Page 6 of Midnight Prince
Hazel
It was so dark I almost didn’t see him, he was trying to stand up but he swayed and fell to the ground.
“Oh my god, Ben,” I called out as I ran over to him. I tried to pull him up, but he was so heavy. His body was cold and wet. Shit, did the wolf get an artery? What was he doing out here? I could feel him trying to push me back towards the door. Like he was trying to get me inside safely, but he was the one who needed to be inside. He was really hurt.
“Come on, get inside. I will help you.” Well, I could try but I would need to call 911. I could already see how bad the wolf had attacked him. What was wrong with the wolves around here? Did they have rabies? Shit, this could be even worse.
He stumbled through my door and I quickly slammed it shut and locked it behind him in case the wolves came back. I looked down to Ben, he was breathing deeply on the floor, curled in the fetal position. His back was all torn up, blood was everywhere.
“Shit, you will be okay. I will help you.” I hovered my hands above him, not knowing what to do. “My phone is dead. Do you have one?” He reached out and grabbed my wrist, I could feel the chill in his fingers – it was cold outside but not that cold. I followed his hand up to his eyes. They grew dark, it was as if someone turned the light off in them. Oh my god, he was going to die here.
“Don’t call anyone,” he said. His voice was strange and eerie.
“What the hell, Ben, you are bleeding on my floor. You need an ambulance and now.” His expression changed, his eyes back to the beautiful icy blues they were before.
“No, you don’t understand. They can’t save me. No one can. Fuck…” He sat up, breathing deeply as he looked down at his chest. The bleeding had stopped and some of the wounds looked like they had never been there at all. I moved in close and reached out to move his shirt to see how bad the rest were when his face snapped to mine and he let out a hiss. I looked and his expression changed again, and he… he… “What…”Holy shit.
Fangs, he had fangs. I scrambled backwards until my back hit the wall. My heart pounded and my ears rang. I felt a flush of cold over my body as the fear seeped in. What the hell was he? A… vampire?
I heard the howl of a pack of wolves and that had me shaking. There were so many out there. They weren’t as close now but they still had me rattled.
“Don’t be afraid. I never wanted to hurt you. I am so sorry. Please, Hazel, please understand I was trying to protect you… from the Russet wolf pack.”
I looked back over at him, he was so pale, just crumpled there. His arm where he had been bitten was still seeping blood and he was trying to staunch it with his hand.
“What is going on?” I didn’t know what else to say. This guy, the one I had been daydreaming about since I met him back in that bar was on my living room floor bleeding from a wolf bite… and he had fangs, like a vampire. And he didn’t have them a few moments ago. I shook my head. Shit, maybe I fell down the stairs and this was all a dream.
Yes, that made sense. I was unconsciously dreaming. Scary shit.
“I’m a vampire, but I can tell you know that already. You don’t need to be afraid. I am sorry I scared you… with my fangs. I haven’t… eaten in a while and I am weak. And now I am, fuck… Now I’m dying.”
He was a vampire, who wasdying? He was dying here, in my house?
“What… how… can I help you? Okay wait, you have fangs, that makes sense. No, it doesn’t. I must be dreaming. You are not real. Well, you are, and yes, I keep thinking about you. Like a lot and now I’m talking to myself in my dream and–”
“Hazel. Look at me. I am a vampire. I have been trying to protect you from Thomas and his pack. I haven’t been feeding. I have been here and I didn’t realize how weak I had become. I won’t survive this bite. I will die. In about five to seven days… I will be gone. My body is healing but the lack of blood… it is making it difficult to heal all the wounds.”
I looked around the room and realized this wasn’t a dream. I had the man of my dreams… literally, in my house, telling me he was a vampire and he was now dying.
