Whisper

Chapter IV

Dani's phone rang. She picked it up and looked at the number–unknown. She swiped right on the screen to answer it and pressed the speaker option.

"Hello, Dani. This is Rebecca. I was wondering if we could meet at the library at our normal time? I already reserved a room. I don't think it is good for me to be in your apartment anymore."

This took Dani by surprise. She thought Rebecca had enjoyed the more relaxed and intimate environment. It seemed to have helped her tell her character's story. "No, yeah, of course, that's fine. I'm on my way now."

"Alright, I'll be waiting. It's room seven." Rebecca hung up the call. Dani shook her head and put her phone in her pocket. She grabbed her backpack and her keys and left her apartment.

The bus ride to the library took about forty-five minutes, but she was there on time. When she knocked on the door to room seven, she half expected Rebecca to not be there. The blinds on the window were drawn, so she couldn't see inside. To her surprise, Rebecca opened the door. She stood aside to let Dani in and closed the door behind her.

"Why did you change the location? I thought you were comfortable at my place?" Rebecca shook her head.

"I was a little too comfortable if you know what I mean. I think it would be best if we met here from now on," Rebecca said, sitting in her seat at the far end of the white plastic table. "Please, let's get today done. I am tired and I don't feel well."

Dani could see how tired she was–Rebecca had dark bags under her eyes and her cheeks were sunken. She looked ill.

"If you're not feeling well, we can postpone this?" Rebecca shook her head.

"No, we need to finish what we've started. There's still so much to tell." Dani nodded. She pulled out the tape recorder and a new set of tapes–she had gone to the store to purchase more, and just bought all of the ones they had on the shelf. She inserted a tape and pressed record.

"I stayed in my room for days. Of course, I refused food, but at night I would sneak out to the kitchen and find a girl to drink from. I saw Laurent a few times, as he left with Alexis to go down to the village. We didn't speak to each other though–it seemed that Alexis had spoken to him about my current status. I wanted to climb into his arms and cry; I wanted to hold him and love him and feel the weight of his body in my arms. But I also wanted to hide from him. So I hid. Alexis came to see me a few times, but the visits were brief, not because of a lack of conversation, but because I didn't want company–at least not Laurent's.

"I spent the days in my mother's private room, with the curtains drawn for both of our sakes. She was so frail and weak, she could only eat soups and porridge. I fed her all of her meals. My father came and went. He couldn't stand to see my mother in this state, that much I could tell from his mind. Images of her as a young woman, when they were first married, before I was born. Passion and desire and youth. Her death would be painful, for both of them. I thought about turning her, about draining her and feeding her, about killing her. But the sickness was too far along, and I was afraid she wouldn't survive.

"It was a week before I spoke to Laurent. I went to our quarters in the middle of the night, after I had fed. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer. When he did I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him. Just like that first kiss on our wedding night, we met each other with a passion so hot that it burned against my skin. We stumbled into the room and I clumsily closed the door behind us. He threw me on the bed and jumped on me with a force he had not demonstrated before. It was a battle between us, all sheets and feathers. I could see his mind, I knew his pleasure. It was a rush to see myself through his eyes. When we finished, we lay breathless, feathers floating around our bodies. A soft knock came at the door.