Here's a piece drawn from a story which sits long idle. Words are in bold. This one is lighter than yesterday's, but not rainbows and sunshine, either. Enjoy!
Sweaty, tangled limbs; soft kisses; rough hands. These are the images that haunt Mel as she snaps out of sleep at three in the morning. Chest heaving, she runs a hand through her tangled hair as her mind orients itself to the chilling silence in the hour of the dead.
Mel sighs and lets her feet hit the cold hardwood floor. Who is she kidding? Ben is gone, and she’s sure he has long forgotten her. Their last fight was a real doozy. Mel was irrational and angry because he said he had to leave. Mel cracks open a beer as the memories flood back. It was right there in her living room where it started.
Ben came in, shut the door softly. Said he had something to talk about. Mel already knew it was coming. He had to “move on”, needed to find the next big thing. The words cut into her like a razor blade. Mel immediately fell into an emotional train wreck, and all Ben did was stand there listening. She wanted him to yell, to fight back, but he just stood there stoically.
When she collapsed onto the floor a sobbing mess, he simply knelt in front of her and slid a chain around her neck. “I’ll never be far,” he whispered and left her with a kiss to the forehead.
No, Mel thinks bitterly, he’s not ever far. He won’t leave her be. He haunts her. Mel tries day after day to wrap her head around it. Why did he leave if he wasn’t going to actually leave? Of course, their relationship was never normal. Mel came out of a bad one and fell into Ben’s open arms. He was always there for her.
Not anymore. Mel changed after that night. She is now a jaded, bitter woman with nothing to show for three years of her life but a stupid chain. It doesn’t even have a locket. Just a single amulet at the end, one single Ankh.
Oh, how Mel researched that. She pored over it for hours, looking for a hidden meaning. But all it means is eternal life. She snorts and opens another beer. It’s her day off, damn it. And if inhaling beers makes her feel better, then so be it.
After the third beer, Mel collapses on the couch and falls into a deep sleep. When she finally awakens, it’s already the next evening. Her curtains are closed and blinds drawn. She frowns and sits up, rubbing the sleepy haze from her eyes. “The hell,” she mutters. “I left those open.”
A bang from the bedroom makes Mel’s head whip around. She tentatively leans over the couch to look down the hall. There’s a flickering light in the bedroom. Holding her breath, Mel grabs a lamp and tiptoes to the edge of the hall. With the lamp light, she notices a trail of rose petals. Mel creeps along the wall to the doorway and sees a figure in the bedroom among two candles and roses. He’s folding the bed back and straightening it out in the relative darkness. “Ben?”
The man stiffens and looks over his shoulder. He says nothing but moves to the other side of the bed to face the doorway. Mel abandons the lamp in one shattering motion and steps over the threshold. His face is shrouded in shadow, but Mel knows the body. She doesn’t even care that he left anymore, only that he’s there with her.
“Ben?” she repeats, hoping for an answer.
“Mel.” His voice is gruff and thick. “I made a mistake.”
“I know, Ben.” She stands on the opposite side of the bed awkwardly. “Are you back now?”
“Yes, Mel.” He extends a hand across the bed, and Mel takes it. She crawls onto the bed and his hand falls limply away. Mel kneels in the middle of the bed and spreads her hands in a welcoming motion.
“Forever?” He shifts and grabs her arms to pull her closer. Mel’s breath quickens feeling his body against hers. He kisses her hard before laying softer ones along her cheek, temple, jaw. His hands roaming freely across her body make her moan with pleasure.
His languid journey to her throat has Mel melting in his arms and she lets her head hang limply back. “Forever,” he says softly, and Mel feels a sharp pain as teeth sink into her skin. She gasps and pushes against him, but Ben isn’t moving.
When she stops struggling and goes limp Ben raises his face in the candlelight, blood dripping from his chin and fangs, and whispers, “Forever.”
3 comments:
Love it! :)
I liked it, but that eternal life clue was a dead giveaway. :-)
I wasn't particularly trying to hide it. LOL, in the story the characters are derived from, Mel is dating a vampire for awhile. I hadn't originally planned for her friend w/ benefits to become a permanent fixture, but it could work.
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