Whisper

Chapter III

Rebecca sat next to Dani, her legs crossed, and her hands folded neatly in her lap. She looked warmer today, a little rosier. Dani tried to give her partner a smile, but either Rebecca didn't catch it or she was ignoring her.

"So, you and Laurent kissed," Dani said as she loaded a new tape. She was going to need to get more at the rate they were going. She pressed record and sat back, ready to listen to Rebecca's story.

"Yes, our first kiss. He pushed me to the bed and I fell back onto it. He pulled away for a moment and stared down at me. He let go of my hair and moved his hands down to my chest, where he ripped my dress clean off. It was torn down the middle, and he snatched it from under my body. He tossed it to the side, a sad and crumpled mess. Next was my corset–he flipped me over and gently untied the cord that held it together. I could breathe steadily for a moment, but only a moment. He flipped me back over and stood me up to get my panniers off. I was left in my chemise, staring at him. He lowered himself onto me and began kissing along my neck down to my chest. Kisses so soft and gentle that I wondered if the kiss from earlier had even been real. I could feel his fingers trembling on my arms. I reached up to touch his face but he grabbed my wrists and held them down around my head.

"'Don't move,' he whispered against my skin. I lay still for a few minutes as he traced the line of my jaw with his lips. He raised his head and looked into my eyes, releasing my wrists. I reached up and began to undress him, but I wasn't as violent. I wanted to savor each moment of this. Soon he was down to his breeches, and we stared at each other for a moment. I hadn't noticed how pale he was before, but his skin was white like snow. It had a slight rosy hue but most of the color was reserved for his face. I undid the ribbon that held his hair back and watched his curls fall around his face. He looked so beautiful, that I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. I raise my hands and placed them on his chest. I could feel his heartbeat, but it was slow. My own was racing.

"He picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. Our lips met in another hungry kiss as he crawled onto the bed, laying me down gently onto the duvet. We didn't stop our kiss as we rolled around the bed. He moved so quickly, that I couldn't see the room around me as we made love. The headboard cracked, it was so loud. I was sure my parents would come running at the sound, but no one came.

"And then he broke the kiss. He moved his mouth to my neck and I felt a sensation, the feeling of a needle sinking into my finger as I did my sewing. Something warm pooled around his mouth and flowed down my neck. I pushed at him, but I was growing weak too fast to do anything. I beat his back with my fists until I couldn't hold my arms up anymore. He pulled away, my blood dripping down from his mouth. My vision tunneled as he raised his wrist to his mouth. He shoved his arm into my mouth and the sweet taste of blood filled my mouth. I drank and drank until he pulled his wrist away from my mouth. He looked down at me and his eyes were sad. I could tell that much through the haze of my vision.

"'I am going to have to kill you now. It won't hurt, I promise. It will be quick.' He place his hands on either side of my head and everything went black."

"He killed you?!" Dani exclaimed. Rebecca nodded.

"We drain, feed our blood, and kill those we want to turn. It is the process. Some have died from blood loss, and that works just as well. But he broke my neck."

"That's tragic," Dani whispered.

"In that darkness of death, I saw Alexis. I saw the night he played the piano. I saw him walk over to the settee and sit down. But he didn't just sit there, he reached over to my wrist and drew it close to his mouth. I felt the sting of teeth breaking into my flesh. I wanted to scream but he placed his hand over my mouth. Laurent watched as he let his friend feed off of me. I saw every time my head had been fuzzy and full, too heavy to keep up. Every time Laurent had compelled me to forget. But what alarmed me the most was the memory of a night in January of that year. It was evening, and I was taking a walk through the garden. A man appeared, a man with dark hair and dark eyes. He kissed my hand and pulled me close to him. It was dark out, but the light of the moon caught his eyes and I was able to see the same hunger I was so used to. He looked into my eyes and said: