Her

The thirst overwhelmed me.
As I sat next to her, I could hear every pulse of her heart, I could see the subtle bulge and relaxation in every vein that no mortal eye could notice. It was all I could do to hold myself back from releasing that precious fluid from its life giving confinement. I loved her, as I shouldn’t. I have made the mistake of keeping friends once I had stumbled off the proverbial mortal coil. I should have been dead to them. But my friends were too close to me. Especially her.
She meant the world to me. I could not bring myself to leave her life. We would both be devastated. My thoughts turned to immortality. Life would mean nothing if it weren’t for her. I could not spend an eternity without her.
She pulled me close, sensing a hint of my distress. As we embraced, I nuzzled up close to her, temptingly close to her neck. Too close. I inhaled deeply, and could actually smell her life’s blcourcoursing through every vein and artery. It overwhelmed me. Slowly, my jaw opened….
No! I must resist! I pulled myself away. I couldn’t bring myself to do this. What if the thirst completely took over? I did not want to risk the bloodthirst to draw her life from her into me, or even draw me into that unwelcome blissful sleep from which there is no awakening. I stood up, and paced, distraught. I knew she was worried about me, she didn’t have to say anything. I could tell by the way she looked at me, longing to know what was troubling m. As. As I paced, I decided, and assured myself: she would find out tonight. But could she be trusted with this? Could I trust her with this tidbit of knowledge? Could k hek her to spend eternity with me? Would she be willing to do so? And what if she refuses? As unlikely as that may sound, there’s still the possibility. What could I hen?hen? Could I actually trust her and my friends with the knowledge of what I have become? They’d accept at first, but I knew that jealousy would grow, and from that jealousy would spawn contempt, anger, and hatred… unless I would make them all my children! It was risky, and I knew few, if any, would refuse the dark gift. But could one as inexperienced as I perform such acts? Dare I risk it? I could not be responsible for the death of a close friend, I could not spend an eternity with that guilt.
She got up from the couch and put her arms around me, leaning her head on my chest. It was comforting, I must admit, but I felt an overwhelming sense of despair at that moment. If we were to be together, the consequences would be brutal. How could I ask her to spend an eternity cursed, all on my account? I put my arms around her, and held her tight. Again, the powerful thirst resurected itself. Again I felt the urge to drain her, to suck her dry.
I couldn’t hold out any longer. I leaned close to her ear and whispered that I would want her to join me outside, in the night. She agreed, still obviously suspecting that something dire was on my mind. I took her to the front porch, and we sat there for a while, discussing the beauties of the night. Every second the thirst grew stronger. I would have to feed soon. I excused myself from the conversation for a moment, and took a moment to be by myself. Being near her arroused the thirst in ways impossible for any mortal to imagine.
My newfound heightened senses heard a small rodent rustling through the grass in my backyard. Wonderful. This was a welcome change of luck, I would actually have a chance to briefly quench my eternal thirst. Quicker than the poor squirrel could act I had snatched it up, and drained it. Now that I actually had a bit of sustinance in me I could think clearly when I was with her.
“We’ve all gone through that, my child. But the blood of rodents hardly compare to that of humans”
I turned around, and there he was, my creator and mentor, “Master! How did you…?”
“I created you, son. I will always know your whereabouts. I see you have a slight dillema, child. Care to have me take care of it for you?”
“You? No, I think not. This is for me to do on my own. You needn’t interfere.”
“On the contrary, my young apprentice, you seem to be in need of guidance.”
“I know what I’m going to do, master, I don’t need any more guidance from you. You’ve taught me to feed, you’ve taught me to kill, and you’ve taught me how to survive. That’s all I need from you.”
“Really? Child, you must understand, I have your best intentions in mind, and you must realize this one fact: you must be dead to the world! That includes her and all of your friends!” master shouted. His voice had a hint of weakness to it, as if it were fueled by countless sorrowful memories.
“I think I will find that out for myself, thank you. I prefer to try things my way”
“And what makes you think your way will work, child? I know you trust her now, but in the future? People have a habit of changing with the times, I have been around long enough to see many instances of these.”
“Ill take my chances, thank you.”
“My child, I will not see you make the same mistake as so many others!”. Master seemed paler than usual. He seemed to be hungry.
“But I trust her, and nothing you or anyone can do or say will change that. I am prepared for eternity!”
“But is she? Are you sure she will take it well?” Master’s hunger was starting to become more apparent, as his voice began to crack.
“Y-yes” I stammered.
“You can’t lie, child. You will never be sure.”
“I love her!”
“Love means nothing! You must end this now!” Even with his weak, hungry voice, the words and their meaning was strong.
“Leave me!”
At that, I heard her call my name.
“Who is this?” she asked.
The bloodlust returned. Even from this distance I could smell it, I could feel its heat radiating from her body, and I could hear the heartbeat as clear as ever. Master could to, I could tell by the way he looked at her, his hunger now more apparent than ever!
Before I could reply, master lunged at her, and was on her before she could even blink! She shrieked as he bit and began to drain her.
I could not stand for this. As quickly as master was on her, I was on him, I pulled him away, and slashed his throat. Master’s immortal flesh closed soon after it was cleaved. With some of his strength returned he came at me. As he did so, I rolled onto my back and kicked at him as he passed overhead. The blow knocked him into the nearby fence, knocking a few boards loose, and breaking one. I quickly got up before he could get up and kicked him in the face to keep him down. This act stunned him, long enough for me to grab a splintered fence post and plunge it into his chest. Master was pinned to trounround by the giant splinter. His regenerative flesh could not close around it. He shrieked in agony. While he was paralyzed on the ground by the stake, I took my opportunity to drain him of his life blood. As I neared the last drop, I held back, as not to be pulled into his death. Master was now too weak to move, but he managed to whisper a parting message: “You are a fool, child. How do you hope to survive without me?”
He was still bleeding slightly from the neck, and the wound in his chest.
“Ill learn on my own, master. I don’t seem to need you anymore. Your job is done. Obviously, you’ve taught me to kill. It seems I’ve gotten better at that than you”
“Laugh while you can young one. In time, you will leave the world you know behind”
“Why should I leave behind what I can take with me, master?”
“You poor, dillusional fool!”
“I know what I am doing master.”
He fell silent, too weak to utter any comprehensible word.
“You’re finished, master. It’s time I released you.”
With that, I pulled the stake from my old master’s body, and the last drop of blood poured out of him. His still figure gradually turned to ash, and was blown away with a slight breeze.
I ran to her side, hoping to whatever god there was she was still alive. The old one had drained her, but not all the way. I bent down and whispered to her. “I can save you…” She looked at me longingly, tears started to roll down her cheeks as blood dribbled out of the still open wound at her neck. “but, if I do, you must be willing to spend eternity with me.” She looked at me, and smiled. It tooery ery ounce of energy she had left to smile.
I smiled back.
“Then you must drink from me.”
I bit a hole in my wrist and held it out for her to drink….