Rock n Roll Promises (YAE) (Rock n Roll Paraphantasy Series) (7 page)

I don’t want to be that close to him right now.

 

She worked at sipping the coffee as he spoke.

 

“First, let me say I’m very sorry for what I did. I
never meant for it to happen. It wasn’t planned.”

 

She looked him in the eye and spoke harshly.
“Just tell me what happened so I can go home.”

Jack’s quick movement caught her attention and
she glanced in his direction. He buried his face in
his hands and shook his head. A second later, he ran
his hands down his face, and threw his hair, clearly
disturbed.

Oh God, this is bad.

Her attention shot back to Sebastian. He watched
his friend a moment and then looked back at her.
“Unfortunately, you can never go back there. I
have stolen that life from you.”

She was confused and angry.

 

“What do you mean, stolen that life from me?”

 

“Exactly what it sounds like. For you that life is
over. In my excitement, I gave you a new life.”

 

“And against her will!”

 

“You are confusing me. Please just get on with
it.”

Her mind and body seemed frozen in place.
Anticipation, and not the good kind, overrode her
fear. She wanted answers. As her heart pounded in
her chest sweat beads covered her skin and nausea
tightened her stomach.

“I have turned you, Anna.”

“Turn…ed?” Flashes of images from books and
old movies played behind her opened eyes. They
mixed, twisted, and jumbled up into a mass
confusion she couldn’t work through. There was too
much information, and yet at the same time, not
enough. She looked at him, furrowing her brow.

“I don’t understand.”

 

“I bit you. You turned. Anna, you are a vampire.”

Her breath caught, her eyes bulged, and her heart
seemed to race right out of her chest. Confusion at
his words mixed with the truth and realization.

This can’t be. That’s horror movie stuff.
Shaking her head no, her chest heaved and she
felt as if she might pass out due to her
hyperventilating.
No! No! No! This is some kind of sick joke.
She continued to mumble incoherently to herself.
“Not true…not real…not me…”

Her head bobbed back and forth forcefully when
Sebastian grabbed her and tried to shake some sense
into her. She glared at him and pulled away as she
refocused her eyes. Completely numb, she moved
on auto- pilot.

“Don’t touch me.” She tried to pull away.

“Listen to me, I know you don’t want to believe
it, but what I’m telling you is real and is the truth.
Look.”

She watched as he opened his mouth and flashed
his pearly white fangs. She gasped and cowered
farther into the corner of the couch. He retracted his
teeth. All the muscles in her body trembled as the
truth sank in. Her eyes glossed over and she sat and
stared at nothing, lost in her own troubled mind.

“I think she is in shock, Sebastian.”

She fought the soft touch and tender voice
begging her to rejoin reality. She felt safer locked in
her subconscious; no one could touch her there, or
so she thought. She gulped air repeatedly, coming
back to the living, when cold water crashed across
her face splashing her back into reality. Shaking her
head, she rubbed the liquid from her eyes and
sprang at the man in front of her. Quicker than a
heartbeat, her clawed hands wrapped around his
throat, and she pinned him to the furniture. Her
ragged breathing and rapid heartbeat seemed to fuel
her inner beast. She felt saliva drip from her fangs
as a snarl ripped from her throat. Intent on the kill,
she stopped when he did the last thing she expected.
He pulled her close and kissed her. She yanked her
head back and slashed out at him. She succeeded at
breaking his hold, but not gracefully. She fell
backward and landed on her butt, flat on the floor.
Taking a deep breath, her senses returned and she
glared at him.

“I would like to say I’m sorry for my reaction,
but you deserved it.”

“Are you going to listen now? There is a lot you
need to know.”
“Whatever! Start talking.” She got off the floor
and resumed her spot on the sofa. “What did I do
with my coffee?”
“Well, as you can see, I am wearing most of it,
but the mug survived the attack.”

Her eyes darted to Jack. His shirt, pants, and
jacket were splattered with coffee. The mug dangled
slightly from his thumb.

“I’m so sorry. Are you hurt? I know that coffee
was hot.”

 

“No need to worry about me. Watching you
attack him was worth every splash of pain.”

 

She picked up the mug, slammed it on the table
and scowled at Sebastian. “You were saying?”

“You can’t go back to your old life. Today starts
your new life, and until I find out what kind of
vampire you are, you can’t leave this apartment
without me. It is—“

“What exactly do you mean about what kind of
vampire? A vampire is a vampire, and I’m so not
staying here with you.”

“That is wrong. Not all vampires are the same.”
“Really?”

 

“Yes, really.”

 

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Fine. Do I
have vampire strength?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Will I heal from my injuries?”

 

“Well, sort of.”

 

“It’s either yes or no.”

“You are different. The fang marks healed, but it
took some time. I can heal instantly, as can most
vampires, but you go at a slower rate.”

“How long did it take for the fang marks to
heal?”
“Two hours, and that is extremely slow for
vampires, but hey, it’s way faster than humans.”

“What happened to my body?”
“What do you mean? You are perfect. Not a
scratch. For some reason, you even retained most of
your skin color. You are only a tad bit lighter than
you were before I turned you.”

“What I mean is…where is my model perfect
body?” She stood and pointed out body parts to
emphasize her point as she spoke. “I am still a size
eight, and just slightly toned, just as I was
yesterday.”

“That, I am afraid, is all fairy tale stuff.
Whatever you looked like before you were turned is
what you will look like after you are turned with the
exception of skin tone, which varies, but mainly just
very pale, and to clarify, you were out for three
days.”

“Three days? Is that normal?”

 

“For the most part, yes.”

“May I butt in, please? Anna, you are beautiful.
You don’t need, as you say, a model perfect body.
The one you have is wonderfully alluring.”

She smiled at the man across from her. The truth
seemed to sparkle in his eyes. “Thank you, Jack.”
She turned back to Sebastian. “Am I fast?”

“I think the incident a few moments ago proved
that.”

“So, I basically look like the average Jane, but I
have the benefits of a vampire, such as strength,
speed and faster than human healing.”

“I would not say anything about you is
average,
but I see your point, so yes. To the naked eye you
could pass as human.”

Maybe this won’t be so bad after all. I mean…

Her heart stopped, her lungs refused her air, and
her eyes filled with tears. Horror overwhelmed her
as the realization slapped her hard, at what she
would really become: A killer.

“You have to lock me up.” She paced back and
forth, shaking. “I can’t…I won’t kill people. I refuse
to drink blood, it is gross and the thought of taking
someone’s life or turning them into this is
unspeakable. I won’t do it. I don’t want to do it.”
“I don’t think that is going to be a problem.”

She stopped and looked at Sebastian. “Why not?
That is what vampires do. They drain people of
their blood one way or another. They die or turn.”

“No, that is fairy tale, too. There are people out
there who are human donors, or Fang Frens, as we
like to call them, who are willing and they don’t die
or turn. I’m sorry Anna, but turning you was an
accident. I lost control, but that is beside my point.
You have been awake now for a while and you are
freaking out, but not in the way you should.”

She dropped to the sofa.

 

I think I can handle this if I don’t have to kill
people.

“
How so
?”
“With most newly turned vampires, they awaken
with bloodlust or whatever it is they crave. Some
feed off lust, some off sex, and some off certain
human foods. Each vampire is different. The elders
believe it is based upon the kind of human you were
before you were changed.”
“What do you crave? Blood? It seems I have a
lot of it plastered to my skin and the sheets.”

“Actually, Anna, it’s sex. It’s tricky. I can’t feed
off just anyone with sex. I guess you could say, lust
is the appetizer and sex is the main course. If I were
to have sex with just anyone, it wouldn’t feed my
vampire craving, it would still be there, no matter
how good the sex is. I could have bad sex with
someone I lusted after and fill my craving.”

“So what about me?”

“You have been my downfall. I’m two hundred
years old, and have never turned anyone by
accident. I have only turned a handful of people, but
never during sex. It was always for different
reasons. Almost all was because they asked for it.
Some felt alone in the human world, others were
because they fell in love with a vampire, and a
minor few were because they wanted well-deserved
vengeance.”

“What did I do wrong?” She jerked her head
back when he tried to touch her.

“You did nothing wrong. You did everything
right, that was the problem. When I first saw you
three months ago, my mouth watered over how
much I lusted for you. When I saw you in the bar
that night, I at least wanted to meet you. We hit it
off great. We have so much in common. I’m so
fascinated by you. You stimulated more in me than
just lust. You’re beautiful, yes, but you’re more than
that. You’re smart, crazy, and outspoken. You seem
to be all that I have been looking for. I had planned
to keep seeing you, but not like this. I was so
excited by you, I was drunk with it.”

“But we were not drunk.”

“Not drunk in that way. Anyway, like I said, by
the time we finished in the bedroom, I had already
lost control.”

Curled up in the corner of the sofa, she thought
about all he had said. She understood about losing
control, she hadn’t planned to sleep with him,
either, but she did.

It was pretty incredible.

 

She turned back to him. “So what is it I crave?”

 

“I don’t know. What is it you want most right
now? Blood? Sex? I could supply you with both.”

 

She rolled her eyes at the expression on his face.

There is nothing I can do about this right now. I
am just going to have to go with it until I know
more.

She sighed, “Right now at this moment, I would
like to sit in a hot bath and get clean.”

 

“Alright. Let me show you to the bathroom.”

“Wait, what am I going to do about clothes? I
can’t just run around in this shirt all the time.”
“I wouldn’t mind, but I looked at the size of the
dress I ruined when I ripped it off you.”

She shot a glance toward Jack and the heat of a
blush ran across her face as she remembered that
night. Sebastian continued.

“I ordered you some clothes. They are in the
closest in the guest room. Keep in mind, I’m a man,
so if you don’t like them, we can go shopping for
better clothes tomorrow.”

“One problem at a time. Bath first.”

She took his extended hand and followed him
through the house to the bathroom. Third door to
the right from his living room, it would be easy to
remember.

I have no choice but to accept this. He’s right, I
can’t go back. If I hurt someone, I could never
forgive myself.

She heard the click of the switch and small tiny
lights along the wall illuminated the room. She
refocused and took in the intimate space.
Mimicking the kitchenette, it also fashioned all
white and wood furnishings. Small and simple, the
bathroom didn’t seem all that extraordinary with the
exception of the enormous tub. A deep, porcelain
claw foot tub sat in the center of the room.

“If the light is too bright, I can bring in some
candles instead.”

“That’s OK. To be honest, I’m going to fill the
tub with hot water, climb in and try to just relax.
This is a lot to take in.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. Run your bath water, I
will go and grab some towels and some clothes.”

 

“OK, thank you.”

She waited until the door shut and then walked
to the tub. Her butt on cold porcelain, she reached
over, plugged the tub and turned on the faucets. She
felt the temperature change as the water splashed
across her hand. When it reached her desired heat
level, she dropped the shirt and climbed in. The
water felt as comforting as a warm blanket wrapped
around her as she sank into liquid heat. She closed
her eyes, leaned her head back, and let out a long
breath in an attempt to relax.

Vampire. What am I going to do? I don’t know
where else to go if I can’t go home.
A flash of gooseflesh ran across her exposed skin
when Sebastian re-entered the room. Her eyes
popped open and rolled his direction. His hands
were full of towels and clothes. She watched him
move around the small space, setting the fabrics
where she could reach them, but far enough away
they didn’t get wet. She turned her gaze back to the
wall in front of her as he perched himself on the
toilet and made it apparent he intended to talk.
“Jack and I were talking and we think this might
not be so bad for you.”

She glared at him. “Is that so? You have stolen
my life and turned me into a monster. How is that
not bad for me?”

“Well, you’re not the stereotypical vampire, so to
speak. Your skin is still a light rose color, you
haven’t tried to rip my throat out, and you are acting
like any other human. If I hadn’t watched you
change, I would swear it didn’t happen.”

“But I did want to rip your throat out when I
attacked you. The scary part is I felt like I could
have done it.”