Sphere

Reminiscent

When, I wake up, I wake up to a set of familiar purple eyes. They startle me awake, making both of us laugh. It feels good to laugh again. My best friend Robert is here. He's a vampire, and he's been my friend since just before the war. Over time and over losses, we became close friends. We trust each other with our lives.

"When did you get in?" he asks, his trademark smile stretching a mile wide.

"Not that long ago, what day is it?"

"The tenth," he replies, lying down on the bed next to me.

"Just a few hours ago. Any news around here?" I genuinely am curious, I just don't want to go to boring meetings about it. I'd rather find out from my best friend.

"They bombed the surrounding area, but this was protected. The surrounding area was depressing though. We've been working on harnessing the pyramid's power and stretching it to cover innocent homes, but it isn't strong enough to protect them. I believe work on this front is being paused." I realize how long it's been since I was here.

"Any good news?"

"You're here!" he replies, being his goofy self. I missed him. He looks me straight in the eye, and he's leaning forward, never breaking eye contact. I blink, and then his lips are on mine, and I'm so confused! My body seems to like it, but my mind is screaming at me, telling me to get out of here, stop responding, you don't like this. I continue anyway. I like this, but I'm scared for what this means. Everyone that I have loved has died, and has been brutally killed. My practical side is arguing, saying to break away. I don't, but he does. He looks down at his hands and turns tomato red.

"Sorry," he mutters. "I've always wanted to."

"It's okay, but what does this mean for us?" I ask, truly worried about his answer. Worried that he would reject me, that he would love me. That would kill him. No matter how confidential we kept it. Some of these races could read minds. I could cover it...

"I love you..." he trails off. He's scared and unsure of himself, something I've never seen come out of Robert. I don't know what to say. He's my very best friend, he's very close to me. Maybe I do love him, but I don't want to say it. So I don't. I lean in, and kiss him. It's just a peck, nothing passionate, but I kiss him.

"I love you too," I say, all of my nerves on edge. I don't like this. Then I get another surprise. He wraps me up in his arms and holds me to him. I inhale his scent, it's comforting and familiar, something I haven't experienced in quite some time. I relax in his arms. If this is becoming a regular occurrence, I could learn to love this.

We spend the rest of the day like this. Robert would have to come everywhere with me.

"This is really kinda antique now, but will you be my girlfriend?" he asks, clearly nervous. I stare into his eyes, his deep, beautiful brown eyes that are eating my heart every second.

"I would love to, but it's too dangerous," I say, seeing those beautiful brown eyes lose all hope as they cast down at our entwined hands.

"Oh."

"Will you come with me when I travel?" I cringe at asking the question. It must be piercing his heart with little daggers. I guess I'm too selfish.

"Of course! I want to see the destruction anyway. It gets really boring around here, just sitting, dreaming of you...." He trails off. I punch his arm and he yelps, more out of surprise than pain. How long is he going to try this? As if reading my mind, he says, "I'm just gonna keep trying Elisabeth. You know it too." He's still just being goofy. He's a little bit on the crazy side. Most Vampyres are stealthy and stereotypical, just like you would think, but there are intraspecies of this race. There are the gaunt "gothic" ones, the sparkly "Cullen" ones, the ones that just blend in, the ones that turn into bats, and pretty much any other stereotype or form of vampire you can think of. Robert is a bit strange. His dad is a hunter and his mother is one of the "goths". (They prefer the name Victorians) I don't even know how they met or how they've stayed together so long, but whatever floats your boat. Anywho, Robert carried most of his father's traits, but the way he looks and parts of his personality are a perfect blend of the two. He's kind of rare, those two species usually despise each other. It created a bit of a Romeo and Juliet effect when it happened.