Page 16 of A Vampire Bewitched
Holy mother of God.
Emma sat frozen to the chair and stared at his mouth. At hisfangs. She thought about the eerie glow his eyes had when he walked into the bar, of how he had appeared out of nowhere when she was about to get into her car.
Her heart sped up, and sweat started leaking out her pores as the adrenaline kicked in.
VAMPIRE.The word echoed around and around inside of her.
Terrifying images from the past suddenly crashed into her head, the sight of Nik’s fangs releasing them from where they’d been firmly locked away.
Images of putrid grey skin with rotting patches hanging off, exposing raw muscle underneath. Bulging red eyes glaring at her heinously, and razor-sharp fangs…fangs dripping blood.
Herblood.
In her mind, she heard herself screaming in terror. Heard the monster hissing and grunting on top of her as pain ripped through her body, the others screeching as they watched and waited their turn.
Emma wanted to jump up and run, but she couldn’t seem to get enough air. She blinked as her vision started wavering. “Oh, God.” She couldn’t even scream.
“Emma? Sweetheart?” His husky voice was filled with concern. “Are you all right?”
Emma felt lightheaded and gripped the arms of her chair with both hands until her knuckles turned white. She started seeing spots in front of her eyes, and her stomach felt nauseous.Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out.
She was going to pass out.
Just as her vision went dark, he grabbed her by the back of the neck, bending her over and shoving her head between her legs. “Breathe, Emma. Just breathe. It’s all right. Nothing is going to hurt you.”
As the blood rushed to her head, her breathing calmed and her vision gradually cleared. She took a moment to enjoy drawing air into her lungs, before knocking his arm away and cautiously sitting up to study him.
He gave her a full-fang smile.
Her entire body started to shake uncontrollably, and she scooted a little farther away from him. Tears came out of nowhere to unexpectedly fill her eyes until he was nothing but a blurry shape in front of her. She frantically wondered if there was any chance at all of her outrunning him.
Her eyes darted over to her car, judging the distance. She might make it if she ran faster than she ever had in her life. She could swipe up her bag on the way. She didn’t even need to find her key. Her car started with a power button.
Would she be able to get a head start on him if she took him by surprise?
But what if hewasfaster than humans? She thought back to the event in the parking lot again, of how she'd slammed into his wall of a body. Was he really that fast?
She glanced over at him nervously.
“I’m not going to hurt you Emma. See? All gone.” His smile returned, showing his pearly whites, and not a fang in sight. “I’m sorry to shock you like that. I didn’t know how else to tell you without sounding like a crazy person, so I thought I’d just show you. I don’t even drink from humans,” he reassured her. “See? Harmless.”
Thatgot her attention.
“You d-don’t d-drink blood? But, you said…you said…you’re a…vampire…” she stammered.
Her focus drifted as she tried to reconcile the resurrected memories that were banging around in her skull to what she was seeing right in front of her. But they didn’t add up. Nikulas was nothing like the monsters from her nightmares.
“Emma. Emma. Look at me.”
Clenching her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering, she slowly raised her eyes to his.
“Sweetheart, it’s okay. I swear,” he told her gently.
After several minutes, and several more furtive glances at him, she managed to get out, “W-What exactly do you drink if not blood?”
“Oh, I do drink blood,” he clarified. “Just out of a bag, not a body.”
“A b-bag?” She was genuinely confused.
