What Meets The Eye

Chapter Thirteen: Forever

Whispers echoed through my head, causing me to come to my senses. What had just happened? I couldn't open my eyes, they were too weak and the light was extremely blinding. The surface beneath me was warm and soft, like a bed.

When I finally gained the energy and my eyes adjusted to the bright light, I could make out two dark figures sitting on either side of me.

In shock, I sat up quickly and scooted away from them.

"Gwen? IーI don't believe it," a familiar voice whispered quietly.

Even though his words were soft, they felt like they were echoing across my brain like a soccer ball.

"Damian?" I asked, hopeful, shutting my eyes in attempt to soothe my horrible headache.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked. The figure on my right then came to my side.

I painfully looked around me at the spinning room. Lights flashed here and there, and noises rattled through my head. I could hear my own heart loudly beating in my chest. "Where am I?"

"My bedroom," he whispered.

"What happened?"

He was quiet for a moment before speaking. "You fell out of the bathroom window. You, uh, died, Gwen."

"I died?" I asked, confused. "So how am Iー" I stopped in horror as I realized what had happened.

I'm transitioning into a vampire.

After Colton had attacked me at school, I took a few sips of Damian's blood to heal my wound. Damian had said that if you die with vampire blood in your system, you turn into a vampire.

I looked at Damian with confused eyes. I didn't know what to think about this. I never wanted to be a vampire. They were bloodsucking monsters that fed on and took advantage of humans.

"Listen, Gwen. I know it's a lot to take in, but you have a choice. You don't have to go through with this, you can choose toーnot fully transition," he said, looking down.

I knew what he meant. I didn't have to become a vampire if I didn't want to. I could choose to not live anymore. I had fallen twenty feet out of a window to my death, but yet I am still alive.

"I should have died," I said quietly.

"But you didn't. You must have drank some of my blood I gave you, didn't you?" he asked.

I nodded slowly.

"Thank god you gave her your blood," the figure next to Damian said. His words echoed through my head, making me wince.

It was Grayson.

"Well I'm glad you'reー" he paused, trying to find the right word, "okay." He stood up from his chair. "I'm going to go check on Mr. Invincible downstairs," he said as he walked out of the room, leaving Damian and me alone.

Was he talking about Colton? "What happened to Colton? Did you get him?"

Damian nodded with a small smile on his face. "Your idea worked," he said. "We just couldn't figure out how to keep him locked up downstairs. He's so strong, so almost nothing can stop him."

I looked at Damian, worried.

"And I think your blood is running out of his system by now, so he should be back to normal soon," Damian said.

"What are you going to do after it does?"

He was quiet for a moment as he thought. "I don't know," he said slowly and shook his head.

My head continued to spin and shake wildly although there was no noise whatsoever. The curtains in the room were closed and blocking off any sunlight that was hitting the windows behind. Damian looked at me intently, studying me.

"There is one thing that can make your body hurt less," he said, trying to help.

"What is it?" I asked desperately through my piercing headache and vibrating body.

"Blood," he said. "Human blood."

I said nothing as I tried to digest the thought of drinking live people's blood. Regular food, like hamburgers and hot dogs wouldn't satisfy the hunger I had that would be for human blood.

"Listen, Gwen, you don't have to do this, you don't need toーbe a vampireーif you don't want to," he said again, making sure I knew my options.

He was right. I didn't have to live like this. I could take my own life and die, like I should have back at the bathroom window.

A throbbing pain pierced my brain, sending an aching wave that shot through my body.

But through all of the pain, blindness, and hunger, I knew one thing: I didn't want to dieーagain. However hard it was to accept the fact that I was a bloodsucking animal who fed on human beings, I was happy and lucky to be alive and sitting next to Damian.

I took a deep breath before speaking. Looking Damian in the eye, I made up my mind. "No, I want to live," I said.

His pink lips curled up into a huge smile. A warm feeling grew inside of me, and my headache and aching subsided, relieving me from the pain I was in.

I could see Damian clearly now; his eyes were red from crying and his usually slick dark black hair was unruly.

I looked at Damian, bewildered. "It's gone," I smiled. "The painーit's all gone."

He laughed softly, obviously holding back the thoughts in his head.

"What? What is it?" I demanded playfully, curious.

"Do you know what just happened?" he asked, a smirk appear in on his face.

"No," I shook my head.

"I just became your weakness," he smiled.

I looked down at my hands shyly, trying to conceal a smile.

"I'm in love with you, Gwen," he said, taking my hands softly. "I'm not sure if this is the time to tell you, but I couldn't keep it to myself any longer. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. When you diedーI thought I had lost you, and I couldn't bearー"

My heart warmed and fluttered for a few seconds. "Damian," I interrupted, squeezing his hands and smiling. "I love you too."

***

With Damian as my weakness, everything I had felt when I woke up had subsided. I felt normal, like I was human once again.

We went to Damian's safe place on the dock and sat there for what felt like hours. The cool waves of water washed against my legs, soothing me. I let the sound of the open ocean envelop me and overwhelm my mind.

I sat on Damian's side, leaning my head on his shoulder as he rested his head on mine.

It was nice just sitting here next to Damian. I had no problems on my mind at the time, everything just seemed perfect.

Time passed, clouds drifted away, and the sun began to set. As we watched the sun sink below the horizon's edge, Damian shifted in place, turning his head to me.

"It's getting late," he whispered in my ear.

"I don't want to leave," I whined, squeezing his arm and snuggling my head further into the crook of his neck.

"We can stay here forever."

"Forever?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

He nodded, smiling. "Forever."