Categories > Original > Romance > Carmilla
At first, it was terrible. The shoddy motels with questionable brown stains on the ceiling and the bathrooms that always smelled abhorrent. The not knowing where our next meal was coming from, whether a dumpster or a local diner. Waiting was the worst. We were always waiting to be attacked.
Chances were unlikely that a vampire Nick and I were tracking would come into our room and stake us in the middle of the night. They were lazier than they were given credit for. Most of the time, unless the main vamp has a strong connection with his prey, they go for easy pickings.
Luck was never on my side.
Even if I had a rabbit's foot attached to my body I would still be dealt the shit hand.
Hell, the only thing good that had ever happened to me in my miserable life was Nick. Everything else seemed to personally spite me. Everybody had a reason to hate me, including Nick. He was one of the very few people who accepted who I was.
Vampires tend to never look past what they dislike, especially those few rare mortals who have characteristics similar to the immortal.
And that's what role I play.
If you thought vampires were science fiction, then you'd better hold on to your shit.
My Alcoholics Anonymous meetings taught me how to introduce myself properly. Hi. My name is Weslyn Howat and I'm half human, half science creation/abomination. Well, I suppose that makes me fully human, but my chromosomes aren't the ones I was originally supposed to have.
I'm basically living proof that science can concoct anything, including improving my five senses and adding a sixth, improving my reflexes, and even letting me be an occasional cheater of death.
A recruiting vampire's wet dream.
Nick's source vampire caught wind of my existence and decided, hey, why not try to (literally) suck her way into a little thing called immortality.
No, thanks. I've had enough with that recently.
But, of course, luck had never, ever been on my side.
Some bitch at a party wasn't the reason branded to my chest like it was Nick's. This time, it was a sneak attack, quite obviously deliberately planned by the host vampire.
No human can resist the seducing prowess of a fledgling vampire. Not Nick, not Matt. Not even myself.
And, of course, pretty much as soon as I got bit, Nick demanded that I take the cocktail, which was a highly expensive pill that held off the infection for at most a few months.
And that's where the argument begins.
"Nick," I said, almost in a counter demanding way. My whole body was tingling and I could hear everything ten times better than I could before. I could hear a rattle snake from a mile away, and quite frankly, it was distracting me from the matter at hand.
"No, Wes," Nick replied through grinding teeth. He wanted to, I could tell. Survival of the fittest, he'd always say, but when it came down to my life (or, mortality, that is), he no longer viewed himself at the top of the food chain. He viewed me, sitting on a throne at the top of the fucked up cycle of life. I was the answer to everything. He loved me more than I could even comprehend, and all I could reciprocate was my love back.
"Let me be the tracker this time. I can get the vamp to come to us," I told him, watching his hazel eyes flicker from my eyes to the clock on the hotel's wall. "It'll be easier. I promise I won't try to escape like Lucy did."
Nick sighed and pulled off his beanie, unaffected by my humor. He leaned against the kitchen counter and contemplated my offer. "I can't risk it."
"You can!" I exclaimed, getting up from my seat at the dinky table and parading my way to him. "I can handle this. There's basically no risk!"
"Yes it is," he insisted, letting me lean my cheek against his chest. His voice was softer when he spoke again. "I don't know how the infection reacts with you. You're different."
I knew I was different, but a part of me still felt like arguing his point. Was I really that different, in his eyes? Sometimes he acted like I'd turned already.
Looking past the opinion part of his claim, I knew that he was right. Would the infection spread more quickly or would my heightened immune system kill it completely? Time would tell.
It was a risk that I was willing to take.
"Listen, when I was in the hospital for the broken rib stuff, I was out of there in a few hours. The nurse didn't even have to set me up with that Xilo-whatever. This infection could be just like any other thing I've come across. Shit, I could be totally immune."
After a while more of dead silence, other than the things only I could hear and the occasional shout from across the hall, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly against his chest.
"Three days," he said firmly, sounding defeated and anxious. "I'll give it three days. Once you start coughing blood, and if we don't catch this fucker, you're taking the cocktail."
I closed my eyes, trying not to think of what the next three days would hold. "Okay," I replied softly. "Three days."
"Or less."
"Or less," I repeated, moving my head from his chest to look into his eyes. They read timeless worry. "It'll be okay."
Nick looked past my shoulder, no doubt thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I would be lying if I said I didn't have worries that didn't match his.
He inhaled sharply through his nose and met my gaze harshly. "If I lose you-"
"You won't lose me," I said, playing with the zipper of his hoodie. "The only person who'd lose something in this situation would be me."
Nick glared down at me, thinking things I hoped he wouldn't.
"If I turned, you would kill me?" I asked, finally offended. There was something about being a vampire that was appealing to me, except the fact that Nick would never forgive me. And possibly kill me.
He stayed silent for a good while. "I wouldn't."
What he meant was he couldn't. If I was anybody else he probably would've staked me already. I knew him too well; he barely had the heart to leave Matt in Florida. Yet I imagined his hate for vampires was almost as strong as his love for me.
I pulled away from his grasp and walked towards the front door, leaning on its window seal and gazing out into the desert.
"Let's go outside," he said softly, walking up behind me and tapping my hips. I obeyed and swung the door open, the heat of the desert hitting us full blast.
It was particularly chilly out for a midsummer day in July. Only 96 degrees out, a usual being about 104, the flatlands seemed quieter than usual. A few eagles soared high in the sky, but other than that, the warm breeze was the only thing around.
"Jesus," I said, shading my eyes from the harsh sun. Nick slipped his aviators off his shirt and handed them to me.
"Increased sensitivity to sun," he muttered. "What next?"
I quickly unfolded the sunglasses and slid them over my eyes, trying to keep hope that I really was immune. "A lust for blood?"
Nick was not taking lightly to my jokes. "No," he said bluntly, squinting his eyes. "The puking is next."
Great, I murmured to myself. The price of attracting a vampire was puking blood. How ironic.
"What happens after the puking?"
"The change. After the body realizes that it can't fight the infection, it surrenders, and the changes take place. Starting with the eyes."
You could always tell a vampire was a fledgling by its eyes. They were more vibrant, the very opposite of lackluster, and they were observant. Like they'd been blind up until their change.
I'd only seen the change of the eyes once. A few months ago, we simply couldn't muster up the money to buy the cocktail, and Nick was starting to lose it. The green in his eyes completely depleted into a vibrant hazel, and although I'd be lying if I said it didn't look attractive, it scared the shit out of me. Thinking that we were past the point of no return, I visited the nurse at the hospital and demanded the medicine. When she didn't give it up, I pulled a knife on her. Who says growing up in the ghetto is a bad thing?
Obviously Nick made it through. It was a scary close call, and he would shove the cocktail down my throat before that ever happened to me.
"What if I told you I wanted to be a vampire?" I daringly asked him, and directly avoided his gaze.
Nick gave me a pitying scoff and shoved his hands in his pockets. "You don't want to hear my thoughts on that."
"But-"
"This conversation's over," he muttered gravely, storming back inside without any other thought. I inwardly punched myself for upsetting him, once again, and followed him back in.
I could never get a break.
Chances were unlikely that a vampire Nick and I were tracking would come into our room and stake us in the middle of the night. They were lazier than they were given credit for. Most of the time, unless the main vamp has a strong connection with his prey, they go for easy pickings.
Luck was never on my side.
Even if I had a rabbit's foot attached to my body I would still be dealt the shit hand.
Hell, the only thing good that had ever happened to me in my miserable life was Nick. Everything else seemed to personally spite me. Everybody had a reason to hate me, including Nick. He was one of the very few people who accepted who I was.
Vampires tend to never look past what they dislike, especially those few rare mortals who have characteristics similar to the immortal.
And that's what role I play.
If you thought vampires were science fiction, then you'd better hold on to your shit.
My Alcoholics Anonymous meetings taught me how to introduce myself properly. Hi. My name is Weslyn Howat and I'm half human, half science creation/abomination. Well, I suppose that makes me fully human, but my chromosomes aren't the ones I was originally supposed to have.
I'm basically living proof that science can concoct anything, including improving my five senses and adding a sixth, improving my reflexes, and even letting me be an occasional cheater of death.
A recruiting vampire's wet dream.
Nick's source vampire caught wind of my existence and decided, hey, why not try to (literally) suck her way into a little thing called immortality.
No, thanks. I've had enough with that recently.
But, of course, luck had never, ever been on my side.
Some bitch at a party wasn't the reason branded to my chest like it was Nick's. This time, it was a sneak attack, quite obviously deliberately planned by the host vampire.
No human can resist the seducing prowess of a fledgling vampire. Not Nick, not Matt. Not even myself.
And, of course, pretty much as soon as I got bit, Nick demanded that I take the cocktail, which was a highly expensive pill that held off the infection for at most a few months.
And that's where the argument begins.
"Nick," I said, almost in a counter demanding way. My whole body was tingling and I could hear everything ten times better than I could before. I could hear a rattle snake from a mile away, and quite frankly, it was distracting me from the matter at hand.
"No, Wes," Nick replied through grinding teeth. He wanted to, I could tell. Survival of the fittest, he'd always say, but when it came down to my life (or, mortality, that is), he no longer viewed himself at the top of the food chain. He viewed me, sitting on a throne at the top of the fucked up cycle of life. I was the answer to everything. He loved me more than I could even comprehend, and all I could reciprocate was my love back.
"Let me be the tracker this time. I can get the vamp to come to us," I told him, watching his hazel eyes flicker from my eyes to the clock on the hotel's wall. "It'll be easier. I promise I won't try to escape like Lucy did."
Nick sighed and pulled off his beanie, unaffected by my humor. He leaned against the kitchen counter and contemplated my offer. "I can't risk it."
"You can!" I exclaimed, getting up from my seat at the dinky table and parading my way to him. "I can handle this. There's basically no risk!"
"Yes it is," he insisted, letting me lean my cheek against his chest. His voice was softer when he spoke again. "I don't know how the infection reacts with you. You're different."
I knew I was different, but a part of me still felt like arguing his point. Was I really that different, in his eyes? Sometimes he acted like I'd turned already.
Looking past the opinion part of his claim, I knew that he was right. Would the infection spread more quickly or would my heightened immune system kill it completely? Time would tell.
It was a risk that I was willing to take.
"Listen, when I was in the hospital for the broken rib stuff, I was out of there in a few hours. The nurse didn't even have to set me up with that Xilo-whatever. This infection could be just like any other thing I've come across. Shit, I could be totally immune."
After a while more of dead silence, other than the things only I could hear and the occasional shout from across the hall, he wrapped his arms around me and held me tightly against his chest.
"Three days," he said firmly, sounding defeated and anxious. "I'll give it three days. Once you start coughing blood, and if we don't catch this fucker, you're taking the cocktail."
I closed my eyes, trying not to think of what the next three days would hold. "Okay," I replied softly. "Three days."
"Or less."
"Or less," I repeated, moving my head from his chest to look into his eyes. They read timeless worry. "It'll be okay."
Nick looked past my shoulder, no doubt thinking of all the things that could go wrong. I would be lying if I said I didn't have worries that didn't match his.
He inhaled sharply through his nose and met my gaze harshly. "If I lose you-"
"You won't lose me," I said, playing with the zipper of his hoodie. "The only person who'd lose something in this situation would be me."
Nick glared down at me, thinking things I hoped he wouldn't.
"If I turned, you would kill me?" I asked, finally offended. There was something about being a vampire that was appealing to me, except the fact that Nick would never forgive me. And possibly kill me.
He stayed silent for a good while. "I wouldn't."
What he meant was he couldn't. If I was anybody else he probably would've staked me already. I knew him too well; he barely had the heart to leave Matt in Florida. Yet I imagined his hate for vampires was almost as strong as his love for me.
I pulled away from his grasp and walked towards the front door, leaning on its window seal and gazing out into the desert.
"Let's go outside," he said softly, walking up behind me and tapping my hips. I obeyed and swung the door open, the heat of the desert hitting us full blast.
It was particularly chilly out for a midsummer day in July. Only 96 degrees out, a usual being about 104, the flatlands seemed quieter than usual. A few eagles soared high in the sky, but other than that, the warm breeze was the only thing around.
"Jesus," I said, shading my eyes from the harsh sun. Nick slipped his aviators off his shirt and handed them to me.
"Increased sensitivity to sun," he muttered. "What next?"
I quickly unfolded the sunglasses and slid them over my eyes, trying to keep hope that I really was immune. "A lust for blood?"
Nick was not taking lightly to my jokes. "No," he said bluntly, squinting his eyes. "The puking is next."
Great, I murmured to myself. The price of attracting a vampire was puking blood. How ironic.
"What happens after the puking?"
"The change. After the body realizes that it can't fight the infection, it surrenders, and the changes take place. Starting with the eyes."
You could always tell a vampire was a fledgling by its eyes. They were more vibrant, the very opposite of lackluster, and they were observant. Like they'd been blind up until their change.
I'd only seen the change of the eyes once. A few months ago, we simply couldn't muster up the money to buy the cocktail, and Nick was starting to lose it. The green in his eyes completely depleted into a vibrant hazel, and although I'd be lying if I said it didn't look attractive, it scared the shit out of me. Thinking that we were past the point of no return, I visited the nurse at the hospital and demanded the medicine. When she didn't give it up, I pulled a knife on her. Who says growing up in the ghetto is a bad thing?
Obviously Nick made it through. It was a scary close call, and he would shove the cocktail down my throat before that ever happened to me.
"What if I told you I wanted to be a vampire?" I daringly asked him, and directly avoided his gaze.
Nick gave me a pitying scoff and shoved his hands in his pockets. "You don't want to hear my thoughts on that."
"But-"
"This conversation's over," he muttered gravely, storming back inside without any other thought. I inwardly punched myself for upsetting him, once again, and followed him back in.
I could never get a break.
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