Page 40 of Blood Lust

My eyes snap open. I gasp, choking on the night air. Sheetscling to my sweat-slick skin. My heart hammers against my ribs like something caged.

I lurch upright.

The monitor’s blue light burns my retinas.

AOL blinks back at me:

MoonDance77 - Offline.

But the dream lingers in a hint of perfume and blood.

And suddenly I realize, I’m not so sure I want her to log on.

Or if I want to fall back asleep again and let her finish what she started...

Chapter Thirty-five

I don’t sleep the next night; not true sleep, anyway.

I float in the shallows of consciousness, tangled in sweat-damp sheets and the ghosts of semi-forgotten dreams. Each time I surface, it’s to the same soundtrack: the faint whir of the desktop fan and the soft, maddening silence of no new messages.

The cursor is still blinking

A little metronome marking my loneliness.

At 2:17 a.m., it finally happens.

Ping.

MoonDance77 has signed on.

I jerk upright like a marionette yanked by its strings. I cross the room in two long strides. The mouse trembles in my grip.

Her name glows green.

She’s back.

Before I can even summon a thought, the message window pops open.

MoonDance77: Still there?

I just stare at it for a second or three. Then type: I’m here.

MoonDance77: I didn’t mean to vanish like that.

Fang950: I figured you needed air.

MoonDance77: I did. But it’s not the same without you to talk to.

Whoa!

Fang950: That’s sweet of you to say.

She’s typing. Stops. Then types again.

MoonDance77: I’ve been going through some things. Something I can’t explain to anyone else. But with you, I feel like I could say it and not scare you off.

She has no idea how true that is.

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