Heirot

Vlad held back a protest, because something else had just come to his attention that was unsettling him. "Why can't I smell your blood?" he said. He rubbed his nose into her neck, feeling a thrum of excitement. That seemed normal. "No, I must have imagined it," he corrected.

Tenele blinked, that was very strange indeed. "Do you have a cold?" she asked, wondering if vampires could actually get colds. Then, she felt it again. The idle tremble of a flailing heart. Her cold fingers trailed down the length of his face, across his jaw, and down his neck, ever so lovingly.

She exhaled deeply. "Vlad, I-" And suddenly she sucked in air, choking on her own words. It seazed in her chest, as if some invisible hand had reached into her body and squeazed tightly. She shoved him away, rising to her feet and stumbling backwards. Both hands gripped her shirt, holding tightly over her heart.

The world slowed, and finally she could look him in the eyes. It was most peculiar to see such eyes on Tenele. It was true that the usual green was their, but something else was creeping in from the edges of her irises. A bloody color, a deep and dark crimson that was slowly threatening to snatch away the beauty of that pale green.

She could only stare at him in shock as she felt the very life drain from her limbs. She felt the very blood in her veins seize, and the very essense of her existance freeze. And as all this happened, only seconds passed. Her knees buckled, her eyes shuddered closed, and she collapsed soundlessly, lifelessly, dead to the ground.

Vlad's eyes widened in alarm as Tenele suddenly retreated from him and collapsed. No one was there to see his crimson eyes bleed dry to a deep amber shade. "Tenele!" he gasped, crouching as he teleported himself to her side.

Or not. As nothing happened, Vlad found himself falling off balance out of the bed. His thoughts were too set on Tenele to worry about how strange that was. He scrambled to his feet at what seemed like a miserably slow pace and ran to her. Kneeling, he turned her onto her back, his heart pounding into his throat. She was impossibly pale, and when he lowered his ear to her mouth, he realized she wasn't breathing. What?? What was it? Poison?

Sweat beaded on his forehead (it was so hot!) as he felt for a pulse and found nothing. "Tenele!" he shouted at her, his shock budding into panic. He pulled her cold hands away from her chest and positioned his palms over her heart, pumping rhythmically to try to restore her pulse. After several seconds of that, he lifted her chin and pressed his lips over hers, breathing into her lungs. "Tenele!" he called to her again as he broke away for air. Wait, for air?

She could hear a voice calling her name, but above that, she heard other things. Strange things. Thumpings, and voices, whispers, and cries. Things that normal human ears would never be able to hear. And she smelled such sweet and wonderful smells, a certain smell that made her mouth water with such great desire.

She was, at the moment, too content to open her eyes, and she hadn't remembered why or where she was. She could only remember the soft lips that Vlad had on her, and wondered if it had been so exhillirating she had finally given way to passing out, as she had been threatened to do so many times before.

The thumping in her heard increased when lips touched hers and she could taste it in the very air he forced into her lungs. A sweet delicate taste that sent a shiver down to her very core, and with that delicate taste carried on the air, she felt a great and shrill hunger rise up.

Suddenly her mind was clouded by only one thing, the need for what lied behind those lips and beneath the surface of that skin. She didn't know who it was, but she wanted it...

So strange to want such a thing, why? It seemed unnatural, and for some odd reason, so right at the same time. She didn't even think to question the morality of it, she being a human after all, the need for that blood was too strong. The pounding on her chest was growing increasingly annoying, but the need to taste what her body craved was growing even faster. Her eyes snapped open and she reached out with uncanny quickness to grabb the hand at her chest.

Red, the color of blood, her eyes peered up at Vlad, and she had to blink several times to even realize that it was him. He looked so different... And had so much color in his cheeks. And.... his eyes. She opened her mouth, but not to talk, it was almost a strange attempt at something. As if she wanted to lash out and bite him, but thought quickly of it before doing so....

The moment Tenele opened her eyes and her hand clamped down, too strong, on his hand, Vlad froze. He knew that look, knew the wild hunger in her eyes. Why...what the hell would do this? Had she been bitten? He pulled at his hand, but it didn't budge from her grip. He was tempted to stare down at it, but he knew better. He kept his gaze locked on her eyes, watching her very carefully. A bead of sweat rolled down into his right eye, but he held it open. "Tenele," he said very carefully, holding back the urge to wrestle her grip. If what he thought was happening was real, and Tenele was a new vampire, it was take a miracle to keep from being attacked as it was. "Let go," he said very calmly, commandingly. "Do you understand me, Tenele? Let. Go."

Tenele's red eyes looked his face over, his perfectly handsome face. She held his hand despite what he said, and slowly she sat upwards. She pulled herself until she was easing closer to his neck. Like an animal ready to attack, easing in for the kill. She hadn't full come to her senses. The only thing she could think about was the smell, that beautiful alluring smell. So sweet... and she was so thirsty. So hungry.

She opened her mouth, moving in so close, her mouth watering, aching for that taste. Her small hand clutched his tighter... Her fangs burshed his neck, about to bite down.

And she realized what was happening. Some how she realized what she was about to do and how unlike her that was. She was human, why the hell would she want this? She screamed, more startled by herself than anything, and she pushed herself away...

Or rather, shoved Vlad nearly half-way across the room, with little to no effort at all. She was panting, raising both hands to her head. She clutched her eyes shut, and covered her hears, trying to stall the throbbing. The drumb beat. The beacon begging her for a taste.

"Vlad... Go... I don't know what's happening, but go. Please..." she pleaded, trying hard to keep from concentrating on that sound.

Vlad skidded across the wood floor and stared at her. "It's okay, you're doing well," he said calmly, very, very careful to keep any trace of alarm out of his voice. He gathered his legs and slowly, slowly stood up, his hands ready to stop her if she went for him. "You're doing fine. You'll be fine," he continued to murmur calming words to her as he took a slow step to the right, toward the corner of the room. He couldn't turn his head to look at it, but he knew the crate with the rations Sinead had sent would be there. Convincing a new vampire to drink cold blood when his own body felt hot enough to explode didn't seem likely, but there were no better ideas.

He tensed as his foot came down on Tenele's silk blouse and skidded on the polished floor. He staggered backward, barely catching his balance.

"Vlad... Please," She pleaded, holding her head tighter. Solver hair fell down around her, no longer in contrast with her skin, that once had been a warm tan. No, now it blended in with her radiant glowing pale form... "Go away... Please," she pleaded softly.

She was huffing, trying so hard no to run to him. Not to rip him open. Not to sink her fangs into what her body suddenly desired so much. So alien to her, yet so right.

"Go AWAY!" she screamed, and she had never in her entire life ever spoken to Vlad in such away. Never. Not with such a dreadful sorrowful tone. She would hurt him if he stayed. She could even imagine it in her mind, see his blood pooling. The beat of his heart continued to beckon to her, begging her to come over to him.

Vlad set his expression to a stern gaze, trying not to look upset by her voice. "You're not thinking clearly. I can't leave you," he stated blandly, slowly moving toward the corner. He reached behind him and felt the lid of the crate. With a firm tug, he pried the heavy lid off and dropped it with a thud to the floor. The faint smell of cold blood wofted in the room, although Vlad couldn't smell it. "Get up. Tenele, get up," he urged her steadily. "You need to do this, right now, unless you want to take me and half the crew with you. I'm going to that corner, got it?" he gestured to the opposite wall. "You're standing up, and you're coming over here and drinking this. Focus."

He began moving ever so slowly along the wall, never taking his eyes off her. When he reached the bed, he reluctantly began climbing across it.

Tenele clutched her hair in her hands and peered at him like a predator watching her prey as he made his way almost fearfully away from her. Her eyes darted to the crate and the wonderful smell that was leaking from it. Though, the smell was surely pleasant, it did not call to her as did the man evading her from across the room.

She could run to him, sink her fangs and drink him dry...

No... That was not her thoughts. She’d never do that! This was not her body! She was human, not a vampire. This wasn’t right! She wanted to throw herself out the window into the ocean, lest she kill Vlad unconsciously.

Her body was battling her, and this lust for his blood was taking over her. He was right. If she didn’t drink was in that crate she was going to kill them all. She stumbled to her feet, fighting ever single human emotion that was flooding her. The thought of how morally wrong it was for someone human to drink another human’s blood. But, she was no longer human. She was something more than that, something different and uncontrollable.

How, how had this happened?

Had Lothos’s venom finally taken her humanity? Had she finally turned after so long? Was that even possible. And when she glanced at Vlad after stumbling to her feet she saw how human he was. How he glowed with that humanity. She could hear the very essence of his life beating just bellow the surface of his skin.

She stumbled forward, mostly because she was fighting the direction her body wanted to take her in. She fell to her knees before the crate and grabbed on of the leather pouches of blood. Not even waiting to open it, she bit through the pouch and let the liquid fill her mouth. She wanted to be revolted at herself, a human- no. She had to let go of such thoughts. This was what her body needed, this was what she needed. If not this, then she’d hurt him.

She drank quickly and through the pouch to the wood flooring, sinking back into the corner between the wall and the short crate. Her head rested there and she leaned forward after a moment, noting how the throbbing heart beat had dulled. Her eyes opened and blood red orbs peered at him through silver strands of hair. It was surprising her startlingly beautiful she was with that pale skin and silver hair, an angel of death.

He had amber eyes, gorgeous warm amber eyes... She found that to be so intriguing, since all she had ever seen Vlad with was eyes of blood. Crimson. “Go,” she whispered faintly. “Please. Go while you can, Vlad. I can hear your heart beating in my head. I don’t want to hurt you, I’d be unable to live with myself...” She pulled her knees up to her chest and ran her hands through her hair, holding the back of her head and pressing her forehead to her knees. “Run.”

Bump. Bump Bump... It was getting louder again. One wasn’t enough. She reached over quickly and pulled the cork out of another pouch, drinking as quickly as she could. A single trail of excess leaking down the corner of her mouth, which after a moment she licked away and hid her face.

Vlad narrowed his eyes at her words, understanding exactly what she was saying. But he couldn't leave her here by herself. He tried to breathe slowly, to give his heart room to calm down. If he could calm down, he wouldn't be exciting her so much. But the situation was just too much, and a hundred unanswered questions were roaring through his mind. He reached the corner opposite Tenele and held very still.

Tenele leaned back into the corner, huddled there with her knees drawn up to her chest and her hands on her head. She was staring at the floor, her red gaze fixed there as she concentrated on anything but that alluring heart beat and the sweet warm smell that was filtering over from the other side of the room.

She glanced at him, staring for the longest moment, not even having to blink. She was still, so deathly still, and rigid. It was as if she feared moving, for if she moved she might lunge towards him.

She willed herself to put the thumping out of her mind, knowing that was the only way to control herself. Still, no matter how much she tried, it lingered their, dully drumming in her ears. "God's I want to kick your ass. You're so damn stubborn." she muttered exasperated with him and his refusal to leave her be.

Tenele watched him longer, and after a moment gave a thankful sigh. The blood she had drank must be helping, for the thirst was not as strong now. She figured if that was going to keep her from eating the man she loved, then she'd drink the hole case right there and then. She reached over and started downing another flask. When she was through, she dropped it once again next to the pile she was creating.

"Okay... Okay..." Her mind was rummaging through what happened, her eyes closed and she went over ever series of events that had happened. "Alright. You are very obviously human. And I, well, am very obviously a vampire. What the hell happened?"

Vlad looked down at his hand, which was a warm tan. It was almost impossible to believe. "I've never heard of this before," he said, looking across the room at her scarlet eyes. "Unless it's some Outerland magic."

Tenele looked at the hands he was staring at and then down at hers, pale, and smooth, like marble. She then tilted her head. "I wouldn't put it past them," she breathed. Before she even realized what she was doing she was she was standing and walking slowly towards him. Tenele had always been a graceful person, but this was just eerie. When she was right before him she raised a finger to trail down his cheek, and she slowly leaned in. She took a slow deep breath, enhailing that wonderous sent. Her lips were at his neck, but not quiet touching. Deathly close.

"How do you do it," she breathed so softly. Her voice trembled with emotion. "How do you keep from killing me. Doesn't this drive you mad." She could hear the steady beat of his heart. Vlad's heart. Yes, it called to her, but it was Vlad. Never in a thousand years would she want to hurt him. Yet, the thrill of that blood pumping beneath his flesh it was too overwelming. Just a little taste, it kept screaming.

"Practice," Vlad murmured, biting back the temptation to offer her a practice session. Even in a human body, the thought of her biting him, even taking his blood was almost too exciting. He could feel the power, his power, rolling off her skin, and he wanted her. He felt his pulse jump, and swiftly blocked the thought from his mind. Instead, he reached up and cupped her chin between his fingers, gently redirecting it away from her neck and up to his lips. He gave her a cautious kiss. "You are doing very well, my lady," he praised her, and smiled. The expression was the same as always, but the color in his cheeks and eyes made it...warmer.