Young Writers Society

Ch. 6 Nicholas

We continued walking down the random street, completely lost in our own trains of thought. Finally he stopped walking and I looked over at him to find a gleam of excitement in his gray eyes.

"Hey, do you want to run?" He asked me, with a huge grin on his face.

"I thought we weren't allowed to run in public."

"Well, there aren't many people on the street as it is, so it won’t be hard to avoid bumping into anyone. Also, earlier you weren't running as fast as you could. You were still running like a human, only slightly faster. It was just enough to cause anyone you passed to be suspicious. If we both run at top speed, we will be almost invisible." he explained.

I looked around the nearly empty street we were on and thought about it for a second. I can’t grasp moving that fast.

"Don’t worry, if you hold my hand the whole time, I’ll make sure you're moving fast enough. It will be fun. Trust me."

I did trust him. Finally I met his eyes again and smiled big. That was all the assurance he needed. Then we were flying. Nicholas held my hand the whole time as he promised he would, and I kept the impossible pace with ease. The buildings and cars weren’t even a blur now; a blur usually means you can at least make out shapes. We were moving so fast that all I could see were colors as we streamed by. All of a sudden he stopped and I looked around. We were standing right in front of a building that had a bright red cross on the front of it. I looked up at him, questioningly.

"Grocery shopping," he explained, almost full out laughing at his explanation. He led me to the side of the building and told me to wait where I was. Then he disappeared and I was alone for the first time since I met him. Before I had time to even think about where he had gone, he was back. His body looked abnormally large under his light jacket, but I couldn't think about that for long. I finally noticed his body; how everything that had happened today deterred me from staring at his perfection, I still couldn't be sure of. He was wearing light blue jeans that fit him perfectly, and black shoes. Although I knew there was something in his jacket that was making his chest look bulky, I could still see the size of his arms. His arms. I remembered what it had felt like to have them wrapped around me.

Suddenly Nicholas grabbed my hand, breaking my reverie. "Lets go," he almost asked. I smiled in answer to him and we were off again. In less time than it had taken us to get to the "grocery store" we were in front of his apartment.

He led me into the main lobby, up the elevator, and back into his magnificent apartment, all the while walking at our normal pace. I followed him into the kitchen and watched him as he reached his hand into his jacket to reveal what "grocery shopping" had meant.

"You stole blood?!" I exclaimed.

"Don’t worry Charlie, it’s not a rare type and they had plenty. I thought you had enough to digest for one night and I could take you hunting tomorrow. But for now, I don't want you to have to be uncomfortable for any longer," he said as he reached in and grabbed several more pouches. Like the last time, he opened one, and the scent of it filled my head. After heating it in the microwave, he handed the cup to me and simply said, "Drink." I hadn't even needed that prompting.

After having devoured 3 more pouches, I still could have drunk more, but I found I didn't really want to. I looked up to see him smiling at me from across the island in the kitchen.

"There, how does it feel to be full?" he asked

"Much better," I said.

Then there was a look on his face, as if he was remembering something. He walked over to me and held out both of his hands to help me into a standing position. Then he wrapped his arms tightly around me, as I did the same to him.

"When we were in the alley outside of the Red Cross, you were thinking about hugging me. I couldn't at the time because of all the blood pouches in my jacket. I thought it would kill me to deny that hug from you and me. But here I am, with you,” he explained.

Then I felt soft pressure on the top of my head, I looked up to see if he had really just kissed me. My head wasn't even tilted back all the way before Nicholas put his fingers under my chin to help it the rest of the way. No sooner was my head back, than his lips were on mine for the second time tonight. I didn't think kissing him could get any better than that first time, but it did. We stood in the kitchen like that for a long time--I think. It’ so hard for me to keep track of time when he is kissing me like this.

Suddenly I felt Nicholas pull away from me slightly and chuckle. "The feeling's mutual Charlie. So, we have the whole night, what do you want to do?"

Then a question popped into my mind, something I hadn't thought about yet. "Yes we can sleep, but we can never be physically tired. Sleep, for a human is a way for their body to rejuvenate itself, and for their minds to work out the events of their day. For us, we just fall asleep, and wake up. Nothing happens in between. And we can't dream," he added in what sounded like a slightly wistful way. Then he began again, "When I was a human, I didn't think much of dreams. Like most people, I guess, I didn't dream every night and it wasn't that big a part of my everyday life. Now after having lived so long without the ability to dream at all, I realize how much I liked having them as a human," he explained to me.

"How long have you been alive, exactly?" I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer to that question, but I had to ask.

He just looked down at me for a second, nodded his head and led me into the living room. We sat close together on the black leather sofa, both hands clasped together as he began his story.

"I was born in England in 1692. My father was a nobleman, and my mother had been born into wealth as well. I lived a pretty plain life. Happy, but plain. I met a woman named Abigail when I was about 20, and in 1715, when I was 23, we were engaged to be married. I was so happy of the news; I went to the local town to celebrate in one of the pubs. It wasn't that I loved her. I had never known real love for another woman in my mortal life. I celebrated because I was expected to get married, and I was fulfilling my parents' wishes. That was all I could hope for out of that life. At the pub, I easily became intoxicated. At one point, I remember my eyes scanning the old pub and noticing a beautiful woman sitting alone in a corner. I thought it wrong for a woman to be there alone, but since I was by this point inebriated, I didn't think on it for too long. I continued to have my fun until about midnight, when I decided to retire to my own home. I left the pub, and began my walk back. It was late April, and the weather was chilly at night, but in England, it always feels that way. Suddenly I noticed a dark shrouded figure standing in the middle of the road in front of me. They looked up and I recognized it as the beautiful woman from the pub. She had unnaturally gray eyes and long, thick, wavy red hair."

I gasped, "Elizabeth."

"Yes, Elizabeth. She looked up at me and smiled. 'I have been watching you for some time now, Nicholas,' she said, 'and I really don't think I have the patience to wait anymore." she took a step closer to me. I had been raised to respect women, but also to think them inferior to me." He paused to give me an apologetic smile before he continued, "But for some reason I took a step back from her advancements. I couldn't deny, even then, that this woman was extraordinarily beautiful, but something about her told me I should run. However, I found myself rooted to the spot as she took another step closer to me. 'Do not fear me, Nicholas. I never want you to fear me. We will be lovers soon, and you will share this life with me. I have been searching for a companion for a long time, and it seems that you will be it.' Then she closed the gap between us, stretched her neck toward me, and bit my throat. I woke up at her home somewhere in France, where she explained to me what she was."

"You and Elizabeth are...'companions'?" even though I thought I knew the answer to my question, I still needed to ask, to be sure.

"No. We were companions. We were in love for a very long time. About a century. But things fell apart between us. She found new companions, already made vampires. I was the only one she has ever changed, and by her own admission, the only one she will ever change. We have not been in love for over two hundred years, but as you see, she loves to live in the past. She still welcomes herself into my apartment whenever she wants, and tries to dig up old feelings. I haven't wanted her in so long, and I know I never will again. I can hear your thoughts and I need you to know that Elizabeth and I are over. I don't want my past to have any effect on our future."

I sat there quietly for a long time, trying to digest the news I had just heard. It explained so much about this afternoon. Of course Elizabeth would hate anyone that Nicholas brought home, especially if she still harbored feelings for him. How can I be sure that he doesn't continue to feel something for her, deep down? To be honest, I didn't know what it was like to actually know my maker. To have a relationship with him or her. I could only assume it would be a powerful bond, not easily broken.

"You are right in a sense. The bond Elizabeth and I have won't ever be broken. She brought me into this life, and I owe her for that. I will always care for her. I will always want to be a part of her life, but not in the same way. I will never want to be with her again the way I--" he paused

"The way you what?" I asked, no, pleaded for him to continue.

He sighed before continuing, "The way I now want to be with you." he finished.

*A/N: Sooo sorry for the ridiculously long paragraphs in this chapter. believe me, i plan to still go back and edit this story but i am currently occupied with FINISHING it first and also working on another that is up in Romantic Fiction. Also, this story is not tentatively titled "Changed" but if i change it for good, then people wont be able to find it as easily...