Blood at the Window

Silence.

Then the boy stirred. He pushed himself up from the cold pavement, and Alice could only stare, caught somewhere between fear and disbelief.

She should have run. Every instinct told her to. But her body refused to obey, and the pain in her stomach had sunk into a dull, distant throb, as though even the curse were holding its breath.

His hair, despite everything, remained neatly arranged. His expression was gloomy, almost world-weary, yet a strange calm lay beneath it. And when his eyes opened and found hers, they were a deep, striking red.

He looked about her age. He lifted his hand and stared at the blood on his fingers, then at Alice, then at the blood again. Something behind his gaze shifted. His gloomy face curved into a smile, revealing two sharp fangs.

A vampire. Alice's breath stopped.

Of all the things she had spent her life hating, here was the one she had never believed in, breathing in front of her.

He touched the blood to his lips without hesitation, and his eyes flew wide.

"Ah… delicious." His voice was strangely bright and cheerful, utterly at odds with his gloomy appearance. "What is this scent? It's so fresh…"

He had no way of knowing, not yet, that the blood calling so sweetly to him carried something far more dangerous than either of them understood.

He turned his full attention to her, steadier now than he had been only moments before. "Finally. Someone." His smile widened. "You're mine."

The pain, the fear, the fangs, everything folded into darkness, and Alice slipped under.

* * *

Darkness surrounded her. She stood somewhere without shape or sound until a faint figure took form before her. She couldn't make out the face, but she knew she was a little girl again.

The air smelled faintly of rain, and of the lavender soap her mother used to wash her hands with.

Her mother rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Forgive me, Alice," she said, her voice trembling. "I can't save you."

Alice stared up at her, uncomprehending.

Her mother's hand was warm, but it was shaking.

"That vampire…" Her mother struggled with the words. "This happened because of my carelessness."

The edges of the image began to fade. "Mom?" Alice whispered. "Why did you leave me alone?" Her thoughts spilled out, unguarded. "When I was little, I didn't understand anything. When I grew older, the pain began. I never got to ask you who that vampire was. Or what they wanted from me."

The dream grew emptier. Alya and Shina walked away into the dark, and her mother had already vanished.

The silence that followed was heavier than the dark. It felt like every goodbye she had ever swallowed, all returning at once.

"Wait!" Alice cried. "Alya! Shina! I'm coming!"

They kept walking. I don't want to lose anyone else.

Her eyes opened.

A ceiling. A fan turning lazily above her. I'm alive. She lifted a hand to her forehead, then let it drift to her stomach.

The pain was gone.

For the first time in as long as she could remember, her body was quiet. Then she noticed the blanket tucked around her, the familiar bed beneath her. Someone had carried her home.

She remembered red eyes, a bright smile, and two words. You're mine. Her fingers curled into the blanket. Her pulse quickened.

The window was open. The curtains drifted. She had not left it that way.

"So," a boy's voice said. "You finally woke up."

Alice turned sharply. Moonlight spilled through the open window in a pale, silver wash. A figure sat on the sill, one leg dangling, the other bent beneath him, watching her with calm, almost playful attention.

Who is he? How does he know where I live?

He didn't look dangerous. That was somehow worse. He looked like someone who had been waiting a long time and had finally gotten bored of it.

The boy smiled. "Alice."

Her name settled into the quiet room like something inevitable.

He slid off the windowsill and rose to his feet with a bored, lazy air. Alice's eyes went straight to his face. Those red eyes. Those fangs. What is he?

The moonlight made his eyes glow like embers. He no longer looked wounded, only hungry, and faintly amused.

He began to walk toward her, one slow step at a time, and Alice edged backward.

The floorboards did not creak beneath him. He moved like something that had never needed to hurry.

The words Alya and Shina had spoken only hours earlier flooded her mind. Blood. Partners. Bound. She wanted to speak, but no sound would come, and sweat beaded on her forehead as fear and confusion tangled together inside her.

His hand landed on the edge of the bed. He was close now, close enough that she could see every detail of his face, barely a breath away. He raised his other hand toward her, and Alice squeezed her eyes shut.

He froze for an instant. What's happening to me? I can't control myself.

He had never wanted anything this badly. The scent of her filled his head, drowning every other thought, and he hated how little of himself was left to argue. Yet his hand kept moving, his face drawing nearer, until his fangs appeared and he leaned toward her neck.

A sharp pain struck her.

"Ouch!"

A small wound bloomed at her throat, and blood began to flow.

The pain was brief and bright, and strangely, not entirely unpleasant. That frightened her more than the bite itself.

Moonlight fell across the room, illuminating two figures: a human girl and a vampire, joined by blood.

Alice couldn't make sense of it. Before she could properly react, he drew his fangs away, and she shoved him back on pure reflex. He lost his balance and toppled to the floor. She scrambled backward, snatching up a pillow and hugging it to her chest, her whole body trembling.

Her heart raced so loudly she was sure he could hear it. Perhaps he could.

So Mom was telling the truth. And Alya and Shina too. Vampires really do exist.

On the floor, he slowly licked the blood from his lips.

His eyes lifted to hers, and for a moment he looked almost as startled as she did. Something warm and strange pulsed between them, like a thread pulled suddenly tight.

Alice touched her throat. The wound was already closing, and where his fangs had been, her skin felt warm, almost humming.

Neither of them knew yet that a bond had just been formed.