadn't hit him yet. Ian wasn't sure if that was because the idea hadn't occurred to her yet or if she couldn't get at him because of how close he was. He didn't want to think about it, but newborns were really dangerous. He had learned that out himself very early on.


This was something that he didn’t expect her to accept. She wouldn’t understand it at first and that was okay. He would be here to help her through it all; he had nothing else to do. He had no job to go to, no lover to come home to, and nothing to really take his time with. This was all his fault and he understood that. He would be here for her to help her through this. He couldn’t let her die. He could not feel that the reason this innocent girl died was because he was a fool. He couldn’t let that happen.


“To make it stop you’ll need to bite me, Charlotte.” He sighed quietly and rested his chin on the side of her head. This way, his throat was lined up directly with her face. Maybe she would be more inclined. “It’ll help you heal and make you strong enough to be able to get around like normal” He closed his eyes again, listening to the sound of her breathing. “I’m sorry that there’s no other way.”

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte was still trying to argue with herself to try and think of any other reason why she was feeling the way she was. Her mind was spiraling out of control and all her thoughts were clawing over each other. She needed to stop thinking for just a moment. Her head was pounding and it felt like her body was going to betray her will. She was tempted. Oh how horrible was it that she was tempted to actually bite him! She couldn't help but whimper as she felt the fangs in her mouth extend only causing more chaotic feelings to surge.


She minutely shook her head when he told her to bite him. She didn't want this! Why had he done this? She couldn't blame anyone else for this vampiric nature except for the vampire who was in her presence. Why would he make her like him? She desperately wanted to know why but was terrified to ask. There was a dark thought then that crossed her mind. She had wished she had died. If she had died he could have saved the other woman. If she had died she wouldn't be this... thing.


"I can't."


Her body shivered with the effort of control that was slowly slipping as he moved himself in such a way to present his neck to her. This lasted for only a few seconds before she snapped and simply could not endure or resist any longer. She bit him hard with a whimper of protest. The moment she tasted blood it was nothing but satisfied pleasure in thick red liquid. She hated herself.

 

[FaithWynters]

At first, Ian thought that she would be able to resist the urge. She told him that she couldn’t. For a moment he believed her and began to pull away. He wondered if it was wrong for him to put her through this. Then, he realizes that this was going to happen no matter what. She was going to have to feed. The agony would come to her no matter what.


Ian doesn’t get the chance to pull away before she lunges at him. He feels the all too familiar burning feeling as she punctures his skin with her fangs. He can’t help the guttural grumble that erupts from within him. He can’t help the natural reaction to grab her body and press her to him.


He tried not to move as she drank from him. It would make it easier for her to feed if he didn’t move around. For a moment, he wishes that the girl he holds in his arms was Farrah. He wishes to hold her again and…He pushes the thought from his mind. Farrah was gone. He needed to remember that when he thought about her.


“I’m sorry, Charlotte” He could now feel the light headed feeling of her drinking as he spoke softly to her. He still pressed her lightly against him, but she could pull away when the urge to drink from him left her. He just stood there, the deep rumbling still coming from his throat, and his eyes pressed closed. The lightheadedness was getting worse.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte ripped herself away from him with something that sounded like a snarl and a sorrowful cry. She tried to put as much distance between herself and Ian as possible. The thirst had reduced greatly and wasn't driving her to near insanity any longer. However it wasn't as if she had blacked out and could pretend that she hadn't latched onto him like some leech and drank his blood. Oh god his blood. She could still taste it. What was once a strange metallic tasting substance had changed to something that was such a unique flavor that she couldn't really compare it to any food she had ever consumed before.


She had heard his apology but she didn't want to forgive him.


"Why didn't you just let me die? I was fine with that possibility! After what they did to me I just wanted it to stop. You barely know me and you let them kill her!"


She was crying now and even though her strength has returned she let her body slid down to the floor and covered her face with her hands. She couldn't handle this at all. Her throat hurt now from the pain of crying rather than from thirst. She wanted to run away; to escape. And so she bolted. She fled. And while she knew running away wouldn't solve her problems her basic fight or flight instincts were screaming "run!"

 

[FaithWynters]

The burning stopped while Ian’s eyes were still closed. Before he could try to stop her, Charlotte had pulled away from him. He opened his eyes to look at her, to see what was going through her mind, but she was on the ground with her hands covering her face. The lightheadedness overtook him for a moment and he hand to lean against the counter to keep from falling over. Damn. She had taken a lot out of him with that first feeding. He understood now why there were no many human deaths because of newborns.


Her words stung as they made their way through his mind. She didn’t want to live. They had done things to her that no person should have to go through. It seemed almost as if she knew Farrah personally the way she screamed at him. To her, she should have been just another person. She should have been another life in the balance with hers. She had no right to tell him that his choice was wrong.


“Don’t you talk about her like you know her!” He was facing the direction that she had run towards, snarling behind her. She was fast as she ran, but he was sure he could catch up to him. He wasn’t sure where exactly she was running to. Were there really many options?


In reality, there were two. She could run to the front door and try to flee. From the looks of the outside world, he was sure that she would burn. The feeling was something worse than anything she could imagine. It felt like your skin was on fire the moment you stepped outside and, even though it took long to kill you, the pain was unbearable. Her other option would be to run somewhere in the house away from him and lock the door. Something he could easily get around if he wanted. Break the damn thing gown. He didn’t care.


And with these two options were conflictions for him. Ian could follow after her and, if she chose the first route, watch her skin burn outside as punishment. He could try to stop her before she went outside so she didn’t hurt herself. If she ran upstairs he could follow her or leave her to her thoughts. He was angry now though, and in his mind, there was very little he wanted to do beside make her see how ungrateful she was. Even if it was wrong and Ian knew he reacted the same way when he was newborn, he wanted her to see that she would be dead without him.


“You ungrateful child!” He couldn’t help yelling after her as he ran, trying to catch up with her fast newborn athleticism.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte didn't know where she was running to since she had only been within a few rooms of the house. She decided to run back to the bathroom. She heard him shout at her about her acting as if she knew the girl. She didn't but it was obvious that the girl had known Ian in some way. The fact that he had picked Charlotte - a relative stranger - over her made her pity the girl. If Charlotte had been the one forced to choose she would have tried to save her friend... wouldn't she?


She managed to get into the bedroom and changed her mind about the bathroom. It was too wide... too large. The only other door in the room must have led to a closet. She flung the door open and tried to shove herself into a dark corner of the closet into the tightest ball she could. Ungrateful? Why should be be grateful?! She didn't ask him to save her! She would have understood when he allowed her to die! She didn't understand why he would save her.


The closet was probably a silly place for a person to try and feel safe but it was what Charlotte did. She couldn't even remember when the habit started. Something about being in complete darkness should have terrified her but being able to not see anything helped calm her down. Perhaps because it gave the illusion she had entered a void of nothingness. That rock that many people wanted to hide under to avoid the world... that was the reason she would hide in the closet at times.


Her issue was she couldn't hide from herself or her thoughts here.


"I don't have to know her to understand."


She hadn't said it loudly and she didn't think Ian would be able to hear her anyway unless he came digging through the closet for her.


"You could have saved her and you didn't... and it doesn't make any sense to me. I was there to force you to choose and it's my fault she's dead because you chose to save me."

 

[FaithWynters]

When he made it back into the living room the girl was halfway up the stairs. He was glad that she hadn’t decided to run out of the front door because he wouldn’t have made it in time. She would have been across the lawn before he got to her. He ran hard to catch up to her, taking the steps two at a time. His side stung by the time he had made it to the top. She was running into his room.


He didn’t run anymore. He walked quickly towards his room. There was no other way out of there besides the door she had come through. She wasn’t going to make it past him—not when he was like this. It was dark, but he made it into the room easily.


It was silent when he first entered the room. He didn’t see her on the bed, but he was positive that she was in here. He walked in making sure to make noise—he wanted her to know he was in here. It was then that she spoke of something in the closet. All he heard was a mumble and he stepped closer, pressing his ear against the door. There was a pause and silence once again ensued. He wondered if she was done when she spoke again.


“Don’t you realize, Charlotte? She was probably already dead when they drug her into that room. She had probably been dead the moment they took her from this house.” It was most likely not true. He was sure he had heard the quietest of whimpers when that rod when through her… He pressed his eyes closed, feeling the sadness swell inside of him again. He didn’t want to remember that.


“It’s…what she would have wanted” He was talking a little softer now. He was being overwhelmed by the emotions inside of him. They threatened to bring tears back to his eyes, but he fought them. He had to stop getting torn up over this. It had just happened, but he had to be stronger than that.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte shook her head roughly from side to side when he said the other girl had probably already been dead. They wouldn't have used such an empty threat of killing them if they had killed her beforehand. Denying the possibility that she had still been alive was too cruel. Hearing him say that it was what that girl would have wanted made Charlotte want to curl up even tighter in the darkness.


"What about what I wanted?"


She remembered what she had wanted during those horrible hours. Release from the pain. Now she was here and in suffering in another way. She'd never be able to forget that night for as long as she was able to think. Her existence around Ian would probably do the same. Who would want that type of life?


There was also the fact that her life was over. All of her classes were during the day and if there was any truth to the stereotypical Hollywood version of vampires then she'd be killed if she went out during the daytime. Then there was the matter of this diet. Blood. The idea of consuming blood make her throat ache with hunger and cause her to feel disgusted with herself over such a desire. Even worse was how she had felt and what she had wanted to do while drinking Ian's blood shook her to her core.


"I have nothing now. If I get that urge again around my friends or family and I hurt them... I wouldn't be able to stand myself. I can't continue my courses for my degree or keep my job. I'm still dead to the world. I know I am selfish and should thank you for saving me in the only way you could... but me existing like this... would torture both of us... wouldn't it?"


She used the back of her hands to try and remove the tears from her cheeks from earlier. She was trying to make herself emotionally numb and bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. Tasting her own blood didn't affect her like Ian's had.

 

[FaithWynters]

He was trying to fight the dizziness that was still overcoming him. He wasn’t used to have been taken from but not receive in return. That was Farrah’s job… He wasn’t sure what he was going to do without her. He was very aware that she would have handled this situation so gracefully. She would have made the girl feel better; she wouldn’t be getting angry. Now, he wasn’t angry. There was just this deepest pit of sorrow that he wasn’t sure would ever go away.


“To her you were a child.” He didn’t know where he was going with it. He was trying to fight off the urge he had just to turn around and leave. “She lived over one hundred years before you were even thought of” He ground his teeth together, trying to keep everything bottled off.


“It’s my job to protect you Charlotte, but obviously you think you’ve got this whole thing figured out.” He pulled himself away from the door and stumbled. “Because being curled up in a closet is figured out.” He was walking slowly towards the bed, trying to sit down so he didn’t fall. “Because being a vampire—feeding off of other vampires—makes you a fuckin’ monster.” He fell, but he hadn’t made it to the bed. “A monster that deserves to lose everything.” He grabbed his head, trying to stop the world from spinning. He wasn't sure why this was kicking him so hard. Maybe it was all of it combined that was messing with his head. He leaned back on the bed, trying to stop everything.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte remained silent as she spoke. She'd been a vampire for only a moment compared to Ian probably. Charlotte hadn't figured anything out and he couldn't possibly understand why she was hiding away in this closet. When he called himself a monster she didn't agree with him. Feeding off the blood of others didn't sit well with her. It wasn't like she was a vegan or anything... but the idea of consuming something from another person bothered her. She would be personally hurting someone by her own will.


She heard him shuffle away from the door followed by a thud. She took a deep breath before moving towards the door of the closet carefully as to not disturb its contents as best as she could. She peeked out at Ian on the floor with his hand hold his head. To him he wasn't a monster. The monsters were the ones who caused all this anguish. They were the ones to had taken her away with the intent to harm. They had enjoyed it.


Charlotte knew she was acting fairly childishly but was there any right way to react to these events?


She crawled over to where he was leaning on the bed. She was upset because he had saved her... but he had lost someone. He hadn't yelled at her or said it was her fault even though she felt like she was part of the reason that person was dead. She didn't even know their relationship but he had gone running to help her.


"I don't think you're a monster. And I don't think you deserve to lose everything."


She was an awkward person who didn't know how to comfort others. She cautiously reached out to him not sure what to do. Maybe he didn't want to show any grief in front of her because he didn't want to make Charlotte feel worse than she already did. Whatever the case all she could do was silently sit there debating on what she was supposed to say or do for someone who had saved her life while having to sacrifice another.


She wanted to ask about the other girl but she didn't want to rip open a fresh emotional wound.


In the end she decided to hug Ian. She hugged him for herself and some weird desperate need of some sort of comfort and to try and offer some form of comfort for him as well. He was all she really had now because of what he had made her.

 

[FaithWynters]

The words seemed to hold themselves in the air. She got points for at least trying to feel better. This was just as much physical and it was emotional at this point. She was trying to make him feel better. Maybe she understood now why he was so conflicted. Maybe she was just trying to get him to shut up. Ian didn’t know. He just stayed on the floor, holding his head. His eyes kept falling closed as he listened to her breathing.


He can’t stop her as she wraps her arms around him. She wasn’t sure what she was doing. There was another growl from deep in his chest, but it sounded like a purr. Now, he was conflicted again. His eyes were closed and he pulled his arms back around her. He could feel his fangs elongating; he could smell the scent of her recent feeding still. He had just stopped this, and now he was about to ruin it again. He gave her one squeeze before pushing her away.


“I think you need to go” He wasn’t trying to make it sound like he was still upset. Actually, his mind had numbed itself. It was probably an endorphin release making sure he was more worried about feeding than what he had been doing. It was never this bad. He had never fed this much in such a short amount of time.


His stomach ached and his throat burned with need. He locked her eyes for a moment, his mouth partially agape to leave room for the new addition. He wanted to show her that he was sorry. Wanted to show her that he really did care about her…Ian truly did care about her wellbeing. If he didn’t, she obviously would be dead by now.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte was a surprised at the sound that came out of Ian. It wasn't a scary type of sound so she didn't try to jerk away from him when she heard it. When he squeezed her and then pushed her away she was slightly confused and felt slightly embarrassed. She moved her arms to cross over her chest in a slightly protective way. She felt raw and vulnerable.


When he told her to go she felt a quick panic jolt her nervous system. Where would she go? If she went to her apartment would she hurt Shelly? If she went to her dad's wouldn't there also be that risk? She felt unstable in so many ways. Her mind and body were at war with new urges she couldn't define or even begin to understand except for the one that made her crave blood.


She looked over at him and saw his fangs and swallowed in a nervous way. Did that mean he was hungry? She had no idea how this whole thing worked if he fed on her... would she just have to feed off him again? Ian hadn't seemed to mind too much when she had drank from him but she was probably going to have to leave on her own soon enough. She doubted he would want her to stick around for very long. She was probably a nuisance.


"I-If you're hungry, you can," she said with a title of her head to the side.


"Then I guess once it's dusk I'll leave and get out of your hair."

 

[FaithWynters]

Feed on her. You know that you want to. You need it to survive. You’ve done enough for her already. She had her chance to leave and she didn’t take it. You know exactly where to bite her and she’ll feel just as good as you will. Feed on her…


Ian’s mind had gone into predator mode. Parts of his mind were fighting against each other trying to decide what he should do. The part of him that wanted her to go fought hard, but it was obvious what part of him won most often.


She did not understand what was about to happen, nor had she understood the way the words fell from his lips. He needed her to stay or at least keep near for a while so that she could learn how the whole vampire thing worked, but Charlotte needed to go now, before something bad happened and she really felt he was a monster.


Probably too late for that one. She even offered herself to you Ian; she wants it just as much as you do. The nature of a vampire was strong and hard to resist. He couldn’t help himself. In one graceful push he was on top of her on the ground. His eyes gleamed with want for her blood. He swallowed the burning down his throat and he leaned down, taking in a deep breath of her fresh scent. He let out a low growl; there was still part of him that wanted to stop.


“Do you remember when I took the glass out of your palm?” He was trying to make normal conversation, hoping that it would draw him out of this fix his was in. He looked down at her, watching in silence for a moment. This isn’t right. You shouldn’t be doing this. Stop it Ian before you do something you’ll regret…


“I had to fight really hard to stop myself” Another low growl exited from his chest. He was talking himself out of it by saying whatever came to his mind. He didn’t want to feed on her. He could find someone else tonight; he needed to show her the ropes. You won't be able to last that long, Ian... “I didn’t want this to happen“ The world was spinning again. He leaned down, resting his face in the crook of her neck. “Do you want this, Charlotte? Do you want me to do this?” This was hard for him. His hands were balled up into fists on either side of her as he held himself up. The burning continued from his throat to the deep pit of his stomach. “Just tell me no.” Another low growl. He needed to hear her voice tell him to stop. This inner battle had to stop before he made a mistake.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte hadn't expected him to react the way he did when she had offered him to feed off of her. She didn't know what this whole thing worked and the next thing she knew she was on the ground with him above her. The sound of the growl made her truly understand that Ian wasn't human. He may have looked human but he wasn't... which meant she wasn't anymore either.


When he asked her if she remember when he sucked the glass out of her hand and how he had a difficult time stopping himself she finally realized what that had been all about. That was what he had seemed to strange suddenly. She hadn't been able to identify that feeling that had come over her. She had been a wounded prey and he was a predator.


Charlotte didn't dare move. She wasn't sure what would happen if she tried to flee. Would there be some instinct to chase and attack her? Would he simply let her go? She was terrible when it came to gambling and probability was her weakest section in her statistics course so she opted to just stay where she was.


Her body stiffened slightly when she felt his face against her neck. She should have been scared and tried explain that she had changed her mind. However that wasn't the truth of her reaction. Whether it was some weird aftereffect of becoming a vampire or something else she couldn't say she didn't want him to feed from her. That was the scary part of this. Was this a normal feeling for vampires to have? She didn't imagine they'd want to have another vampire biting into their body.


The logical and questioning part of her brain tried to fight to the surface of her thoughts. She didn't know what she was getting into by permitting this. She didn't understand any aspects of being a vampire because she still felt very human. She wanted to allow it and it was a struggle in trying to answer his question.


"Yes."


In the end it was the damnable instincts that won out.

 

[FaithWynters]

It may have been more comforting to Ian if this whole situation had been paralleled by her rapid pulse. If he had been able to feel her heart speed up against his face as he spoke, the feeling might have been even better. He could tell by the way she lay there that Charlotte was having an inner battle that the human side of her would just not win. In some ways he pitied her, because he wasn’t completely sure she understood that her inhuman instincts would most likely always win in battles like this. Here, for instance, if he had been able to pull himself away from the sweet fragrance that now seemed to be amplified he probably would have been able to fight all of these feelings. But he couldn’t tear himself away from her.


Maybe it was some strange sort of grief he was going through. He sought refuge in the only thing he knew to be true anymore. The only constant of this whole situation seemed to be that he wanted to feed. Maybe he was possibly going through a stage of depression in which case he wanted to feed on her like people ate potato chips or chocolate ice cream. It was a very strange idea to have passing through one’s mind. The comparison of unhealthy foods and the life source of a whole species seemed almost fitting as the idea flitted across Ian’s jumbled up mind. He was sure that after it was all over with there would be piles of regret. If only she would say no and bring him back down to the sick and twisted reality this was…


He didn’t expect the words that passed like a gasp through her lips. They had sealed her fate and shaken what little humanity he had left in him to silence. There was nothing left within him telling him not to just gorge himself on the beautiful face was had leaned just slightly into where he had come to rest. There was nothing left telling him that he didn’t want to hurt her. There was only the deep rumble in his chest warning her not to move. If she had said anything after this point, Ian probably wouldn’t have heard her. He was concentrated now on the hitches in her breathing and the way that she moved her body underneath him.


Raking his fingernails down the carpet beside her, he reached for her right hand. Once he could feel the skin he loosely locked his fingers in between hers and pulled her hand up to match her face. This way, he had much more leverage on her if she had second thoughts about what was going to happen and what she really wanted. The almost possessive rumble that had started in his chest now turned into something a little more loving; he practically purred into her. Tracing his nose up the curvature of Charlotte’s neck, Ian found the place in her neck that he intended to bite. If done properly, he wouldn’t hurt, and he might actually be able to make her enjoy herself a little bit. There was still some subconscious part of him that wanted her to be comfortable.


Ian pressed himself against her body, pressing his lips to her throat. She would have all of the chance to fight him before this, but now, he wasn’t stopping for anything. He pressed his eyes closed, taking that final leap, and biting her. For a moment, Ian is able to sit there, letting her hopefully get used to the feeling, but soon his senses overpower him. He closes his eyes and begins to hungrily drink from her. Instinctively, the grip he has on her hand tightens and he presses himself harder into her. Once again, he had failed in stopping the inhuman part of him, and for a fleeting moment, he wondered if every time he lost to this instinct he truly became less human.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte's mind was arguing with her body for control. Charlotte wasn't like this. She didn't let people in her personal bubble so easily and that was what she had just allowed Ian to do. She should have resisted. She should have fought harder for control over herself. She should have felt terrified. The problem was she wasn't resisting and she wasn't scared of what was going to happen. Was this normal? She knew that if this had happened before being kidnapped and made into this thing she was now she would have shoved him away and laughed nervously while trying to avoid looking at him.


She allowed him to restrain her and press her into the floor of the bedroom. Why did she want this to happen? She didn't understand this at all. Was it because maybe he was the one who had made her into a vampire? The only thing she had to go by was Hollywood vampire tropes and which of that mess was true to begin with?


The sounds he made caused her to shiver with anticipation. Her nerves were going crazy. When he finally bit into her she couldn't help but gasp from the strange sensation. She had expected it to hurt and while there was a small sting of pain it was a strangely pleasurable kind of pain. Her back arched slightly in reaction to him pressing himself against her.


The small voice of warning and shame were fading away and struggling to try to convince her to tell him to stop and for her to stop enjoying this because it was wrong. They were screaming this was too intimate for strangers to do with each other but something in her was controlling her like she was a puppet and at the mercy of some mysterious master. It was frightening.


"I-Ian," she harshly whispered.


She was scared of these strange feelings, urges, and changes she was going through. This needed to stop. She needed to gain back control which felt like an impossible thing. She didn't try to forcefully resist him knowing that he'd be able to keep her pinned to the ground. She was also worried that by resisting this experience would become something painful.


"Please stop."


That request had felt like the most difficult thing to say in her entire life. Her mouth and mind were telling him to stop but her body continued to enjoy the moment trying to convince her that this was what she really wanted.

 

[FaithWynters]

The sweet nectar passed through his lips in a slow dribble. He was being careful, even if he was lost in his own thoughts. He made sure that as he pressed her down he wasn't hurting her, and that he bit her in a way that she wouldn't bruise. He was very aware of the fact that she was new to this. This feeding would not be followed by other passionate endeavors. For him, the two often went hand in hand. He wasn't sure what would happen when he finished feeding from her. Would she get upset again? Would she realize that he was truly the monster that others called him? He was feeding on an innocent.He had to make this as painless as possible or he might end up having a newborn running the streets trying to act as if she were normal. She had no idea how much power she possessed and would posses once she had fed enough. For the next few weeks, if they ended up staying together, he would have to be very careful not to anger her; there was a chance she would be more powerful than Ian. That didn't mean that he was drinking less of her now.


His eyes were pressed closed as he felt the burning begin to stop. He was sure that the magnitude of her thirst had been much more compared to his, and with his age came he ability to stop as soon as the burning was finished. The problem was that her quiet little voice urged him to stop before the burning had completely subsided. The animal inside of him urged him to continue, but her soft words were drawing him out of instincts and passion and back to the real world. He pressed his eyes closed, and for a moment he seemed to have an inner battle with himself. It wasn't something that he was used to--having to stop--wanting to stop. A few more moments and the burning subsided and he pulled away from her throat with a gasp. It had to have only been a second or two since her quiet words had passed through her lips.


"I'm sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry" He hadn't pulled his face away from his throat. He just let his head come to rest on the carpet beside her, his breathing was unnecessarily heavy as his eyes were pressed closed. He leaned forward, licking the wound to try to get the breathing to stop. He licked her neck like a dog--he felt like a dog. After only a moment, the wound had healed and he could pull himself off of her. It was the blood in her; it was at least doing a little bit of good. "I'm sorry. So sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry" Ian couldn't stop the words as he pushed himself off of her with such a force that he fell backwards on the ground. The words didn't stop. He just pulled his head into his hands, trying to think and trying to stop his mind from racing all at the same time.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte had tensed when he licked her neck after finally releasing her from the bite of his fangs. Was this what she was going to become? Someone who struggled to control themselves when it came to this thirst? Ian had seemed to become feral in that moment and the humanity within her was fearful and cowering.


When he threw himself away from her with his continued apologizes all she could do was lay there. Maybe if she just stayed there she could pretend this was all a dream. But her mind wouldn't permit that delusion. It reminded her constantly of her new reality. She physically felt stuck now. What was she going to do when she got that horrible feeling again?


There was so much she needed to ask about her condition but Ian seemed to be in such a mess that she doubted he would be able to even answer her. She needed to start making plans. First she needed to withdraw every cent she had attached to her name. She'd have to withdraw from the university. She'd been under a small scholarship so she only had to pay for her own books. If she managed to convince the college that she was withdrawing for medical reasons she wouldn't have to deal with the scholarship program harassing her. She'd have to quit her job as well.


Making this list was enough to distract her from the awkwardness of the aftermath of Ian feeding from her. As far as she thought of her situation she was pretty much on her own. Ian seemed to finally be breaking down after losing that girl and Charlotte didn't think she could comfort him in any way.


"It's fine."


She tried to keep her voice steady and neutral. This was her fault after all. He'd asked her and she had consented under the strange influence of whatever the hell was wrong with her.


She finally moved to sit up lifting her hand to where she had been bitten and feeling no wound. Well that was useful if she ever cut herself with a kitchen knife. Though she'd have to use for a kitchen knife now probably. She was distracting herself with jokes again; damn defensive mechanisms. She didn't dare look over at Ian. She was scared what she would see if she did. She could have said quite a few things but it seemed better to just leave in silence.


She wasn't sure what time it was exactly but it had probably been long enough for the sun to have set. She knew what she was going to do was just a coward's way but maybe that's what she actually was. Who wouldn't have coping issues when waking up and being told you're a vampire?


So she stood up and dusted off her clothes out of a nervous habit rather than there actually being anything to dust off. She made her way out of the bedroom and into the bathroom and washed her face of the blood that had been left behind from her biting Ian. She stared at herself for a long moment in the mirror trying to give herself a mental slap.

 

[FaithWynters]

He had never reacted this way to drinking someone’s blood. Never had he apologized for taking something that he needed to survive like this. He sat there on the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. His apologies had slowly drawn silent in the room. His mind was now lost in his thoughts. He looked blindly off into the distance. He was acting like a child who had lost his way. He really wasn't acting in the cool conserved manner that he would normally retreat back into. He was being weak. He wasn't particularly sure why he couldn't just keep his shit together in front of her.


Even if she said it was alright he knew it wasn’t. He was very aware that he had messed up. He knew that when he pressed himself into her he had gotten carried away. She wasn't Farrah. He was trying to use her as a replacement for Farrah and that wasn't right. This girl wasn't his lover. She wasn't strong like Farrah had been. Her beautiful smile and the way she got when they fed... That is what really pushed him. It hadn't really hit him that she was completely gone. He knew one of these days it would hit him like a brick wall and he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. But right now, it wasn't fair to her. He needed to stop acting like a child and deal with this.


When he looked back up again, he realized that she had gotten up and left. If she had said anything to him, Ian hadn't heard it. He looked toward the door that was still open. He would have heard the front door open and close had she left so he knew she was still in the house. Did she really want to talk to him right now though? Even if she had told him it was alright Ian had made it very clear to himself that she didn't want to talk to him. A quiet cough escaped his lips. He was feeling much better now. Besides the overzealous exemplification of emotions, he was no longer sore, and his head did not throb like it had been when he awoke. He picked himself up off of the ground, walking over to the window.


The water cut on in the bathroom as he pulled the shades away. It was no longer light outside. The setting sun turned the sky into a deep shade of purple. If the sun was hurting him that it was just like a normal human sun burn because he could not feel it. He looked down toward the lawn. The freshly cut grass of the cookie-cutter homes around his own was the perfect cover for this little slice of hell. On the outside, everything was always alright. That's what he needed to keep people from asking questions.


As he looked up toward the street he saw a rather chubby woman of about five feet walking down the sidewalk in front of the house. She held about five or six multicolored leashes and calmly corralled the dogs ahead of her. She was quite good at her job as she was very good at keeping the dogs out of the road, people's yards, and veering them out of the way when others passed her by going the opposite direction. She had two white ear buds pushed into her ears and she wore athletic shorts and a tank top. She had no idea there was someone watching her from above. This was the push he really needed. It was the slap in the face that told him that the world hadn't stopped just because he lost Farrah. People still worked, fought, and died every single day. Sitting in this house all day would not fix any of his problems or the girl's problems which were a lot worse than his right now—he assumed that she was still in the bathroom cleaning herself up.


The curtain fell back into place as he turned around and walked slowly out of the room. He wanted desperately just to try and work all of this out. Unbeknownst to him, the blood working through his system had really helped get his mind straight.


The bathroom wasn’t far away and before he knew it, he was leaning against the doorway, looking into the dark room. He took the very similar position of leaning as he had the night before when he waited for her to answer the door for him. There was another playful grin on his lips and for once in a long time, the smile reached his hazel eyes.


“Hey, you want to go get a drink?” He kept smiling, running a hand through the thick curls on his head. They flopped back into place almost immediately and he continued the motions in an attempt to keep his hand busy. It occured to him now that his mood had pretty much taken a one eighty. He couldn't help the quiet chuckle. She probably thought he was some kind of weirdo or something by the way he acted.

 

[Daeus]

Charlotte thought she looked the same as before. There was nothing new but the two small puncture marks on her neck that had healed but left small marks. It was weird that those marks had remained. She resolution to run away was wavering the longer she stood there. It was weird to need courage to run away from your life.


She didn't turn to look at Ian. She had heard him moving in the other room clearer than anything she could ever remember. She looked at him through the mirror instead of directly when he leaned against the doorway. She wasn't sure what to think when he smiled suddenly. It made no sense to her. She would have been bawling if she had been in his situation.


When he asked if she wanted to go and get a drink she visibly cringed. Her mind kept shoving memories at her through all sorts of weird associations. She had been drunk and had gone home... was kidnapped.. then nearly killed... or maybe died and was now a vampire. She also wasn't sure what type he drink he meant.


"Alcohol or something else?"


She still remained where she was and still looked at him indirectly. She didn't think she'd ever want to bite into someone a drink their blood. When she had done that to Ian she felt a pit inside of herself. She had done it entirely on impulse rather than her own will. If she got drunk would that happen again? She didn't want to hurt anyone and she felt like that is all she would ever do now.


"I... am going back to my apartment. Shelly will call the police if she sees my door was broken down."