"I swear this is the last time I say yes to working a double shift on a weeknight. Not only did I make lousy tips, now I have to walk home in this creepy fog late at night. Fog in the middle of New Mexico! It's not natural!" Ella stopped and laughed for a second. "And working too many hours clearly drives me to talk to myself and answer. A sure sign of insanity if I ever heard of one. I agree."
Shaking her head at her own silliness, Ella quickened her pace, ready to take a nice, long, hot shower, and crawl into bed. Then, rest her aching body, try to forget her crappy day, and get some much needed sleep. Though she only worked a few blocks from her apartment, she really wished she had driven today. However, having thought that she would be getting off at six o'clock, not staying until after two in the morning she had opted to walk.
The streets were nearly deserted as it was close to three on a Tuesday morning, but Ella had an uneasy feeling as she hurried along. She felt as if someone watched her every move and that the unexpected fog had a more sinister meaning to it.
"Fog happens!" she snapped, chastising herself for feeding jumpy fears, but quickened her already fast pace.
She kept scanning the streets and listening for someone who might be following, pepper spray in hand and at the ready just in case, and glad that she knew how to defend herself if forced to. Having been on her own since she was fifteen, Ella was confident she could take care of herself if something should happen. Still, since she wore her bartending clothes, tight jeans and a sexy top, all showing curves to their fullest, she worried. Therefore making her even more nervous about being alone this late at night on a deserted street. At times like this it was not good for an attractive, short, curvy brunette to be wandering alone.
This was definitely one of those nights when Ella wished someone waited at home for her. Someone who would notice if she never made it, someone to miss her and come searching to make sure she was okay. But she probably wouldn't be out here by herself in the first place, if she had someone like that. There would be someone next to her walking her home or would have picked her up. But there had never been anyone waiting at home for her, not even when she was a kid. So why should her adult life be any different?
As she thought all this to herself, the loneliness of her situation sank her mood a little lower. You would think that she would be used to being alone. She had been on her own since she took off from foster care as a teenager but it never seemed to get any easier. The loneliness in her soul never seemed to lessen. The pain of never knowing love only deepened with each passing year.
At last, Ella could see her apartment building and began to relax; she was almost safe and sound at home. Her mind already raced toward showering and crawling into bed and she never heard or saw what came up behind to grab her. She tried to scream, but a cold and awful smelling hand clamped down hard over her mouth. The next moment she was lifted off the ground and pulled back into the shadows of an alley between some businesses closed for the evening. There was no one around to see the abduction, no cars driving down the street, no one to help.
As she struggled to get free, Ella could feel that she was exciting the man who had a hold of her even more. She bit the hand over her mouth even though a sickening slime oozed out of it, kicked as hard as she could, and used all her strength to fight off her attacker. Still, she could not get free. Fear began to grip Ella, she started to hyperventilate and things started to grow blurry and dark. That's when she felt the bite and tearing of flesh in her shoulder and the terrible pain brought her back to full and terrorized reality.
She knew she would die, that one of the vampires rumored to be plaguing the city, the ones she dismissed as non-sense to sell papers, were real and she was dinner for one. Ella continued to struggle, but she began running through her life and her many regrets in her head. There were so many things that she was never going to be able to do and see. She would never get a chance to live out her dreams, never going to love and be loved as she had always hoped. Loneliness and pain the legacy of her life. Everything was over and all the fight began to leave Ella.
Just as the creature tore another chunk of flesh from her shoulder, Ella heard her attacker let out a startled shriek of his own and he dropped her roughly to the ground. She laid there bleeding, wondering what was happening, who had helped her, thinking that she should get up and run. But she couldn't even seem to roll over and see what went on behind her at the moment. Whether it was that she had lost the will to live or too much blood she didn't know. Probably a little of both.
Ella must have drifted out of consciousness, because the next thing she knew, she felt someone gently turning her over and a soft male voice spoke.
"Miss? Can you hear me? Miss, can you answer me? I need to move you and get you out of here."
Ella's eyes fluttered open. She gazed up at the most beautiful man she had ever seen. "I am dying," she said with absolute conviction.
Concern creased the gorgeous man's face as he looked down at her. "You are hurt and have lost some blood, but you will live."
Ella noticed that he had an accent, French she thought, that made him even more beautiful and unreal. There were no breathtaking French men in New Mexico. That must be the form her personal angel took.
She shook her head. "There is no need to lie. I know I am dying. You're an angel right?"
The beautiful angel, as Ella thought of her rescuer, stared at her in silence for a moment and then let out a hearty laugh. "I have been called a lot of things in my loft, but never an angel. Trust me when I say that I am no angel and that you are not dying. Now, let me help you up. We have to treat the bite before you get infected." He helped her sit up very gently.
"Infected? But I thought that vampires had to give you blood to get infected?"
"That was no vampire that bit you. That was a ghoul, simply an animated corpse, no real intelligence or purpose, just hunger and feeding." Her rescuer examined Ella to assess her wounds. "Do you think that you can stand and walk, or shall I carry you?"
"Ghoul? What happens if I am infected? I can't become a ghoul!" Ella's mind seemed to be a step behind with everything that the non-angel told her.
"I won't let you turn into a ghoul; I can cleanse the wounds completely. But we need to get moving. We need to get out of here in case there are more ghouls wandering around. They will be drawn to the scent of your blood and of their decomposing friend over there." Clearly deciding that she was not in the shape to walk, he bent and picked her up quite easily even though she was no waif.
It took Ella a moment to realize that they were heading away from her apartment building. "Hey where are you taking me? I don't even know you! Can't you take me to the hospital or something? Or just take me home? My apartment is right there."
"No, I have the supplies we need at my loft. Trust me, I am much better equipped to handle this than a hospital. Most medical professionals do not believe in such things as ghouls and vampires, so they will be of no help to you now." He looked down at her and gave a gentle smile. "And as far as knowing me, my name is Mel. I promise I won't let any harm come to you. You can relax. You are safe with me."
Ella felt something inside of her relax for some unknown reason and put up no further protest as Mel continued to carry her. "My name is Gabriella, but everyone calls me Ella." They then fell into a comfortable silence, even though in the back of her mind Ella knew she should be frightened. Frightened of the stranger who carried her to some unknown location, frightened of the idea that a ghoul had attacked her, frightened that said ghoul had infected her. Instead, all she felt was an eerie calm.
"You should sleep," Mel whispered in her ear.
She didn't know if it was the aftermath of what happened, the severe blood loss, or if Mel had some sort of suggestive powers, but that is exactly what she did. Ella fell asleep in his arms as he quickly and quietly carried her through the deserted streets of predawn Albuquerque.
****
Ella awoke screaming, jolted by a stinging pain as something
was poured into the wounds on her shoulder. It took her a few minutes to get her bearings, to realize that she was lying on her stomach on a large leather sofa with towels underneath her. It took another moment to realize she was topless with her strange rescuer, Mel, kneeling beside her.
She tried to sit up, but Mel put a gentle hand on her uninjured shoulder and pushed her back down.
"I am sorry about the pain, but your wounds must be completely cleaned. The worst of it should be finished; the first douse is always the most painful. Lie still and it will soon be over. Then you can get up and shower if you would like."
Ella did as he said, but decided she could still ask some questions as the jolt of pain seemed to have brought some of her senses back into focus. "Where am I? Why is my shirt off? How long have I been unconscious? Who are you really? How did you fight off a ghoul and how are you so sure it was a ghoul in the first place? There have been reports of vampires in the papers lately. Are you sure it wasn't a vampire? I mean, it did bite me and drink my blood, after all."
Mel smiled and Ella took her first good look at him. No wonder she'd thought him an angel when they first met. He was quite handsome, with very dark, European good looks. His nearly black hair was slightly curly and fell just over his ears. His eyes were such a deep brown that you could barely make out the pupil in them, a liquidly color that she thought she could drown in if she kept looking.
He had generous lips and the whitest, straightest teeth she had ever seen. Since he knelt beside her, Ella couldn't tell how tall he was. However, as he only had a tank top on over some nice fitting jeans, she certainly noticed that he was lean and muscular. He looked like a fashion magazine model come to life. Ella took all of this in as she waited for him to answer her questions.
"You seem to be getting your facilities back. That is good. You are at my home and you have only been asleep for a few minutes. It did not take long for me to get you here. I removed your shirt and undergarment for they were badly ripped and bloody and so I could get a better look at your wounds. I swear that there has been no impropriety on my part; your honor is intact."
To both of their surprise Ella actually giggled. "No impropriety on your part? My honor is intact? Who talks like that? What, did you just step out of a Jane Austen novel?"
Mel gave Ella a bemused look. "I suppose I do speak differently than most, but I am from another culture after all. Now, brace yourself. I have to cleanse the wounds once more." He poured some more liquid into the bites on her shoulder and she screamed, again, though the pain was a little less than before.
"What are you putting on my back?"
"A mixture of holy water and some herbs, it takes care of the venom and germs that ghouls carry. It takes care of the bites of most supernatural creatures, as a matter of fact. It will also keep you from getting infected." Mel poured more of the mixture into the wounds, and this time Ella did not scream though her wounds still stung.
"What would have happened to me if I had become infected? Would I become a ghoul?" she asked tentatively, not really sure she wanted to know.
After giving her question some thought, Mel answered, "No, you would not have become a full ghoul. One must be dead in order for that to happen. Ghouls are very closely related to zombies, except they are not in the control of someone who animated them. They are animated on their own, though they retain very little intelligence. If the ghoul who attacked had succeeded in killing you, then you might have arisen a ghoul yourself. There are very few who survive such attacks, so it is hard to say what you would have become if you had lived and become infected. However, it would not have been pretty. Some sort of abomination, not quite living but not really dead."
"I guess I owe you a lot of thanks then. How is it that you know so much about the supernatural? I wasn't much of a believer of the vampire stories that have been circulating lately, let alone a believer in ghouls and zombies." She watched Mel's face intently, wanting to see if he would tell her the truth of who he was.
A shadow passed quickly over his face. "The stories about vampires that have been appearing lately have actually been ghoul attacks. Vampires are much better at covering their tracks and do not attack in such a mindless manner. The press just got wind of the victims being bitten and having lost a lot of blood. Naturally, they created a vampire conspiracy. In actuality, blood is not being drunk, flesh is being eaten by the ghouls. The blood loss is simply a result of the bites."
He poured more liquid in the wounds and Ella found that the pain was indeed lessening. Mel nodded, smiled slightly and put away the bottle. "You are now cleansed. The wounds will heal normally now. Though, I will have to bandage them and you will have scars."
Ella nodded from her prone position. "Thank you. You still have not answered my questions as to how you fought off a ghoul and how you know so much about supernatural thing."
Mel looked a little uncomfortable. When he spoke his French accent became more pronounced. "I guess I can just say that dealing with the supernatural is my lot in life, it has been that way for a very long time. I have dedicated myself to trying to protect the innocent from that which they do not understand or even believe in. It is a penance of sorts. My way of trying to live a good life, though I do not always succeed in that goal." His eyes looked sad as he got up and came back with a common first aid kit. "I will bandage your wounds now, then you can get up."
Ella stared at Mel's beautiful and sad face while he concentrated on bandaging her wounds. "I don't know why you are so hard on yourself, but I know you saved my life tonight. So, in my book, you are a hero, if not an angel."
A slight smile crossed Mel's angelic face. "That is kind, but as I said before I am no angel. Nor am I a hero." He finished taping up her back. "There, your wounds are clean and bandaged. Would you like to take a shower?"
"Yes, that would be nice. I feel grimy." Without thinking, Ella sat up, then became embarrassed and quickly placed her arms over her bare breasts. She was sure that Mel's eyes had quickly taken in her assets, before she grabbed the towel beneath her to cover herself.
He reached out a tentative hand to help her up. "Let me show you to the bathroom. Please feel free to use anything that you need and I will try to find you some clean clothes that might fit."
"Thank you," Ella said quietly. She felt a little unsteady on her feet, but she went into the bathroom by herself and shut the door.
****
For a moment, Ella just stared at her reflection in the mirror. Boy, did she look horrible. Her makeup had already been fading by the time she got off work. Now what remained was smeared along with dirt and blood. Her brown eyes seemed to be frozen in a surprised and frightened look. Her long chestnut hair was tangled and matted. She grabbed a brush that Mel had said she could use and worked on her hair until it hung smoothly to the middle of her back. She looked down at the rest of her body. There were bruises forming where the ghoul had grabbed her. She tried to look at the bites, but Mel had cleaned and covered them so well she could not see how bad they really were. Her jeans were dirty and torn, so she pulled them off, tossed them aside and then turned on the shower.
The hot water felt good on Ella's aching body. As she stood under the flow of water, all the events of the evening began to replay through her mind. She scrubbed herself harder and harder, trying to make herself feel clean and safe. All that had happened became too much, and she started to sob uncontrollably. Ella slid down the side of the shower, wrapped her arms around her legs, and just cried and cried.
There was a knock on the door. Mel called out, "Ella, are you ok? Can you answer me? Is there anything I can do to help?"
Ella tried to answer, but all that came out was some sort of wounded yelp, more of a cry of pain than a coherent answer. Apparently that response caused concern, for Mel opened the door, rushed in and had the shower open so quickly that Ella could not even think about modesty.
Mel, still clad in jeans and tank top, crawled into the shower to examine what was wrong. When he c
ould find no physical cause for her state, he simply sat down and pulled Ella to him, holding her and comforting her for a long time.
Gradually, Ella began to calm down, to let go of the horror she felt and she became more aware of her present situation. Despite all that she had been though tonight, she felt her body respond to the closeness of Mel. His clothes were soaked and clung to every contour of his body. He held her on his lap and still stroked her back in a calming motion. She looked up into his chocolate eyes, which, realizing the change that was occurring in her mood, began to darken even more in reaction.
Not able to take her gaze off his eyes, Ella rubbed her hands down his chest, down his wet clothes, and mumbled, "Your clothes are soaked through. That must not be very comfortable, perhaps we should get you out of them."
Mel swallowed before he spoke. "It's not a problem. I am just glad that you are feeling better. I should have known that shock would set in. I should not have left you alone. I am sorry for my lapse in judgment."
Ella moved ever so slightly within his embrace. Just that subtle movement sent a whole new wave of pleasurable sensations through her body, blocking out the pain and fear she had been suffering moments before. She placed her hand on Mel's chest and felt a slight shiver run through him as well.
"I'm feeling much better now." Her voice barely a whisper, she added, "Really we should get you out of those wet clothes." She then began to try to pull his tank top off of him, scared to examine her brazenness too much, and instead deciding to just go with what felt right at the moment.
Mel's eyes widened in shock at her actions, and he gently held her hand to stop her from undressing him. "You don't need to do this to pay me back. You have been through a lot tonight. I think this just might be a reaction to all the stress, plus you are in shock. You need rest, not this."
Ella smiled, removed her hand from his hold, and finally managed to work his wet shirt off him. She took a moment to stare at his amazingly toned and muscular torso. Though he was slender, it was clear that he was very powerful as well. No wonder he could pick her up so easily.
Blood, Lust and Love Page 6
