The Vampire’s Redemption

“No!” Michael said quickly, vehemently. “It’s not like that, Danielle, I swear. I stop before I can do any damage.”

Danielle watched him warily. Deep down, she believed him, but she was still too on edge to allow herself the luxury of showing it. “How come none of your victims ever come after you?”

“I wipe their memory.”

“You what?”

Michael swallowed visibly. “I compel them to not remember what I did.” He hesitated. “Like I will do to Jack.”

Danielle froze. “Excuse me?”

“I will wipe away the memory of what happened last night. He won’t remember a thing.”

“No, you won’t,” Danielle said forcefully.

Michael frowned. “Why not? It’s what’s best for him.”

“No,” Danielle corrected, “it’s what’s best for you. I want Jack to remember exactly who your brother is.”

“Danielle, I can’t—”

“Jack won’t say a thing to anybody,” Danielle cut him off sharply. “But I need him to remember, so that he can stay away from your brother.”

“How do you know he won’t talk?”

Danielle snorted. “Come on, Michael. Even if he did, who would believe him? They’d think he’s a madman.”

Michael seemed to think it over for a while. Finally, he nodded. “All right,” he eventually agreed. “If that’s what you really want, I won’t wipe his memory.”

“That’s what I really want.” Danielle finished her coffee and threw the paper mug in a nearby trash can with a perfect toss. “I have to get back to Jack now. I don’t want him to wake up alone.”

She made to stand, but Michael reached out to grab her wrist. His green eyes were pleading.

“What will you do?” he asked fervently.

“I won’t expose you, if that’s what you’re afraid of. No one would believe me, either.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Michael hesitated. “I meant, about us. What will you do about us?”

Danielle smiled bitterly. Her heart was breaking in her chest. “There’s no ‘us’, Michael.”

A stricken expression came on to Michael’s features as he was hit with a realization. He pulled away slowly. “You’re afraid of me,” he said, and to Danielle’s surprise, his voice broke.

Danielle swallowed hard. “I would be an idiot not to be,” she said.

“I would never hurt you.”

“How do I know? Maybe you already did and I don’t remember it.”

Pain flooded Michael’s beautiful face. “No,” he said quietly. “I never hurt you, and I never will. Besides, even if I wanted to, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. You turn off our hunger.”

Danielle blinked. “What?”

Michael took a deep breath. “The reason I was so drawn to you is that you’re the first human whose blood I don’t have a thirst for. Stephen felt it, too. You turn our hunger off, we have no desire to feed on you.”

“MAKE IT STOP! Turn it off! Turn off my hunger!”

All the things that Stephen had yelled at her earlier that night suddenly made sense. Except that they didn’t.

“Why?” Danielle asked, her head spinning. “Why do I turn off your hunger?”

“I don’t know,” Michael admitted. “We can’t explain it. You just do.”

Danielle shook her head. She wasn’t going to listen to one more word. “I can’t do this,” she said.

She stood, and Michael stood with her.

“Please, don’t follow me,” Danielle said. “If you really love me, like you say, then please, get out of my life.”

“Danielle—”

“You drink human blood, Michael,” Danielle finally snapped. “Your brother almost killed my best friend.” She shook her head. “I can’t be with you. I won’t be with you. Goodbye.”

She turned her back on him and hurried out of the cafeteria and down the hall, her heart racing. She knew she was doing the right thing. She knew it, and yet her heart broke and tears streamed down her face.

*****

Michael’s heart was broken.

It broke for himself, because no matter how much he tried to tell himself that he should just forget about it, he had the feeling he had just lost the best thing that could happen to him in his very long life. It was downright impossible to forget Danielle. She was unforgettable. She had made him feel alive in a way that he had not felt in close to three hundred years, no matter how much he convinced himself that he didn’t mind being a vampire.

Michael’s heart broke for Stephen, for the devastation that what he had done had brought trouble to his brother. It had been a long time before he could get Stephen calm and, most importantly, balanced enough that he trusted him to be left alone with Eli. Then again, if anyone besides him could reach his brother, it was Eli; those two had formed a special bond. If drinking human blood didn’t send Stephen spiraling, Michael was pretty sure that Eli would even let him feed on him—after all, he let Michael feed when things got rough.

Michael made his way back to the cottage by running through the fields and the hills, away from human eyes. He needed to blow off some steam, but when he finally reached the front door of their temporary accommodation, he found that the run had not helped at all. His heart was still broken, and he was still furious. He was furious at himself, for not having seen this coming and letting himself believe that he could actually make things work with Danielle. He was furious at the events, for happening. He was furious at his brother, for giving in. What was it about Jack, anyway? Stephen had not had one drop from an actual, pumping vein for three decades. What was it about Jack that he had found so irresistible?

The sky told him he still had one hour before dawn, and he was determined to use that time to talk to his brother and get to the bottom of this. He took a deep, calming breath before going in.

He found Eli sitting at the kitchen table nursing a cup of coffee.

“Where is he?” Michael asked.

“Living room,” Eli said. “He’s calm enough.”

Michael nodded and made to walk away. He stopped as an afterthought. “Are you okay?”

Eli flashed him the tired smile of someone who had one hell of a night. “I’m fine.”

Michael nodded again. “Thank you,” he said sincerely.