I pulled the car to a stop in front of the abandoned factory, smirking slightly at Sylvie's reaction. I jumped out, racing to the other side to open her door. Sylvie stepped out, looking the building up and down with a mixture of disgust and confusion.
"As long as I've lived in this city," she remarked as I shut the door, "I've always believed this building was empty."
"Save a small population of the city's homeless," I shrugged, "and a very good friend of mine." Sylvie arched a brow at me. "You'll see when we get inside."
I took her by the hand and led her through the cracked fence opening. The door was only a short jaunt from us. I gave it a few knocks and waited patiently. After a bit of shuffling, the door cracked open. Out peeked a haggard old man with dirt caked to his face. He saw my face and greeted me with a toothless grin.
"Daniel!" He proclaimed jovially. "Come in!"
I smiled at the old man as he pulled the door open and we stepped inside. There were barrel fires scattered around the dimly lit factory floor, with many of the building's occupants huddled around them. The elderly man eyed Sylvie and donned a smug grin.
"Oh, my! You've brought company this time." He waggled his brows as he slicked back his matted hair.
"Easy, tiger." I chuckled. "This one's spoken for."
"Lucky you." He winked before trotting off to one of the fire barrels.
I caught a glimpse at Sylvie, whose eyes were rolling so hard, I'm surprised they didn't jump out of her head and roll across the floor. We continued on across the factory floor and I was greeted by various other residents. A small chuckle escaped Sylvie. "I didn't know you were so popular among the natives." She remarked.
"Mikhail and I make sure they're well fed and protected from the streets. In exchange, they help us out with little odd jobs here and there."
"That's so sweet." Sylvie hugged my arm lovingly. "You're such a hero."
"No, my love. I'm just too nice for my own good." I gave her a playful wink.
We came to a large metal door, that was ever so slightly ajar. I just smirked and shook my head, pulling the door open. Apparently, my old friend had company. I bowed slightly to my lady, bringing another chuckle out of her.
"After you, my darling."
"Such a gentleman." She smiled, sauntering her way past me.
The vast meat locker was dimly lit by flickering lights. I could feel Sylvie becoming slightly unnerved by her surroundings. Internally, I laughed, remembering the warnings I would give her about the various horror films she would binge.
I'm so glad you find that funny. I heard her fussing.
It's precious, my darling. I didn't even try to hide my laugh. Don't worry. I'll protect you from any axe wielding maniacs.
Oh, ha-ha. You're adorable. The sarcasm dripped off her thickly and I thought it was the cutest thing in existence.
We reached the wall at the end of the locker. I ran my fingers over the cool stones until I found the one that I was looking for. I gave it a press and a hidden door opened. I looked back at Sylvie, who looked thoroughly impressed.
"Yes, dear. We can put one in our house."
At Sylvie's contented smile, we ventured on into a candlelit hallway. The soft sounds of classical music floated to our ears as we came to a pair of wooden double doors. I pushed them open and we found ourselves in a lavishly decorated parlor. Lounging on a chaise to the right was Mikhail, face buried into the neck of one of his many "house guests". He pulled his fangs lazily from the woman's throat, looking up at us like a contented lion after a hunt.
"Ah, my good friend, Daniel! So good to see you." He smirked, shooing the woman from his lap. His crystal blue eyes fell on Sylvie and I would have sworn that the whole atmosphere of the room changed. Mikhail had the look of a man who had just been blessed to see the face of God as his thumb slowly wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He stood to his feet, his eyes firmly glued to Sylvie. "And who is this ebony jewel?"
"Sylvia." She answered plainly.
"Sylvia." He repeated quietly. "A pleasure, Printsessa."
He extended his hand and Sylvie took it, of course, out of courtesy. He placed a kiss on the back of her hand, bowing low as he did. Sylvie gave him a polite smile, but on the inside, she gave the feeling of a wide-eyed bunny in the claws of a wolf. I always found myself slightly jealous at how my dear friend had that effect on people.
"I hope you can forgive my state." Mikhail motioned to his exposed chest and the blood stains on his white shirt. "Had I known you would be bringing company, I would have made myself more presentable."
"Don't put yourself out on my account." Sylvie replied nervously. "I'm just a little newbie."
"Printsessa, don't speak of yourself in such a lowly manner." Mikhail playfully chastised. "Any woman worthy of Daniel's arm is a precious jewel and should be respected as such."
I could feel Sylvie's skin heating in a blush, so I decided to step in and save the day.
"I hate to bother you, old friend, but it's about that time."
"No bother at all, Daniel! I was actually hoping I would see you soon." Mikhail smirked at me, while motioning to the woman behind us. "I just received a very special shipment in yesterday. O+."
This news made me light up. "You rarely ever get a whole shipment of O+!"
"For you, my friend, I can work miracles." Mikhail answered wryly. "Consider it my thank you for your loyal friendship and your continued patronage."
"Well, now that I know where to go, darling, I can take some of the weight off your shoulders sometime." Sylvie's head lay on my shoulder as she gave my hand a loving squeeze.
"I'll make sure I'm much more presentable next time, Printsessa." Mikhail's voice took that low tone that I knew all too well.
Sylvie let out a nervous chuckle, nodding slightly. She turned to take the box from the woman as I stared daggers at my old friend. I always knew he was the friendly sort, but Sylvie was off limits. Mikhail feigned a look of complete innocence, before replacing it with a wolfish grin.
"Until next time, my friend." Mikhail gave him a small salute as his plaything made her way back into his lap.
As we reached the outside of the factory, I took the box from Sylvie and opened the door for her.
"He's...friendly." She commented, climbing into the passenger's seat.
"Unfortunately." I rolled my eyes, pushing the door closed with my hip.
I stuck the box in the back seat and climbed in. Wordlessly, I started the car and drove off. The ride home was tensely quiet, which I wanted to avoid. However, my dear "friend" had overstepped his boundaries. He knew Sylvie was mine. I also knew how he got around women. He wasn't known as the Casanova of our kind for nothing. The way he looked at Sylvie, though. I had only seen him look at one other woman that way, but that was ages ago. The feeling was coming off him in waves and it took everything I had to hide my disgust with it.
We pulled into the driveway, still not a word being spoken between either of us. I couldn't read Sylvie at all and sadly, it did nothing to help my mood. I hopped out, grabbed our shipment, and raced around the car to open the door for her. She mumbled a small "thank you" and made her way into the house. Edie greeted us happily, but her smile quickly fell as her eyes studied me. She turned to Sylvie, who just shook her head. Edie nodded knowingly and tipped back into the living room.
As I stocked the fridge, Sylvie sat at the breakfast bar. I could feel her eyes on my back, but I decided to just preoccupy myself with my task. I didn't even notice her footsteps closing in as she grabbed a blood bag from my hands. She tossed it gently onto the counter before taking my face in both of her hands.
"I chose you, Daniel." She assured me quietly. "Mikhail can't give me anything near what you've given me. Thanks to you, I have the love of my life that I'm spending eternity with, a family, a life I never thought I'd ever be blessed with. Those are things that I will never take lightly." She kissed me gently and pressed her forehead to mine. "You are the one I'm spending my eternity with, not him."
I looked deep into my love's eyes, knowing what she told me was the truth. I let out an embarrassed chuckle, wrapping my arms around her waist.
"I'm sorry." I sighed, stroking her cheek. "It's just...the way he looked at you! It set me on edge."
"I don't think you could have made that any more obvious, my love." She gave me a smirk and tilted her head to the side, exposing the left side of her neck. "Besides, I wouldn't let just any vampire mark me."
I felt my fangs extend as I shared her smile. "You mean, like this?"
Viper quick, I lashed out, sinking my fangs into that exact spot. Sylvie let out a startled, but appreciative moan, her nails grazing down my back.
"No," her gasping voice was entwined with a satisfied growl, "more like this."
Her fingers found my hair, pulling my head back and my fangs from her throat. Her small fangs dug themselves into my flesh and I saw stars. I cradled the back of her head as I tried to keep my shaking legs from giving way. No other woman was ever able to do what she did to me.
After a few moments, she slowly pulled her fangs from my skin, placing a feather light kiss over the marks she created. She smiled lazily up at me as I wiped a stray blood drop from her mouth with my knuckle. Her tongue made quick work of it before she kissed me deeply.
"Go relax." She nodded toward the living room. "I'll finish up in here."
I simply nodded at my love, gave her one more kiss, and joined my little sister in the living room. Edie was sitting by the fire, a book in her lap. She looked up at me, arching an eyebrow.
"You two should really take that to your room. You're like a couple of teenagers."
I thought my eyes would pop out of my head.