Finders, keepers - 1. Prompt 438

The warm water cascaded over my head and down my back. A feeling of relief was spreading through me. I had a slight headache, a soft pounding located just behind my eyebrows. Did I really drink that much last night? I tried to remember the night before, but somehow I drew a blank. Leaving the office was there. Going to my favorite bar was clear. After that… Nothing.

I stepped out of the shower and reached for my towel. Something caught my eye and I glanced down at my left arm. I froze. What were those marks…? On my wrist, there were a couple of reddish-blue circular spots. Had I been in a fight with some sort of animal? The neighbor had a vicious cat that sometimes turned up and demanded food, not taking no for an answer. But surely I would remember being bitten. Suddenly, my head ache flared. The word rabies crossed my mind. I grabbed the towel, dried off and rushed out to my laptop. Not bothering to dress, I quickly googled rabies. My breathing sped up as I saw the list of symptoms. Head ache, discomfort, confusion… I swallowed. At least that wasn’t difficult.

Realizing what I was thinking I shook myself. “I do not have rabies!” I told myself. Where would that fat cat next door contract rabies? It was just a case of drinking too much. Or maybe I had food poisoning.

I dressed and went out of my bedroom heading for the kitchen and something to drink. Some coffee would set me straight. In the middle of my living room, I stopped. Something was off. The apartment felt different in some almost imperceptible way. A strange scent perhaps. Was someone else there? I listened for sounds indicating a foreign presence, but nothing. All was as it usually was. Except that feeling.

In the kitchen, I went to the sink to get some water. “Well, I want water. Definitely not rabies…” I thought and chuckled at my panic from a few moments ago. Then I stopped. In the sink stood two wine glasses, obviously used. Me drinking a glass of wine while surfing or watching TV was not out of the ordinary as such. But why two glasses? I spun around and looked over the place again. The open floor plan meant I could see pretty much all of it. Not that it was very big to begin with. Still I saw nothing and no one. Or…? On the side board next to the sofa, I spotted something. Something small and kind of shiny. I went closer. A watch. Not a wrist watch, but an old looking pocket watch with one of those chains. I picked it up. It was surprisingly heavy for such a small piece and looked like gold. I turned it over and looked at the back. No clue as to who owned the watch. I opened the lid and on the inside was an inscription. “All my love, George” There was a date too. July 10, 1955. It really was old. But what was it doing in my living room? I actually looked at the watch and saw that I was very, very late for work. I put the watch down and rushed out the door. Breakfast would have to wait.

I sat at my desk with a cup of coffee at last. The warm liquid and the comforting smell made me feel a bit better. Or maybe that was because of the gallons of water I had consumed when I reached my office. At least it felt like that. However, no matter how much I drank, I was still so very thirsty.

Dan and Becca, my cubicle neighbors, were sneaking glances at me looking more and more curious as the morning progressed. Finally, Becca couldn’t take any more.

“What on earth did you do last night, Matt? You look like shit!” She let her eyes travel up and down my body. “It’s not like you to party on a weekday?”

“I didn’t party” I huffed but then I got quiet. What was I going to say? I opted for the truth. “I actually can’t remember last night…” Becca and Dan just looked at me.

“What do you mean ‘can’t remember’?” Dan asked confusion clear on his face. “If you didn’t party, I mean.”

“I don’t know. I woke up, felt like crap but don’t know why…” I scratched my head with my left hand, in the process exposing my wrist. Becca reached out and grabbed my arm.

“Holy cow! What is this?” She stared at my strange markings. I tried to snatch my arm back, but she was surprisingly strong for such a tiny woman.

“I don’t know, all right!?!” I was getting a bit pissed at the whole situation, my frustration at not knowing putting me on edge.

“I bet you did go out and got pissed, then got into your granny’s old embroidery kit. Don’t drink and bedeck, huh?” She and Dan laughed at my misery, or so it felt. I managed to get my arm back.

“Or maybe… Maybe you’re dating a vampire!” Dan huffed out. They laughed even harder and this made the already grumpy me even grumpier.

“How about we actually do some work now?” I turned back to my computer trying to mentally block out their laughter. “Some of us have stuff to do…”

“Ooh, touchy…” Becca said, but they apparently decided to leave me in peace and went back to work as well.

The rest of the afternoon passed pretty much without incident. I did catch them signaling each other and snickering a bit, but they didn’t ask any more questions. Which was more than OK for me, since I hadn’t any answers to give. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t remember. At the same time, I felt like I should remember, like I could remember and that it was important somehow. My vain attempts to remember made it impossible to focus on work. Finally, I gave up and sat back just staring off into space. My right hand fingers somehow made their way over to those marks. The moment I touched them, something flared inside me. Inside my head and my body. A quick flash. A memory of someone… Yes, a man! Dark eyes, pale skin. But it was gone as quickly as it surfaced. What didn’t go away was the feeling in my body when I touched those marks. It sent tingles all through me. Jolts of electricity travelled down my spine and all the way to my toes. At the same time, my scalp seemed to contract and the hairs on my head and my body rose. It wasn’t an unpleasant feeling, just unexpected. Once I started touching, I couldn’t stop. Sensing I wouldn’t get any work done anyway, I decided to call it a day. Might as well go home early and get some sleep. Thankfully, the unquenchable thirst had turned out to actually be quenchable. I was dead tired though.

When I left the office, leaving Becca and Dan whispering behind me, I felt relieved to be out in the sun. I decided to walk home, hoping this would clear my head. As I strolled along, I started to feel odd. A strange sensation of being followed. At first, I thought it was connected to my general shitty state for the day, but the feeling only grew. Finally, I more or less had to look around to see if there was someone there. Of course, there wasn’t.

Or? I suddenly saw a guy behind me looking away trying to act a little too innocently. He was apparently very interested in the baked goods on display in the window of the bakery where he was standing. Well, his interest didn’t stop him from trying to sneak a peak at me. He saw me watching him and startled he turned around again. I debated with myself about what to do. My general desire to simply get this day over with won and I decided to leave it. He was probably one of the city nutters. Seemed harmless enough, keeping his distance. I walked for a few more minutes and that feeling of being followed increased even more. I turned around again and sure enough, there he was. A bit closer too, which made my anger rise quickly. This had to stop, right here, right now.

“Hey, why the fuck are you following me?!?” I said using my ‘don’t mess with me, asshole’-voice. I took a few long strides and suddenly we were eye to eye. Or rather eye to eyebrow, as he was just a bit shorter than me. He was a bit slimmer too. Sinewy might be the word to describe him. He looked at me and seemed almost terrified. Those big, dark eyes met mine. Wait a minute. Dark eyes, pale skin… Something stirred inside my head.

“You!” I shouted, my anger making me louder than I intended. He flinched like I had hit him and even though it ought to be impossible, he turned even paler.

“You remember…” he stammered and then went silent again. He started to fidget and seemed to be looking for a way to get as far away from me as possible. I took another step towards him, effectively herding him up against the wall of the bakery and putting up my hands on either side of him, blocking him in. He wasn’t going anywhere until I had my answers.

“So it was you?” I asked in a slightly less aggressive manner. At first I thought he wasn’t going to say anything, just stare at me with his big, dark brown eyes. Such pretty eyes…

“How can you remember? You’re not supposed to remember…” he mumbled more to himself than as an actual answer. Clearly nervous, he began twisting his hands and shifting his weight from one foot to the other. Somehow, this made my anger recede somewhat and I could act like a normal human being again. I didn’t drop my arms though. The guy wasn’t going anywhere until I knew what had happened last night.

“Well, I only remember very little. What did you do? Drug me? Were you planning to rob me? Did a fine job then, leaving that antique at my house!” I paused, waiting for his reaction. And sure enough, he reached out and grabbed my coat. His strength surprised me.

“You have my watch? Oh, thank God! I thought I lost it, but I had to find you to ask if you had seen it. Do you have it? I’m so grateful that you…” he talked a mile a minute now, his previous reticence gone.

“First things first. What happened last night?” We looked at each other, then he lowered his eyes. He appeared to be debating something with himself.

“Ok, if you promise to give me my watch I’ll tell you, but not here. Could we go to your place? It’s not far as I recall…” He trailed off when he realized what he had said. I simply stared at him. “Please, I have to get my watch back. It’s… It’s very precious to me, but not worth much.” He turned his eyes on me again, pleading, begging. You’d have to have a heart of steel to say no to those eyes. I was feeling shitty, but I really wasn’t a shitty person. Besides, somehow I didn’t think he was an actual threat to me.

“Ok, but don’t try anything funny or I’ll hurt you!” I all but growled at him. He nodded eagerly and we walked in silence towards my apartment. I couldn’t think of anything to say. What do you converse about with guys who drug you and leave pocket watches behind? I couldn’t think of anything. Apparently, neither could he.

When we came to my apartment I showed him in and he sat down on my sofa. I remained standing, feeling more in control on my feet. I briefly thought about offering him a drink, but that just seemed ridiculous.

“So, spill!” I was getting impatient. He didn’t say anything at first. Then he seemed to gather some courage.

“The watch…” he said hesitantly. I went and picked it up from the kitchen counter where I left it this morning. He rushed towards me and snatched the watch from my hand. I didn’t have time to react or get scared, because he moved so fast. Almost inhumanly fast. ‘He must really like that watch’ I said to myself.

“Oh, you have. It’s here. Oh, George…” he lost himself in thought, turning the watch over and over in his hand.

“Ehum…” I cleared my throat. “So what did happen…?”

He looked at me, sighed and went to sit down on the sofa again. He signaled for me to join him. I couldn’t see any harm in that, so I sat down next to him on his right.

“What do you remember?” He seemed perfectly calm all of a sudden.

“Like I said, almost nothing. Some fleeting images, of you apparently. Apart from that, it’s blank.”

He reached out and grabbed my left arm, holding it in front of him. He gently pushed the sleeve of my sweater up and exposed the marks. I could swear I heard him sniff the air and actually saw his nostrils flare. If I wasn’t so on edge, it would have made me laugh. Now, I just waited.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen…” he said and at the same time he let his slim finger drift across the marks. Again, my body felt those jolts of electricity and the shivers down my spine. Only this time, it was much more intense. I had to close my eyes to keep the sensations from becoming too much. In that instant, I remembered. Being in the bar, the bartender asking me to talk to this poor, lonely guy sitting at the bar, bits of conversation, ending up at my place, tangled together on my sofa, lips locked, hands desperately searching for skin, sudden pain in my left arm, a burst of intense pleasure and then darkness.

I opened my eyes and met his.

“What are you?” I asked, not believing I felt the need to ask that question.

His sad eyes lowered and he gave the impression of being embarrassed, ashamed.

“A vampire…” he whispered. I just sat there in stunned silence. What did he mean? Why had I even asked? Somehow, I knew it was true even if it couldn’t be.

“I really didn’t mean to feed from you, but you were so nice to me and I was so lonely. I never follow people home. But you smelled so good, I couldn’t help myself. You were supposed to forget, but I guess I’m weaker than I thought. It’s been so long since I fed. Not since…“ I could see tears now, slowly trickling down his cheeks. I reached out and wiped them away. He looked up at me.

“He used to do that. Whenever I was sad, he made it better.”

“Who?” I was almost afraid to ask. He seemed so frail.

“George, my companion.” I didn’t know if he expected me to understand, but I said nothing.

“I was born in 1867, turned as we say at the age of 19. I was so very confused and had no one to teach me what I needed or how to take care of me. I roamed the land, trying to feed where I could, how I could. I was a mess and a danger to myself and any human who came too close. Then I met George after the Great War. He was only a boy then, but he understood. Somehow, he understood. He let me feed from him, let me learn how to control my urges so I didn’t have to kill. Feeding regularly meant I didn’t need so much. I started to feed only from him. As he grew our friendship grew and turned into something else. He became my companion, my human. I later realized it’s not that uncommon for vampires to have companions. We fell in love. I was so happy. We were so happy. Then he died.”

Those last words were uttered in such despair, it made my heart ache.

“When?” I dared to ask.

“2003” he answered. I started to think.

“You haven’t eaten for 12 years?” No wonder he was famished.

“Here and there, animals mostly. Nothing that satisfies me. I can’t get rid of this hunger” Now he sounded desperate. “I don’t want to take too much and I don’t want to force anyone anymore. I have to be careful so no one detects me. Somehow, I’ve managed, until I met you. You, your blood made me feel alive for the first time in so long. But it also made me so very hungry. Like I hadn’t fed at all…” He looked at me with such longing in his eyes that I just about melted. Like I said, how could anyone say no to those eyes? I thought about that pleasure coursing through me when he touched those marks, when he bit me…

“So, how does this companion thing work?” I asked trying to sound casual to hide my nervousness. What was going on? Was I really considering becoming someone’s walking talking blood bank?

“What do you mean?” He looked at me blankly.

“Well, you look like you could use a meal now and then…” I trailed off, not certain what I was offering.

“You would do that?” He sounded amazed and hope flickered in his eyes.

“You promise you won’t kill me?” I almost added a wink at the end, but decided against it.

“Of course not! I mean of course! I mean…” I held up my hand.

“Ok, then. You still hungry?” He licked his lips, showing a bit of fang and stared at my wrist. It was all the answer I needed.

“Come here then.” I patted my knee and held out my arm. He stared at me, blinked a few times and then decided to not waste any more time. He took my arm in his hands. There was a strange power in his touch this time, like an irresistible pull drawing me in and making me surrender. Almost gently he bit into my wrist, a few inches higher up than the other marks.

A very strange experience, having someone eating from you. At first, there was a sting and a burning sensation. Nothing I couldn’t handle. Then those by now familiar full body tingles started along with the shivers and I had to lean back on the sofa to stop from falling over. He apparently took this as invitation to go further and climbed up in my lap, straddling me. I bit back a moan as he really got into the feeding, drawing long pulls of my blood. Yes, this was definitely something not entirely unpleasant. He curled up against me like an oversized cat and I couldn’t help but run my fingers through his dark brown hair.

“He really is kind of cute…” I thought to myself before letting the tingles take over, making it so very hard to think. Making me so very hard.