Heirot

Tenele's effort to climb out was a strong one. She didn't want to be trapped in the hole at night. Carrying water back wasn't a choice for today, but she could do it tomorrow mornig. She had a way to it now.

One step after another. She dragged herself back towards the surface of the hole. Her foot slipped off the short limbs she used as ladder pegs. When she made it to the top Tenele collapsed along the edge, too tired to move anymore than that.

But, there were so many other things she needed to do. They had to make a shelter, and she needed food. Tenele cried. Beyond exhausted, the idea of needing to do all those things just made her upset. She didn't have the strength to do them, and she inevitably needed them to survive, right?

Vlad could live with no water, no shelter, no food.

She was going to die.

Vlad walked for about a half hour before he caught the sound of Tenele's voice in the distance. He realized as he followed it that she was crying. The thought drove him faster. He climbed over the rocky terrain, wondering what might have happened to her. He finally cleared some trees and spotted her just ahead, immediately next to....a cliff? He rushed to her side and knelt in front of her. "Tenele," he called, touching her shoulder lightly as he searched her for injuries. He could smell her blood, but didn't see the source. "I'm here." His fingers brushed back her hair.

Tenele blinked her eyes open, reaching up to wipe her tears. She hated that he caught her crying. "I'm okay," she whispered, as she pushed to sit up, also bending her knee like she meant to stand.

She hissed as the cut pulled taunt. She pulled the edge of her torn skirt to her hip so she could see the long thin cut on her leg. It wasn't bleeding terribly, more of a scrape, but annoying nonetheless.

"I found water," she murmured to him, falling back on the rocks. She hadn't the energy or the care to sit up. She flopped her hand back towards the ladder she made. "Its fresh. We can drink it." Not that he needed to drink it.

"I... I've got to build a shelter. We need wood for a fire... if we can even make a fire," Tenele murmured. Being this exhausted limited her thinking, but it seemed she automatically moved. Her body, and maybe even the back of her mind, remembered perfectly well how to survive. "I can find food tomorrow." She repeated the same list out loud that had driven her to tears in her head. It seemed less terrible when she was telling it to him.

"Okay," Vlad said. "We're in good shape. There are resources here. I'll take care of it." He wanted to lick the cut on her leg. Even considering it proved what he didn't want to acknowledge yet; he was already starting to starve. He set about taking down some of the smaller trees. With his claws, he still had enough strength to get them down. He shaped five trunks into an upright structure, setting aside the coconuts for later. They would be a good source of fat and protein for Tenele. He made his way across the island and recovered his shirt, then used tiny strips of it to fasten together banana leaves around the edge of the structure.

The teepee was about 8 feet across inside. Not exactly spacious, but room enough for a small fire in the center. The smoke could escape through the opening at the very top center. He gathered everything dry he could find, including the hairy shells of two coconuts, and set about creating a fire with a pair of sticks.

It took a while, but smoke began snaking up from the kindling, and then the tiniest flame. Vlad nursed the baby fire carefully, and then went to get Tenele out of the sun. "Can you move?" he asked. "I can carry you if you can't."

Tenele wanted to be carried. She had absolutely no desire to move. But, the look of his mangled chest made her less selfish. "I can make it," she told him softly. She struggled, but managed to stand. "We just need to rest. That's all. We rest and we'll both feel better." She hobbled into the shelter and sank onto the bed of leaves he'd made. It was better than the sand and the hot rocks.

She smoothed her hand over her thigh and hip, taking in the cut again and hoping it didn't get infected. Then, she turned her attention to his chest. "I was going to get you water to wash that out. I don't think I can make it down the ladder and back up today. I'm too tired. But, I can try if you are apt to infection. I wasn't sure if vampires got those."

Vlad shook his head. "It won't infect. Just irritate. I will clean it myself, in a minute." He gestured to a coconut that was resting in a small hole in the dirt floor. It was cut open and full of clean water from below. "Keep drinking," he directed her. He threw a strip of bark onto the fire to keep it running. The sun was dipping below the horizon outside, and the night would be cool soon.

Tenele did as he instructed, drinking slowly. She savoured the water like she might not be able to have another bowl. She also drank enough that she didn't get hungry. But, the idea of cooking something on that fire was too good in her mind. Fish. maybe some island bird of furry creature.

Tenele stopped thinking about food.

"How long will it take for you to heal?" she asked, tapping her own chest.

Vlad rolled his eyes up to hers. "It should look better in a week. Perhaps heal to a scar in two," he said. "Maybe longer." He didn't want to mention that it wouldn't make much progress if he wasn't eating. He wondered idly if there were any warm-blooded creatures on this island, not that he was sure he could eat them anyway. "I'll find something to cook in the morning. There should be edible seaweed off the coast."

Tenele nodded. "I'm sorry you were hurt... That man hurt you because of me," she pushed the coconut shell away. "I seem to have a knack for attracting psychopaths." She curled into a tighter ball, thinking about the story he'd told her about the God of Darkness being obsessed with her, the man who held her captive in her home, and then slowly going over the musings of the mad man on the ship. She was starting to consider the fact she might be cursed. Or maybe she put off some pheromone that attracted them? Maybe it was her silver hair. If that was the case her daughter was never leaving the house.

"You certainly attract me," the vampire said with a tired smirk. "You're a beautiful woman, Tenele. Anyone would be attracted to you." He paused. "I'm sorry for being petty about Matthew. He turned out to be a really good guy. I'm sure he's caring for Tenara right now, along with your brother. I just...realized that there are plenty of reasons you might take interest elsewhere, this time around. Trying to stop you won't make my chances any better, so I'll keep quiet. You can see who you want."

He looked at her. "But as kind as Matthew is...as sincere as they may be, I don't believe any of them can love you as much as I do."

Tenele's eyes watered at his words. She could see it in his face. Love. That was what love looked like. She smirked, turning her attention to the fire. "You are such a silly man," she whispered. "You think me so easily flattered by the affections of other men? If I didn't want you for my husband, I wouldn't have agreed to dating you. Just because I haven't invited you into my bed, doesn't mean that I don't care for you. You have no fear of me swaying to the arms of another man. I have already made my decision of who I will be with. I'm just letting my mind catch up."

And it was getting there. The moment that man through him over the ship it stopped. She didn't even think. She leapt off. Her heart knew what it wanted, even if her mind hadn't come to terms with it yet.

Vlad stared at her, eyes aglow. She chose him. She wanted it to be him. It didn't matter if she was ready for him physically. She chose him. The relief was more than his tired nerves could handle.

"I love you, Tenele," he choked, his throat wound tight with emotion. He turned his face down into the leaves in embarrassment. "Oh, God," he whispered with a sobbing breath.

Tenele didn't know how to handle the vampire's crying. She didn't want him upset. She pushed up from where she lay and scooted over to him. She hesitated a moment, and then started running her fingers through his hair lightly. Then, after a few minutes, her fingers moved away. She flexed them for a moment, and then ran them lightly over his shoulder and across is back, and down his spine. She traced circles across his skin, hoping it would sooth him and make him happy.

"Do you want to make love?" she muttered, staring down at her feet. Wasn't that what he needed to know that she'd chosen him? She wasn't sure she was ready for that. Not tonight. Not when they were so tired. She didn't know when she would be ready for it. But, if he needed it, shouldn't she give it to him? Wasn't that what Ilya said men wanted?

Vlad closed his eyes, both humiliated and thrilled to feel her gentle fingers on his skin. She'd barely touched him since her memory left, except when they'd been drowning.

Her offer of sex made him pause and stare at her. "It takes two to make love, Tenele," he said quietly, looking hard into her eyes. "You aren't there. I'll know it when you are. I'm happy with you like this, as you are. I'm so happy I don't know what to do with myself. Don't feel like I need that from you. I told you already, I've gone hundreds of years without sex before, and I would do it again if it was for you."

Tenele smiled at Vlad. It made her happy to know that he cared enough about her that he would put her comfort before his desire.

She slipped down slowly to lie next to him. It took too much energy to crawl the short distance to her own pallet, so she decide to share his. She felt safe with him. He had proven time and again he'd protect her. She didn't curl against him like she would have had she been her normal self, but she laid close.

"Good night," she whispered to him wearily.