Always Hate Me

33. Bloodlust

Frida awoke, her neck stiff and her body aching. She groaned and tried to sit up.

"Slowly," a male voice spoke from the dark, "you don't want to pass out again." Enlai gently pushed her shoulders, urging Frida to lie back down again. Frida blinked, groggily taking in the sight of Enlai sat by her side. This close, she could see his face clearer.

He was young looking, probably late teens to early twenties when he was bitten and turned. She wasn't sure if he was handsome or not. His face seemed very sharp and angular – interesting, model-like but lacking in anything soft or pretty. He was wearing eyeliner but it was badly smudged, creating harsh smears under his narrow eyes. His hair was shaved at the sides with a long quiff that flopped over half of his face.

Frida's gaze dropped to his neck. The bite mark there still hadn't healed and, she faintly saw the scars of previous bite marks on the other side of his slender throat. He edged away from her. Frida reached out without thinking, holding onto his wrist to stop him. She shivered in the cold. There were no sounds from the church above anymore – the only sound was her own breathing.

"How long was I asleep for?" Frida whispered, though she wasn't sure why. They were alone in the crypt. But, foolishly, she felt scared of waking something.

"I don't know." Enlai looked down at her hand, still wrapped around his wrist. "I have no way of knowing the time down here."

Reluctantly, Frida let him go. 

She reached up to touch her neck and felt the material that Enlai had bound her wound with. "I used my scarf," he replied to her questioning look. "I don't know how clean it is. But I wanted to cover up the smell." The smell of her blood. She shivered. Looking at his colourless lips and sunken eyes, it was clear that he was thirsty.

"Is it working?"

He nodded.

"You smell like me now."

She exhaled, relieved. 

He retreated back into his niche to sit in. Taking it slow, Frida gradually sat up. She wiggled her fingers and toes – all still present and all working.

"Why are you down here with me? What did you do?" She asked, frowning.

"It's not what I did. It's what I am."

"A cryptic bastard?"

Enlai cocked his brow at her attitude.

"I could still bite you," he reminded her darkly. Frida lowered her head sheepishly.

"Sorry," she sighed, resting her head back against the wall. "Kristus, jeg er sulten," she muttered under her breath.

"What language is that?"

"Norsk." She brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them, shivering. She was going to freeze down here. "So, what is it? What made you worthy of being stuck down here?"

"I have a unique gift." 

Enlai stretched his stiff legs and the joints creaked in protest. Much longer without blood, and he'd be unable to move... "My blood makes vampires stronger."

"Surely that makes you valuable?"

"Men get greedy. Dracul stopped wanting to share me. He's the man who brought you down here."