Episode 8: "Just...Kill Me Now."

He stepped toward her, Alicia looking up at him. He grabbed the tube with the needle attached to it. "Blood, is a precious thing. It gives life." He looked to her.

"Your point would be?" she asked. "Why do you want it? Want mine, in particular?"

"Well, it doesn't have to be yours. It can be whomever's, but that would be, barbaric--cruel to me if I were to just snatch up a person. Boy or girl. Man or woman." He let the tube fall and she watched him walk into what she assumed was the bathroom.

She had to be crazy to be taking all this sitting down. She heard some rattling around, like metal hitting metal, when he returned with a rolling cart and a stand with a screen attached to it. She saw various untensils and shiny objects. Painful, shiny objects. They were all laid upon a silver tray, along with rubber gloves, cotton balls, and rubbing alcohol.

He had the whole nine yards.

"So what are you trying to do again? What's your purpose in all this?" She said.

"My purpose is to live." He said. He took off his blazer, wrapping it around the chair beside her. He then began to unbutton his shirt.

So this was a doctor rape session, she wondered? Her purse. The fork and screwdriver. It'd make no difference now. It was over by the window.

She cleared her throat and looked away from him as he discarded his shirt.

He smirked. "Bashful."

"You said you wanted blood, nothing else." She stared at the inside of his dark bathroom.

"I do." He said. "But I need you to see something as I explain things to you. I can't do that with my shirt on."

"Oh, so it has something to do with your body?" She said, not looking at him.

"Yes, and it would help if you'd look." He said. "I am trying to explain something to you."

"What?" she turned her head to him. "Whoo!" she turned away.

He had the 'V' and everything. She could feel herself heating up within her cheeks. She actually felt her mouth water. Her mouth never watered!

He chuckled. "Women have told me I looked good."

"They...weren't lying..." Alicia said honestly.

"I'm flattered. But that's not important."

It wasn't? she thought. Gosh!! If she was that type of girl she'd have a meal for days!

She didn't face him.

He ran a finger along her abdomen.

She whipped her head around and this time she didn't see a hot man, but a predator.

"Good, I have your attention again."

"Can you get on with it!" she yelled. "Over here trying to deflower young virgin girls and stuff!"

He laughed. "Hardly."

"So what do you want!"

"I want your blood." He said. "I need it for my survival."

"So what are you...anemic?!"

"You could say that, but I'm far from it."

"So either you or aren't and--that's right! How do you know if I'm even a match for you!"

He smiled some. "It doesn't matter the blood type."

"Uh, yeah it does! I'm not trying to kill you!"

"That's sweet." He said. He caused his eyes to glow then. "But believe me when I say all I need is blood and that it does not matter what type it is."

"What the fu--" she jumped and fell off the chair. She got up and backed away from him. She eyed her purse. Anything was better than nothing.

"I can blend in as a 'human'. I say that I am one. But the hard truth is that I am not, or wouldn't be considered as such to the normal human being."

Alicia wasn't really hearing him at this point. Screw it. She made a break for her purse.

He darted in front of her.

She screamed.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said.

She backed away from him. Forget the purse. Her things. Wait. Where was she going to go again?

Her heartbeat raced. She backed away from him. She blinked multiple times. Was this happening? Was this all happening to her, she wondered?

Was she absolutely positive that she wasn't in bed? In her room, dreaming? That this was the most the real, most frightening nightmare that she had ever had, and that whenever it was time for her to wake, she would? Safe in her bed? Her parents weren't kicking her out? Hell. She'd even do some things differently. Like go to that rich school.

She stopped. None of those things, as far as school, was her.

What if this was real? If it was then hurray. Like spirits and things scientists could not explain were out in the world, he would just be added to the list. No harm done, right?

"This is me." He said, holding his arms out.

She flinched some, seeing varicose veins spread along his muscular arms and chest. Saw it shoot across his neck. His eyes were a bluish green now.

She noticed how open he was being with her. But if she opened her mouth, judging from what he had just displayed, he'd kill her. There was no doubt in her mind. She asked him, suprised that she could.

"Would...would you k-kill me...if..if I were to tell?" she asked. "The police...or anyone?"

"Maybe. I'd come close." He said.

"How close?" She asked.

"I'd drain nearly all the blood in your body where'd you need an immediate blood transfusion or you'd die."

"You'd kill me because I only told the truth about what I saw?"

"And what have you seen already? Alicia?" He asked. "Who's going to believe you?"

He had a point.

"So this is what you do, huh? Sucker girls into this predicament? Does Delilah know? Was she apart of this at one time? Julia said I was replacing her."

"Yes, she was."

Her eyes widened.

And Delilah was jealous of her?! What was so great about giving up blood or getting killed if you told someone the reason why you were doing it?

Alicia shook her head in disbelief.

"It's a lot to take in, I know."

"Do you!" she yelled. "You are threatening me just so you can maintain whatever it is you have going on with you!"

"You accepted not knowing the consequences."

"Because I had no other choice, believe me if I had, I would have left you long ago!"

"And now that you know why? Would you leave?"

"Yes!"

"Understandable." He said, looking away.

"Oh no! Don't do the little pity thing on me!"

"I'm not asking you to pity me." He said.

She sighed. "What's wrong with you? Are you sick or something!?"

"You could say that." He said. "Although," he paused. "I am deliberately responsible for that."

"Oh? So I'm paying for something you can fix? Something you did?!"

"No!" he rose his voice some.

She held her peace.

"No," he said again. He turned away from her and that's when she saw the insignia upon the nape of his neck, although she thought it was a tattoo. He pulled on his shirt again and sat down. "Whether you choose to believe me or not, what I'm about to tell you is the truth."

"The odds are already stacked against you. Having glowing eyes and super speed? I mean, who does that? Who can?! What is this? X-Men or Marvel?!"

He chuckled some. "I wish. Then I'd be nonexistant."

The way he looked to her when he said that. There was so much truthfulness she nearly fell under then.

No! she told herself. None of this was real. She had to believe that.

"But," he looked down at his knees. "You don't necessarily live in a world you think you do. There are things, people, you will not understand...like me."

Alicia had nothing to lose, so she slumped down against a wall.

"It's a little cliche how it all starts, but long ago..." Christian began.

***

Alicia had tried, she had tried to dismiss everything he said as silly imaginations and myths. But when he began to talk about himself, and his family. Mentioning Delilah and another girl named, Alice, she began to believe his story just a little bit.

"My time is limited." He looked to her. "Whether you believe me or not, this is the reason your pay is so high. It won't be forever. All I need right now is a pint of your blood. That will last me about a month. And the cycle repeats itself."

"Assuming I believe everything you have said, you do realize it takes quite a lot of time for blood to replenish itself? I don't think I'll be back to normal after a month's time. Look at me. I'm small. You'd have a much better chance with Delilah. So the whole intimate part didn't work out. Just use her for blood..." She shook her head. "That didn't sound right."

"It's not that simple. Well it is, actually. But I don't want any of the women I use to feel used."

"Too late." Alicia said. "If this is what we have to go through then just go to a blood bank. I'm sure no one will notice if a blood bag goes missing every month."

"Probably not." He said. "But, this is the way I prefer to do this." he stood.

"So you have other options and yet you want to drain girls lives?"

"I don't want to drain them. I want to get to know them." He said.

"What for? It's not like you can ever stick with just one. If this curse you have on you has you battling sides, then of course whoever your donor is, is going to get tired of it all at one point. I know I would. Just pick a side. You actually have that choice whereas the rest of your family didn't."

"But I don't want to be either."

"And yet from what you've told me, and shown me, whatever side manifests itself in you anyway. If you're going to change into whoever you are, then let it happen."

"If I let it happen you won't get paid." He said.

It was a low blow mentioning her living situation.

"The second reason is because with either side, there will be discrepancies that can't be hidden. I'll either be an outcast, or highly praised."

"And what's wrong with being highly praised?"

"War." He said. "But if I become a hybrid, no one's happy."

"Because you'll be stronger than both." She said. "And these so-called elders wouldn't want that, now would they?" She mocked him.

"Once you get exposed to my world, if you ever do, you'll believe me."

"Let's hope not." Alicia stood up. She took a deep breath. She had to be crazy she told herself over and over again. She laid on the lounge chair again. "Do the others know about all this?"

"Others?"

"The cafe? Do they know?"

"Yes, they do. They're all one species or another, excluding Delilah and Roycel."

Alicia's eyes widened.

"If you are born one way, you can continue living on as though you are 'human'.

Her mind was whirling again. She had some logical questions come to her mind, but most was chaos.

If they were all supposedly like Christian then why did they give Delilah the time of day? Couldn't they snap her neck, or stick a tube in her and drain her dry? And Christian? Why did they put up with him given his 'condition'? And Roycel? Was he really okay being around them? Not so much Delilah as she lived it, somewhat.

She brought her mind back into focus. "Wait a minute. If you could basically be 'human' choosing a side, then why don't you! The others...I would have never guessed it!"

"Because choosing sides is a problem in itself. Consider the ones that work for me, the non-prejuidice. They don't care and their families do. My cafe is like a safe haven for them. They work, they go home. But they are all relatively close to each other, and me."

"Because you are born of both worlds?" She asked.

He nodded. "I know they don't care what I choose either way, or so they claim. But because they care about me so much, either side will want me to become like them. Even if it's buried deep down. And a little selfish I guess. But, it's not about them. It's about me and what I want."

"And what do you want, Christian?" Alicia asked.

He knew her question was much deeper.

"I try not to think that far ahead." He said. "It scares me."

She didn't respond and turned away from him.

He switched on the monitor and pulled out a couple wires with sticky tabs. "I need you to unbutton you're dress a little."

She whipped her head around. "Excuse me!"

"To monitor your heart." He said. "As a matter of fact, It'll be easier if you changed back into what you were wearing so you can just lift up your shirt some."

She blew out.

"Now." He said.

"Don't you rush me!" she gave him a look. She slowly got up from the chair and walked over to the bench. Could someone just kill me now! she thought. She mentally shook her head. No, she did not want to die but having to go through this?

Okay, so she was harping on the same string. She stopped herself. She had every right to complain about the same thing over and over again because aside from parents kicking their children out at 18, rarely any of them ready to fend for themselves, giving blood transfusions to a man that was anything but human, was not normal.

She grabbed her things and walked into the now lit bathroom.

Christian watched her.

"What?!"

"Your parents." He began. "You have nowhere to stay?"

"No. And I was going to ask you about that check. I need it a lot sooner."

"Yes, you do. But that's a process in itself, so," he looked around his bathroom some. "How about you stay with me."

"I'm sorry?" She said, her heart leaping out of her chest.

"Just until you find a place. With the check I'm giving you, I don't want you finding any old place out of desperation. It'll be a waste."

That was true, and she didn't want just any old place. Now that she had a millisecond to breathe, she realized how bad her living arrangements could have been had he not just opened his home to her. She'd have to get a hotel or motel would be cheaper. Pay for that nightly as she scrambled to find a place. Then there was the moving and her things.

Wow. She thought.

Just the sheer amount of work and mental stress she would have had to put herself through. Then there were the background checks and rental agreements. Did she honestly think she could just rent a place just like that? That process in itself took time!

Holy cow! she thought.

"Alicia." He said.

"Yeah?" she said, her eyes becoming glossy.

"Obviously you're not okay but-"

She hugged him.

It was random and made them both feel uncomfortable, but rather than assume he'd give her a patting hand or even an awkward embrace she did it herself. She needed a body to cry on or she would have sunk to the floor. She didn't want to look that pathetic in front of him.

Sobs reached his ears. Did he want to hear it? Yes and no. Yes, because he understood it. Somewhat. And she was also his donor now. That was no easy task to accomplish in hindsight. She was just a girl. A little girl quite frankly, with enough wisdom to know how the world worked he bet, but she was not ready. He could picture many scenerios of the world not being too kind to her, but because a law said that she was old enough, she had to 'act the part'. That wasn't always true. And it didn't apply to everyone. He had seen that on multiple occassions.

He gave her a faint hug.

She wouldn't have minded it being tighter. She was half-if not already broken. It would dawn on her soon that this would be her life. That for a time she'd be staying with him. That for however long the relationship lasted she'd be a corpse. If he required a pint of blood every month, she'd be dead sooner or later. She'd ask him about that, unless he had a way to replenish her blood faster.

"Change." He said. "We'll discuss living arrangements later."

She sniffed. She had so many more questions to ask him and she hadn't said 'yes' to his proposal. But, did she really have to? She swallowed and backed away from him. She saw the snot on his abdomen. You dumb idiot! she scolded herself.

He said nothing, waiting for her to respond.

"Thank...you..." she whispered.

Not for the pain that was coming her way, or for whatever else that would hit her now as she was sure one way or another she would always be apart of his world, but for what he was doing for her now. He didn't have to open up his home-dangerous as it could be. He didn't have to be allowing her to speak her mind. He didn't even have to choose her but she was still grateful that he did. As crazy as everything sounded to her ears, at least she had place to stay. To get on her feet. She'd be sure not to overstay her welcome.

"For what?" He said, wanting to hear her say what she was thankful for as he took no pleasure in any of this. It was his 'survival' but he didn't like how he was doing things either. He refused to acknowledge the other reason why he chose to get his blood this way.

"For letting me stay here...temporarily!" she quickly added. "For, just, choosing me...no matter how selfish your motives are...you could have had your pick..." she scoffed and shook her head some. "What made you pick me? Not that I didn't need it, but what made you?"

"I don't know...it was honestly on a whim. That and...you seemed really nice-pleasurable to be around."

She smiled some.

"You have a mouth on you, but," he gave a sideways smirk. "It's nothing I can't handle."

And she knew he could. He was unusually calm with her. Perhaps that was just a guise, or it could indeed be his personality, but she didn't put it past him that he could have a temper. Most quiet ones did, or so they say.

"Okay..." she said. She sniffed. "Well, I'm going to go change...inside this colossal of a bathroom..." She looked around. "What do you need all this space for?!"

"Well, since you are going to be staying here for an unknown length of time, I'd say it's perfect to get away from your behavior and mouth."

"Behavior and mouth?" she repeated him, tempted to say more when she remembered where she was. She didn't want to say anything that would make him change his mind, although there was a slim chance of that happening. She smiled to herself. "Where is the bathroom, exactly? Like the toilet so I can change?"

"Around the corner. Can't miss it, there's a door."

She wanted to muse over his words, thinking he was mocking her, but she let it go.

"Hm." She walked around the corner and saw another room with a toilet, sink and mirror all to itself. Nice. She thought, ignoring the onslaught of draining thoughts coming her way again. She didn't need to keep being reminded of how...unique her situation was.

Christian on the other hand was trying to keep his pulse under control. When he became frightened, or just overly excited about anything, good or bad, his body would react in ways he could not control. He didn't need her seeing anything before her time, ever, if he could allow that.

He walked over to his bed, and gripped the bedpost some as he sat down. He let out a breath. His eyes watered. He needed water. Cold water. He whooshed out of his room and down to the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he grabbed the pitcher and for a split second thought about getting a glass when he dumped the whole thing on himself.

The sudden chill brought him back to reality. Back to what he needed to do. He sucked in a breath and then went about cleaning up the mess before Alicia got out of the bathroom.