-1

The first thing you should know about me and I want to be absolutely clear on this is; I’m not crazy. I swear, at times I thought I was, I prayed I was. But I wasn’t and I’m not. The second thing you should know about me and I feel like I should whisper it, is that for the six months I have been living with a vampire.

I know, I know, you think I have got the opening fact about me wrong. Who could blame you? Vampires are the stuff of legends, of old movies and of quotable television programmes but I am being serious, they exist. And boy, do I know about it, my cartons of orange juice shared a refrigerator shelf with bags of blood for four weeks until I insisted we get separate kitchen appliances. Jonas, that’s the vampire, thought it was funny that I was willing to share his bed but not his shelf. So? Food hygiene matters.

Yes, Jonas’ bed. Jonas’ bed is large, comforting and terribly, terribly inviting. When I am not awake and getting a complex about my unconventional relationship with my un-dead beloved, I am lying in it, either alone with the sheets pulled tight around me or enjoying my unconventional relationship with my un-dead beloved. It’s not what you would imagine for a vampires bed, you might be thinking, burgundy crushed velvet, shiny black satin, a four poster even with a few fresh corpses underneath, I was. But it’s a simple pine bed, with two soft pillows and high thread count sheets, all white. That bed is partly to blame for our bizarre relationship. His bed and almost getting killed by another of Jonas’ kind.

Before Jonas’ came out as a previously mythical creature he was a patron at the coffee house where I had just started to work. Somewhat ironically I thought he was a freak because he seemed to quite like me. There had to be something wrong with him because he was beautiful, I mean really beautiful, the kind of beauty that you never expect to see in your life ever. He was tall, he towered above me, dark haired with a silly floppy fringe that fell in front of his blue eyes. And the guy was built. But there he was asking me what I did at the weekend and telling me how pretty I looked with my hair up. The guy had to be on some serious crack to think that. In hindsight he probably thought I looked pretty with my hair up because he could get a better view of my neck. Jonas was a very loyal customer but I never noticed he only came in and bought coffee at dusk and barely touched it, too busy checking him out; a lot. I wasn’t very good at hiding it, couldn’t help but stare and when I noticed that he noticed me noticing him, my cheeks would blush the deepest red. And he would smile and look at me in such a way. God it even makes me blush now to think about it now; he looked at me like I was a big dinner and he hadn’t even for a week. Thankfully that proved not to be too much of a literal comparison. After a while he started walking me home, it was sweet the old fashioned way he would open the door for me and walk the side next to the road . It was on one of these occasions that he touched me for the first time. Just a simple gesture, pushing a strand of my hair back behind my ear, his thumb lingering a little longer than necessary on the side of my face. I’m not sure I can find the right words to describe it to you, it was un-nerving, as if I had just accidentally told him every little single thing about myself, things I intended to take to my grave. It was scary and yet completely amazing. If I had ever been in love before I might have been able to compare it to past experiences to see if it was as powerful as it felt. Even that delightful moment was quickly eclipsed by a kiss. It wasn’t even a proper clinch. Just a peck on the cheek and the touch of his lips on my skin went right through me. I’ll use that old cliché and call it a bolt of electricity. Amazing as it was, afterward I could only wonder at how cold those lips were. But come on, the hottest guy I had ever met had just kissed me, the explanations behind cold lips were quickly forgotten and were replaced by endless fantasies involving him and me that would get me through the day.

The evening my life totally changed started almost the same as the others, Jonas held my hand as we walked through the quiet park home to my place, the only difference was I was going to try and ask him to stay that night and deciding how to proposition him had been getting me into a mess all day. That and the fact he leaned into my throat to smell me as he helped me put on my jacket before we left. I was convinced he would laugh at the suggestion of him sleeping with me. It was only a matter of time until he came to his senses and left. But I was a naïve, innocent little thing and I was desperate for him so it was worth a try. Jonas told me later that he knew how much I wanted him, apparently he could smell it on me; my arousal. With senses like that, there is not a lot or room for privacy. Despite my pessimism however, he said it made him want me right there and then in the coffee house. Yeah I quite like this part of my story, no one had ever wanted me before, excuse me while I have a little moment. He was desperate to get me home also for a different reason, one I didn’t know at the time. If Jonas thought I smelled pretty damn hot, then there were others who would too. Only they would want to pretty much kill me, not try and get in my underwear. Half way through the park it almost happened, the killing version, not the underwear part. A ‘man’ just appeared at Jonas’ side as if from thin air.

“You looking to share, my brother?” he asked Jonas.

“Not for sharing” he replied darkly and he pulled me closer, firmer than he had ever done, it was like I was in a vice.

“Come on, such sweetness, we can have a party” he looked at me like I was a piece of meat. Instantly terrified, instinct told me I was in trouble. I didn’t think Jonas could hold me any closer or tighter but he did, so close that his fingers dug right into the flesh of my waist so it hurt.

“She‘s not for sharing” he repeated he sounding nothing like the Jonas I knew.

The ‘man’ moved quickly in front, walking backwards to face us as he put his palm up to stop Jonas. We stopped and the ‘man’ smiled. In the moonlight I could see he was almost as beautiful as Jonas, if I wasn’t so scared I might have thought that me, Kate Dashwood was turning into a bit of a man magnet. But his beauty wasn’t all that caught my attention, as he smiled I saw two sharp looking canines sparkling. My spine shivered as he ran his tongue over his upper teeth.

“Jonas…?” I whimpered somewhat pathetically. But Jonas didn’t reply. He was kind of growling though and I looked at him to see what was doing when I realised he was doing the same as the other man. Sharp teeth bared and looking as pissed as hell.

“Oh my”, was all I could manage to say. Jonas turned to me, an almost feral look upon his face; it appeared to be a warning. So I did what I think pretty much every girl would in that situation, I screamed. It didn’t last long, one of Jonas’ hands clamped over my mouth and panic stricken I struggled against him to get the hell away. Trying to shut me up made him vulnerable for a moment and his toothsome buddy launched himself forward and knocked Jonas to the ground. I saw my chance to make a quick exit and took it. There was no time to be confused about what was happening. Legs shaking I could barely manage a light jog never mind the Olympic sprint I needed. I didn’t get far. A heavy hand swung out and I fell forward, my shoulder stinging. I tried to lift myself up but instead found myself being turned over, the ‘man’ was practically drooling above me and he was pinning my arms above my head. Then he simply opened his mouth. His teeth were ready to bite and my body tensed as he leaned forward, my neck the destination. So after flight had failed, fight kicked in and I kept trying to buck forward, thrashing against him, even spitting at him. Nothing worked, he was too strong, like a marble slab had fallen upon me and my spit gave into gravity and fell back onto my face. What a final insult. I sobbed as I gave into my fate.

But nothing happened to me, there was a whoosh and the weight was gone. I sat up slowly; my body beginning to feel the aches caused by the fall and saw Jonas and the man going at on the grass. It was ferocious, the thudding of the blows they were reigning down on each other were sickening. I tried to close my eyes to hide what I was witnessing. I was in no fit state to get up and walk away from it but my eyes would not close. By now I wished they would, Jonas was chomping down on his neck, blood was pouring out but he kept biting and biting until it was almost severed and he was still. Damn that moonlight. I promptly vomited on the pathway when Jonas dropped the body on the grass. He stood and looked at me for a moment then quickly walked to me. Shuffling away hysterical, tears and snot all over my face. Despite my fearful whimpering protests he scooped me up.

“Kate, you’re okay” he assured me. And that was that.

I don’t remember being taken anywhere, I blacked out at some point but I woke the next morning in the most comfortable place I had ever had the fortune to sleep in. Sunlight crept through the gaps of the dark wood Venetian blinds in the room I now found myself in. Jonas was sat in a chair next to the bed. He had made me a pot of tea and had me drink some before he explained it all. He told me what he was, a vampire. After about an hour of laughter, more tears and several failed escapes I finally believed him. Jonas was a vampire and had been for the past two hundred years. And I was in his bed.