“Sweetheart, I’m not fiction. I am the figment of no one’s imagination.” He slowly stood and approached her. Looking into her eyes, Seth reached his hand out toward her. “And if I wanted to drain you of your blood, I could have easily done so the first night you slept in my home. Sweetheart, please, just calm down.”
“Don’t do that. You don’t get to do that anymore. You don’t get to try to make me melt with your voice—or touch me anymore.” She could feel her fear growing. “This wasn’t the first time, was it? That you drank my blood, I mean.”
He shook his head no.
“Tell me,” she demanded, only barely resisting the urge to stomp her foot.
“I don’t see how…”
“Tell me,” she screamed.
“The first morning you were here I drank from you.” He didn’t look very happy with the confession.
“That’s why I slept all day, isn’t it?” Her panic increased as he nodded. “When else? When you ‘kissed’ my finger?” He nodded again. “Any other times?”
Seth shifted his gaze to her thigh. Her hand automatically followed his gaze.
“That’s why I was so sore?” She lifted her hand to cover her eyes, but the sight of her blood had her quickly lowering it again. “This can’t be happening to me. I’m a good person,” she said to herself. “I—I have to go.”
“Please, wait. I’ll get a car for you.”
“No! Stay away from me!” Willow ran to the elevator and continuously pushed the down arrow until the doors opened. “Just stay away from me.” Inside the elevator she repeatedly hit the close doors button until the doors shut. She was terrified Seth would try to touch her again and she would simply melt into his arms. Even knowing what she did about him now, she could feel her body struggling. Unlike her mind, her body didn’t know if it wanted to run back to him or start shivering with his betrayal.
Running out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened, she sped out of the lobby without paying attention to her surroundings or any stares she may be receiving. When she was safely outside she hailed a taxi, uncaring that she was only wearing Seth’s shirt; that she didn’t have shoes to protect her feet from the hard street or any money to pay for the ride. Giving the driver her address she pleaded with him to hurry, constantly looking over her shoulder to make sure Seth wasn’t following her.
Her fear must have motivated the driver because in no time they were weaving through traffic in a manner that would have scared her if she weren’t already afraid for her life. She didn’t start to feel safe again until her building came into view.
“If you just wait right here, I’ll get your money,” she promised.
Exiting the cab with her, the driver stuck close to her side as she greeted the doorman, asking him to page her sister.
Ten minutes later Willow’s sister was ushering her to the bathroom inside their apartment to clean her up.
“What the hell happened to you? Why is there blood smeared all over your neck and hands?” Roxy asked her voice filled with concern.
Before Willow could stop her, Roxy put a washcloth under warm tap water and began to clean her neck.
“I see a rather dark mark on your neck,” Roxy scolded her sister, “but no real wound. What happened? How the hell did you get blood on your neck? And where did you get the small scratch from? That couldn’t possibly have been deep enough to leave any blood, much less enough to smear across your hands! Hell, it’s already healing,” she said leaning closer to Willow’s neck. “I’ve seen deeper paper cuts.” Roxy asked one question after the other, barely giving Willow time to answer.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Willow couldn’t tear her gaze off the mark Seth had left. It was the only indication, other than the small scratch and the streaks of blood on the previously white cloth in her sister’s hand, that she hadn’t simply imagined the entire thing.
“I’m not… It’s not mine,” she stammered. She never had been able to lie well.
“Then whose blood is it?”
“That guy’s. The one I was with. I guess I must have busted his lip when I was trying to get away from him earlier. While he was sucking on my neck,” she added lamely. “His tooth must have grazed me when I pulled away.”
“Well, good for you. But maybe you should go get tested just in case.”
“Tested?”
“Yes. Does HIV ring a bell? I don’t want anything happening to my little sis because of some jerk who didn’t understand what stop means.”
“Oh, yeah. Right. I’ll go get a test done.” For the second time that night panic set in. Do vampires even get HIV or AIDS? Do they get any form of STD’s?
“Good. I’m glad you finally came back home. Of course, it would have been nice if you were wearing a little more than just a man’s shirt… Poor Dennis down the hall is probably still picking up his jaw. When exactly did we switch roles? When did you become the wild one? Where are your clothes?”
“I left them. They just didn’t seem important,” she whispered.
“Would you like me to go with you to go get your stuff? Or maybe I can call Bruce, he used to play football. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind playing bodyguard for an hour or so. You know he had that huge crush on you…”
“No. They aren’t important.” Looking at Roxy she added, “I’d rather not see him again.”
“You’re probably right. After all, clothes can be replaced.” Roxy wrapped her arm around Willow’s shoulders protectively. “I’m just glad you’re back here safe. And if you ever need to talk, about what happened, or almost happened, I’ll be here for you. As a matter of fact, I’ll call Tanya and cancel for tonight,” Roxy continued, ignoring her sister’s protests.
“No,” Willow said a bit more forcefully as her sister began to walk away. She tried to smile when she looked at her. “I’ll be fine, Roxy, really. It’s nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix. Besides, I’d rather spend a little time alone, if you don’t mind.”
“Alright, but if you need me for any reason, any reason at all, I’ll have my cell phone on all night.”
“I’ll be fine, sis. Go, have fun.”
With one final look back at her, Roxy finally nodded and headed for the door.
When it was closed, and she was left alone in the apartment, Willow went into her room. As the reality of what happened hit her, she began to shiver. Lying down beneath the covers of her bed, she couldn’t seem to get warm.
“It’s just shock,” she told herself. That’s all it is. After the scare you had tonight, is it any wonder your body is acting all strange? Closing her eyes, she tried to get some rest, but couldn’t get comfortable or warm.
Climbing out of bed, she went to the linen closet where they kept extra blankets. Willow added several extra blankets to her bed. Once she was mildly comfortable, and beginning to finally warm up, she drifted into a troubled sleep.
Chapter Seven
Willow was in a beautiful hallway dressed in nothing but a modest nightgown. Her lack of clothes didn’t concern her as she looked around amazed until she saw the familiar figure in the distance. She didn’t need to see his face to know who was waiting for her. She’d recognize him anywhere.
“Willow…”
“No. I don’t want to be here…” Turning, she ran as fast as she could away from him.
But the path she took led her right back to Seth.
“Go away! Leave me alone!” she screamed.
“Willow I just want to apologize…”
She didn’t want to hear the rest of his explanation. She tried again to run from him, from herself. Just the sight of him had her traitorous body screaming for his touch. She wanted to feel his hands sliding over her flesh, his mouth coaxing moans from her throat.