Venipuncture

Chapter 1: Sharpened Fangs and Hardened Hearts

Sharpened fangs brushed against Willow's neck as she found herself locked in place by a pair of lithe, but strong hands. A set of ruby eyes were burrowing into her soul with the intensity of their glare, not helped at all by the pale white skin matched with raven hair that was tied up into a ponytail.

Willow hadn't expected this when she opened the door to her new clinic/home after scoping out Portland Oregon's bar scene.

There, in front of her, she found a robber going through her back room. Then again, she wasn't expecting a lot of things, recently. She had only just got her Ph.D, and finished up the paperwork to own the building. It was another layer of debt that she would have to tackle, but Willow had hoped that with a steady stream of clients, those debts would become a unpleasant memory. That was on her to do list.

Also on her list was getting a kiss, going out to the bars, figuring out why in the world why Portland didn't have taxes, why she couldn't pump gas herself, and so on.

But a vampire cosplayer, of all things, in her clinic? That was not on her list, no. “Do not move human," the woman sneered. “Or do you wish to be bitten?"

Willow, smartly, replied, “Sure, why not?"

Willow, inwardly, cursed at the fact that her brain had always been faster than her mouth, but her words confused her robber just enough that she was able to examine her captor in greater detail. Sure enough, the robber was either a vampire, if the sharp fangs on her teeth were anything to go by, or perhaps just a really good cosplayer. Willow had heard Portland was weird—at least, no weirder than Austin, Texas—but a robber dressed as a vampire? Willow found herself asking if the police would buy that, then shook her head. Her mind had a bad habit of getting off track.

She had more pressing concerns at the moment. Namely, making sure this maybe vampire didn't tear out her throat.

The vampire lady in question was only about half of Willow's rather considerable height, and quite thin as well. So much so that her leg was about as thick as Willow's arm, but to her credit, Willow worked out, quite a great deal.

Maybe this was why she was willing to entertain the notion that this paper-thin wisp of a girl was a vampire. Or maybe it was because when she gave the vampire woman's arm a firm push, it didn't so much as budge. What's more, she was cold to the touch.

“I…" The woman shook her head, and Willow once again took stock of her.

The vampire lady wore a thick blue jacket, the kind with a large hood and a mask that rested under her chin. A black and silver bicycle bag was strapped across her back, and she wore tight jeans.

Tight, Willow realized. Tight as in the sense it didn't allow one centimeter of skin to peek through just in case it brushed against the light of day.

“Wait, how does that work?" Willow spoke quickly, causing the vampire to pause. Her mind raced, and Willow once again spoke faster than her brain could function. “How does being a vampire, if that's what you are, make you weak to sunlight? I mean, are you more sensitive to UV rays? Or does the condition render you more easily brunt like—"

At that, the vampire grasped Willow by the forehead and forced her back with considerable strength. She bent her neck further back, causing her to become slack as her footing became unstable. The only thing now keeping her from falling to the ground was the robber.

'Yep, not human,' Willow thought. 'Or she's on drugs. Either is possible.'

“You talk too much!" the vampire growled. “Now be quiet, and do not trouble me again!"

“Okay," Willow surrendered. Her breathing remained at a steady pace as she glanced down at the vampire. “Why are you robbing me, by the way?"

“I…" The vampire woman paused. “That is not your concern!"

“…Yes, it is," Willow replied, her voice steady. “I mean, you're robbing my clinic, ergo, it is my concern."

The vampire paused, her red eyes squinting. Or, at least, that's what Willow assumed.

“I mean, if you need medical supplies, why not rob a big hospital? They have plenty of stuff such as antibiotics, plasma—actually, if you are a vampire, do you need blood or plasma? Cause there is a difference and—"

“Will you—" The vampire pulled her arms back as she went to rub her face. “Shut up?!"

And, of course, Willow fell. “Ow." With a grumble, Willow quickly sat up, and forced a smile she didn't feel. “I mean, sure!"

The vampire narrowed her eyes, and Willow, at that moment, realized she was very much prey to a predator whose patience was waning thin. At the moment, they were in the backroom, where Willow kept most of her medical supplies. Most of it was under lock and key, so that no one, not even her, would be able to open it willy nilly.

…All expect for a recently broken case of sedatives that were thrown to the ground. Each one encased in a needle for emergencies and quick injections. It wasn't exactly standard practice, and Willow had been meaning to put them in their proper place and containment.

But was this an emergency? Yeah. It kinda was.

“I mean," Willow began slowly. “Sure, if you can make me."

The vampire lady raised her hand, as if it could rend Willow's throat with a single swipe. “I can silence you, permanently."

Was she bluffing? Willow had no idea. She was acting on pure instinct.

“I'm sure," she noted as she leaned back, her fingers brushing against one syringe.

“Then why don't you be silent?" the vampire demanded. “Why press it?"

“I mean…"

Willow's fingers took hold of a syringe and encased it in her hands as she leaned backward. Like a predator inspecting their prey, the vampire lady crouched down in front of Willow, glaring at her all the while as she leaned in close. The vampire's cold breath washed over Willow as her red eyes peered into her green ones.

'What the hell?' Willow thought as she turned her head. 'Is she actually a vampire?!'

Willow's hay blonde hair gently fell over her shoulders. She tried to ignore her increasing heartbeat as the vampire came closer and closer, and mumbled something that, if examined with ultrasound and with a generous supply of vodka, could feasibly be called a word.

“What?" the vampire lady demanded. “Tell me your reason, why you still can."

“It's just, I swore never to harm a living being," Willow said with a smile as her hands tensed. “But you aren't living, are you?"

The vampire lady narrowed her eyes, and in an instant, Willow's arm sprang up, her newly acquired syringe clasped in her hands. There was no time to read the dosage, or enough time to wonder if this was going to work. If a predator had trapped her, then this prey would go down swinging!

However, in a spilt second, the vampire took hold of the syringe without the tip so much as brushing her skin, forcing it out of Willow's hands, and plunging it straight into her exposed arm.

Willow let out a curse as she fell back onto the cold tile floor as the vampire removed the syringe from her arm.

“Why did you do that?!" the vampire snarled. “I was going to let you go! I was bluffing for crying out loud, and now…" She held up the syringe and checked its label. “…you made me put 50ccs of animal tranquilizer into you?"

“Ah," Willow said, and clicked her tongue. “That's…the wrong dosage for someone of my height and body weight, and species, come to think of it. Darn."

“Too little?"

“Too much," Willow replied. “I'm gonna have a bad—"

And the last thing Willow saw before black took over her vision was the vampire woman's cute, worried, and stupid face falling open in surprise.