Encounters With a Mythic: Three Degrees of Obsession

Chapter 6:

Michelle woke with a rush, gasping for air. She felt more bruised than ever as she clasped at her wrist and checked herself over for bloody sword wounds. When something warm trickled its way down her cheek she brushed it away surprised to realize that she was crying. Not once had a D.A.E. ever been so vivid.  Every scratch, cut, stab, and flex of muscle felt as real as if it had happened to her. And the emotions she picked up from Valmond... 

Michelle heard the light chime of five bells and watched as all her monitors in the room began to switch to her final D.A.E. reports signaling that Valmond would be waking momentarily. Shuffling out of her chair, she removed her helmet and placed it on her seat than began to walk towards the vampire. 

She could see his brows furrow as his mind worked to pull him out of his stupor. The gruff pinching of his face started to intensify as beads of sweat formed on every inch of his exposed skin. His adams apple bobbed as if he were afraid to take a breath while his muscles appeared to lock up and bulge. When his eyes began to dart back and forth behind his eyelids without thinking Michelle clutched at his right arm bringing it close to her chest and stroking it in slow rhythmic motions. 

"Didn't I tell you to just go with it Vampire? Oh my Hecate, you haven't listened to a word I've said!" She complained while continuing to glide her hand up and down his arm studying his face intently for any sign that he may have recognized her voice. His head slowly tilted towards her direction as if searching for her. She pressed his arm tighter to her chest doing everything she could to deny how much she indulged in the warmth of his body seeping into her from the scant contact. "Easy vampire. Just follow the sound of my voice. It's Dr. Baker. I'm right here. Can you hear me Valmond? Open your eyes for me."

"Mi-chelle?" He whispered. 

"I'm here Valmond. Michelle is right here." 

"Michelle?" He called out again. This time with an edge of alarm to his tone. His eyes shot open and immediately locked on to hers. They glistened. A thick black ink pooling in both of his eyes, such a stark contrast to their beautiful blue depths. Suddenly she was struck a new by the memory of his emotions. The rage he felt at himself for not noticing the people he called "fanatics" sooner. The sheer disappointment at his own weakness when he couldn't protect his brother. And there was an emotion there, lingering, that she couldn't even put into words. When he saw the look on his brothers face right before sending him away, something within Valmond had broken. She fought back the need to cry when she heard the vampire mutter in an barely audible tone, "An angel has me."

Heat rose to her cheeks and she prayed that Valmond couldn't feel her heart quicken at his words as she lowered his arm back to his side. Clearing her throat she asked, "Do you know where you are Mr. Valencia? Can you tell me your name?"

At her question he jolted up right grasping at his head and swung his legs to the side of the floating chair. " I believe I'm still connected to your machine of lost memories. And my name isn't Mr. Valencia, its Valmond. You've shouted it enough for the neighbors to even grasp that much. Though..." He lifted his chin slowly and Michelle felt flames nipping at her legs as his gaze roamed her over. He didn't seem to care that they'd only just met as there was hunger in his demeanor. Like he craved her. Every inch. Every freckle. She twined her fingers behind her back. Desperate to hide the quivering of her lips and knees. When his perusal met her face to face he continued, "I don't think I would mind the neighbors learning my name if it was spoken from your tongue."

Becoming uncomfortable under his scrutiny, she turned to walk back towards her chair and grab her post questionnaire sheet. Glad to have a task that could pull her away from his intoxicating scent and dangerous guise. Once the questionnaire was in hand she turned back to him and leaned into the chilled steal of the chair hoping that the freezing metal would cool the mounting heat within her.

She stared to take him in. To study his countenance for any outward signs that he may have been experiencing trace effects from the dive. As much as he attempted to portray an air of bravado and masculinity she was trained not to fall for it. Surveying him, she noticed just how weary he truly was. The slight hunch in his shoulders. The almost visibly painful tension in his neck.  The look on his face made her heart ache to fix what was broken inside him. 

"Valmond?" She said, breaking the silence.  Was her tone too light? He didn't show any signs of recognition. She tried again. A little more steal in her voice. "Valmond, are you with me?"

"With you? If only that were true, Luna. Then maybe..." He shrugged and chuckled the last. Confirming her hypothesis of how weary he appeared as his out of place laughter held no humor. 

She snapped her fingers in his direction. "Valmond I need you to focus on me. Look right here and try to focus on my nose." He turned to her like a wounded animal caught in a trap he knew he couldn't escape on his own. He line of sight was beginning to come around to her when a realization struck. A question that her mind latched onto. When he fully peered at her she asked, "Valmond, who is Luna?"

Valmond jumped to his feet. His head swinging left to right as if seeking something. "Lunara? Is she here? Is she-" His words ended as abruptly as he stood and he collapsed back into his chair. His mind was dissociated from the present. She knew this. Knew the protocol was to keep her distance and slowly guide him back to here and now. So why did she run to his side? 

"The room. Is it not spinning to you Doctor?" The vampire questioned with his hands gripping his head. She could clearly see his muscles growing taut. 

"Explain to me whats wrong Valmond. What do you feel? I see your abdomen clenching, do you feel like you're about to-"

"Step away Doctor!" Michelle had no time to finish the question as suddenly she found herself being tossed across the room! She landed in a corner far from the vampire as the sounds of metal crumpling started from underneath her and something thick and wet splashed the ground under where her patient sat. Pain radiated from all over. She tried to move but found herself ensnared by whatever she had landed on. Her struggles to get free only made it worse.  Long moments passed and when Valmonds gaze met hers the hairs on the back of her neck stood on alert. 

How could a fleeting moment of tenderness make her forget whom her patient was? What he was! The sweeper-bot she'd landed on rambled incoherently. She felt cocooned in the crumpled metals unable to move. Unable to run. The vampires fangs started to sharpen. Tears flooded her eyes in reaction, and when her vision tinted a murky red she placed her finger tips to a spot on her head where pain erupted in tandem with her racing pulse. Her hand moved slowly back into sight while every thing seemed to disappear. There was only this vacuum of focus she found herself in. A pitch black void that made the shimmering crimson against her palm that much more vivid in her eyes. 

"Blood?" They both cried out at the same time. His voice echoing across the farthest reaches of her mind. When the vampire stood up once more he took a tremulous step towards her and the wild look on his face coiled fear around her heart. He looked ravenous. Dark ink dripped from the corners of his lips.  A trail of evidence of what he was. The sclera of his eyes turned black. The void she found herself in now reflected in his leer. The beautiful light blue she'd come so accustomed to shifted into a violet so surreal, so eerily bright, that the void shattered like glass all around her and her surroundings came back in a rush. He took another step closer. Her breath hitched. Then he took another.

And another.

And another. 

When he was  almost close enough for her to perceive his body heat she shut her eyes and screamed! A blood curling, ear piercing sound that even the dead could hear. 

She had no idea how long she continued to wail, only knew that when she finally stopped she found herself crying into Kyla's neck and that the vampire was no where to be seen.