Dark Love (3 page)

But he could
see her humanity glowing from within, deeper inside, in her soul –
it was fighting the bloodlust that threatened to consume her. He
gave her the briefest of smiles as she knelt down by his side and
watched as the woman awoke. Sarah was doing well. Well – at least
she wasn’t fighting him, wasn’t still trying to kill the woman.

That had to be
a good thing.

He looked back
at the woman on the ground. She was blinking - coming to but
confused to be out in the dark, not knowing or remembering what had
happened. Daniel could smell her blood, and he was hungry so it
smelt divine. There was no way he could drink any of her blood.
Even though his blood was healing her it would be too much of a
risk to feed on her now, she was still too fragile.

Daniel could
sense there were more people in the house as he could hear their
hearts beating. He listened carefully and realized they were
sleeping. It sounded like there was a man, probably the husband of
the woman before him, and two children. Their smaller hearts were a
giveaway with their faster rhythms.

He had stopped
at the first house they had come to as he had been seriously
worried for Sarah’s safety. He couldn’t bear the thought of the
pain if she hadn’t gotten blood in time - his heart hurt just
thinking of it.

As soon as they
had arrived at the house Sarah had collapsed to the ground and, in
a panic, Daniel had influenced the closest person to come outside.
It had taken a lot of his power, and he still had a fair amount of
influencing to do if he and Sarah were to leave here with no
trouble.

For that he
needed human blood. Animal blood just would not cut it - the bear
had not been enough. He needed strength.

He wasn’t sure
he had enough energy to influence the man to come outside, but he
thought of another plan.

As the woman
opened her eyes and focused on his, fear plainly evident on her
face, Daniel quickly projected influence. He projected calming
thoughts, easing her fear.

Then he said,
‘Forget you met us. Forget what happened. Go inside, clean your
neck and return to your husband. Wake him up – tell him you heard
banging and insist he goes outside to investigate. When he leaves
the house go to sleep and rest, recuperate.’

She nodded, and
climbed to her feet, turning towards her house. Daniel saw she was
wearing a long, pale nightdress making her look like an apparition
in the dark. But looks were deceiving – she was normal. It was he
and Sarah who were out of place here.

Daniel turned
to Sarah and took her in his arms, she felt cool and he ran his
hands over her soft hair – pulling out a couple of leaves from the
mess. She started to sob against him, and Daniel held her tighter,
comfortingly, lovingly.

He heard
footsteps from within the house, sneaking down the stairs. He
didn’t want to miss this opportunity, so raised Sarah’s chin with
his fingers until her eyes met his.

‘Sarah – I need
blood too. A man is coming now – will you wait and watch?’

Sarah nodded
uncertainly. He could see the doubt in her eyes, the fear at what
she might do, but she stepped away into the shadows of the house,
and he was proud. Proud she was showing some control and
understanding.

He smiled to
himself as the front door of the small, dark - yet neatly
maintained - house opened. A man stepped out onto the porch, into
the night and the danger that waited.

He looked tall
and his face was lined too – he was probably about forty-five - yet
he looked old for his years. Stubble graced his cheek and hair
streaked with gray was flattened against his head. He carried a
heavy torch, presumably as a weapon as he was holding it high - yet
it was not turned on.

Fueled by
thirst, by his own blood lust, he wanted to charge at the man – to
sink in his teeth and drain his blood. But he had long been
fighting that instinct. He needed to be strong, psychologically, to
keep control. The thought of hurting people repelled him. If he
gave in, just once, the guilt would consume him.

Also he had to
be strong for Sarah as he had to teach her how this was done.

He knew she
would be watching and he knew she would want the blood for
herself.

He approached
the man slowly, watching as he looked about. He was on alert for
danger. Daniel could see him clearly as he had the advantage of
enhanced eyesight. He would need to be very close before the man
would notice him.

Daniel stepped
into his field of view and waved to get his attention.

‘Hi,’ Daniel
said. The man looked startled, not sure what to do. He lowered the
torch slightly, but separated his legs and stood firm. He wasn’t
sure of Daniel yet.

Daniel stepped
closer and said, ‘Sorry if I disturbed you. I’m lost. Which way is
it into town?’

The man looked
like he wasn’t sure about answering at all, and stumbled over his
words.

‘Th-, that
way,’ he said, jabbing the torch through the air to his left.

Daniel stepped
closer again, starting to project a calming, trusting influence.
This took no-where near as much power as influencing someone to
leave a house, and it had instant effect. The man in front of him
visibly relaxed and Daniel stepped right up to him.

‘Now – don’t
worry – this won’t hurt much,’ Daniel said, strongly projecting
now.

Daniel held him
on his shoulder with one hand, while using the other to pull his
neck to the side, exposing his beautiful jugular. The man barely
resisted, now so wholly under Daniel’s influence that he did not
say a word.

Daniel watched
his pulse for a moment, in awe of the life force beating inside
him. Then he gave in. He let his teeth extend, feeling them tingle
delightfully, and sunk them through the man’s skin, piercing his
artery with a precise, practiced touch.

Warm liquid
flowed down his throat, making him feel whole again, making him
strong. Daniel gloried in the experience. It wasn’t often – well,
not until recently anyway – that he fed on humans. Usually animal
blood was enough to sustain his activities. His life of late had
become more challenging and it required a higher cost. Daniel
savored the taste and the way the blood made him feel. It enhanced
his own life force, filling him with a sense of control, of all
encompassing energy.

Of course –
that which he gained; the man lost.

As he felt him
weaken Daniel retracted his teeth. It still took serious effort to
do this, but he managed; he always did in the end. As he pulled
away from the man he looked up at his dazed face and felt pity as
he saw the man staring off into the dark. He had fallen into a
trance. That was sometimes the effect of the feed. When Daniel got
truly lost in the blood his mind had a hypnotic effect on his
victim.

Daniel extended
his teeth once more and bit into his own wrist. He pushed it
against the man’s mouth, letting a little blood enter. He didn’t
need much, and as soon as Daniel saw his neck was starting to heal,
he withdrew his wrist. It healed straight away.

Now for the
influence again, thought Daniel, feeling weary. All he wanted to do
was get back to Sarah, to be with her, to spend time with her, to
kiss her . . .

He glanced
back, wondering how she was holding up. He was impressed she had
not jumped him, or any such thing, as he had been feeding. He saw
she had emerged from the shadows, in fact his own heart accelerated
for an instant as he realized she was close behind him. She had
silently moved nearer while he had been feeding.

Her eyes were
shining; a mixture of bloodlust, intrigue and beauty. Yet she was
not soaring in for the feed, she was watching patiently – entranced
by the blood, yet hesitant and unsure of her passions and where
they could lead.

Daniel gave her
a fleeting smile, before turning back to the man. In that moment he
saw her return the smile, devastating him with her beauty, her
understanding. Her eyes had sparkled with wild energy and his
eagerness to be with her increased.

He hurried to
influence the man before him.

‘Snap out of
the trance and go upstairs. Clean your neck and forget this ever
happened,’ he told him.

He watched
briefly as the man turned and headed back into his house, before
turning himself, but not to a house; to Sarah - beautiful Sarah who
was his, who he loved so much. He took her back into his arms,
holding her around the waist and looking into her eyes.

He grinned. He
couldn’t help himself. All the worry about her turning; yet here
she was before him. Amazing. Glowing. Succeeding at this life. She
was still the same beautiful woman, but she was enhanced – her skin
was more pure, her heart filled with compassion, she sparkled, and
she grinned back. She grinned at him, his happiness seeping into
her.

Of course; he
had
influenced her not to worry, or even think, about her
children. That probably helped her ability to grin back. But he
could not overload her, he would not. It was one thing at a time
for Sarah. He would let her deal with this slowly and in the best
way he could. His influence would wear off soon anyway, as it would
not last long now she was a vampire. It helped that he was older
than her, but with the blood consumption comes power; the power to
resist mind control.

Thoughts of her
children would soon break through.

He grinned at
her harder, his jaw aching with the expression, and she sparkled
even more in return. He held her tight and whisked her away from
the house. She squealed in delight. Her new vampire senses were
obviously kicking in.

He remembered
the euphoria that came with his first feed. It had been sublime.
Exquisite. He saw the same emotions on her face, and couldn’t help
but play along, enjoy her experience with her.

He let her body
go and took one hand, ‘Ready?’ he asked - directly into her mind.
She saw his intention more clearly than if he had spoken aloud, and
they both jumped together, catching hold of a high branch and
swinging up into the tree. Sarah’s laugh was joyful, and Daniel
laughed with her.

They stood on a
narrow branch, which bowed beneath their weight, Daniel catching
Sarah’s eye with another grin. He edged closer to the trunk,
pushing Sarah between himself and the solid center of the tree, so
the branch wouldn’t break beneath them, and so he could kiss
her.

He kissed her
there and then, and she kissed him back – losing themselves in each
other. His heart was bursting with love; he couldn’t believe the
strength of his feelings for her. He could sense her feelings
through their embrace and he could feel her returning his love. It
made him feel radiant with happiness, with euphoria himself.

Ahhh, she was
heavenly. He kissed her passionately, letting his desire become
clear, letting his love flow into her. He opened his soul to her,
fueling their connection.

He felt her
respond to him, opening in return as they sensed each other’s
essence. Purity and goodwill streaked with darkness and the
slightest innate compulsion to kill. The compulsion that was the
package you got on becoming a vampire. It was a strange mix, yet he
sensed it as strongly in her as he felt it in himself, and he felt
her wonder as she sensed those things in him.

Desire rose
within him as he felt Sarah clawing at his clothes. She was trying
to rip them off him. He helped the process along by speedily
removing his leather jacket and top himself, and his eyes flared as
he watched her remove her sweater without a shiver. She was a
vampire now and immune to the freezing air that surrounded
them.

She was kissing
him again and he was on fire as she ripped open his jeans and
pulled down his underwear. He was so turned on by her and he wanted
her so bad he could not wait. He pushed against her and felt her
wrap herself around him, arms and legs entwining him in desire to
be one. Her skirt was in the way and he yanked it up, ripping her
pants without thinking, kissing, thrusting, ahh and he was in her
and she was moving against him. It felt so good but he wanted to be
closer, his desire was unquenchable. He pushed into her hard,
no-longer having to worry about preserving her. She was strong now
and she could handle anything he might want to do. He could let
himself go.

He held her
tight and jumped to the ground, rolling onto his back so she was on
top. She was wild, lost in her passion. Her eyes glinted as a thin
slice of moon appeared from behind the clouds that swiftly moved
across the sky and she ran her nails down his chest, drawing blood.
She ran her fingers over the red liquid, making patterns on his
chest.

This was so
good; he pulled against her rounded bum, and then grabbed her
shoulders, pushing her back against the ground. She let out a yell
of surprise, then recovered, laughing and ran her teeth across his
collar bone as he pounded into her. She was divine, every touch
brought shivers of ecstasy down his spine.

His love, her
beauty, her sexiness – it was all too much. He let himself engulf
her with his weight, grabbing her, stroking her, pulling her to
him.

He could hear
her heart rate, normally slow - what with being a vampire, start to
race. He knew she was close. He let himself explode into her as she
shook, flushed, shouting into the night.

Sarah lay
quietly
in Daniel’s arms. She was sedated, in love. She let her
head rest on his shoulder and felt warm inside as he tightened his
grip and kissed the top of her head. Sarah looked up at the stars
above, just showing beyond the canopy of tree branches. They looked
amazing to her new senses, and she was transfixed. She could see a
whole new level of detail in the sky. It was like her eyes had
turned into a telescope, except her vision was not restricted by
its narrow focus. She could look wherever she pleased, taking
everything in. She stared at the Milky Way, seeing the individual
stars through the haze, and watched as it looked like they moved
slowly across the sky.