Writer's Challenge - 28 May - New Beginning

Lauren opened her eyes and slowly scanned the room. She’d never been in this house before. Was it a house though or a clinic, maybe not? She had no idea, but whatever it was she had definitely never been here.

Slowly she began to sit up. No – upright wasn’t working - head spinning around and around – her body felt weightless and ugh, she felt sick. Lauren gripped the sides of the bed and let her head fall back into the soft white pillows. Better, she thought. The room was still revolving, but slower now and the nausea was passing.

Images were flashing through her mind, strange, weird images that she couldn’t quite put together, yet they were familiar. Antonio appeared in one of the images. She smiled dreamily for a second and then sat bolt upright in the bed. Ugh, this damned sickness, she thought to herself as she made her way cannily across the room.

Holding onto both sides of the dresser she looked at herself in the mirror. Anticipation and fear collided in the pit of her stomach. She chided herself. Wasn’t this what she had wanted? What she had pleaded for day after day? She stared back at her reflection in the mirror. What she saw there was proof enough, if she needed it at all, but still she looked.

Her fingers came up to gingerly trace the left side of her neck........nothing. Frowning, she turned her head slightly and stared at the long creamy column that was her neck. It was flawless........no trace of anything there. Mmm , maybe it had been her right side, but no, there was nothing there either.

She felt slightly faint now. As she staggered back to the bed something caught her eye. She grabbed hold of the bed to steady herself and held the lapis lazuli ring up to the light. For a moment she was overcome and felt light headed. Climbing back into the bed, she closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. Well, he had kept part of the promise, the ring part at least, she thought wearily.

Tiny droplets of tears escaped her eyes, flowing silently down her cheeks as realisation began to finally ring home.

In one swift movement Lauren sat up and hurled the ring into mid air with no particular destination.

Antonio caught it effortlessly, frowning as he did so. It was clear that his little newborn was becoming stronger by the hour, but why would she be throwing her ring away with such vehemence. Had she forgotten the importance of the ring?

His preoccupation with the ring threw him off guard and rather than sensing the onslaught, he felt it has her teeth plunged into his neck.

In one swift movement he pulled her away, holding her firmly at length from the wound.

“Hungry darling?”, he murmured. “All in good time. I’ve some willing donors downstairs.”

Lauren frowned. What the hell had she just done, and why could she not taste blood? She licked her lips slowly, savouring the sweet, sticky, berry flavoured, yes definitely berry flavoured substance. Her eyes travelled slowly to Antonio’s neck. She must be seriously ill, hallucinating, that was it. Just as well, coz she could have sworn her teeth had gotten tore into her boyfriend, and yet, stranger still, where had the berry flavoured substance come from?

She shook her head, as if to bring herself out of a trance. Ill, she was definitely ill, because she could have sworn Antonio had just said donors. No – he had said donors. Maybe she needed a donor. That was it, she was ill, that would explain the feelings of weakness just now, the dizzy spells earlier. She’d had some terrible accident – why that’s what the mixed up images were all about – blood – she just needed a transfusion and then everything would be okay. It was all making sense now, this was wasn’t a house, it was a hospital or a clinic of some description.

Antonio was watching Lauren. She was relaxing, he could feel it, sense it in every bone of her beautiful body. Suddenly, remembering the lapis lazuli ring, he lifted her hand saying, “we should put this on, and remember, it needs to stay there.”

She found her voice, it was clipped and short. “I don’t see why.”

Antonio frowned. “Darling, don’t you remember what I told you about the ring and it’s importance?”

Lauren spat back – “Oh I remember perfectly, evidently ......

The room door flew open and Carla came rushing in, either not sensing the tension in the room or as was more likely to be the case, choosing to ignore it.

“So, how is our newborn vampire?”

Lauren answered in a flash – “Still human!”

Antonio frowned. “Why would you think that Lauren?”, he asked softly.

She turned on him replying hysterically – “Because I checked.”

“Checked for what?”

“For marks, marks on my neck where you bit me, you imbecile.”

Carla started laughing, and with the speed of lightening itself, Lauren flew across the room and pinned the younger woman to the wall.

“Get her off me Toni – explain to her.”

“Explain what?”, Lauren spat out through clenched teeth at the same time thinking, what the hell is hurting my tongue?

Antonio prized her away from his sister and took her to stand in front of the mirror.

“Look, he said gently.

“I see nothing”, she cut in.

“You won’t, WE heal quickly.”

Realisation dawned slowly. Lauren propelled herself around in Antonio’s arms.

“You turned me, you made me a vampire.”

“You’ll not be a vampire for much longer if you don’t wear the ring.”

“I’ll never take it off”, Lauren replied breathlessly.

“Now, you must eat, you are weak from the turning.”

Lauren groaned and replied, “Oh Antonio, I’m not at all sure that I can, I mean, you said that you had um donors?”

“Don’t worry baby, for your first time, we decanted. We have the rest of our lives to go hunting together.”