Sweetheart Vampire

Nights like this in New York are cold. Winter is so unforgiving in the city. To Pete, it meant nothing. The cold didn’t faze him anymore. It hadn’t since he was turned into a vampire years ago. Night meant nothing to him. It was the only time he could move about anyway. This December night would just be another night for him. Or so he thought.

Pete was walking a playground when he heard a low groan. He rose in his tracks and turned his head. A figure lay on the snow-covered ground. At first glance, it looked like a life-sized doll. His first instinctive was walk, but Pete had to walk over for a better look. To his horror, this wasn’t a doll. A dark-skinned woman lay on the ground battered and bruised. Her coat was torn and she had her arms out as if she was about to make a snow angel.

“Are you okay?” Pete asked.

“No…” the woman said in a low croak.

“What happened to you?”

“I was beaten up.”

“By whom?”

The woman shook her head on the ground. Pete looked at all of her injuries.

“Do you want to go to the hospital?” he asked.

“No,” she said.

“Do you want to call the police?”

“No.”

Pete looked at this woman, confused. “Then… what do you want?”

“Please don’t leave.”

The vampire gave her a strange look. “Okay… What happened to you?”

The woman took in a deep breath. “I was turned.”

He tilted his head. “Into a vampire?” The woman nodded in pain. It was then Pete sensed her true nature. Judging by the slow rate her wounds were healing on her body, she couldn’t have been a vampire for long. Pete knelt down beside her.

“Care to tell me what happened?” he asked. The woman’s eyes shifted away from him.

“My family and I were having a picnic three days ago,” she said. “We went down to Coney Island on the beach.”

“Do you love the beach?” Pete asked.

“Yes,” the woman said. “We decided to go for a walk around the beach that evening.” She pressed her lips together as she trembled. “A gang of men in black approached us. At first, we thought they wanted our money. My father tried to give them cash, but the men wouldn’t take it.” The woman closed her eyes as she remembered the flashes with the punches.

“They tortured and killed my parents and little brother,” she said. The woman could still the bodies of her parents laying before her. Their blood soaked the coarse sand while their limbs were twisted and broken. Her brother’s neck was broken. The woman gulped in present day.

“I don’t know they spared me,” she said. “But they held me down and bit into my neck. I was so scared that they would kill me too. They about sucked me dry. Just before I blacked out, their leader shoved his cut wrist into my mouth.

“When I woke up, the sun was burning my skin. I screamed and did my best to crawl away into the shade. I couldn’t move for the whole day after that. I didn’t sleep or eat. An old couple asked what was wrong by sundown.”

“Did you feel the hunger then?” Pete asked.

“Yes,” the woman said. The fear welled up in her eyes as she remembered what came next. “I attacked both of them. I didn’t even know what I was thinking. I don’t even remember the attack. When I came to my senses, my hands and face were covered in blood. I ran away in horror.”

“Then what happened?” Pete asked.

“For two days, I wandered around the city,” the woman said in between slow breaths. “I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t go home and I didn’t want to hurt anybody. My friends tried to reach out to me, but I wouldn’t take their calls. I ended throwing my phone into the river yesterday evening. I even thought about killing myself tomorrow morning.”

“What stopped you?” Pete asked. The woman narrowed her eyes.

“I saw my attackers again tonight,” she said. “I was standing on a bridge, looking into the water when I heard rowdy laughter. I happened to look and saw that guy and his buddies walking along my path.” She clenched her fists.

“Seeing him again made me so angry. They were the ones who did this to me. I wished that I could attack them. Suddenly, my hand turned into a sharp blade. I didn’t think about my attacks when I raced over to them, screaming like an animal.” The newly-made vampire frowned.

“But, they saw me. That monster laughed at me. He actually laughed at me. I tried to stab him, but his boys tackled me. They managed to punch me four times before I stabbed one of them in the throat and run all the way out here. They managed to grab me and beat me down. The leader laughed and said, ‘You stupid little whore.’ He spat on me and left. Since then, I have been waiting to die.” To her surprise, Pete held out his hand. The woman gave him a puzzled look.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Are you going to finish me off?”

“No,” Pete said. “I’m going to help you.” The woman lifted her head.

“What?” she asked. The woman slowly lifted her hand as if on instinct. Pete firmly grabbed her by the hand.

“I happen to know who you are talking about,” he said.

“You do?”

Her potential savior frowned as he helped her to her feet. “Yes. In fact, he was the one who turned me too.” The woman looked at him stunned as he pulled her to her feet.

“I don’t get it,” she said.

“Get what?” Pete asked.

“Why are you doing this?”

“I have an old score to settle.” He pulled the woman along with him out of the playground. His new companion frowned and raised an eyebrow.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I’m taking you back to my place for you to get cleaned up and get something to eat,” he said. “You will need to feed again.” The dark-skinned woman drew her mouth closed.

“Oh…” she said in a low voice.

“It’s Pete.”

The woman looked up. “Hm?”

The male vampire looked over his shoulder. “My name is Pete. And you are?”

For the first time tonight, she said. “My name is Rose.”

Bounded by Blood