My heart thudded violently in my chest.
I began to hear things that didn’t seem possible. In fact, I could hear everything. It was extremely disorienting but I still refused to open my eyes again and put sight to the noises that I was hearing.
I felt the venom make its way down to my toes.
I shook violently and screamed again. In the back of my mind I wondered how I didn’t lose my voice with all the screaming I was doing.
The cold fire in my veins lessened. I knew the fire was leaving. But I didn’t know how long it would take. I clenched my teeth to stifle my final scream.
With one last resounding thud my heart stopped all together.
But I wasn’t dead.
My eternal life was only beginning.
I opened my eyes to my new life.
* * *
My first thought was that I could see and hear everything.
My second thought was, poor Jonathon, what must I have done to him?
My third thought was that I was absolutely starving. Or was parched the right word? It felt like a porcupine had been shoved down my throat.
“Principessa,” he breathed but didn’t move.
Despite the aching thirst in my throat I was surprised to find that I still felt like my normal sarcastic self.
I noticed that I was still wearing the hospital gown. I pulled it away from my body. “Ugh, could you have not put me in something a little less… revealing?”
He chuckled. “I explicitly remember you telling me not to touch you.”
“Didn’t you have to touch me to get me here?” I countered.
“Touché,” his smile was hesitant, as if he was waiting for me to start screaming again.
I looked around his room, our room, with new eyes. His paintings that I had loved and admired so much before, when I was human, now seemed to glow with some kind of internal light. I could see every grain and knot in the wood beams above my head. I saw every separate fiber in the blanket on the bed. I could see every dust mote floating through the air…they looked like little balls of rainbows. I noticed that the colors were so much more vibrant.
“Wow,” I murmured.
“It’s quite something isn’t it?”
“Quite,” I agreed. I sat up slowly. Or did I? It seemed like my movements had blurred. “Whoa.”
“You’ll get used to it,” he explained. “You’ll learn to control your movements to match a human pace.”
A thought occurred to me. “I… I still feel like me…” I patted my arms and my face. “I didn’t expect that.”
“I didn’t tell you much about the process of becoming a vampire or how you would feel after simply because it’s different for everyone. You seem to be handling it exceptionally well. I’m very proud.”
“I’m sorry,” I frowned. “For the things that I said while I was… Well, you know.”
“Don’t apologize. I remember my own change and it was far from pleasant. It’s… I hated seeing you in so much pain.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured again. “I hate hurting you.”
He stood from the chair slowly and came to stand between my legs. He bent down to my eye level and took my face in his hands. “You’re even more beautiful than I ever thought possible. And getting hurt is a part of life,” he said and then his lips claimed mine.