Chapter 35

When Tom's awareness returned, he found himself in a very dark place. He tried to lift his hand to his face, but there was not enough room. He could hear the crinkle of plastic above him, though he could see nothing. Had he been buried alive? He began to thrash around, seeking escape. A cool hand reached out of the darkness and ran soothingly across his cheek.

"It's okay, Tom," Mia's voice said from the dark, "We're in the trunk of Dana's car. We're safe."

As he calmed, Tom noticed a peculiar sensation in his mind; a bubble of emotion seemed to float on the edge of his consciousness. A bubble that radiated with warmth. No, not just with warmth, he realized, but with love.

His voice muted with wonder, he asked, "Is that you, Mia? Inside my head, I mean."

"Yes," she answered, and he could feel a tinge of amusement among the warmth.

"You're beautiful," he whispered.

There was a flurry of awkward movement and a few thunks as her limbs found the limits of the confined space the hard way. Then her cool lips were pressing against his. It was then that he realized that he felt no pain despite the severe injuries he had suffered. Although the bubble that was Mia should have given it away, it was only now that he truly understood the implications.

"Am I a vampire?" he asked. He could feel worry, concern and a bit of guilt through the bubble. Those emotions faded into confusion as Mia realized that, although he was a little fearful and uncertain, he wasn't upset.

"Yes," Mia replied, "I'm sorry, but..."

"Shhh," he interrupted, "It's okay. I thought I was dead for sure. You have no reason to be sorry. In fact, thanks for saving me."

"You're not angry," Mia said. As she was aware of his emotions through the bond, it was a statement of surprised fact rather than a question.

"Why would I be?" he asked gently, "I know you, so I also know that being a vampire does not make one a monster or change who they truly are."

Lips again pressed against his and lingered until the trunk suddenly popped open and the tarp was pulled back. Tom looked up to find Mark and Dana staring down at them.

"Ha!" Mark said, "I told you they were canoodling. You owe me a beer."

"Pig," Dana muttered, before grudgingly admitting, "But a pig who was right."

Tom could hear their hearts beating. He could almost feel the warmth flowing off of them. A ravenous hunger rose from his core and, for the first time, he experienced the odd sensation of his fangs extending. As he began to lurch out of the trunk, Mark and Dana jumped back in surprise.

Mia threw her arm across his chest to restrain him. "Calm down, Tom. When a new vampire wakes up for the first time, he always wakes up hungry. Hunger can make you irrational. You can control the hunger. Just hang in there and I'll get you fed. Okay?"

Her words had a bigger effect upon him than he would have thought possible. Once again in control, he climbed out of the trunk and then turned to assist Mia in doing the same.

He looked around at his surroundings curiously. The car was parked near a rustic cabin surrounded on all sides by thick forest. A small dirt road which ended at the cabin provided the only access.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"My Dad's old hunting cabin outside Medix Run," Dana replied, "I figured that it would be a safe place to hide until everything calms down. There's even a little root cellar under a trap door in the main room. It's damp and dirty, but it'll be dark."

Mia led Tom over to the porch. "Sit here and don't hurt anyone," she ordered, "I'll be back soon."

Tom immediately sat as she had told him to. When he looked at her with confusion and a hint of fear, she explained gently, "When you took me in, I told you about the other effects of the bond. Because I gave you the Gift, I'm ... Well, technically, I'm your Master. Or Mistress. Whatever." She bent to kiss him lightly on the forehead, "I promise I won't abuse it."

Mia ran off into the woods, and Dana went inside to open the windows to air out the musty camp. When they were gone, Mark sat down near his old friend with a sigh.

"Well, ain't this just some shit?" he commented darkly, "How are you holding up?"

"If you had told me back when I was assigned to investigate the murders that it would result in me becoming a vampire, I would have had you committed. I'm not going to lie to you, Mark, I'm still not sure what to make of all this. I love Mia, and I know that if she hadn't turned me, I would be dead. Under the circumstances, I'm certainly not mad at her. In fact, I'm grateful. But still..."

When it became apparent that Tom wasn't going to continue, Mark asked quietly, "What's it like?"

"Hard to describe. Everything is clearer, brighter. As dark as it is, I can make out every leaf on every tree in perfect clarity. I can not only hear some small animals moving around in the woods, but I can hear their hearts beating. Oh, and the smells!" Gesturing toward a section of forest, he continued, "There is a field of flowers right past that stretch of woods. I can distinguish the separate odors of more than five different kinds. The rich, earthy scent of the forest is like nothing I could have imagined. If that were all there was to it, I would be ecstatic. But there's another side.

"When you and Dana opened the trunk, I could smell you both, and you smelled good. Good enough to eat. I could hear your hearts beating in your chests and the sigh of breath passing through your lungs. It made me hungry, Mark. A ravenous, overwhelming hunger that I couldn't control or ignore. If it hadn't been for Mia..." he broke off with a shudder.

Dana had emerged unnoticed from the camp and overheard the last. Dropping to her knees behind Tom, she embraced him lightly from behind, "We'll help you get through this, Tom. We know you wouldn't really hurt us."

Tom reached up to squeeze her hand lightly in thanks even as he shook his head. "That's just it," he said, "I think I would have hurt you. Part of me would have been screaming in horror, but the hunger was in control. Mia has said a few times that new vampires need to feed when they rise. I hope that means that the hunger I felt is unusual, even unique, but what if it's not? What if it's like that every time?"

Dana patted his shoulder soothingly, "Look at this logically, Tom. You've been around Mia for a while now. You know that she's a decent person. She could have bit us at any time, but hasn't. That's so even though you know she's had to have been hungry at least a few times. If she can control the hunger, you can, too."

"That's what I told her and what I've been telling myself. I hope we're right."

The three sat in contemplative silence for a few minutes until Mark began to snicker. When the other two turned to look at him questioningly, he raised a hand in supplication. "Sorry to break the mood," he said, "but it was getting a little maudlin. I was just looking forward to Mia getting back. She's already taught Tommy here to sit. Maybe she'll teach him how to roll over or fetch next."

With a scowl of mock indignation, Tom said, "Go ahead and yuck it up, big guy. Just remember, piss me off enough and you just might end up happily fetching my slippers every night." By way of demonstration, Tom bared the fangs that he hadn't quite figured out how to retract.

The snickers turned into guffaws as Mark blurted out, "I don't think so, slave boy. As I recall, your Mistress ordered you to sit still and not hurt anyone." His laughter increased in volume as he added, "Well at least buying you a Christmas present will be easy this year. All I have to do is find a place that sells latex body suits and ball gags."

Dana began to sputter with laughter of her own as she joined in on the abuse, "On the bright side, Tom, turning into a vampire got rid of that little gut you were growing. You might even look good in nothing but a leather g-string and nipple clamps."

Tom did his best to maintain an air of wounded dignity, but their laughter was too infectious. When Mia returned with two deer in tow, she found the three of them clutching onto each other gasping for breath as they tried to recover from their merriment.

At the sight of them, Mia's guilt over making light use of the power of suggestion to nudge Mark and Dana's minds so that they would be more apt to apply reason to the situation than fear or superstition faded. The transition from mortal to vampire was traumatic enough without adding rejection from those you cared about.

Walking up to the trio, she shook her head in amusement, and addressed Mark and Dana, "You two really might want to go inside for this. It can be ... unpleasant."