“I’m not trying to be funny, Gabby… and this isn’t a prank either,” he said firmly as he stood up and walked closer to her, afraid she might run away before he had the chance to explain his wild revelation to her. “I’m not crazy… and I’m not lying to you either. I promise. But you need to understand that I don’t have fangs… and I am quite comfortable existing in daylight.”
Gabby looked at Asher the same way a chained animal might look at its captor. Instinctively, she backed away from him and moved slowly toward her apartment door though trying not to draw any attention to her.
“Asher… you can’t be serious? No way! You’re not pranking me are you?” Then silence… Gabby’s eyes widened as realization sank in amidst the speech he just gave her. “My invention… that night we first met… when I jumped on you… it was really working… really… right?”
Asher continued to look directly at her hoping she would return his gaze. “Yes,” he nodded slowly giving his words time to sink in. “I’ve wanted to tell you almost since that night. But for so long, well, to be honest… I didn’t know how you would react actually finding what you had been looking for for so long. So I lied to you that night. I mean, can you blame me?” he asked her with a little tremble in his tone.
“Plus… this isn’t the kind of thing you just tell every Tom, Dick and Harry on the streets you know? I needed to be able to thoroughly trust you before I could even begin to think about telling you my secret… So, can I trust you Gabby?” he asked her hopefully. It was clear to her that he was having second thoughts now – wondering if he might have made a mistake in telling her his secret.
Gabby just stood there, silent. Then she began. “I…” Gabby tried to continue but couldn’t think what to say next. Her mind raced as she thought how her whole life, she had spent hunting creatures just like him. She hunted them to prove how dangerous and real they were. Her mind filled with images of vampires and werewolves attacking young women and children in the middle of the night.
Then her focus changed a bit and she began to think about all those years of research… and all the time she had spent working on her scanner… and all the teasing, and jokes and laughing behind her back! All at her expense! She was actually starting to get a little pissed off with this conversation – fear was quickly being replaced with anger.
Finally, Gabby asked him one question. “So, how do you survive?”
Chapter 7
He stood there not wanting to go on… he cringed slightly but he knew that question would be coming. “Well… first of all you need to believe me when I tell you that I don’t kill people,” he murmured.
Over the weeks they had been hanging out he had heard her theories on vampires on more than one occasion and knew they were not exactly flattering. “But I do drink blood, that’s true,” he admitted.
“But only from animals – I buy it from my butcher. It comes in bottles and jugs. But I don’t drink directly from the animal either – I’m not a killer!” he said, as he looked over at her, wondering if that would be how she saw him now, as a cold blooded killer.
“Okaaaaayyyy,” she said, slowly drawing out that one word, not knowing how to respond to his confession. “But… the way you eat… or drink, whatever. Why do you do it like that?” she was a bit bolder now, eyeing him suspiciously as she talked. “Do you do that because you are afraid to get caught? Or do you do that… because you prefer to live like that? I mean, is that normal for a vampire? Do all vampires do that?”
Asher could tell from her line of questioning that he was probably going to be here for a while – good thing he came so early after all. “So – you want to know if I’d prefer to murder people and be a serial killer?” he asked, obviously a little more than tense now.
Obviously Gabby had hurt his feelings with that line of questioning, but as a scientist she felt it was important for her to completely understand what he was saying to her. In all of the studies and research she had done about vampires, they all described vampires as possessing a relentless bloodlust, one that in fact made it almost impossible for a vampire not to drink directly from a human being. Blood compelled them to kill and was the one thing above all others that they desired.
“No, I’m not a killer,” he said to her, steadfast in his conviction. “I have never killed a person… you have to believe me. And I do not enjoy the bloody aspects of being a vampire. From the beginning of my existence in this state, I have always refused to comply with that kind of act. You know, just because I am a vampire, it doesn’t mean that I agree with the taking of any human lives. I may be a monster… but I do have scruples. I really do have a conscience.”
It was evident that Gabby was getting more interested in the conversation – the scientist in her, her curiosity, it was all starting to come out. Just like on the first night they met. She sighed with relief, moved away from the door, sat back in her desk chair and then asked him, “So… what else can you tell me? I want to know everything!” She wanted to know everything about him… about his ways… about his life.
“Well, not all vampires can do this, but since you asked… and we are doing so well here…” he said a bit sarcastically, then continued, “I can read minds,” came out as a whisper.
“No way! OMG!” Gabby exclaimed, suddenly really flushed – and deeply embarrassed too, because she had fantasized about Asher on more than one occasion – and probably some times even when they were together.
“No, Gabby, noooo,” he replied quickly. “No, I don’t read your mind. I’ve never read your mind,” and then the old Asher emerged as he offered her a sly smile and wink as soon as he noticed her flushed cheeks. “Although… maybe I should do that from now on out. Seriously, I hold your trust in utter respect and I would never do that without your permission first.”
He went on, “Personally, I think it’s highly disrespectful to look into the mind of someone that you trust without their knowledge and understanding first. Kind of like reading someone’s mail without asking. But I want you to know… that I do trust you Gabby. 100%! I hope I’m not wrong to do that. Please don’t prove me wrong.”
As Asher continued, the heaviness of what he was telling her started to sink in. Her invention, the one she had been working on for years, it worked! That first night she met him, it had worked – unbelievable! The realization that her theories were correct after all these years, and she was right in what she saw all those years ago as a child… well, she was almost overwhelmed! Turns out she wasn’t a nut job after all.
A happiness and thrill rushed through her like a kid at Christmas. Gabby looked at Asher with a new fascination and interest. Now it was her turn to find out the truth she had searched for, and for so long. Plus, since he had awakened the scientist in her she had plenty of questions to ask him, and they had plenty of time to get started.
Gabby got up, walked over to her mini fridge, opened the door and grabbed a can of soda. “Want one?” she asked Asher – he shook his head no. She popped the top took a big swallow and walked back to her desk chair and sat down before continuing. “So, how old are you – really?” she asked, and before he could answer she followed that question with, “Do you know other vampires? Do you have a sire? Where are you from… and how did you get to be a vampire?”
At first Asher looked a bit shocked at the barrage of questions he got from her, and then he sat back in his chair with a small smile forming on his face. “You know, it’s really kind of hard to define age but I’ve been around for a while needless to say,” he began and then quickly hopped to the next question. “I do know of other vampires, yes, but overall we are creatures of isolation – kind of like leopards in the wild. And yes, of course I once had a creator to become what you see now,” his voice trailed off with that comment, and Gabby detected something – was it a pang of loneliness in his voice, as he answered her questions?
But before she could ask him more about that particular fact, he slowly leaned forward until their eyes were looking dire
ctly into each other, their faces only inches apart – he reached out and shyly touched her hand and said, “Gabby… I really need you to understand that you can’t tell anyone about what I have just told you. Anyone! Promise me that you understand – and that you will not reveal my secret.”
“But Asher? Why? Why can’t I share it – you know all about my research – why keep this a secret? I mean, what would it do other than prove that my work is correct and that I’m not crazy?” she asked, feeling a little bit of fear all of a sudden, with him being so close to her.
Before today she had never been frightened of Asher, not even a little. But now, after hearing all that he had just told her, now that she knew what he really was, and that her research was really true, she found it somewhat difficult not to feel a little bit of danger mixed with her growing curiosity.
“Trust me, Gabby. I know what I am talking about. My kind, we are hunted by everything – demons, werewolves, fairies – you name it. And if one of them finds me, they will kill me on the spot. No mercy of any kind. Plus, as if that wasn’t bad enough all by itself, just think about it for a second… if people, I mean other people, were to find out that, yes, vampires are really real, can you even imagine what kind of chaos that would create? There’s no telling what those same people would do once they found out the truth. I mean, it could be anything… from some sort of testing to prosecution. Either way, I can promise you that none of that would be any sort of fun,” he held her gaze, not allowing her to looking away from him.
“Promise me Gabby… right now” he asked, this time in a more commanding tone that let her know that it really was not a question.
Gabby just looked at him as the hope of proving her theories died… spontaneously popping all around her, just like tiny soap bubbles in the air. She bit into her bottom lip, feeling terrible at the idea of having to continue to keep this a secret after years and years of work, study, searching and research. More than anything she wanted to prove to her fellow scientists, family, and friends, that she had been right all along and that supernatural creatures were really real.
But she also didn’t want to do anything to put Asher at risk. She didn’t want to agree with him, but finally, the words she did not want to say came out of her mouth. “I promise, Asher,” she murmured under her breath.
The very instant those words left her lips, he leaned in for long, soft and sweet kiss, one that quite honestly took her by surprise and took her breath away too. Up until now they had never done more than hold hands. They had never kissed before, even though the chance had risen a few times, but things just never worked out for it to happen. She had to admit to herself though, that she was as frightened by it, as she was excited by it.
She found herself staring at him in some sort of loopy daze as he pulled away after the kiss was finished. Asher sat there for a second waiting to see what kind of response he would receive from the kiss. She just stared at him with a weird expression that he had never seen before on her sweet, scientist face – so he stood up and walked toward the door. As he turned the cold door knob in his hand he hesitated just for a second as he looked back her way.
“Gabby, remember your promise,” he reminded her.
Looking down at the floor with her hands still in her lap, Gabby could only say, “I will.”
Chapter 8
She lay wide awake that night, barely able to contain herself… bursting at the seams with the new information she had learned today. Finally, when she just couldn’t hold it any longer, she reached across her night stand and grabbed for her cell phone.
Gabby’s best friend at the University, Beth, who she had known since they were kids, she would know what to do. Gabby wanted to keep her promise to Asher but she also felt it really important that at least one more trustworthy person ought to know – just in case. What if Asher was not as trustworthy as he had always seemed to her? Especially now that she knew his secret… What if she just disappeared?
She felt that she needed someone else to know what was going on in case something happened to her. Beth was her best friend at the University, and Gabby knew Beth would be able to keep her (Asher’s) secret. She had kept hundreds of other ones for her over the years – this one wouldn’t be any different. So she hit the speed dial and Beth answered the phone on the second ring.
They spoke for over an hour. When she finally confessed Asher’s revelation to Beth, there was a long silence on the other end of the phone. Finally, after what seemed forever to Gabby, Beth asked her friend in a casual tone, just like they were talking about any other regular boy, “Are you sure?”
“Well, I mean, it’s not as if he bit me or anything,” Gabby said and then she whispered in return. “Beth, I really don’t think he was lying either.”
“Gabby, vampires are dangerous,” Beth warned.
“Duh! Yeah, I know that – but Asher won’t hurt me,” Gabby insisted. She began to whisper again, “Beth, you can’t tell anyone else. You have to promise me, okay? Asher told me this in the strictest confidence – he trusted me with this, his secret… but I just thought it might be safer for me to share it with someone, you know?” her voice trembled as she stopped speaking.
“Gabby, please, just promise me that you’ll be very, very careful,” Beth pleaded with her friend. “I don’t like the idea at all of you getting mixed up in anything so disturbing.”
“You know I’ll be careful, Beth,” Gabby assured her friend as she started to relax a bit. “So what do you think? Of his secret, I mean. Isn’t it incredible?”
“Yeah. That’s really one way to put it I guess,” Beth kind of laughed into her phone. When they finally hung up Gabby felt much better having shared the new secret discovery with her best friend. In just a few moments she began to fall asleep and in less than an hour she was sleeping soundly.
Chapter 9
Not even a week later, an urgent banging on her apartment door woke Gabby from a deep sleep. She picked up her cell phone to see the time and grumbled when she saw it was just after two in the morning. Gabby put on her robe and flip flops and shuffled sleepily to the front door to see what was going on. She looked through the peephole, rubbed her eyes again, and then opened the door when she realized that she knew the person on the other side.
Asher was inside her apartment just as soon as the door opened, “Gabby, did you tell anyone?” his eyes quickly searched her face. He seemed a little frantic, quite actually.
Gabby was visibly still sleepy drunk. She did her best to respond to his question. “What are you talking about? Tell what?” she asked him, still trying to wake up. “Do you know what time it is…”
Asher got so close to her so fast, that he scared her, even in her sleepy state. Startled, she stepped back from him slightly. “Gabby, you know exactly what I’m talking about! Did you tell anyone at all about our conversation last week?”
She could only yawn. “Of course not, Asher,” then she yawned again, still trying to wake up. “Couldn’t we talk about this some other time? It’s really late and I have class tomorrow…”
“No, we can’t… because they’re after me right now! They found me. I don’t know any other way this could have happened, but I have to leave. There is no other way they could have found out… you… you are the only person I have ever shared my secret with,” he growled at her. He stood next to the front door acting as if he were afraid to move. Then he motioned for her to be still and to quiet down.
Gabby whispered to him, “But who’s after you, Asher? What are you talking about?” she was still not completely aware of what he was telling her.
“The werewolves, Gabby, the werewolves… they found me.” Asher whispered to her. “Remember, I told you about it the other day… they found out about me… I don’t know how but they did and… they want to kill me,” he looked deep into her eyes.
Gabby suddenly felt a wave of guilt pass through her – strong enough to wake her from her drowsy state. She realized what he was talking about,
and instantly understood that it might very well be her own fault that Asher’s secret was out. But surely Beth wouldn’t have told anyone? She had promised to keep her secret.
Asher paced back and forth in front of the door, almost like a caged animal, agitated at being captured. After a minute or so of his pacing, he slowed a bit and she could tell he was ready to leave.
“Wait a minute. Ashe, wait… where are you going?” she asked.
Still standing by the door, he froze in place. He didn’t answer her questions either, moving his index finger over his lips. He was listening to something very intently, almost as if he had already heard something on the other side of the door. Gabby heard nothing. Suddenly, though, his eyes widened with what she thought was fear and he whispered to her, “They’re already here.”
“Who? What are you talking about, Ashe?” she asked him nervously.
He looked directly at her and put his index finger over his lips again, whispering, “Gabby, Shhhh! I can sense their presence. Remember… with my telepathy, I told you about that the other day.”
Just as he finished his sentence, two large, muscle bound, dangerous looking men wearing dark clothing including a mask burst through her front door. She started to scream but nothing came out. Not even a peep. The strange men didn’t even pay attention to her, though, but went right for Asher.
Right in front of her eyes a fight broke out in her apartment like she’d never seen before. MMA worthy for sure. Tables broke, chairs were flying, her bed collapsed… then… there went her laptop… aargh… there went one of the bad guys… surely someone would call the police because of all the noise they were making at this time of the night!
Dark DNA: A Paranormal Romance (Vampire and Werewolf) Page 3
