19| Another late-night visit
1629 Words
Beau was ready to have a coronary by the time he saw she was calling him. He scrambled to answer, his hands shaking so much he was afraid he’d accidentally dismiss the call.
“Bianca. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” She sounded tired. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worried… I’ll explain later.”
He felt his fear becoming anger at her blaise response. “Well, it’s not okay. I was going out of my mind-”
“Beau. I got it.” She cut him off and he heard something else in her voice. Something defeated.
“What happened?” His tone softened.
“It’s a long and stupid story.” She took a breath. “Do you still want to see me tonight?”
“Of course.” He saw Toby standing by the doorway. Toby put a thumb up as a question. Beau nodded at him to indicate it was her.
“I’ll be there soon then.”
“Well?” Toby asked when the call ended.
“She didn’t say what happened yet, but she sounded sad…” He frowned as he sat his phone down. He felt weird now that he knew she was okay. All the anxiety and adrenaline leaving him and feeling nauseous now that his body didn’t need to do anything with it.
He laid back on his bed, his legs off the edge. He felt Toby sit next to him.
“Is this worth it, man?”
Beau looked at him sharply. “Of course.”
“If you say so, but I haven’t seen you this dicked around before and I don’t want her to take advantage of you.”
Beau sat up. “I trust her.”
Toby just made a we’ll see noise and left his room.
~*~
Bianca hesitated before entering Beaus house. She went via his window- the damn thing not completely closed again.
He was sitting at this desk, turning with only a little bit of surprise with her coming in the way she was.
He stood quickly and took the few steps towards her, his arms opening. She rushed into them feeling lighter as they wrapped around her.
“I’m sorry I worried you,” she breathed in his scent, a feeling of peace settling in her chest.
“What happened?”
Where could she start? She had planned tonight to tell him what she was, she was going to bare herself to him and ask to mark him. She hadn’t been lying about what she had planned to do to him tonight in that text. She had hoped to do it while he was tied up, so he couldn’t run away- in a similar approach to what her friends did to her, now that she thought about it.
“I hadn’t told my friends what I've been doing lately and they had an intervention of sorts.” She squeezed him.
“You haven’t told your friends about me?” He accurately read between the lines.
“It’s complicated,” she mumbled.
"I don't get it." He couldn't help the hurt in his voice. Was she embarrassed by him? He could only imagine what her friends would be like, rich and cool- big shots- and here he was, barely enough money to rub together.
She felt the change in him so she pulled out of his arms. Kicking off her sneakers, she climbed onto his bed, sitting back against the wall with her legs in front of her.
He followed her, sitting cross legged facing her. He took a foot into his hand and started to rub it. She looked tired.
"I need to tell you something," she started. "This wasn't how I planned it, but I don't think it can wait any longer."
He was quiet, letting her speak at her own pace.
"I need you to hear me out. And more importantly I need you to not tell anyone else."
Beau nodded his understanding, though he couldn't anticipate what it was she wanted to tell him.
"And know that I wont hurt you."
"Okay…" he frowned, noting that was a weird thing to say.
She pulled her legs back and made him sit where she had been and sat in his lap, straddling him.
She reached up and swiftly removed her contacts.
Beau gasped without meaning to. Her irises were a fierce red, varying shades amongst the pattern there, but the prominent shade was bright, almost glowing.
She put her hand over his mouth and his eyes widened but he didn't move, didn't try to stop her. He felt like his arms were useless at his side. She had said she had a condition but he had no idea what could cause this.
Her bottom lip trembled as she took in the shock on his face- this wasn't the worst part. She bared her teeth and let her fangs pop.
He jumped and a muffled sound came from behind her hand. His hands shot up involuntarily and gripped her wrist and forearm. He tried to pull her hand away, but the strength she held him in place with was inhuman.
Her breathing was becoming ragged. She could only imagine the thoughts running through his head. She started to doubt that he would accept her and a tear slipped out and trailed down her cheek.
He tried to speak but she was too scared to lift her hand. She shouldn't have told him. She shouldn't have thought she could claim him. With a strangled breath in, she went to leap away from him. Ready to flee. Not wanting to face his rejection.
As she let go of his face she tried to push up and away from him but he didn't let go of her arm.
"No!" He cried out. "Stop running away from me!"
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. "Just tell me what this means?"
"I'm a vampire," she whispered. "This world is more than what you know and that is just the beginning."
He was quiet for a few good seconds while he held her. "What is it that you actually do?"
She shook her head. She wasn't ready to share that. "Nothing good."
"You can go out in the sunlight?"
The question startled her. "Yeah."
"Any of the stories true? Holy water, garlic, crosses..?"
Realising what he was referring to, she shook her head. "No, but silver can weaken us- hurt us. Everything else doesn't work. It takes a lot to bring us down."
"Immortal?"
"No, we just age slower."
He took a couple of breaths thinking through his next question. "You drank my blood."
She squeezed her eyes tightly, her face buried into his shoulder. "Yes."
"Do you normally… kill for food?"
She was quiet. "I have and for other reasons.” She quickly rushed on, not wanting to dwell on that part of her history. “We usually drink packaged blood- it's more convenient and ensures we don't drink anything tainted." She tensed as she spoke wondering what he would do and say next.
"Packaged?" He queried. "As in… farmed and packaged?"
His underlying question was clear. "In some places yes, and in others blood banks are the front we use."
"Okay." His voice sounded worried. She could tell he had more questions about that but she hoped he'd leave it for now. It wouldn't be an easy thing to explain to a human.
"It's not typical for a vampire to become romantically involved with a human," she said softly.
"So why did you?"
She thought of how she had planned to explain this. "Even with all the different beings that exist in this world and beyond it, the different beliefs and customs, there is one thing that is consistent and that is that the deities play a part in all our destinies- and none more so than the moon goddess, who bestows on us our fated mate. The person who is our perfect match, the other half of us"
"Like a soulmate?"
Bianca nodded into his shoulder. "Yes. And when we meet them we know instantly…"
"And you're saying I am your mate?"
She just nodded. He pushed her back so she would look at him, she stared at his face but was too scared to meet his eyes.
"Look at me Bianca."
She met his gaze, he was searching for something there. "Do you love me?"
Her lip trembled and she nodded tightly.
"Do you want to be with me?"
She nodded again. "But I don't know how to- my world is not safe for you and I can't just live in yours- there are people that wouldn't allow that." She touched his face, cupping his cheek. "I was trying to find ways to keep you safe while I worked out what to do, but my friends thought I was in trouble as I've been running around trying to set up safeguards- without telling them."
He shook his head. "We'll work something out." He kissed her quickly on her lips. "I'll need more information on all of this, but first, you're my girlfriend- well more than that," he added. "So you don't go off and do things on your own. You include me in all of that and I help make decisions where we're concerned, okay?"
She nodded. Apart from his initial shock he seemed to have taken it all in his stride.
"This is a lot," she spoke like she was forcing the words, because she was. "You have the right to reject me. The words-" a deep breath, "the words you need to say are what I said to you here. You reject me and I will accept it."
~*~
- Writer
