© Amber Kalkes 2015

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"If I Had A Heart" By Fever Ray

F I V E |

Lawson doesn’t understand why he’s doing this. It seems ridiculous but he can’t disregard the facts of what he saw last night. That woman, the redhead, she was practically dying on the hospital floor one minute and a half hour later she was perfectly fine. She even winked at him as she walked out of the hospital. He can’t explain it with anything other than the one theory he has.

Lawson believes that she was given the same thing as Daisy.

There is no other explanation he can think of. No other way that he could see her withering in pain and then practically skipping down the hallway. So he decided to follow her how. It was stupid, he knows that now but at the time he couldn’t think of a better option. He needs to know that there are no other option and he has an inkling that this woman could be a step in the right direction.

Seeing the woman walk around a corner he lifts the hood hanging out of the jacket, over his head. Its raining outside and he’s been hoping its been working to his advantage. That maybe she’s too busy trying to get out of the rain to notice some guy stalking her. He really feels like such a creep for doing this but he solidifies his resolve. Forcing himself to remember Daisy when she was at the height of her illness he knows that this is what he has to do, creepy or not.

Stepping out of the alleyway he walks with his hands in his jacket pockets and keeping his head dipped. He rounds the corner quickly but feel panic set in when he doesn’t see the woman anywhere in sight. It’s an empty alleyway she’s lead him down with run down apartment buildings on each side. Cautiously Lawson walks further down the tarmac while looking around.

Suddenly he’s thrown off his feet and against a brick wall. He lands on a rain puddle in a heap and coughs hoarsely from the impact. Lawson opens his eyes only to see a pair of bare feet before him. Trailing his eyes up the bare calves he comes to the hem of a trench coat and that’s as far as he gets before a small hand grabs him. He’s lifted off the ground and pushed back against the brick wall roughly with a hand around his neck.

“Why are you following me?” A slightly accented voice demands.

Lawson looks up to meet a pair of glowing silver eyes, messy red hair, a scowling pair of matching eyebrows and curled back lips. His eyes widen when he takes in four sharp fangs right next to her front teeth and over her eye teeth. In the back of his mind a word floats the surface but he pushes it away. That word is impossible.

“Wait…” She trails while tilting her head to the side. “You are the boy from the hospital.”

“So you know me?”

Her eyes fill with amusement, “I recognize you, yes.”

“I’m not following you.” He grunts out as her hold on his neck tightens at the obvious sound of his lie.

“You are not being truthful.”

“I don’t have to admit shit to you.”

“No? Was I not the one you were following?”

“Are you deaf?” He spits, “I wasn’t following you?”

Her hand tightens to the point he gasps for air, “I would watch your tone with me, boy. I could snap neck without hesitation or remorse. I would not test me.”

“Alright.” He chokes out. “Alright, I’m sorry.”

Her mouth tilts up in a smirk and before she’s suddenly nose-to-nose with him. Her hand doesn’t remove itself but it does loosen up letting Lawson take in some much needed air. He opens his eyes and feels them widen as he stares back into her bizarre eyes.

Despite the rain pouring around them and bite of the cold seeping into his bones Lawson can’t look away from her eyes. They really must be glowing because he’s never seen eyes not only that color but that bright. He tries to see if their contacts but he can’t tell the difference with the poor amount of visual he has but they have to be. Eyes like that just don’t exist.

“Do my eyes scare you, boy?”

“No.” He says truthfully, “Are they real?”

“As real as yours.”

“How do you get them to glow like that?” He asks.

Her expression closes off for a second before she sneers at him, “I don't.”

Letting go of his neck he falls to his knees and rubs his neck. She wasn’t cutting off much of his air towards the end, just enough to make him uncomfortable. He can feel her eyes on him as he unsteady and without a hint of grace gets to his feet. He shivers as some of the rain slips into the back of his jacket to slide down his back. Looking over at her Lawson notices she looks completely unaffected by the chill as she stands in what he’s guessing to be letting more than a beige trench coat.

“Why were you following me?” She asks directly once he’s collected himself.

“I said I wasn’t.”

“We have already established you are a liar. Now tell me why you were following me or this conversation is over.”

Lawson runs his hand over his soaked hair with a laugh, “What makes you think I want to talk to you?”

She lifts a brow, “You must think I am stupid or you must think yourself very smart. Either way you are wrong.”

“I hear an accent. Where are you from?”

“Everywhere.” She answers instantly. “Now do you care to answer my initial question?”

“Not really.”

“Then this conversation is pointless.”

Turning on a heel she begins walking down the alleyway. Lawson feels his desperation take over as he calls out, “I wanted to know how you know the doctor.”

She turns to look at him over her shoulder, “And why would that interest you?”

“Personal reasons.”

“Personal reasons?” She repeats thoughtfully. “How dull.”

“You were sick earlier.” He observes. “How are you not sick now?”

“He is a doctor. Are they not meant to heal the sick?”

He scowls at her evading of his questions, “Not with how sick you were.”

Walking towards him she tilts her head in that unnerving way that make him feel more like prey than a man. “How sick did you think I was? Please enlighten me with your medical expertise.”

“I’m not a medical expert.” He snaps. “But I know a person in pain when I see one and you were in pain.”

“Astute observation, Mr. Ripley.”

“How do you know my name?” He demands with his jaw clenched.

“The first time I met you I believe we were introduced. Besides…” She says with a slow once over of him before tapping her temple, “I have a fantastic memory.”

“Then you can tell me how the doctor healed you.”

“A long memory, Mr. Ripley but also a selective one. I am afraid that whatever you are looking for will not be found with me.”

He steps closer to her, meaning to intimidate her but she only looks amused. “I think you know exactly what I want and I think you know exactly how to help me.”

“If you are looking to heal the sick Mr. Ripley I suggest you find yourself a miracle worker and not death itself.”

“What?” He asks cautiously.

She smirks at him, “Good evening, Mr. Ripley and try to stay a stranger would you?”

“I’ll figure it out, Lady and when I do you and your doctor will be in big fucking trouble!”

“Oh?” She asks turning so she’s walking backwards down the alley, “Then would help your darling sister, Mr. Ripley? Rumor is she’s not long on time and ten years can disappear in a flash. So for the good of yourself and that delicious looking sister of yours I suggest you keep your mouth shut and your nose out of my business.”

Lawson doesn’t say a work and move an inch. He’s frozen in his shock, disbelief and most of all his confusion. Who is this woman and how does she know so much about Daisy?

“Good night, Mr. Ripley.” She calls with a wave.

Lawson stands in the alleyway for a few minutes just staring after her. That unlikely word pops back into his head and this time he doesn’t push it away. Her fangs, her eyes and the way she talks to him, none of them make him feel like the word is an impossible thing.

Vampire, his mind repeats to him.

Now he knows he must be crazy.

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Theo enters her apartment soaking wet and strips off her coat from her body quickly. The cold doesn’t bother her but the feeling of the material sticking to her skin does. Throwing it over the coat rack she stands only in a pink silk slip which is also sticking to every curve of her body. She realizes that she’ll need to take that off to and grabs the hem to strip that off as well.

Naked she moves towards the bed and picks up a hair clip from the side table. Peeling her soaking hair off her neck and back she twists it up before pinning it with the clip on the top of her head. Deciding to grab a late night snake she heads into the kitchen and grabs a blood bag from the fridge and tears it open with her fangs.

The cold thick blood moves down her throat as she begins to drain the bag dry. Personally she doesn’t enjoy the taste of cold blood but with the scare she had earlier this evening she’s not in the way of complaining. She needs to listen to Andre this time and really commit to this new way of life. That or she needs to find a responsible donor. Considering the options she’d rather stick to the blood bags at this point.

Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand Theo gasps in air and shivers in pleasure at how full she feels. Dumping the now empty blood bag in the trash she goes to her hanging coat and reaches into one of the pockets. Pulling out six vials of the new concoction that Andre has made her she holds up one into the light that the kitchen’s lamp is giving off. The blood looks thinner and lighter in color but no less delicious.

She places them in the butter container of the fridge and closes the door. This way they are out of sight and out of temptation. Her bare feet sink into the carpet of the main part of her apartment as she walks to her bed. Pulling back the covers she sinks into the bed’s mattress and wraps the blanket around her bare body.

Without thinking about it she reaches around her chest and runs her fingers over the bumpy scar tissue of her back. The scars, 18 centuries old still bring back memories fresher than anything that happened even yesterday. She was not always the one in power like she is now and in those days very few women of the Roman Empire were. And considered less then a dog if you were a slave.

Closing her eyes she tries to chase the memories away with the newer ones of this evening. The boy, Mr. Ripley, she thinks with a smirk, how strange he is. Thinking he could follow her without her knowing. Even with the rain covering his scent she could feel him behind her from the moment she left the hospital. He was so inexperienced at hunting ones prey it was almost adorable if not incredibly amusing.

It was the most fun she has had in years. Andre always ruins most of her fun with his rules and most of the time she obeys, knowing that it will destroy her last human tie if she doesn’t. Though with the development of Andre’s condition a few world of possibilities and bad habits is opening up to her. He won’t be around to save the day anymore but she has a feeling she won’t need him to.

Smiling to herself Theo thinks of way she can use this new prospective pet to her own benefit. Too many ways to do all at once she realizes quickly but humans have many year more these days then any in the centuries before. Perhaps she can make this one last longer and keep her amused. Maybe she can strike a deal to keep him on a leash at her feet.

Yes, she thinks as the sun begins to rise, a deal could just be the trick.

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Well Lawson wanted her attention he got it but I don't think he got it in the way he was expecting. lol. Bit of a short chapter but this is a bit of a bridge chapter to get to the next one. Next one will be a bit of a doozy so...we have that to look forward to :}

What do we think so far?

VOTE, COMMENT AND FOLLOW :}