Within a few short minutes, we were on our way. I felt Alexandre stiffen at a few of the deeper bumps in the road and sat up to look at him with worry. He smiled grimly at me and shook his head slightly. I wound my fingers in his and squeezed his hand. We sat in silence for a tortuously long period of time. The cops in the front seat prattled loosely about this or that, mostly ignoring us, intermittent radio chatter buzzed in the background. I watched the world pass by the windows and tried to ignore the woman cop's brown eyes as she looked at us frequently in the rear-view mirror. The sunlight splashed out from behind the clouds and Alexandre inhaled abruptly as it slashed across his face. He held up a hand to shield his eyes. The woman cop watched him carefully.
"I must ask your forgiveness, but I seem to have packed away my sunglasses in my case. Would it be possible to pull over to retrieve them? I have a rather unique sensitivity to light you see..." Alexandre requested politely.
"There's a rest area coming up in about twenty minutes. We'll stop there." The woman replied indifferently. Alexandre smiled pleasantly at her in the rear-view mirror and thanked her, but I felt his hand tighten on mine. I knew he still wasn't completely recovered, but I was beginning to wonder how much of him it was affecting.
"Are you gonna be ok?" I whispered, hoping he understood the implied message behind the words, and that my voice didn't travel well.
"I'll be fine, we'll have a moment to stretch our legs at the rest stop and talk." Alexandre squeezed my hand again and then placed a gentle kiss on my temple. The woman was watching us carefully, so I simply nodded and looked out the window again. The twenty minute drive felt like an hour, but finally, the male cop chuckled as he slowed the car.
"Anybody else ready to get out of this blasted car for a bit? 'Cuz I sure am!" He laughed and pulled off into a nearly deserted rest area. As we got out, he popped the trunk for Alexandre, who rummaged through his bag and came up with two pairs of sunglasses for the quickly fading sunlight, and two jackets, one of which he draped around my shoulders with a cocky grin.
"I know how much you like my jackets." He said. I didn't object, it was true. Alexandre grabbed my hand and led me down the little concrete sidewalk that led to a small wooden overlook area. The female cop trailed behind us at a respectful distance. Alexandre pulled me to the railing and wrapped an arm around my waist, tugging me close to him so he could whisper in my ear.
"I'm still not completely healed, and there's internal damage. I'm afraid I'm going to need more blood, and with these two watching us like a hawk, I don't know how I'm going to get it." Alexandre's lips brushed my ear and I shivered. The words and his closeness were chilling.
"What about me?" I asked softly. "Can you use my blood for now? I'm well fed and can go several more days without, so no harm if you take a little." I offered, shivering again at the thought. Alexandre's grip tightened and his lips fell to my neck in a gentle kiss.
"You have no idea how much I would very much love to try that, but I'm thinking you may have to lure our sharp eyed friend away so I can see where I can get with her friend or another human instead. No use in both of us being hungry." Alexandre replied gently grazing the place where my pulse was hammering away in my neck with his teeth. My heartbeat skyrocketed and Alexandre chuckled.
"I hear our jovial friend returning, I think now's the time..." Alexandre suggested, releasing me. I turned my attention to the heavy footsteps and whistling approaching us, and watched for a beat or two as the male cop came into view. I leaned up and kissed Alexandre's cheek and then walked towards the female cop.
"I could use a quick trip to the lady's room, if you don't mind..." As I expected, she nodded and began to follow me. I had a suspicion they had been told to not let us out of their sight. As we got out of view of the men, she seemed to relax, and I pushed open and held the squeaky swinging door for her when we reached it.
"Dang, ever heard of oil?" I muttered at is as we passed, and the cop chuckled lightly. I hid myself in a stall and waited to see if my body was going to produce any waste. Bonus: yes, vampires also do that too, now you know.
"Can I ask you something?" The woman cop asked me from elsewhere in the room. I heard a sink splashing water.
"Umm...sure I guess.." I replied, raising my voice so she could hear me.
"That guy you're living with. He's not...trading sex for favors, is he?" She asked sharply. I laughed with embarrassment.
"Alexandre? No. He's been nothing but a gentleman." I exited the stall. "We haven't...been together.." I blushed.
"But you're interested?" She observed. I washed my hands slowly, avoiding her gaze.
"I am very...drawn to him. He's like my knight in shining armor. He saved me and he's been taking care of me, protecting me, and there's this, I don't know, pull..." I gave up. Vampire stuff maybe? How could I explain to her that I thought part of the reason I was infatuated with Alexandre was because a virus was driving me to further its own evolution? I shook my head.
"Sounds like infatuation to me. Just, be careful, ok? I don't really trust these guys. Too many times girls like you get dumped, heartbroken, and broke, or worse, or disappear entirely. Just, be careful." She said, and her face relaxed as I looked at her seriously and nodded. She had no idea how right she was to be distrustful of Alexandre, but she was wrong about the reason. The reason she should be wary of him, was the reason she should be wary of me as well: vampirism. I smiled at her shyly, and we waked out of the restroom side by side, friendlier towards each other. I distracted her with the vending machine choices, and chatted with her happily as we looked over the intriguing items. She ultimately bought herself a soft drink, and despite my refusal, bought me a water. Mind you, of all things to drink, a vampire would least object to water, since it's pretty much nothing for nor against our dietary needs, and can still keep us hydrated, even if it doesn't provide nourishment. Drinkable, but unnecessary. I took the water with a thank you, and drank a sip. It was ice cold, which made me wince. My body really wasn't used to very cold drinks anymore. The cop laughed.
"You're like me." She said "Can't stand that cold water, room temperature or nothing." She laughed again. Well, she sort of had the right idea. I grinned.
Hoping that Alexandre had concluded his own personal care needs, we walked slowly towards the overlook in companionable silence. The woman stopped me at the edge of the sidewalk.
"Listen, about the identification thing...it's just procedure, it's ok if you don't remember anything, or can't tell for sure. Don't feel like you have to give them an answer if you don't know. And if it's too much for you, let them know. God knows that must have been horrifying enough, without it coming back so many months later to haunt you like this." She rubbed my arm reassuringly. I smiled weakly and whispered my thanks, my stomach squeezing into a cold, hard knot.
"Ah there you girls are!" Called the male cop with a chuckle, interrupting the moment. Alexandre trailed behind him and when he saw me, he winked. There was more color in his face. I inspected the cop for wounds, but saw none. "We thought you might have gotten lost, or fallen in, as long as it took!" The cop continued as he passed me, chuckling to himself. A whiff of blood on the air grabbed my attention, but it was not coming from the direction I expected. My eyes widened as my gaze was drawn downward. Alexandre caught up to me, gripping me in a tight squeeze with a wide grin.
"Alexandre, what did you do?" I hissed under my breath as the two cops led the way back to the police car.
"Let's just say, he was easily suggestible, and with that open collar and long ride ahead, I had to go for an alternative vein." He whispered against my ear, pulling me against him. The breeze blew the slight scent of blood at me again from below the man's waist.
"Oh my God Alexandre, I don't know how to react...which vein did you go for exactly?" I asked covering my mouth. Alexandre let out his loud laugh, earning us a look from the female cop.
"Well, we startled a rather pleasant family on their way to the overlook, but not the one you're thinking." He chuckled, and opened the car door for me. I slid in.
"You see, there's an excellent place just here." He said laying his fingers on my inner thigh, making me freeze "Which can be easily accessible to the teeth if need be." He leaned in closer as the cops got in the car.
"I have so many questions." I whispered back, and Alexandre chuckled again, kissing me hard on the mouth, much to the female cop's chagrin. Breathlessly, I buckled up and removed Alexandre's hand from my thigh.
"Dangerous territory, boy." I mimicked his earlier phrasing as the car pulled off into the darkening night, and although Alexandre still winced at the occasional jolt of the car, he got a little more sleep, and I could tell he was feeling better by the way he had started teasing me again while he was awake. He pulled me into his arms and leaned against the door nearest him to stare out the window opposite us. Night for a vampire is...unique. Looking at the moon is like trying to stare at the sun, it's so bright. Headlights and streetlights can be blinding. The stars, oh there are so very many of them, more than you'll ever know. But unfortunately, at night, most things lost a lot of their vibrant colors and became more muted as the images sharpened. I guess you had to trade something for it. Alexandre ran his fingers absently up and down my jacket sleeve.
Suddenly, I was jolted awake as I heard the male cop say "Ok, folks, this is where we leave you for the night."