Page 3 of Blood Ties
I came to with harsh, bright lights beating against my face. Doors were slammed, feet stomped, and chaos seemed to be swirling around me. I was being carried by strong arms. Instinctively, I buried my face into the neck of the person holding me, breathing in their intoxicating scent.Grayson. But something was off about it. It was heady, more alluring, stirring something inside me. Without thinking, pure instinct took over. I was ravenous. My fangs eased into his neck striking his artery perfectly. I heard him hiss.
“Well that’s one way to do it, I guess,” I heard Shawn grumble.
“Here,” Chris spoke as he tossed something in our direction. I listened to it hit skin as Grayson caught it. “Think of yourself as an IV. We pump blood into you and she sucks it out of you. At least until she comes to then she can feed herself.”
“Fine,” Grayson groaned. He didn’t seem too delighted by the concept. I wished I could have retracted my fangs so he didn’t have to do it for me, but the rational part of my brain wasn’t working. I was running on raw impulse. I was thirsty and Grayson smelled divine. “You think we can sit down?”
“Sure,” Shawn agreed. I heard some rustling, felt a flutter of air across my skin then Grayson began to move holding me tighter to his chest. “Just try not to move too much so the blanket doesn’t slip and you make a mess on the couch.”
I released Grayson only long enough to find a better angle before I struck again. I heard him hiss once more.
“Does it hurt?” Shawn wondered.
“Yeah…”
“You say that like you didn’t expect it to.”
Grayson shook his head, jiggling me for a moment. “I didn’t. I mean it never has before. It’s more… arousing” I could feel his breathing become heavy as I pulled blood from him. The blood exchange between opposite sexes tended to turn sexual and even though my body tingled as his blood spread through me, my mind stayed focused on feeding. I was too blood deprived for anything else.
“She’s starving. She’s not really in the state of mind to be gentle. She bled herself completely dry. I’m amazed she stayed conscious as long as she did. It was the only way for her to complete the transition and with the amount of blood on the floor where we found you; I’m guessing she didn’t feed from you to do it. Honestly, it’s completely crazy that it even worked. I mean, she’s a half breed. From what she’s told me it’s a 50/50 shot whether it works or not. You’re one lucky bastard.”
“She told me that too, but I do remember right before I passed out she told me she could change me. She seemed so sure. I asked her how.” He paused trying to remember the conversation. “She told me...” his words faded and he let out a frustrated groaned. Sometimes life before the transition could seem a bit hazy. “She told me that now sheknewshe could.”
“Maybe she was just telling you that so you wouldn’t be afraid,” Chris chimed in. “I mean you were going to die either way. This way at least she tried.”
“Nice Chris,” Shawn scolded.
“What?”
“It’s fine Shawn. He’s probably right,” Grayson replied before drinking more from the blood bag.
“Yeah, I mean when you’re faced with death, you want to be comforted. That was probably what she was doing, easing your discomfort so you would choose to let her try to convert you.” I felt Grayson tense beneath me and the room fell silent. I wanted to speak up, to leave, to do anything other than listening to the conversation unfold, but my rational mind was still being subdued by my hunger. “I mean she…she did let you choose, right?” Shawn coaxed. I felt shame rush over me. Surely my face would have blushed from the humiliation if only I had enough blood to do it. It was bad enough that Grayson and I knew what I had done, but now Shawn?
Grayson replied, “I’m grateful for what she did. I’m alive, thanks to her.”
“Shit! Grayson. Fuck! Gabs,” Shawn groaned.
“I don’t understand,” Chris mumbled.
I reached down deep to find the strength to pull away from Grayson even though my hunger was still nagging at me. The conversation had become too heavy for me to ignore. I sat up, my eyes scanning over Grayson’s face. It was still tinged with dried blood. I looked into his eyes, which were normally smoky gray and saw my vampire honey green eyes, the proof of my sin, staring back at me. “I didn’t ask him if this life was something he wanted. I played god and made the decision for him because I selfishly couldn’t live without him,” I responded to Chris’s comment, but spoke directly to Grayson. I wanted him to know that I did see the fault in the situation. A forced tight lipped smile pulled on his mouth. He looked like he was about to speak, but I didn’t give him a chance. I was off his lap and blurred to the kitchen counter where blood bags had been laid out. I grabbed two before blurring to the bathroom. I didn’t want to see the judgment in everyone’s expression. I was judging myself hard enough without their help. Even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to avoid it forever, for the moment I just needed a small reprieve.
I closed the toilet lid using it as a makeshift seat to rest on. Ripping open the first blood bag, I drank it down quickly still feeling the burning thirst Grayson’s blood hadn’t quite quenched. He was a vampire after all. It didn’t hold the same value as his human blood once had.
I heard the floor creak before there was a gentle rap at the door. My head sagged between my shoulders. I had barely settled down before the world came back to plague me.
“Gaby,” Shawn called, but I didn’t answer. Instead I grabbed my second blood bag and hoped he would go away. “Baby girl, I know you’re in there.” Of course he did. Where else would I be? I heard the knob twist after not bothering to lock it. Everyone in the apartment was a supernatural being and they would be able to get through the door locked or not. I thought leaving it unlocked would be best for the doorframe. “Gaby,” Shawn’s voice was stern while ringing with disappointment. Failing my best friend’s opinion of me was one of the last things I wanted. It was right under losing Grayson and having Grayson despise me. He shut the door before leaning against it. Again, I didn’t know why he bothered. Supernatural meant super hearing. A closed door wouldn’t keep the conversation private.
“I really don’t want to talk about it, Shawn,” I admitted.
“Well tough shit, Gaby. What the hell were you thinking?” he scolded. “You changed him without his permission. Who does that?”
“Shawn,” I tired keeping my voice steady. “I love you, but youreallyneed to get the hell out and leave me alone.”
“Fuck that Gabs,” he began gesturing with his hands. They always became more exaggerated the angrier he got and right now, they were pretty embellished. “I want to know what was going on in your head. You know a half breed changing someone isn’t safe. Did you figure, ‘what the hell he’s dead anyways?’” he insisted.
I stood up, slamming both now empty blood bags into the garbage next to the toilet.
I spoke through clenched teeth. “I wasthinkingI couldn’t live without him. I wasthinkingthat I would rather have him hate me than to live an eternity with him dead, knowing I could have tried to save him. And I wasthinkingthat since I’m not ahalf breedI had a better chance of pulling the DAMN THING OFF!” My voice gradually grew until I was yelling.
