Serum

-Thirty-

Deftly, I turned and scooped Daniel up in my arms. He was lighter than I would have thought, his body completely limp. I once again began racing after the others. Daniel’s heart and breathing rates had been erratic before, but I could tell his body had quickly started slowing everything down like he was approaching a coma-like state. His eyelids were closed, eyes racing wildly behind them. The other three had reached the church, and Tara and Tod quickly disappeared through the door. Conner watched anxiously from the doorway as I neared the church, eyes widening minutely at the sight of Daniel limp in my arms. I rushed through the door, dashing towards a pew, and laying Daniel out quickly. Then I darted away again to the “kitchen” area, anxiously opening Conner’s fridge, searching for blood. He was there in an instant, pushing aside a false back to the fridge, and gripping a small, dark colored glass bottle hidden behind it. The smell told me it was what I was looking for, and I nodded grimly. We both rushed back to the pew where Daniel was still unconscious and Tod and Tara were huddled uncertainly. I pulled the bottle from Conner’s hands, and supported Daniel’s torso in my left arm. I felt somehow responsible since I was the one who had brought him in, even though I knew that it wasn’t really my fault he was exhausted.

“Be careful, keep your fingers and hands out of the way.” Conner cautioned quietly. “He could accidentally latch onto you and drain you instead, if…” He let the sentence falter, but I understood. If Daniel was out of it, especially if he didn’t recognize me because he was so far gone. Conner twisted the cap off of the bottle, and the smell was overpowering. I felt Daniel shudder. Gently, I pushed the bottle towards his mouth, and began to tilt the cool liquid past his lips. The first drops skittered across his mouth uselessly, but the scent seemed to revive him a bit. Abruptly, he clamped down and began gulping greedily, eyes still closed. I was glad I had all of my flesh out of his way, holding the bottle by the bottom as I tilted it towards him. Daniel easily drained it, before heaving a great sigh, eyelids gently fluttering.

“Thanks,” He mumbled, and then fell asleep. It was a different sort of rest than the state he had been earlier, his heartbeat and breathing sounding more relaxed and his scent more restful than in danger.

Conner let loose a hoarse laugh.

“Typical.” He muttered. “Anyone else care for a little refreshment?” He inquired sarcastically. The tension in the room shattered and the twins visibly relaxed.

“I am a little thirsty.” Tara admitted reluctantly, as if unsure if she would become part of the joke. Conner disappeared, and was back in an instant with four small bottles. He passed them around, keeping one that he quickly broke into. I watched him as he swallowed rapidly, the way his lips wrapped around the bottle top and the muscles in his neck worked. I thought of the kiss he’d brushed across my lips before bolting off while taking a few slow drinks from my own bottle, more out of the desire to keep my strength up than from any real need. Though it did keep my hands and mouth busy so I didn’t do anything embarrassing. I darted a glance at the twins, who relaxed into a pew across the aisle, sipping their bottles like human teenagers sip sodas. I noticed that neither one was talking, but occasionally Tara or Tod would nod or shake their head, as though a conversation was occurring. When Conner headed back towards the kitchen area, I followed.

“Do you think Daniel will be alright?” I questioned softly, leaning against a wall. Conner snorted as he rinsed out his bottle and left it in the sink.

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. After he sleeps it off, it’ll be like nothing ever happened.” Conner’s grim amusement caught me off guard. Then he sobered up, and looked at me seriously. “We’re sort of like diabetics. Push the body far too hard, go too long without feeding, and you can have problems. Most diabetics will need medication or insulin regularly. And if they’re medicating like they should, they’ll need to eat regularly as well, to keep their blood sugar levels stable. If they fall below normal levels because they’re not medicating or eating properly, they can fall into a coma. The only difference is that diabetics can die, we just go crazy.” Conner’s face hardened as he explained. “If Daniel hadn’t been able to feed, then hours or days from now he would have woken up completely insane, driven by one instinct alone: the need to hunt. He would have had no thought for preservation of life or keeping himself hidden from human view. More than likely he wouldn’t even have remembered his own name.” He sighed. “I guess he hasn’t fed in a while and today’s exertions just pushed him over the edge. Oh, I don’t know.” Conner gave up, irritated. I nodded my head slowly to show I understood.

“Ok, now what are we going to do? That’s the main question.” Conner suddenly looked livelier, stepping closer to me where I leaned against the wall. I stifled a yawn.

“How about sleep?” I requested grumpily. “It feels like ages since I’ve slept.” Conner grinned mischievously.

“Is that an invitation, or did Daniel just get a little too heavy for you?” He inquired casually. I felt my jaw go slack, but only for a moment. Conner closed the distance between us and placed a finger under my chin to tilt my head up to face him. “I didn’t get to do this properly earlier.” He breathed, and his lips found mine in a heated kiss. I sucked in a breath, which allowed his tongue to dart into my mouth. He groaned softly as he tasted me. He still tasted slightly of blood, but underneath it was a flavor almost like chocolate and peppermint. But as the blood faded, his own natural flavor came through even sharper, bouncing from chocolate and citrus to chocolate and peppermint. I released my own soft moan, delving into his mouth for more of the flavor, holding his face as I briefly lost my mind to just trying to somehow devour him.

Conner nipped my lower lip and shoved off the wall and away from me with a chuckle. I hadn’t realized we were standing so close until he practically peeled me off of him and set me back on my feet. Well I guess he was technically the only one standing since he did have to unwrap my legs from around his waist. I panted, a little woozily as Conner touched my lower lip.

“Wow.” He cleared his throat. “Too bad we have company and have to pretend to be adults for a little while.” He chuckled again. I merely threw a dirty look at him and headed out into the main room of the church.