“What are you doing?” Bane asks.
I scoop way more hummus than necessary onto a chip and stuff it into my mouth before I look up. His eyes are narrow, and his brow is creased.
“Hmm?” I mumble, gesturing toward my snack.
“Why are you eating that?” His expression is somewhere between confused and disgusted.
“Because it’s good?” I answer, ending with a question. I’ve been a vegetarian for over a decade, so I’m pretty used to people being grossed out by my tofu tacos and quinoa salads. But who doesn’t eat hummus?
He runs his free hand through his disheveled hair, still staring at me with the same disturbed look. Then he sets his beer on the counter, stalks toward the fridge, and pulls it open.
“Piper,” he says, leaning his forearm against the freezer while he stares into the fridge.
“Mmhm,” I mutter through another obnoxious bite of hummus.
“New vampires average four to six bags every day for months before settling around two. Less if they are feeding on humans regularly. How many are you drinking?”
I finish chewing, swallow my bite, and gulp some water.
“Two.”
“That’s a fraction of what you should be drinking right now. You’ve been a vampire for one week. Your body needs blood to function properly and feed your new abilities,” he argues, closing the door and leaning his back against it.
“I’m doing just fine with two.” I shrug.
“And the food?” he asks.
“The food helps settle the cravings,” I explain, huffing out a heavy breath, chewing at my bottom lip.
“Why not settle those cravings the old fashioned way, with blood?” he suggests, sarcasm dripping from his every word.
I chew at the inside of my cheek, debating about how much I should tell him, how much of myself I should trust him with.
“I told you before, I was an addict. I can’t go back down that road with a set of razor-sharp fangs and a thirst for blood. I don’t know what an addictive personality looks like on a vampire, but I’m willing to bet it’s not pretty,” I seeth, rubbing my eyes and taking a deep breath. “If I let myself have six bags now, there’s a good chance I’ll never settle for less. Hell, I’ll probably want more.”
Bane nods his head, his eyes are wide, and I know he really heard me this time.
“Couldn’t you at least curb your craving with a juicy steak?” he asks, giving my food another displeased glance.
“I’m a vegetarian.”
He presses his lips into a hard line and hooks one hand around the back of his neck. At first, I think he’s deep in thought, but then his body begins to shake, and it dawns on me.
“Are you laughing at me?”
Tilting his head toward the ceiling, he takes a deep breath, pulls himself back into his normal brooding shell before making eye contact again.
“Piper, you’re a vampire. Your survival depends on drinking human blood. There isn’t a plant-based alternative you can just scoop up at Whole Foods.”
“I know that, and I’ve come to terms with it. I became a vegetarian for ethical reasons. Animals don’t have a say in what happens to them, and it’s wrong. But the blood in those bags,” I point at the shiny silver refrigerator for emphasis. “It’s donated. No one died, no one’s human rights were violated. So while the donors obviously didn’t think their blood was going to feed vampires, it was given willingly.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” he says, flashing me a crooked smile and poking a finger at my chip bag.
“What are you doing here anyway? I haven’t heard from you in a week, and the first night I decide to get some fresh air, you show up.”
“I was giving you some space…to process everything. I told you to call when you were ready.”
“Got tired of waiting, I see.”
“Something like that,” he quips, retrieving his beer. “How would you like to get out again tomorrow night with me?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Well, do you remember the power of suggestion I showed you?”
“The one that didn’t really work?” I remind him, stuffing my food back into the cabinet and fridge and downing the rest of my water.
“That’s the one. If you were to relax and give in to it, I could guarantee a safe evening out amongst humans.” He raises the bottle to his lips, taking a long sip. His steely irises locked on mine.
I narrow my eyes, staring back at him silently, mulling over his offer and its implications. I would love to be able to go out, drink in a crowded bar, feel the energy, and sway to the music with a whiskey in my hand. To pretend that everything is perfectly fine, that I’m not terrified of what I’ve become. But I can’t because I am afraid of what I’m capable of, what I could do in a single impulsive second. What Bane is offering sounds too good to be true. A vampire trick that can keep my inner predator in check long enough to grab a drink and maybe even meet up with Kit. There has to be a catch, or five because there is no way something like this comes without strings.
“How does it work, how can you be sure I won’t come out of it like last time?” I ask, trying to hide how much I want this to be as good as it sounds.
“You have to trust me,” he says, closing the space between us in the blink of an eye.
My breath catches in my chest as soon as his familiar scent fills my nose. I swallow hard. The sound of my heart pounding against my ribs fills my ears as I look up into his calm metallic eyes. He reaches out, brushing a stray hair off my cheek and I shiver at the intimacy of the gesture.
“If you want it to work you have to give in, let me take control of your mind. That takes trust,” Bane explains.
He’s so close I can smell the mint and beer mixed on his breath. I bite down on my bottom lip, lost in the memory of the night we met- the taste of his tongue, his lips brushing against mine, the way his fingers pressed into my hips.
“Piper?” he whispers, cocking his head and searching my face.
“Hmm? Oh, yeah. Let’s give it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen, right? Actually, don’t even answer that.”
He smirks and takes a few steps back before turning and heading for the door. He pauses, looking at me over his shoulder.
“I’ll come by around ten.”
And then he’s gone.
Piper
* * *
Then: October 8th
I step out of the shower, wipe the steam off the mirror and apply two coats of mascara before flipping my head upside down and scrunching some leave-in conditioner through the length of my hair. When I’m done, I twist it and clip it on top of my head and pop in my earbuds.
After Bane left last night, I was still wide awake, so I rented Bohemian Rhapsody. Excellent movie, poor choice in a late-night flick. I spent the next several hours listening to music by Queen and googling Freddie Mercury. If by some strange chance I stumble into a trivia contest on either subject or both for that matter, I will win, no question.
I finally went to sleep around nine o’clock this morning, but my neighbor Hank is having his kitchen redone. Thanks to my new vampire ears, no amount of earplugs or pillows could drown out that kind of noise. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep on the couch for a few minutes, but then I gave up and brewed a pot of coffee. I probably could have stopped at two cups, but the other four were just sitting there, so I drank them all.