Vampire Holiday - Completed

22. The Burn

Aurora POV

Every day I was with him, I was falling; I was falling hard for him, and I could not deal with it. I could end up like I was with Elon, broken. Even if he stays with me until the rest of his short life, what would I be after his death, an empty shell? I found myself staring at him while he slept, so I had to leave his apartment for any reason, so I would not completely go insane.

I called him my pet a few times, but it felt wrong, and I could not manipulate or glamour him anymore. I just could not.

One time I felt so enthralled with him I could not hold it back anymore, and I said it. I took a deep breath and told him I loved him. His eyes lit up, and his embrace became tight, even for a human. I could feel his happiness. His emotions and warmth rolled over me, consuming me with joy. But at that instant, my back started burning as if it was on fire. I felt like I was standing under the sun’s rays. The pain was so intense that I almost screamed, but instead, I ground my teeth and took my words back by calling him a pet again. I saw in his eyes that I crashed him and stepped on his words for me, but the burning subsided at that moment. I quickly escaped his embrace, which was not as strong anymore, and went to the bathroom to figure out what the hell was happening.

I could not use the mirror, but the phone worked great. I could have broken my own ark if I had to get the right angle. But luckily, I was flexible enough to take a picture of my back. And there it was, a black hole on my back - burned vampire flesh! It was almost in the middle, covering more of the left shoulder blade. It was nearly a perfect circle and a few inches in diameter. The way the skin was seared, it looked like the scar I got before from the sun when I was not careful a few times, except the shape was so strange. When I saw that spot, I knew it would take at least a day to heal if it was similar to the sunburn. I was wondering what would have happened if I was not naked. Would my clothes get caught on fire? I went back to the bedroom and checked the room, making sure no one else played a trick on me. But the shades were shot, and it was the middle of the night.

Were these my own words that made me burn? I have never said these words to anyone, not even to Elon, and maybe that was the right thing to do? Should I try again? I would not dare for a while. What was this special about this human that made me burn, or was it something else that was just a coincidence? I wondered if I should tell anyone, but I decided to wait a bit.

I kept this to myself, and in a day, the scar disappeared from my back, but not from my mind. It disturbed me, but I could not share it with anyone, not yet, not until I knew more.

When the night came, I would hang out with Elaine and Jose at parties that were not Silvia’s, or the bars alone, drinking with other humans just to see if I could ever feel anything close to what I felt for Daniel, but nothing could compare. I told another random human in the bar that I loved him, to see if anything would happen. Nothing transpired except me drinking him and then wiping his memory. No one needs to know that I uttered these words again.

He was also gone when I was sleeping. It was hard to let him go during the day, but he convinced me. Well, I didn’t know how to win that argument. He wanted his work so badly. What could I have said? All that came to mind was the glamour. I used it all my life but not with him, and I found myself having to speak and argue, and it didn’t work well. I had to do the same at night, leaving him in our bed alone. Our bed, it was ours now. I have pretty much abandoned my place to stay with him.

I still paid the rent for it, in case it didn’t work out with Daniel. I needed to make sure I had a safe place I could disappear to.

To add to my struggles, every human I have tried after Daniel had tasted fouler and fouler. The last woman I consumed made me vomit, and that never had happened before, either. I was unsure if I should blame Daniel as he somehow entrapped me in his taste, his body, his everything. Sometimes I was scared to be with him, as I could not trust myself, but then I had the pull that dragged me to him when he was not around. So I kept trying to occupy myself at least at night when he was sleeping.

One of the bars I often visit was where Redrick made me work. He joked every time he saw me that I should come back and work for him again.

It was rather strange, but I fondly remembered the few days I was working at the bar. Even though I was annoyed at first, especially because Redrick disappeared on me, I felt as though it gave me another purpose. Maybe it was not just to find Daniel but to occupy me with something different than consuming blood or my raw emotions.

So one day, when Redick jokingly asked me again if I wanted to work in his bar.

“Yes, why not?” I responded.

He lingered for a few minutes and then laughed.

“I knew you would be back. You are natural! When do you want to start?”

“How about now?”

“Sure,” he smiled, pleased.

On my way out in the morning, he handed me a bunch of papers.

“What is this?”

“There’s some information I need from you, mainly your bank account, unless you want to work for free here.”

I guess I had never had a real job before. Many new things were happening. I took the paper to look over later. I didn’t want to be late. I loved falling asleep in the bed where Daniel was still sleeping and I tossed the papers next to me on the floor.