Blood Ties (NaNoWriMo 2015)

Ten

A knock on the door woke me up and my eyes snapped open. I spat my hair out of my mouth and pulled the unruly strands from my face. Where was I? Then the events of the night before came crashing back like a flood. I was in Witness Protection, vampire edition.

"Good evening," it was the woman from last night. Ife. Her hair was styled today, her thick hair was done in many individual braids and held together at the base of her neck.

"Evening?" I asked, puzzle and certain I sounded like Chewbacca.

"You slept all day," Ife informed me. She walked across the room carrying a take-out bag, as it got closer I could read the word Cinnabon. At my alarmed expression she smiled and laughed. "Don't worry," Ife said. "you needed the rest. Besides, the rest of us are on that time table," she set the bag on a nightstand that I didn't remember being there the night before. "Sleeping all day and being awake at night, you've a head start on adjusting to it."

"Why?" I sat up and stretched and then quickly released that was a huge mistake. My muscles screamed in protest to it. Further proof the night before had not been some terribly vivid nightmare.

"Bram Stoker got a few things right, vampires and sunlight don't mix well. It's safer for us to be on a nocturnal schedule."

"Sunlight makes  you burst into flame?" I didn't really feel like talking but something about Ife's temperament drew words out of me anyway. I had a feeling Johnathan had assigned her to watch over me, keep me company in an attempt to make me feel more at ease her. I didn't want to be a bitch to some woman who was just doing her job.

"No," Ife dug into the bag and pulled out a small Styrofoam container and a fork. "But it burns us, much like how you would get burned if you stuck your arm into a fire." She pushed the container and fork towards me. "Eat, you need to eat."

I opened the container and a gooey cinnamon roll. I cut into it with the fork and placed a bit in my mouth. In usual Cinnabon fashion it was gooey, sweet and soft but right now the taste did nothing to cheer me up. "There's takeout nearby then?" I asked after I swallowed. "This is nice but I'd have settled for cereal."

"Well we really don't have much for human consumption here," said Ife as she fiddled with the many strands of her necklace. "We can eat human food if we just want something tasty and useless for survival but they are just little things. Not much for full meals."

"You can eat human food?" I took another bite, regarding the woman with genuine curiosity. I'd never heard any of that in all the vampire folklore I knew.

"Yes," Ife reached over and plucked a bit of cinnamon roll with her slender fingers. The thought struck me then that she could be a hand model if she wanted to be. She popped the pastry in her mouth, chewed, swallowed and smiled. "Tastes great, but human food to us is what Ramen noodles are to you. Yummy and next to useless for helping our bodies run properly."

"Good to know," I mumbled and I forced another bite down my throat.

"We hope to get you some clothes of your own in the next few days," Ife informed me and I caught a bit of movement as she grabbed another bag I hadn't noticed when she walked in. "But until then one of our coven has offered to lend you some clothing until that can pass. You two are about the same size."

Ife pulled out a cream knit sweater, a pair of jeans and simple black flats. "Oh and there's this," she pulled out  a thick belt. "Goes around the sweater."

I carefully picked up the sweater, the entire ensemble was lovely, whoever the donor was had great taste. "Will I be able to meet them and say thank you? And let them know they have great taste."