Beware Old Lovers Bearing Gifts!

"There, I'm done. Still with me?" He tries to say in a non-threatening voice.

"Wh...what the hell was that?!" she blurts out weakly, reaching up instinctively to feel the two sealed puncture wounds. "This isn't possible?! How...when...did you...what am I saying? Vampires are myths! They don't exist!" she says, breathing deeply, trying to get enough oxygen.

She pushes his hands away from her and herself back, turning to face him, and looses her balance, lightheaded from the blood loss, and starts to fall backwards, her head in line to hit the corner of the coffee table. Lighting fast, he catches her, stabilizing her, bridging the gap between them and drawing her upright again.

"I've got you! (Pauses) Ann... I've been this way since before you were born. And yes, I really am a vampire, and I did just feed from you." He says, looking her in the eyes, waiting for it to sink in.

"You mean, all the time we were together! I was sleeping with a vampire?" she says shakily.

"I'm afraid so." He replies.

"And you waited 10 years to, well, not so much tell me, but do this to me?!" she says, a tinge of anger in her voice.

"I've wanted to tell you, but as you can imagine, it's not the kind of thing that generally goes over too well." He says, smiling, tips of his fangs showing.

"So, why now? Why after all this time? Why show up on my doorstep after three years...and...and... (Tears begin to slide down her face)...What's changed?" she says. You've never done this to me before now...so why now?" She feels weak, too weak to try to get away from him.

"Actually, I have fed from you before, you just don't remember because I made you forget."

"Excuse me? You've what? What else have you made me do or forget?"

"Nothing else. A fed a few times while we were together, small amounts. Not enough to even make you slightly anemic." He explains.

"And this time? How much did you take?!" she asks.

"Enough...more than before, but no permanent harm done." He says, stretching the truth.

"Why did you take more this time?" she says, clearly unhappy with his answers.

"Let's just say it was necessary, in order to show you what I am... circumstances have changed, love, and you need to know and accept what I am." he says, keeping eye contact all the while.

"How changed? Because you'll be back in town?" she asks.

"Ann, um, there is no job. I came back to town because of you, and also to protect you." He says.

"From what? Seems like maybe you're the one I need protected from!?" she says in a breathless huff.

"Hear me out! Please! You've always meant a lot to me, Ann. I left because it was becoming obvious that I was not aging and you were. But I never stopped caring about you, or worrying about you." He explains.

"Yeah, right..." she says, despondently.

"Really Ann! I left because I didn't want to have to reveal what I am. I didn't want to frighten you. I never stopped loving you!"

"So, this is how you show me you love me? Talk about a proverbial 'love bite'! (Pauses, refocusing) I'm guessing this means you are still hoping to keep this, um relationship, going?" she asks, not sure whether she is more afraid or pissed off at the moment. The blood loss and stress makes it increasingly hard to focus and her head begins to throb from reduced oxygen levels.

"I'd like to, yes. Are you alright?" he asks, noticing her expression.

"Alright? He asks! No! I'm feeling so weak, I feel like I can't breath right, and I'm getting a headache from all of this, and I was just fed upon by a fucking vampire...literally! (nervous laugh at her own, unintentional pun) I'm pissed off and I'm scared!" She says.

He edges a little closer to her. "Look at me." He tells her. After a few seconds, she does, cautiously. He strokes her face, stares into her mind and takes the pain. "Any better?"

"Yeah...I guess now I know how you were always so good at pain relief?" She says, still looking him in his eyes, her anger and fear starting to drain away slightly with her exhaustion. She can feel his breath on her face, the smell of her own blood on his breath. She is full of conflicts, fear, anger and disbelief on the one hand, but underneath it all, she still feels drawn to him, wants him. With a gulp, she asks: "So, I guess this is why you always preferred closed mouth kissing?" she says nervously.

"Yeah, they have a tendency to sneak out at awkward times, didn't want you to hurt yourself on them." He answers with a sparkle of humor in his eyes, still stroking her hair and cheek.

"Or figure out your secret? I guess you don't have to worry about that now that I know, huh?" she says, knowing she's courting danger.

Realizing his opportunity has come, he leans in the last couple of inches, kissing her deeply, mouth open, inviting her to explore, and he does the same. At first, she tries to pull away, but he gently holds her in place. After a short time, she stops struggling and begins to relax and respond to his kiss. He lets down his fangs, so she can feel them, explore their contours with her tongue, know they are real. When she relaxes into it fully, she suddenly tastes a sweet, warm, metallic liquid as it gushes over her tongue as he bites his own, and before she knows it, she has swallowed his blood. She gasps and tries to pull away, only to again hear in her mind. "Too late, only takes a drop."

"Please tell me you didn't just do what I think you did?" she thinks at him. Unable to pull away, she feels the sweet, thick liquid continue to slide across her tongue and down her throat. Tears flow. "WHY!!???" She screams in her mind.

After a few minutes, he releases her from his bloody kiss, and looks her straight in the eyes. "It had to be done. I know you don't understand that, but trust me, I'll explain everything."

"Trust you? I don't want this! I ...I ... part of me still wants you, but NOT to become...a vampire! There has to be some way to reverse it! Please!?" she pleads with him.

"What's done is done, even if I wanted to stop it, I couldn't. The virus, once activated, cannot be stopped... it's how it works." He tells her, using a nearby blanket to wipe smeared blood off her face.

She lets herself fall back on a thick pile of pillows, curling up into a fetal position, her back toward him. Quiet sobs and tears flowing. "But why did you have to do it? I'd probably have stayed with you even knowing what you are!"

He reaches out and stroke her back, trying to sooth her. "I know that, but I didn't really have any choice, not really." He says.

"Of course you had a choice! All those years together and you never chose to do this to me...you chose to leave me, but not...not this!?" she says. She starts to feel a bit odd.

"You know the man on the bus?' he asks.

"Yeah... what's he have to do with anything?"

"He's like me, but he's not a nice guy." He says.

"And you are?" she snaps out in anger.

"He was watching you, most likely with plans to turn you himself-to claim you. That's why he was on the bus. Before I fed on you, I felt him nearby. He was coming for you, and would have taken you first chance he got. I had to get to you before he found that opportunity. I couldn't stand it if you ended up with him!" he says.

"So, let me get this straight," she says, breathlessly, rolling over to face him, "you're not doing this because you wanted me or love me, you're doing this because if you don't, someone else will?! Like you're a couple of dogs and I'm a fresh, marrow filled bone?!" she says, starting to feel the anger overcome fear as she begins to wonder if he ever really cared for her.

"It's not what you're thinking! I do love you! I would have turned you years ago if I could have!" he says.

"Why didn't you? What stopped you? You could have told me rather than making an excuse to leave!" she says, trying to control her temper as she feels her body start to ache with fever, as she starts to shiver and shake.

"It's not magic love, it's science. There is an issue of compatibility. Only certain people can be turned, it's genetic, and there are very few compatibles out there." He says, trying to explain it as simply as possible. He sees she is shivering. Feels her forehead for fever, and drags a nearby fuzzy blanket over her. "It's the fever setting it. Nothing to worry about, it's a normal part of transformation. You're immune system's trying to fight it off...and no, it won't succeed." He says, sensing the glimmer of hope in her mind, that the virus won't be able to turn her.

"Still doesn't explain why you didn't turn me on your own, sooner. If you cared for me so much, and if I'm compatible now, I must have been then?" she says, weakly, as her body tries, unsuccessfully, to fight the virus.

"True, you were, I just didn't think you were compatible back then. I ...how to explain this to you! My people keep track of who carries the compatible gene sequence the virus latches on to... we keep track of the families that bear the gene. When we met, I hoped you were compatible, but checked our lists and you weren't there, so I had to assume you were incompatible. I tried, then, to distance myself, but every time I did, I was drawn back to you. So I stayed as long as I could...longer than I ever have with one woman." He pauses, squeezing her hand.

"I know that feeling. I couldn't seem to get you out of my system either. But what's changed?" She says.

"Since the Human Genome Project finished up, my people have been tracking down others who are genetically compatible via various genetic databases. Apparently, you recently did one of those ancestry DNA tests? Getting you're genetic breakdown done?" he asks.

"I...um...yeah, it was for my dad...he's been tracking the family genealogy...I gave him the results for Christmas. They matched me from that?" she trails off, curiosity briefly overcoming her fear and anger.

"Yes love, and luckily, someone who is a good friend recognized your name from when we were together...remember my friend Jen? I think you met her once or twice? She gave me a heads up when she saw you on the newest list, so I'd have a chance to get to you before Ivan-the man from the bus-or someone else, could get to you!"

"Still... you could have asked me first... explained." She says.

"I know, but when you told me about Ivan, I knew I had to move immediately. He terrorized the last woman he turned until she fled, and she's never been quite right since. If he had gotten to you first, I would have no recourse-you would be his partner. I'd have to leave you to him, even if he was unkind to you. Just as he now, has no claim on you." He says, gently moving her to a more comfortable spot and lying down beside her.

"Brant?" her voice crackles with weakness.

"Yes, love?"

"Will I still be me?" she chokes out.

"Yes, you'll be you, and more." He kisses her on her forehead. "Sleep now, when you wake, it will be a new and better day."

"I thought it was going to be a fantastic evening when you showed up at the door..."

"When this is over, maybe you'll decide you were right!" he says and pushes her mind into a deep, dreamless sleep.