by C. C. Kelly
“I’m sorry,” Holly reached over taking both of Tim’s hands in her own, “doesn’t time help, the years?”
The napkin forgotten, he didn’t pull away, he squeezed lightly back.
“Not really, I remember it all as if it were this morning; can still feel their heartbeats, their warmth. I’m sorry,” he said looking down at their entwined hands, she had beautiful hands, compassion even in her fingertips.
He hadn’t talked about these emotions and experiences in a very long time. He had never told anyone about Evette, his human wife or his vampire partner, Shoma. Even though he was scarcely telling Holly anything of true substance, the emotions were still there, raw and fresh again. Talking about it was both unsettling and comforting. It felt good to have someone who cared and Holly genuinely cared, true empathy and without compulsion. And that made what was coming next all the more difficult, but he already knew what he was going to do, for better or worse.
“May I ask you a question?”
She nodded.
“Why are you dressed like that?”
She glanced down at her outfit and then back with a tiny scowl, “My friend made me.”
“Don’t get me wrong, you look sexy as hell, incredible really - beautiful.”
Her eyes smiled and sparkled again catching the candle light, “But?”
“But, I see you leaning more towards sweaters with goofy embroidery, like kittens or something.”
Holly just couldn’t keep the grin from returning, “Sometimes.”
Tim smiled.
“You were just saying?” she asked.
“Just saying. Talk to me, tell me about you.”
“Like what? Not much to tell really,” she said, her turn to study the napkins.
“Everyone has a story, college?”
She nodded, “I left when I was eighteen, received a degree in Library Sciences, came home and went to work at the local library.”
“Dates? Boyfriends?”
She kept her head down as she answered, “No, well, some dates - here and there, but no real boyfriend.”
“No heartbreaks?”
She looked up and laughed softly, “No, not really, crushes don’t count I wouldn’t think.”
“Interesting,” he paused and grinned at her, “I think you are holding back. Everyone has a heartbreak, at least one.”
“No, not me - I’m old fashioned; I don’t mix well with boys my age.”
He shook her hands gently and she looked up, “I’m old fashioned and definitely not your age. Perhaps you’ll share what you’re holding back with me, someday?”
She smiled and her eyes twinkled again.
“I’m guessing a big family, Dad works with words or something?”
Holly’s eyes opened slightly in surprise again, “Yes, another good guess? Big family, and my father works at the local paper. He’s an editor. Are you psychic after all?”
“Nope, I hope they like me.”
“What did you say?” she asked, unsure.
“Nothing, nothing,” he responded, releasing one of her hands and waving the comment away.
Tim sighed, looked around at the other speed daters who were sitting still, the empty chatter quiet now and then back at their joined hands. He began to fiddle with his napkin again, “Our time is about over here and there is one thing you should know about us, about me, about where the lore gets it right.”
“Already?”
“Yeah, rules.”
Holly was unsettled by this news; they didn’t seem to be done at all, “Speed dating rules? Speed dating has unbreakable rules? Are we going to be sent to speed dating jail?”
He stared at her earnestly.
“Okay, what does the lore have right exactly?”
Tim took an uncomfortable breath, “We do have this neat little telepathy thing. We can control - lesser minds, sometimes even at a distance if you’re good and I’m,” he paused, “I’m wicked good.”
Holly took a mental step back, “Are you saying that you can control minds? You’re saying I - am a lesser mind?”
She pulled her hand free and sat back straight in her chair.
Tim nodded ever so slightly, missing that warm delicate hand immediately.
“Have you been controlling my mind this whole time?” she asked, slightly put off, but not really believing it either.
“Some,” he said looking down again, avoiding those deep golden brown eyes.
“Some, like what?” Holly asked, her voice rising in irritation, “Did you make me do something that I don’t remember? Did you beguile me to have sex with you in the bathroom, something like that?”
“No, no, no, nothing like that,” he said defensively. The sliver had sprouted into a tangle of old memories, emotions and urges pushing forward now, demanding his attention, “Just a little at first.”
“At first?” she responded angrily. She leveled a withering glare at Tim.
He felt like he had been slapped, “Trust me.”
“Trust you?”
Holly had found her self hoping for more than just a lunch date, many more dates in fact. She wanted to know more about this other Tim, the hidden Tim. But, now she felt betrayed by those feelings. And if this was all in her mind, what did it mean? She didn’t feel like she was being controlled.
She still thought Tim was dressed rather silly, clown armor or not, he desperately needed some fashion advice and that hat had to disappear never to be seen again. He was just this average guy. But at the same time, she was completely accepting and believing that Tim was an actual vampire. That didn’t make sense, vampires weren’t real. She was confused and she didn’t like it. She pushed back from the table slightly and folded her arms across her chest defensively.
“I have to do something else you might not like Holly, more rules.”
Holly didn’t like what she was hearing, even if his tone was conciliatory. She glanced over at Deb. Deb looked at her with uncharacteristically bright shining eyes and said nothing; she just flashed Holly a broad smile, wide enough to show fangs at the corners of her ruby red lips.
“You are beautiful beyond words Holly Wheeton, inside and out, you know? I can taste you in ways you’ve never imagined, you’re incredible and you have no idea. And I’m not just saying.”
Holly suddenly became afraid, very afraid. She grabbed the table to push herself away, looking around and noticing for the first time the hush that had fallen over the room, everyone staring at her; and then she made the mistake of glancing at Tim one last time before she ran.
She stopped, responding to those controlling eyes again, relaxing and then settled back into her chair, palms resting placidly in her lap.
“I’m almost sorry about this,” Tim said, “almost. Please forgive me.”
Tim focused his eyes into Holly’s, a dull haze fell across her countenance. She leaned across the table, raising one hand to pull her blonde curls back over one shoulder, exposing her neck. She glanced up at the ceiling, serene.
As if on cue, twelve ‘dates’ leaned across their own tables, Tim among them and pulled back hungry lips exposing sharp fangs and sank them into the proffered necks before them.
Tim’s fangs sank deep, Holly’s blood pumping wildly into his mouth and over his tongue. She tasted as amazing as he knew she would, he shivered and tingled, his mind flooding.
As he became one with Holly, sensing her pulse, intimately tasting her and immersing himself in her being, the notion that had begun to creep into Tim’s mind was now long gone, replaced with excitement of the unknown once again. A feeling not felt in over a century had reached out and furiously anchored relentless claws into his heart. He welcomed those forgotten feelings and began to ponder possibilities, futures and then to greedily surrender to them - without doubt.
He could sense that Holly was about to explode from the repressed thirst for excitement and adventure and he wanted to let her, he wanted to give her the opportunity to explore every desire, every romantic wh
im. At least, he thought that was what he was sensing - he hoped anyway.
He had touched her mind with only the mildest of compulsions and he was excited too, but not so much sexually (although that was part of it to be sure). This feeling was much deeper, more permanent. He was falling in love with Holly Wheeton, odd under the circumstances, but not that unusual for a vampire - compulsiveness was a character flaw with Tim. But tonight, he thought of it as courage.
Deb caught Tim’s attention over the metro-sexual’s shoulder and projected, “You understand now Timothy, tonight? I know you don’t plan to drain her, she’s my friend you know - I always planned for you to turn her. I know I wasn’t there for you in the beginning, but I never stopped looking out for you, loving you.”
Tim’s eyes became moist and lit up with boyish mischief and happiness. He had already decided to turn Holly, but he was very pleased indeed that he not only had Mistress Debrochette’s blessing, but that she was already well aware of what he was discovering in this amazing woman. He was grateful now, aware that she had set this evening up especially for Holly and himself. His only fear now was how Holly would react to waking up as a vampire. And knowing he had turned her.
*******
Holly lounged on her new oversized chenille chaise in her favorite flannel night shirt, Mittens comfortably nestled in her lap, thick crocheted socks folded and waiting on the coffee table, deeply immersed in the burning of Atlanta once again. She was pleasantly aware of her feet in Tim’s lap, a soft massage before he gave her a pedicure.
“I fucking love your feet,” Tim cooed.
Holly wiggled her toes, smiled and gently wagged a finger at him, “Language dear, language.”
Author’s Note
I would like to thank you for reading this story and truly hope you enjoyed the experience. I would also like to ask you to spare a little time and leave a review for the story; either negative or positive is fine – both help me to tell better stories, which helps me to better entertain you.
Other Titles by C.C. Kelly
30 Stories to God
The Essay
Suicide in the Third
Sometimes in the Light
Syndication
Upcoming New Short Stories
Gamma Series
Monsters
The Elevator
Silo Bob: A Gamma Series Story
Upcoming New Fantasy Series
Revenants of Aun:
Book I of the Olec Prophecy
Fairies of Aun:
Book II of the Olec Prophecy
Vampires of Aun:
Book III of the Olec Prophecy
