Chapter 2
Something else started to bother me.
Every morning when I woke up, there were these strange red marks on my neck.
At first, I thought they were bug bites.
But it was late fall. There weren't any bugs around.
And the marks always came in pairs. Two little dots, always the same distance apart.
Even stranger, I kept getting sleepier and sleepier.
I used to get up before dawn to do laundry, but now, I couldn't drag myself out of bed even after the sun was fully up.
"Charlotte, you don't look so good." Ash brought in breakfast with a small frown on his face.
"Maybe I've been overdoing it lately," I said.
He set the tray down, and his eyes landed on my neck. For a second, his gaze sharpened.
Then he quickly looked away.
"I made you some broth to build your blood. Drink plenty of it," he said.
"You're so sweet to me," I smiled as I took the bowl from him.
He didn't say anything, but his ears turned red.
At that moment, I thought to myself that this pale, strange man wasn't so cold after all.
*****
Things took a turn on the fourteenth night.
I woke up in the middle of the night because something felt wrong against my neck.
It was warm and damp, like something was pressed right up against my skin.
I snapped my eyes open, and Ash's face was inches from mine.
His lips were on my neck, and there was a dark red smear at the corner of his mouth.
"What are you doing?" I shouted.
He jerked back like he'd been burned.
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand in panic, and then he gave me this completely deadpan look and said, "Sleepwalking."
I touched my neck, and my fingers found two little holes that were wet. It was blood.
"What kind of sleepwalking is that supposed to be?" I asked.
"The really serious kind," he muttered.
He wouldn't meet my eyes, and his ears were bright red. He looked like a kid who'd gotten caught stealing cookies.
But I noticed something.
His canine teeth were longer than they should have been.
They weren't only a little longer.
They were sharp, obvious fangs that didn't look like anything a normal person would have.
My brain started putting things together.
He didn't eat, didn't go outside, and wouldn't look in a mirror. He was way stronger than anyone I'd ever met. He couldn't stand the sun.
And every morning, I woke up with those two little red marks on my neck.
Then it all clicked.
"Ash."
"Yeah?"
"Are you a vampire?"
He froze for a few seconds.
Then, he said so quietly that I could barely hear him, "Could you maybe pretend you didn't notice?"
I didn't scream. I didn't run. I didn't grab a cross or wave it at him.
I sat there on the bed and stared at him for a long time.
"Have you been drinking my blood every night?" I asked.
"Just a little," Ash muttered, barely audible. "I really tried not to take too much."
"Just a little? I was so worn out that I could barely stand up."
He dropped to his knees and put his forehead on the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. But your blood to me..."
He stopped talking.
"What is it like for you?"
"It's like the only water in a desert," he said.
He looked up at me, and in those pale gray eyes, I saw pain, guilt, and a kind of desperate, almost worshipful hunger that I couldn't understand.
"I escaped to the human world half dead," he said. "I was going to find some place to crawl into and die. But you took me in, and your blood kept me alive. I couldn't control it. I fought it every single night."
His hands were shaking.
I looked at him. This was the guy who made me breakfast every day, who moved my heavy furniture, and who brewed that blood tonic for me.
He was a vampire who stole sips of my blood and got embarrassed about it.
"Why did you run away to the human world?"
"Because I wouldn't go along with the marriage my family arranged for me," he said. "Now they want me dead."
I was quiet for a minute.
Then I said, "So, you're a vampire hobo with no money, your own family wants you dead, and you've been sneaking around drinking your landlady's blood."
He nodded. "That about sums it up."
I sighed, "Look, if you want to drink my blood, you should tell me first. Sneaking up on me while I'm asleep is creepy."
He snapped his head up, and his eyes went wide.
"You aren't throwing me out?" he asked.
"Who is going to cook for me if I throw you out?"
He was stunned for a few seconds. Then he smiled.
That was the first time I'd seen him smile.
His pale face lit up like sunlight breaking through the clouds.