Bite Shift

11

Vampires do not wake slowly like humans do. Awareness comes like a snap in your head. The lights are off and then they are on. Dead and then alive. I closed my eyes and a second later I opened them. But it was not a second, it was the entire day. I knew instantly that the sun was down. Rhys and I looked at each other simultaneously.

"I'm glad you came to me. No one should be alone after that." Rhys took the hand on top of his and squeezed it. "I cannot imagine what you went through or saw. I will never forget the terrible experience of turning. I will assure you that time takes all the pain away."

I smiled. "Thank you for saying that and thank you for giving this to me. I almost didn't make it through. Now that I have, I don't regret it."

"Tell me that in 100 years and I will believe you. How about I make you a very hot bath and then we will eat. I have a great deal to teach you."

He left me lying there; thoughts feverishly dancing around. 100 years. He said 100 years like he was saying tomorrow. How long will I live? Will I see 3,000 AD?! Flying cars?! Where will I go?? "Enough, Kate" I said in the empty room. "You've been a vampire for a day. Calm down."

I sat up and looked at the mess I had left on his sheets. Suddenly, I remembered the horror movie-style gore I had left in the living room and ran up the stairs. I heard the bath running as I made my way to the front room carpet. Too late. Rhys was looking down at the bloody mess that trailed into the hallway and marked my travels from the morning. Instead of looking angry, he faced me with nothing but empathy on his face, another one of those blood tears trailing down his left cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Kate. I should have warned you."

I was next to him and hugging him before he knew what happened. It only took a second for him to soften and returned the hug. I broke it off and made eye contact. "No more apologizing. Got it? You have nothing to apologize for. Please, stop saying you're sorry! Promise?"

The smile lit up his face. "I promise."

I lifted my pinkie finger and he stared at me in bewilderment. "It's a pinkie promise. You link your pinkie around mine and that's like a contract you can't break. You've never pinkie promised?!"

"I have a feeling," he said as he wrapped his little finger around mine "that you are going to teach me as much as I teach you. I've been alone too long." We ended our little promise and dropped hands. "Now, go wash yourself. I recommend not looking into the mirror."

The tub was full when I walked into the bathroom and I turned the running water off. A bar of soap and a loofah sat on the side of the biggest tub I'd ever seen outside of a luxury hotel. My clothes were glued to my skin with dried blood and were thrown into a corner of the room as I fought them off my body. The soft white robe on the wall hook was calling my name anyway. I was surprised at how fragrant the soap was. I knew it was lilac and bergamot as soon as I walked into the hallway. I'd never seen a bar of soap that smelled that strongly.

Come to think of it, I can smell everything.

And, I could. I smelled the soap, the detergent that had been used to wash the towels, the mouthwash and toothpaste on the sink, the salty smell of the contact solution on the shelf above the toilet and the bleach that had been used to clean the room at some point. Everything was so clear. I even knew the robe had been bought recently and not been washed yet because I smelled the store on it.

And, I can hear everything.

I heard crickets outside, Rhys moving around in the kitchen and drops falling from the faucet into the full tub. Faintly, I heard a dog barking and a man telling it to stop. It must be at least two or 3 miles away. That's how far away Rhys's closest neighbor is.

I slid into the hot water and watched brown flakes pull off my skin and float away in the tub. I rubbed the soap over the loofah until it was sudsy. Running it over every inch of my body felt like a metamorphosis; a caterpillar shedding the cocoon to show off its new, beautiful wings. The skin that was revealed under the mess was flawless. No sun damage, no scars, no wrinkles. My nails were strong for the first time in 39 years. I rubbed shampoo through my hair and examined the ends. As I suspected, the split ends were long gone. I am going to save so much money on moisturizers alone.

Thirty minutes later, I wiped steam off the mirror and stared at my reflection. The white towel wrapped around my torso showed me how pale my skin now was. It was an ivory tone; the shade my Irish grandmother had her entire life. It made my black hair and bright blue eyes even more shocking. I was so beautiful that I was mesmerizing myself. Now, I understood why Rhys told me I would need to use makeup to look more ordinary. I'm gonna need some better makeup. No more Rite Aid brand. The robe was just as soft as I expected it to be and I was ready to face my...maker? Sire? Dad? What do I call him?? I'll add it to the growing list of questions.

I turned on the bath water to rinse out the last of my dried blood from the bottom of the tub. The water sounded like Niagara Falls in my ears. I'll never get used to this hearing. The bath tub was finally white again and the water was shut off. Time to get some answers. I stood up and forced myself to open the door. I wanted answers to all these questions in my head and I couldn't stay locked in the bathroom forever.

Plus, I was hungry.