"Changed" Chapter 4 & 5

Chapter 4:


"What do we do now?" I asked him.

"We are going to hop on the subway, and head to the Upper East Side where I live," he answered.

"And why are we going to your place?"

"To drop off your bags and so you can change," he said as if this should have been obvious.

We walked back over to the subway we had taken earlier. Just like before, he bought our tickets and I followed him through the turn-styles to wait on the platform. I turned to him suddenly taking him by surprise.

"I want to thank you," I began, taking his hand while I continued, "For everything. If you hadn't found me earlier, I don't know where I would be right now. Also, thank you for all the new clothes. I really do appreciate it, even if I think you're crazy for spending that much. You have been so incredible to me all day and I have no idea why..." I stopped talking, lost in thought.

He tightened his grip on my hand and forced me to look in his eyes, "You're welcome Charlie, it is my pleasure to help you. Like I said earlier, I have had fun today. Most of that is due to the fact that I met you, and had the chance to be with you all day. I hope you aren't going anywhere anytime soon…," he suddenly looked unsure of himself.

"Where would I go?" I asked, for the first time I really thought about my current situation. If I can’t go back to my dorm to get my clothes, that obviously meant I can’t sleep there either. I also can’t go home. How would it look, me coming home randomly and then disappearing the next day? Forever...

"Charlie, I would love to have you stay with me at my place. At least until you find an apartment of your own," he added.

"Are you sure that would be okay? I don't have any money of my own so I don't know how long it would take for me to get on my feet..."

He smiled a huge smile and said, "That’s fine. I don't mind if you have to stay with me for a while. You don't ever have to leave if you don't want to." On that last sentence, his face faltered and he looked down as if unsure of what he had just said, or why.

I sensed his doubt and quickly replied, "Well let’s just see how this first night goes and we will figure out what to do after that. What if we don't get along and you have to kick me out the first night?" I joked.

"I highly doubt that Charlotte." His face became very serious at that point and his eyes bore into mine. I couldn't look away, I couldn't breathe again.

Just then our train pulled up and Nicholas tore his eyes away from mine, leading me onto the car. He too had learned from his mistakes today. When he noticed the car we were in was full, he walked me towards the end of it to find one that was unoccupied. We had to walk through three more cars to find one that was completely empty. Then we sat down next to each other, still holding hands. I was looking out the window watching the bricks of the underground tunnel whiz by. I could tell that Nicholas was looking at me.

Finally he spoke up. "You must be so hungry. I’m sorry this is taking so long but it is much better if we do this right."

"Everything is all so new to me. I have all of these sensations and I don't know what they mean. I do know that every time I’m really close to a human, all I can think about is their blood. Is that what being hungry feels like now?"

He smiled, "Yes, more or less. Once you have fed, it will be much easier to be around people without wanting to feed from them." I shivered as he continued to speak, "And as you get older, it will be easier to go longer without drinking."

"How could you tell I was hungry? I wasn't thinking about blood, I was thinking about--," I stopped my self short. The truth was I was thinking about Nicholas. Thinking about his large smooth hand wrapped around mine, and the closeness of his body, and about spending more time with him. Again, if I could ever blush, now would be the time.

I heard him laughing silently and say, "I know what you were thinking, but I don't need to read minds to know you are hungry. You can always tell when a vampire is hungry because their eyes are a darker gray and it seems like yours are darker every time I look at you."

"Oh," was all I could say in response. The train stopped and we stepped off onto the platform. Nicholas, still holding my hand, led me to the stairs and up onto the street. I had only been to this part of New York a few times; it was too expensive for anyone I know. We walked for about two blocks, not talking, lost in our own thoughts. Suddenly he turned towards a building with a doorman. Of course he would live in a building with a doorman.

As Nicholas walked by him, the man smiled and said, "Good afternoon Mr. Danley." Nicholas nodded and smiled at him in return.

We walked across the lobby and he hit the "up" button for the elevator. When the doors opened, there were two people already there, but thankfully they were exiting. As soon as the doors were closed, I looked up at Nicholas and said "Danley?"

"My last name," he replied matter-of-factly.

We went up to the top floor upon exiting the elevator and there was only one door that I could see. Great and he owns the whole floor of this building too. I saw him smile out of the corner of my eye as he dropped my hand to find his keys in his front right pocket. He unlocked the door and ushered me inside.

I was immediately in awe of my surroundings. We were in a foyer of some sort and there was a large round table in the middle of the circular room. He walked to the left of the table, throwing his keys on it as he passed. Above the table was a large crystal chandelier and the lights on it threw small orbs of light all around the room. He turned to see that I wasn't behind him, too wrapped up in my own thoughts. Nicholas beckoned for me to follow. I walked down the hall that was directly opposite the front door. The walls were lined with beautiful paintings that all looked really old.

We got to the end of the hall and I stopped again so my eyes could have time to take in the enormous room. It seemed to be a living room of sorts. There was a long, curved black leather couch in the middle of it, set on a thick, perfectly white rug. On the wall to my immediate right was a large, flat screen television and a huge entertainment system. Across the room from where I was standing was what looked to be a kitchen, though I couldn't see how it would get much use. To the left of me I could see a staircase and that led up to two more floors. There was no wall there; and everything was really open and bright. That probably had to do with the fact that the back wall was mostly windows.

"Do you like it?" he asked me.

What a stupid question, "Of course I like it, it’s so beautiful. I've never seen an apartment in New York like this, it must be a fortune," I exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, the rent here is locked; we bought it a pretty long time ago."

My eyes stopped roaming the room and locked onto his. "We?"

Just then I saw something out of the corner of my eye and whipped my head around to the second floor platform above me. That was when I noticed we weren't alone in his apartment.

A girl, who could only be described as magnificent, was standing there on the second floor platform staring at me. I could tell she was taller than me, and really thin. She also had long wavy red hair that reached halfway down her back. She wore it loose, so would I if my hair looked like that. Then she quickly walked to the stairs and without moving her feet at all, floated down them. Wait, floated?!

"What are you doing here Elizabeth?" Nicholas asked the annoyance thick in his voice.

"What do you mean what am I doing here? Since when do I need an excuse to see your handsome face dear Nicholas?" She asked her voice although sweet, sounded irritated as well.

"Charlie, this is Elizabeth. Elizabeth, Charlie,” Nicholas introduced, pointing to each of us.

"Charlie? Well I suppose the name is fitting," She sneered as she shot me daggers from where she stood.

"Get out Elizabeth, I do not have time for you right now," he said, his voice flat.

"No, no of course you don't. I remember a time when you only had time for me. When you couldn't wait to open your eyes in the morning and see my face. Couldn't bear for me to leave you for even a few hours to run errands. Do you remember Nicholas?"

"Now is not the time Elizabeth. Please just go," his voice was steadily growing angrier.

"Fine." she almost yelled; with that she turned on her heels and walked through the same hallway we had just come through. I heard the slamming of the door, which signified her exit.

What the hell just happened? Who was she? Why was she here? And what was she talking about?

I heard Nicholas groan from beside me, "I know you have a million questions Charlie; I can hear them. I promise to answer them all for you, just not now. Please, the bathroom is the first door on the second floor. Here," he handed me the bag from the first store we were in, "Take this and go change your clothes then come back down here so we can plan this out properly."

I didn't know what to say so I just nodded my head, took the bag, and walked upstairs. I opened the door he had directed me to and flipped the light switch to the right of me. The bathroom was large, to say the least. Why was I expecting anything less by now? I quickly changed out of my clothes and threw on some of my new purchases. When I was done, I folded my old clothes, grabbed the bag and walked back downstairs.

Nicholas was standing at the foot of the stairs, smiling at me. "Don’t think flattery will get you out of this Nicholas," I reminded him.

"I know that. But you really do look very pretty," he added anyway.

I smiled and looked down at my feet. "What do we do now?" I asked.

"Well, we don't want to give your family the impression that you were raped or anything. That would be too cruel, so we will only use the zip up you had on over your T-shirt. Come with me," he held out his hand for mine and led me into the kitchen. There he found a container with a lid and set it on the island in the middle of the room. Then he found a knife that looked to be really sharp.

He turned to me "I need you to cut yourself and bleed into this container. I will tell you when to stop." he added.

I looked at him in horror, "You want me to WHAT?!?!"

He sighed, "Maybe if I explain the plan to you, you will finally stop doubting me. We are going to go back to the alley that you were attacked in with your zip-up and the blood. Then we are going to leave the sweatshirt there with you blood spilled around it. If there is enough blood there, the police will assume that you lost too much to ever be able to survive it. The evidence will lead them to the conclusion that you are dead and then they won’t keep their hopes up of finding you alive somewhere. Does that make sense to you?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Although, how anything could surprise me by this point, I didn't know. But I knew I had to do this. I knew it would be the only way my family could get some closure from my unexpected disappearance.

Finally I nodded my head and asked, "Will it hurt a lot?"

He smiled a little. "No, it might sting for a second, but you're technically dead now, not much can hurt you. If a human tried to cut you, he would never be able to do it. Your skin is too hard. Only the strength of a vampire would be enough to make the knife pierce your skin."

I smiled pitifully and took the knife from him. I pulled my sleeve up and held out my arm, palm down. Then I put the blade to my forearm, closed my eyes and quickly ran it across my skin. Surprisingly I didn't feel anything. I looked down to make sure I had actually made a cut at all. I was shocked to see the bright red blood flowing out of my arm and into the container. Before I knew what was happening, Nicholas was at my side with a small towel.

"That will be enough Charlie. Good job, you were very brave."

I laughed weakly, "Thanks."

He walked back to the other side of the island and put the cover on the container that was now almost completely full of my blood.

"I’m sure you can take the towel off your arm now, it should be done bleeding."

I didn't believe him, but decided to do it anyway. I pulled the towel from around my forearm and gasped. There was nothing there, just my smooth pale skin. There wasn't even a scar. How the--

"Not only is it really hard for something to pierce our skin, but if it does, our bodies heal at an incredible rate, and there is never any scarring,” He explained.

"Oh, I suppose that makes sense," I responded lamely.

Then I saw something register in Nicholas' face and he walked over to the fridge. He bent over for a second, up-righting himself with a clear plastic pouch, filled with some red liquid. My breathing stopped. That can’t be--

"Yes, you are correct," he smiled at me; "You just lost a lot of blood. I don't even think I could take you out in public like this," he explained as he reached for a new knife and slit open the plastic.
I was suddenly struck with the thirst he had talked about earlier. The smell of the blood intoxicated me and my head swirled. He dumped the whole package into a large cup and put it in the microwave. "It’s much better when it’s warm," he explained. The microwave beeped, and he took the cup out, handing it to me.
I looked into the large cup, took a deep breath, and put it to my lips.


Chapter 5:
“A style that Clark Gable would have admired.”
(The Postal Service)

I filled my mouth with the warm liquid and let it run down my throat. The taste was like nothing I had ever experienced before. It was like having all my favorite foods as a human in my mouth at once--only better. I kept drinking and the next thing I knew, the blood stopped flowing into my mouth. I took the cup away from my mouth and stared at it, confusion lining my face.

Nicholas chuckled from where he stood across from me. Funny--I forgot he was still in the room.

"I know you are probably still hungry but that’s all I have here at the moment. I only keep it around for extreme cases--it’s much better when it’s straight from the source."

"Better than that?" I didn't think it was possible.

"Yes, better. We will go hunting later on tonight. Its almost dark now, we should go take care of the scene and get it over with."

I looked toward the large window, noticing the setting sun for the first time. The sight of the purple, orange, and red shades surrounding the buildings from this view was stunning.

"I think that might be my favorite part about living here," he said from right
beside me. I hadn't noticed he had moved from the other side of the island to stand next to me.
As we stood there, his arm gently brushed mine. It felt...nice to be standing so close to him. To be here, watching the sun set behind this view of the New York City skyline. Just then he took my hand and held it. I looked down at our abnormally pale hands laced together. I really liked holding his hand, it felt so natural. I felt his eyes on me and I looked up at him.

"I like it too," he said simply. With some effort, I pulled my eyes away from his to watch the sun finish its progression from this side of the world.

All of the beautiful colors that had run across the sky a few minutes ago were now replaced with the dark blue sky, almost completely devoid of stars. I sighed and turned to look at Nicholas again. Unsurprisingly, he was already looking at me. I didn't know if he had heard the intentions in my mind to look at him or if he had been staring for a while.

"I think I watched more of you than of that sunset that so captured your attention," he answered my unspoken question.

Instead of looking away like I always did I held his stare. Finally he sighed and dropped my hand. "We should go now," he stated and led me back the way we had come.

Once we were on the street, I gave him the address of the party I had been to last night. Wow, less than twenty-four hours since then, and my life wasn't even recognizable anymore.

We got back on the subway for what felt like the hundredth time today. I had never taken the subway this many times in a week since I’ve lived here.

"I would have gladly hailed a cab, but I didn't think you would be able to keep your thirst under control having not fed properly yet," he explained.

I just nodded. He was probably right, and he did know more about this life than I did. The subway took us about a half block from where we needed to be. Thankfully I wouldn't need to pass the building the party had been in to get to the alley I was looking for.

I turned into the small passage between the two brick buildings, with Nicholas trailing not far behind me. I looked around me, remembering the attacker and how this alley had been the only witness to the crime committed against me. I shivered with the memory. Nicholas put his arm around my shoulders to comfort me.

Just then I noticed a small mound slumped against the wall to the left of me. I walked over to find the purse I had been carrying last night. How could I have forgotten that I had a purse with me? Probably because my brain was overloaded with everything I had learned today, I reasoned.

I bent over to pick it up. "That would probably be good to leave behind for the police to find," Nicholas explained to me. I reached in and grabbed my wallet.
"If my wallet is missing, they will probably think it was a mugging gone wrong," I told him. If I could do anything to give my family any more comfort right now, I would, I added to myself.

Nicholas replaced my bag where I had found it before, and added my zip-up not far from it. Then he reached into the light jacket he was wearing and pulled out the container that I had filled with my own blood earlier. He poured all the blood onto the street near the sweatshirt, capped the container and replaced it in his inside pocket. I watched as the blood began to spread outwards finally reaching the article of my clothing I was leaving behind. Then a thought came to me.

"Won’t your fingerprints be on my jacket now? What will they make of that?"

"Well first of all, I wouldn't be in any database they have, so they wouldn't be able to track me. Second of all, I don't have fingerprints. When we are changed it smoothes our skin and perfects it, like you noticed in the dressing room earlier," he smirked as he reminded me of my memory lapse this afternoon.

I quickly turned around and began to storm off, and away from the alleyway. Nicholas quickly caught up to me, grabbing my wrist and spinning me around to face him.

"What’s the matter; did it upset you to have to be there again?" The sympathy in his eyes almost broke through my anger. Almost.

"Noooo, I’m mad because you shouldn't have been spying on me while I was in the dressing room to begin with. I didn't get mad at the time because I was too embarrassed. Now that you so graciously reminded me of it I can remedy that," I hissed.

His face immediately became incredulous. "You think I was spying on you? I wasn't spying, I can’t help seeing what I see or hearing what I hear. Especially when I am attuned to a person, their thoughts are so clear to me. Sometimes I can’t tell which are my own," he replied with indignation.

"How can you be so attuned to me after having known me for less than a day?"

He stopped short at my last question and stared me hard in the eyes. "I don’t know why I have formed such a strong bond with you so quickly. I wish I did know. I wish I could still use the excuse that I want to help you, but that would be a lie. I have gone above and beyond anything I would have done for anyone else in your situation. And after I have shown you how to properly feed, I will have shown you everything you need to know and I could just let you go your own way but I--"

"You know what? I don't think I will be needing your help anymore. I’m pretty sure I can figure things out on my own from now on. Sorry I have been such a burden," I practically screamed and began to walk away from him again.

"Wait, Charlie! You didn't let me finish," he yelled after me. Suddenly he was in front of me with his hands on my shoulders, restraining me from walking any further.

"What?"

"You didn't let me finish," he repeated. "I said I could let you go your own way but I don't want to. I don't want you to leave. I don't know why but it feels right to have you near me. Do you remember when I told you that I watched you more than I watched the sunset earlier?"

I simply nodded my head, he smiled and continued, "I was looking at you and thinking how surreal it was to have you in my apartment. How you seemed to fit in perfectly with the scenery, like you were always meant to be there."

I just stared at him, as my anger rapidly faded away. Just then I decided to be daring. This was not my usual behavior, but it just felt right. I took one half step closer to him until there were only a few inches separating us. I tilted my head back and asked, "Is it later yet?"

His eyes were at first confused, until he understood my meaning and smiled a small smile before wrapping his arms around me. He bent his head down and I felt his lips press softly against mine. This kiss was unlike any others I had ever had. It felt like every other kiss in my life had just been the opening act for what I was experiencing now. I sighed and parted my lips, his following my lead. His mouth moved with mine as he pulled my body closer to his.

Finally, after I don't know how long, he pulled his head back but kept our bodies in the same position. He smiled that smile that would stop my heart, if it could still beat. Then he released me and took a small step backwards, picking up my hand.

"Huh," was all he said.

"'Huh'? What the hell does 'huh' mean?"

"I didn't take you for the type to make the first move. I figured I would have to work up to it myself. You saved me a lot of time and self-doubt. Thanks." he grinned.

I didn't know what to think, so all I said was "You're welcome."