“You are not allowed to be near my home ever again. Leave the city tonight,” Ben commands and Sean bends even lower. Fudge, is Ben some sort of king of vampires? How can he give orders like that? Like he expects them to be followed. Sean doesn’t answer tho, instead he lifts his head and looks in my direction. Meeting my eyes, he gives me a sad smile.
“Lorena, if you ever want to know more you can reach me from my old number. Do you have it?” His eyes look pleading and are filling up with red tears. I gulp small pockets of air so I don’t get sick from the sight in front of me. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing blood instead of tears when someone, anyone cries. “Please Lorena, answer me!” Sean pleads as he rises slowly and backs away with forced mechanical movements.
“Yes, I have it.” I cannot do anything, but take pity on the sad creature walking away from the door. He almost stumbles down the stairs as he is being pulled away by some unknown force. I can't believe I can feel such pity for a man who scared me half to death earlier today. Seeing him like this is humbling.
“He will leave you alone for now. He might bother you when you travel, but I can help you take precautions.” Ben says, ignoring the heartbreaking scene in front of us. It almost seems everyday for him. It’s not the first time he has seen heartbreak like this.
“Who are you?” I ask. Maybe I should be afraid of the man still in the same room as me? He is, after all, mightier than a fracking vampire. Though it’s difficult to be afraid of someone who has given me more 0rgasms than I can count. Wait? Is that why he has such great stamina in bed? Does it mean he’s not even human? He can do the naked monkey dance for hours straight! I never met anyone else capable of this.
“It’s difficult to explain Lorena. I’m not a vampire if that’s what you are afraid of,” is all the answer Ben seems willing to give me. “Dinner is ready, let's eat while it’s warm.” When I don’t follow him he glances back at me. He looks like I have let him down somehow, but why does he expect me to trust him after this? “I promise I’m not going to hurt you. If that was my goal I’ve had my chances already. Lorena, I love you.” He speaks softly, with a voice ready to break.
Leaving me for the kitchen I hear him put cutlery and plates on the table. The last three words ring as a happy tone in my ears as I’m trying to process everything. ‘I love you,’ he said, but does he really? When he used his jedi mind tricks on me so easily can he love me? Has he used it to avoid fights we should have had? Has he used it to make me do something I didn’t want to do? Can I ever trust him again?
He said he hasn’t hurt me, but what if I forgot about it and now he pretends like nothing? I don’t know the limits of the mind control thingy. Is it magic? Or brain waves? There are too many questions and I will not get them answered standing here like I am a petrified toad? Do I go ask the questions to my violent vampire ex who keeps attacking me and maybe turn me to a vampire or something, or do I ask the boyfriend I clearly know nothing about. Not to mention is he my boyfriend, or am I his pet?
“You’re not my pet! Now stop broadcasting your thoughts. I'm trying to keep myself from reading them!” I hear Ben from the kitchen door. When I look at him he smiles again and my heart flutters. I’m angry and sad because of this man, but most of all I’m fearful.
I don’t fear that he will be violent towards me. I fear he has faked the entire relationship, and it’s all a joke to him. Will he come home with a bimbo on his arm like Sean did? Is he only using me for fun and will dump me when he gets something new and better? Now that his secret is out does that mean he’s going to leave me?
“No, I will not do that to you my love,” Ben exclaims. He has closed the distance between us since I started my thought process. Carefully, like he’s afraid I will bolt, he takes my hand, kisses it and drags me into his embrace. “I love you,” he repeats. “I’m sorry for keeping secrets from you, but being honest hasn’t been the best approach when it comes to the humans I have loved before. Now let’s eat,” he finishes. I’m somewhat stuck that he said humans as if he's not one.
I follow him more or less willingly as he drags me by my hand to the kitchen. He has made a quick pasta dish and poured red wine into two glasses. He holds up a chair for me and I sit down. I guess chivalry isn’t dead after all, I laugh for myself.
That’s when the absurdity of it all hits me hard and I start laughing without control. “What’s so funny?” Ben smiles at me, waiting for me to calm down. I’m so far gone in my anxiety laughter that I start to hiccup and make the weirdest noises. This is making me laugh harder and Ben can’t hold himself any longer and breaks out in laughter too. We laugh like this until I’m exhausted and my belly is hurting like I’ve done a hundred sit ups. When I’m finally done laughing I need to breathe and dry some tears before I’m even able to speak.
“I’m sorry. It’s all just too unbelievable! Like fudge, I believe in science, not magic. And you controlled my mind! You’re supposed to be my boyfriend, not a creepy fart!” Ben winces by my accusation. “Then there is my ex who is a freakin vampire now! Like, what’s up with that? And you want another funny part?” I ask Ben, who only nods, smiling uncomfortably. “There is more! A mafia boss or a loan shark of some sort is threatening me because my estranged father has too much gambling debt. I will never be able to pay it all back! So I might just have to prostitute myself to him like he wants!”
Breathing hard, my ranting has turned to tears. My body is itching from all the feelings running in my blood. I haven’t noticed, but during my monologue I have turned my nails to myself and my skin is raw from all the scratching. Ben is holding my hands to keep me from continuing.
“I have never influenced you to do something you don’t want to do,” Ben says. “With the exception of today when I pulled out the truth from you. I have done that a few times in the beginning of our relationship because of bad experiences and I could not believe I could be so lucky that I would be able to find love again, even at my age.” He kisses my forehead before he continues.
“Science is magic you can understand or explain. I am using a sort of electromagnetic wave to communicate by mind. You can train your mind to block out other people's influences and that’s one of the things you can do as a precaution in terms of Sean and the ways he can control your mind. We can start at it tomorrow if you want to.” Ben's smile is careful and full of what I think is pity. Why pity?
“Now eat my love and let's get you to bed, It’s been a long day for you.”