Around the Corner [Maddison]

[Robin Little]

The high was what Robin had always sought. The daze produced by a vampire’s bite had been addictive. It was a way to relax, to forget about anything and everything. To just drift into a numbing bliss that had always left Robin walking in clouds. Or so it felt. It was something he couldn’t understand, when others said they didn’t like being bitten, or if they complained. It was something he looked for. Something he would have paid for – but thankfully had been taught that he was the one who could make money from it.

And here he was, still making money from giving away his blood. It was still a high, though it wasn’t as good. A good high was still something that Robin lacked – but enough time had passed that he no longer had to look. All withdrawals had passed.

Robin’s own feeding slowed momentarily as he felt Maddison’s lips against his neck, as he felt her tongue push the blood from the wound he’d created. It was still a feeling he revelled in, still something he enjoyed. His fingers tangled further in the blonde of her hair, and as he made himself comfortable, his hand slipped around her waist. That dress was so tight against her skin, he could feel the warmth of her through it, as if it weren’t a dress he was touching at all, as if his bare fingers were against her bare hip.

From her, he took no more than he needed, his tongue lapping at the wound so that it would heal, his forehead resting against her shoulder while he waited. Just because he was done, didn’t mean that she was. For a first time, she might be taking her time. So he waited, intimately close. He waited for her to indicate her readiness to finish.

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

She hadn't felt like this any other time in her life. Had she? No. This was definitely a different feeling. Relaxed. She took the offered blood, trying to bypass the copper taste and focus more on what it was doing to her body. She shifted closer to him then, bridging the small gap that had been between them.

She of course was taking this slow, since it was her first time and probably only time. It was too expensive. When his fingers tangled in her hair and his arm went around her waist, she tangled her own fingers into his brown locks. The blonde was starting to feel a little woozy.

Pulling back from his neck, she flicked her tongue against the wound to lick the blood free. Of course she didn't have any healing abilities but she knew he did so his wound would heal faster than she could imagine. "I'm...I'm done." She offered with a small voice.

However, the blonde wasn't feeling so good. She felt this weird feeling through her veins. She wasn't exactly sure this was how she was supposed to feel but maybe it was.

"Did it taste fine?" Of course she was the one worried that he had been happy with the situation.

The blonde then sat back against the couch, loosing contact with him. She pressed her hands to her stomach, concern lining her facial expressions.

[Robin Little]

Satisfaction was an understatement. Even though there’d been give and take, even though she’d taken as much as he’d consumed, he still felt satisfied. He was still ‘full’, and she’d tasted sublime. Robin was on a high – not as high as he might have got when bitten by a vampire, but this whole feeding while being fed on thing, there was something to be said for it. Robin hadn’t wanted to stop. He wanted to suggest continuing. Again, again!

Maddison had asked how she had tasted, and Robin was about to tell her; he was about to explain how amazing it was, was about to question his own professionalism. But there was something in the way Maddison’s brow creased, the way her fingers spread over her stomach like something was wrong. It shouldn’t be like that. Any thief that Robin had fed in the past had immediately felt the effects, but in a good way. Shouldn’t it be the same for Maddison?

Robin remembered the first time he’d tasted vampire blood; it had been Lorelai’s. It had woken him up, it had breathed life into him in a way that nothing ever had. It was the ultimate high, but it had also had him curling into a ball, suffering in agony as his human body died. She’d drained him first, though. She’d drained him, and the blood he had consumed was… well, a lot more than what Maddison had, wasn’t it?

The smile slipped from Robin’s lips as he laid a hand on Maddison’s shoulder, as he seated himself beside her.

”Are you okay?” he asked, feeling the distinct urge to spread his fingers over her stomach, too. As if he might be able to feel what was wrong beneath the skin. It was impossible for him to do so, so he kept his hand to himself, and merely hoped for the best.

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

There was two feelings going on in her body at the moment. One, she felt high and like she could rule the world. Two, she was feeling sick and like her body was slowly loosing control of it's functions. She pressed a hand to her forehead and rubbed at it. Earlier in the day she had a lot of blood drawn for the doctors. You know, normal human stuff? It had been just a check up.

"I'm not feeling so great. It's really hard to describe. Like I'm experiencing two different things. I feel like I could take on the world and then I'm feeling like immense pain." She frowned some, it really was hard to explain. Had this ever happened before? What exactly had he done to her?

The blonde curled her feet underneath her. "I think I just need to sit here for a moment." She closed her eyes, trying not to blurt out obscenities as the pain continued. She rested her head back against the couch, eyes clenched shut. "Has this ever happened before?" It was an honest question right?

So why did she feel like she was dying?

That was when everything went black and she slumped on the couch, head falling to his shoulder.

[Robin Little]

A high, yes. That was encouraging. That’s exactly how she should feel. For the night – for a few days, even – the world should be her plaything. She should be its queen. For the few moments that he was allowed, Robin assumed that this was her first time, and the sensation was just a little overwhelming for her.

Until the pain she mentioned seemingly overwhelmed the high. She was a like a cat – she was in pain but she didn’t want to show it. The way she curled in on herself, the questions that she asked, she didn’t seem angry with Robin, just confused. Suffering in silence. He didn’t know how bad it was until she passed out, her body slumped against him.

”****,” he muttered, fingers gliding over her cheek, pressing against her neck, searching for a pulse. It was there, but it was erratic. Gently, he tapped his fingers against her cheek. He closed them around her shoulder and he shook.

”Maddison…” he called her name, but she was out cold. The pain… had he passed out when he’d consumed Lorelai’s blood? He didn’t think so, but it’d been hit and miss. He’d felt like he could have. It would have been easier than suffering through it, the way each organ shut down.

”****,” he murmured, the expletives issued from him in a torrid stream. What had he done?! Classic, Robin. You didn’t think. You didn’t ask questions. You royally fucked up this time, didn’t you? Was she turning, though? Or was she dying? Robin didn’t know. Nor did he have anyone to ask. He wouldn’t ask his boss. How would that be received? Sorry, boss. I kind of turned a client into a vampire. Won’t happen again.

Christ. He was going to get fired.

Robin eventually stood, pulling Maddison’s arm around his shoulder and doing his best to haul her out of the booth. Bright eyes searched the surrounding booths, looking for the security guard he knew usually prowled this area, and for good reason. The guy came trotting toward Robin as soon as he saw the passed out girl.

”A friend of mine. Too much to drink,” he said with a lopsided grin.

”I need a ride, though. Home. Do you think you can help organise something?” he asked. The guard nodded and pulled his phone from his pocket, gesturing to the back exit with a movement of his head. The back exit would be easier to get to, rather than through all the writhing bodies to the front exit.

He hoped Maddison wouldn’t file a complaint. But then, who was he kidding? She’d have every right too.

Christ. He was going to be killed.

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

Maddison didn't remember much of what was happening, after all she was blacked out. It seemed better that way, she couldn't feel the agony of her body shutting down. Like every other girl in the world, she had watched Twilight. Don't Judge. But that's how it felt to her. The immense pain, and the vampire blood attaching to everything in her body.

She came to when they reached the back exit. "Where the **** are you taking me?" The voice came out rather raspy and in order to keep herself from falling she had to clench onto his shoulder. All she knew that this man had done something to her but she wasn't exactly sure. She was still naive in some things.

They made it through the back exit, she didn't exactly want everyone to see her stumbling. Look at the blonde drunk they all thought. Ha. She wasn't drunk, just turning. "What the heck is happening to me?" She muttered out as soon as the taxi that had been called for them, pulled up. She couldn't exactly hold herself up anymore, the pain was starting to get to her.

Maddison was a strong woman, and she didn't usually show weakness in front of anyone, but this situation she couldn't help and it was a lot worse than she had ever experienced. Ten times worse than periods and man did those stink. It wasn't long after they were in the taxi that she felt herself slipping again, and once more her body slumped in the seat, head hitting his shoulder.

He wasn't experiencing pain, so the least he could do was deal with her black outs.

She was never drinking vampire blood again.

[Robin Little]

”Home,” Robin mumbled.

The one word made him laugh, however. Home. It really was about time he got a place of his own. How long was it since he’d had a place that he’d actually paid for? He went from living with an ex, to the commune – when he came back he lived in a cheap rundown motel for months before he’d met Jameson, and for a few months he’d lived on Jameson’s couch. From there he moved to his sire’s couch, until she moved into a different apartment with her other half. Robin had the main bedroom, then, but it had got lonely living by himself.

Now he lived with a friend, Fleur; a lot of the time they were like passing ships in the night. She probably wouldn’t be there when he brought Maddison home, but it was the only real home that he had. It was where he kept his stuff. It was where he now felt most comfortable. But what now? What now that there might be a Maddison in the picture?

But that was only a fleeting wonderment. Maybe that’s not what was happening. Maybe it was just a bad reaction to the blood – just like some people have bad reactions to drugs. Yes, that was it. She would be sick for a while and Robin could give her some painkillers to help with the headache. He could apologise. How would he apologise, exactly? He’d figure that out later.

Why did he think first to take her home? Why not her home? A park? Somewhere with fresh air? He didn’t rightly know, but it was the address that he gave to the cab driver. Whatever answer he had about what was happening to her was kept close to his chest for now. One – it probably wasn’t a conversation to have in front of the cab driver and two, Robin wasn’t entirely certain himself what was happening. He didn’t want to tell the woman she was turning into a vampire when it might have only been a bad reaction.

It didn’t take too long to get back to the apartment; once there, Robin gently tugged his quarry from the back of the cab, laughed about how much of a marshmallow his friend was with the cab driver, before sweeping her up into his arms. It was better than dragging her feet, anyway. He used his elbow to push the button for the elevator, and had to put Maddison halfway down at the front door while he fumbled for keys. Once inside he took her to the couch. He laid her down and perched himself on the edge of the coffee table.

He had to hope for the best.

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

Maddison felt like she was dying. There was no way this was just a side affect. She'd kill this guy. The blonde loved being human. Breathing, eating, laying in the sun. She adored all these things and in a stupid whim it was all taken away. Oh yes, Maddison, smile at the cute stranger. Accept his offer. Jeez, you're an idiot.

She was in and out of conscious on the ride back to his house. Why wouldn't he ask where her home was? Wouldn't it be smarted to take her there? Or was he taking her back to his home to finish the job? Yeah that must be it. He was too handsome, of course there had to be something off with him.

Soon they pulled up to his home and the blonde was carried into his house and left on his couch. She barely opened her eyes to see him sitting on the coffee table, facing her. She opened them some more and let out a groan. Goodness, was she in pain.

"Where am I? What's happening?" She all but croaked out.

The blonde turned on her side and coughed over the side of the couch. At least she wasn't wretching. That'd be awful. She fell back against the couch and curled up into the fetal position. Everything was shutting down and in a matter of moments, she'd either die or be awaken as something else.

"Why does it feel like I'm dying?"

[Robin Little]

Robin cringed.

He didn’t want to face the possibility himself, let alone explain to Maddison that she felt like she was dying because there was a possibility that’s exactly what was happening. He wished in this moment that he had some kind of doppelganger that could deliver the bad news in his wake. He wished that Fleur were home, because he reckoned she’d be able to deliver the news without any kind of faff or flourish – she’d deliver it bluntly, as a matter of fact.

Deciding he had to face the music, Robin took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the oxygen that would allow him to breathe the dreaded words.

”I’m hoping it was just a bad reaction, yeah? We can wait it out. You know, a bit like rancid milk? The tiniest bit of it can give you the worst kind of gastro that’ll last only an hour or so and then it’s gone, vanished. Because it’s out of the system,” he said. He was talking too much. Fleur had intimated that he talked too much – but it only ever happened when he was nervous. Or when he was procrastinating.

”But ah… I could have been wrong,” he said, his palms flat on his thighs, rubbing at them as if to relieve them of sweat. But he couldn’t sweat. He wasn’t sweating. But it felt like he should be.

”Blood thieves take blood all the time and it’s an absolute high for them, they never react like this. I don’t understand why you should when they don’t except maybe that they… there’s something different about them. But I suppose what I’m getting at is that you feel like you’re dying because you could be. Dying. But I mean, not for good. You might be turning. I felt like I was dying when I was turning because it’s like every organ shuts down. Because it’s no longer needed? But I still eat food so I’m not really…” he realised that he was off on a tangent that really wasn’t required. He shut up, then. He stopped. He cringed again.

”I’m sorry. I really am sorry. Either way, I’m sorry,” he repeated it, over and over. What else could he do?

[Maddison (DELETED 8452)]

She listened to everything he said, taking it all in. So she was dying, but not permanently. It was true, her worst fears had been brought to her. She was being turned into a vampire. The blonde tried to sit up, curling her feet under her. She was still experiencing that horrible pain in her stomach, but what else she was supposed to do.

"So what you are saying is, I'm not exactly dying, well I am but not for good." Why repeat it, when you already know the truth, Maddison. She sighed some and pushed her hair out of her face, she was starting to get flushed and ashen with sweat. "So I'm becoming a vampire. That's just wonderful." The sarcasm dripped from her voice like honey from a bee. She was too focused on how she felt to feel bad for him.

He probably didn't want this. He hadn't planned for this to happen. But it had and they both were just going to have to make the best of it. She groaned and slumped further into her seat. She hadn't really ever experienced this much pain in her life. Hopefully it would all be worth it. She'd be faster, stronger, prettier, and live for ever. Who wouldn't want that?

"For the love of God, please stop saying sorry. It happened, there's nothing either of us can do about it now."

It came out a lot harsher than she had intended but give the blonde a break, she was dying. She blacked out again. Luckily enough her head hit the cushion and there she sat in a fetal position. It wasn't but an hour later or so the woman woke back up a lot less sicker than she had been and a barely beating pulse.

"I'm hungry..."