Chapter 4. Dying Wish

Over the next few days, I lived a double life. In the morning, I would spend the day with the twins and my mom. Sometimes we would go to the mall, watch a movie, or eat out. But most of the time, we stayed inside the house because my body got easily fatigued. Without speaking about it, we treasured each other’s company. No one brought up the subject of death, knowing full well that I didn’t know how to deal with it, but I felt their concern and own fears nonetheless.

My mom would often tell me how much she loved me. Amanda was always asking for sister bonding time, which she didn’t do before I got sick. Jack would sometimes grab my hand and call me his beautiful lover, or blurt out silly jokes when everyone was silent. Underneath their smiles, I could see the sadness of losing me.

At night, Emiri would come over and that was my favorite part. I often bombarded her with questions about vampires, but she’d dodge it easily and asked about me instead. I didn’t understand why she found me so fascinating, but I never pushed her away because I secretly enjoyed her company.

She never asked to drink my blood again, and at the back of my mind, I’ve always wondered if she was hungry because of my refusal, or if she fed on another person before she came over. The thought haunted me, but I didn’t say a thing. I was such a coward. But I guess I was unfair too, because I never told her I was dying.

All the while, my body deteriorated. There were times when I couldn’t get up from the bed. I’d wake up dizzy, and was often fatigued and shaking. What made me feel alive was the thought of seeing my vampire friend at night. Sometimes she’d stay with me until I fall asleep, which thrilled me endlessly.

“Hey,” Emiri said while walking inside my bedroom like she owned the place. She gave me one of her dazzling half-smiles that always gave me goose bumps. I could never get used to seeing her perfection. I blinked several times and shook my head in confusion.

“Awestruck much?”

“You wish,” I retorted.

“What are you listening to?” Her boots thudded softly on my wooden floor as she approached me on the bed.

“It’s Burn by Ellie Goulding. You know her?” I gently removed the headphones in my ear.

She sat beside me. “Nah! I’m too busy being cool to listen to music.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Where do you live anyway? Where do you go when you’re not here?” I started asking my usual questions again, the ones she would usually shrug off.

“I live under a bridge,” she said with a smirk.

“Fine, don’t answer. I’m used to it now.” I got up and walked to my desk, turning my back to her. I set my iphone down and arranged the speakers.

“What are you doing?”

I ignored her and continued hooking my phone to the speaker. I only glanced at her once the music started playing, Goulding’s catchy voice streaming softly inside the room. Emiri raised an eyebrow.

“I wonder if you’re too cool to dance with me,” I said with a smile on the edge of my lips. She just stared at me. My body moved to the rhythm of the song, and slowly, I started to walk to her. I pulled her arm, coaxing her to get up.

“Dance with me?” I said with a husky voice.

Something flickered in her eyes, but I didn’t recognize it. A seductive smile slowly formed on her lips. She started swaying to the music too, her body moving gracefully- more beautiful than anything I have ever seen.

She removed her leather jacket, giving me a great view of her toned slender body, evident from the fitted shirt she was wearing. My heart pounded to the rhythm of the music, blood rushing to my face. She drew nearer, but didn’t touch my body. Her scent filled my nostril, her drop dead gorgeous face straight from my fantasies.

I felt a longing to trail my hands on her body. To explore and know the vampire who managed to steal my heart. I inched closer, every single cell of my body hyper aware of her nearness.

The music picked up its rhythm, and we swayed with each other, a dance of seduction that slowly but surely consumed my mind. My eyes automatically went to her lips, frozen in a half-smile, tempting, coaxing me to kiss her. In this moment, my sickness, my parents and siblings, every thought seemed to vanish, except her and me. Sweat trickled down my back. I leaned nearer, nearer, feeling her breath on my face. I opened my mouth, ready to taste the forbidden fruit in front of me.

And then the music stopped.

I blinked in confusion and stared around the room. Emiri was already sitting crossed-leg on the bed, grinning at me.

“Were my moves good enough?”

I slowly let my breath out. She was such a tease. I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. Come to think of it, I didn’t know what I wanted from her either. Did I want something to happen between us? I was so close to tearing her clothes off from her body and crushing my lips to hers.

I didn’t go to the bed for fear of initiating something with her again. Instead, I sat on the floor a few steps from it.

“You’re a riot you know?” I said with a frown.

“What did I do?”

“Nothing.” You just tempted me into having wild and unadulterated sex with you, I added in a low voice. I stared at her hard. “So what do you want to do tonight?”

“Want to go out?”

“Huh? Where?”

“It’s a secret.”

“You’re not going to kill me in cold blood when we leave the house right?” I joked.

She got up so quickly from the bed that it was a blur. “You still don’t trust me?” Her jaw clenched hard.

“Calm down. I do trust you. It’s a joke okay,” I said lamely. “I’ll go with you anywhere.” To prove myself, I stood up and moved to the closet. “Close your eyes so I can change.”

Emiri moved back to the bed and made herself comfortable, taking a pillow and hugging it against her chest. “Just so you know, I can hear every fabric that you remove,” she smirked, the anger in her face fully gone.

I ignored her and started to undress. I looked down my body and noticed that I lost a lot of weight. I rummaged inside the closet and found a clean purple blouse and jeans. It was bigger than before. After I wore my converse sneakers, I turned to the mirror, catching a glance of my pale face. Was I always this sickly looking? I grabbed my favorite lipstick and put a small amount on my lips to have some color. I decided to leave my wavy brunette hair as is and walked back to the bed.

“Are you done?” Emiri asked with her eyes closed.

“I thought you fell asleep, or do vampires stay up all night?”

She opened her eyes and went to a sitting position. “Stop reading those types of books, they pollute your mind.” As an afterthought, she gave an endearing smile and said, “We do sleep, but we function with less than you need.”

“Oh. . .”

“So how are you planning to leave the house without my mom finding out?” I looked nervously at the door, expecting my mom to barge in at any moment.

“I have that covered.”

I stared at her suspiciously. “What exactly did you do?”

Emiri stared at the floor guiltily. “I just suggested that she have a good night’s sleep.”

“You did what?!” My voice raised an octave.

She cleared her throat, “Vampires have the power of suggestion. Haven’t you noticed that they haven’t caught us talking, even once? I’ve been suggesting that from the start.”

I took a sharp intake of breath and she raised her hands as if to defend herself. “Don’t worry; it doesn’t mess up their minds or something- not when you do it for a short time. They just sleep better that’s all,” she cleared.

A puff of air escaped from my lips. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Are you mad?”

I made her squirm a little more before replying, “No.”

The huge smile she gave me after brought butterflies to my stomach.

“Good! Let’s go then.” She got up quickly, wore her leather jacket, and dragged me to the window.

“Wait!” I held my ground, making her look at me questioningly. “Are you out of your mind?! I’m a human remember? My room is on the second floor.”

“I didn’t forget, but going through the window is faster. Besides, you told me earlier that you trust me.”

I nodded.

In response, she held me in her arms, her warmth engulfing me, making me feel safe and comfortable, and lifted me as if I weighted like nothing. I closed my eyes in fear and grabbed her leather jacket securely. I felt her move to the window, and then we began to fall.

“Open your eyes,” Emiri coaxed me gently.

I wiggled my fingers. Good, everything was still intact. I didn’t immediately let go of her and just savored her embrace. I never thought vampires could be this warm and soft. They were always portrayed as cold, savage, and hard as stone. The only thing they got right was the freaking awesome appearance.

“You’re different from the vampires in books and movies,” I whispered.

“Are you disappointed?” she whispered back.

“No.” I held my breath. “You’re just . . . better.”

I opened my eyes and caught her looking at me strangely, like she wanted to tell me something. She thought twice about it and didn’t speak up. I got up and looked around the neighborhood. Everything was quiet since it was in the middle of the night.

I glanced back at the house, but didn’t feel guilty. Instead, I felt a rush of excitement because I was doing something forbidden, and it made me feel more alive than ever. Here I was, for once, unshackled by my sickness. I could only act like this when I was with Emiri. I wanted to forget everything for a while. I wanted to savor this moment with her and just let loose.

I turned to her expectantly. “So how will we reach our destination?”

She didn’t answer and started walking to the back of the house, her shoes not making a single sound. I followed close behind, trying to mimic her silence, but no such luck. I got more curious by the second so I spoke up.

“Will we teleport? Or will you carry me all the way there? Wait . . . vampires fly right?”

She stopped walking and began to laugh, her melodic voice carrying all the way to the street.

“What’s so funny?” I rolled my eyes in irritation.

“Are you expecting me to turn into a bat?” she said while trying to catch her breath.

My face flushed in embarrassment. “Well, how do we get there?”

Emiri wiped the smile off her face and pointed to the distance. I followed her hand and saw a shiny black Ducati, sitting idly on the street. She had an impish grin on her face.

“Now we ride.”