My Wee Mate

16 - The devil has nothing to do with it

Fraser

My throat is burning again.

It's been a week since Laird Sinclair has fed me. Even the poisoned blood is enough to keep me living, keep my dead heart beating.

The rats I've been feasting on do help, but not by much. They are simply a small bite in the midst of starvation.

What makes it worse is Ailsa's appearances. I hate the way my eyes automatically track her neck, my gaze fixed on her pulse with every tick of her veins under her pale, delicious skin.

It puts me in a mood, and not a very good one.

The dripping of water down the stone reminds me of the drip of blood from the corner of my lips as I drop rodent's and their bloodless bodies.

It's shameful. I feel like a rat myself. Scurrying across the ground in search for scraps, hiding the evidence of my tiny meals in the bucket mean for my waste.

Little do these humans know I have no need for such things.

A creak from the door is the only sign I need to tell me that someone is approaching. One whiff and I know it's not the human girl. Another long inhale also proves that it's not the all too precious Laird Sinclair.

I freeze.

Who is this newcomer?

The scent of testosterone in his sweat is enough to tell me he's male. It's not hard to figure out he's human. Not just because of his overpowering scent of naivety, but the knowledge that there are none of my kind in this clan.

I know my brothers will come for me. It's only a matter of time.

"Hello, monster." The words of greeting have me twisting my mouth to the side in distaste.

I'm not surprised by this statement, but it's odd hearing it from a stranger. This man does uneven know me, and yet he chooses to hate me. It's the human way I suppose. I should not be shocked by this reaction to meeting someone he's likely been told is a vampire.

I don't bother responding. My words will mean nothing to him. Humans are typically very decided. Their lack of knowledge and understanding limits their field of vision. They know what they know, and that's all they care about.

"My Laird has sent me to feed you, you disgusting, pathetic exuse for a life." He spots. "Maybe I shouldn't even call you that. You are undead after all."

I roll my eyes, knowing how wrong he is. I wonder how he would react to hearing that I was carried and born from my mothers womb, no different from him. The only difference is that my mother was a vampire, as was my father.

Of course we can turn others to our way of life, a long and excruciating process that I haven't had to perform often.

When a human is turned into a vampire, they die and essentially come back to life. Their heart stops and then starts again. That's when their new life begins, an immortal life.

But when I was born I was already an immortal, therefore I did not need to die to become what I am.

An explanation like that would be lost on this human, but I find myself curious of what Ailsa would think of this information.

She doesn't even know I'm a vampire.

I'd she discovered the truth, or if I somehow explained it to her, how would she react? Would she hate me? Curse me? Abandon me to the dungeons and never return to me?