Rare Blood

Chapter Eighteen: Baby Steps

Cyrus was going to give Faye as much space as he could. Things were not unrecoverable; he could tell by the way she looked at him. Yeah, she may have stabbed him, but he respected her for it. He never would have suspected she'd be a fighter, especially after the whole fainting thing, but she surprised him. It meant she was tougher than she looked. A lot tougher, he thought glancing back at her.

She looked like an angel to him. Her hair had dried with a subtle wave and the way the front was cut framed her face, the golden honey hues creating a kind of halo effect on her warm cream colored skin. She had the black sweatshirt he took from her place over her like a blanket and she remained curled up in and out of sleep.

When Cyrus knew Faye was awake he had to fight himself not to speak to her. It had been two hours of silence, horrible silence.  He couldn't imagine what it would be like to learn about Vampire's as a human. He was attacked, fed from, and then turned before he knew what hit him. His education began when he woke and he imagined it was easier for him because he could hear the beating hearts of others and the sound made his mouth water. Not to say he did not struggle but there was no denying what he needed and that need spoke volumes of truth whereas Faye only had his explanations and a fear for her life courtesy of Roxanne. The thought made him want to destroy her so badly he could picture it, and that's just what he did. He drove imagining a thousand scenarios all ending in Roxanne LaValle's decapitation as another silent hour went by.

When he heard Faye finally sit up he glanced back in the rearview and she asked, "Where are we," all worn sounding looking around.

"Indiana. We just crossed the state line from Ohio."

"What time is it?"

"Eleven-twenty."

"Can we stop soon? I have to use the bathroom and I could really use some Advil or Tylenol or something."

"You still have that headache," he asked a little worried.

"Yes."

"We can stop. I'll take the next exit."

"I can wait for a rest stop if you don't want to get off the highway," she offered.

Time for a lesson, he thought then explained, "We can't stop at a rest stop. It's expected. Anyone could go in flashing a picture of you and who knows what someone might remember. You take a random exit off the highway and the risk is virtually eliminated."

"Ok," she said absentmindedly.

"Faye, you should remember things like that."

She exhaled, "Ok."

And when she started to dig around in her bag he couldn't help himself, "Looking for something else you can put a hole in me with?"

"I said I was sorry about that."

"I was only trying to make you smile."

"Please don't. Not right now."

He kept quiet until they stopped at a gas station a few miles from the exit.  After looking around and finding nothing of consequence they went into the store together where he paid cash for the gas, some headache medicine, and a couple of waters. He let Faye go into the bathroom while he filled the tank. When it was full, he waited another minute before going back to the bathroom to check on Faye.

He knocked on the ladies room door softly, "Faye, Are you alright?"

He heard a sniffle but no answer. "Faye," he called again and heard nothing so he pushed the door open. She was standing at the sink leaning over crying. Cyrus wanted to pull her into his arms and just keep her there but he knew it's not what she wanted so he stayed put. "I know this is hard on you but try and rela-"