Dean's Online Fiction

The Greater Darkness

Chapter 20

The darkness was usually a friend, it concealed and protected Geoffry, but this darkness was different, seemed determined to envelope him. The vampire somehow knew that if the darkness was successful in capturing him it wouldn't free him ever again. Geoffry tried to fight, but his efforts seemed ineffective.

That question awakened the hunger, and Geoffry realized that he hadn't eaten in far too long. Is that right? It seems like I fed just a little while ago, how can I be so hungry already? Maybe my weakness isn't caused by the hunger, maybe something else burned up my strength and in the process left me hungry sooner than normal.

The darkness gradually seemed to lose its hold on Geoffry, and he finally opened his eyes, squinting against the burning light.

Something stirred next to him. “Geoffry, are you awake?”

The vampire tried to nod, managed a jerky motion that seemed to satisfy his questioner as he tried to take stock of his surroundings despite the hunger relentlessly tearing at this mind. I'm in a bed. The room is tidy, worn. There's something wrapped around my stomach...bandages maybe?

A face slowly came into focus before Geoffry, and he pushed the hunger back a little farther, clearing his thoughts enough to recognize the girl.

“Melody.” Speech hurt, almost as if his throat had been rubbed raw from screaming or burned somehow.

“Shh, you don't have to say anything.” Melody pulled the comforter away and untied the string holding the makeshift bandages in place. “Your stomach wound looks like it's about healed, I never would have thought something like that could happen in less than twenty-four hours, but there it is. It doesn't look like you're fevered or have any signs of infection either, but something is still wrong isn't it?”

Nearly exhausted by the effort of listening to Melody, it took Geoffry a few seconds to realize she'd asked him a question. Panting, the vampire tried to understand what she'd asked. My insides and throat all hurt, is that what she means?

When Geoffry didn't respond immediately Melody seemed to think he needed a little prodding. “You called out for blood while you were fevered, and you said that you healed faster than a human...what are you?”

Geoffry's mind seemed unable to process the questions as fast as they were being asked. Now that his vision was starting to clear up, he found his eyes returning again and again to the expanse of white skin revealed by Melody's faded blue top. The hunger. How much longer until it takes over and I hurt her without meaning to?

The thought of Melody lying dead on the floor drained of blood, finally penetrated the vampire's mind and he found himself struggling feebly to get up. “Must go.”

Melody put her hands on Geoffry's chest and held him down. “No, you're still hurt, you wouldn't even make it down the stairs right now, don't be silly.”

Geoffry felt his world start to darken as he realized he wasn't strong enough to escape Melody, at least not without seriously hurting her. Desperation gave him the energy to push at least some of his words past the pain in his throat. “No, I have to go now before the hunger gets too bad and I hurt you.”

Melody looked at Geoffry without understanding, and he felt tears start to form in his eyes. “You don't understand, I won't be able to stop myself. I won't have control, the hunger will take over and then you'll be dead just like the others.”

For a second it seemed that Melody was going to let him up out of shock, but then understanding flared in her eyes. “You're really not human are you?”

Geoffry shook his head weakly expecting Melody to turn from him in disgust as she realized what he was. “No, vampire.”

Melody began trembling, but she didn't turn away from Geoffry. “You don't want to hurt me though?”

Geoffry's negative was more emphatic now as he tried to sit up again, but he was too weak. He collapsed back to the bed again and the tears that had been building broke free and coursed down his face.

Seeing the tears, Melody was unable to restrain tears of her own, and she gingerly hugged Geoffry while whispering in his ear. “Then we'll just have to make sure that you get the blood you need so you don't hurt anyone by accident.”

Geoffry felt Melody's tears join with his own, but was too far gone with exhaustion and hunger to remain coherent, instead slipping back into unconsciousness.

The smell of blood pulled him back to a state of awareness sometime later. Opening his eyes to lengthening shadows, Geoffry found Melody next to him holding a razor blade and looking paler than usual.

Tears once again filled brown eyes as Melody tried not to laugh hysterically. “I guess I should have thought to make sure you were awake before I cut myself. I wasn't sure if you'd drown on the blood if I started to feed you while you were unconscious.”

Still having a hard time thinking past the hunger, Geoffry opened his mouth to ask what she meant, and Melody placed her arm against his mouth.

For a brief second Geoffry tried to force the arm away, but if anything he'd grown weaker physically, and the hunger was even more compelling than before. Bracing himself against the rush of satiation, Geoffry fought it with all of his will.

Once again, time stopped as the hunger swelled and tried to take over. Geoffry found a surprising ally in the sense of connection that bloomed almost immediately between the two of them.

Without meaning to, Geoffry felt his thoughts reach out and touch Melody's. Amazed by the lack of resistance, the fact that she felt the connection as much as he did, the vampire strengthened the probes and allowed thoughts to flow back and forth between the two of them.

For a few brief moments Geoffry explored Melody's innermost fears and hopes at the same time that he felt her doing the same inside his mind, and then he felt her growing weaker, felt the flow of blood lessening.

Tearing himself away from the trickle of life making it's way down his throat was one of the hardest things Geoffry had ever done, but Melody had realized her danger as well. She pulled her arm away from his weak grasp even as he forced himself to let go.

The vampire fought the darkness long enough to make sure Melody got her arm bandaged, and then let the black claim him.

**

Geoffry awoke slowly, once again more than a little confused by his surroundings. I'm awake, but it's still black everywhere. Dark, it must be dark outside. No lights inside either. No clocks or anything. Power outage?

Suddenly the vampire's unfamiliar surroundings became recognizable and everything that had happened came back in a flood.

Geoffry rolled over frantically searching for Melody, and felt his heart skip a beat when he saw her motionless and pale in what little light filtered through the blinds. With a trembling hand the vampire reached out and touched the delicate neck. There, a pulse, weak but steady. She'll be ok if I get some food into her.

It wasn't until Geoffry had climbed out of bed and made his way through the darkness into the kitchen that he remembered his wounds. No pain anymore, I suppose that accelerated healing really kicked in and took care of both the stab wound and the rest.

The cupboards were nearly bare, but Geoffry's search finally turned up some bread, which was better than nothing.

Returning to Melody's bedroom, Geoffry gently shook her awake and tried to get her to eat.

“What time is it?” Then realizing that her clock was dead. “How long has the power been out?”

“I don't know I just woke up and got you something to eat.”

Melody shook her head in the dim light. “I have to check on mom first. Her equipment has batteries, but if it goes too long without power I'll have to call an ambulance.”

Geoffry's was half afraid that Melody would fall, either due to weakness or because she tripped over something in the dark. Instead of arguing a point he was sure to lose, he just picked her slender form up and carried her into the other room.

The vampire was momentarily worried Melody's mother would be alarmed by his presence, but any fears to that effect were laid to rest as soon as they entered her bedroom. She was obviously still too heavily sedated to awake. She looks so frail, like the drugs and disease have eaten away all of her substance. All that's left are bits and pieces that just happen to keep the shape of the woman she was before. She's so much worse than last time I saw her.

Geoffry's pause must have been longer than he'd realized because Melody suddenly buried her face in his neck as she tried to fight back tears. “I know, she's bad, maybe the worst she's ever been.”

Unsure what else to do Geoffry stood there holding Melody and letting her cry until the tears slowed to a trickle and she asked him to carry her close enough to check a host of readouts that didn't make any sense to him.

Once Melody was satisfied with the information the medical equipment was reporting Geoffry helped her into the kitchen where she pulled a medical bag that contained a sugar and saline solution out of the refrigerator.

The next twenty minutes were some of the hardest Geoffry could remember. She's running on nothing but willpower. I'm trying to help, but she's the one with the knowledge of what needs done and how it needs to be accomplished. All I can really do is be here for her to lean on.

Melody collapsed as she finished taking care of her mom, but Geoffry caught her before she could damage any of the monitoring machines surrounding the poor woman.

“You've done everything you can for her. She'll be fine, you need to take care of yourself now, or you won't be able to take care of her later.”

The lights came back on about the time Geoffry got Melody back to her bed and working her way through the bread he'd found. Reasonably sure that both Melody and her mom would be ok, the vampire found his thoughts wandering through the things he'd learned when he was inside Melody's mind hours before.

“It isn't your fault you know.” Melody looked up questioningly. “Your dad's death, your mom's sickness, neither came about because of anything you did.”

Melody looked for a second like she wanted to be angry and tell Geoffry it was none of his business, but after a few seconds she nodded. “I know in my head that's true, but sometimes the rest of me doesn't believe it, especially the part about mom. After dad died I was so angry, and she was busy trying to be strong for both of us. I said a lot of hurtful things that mostly centered around me wishing she was gone too so I could live my life how I wanted.”

A pair of brown eyes looked away from Geoffry for a minute, and when they returned they were full of unshed tears. “Sometimes I think about how much easier my life would be if mom was just dead so that I didn't have to take care of her all of the time.”

Geoffry waited until Melody had put the remnants of her meal on the nightstand, and then reached over and hugged her. “I can help with that if you want, make it so you know it wasn't your fault, maybe even take away the memory of ever wishing she wasn't here.”

“By going inside my mind like you did before?”

“Only if you want me to.”

“No, the wounds are almost gone, and that's part of who I am. If you took that away, I might not be as careful about what I said or thought in the future. Thank you for offering though.

The pair lay next to each other on the bed while Melody cried herself out again, and for the first time since he'd been injured Geoffry was once again conscious of how attractive Melody was. There's something there between us now, I felt it inside her mind, but it's still got too many of the elements of a childish crush.

Melody finally wiped her eyes and snuggled closer to Geoffry. “You still haven't asked me what I see when you're inside my mind. Did you find out what it was this last time you were inside me?”

Geoffry shook his head, and then realized in the darkness that she probably couldn't see. “No, I figured that was your secret to tell or keep as you saw fit.”

There was a pause, almost like Melody wasn't sure she really wanted to tell now that she'd arrived at the moment of decision. “I saw a being of light and goodness, but with an overlay of darkness trying to extinguish the light.”

Melody's revelation was so unexpected that Geoffry was having a hard time processing it. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that for all you've done terrible things you're essentially good and wholesome. There are deep scars that the black has seeped into, that chain you away from your potential, but the good is fighting back trying to cast the bad out.”

All of sudden Melody hugged Geoffry fiercely. “I'm worried though, the darkness and light inside your mind were both stronger this time than I remember them being last time, and I think as the war grows stronger it's killing you inside.”