Angel's Wings

Chapter Fifteen: Discovery

Dedicated to: nerdcliff

"If you're gonna be the death of me, that's how I wanna go."- Panic at the Disco

I woke blearily to the feel of a soft, cold hand stroking my cheek. Joesephe was kneeling beside me, watching me a kind of intensity that instantly ignited every inch of my body. My memory was fuzzy; my mind sluggish, but as I looked at my rescuer, flashes of what had happened slowly started to come back to me. "Joesephe...?" I mumbled, sitting up a little. Joesephe shooshed me.

"How's the hangover?"

"Terrible. How drunk was I acting?" Joesephe smirked a little. His lips were on mine, soft and beautiful. One beer after another. Drinking. Swirling. "Wait. You kissed me!!" I accused angrily.

"That wasn't drunk behavior, darling. We've kissed before, remember?" Joesephe's smile crept up his cheeks far enough that I could see the tips of his teeth pressing against his lip again. "And that one was far more extended." I rolled my eyes.

"You're not the only one I kissed at the party you know," I said. Even if it was totally unintentional. And if it was with my best friend's boyfriend. Joesephe's eyes flashed with fury. He took his hand off my face and stood up.

He turned his back to me with clenched fists. "Don't," he growled angrily, "Don't you think you should have told me that?"

I covered my mouth with a suddenly fearful hand. "It was really sudden, a lot was happening at once-"

"Who."

"What?"

Joesephe's back muscles were tight and unmoving. "Who did you kiss?"

"I don't have to tell you that. I didn't even have to tell you that I kissed someone else. I was just being ni-"

"NICE?" Joesephe jerked back around and in an instant was hovering over me, arms locked on either side of my body. I flinched back. "NICE?! Vaelyumme, did you even care about what happened between us?! DID IT MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU?" Even though my heart was racing, it softened a little when I looked and saw tears spring to his deep brown eyes.

"We barely know each other," I whispered.

Joesephe's arms caved a little and he fell closer to me, his nose hovering an inch over mine. I caught my breath as he glanced resentfully at my mouth. "And in that short amount of time," he breathed. "You have infiltrated every part of my existence." He straightened and looked away. "Who knew that infiltration was poisonous?" I gulped. Maybe...maybe I don't hate him as much as I thought I did. I can't believe I hurt him.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Joesephe cast a quick, hard look at me as he went over to open it. A redheaded, potbellied man wearing a baseball cap and a UPS shirt stepped in with a large package in his arms. "I have your monthly delivery, sir." He said in a very clear Australian accent. Joesephe glanced at me again but nodded, his jaw clenched.

"Thank you, Frank."

Frank looked over at me too and his large- almost yellow- eyes widened. "Hello, love. You look very familiar. Do I know you?"

"N-no, sorry." Frank smiled at me for a moment longer before turning around and setting the box down.

"My apologies." He left after another moment and Joesephe close the door behind him immediately, resting his forehead against the door. I take the opportunity to look around.

His house was small, gothic, and somehow very stylish. Black velvet drapes hung from the windows, shutting out any signs of sunlight. His floorboards were a dark cherry red and even the couch I lounged on was black and leather. The entire house smelled of lavender. A tinted black glass coffee table was where the box rested.

"So..." I said, trying to move past the awkwardness. "What do you get every month?"

"It's none of your business."

"I don't actually care, you know that right?"

"Great." Joesephe lightly banged his head against the door. "Well, you've been in my house long enough. You can go now."

Why does that actually sting? "Fine." I swung my legs onto the floor, but as soon as I stood up, dizziness overtook me. I gasped.

But just before I fell over, there was a swooshing sound and suddenly two strong arms were cradling me. Joesephe propped me up with a strange expression on his face, like he was panicked and trying not to show it. I slowly blinked. "How did you get to me so fast?"

"Small house, fast reflexes," he said quickly. My next speculation was interrupted by my stomach growling, embarrassingly loud.

"Sorry, do you have any food?"

"Fresh out."

"Then can I use your bathroom before I leave and we act like this never happened?"

Joesephe's expression didn't change. "To the right of the kitchen."

"Thanks." I uncoiled myself from our accidental embrace with burning cheeks and stumbled my way into what looked like his kitchen. At least, it looked like a kitchen. Black granite counters and small metallic chandeliers hung over what looked like a dining table. Except... there wasn't a fridge. There wasn't any silverware in sight either, with the exception of several knives hanging for display. The cupboards looked completely empty. All there was was a giant freezer nestled in the corner of the room. Well, this is too strange not to investigate.

Looking back, I checked to see if Joesephe was anywhere near. Then I crept over to the freezer and, quietly, lifted the lid.

It was filled with bags of blood.

***

I dropped the lid as horror shot through me. I shoved a fist into my mouth to keep from screaming. What. Is. Happening? He's a murderer, an absolute murderer. He's going to chop me up and drain me for his own entertainment....

Wait.

All at once I was hit with a torrent of memories, all arriving at one very impossible conclusion.

The chickens at the ranch, drained of blood from the neck.

The way Joesephe's teeth had nipped at me when he kissed me.

The way his canines seemed longer and sharper than normal.

The way his house was completely dark.

And he had no food. Only blood.

No, it's not possible. It can't be...can it? In the end there was only one explanation possible.

Joesephe was a vampire.

Everything that I did next was a blur. I immediately forgot my needs to go to the bathroom and bolted for the front door, shoving past Joesephe with a scream. I could hear him yelling after me, but by then I was already outside, running for my life.

I gripped my hands to my hair and continued to run, feeling the ground beneath my feet change from grass to pavement to the middle of the road.

And then there was an entirely different sensation. Pain, exploding over my entire body as I felt my ribs crack with impact and my head bang against glass. I flew into the air, and next thing I knew?

Darkness.