Glade rests all day and dreams about how to find the girl again. He might be able to track her scent from the alley to her home. He'll be able to smell her on his coat if the scent there is too weak and he has to wander the city to find her again. He wakes at sunset to go find her. She wants to find him too because she needs to know that he's real and she hadn't imagined the whole thing. He can smell her scent but doesn't try to follow it yet, he remembers what happened, how scared she was. She sees him in the alley, and stays at a distance for now. He doesn't know she's there yet. He can smell her, but he thinks that it's the scent from the night before. She moves closer, slowly, and when she's close enough, he can hear her. He looks round, and she stops. She's scared because she knows what he is, and she knows how strong he is. He could kill her in seconds if he wanted to. He doesn't want her to be scared. He didn't mean to scare her like he did and it hurts his heart that he did. He stays still so he doesn't scare her more, and she steps forward. He moves back slowly as she moves forward so that she can see him under the street light. She moves close to look at him in the light and jumps back when he moves. "Why did you search for me tonight?"
"I had to know that I haven't imagined what happened."
"I am sorry for what happened. I would never have wanted to scare you."
"I think I understand. You need to do that to survive, but something went wrong this time. If that happened every time then people would know about it."
"You are different."
"I'm stubborn. I wanted you to do more."
"Yes."
"It's not your fault."
"If I had chosen any other. One of the hundred of that crowd-"
"It was an accident."
"Yes."
"I can't see fangs now."
"I have never had fangs."
"So why did I see them before?"
"You created details from your dreams."
"So it was all a dream?"
"Details were. Dark eyes, fangs, the forest clearing."
"But you are a vampire and you did attack me?"
"Yes, but I used a knife, not fangs."
"I just didn't see it?"
"You did not want to see it."
"And you didn't let me see it?" He smiles and looks down.
"It is a little more complicated than that. You saw what you had dreamed before, possibly with some new details, but you did not see things which were too unusual, like my blade."
"Can I see it now?" He takes the small knife out of his pocket, slowly so he doesn't scare her. It's just a small folded knife with a red wood handle and a steel blade. Not much different than any knife she could find. "My mate had this made for me about forty years ago."
"Would you be able to catch me if I fainted?"
"Yes." She's fainted before, and she can feel it now. The last thing she sees is him moving toward her. He holds her gently, like he would a baby, and listens carefully to her heart and breathing. There's something different in the sound of her heart, but doesn't know what it means. The only thing he can think of is that he takes her home, so he does. He walks in the shadows and the quiet places so people don't see them. People might panic if they saw him carrying a woman.
He puts her on the sofa and leaves her to wake up in her own time. He's never needed to know what to do with people who faint so he doesn't know if there's anything he needs to do for her. There's loads of vampires all over the world who would help him if he asked so he sits opposite her and relaxes into a state where he can listen to them. It takes a couple of minutes to hear them because he's so worried, but eventually he hear them. Some of them know what was going on so start talking before he asks. "Did you find her?" "How did she react?" "How did you react?" G: "She found me before I could find her scent." One in particular, Daw, takes over from the younger ones to talk to him. He knows her. She's the equivalent of his niece and a few decades older than him. "Did she run or did she trust you?" "She asked a few questions, and she fainted. I do not know how to care for her." "If she's cold, put a blanket over her and put something under her feet, possibly a rolled up blanket or a cushion." A younger one, more impatient with fragile humans interrupts. "Forget her, she's human. There's loads more where she came from." D: "Let me guess, new to this world." "Yeah but that doesn't make a difference, does it?" D: "You can't understand what a human can man to use when you're that young. Stay out of this." G: "Thank you." D: "Call an ambulance if she's not used to it." "She asked if I could catch her if it happened so I think that she is used to it." "Offer anyway along with some water." "Would water from a bottle be good for her?" "Yes, tap water would be fine but a lot of them prefer bottled water." "There is something else, I do not know what it means." "If I don't know there is likely to be someone who does." "There is a difference in her heart." He remembers what it sounded like so she can hear it too. "I don't know what that is." "Thank you." They both go back to the level where they can speak to others and he asks. Someone who knows tells him that it's not something which would be a problem for her and to treat her the same as Daw told him.
She hasn't woken up yet, so he finds a blanket to put under her feet and waits. When her heart starts to speed up again he gets some water for her. "Do you need an ambulance?"
"No, I'll be fine."
"Your heart murmur confused me."
"I don't have a heart murmur."
"I can hear it."
"I've been to doctors before and they've never told me I had one." He sits down and shuts his eyes for a minute. "What are you doing?"
"Talking."
"But there's nobody here."
"When we rest, our minds can go to a place where we are linked."
"Like telepathy?"
"Yes." He listens to other vampires now and she watches. He's so still that he would look dead if he wasn't breathing. "Does anyone know if a heart murmur can disappear at times?" "Yes. Sometimes it will only appear when they are stressed. It would disappear once they calm down so a doctor might not hear it. It sometimes causes fainting." "That might be why she fainted earlier." "Poor thing probably just got too stressed." "Thank you." "Any time." He opens his eyes again and listens to her heart. The stranger was right, it's gone now that she's calmer.
"It is nothing to worry about most times. It appears when you are stressed and is likely the cause of your faint."
"Makes sense. I always fainted when I was scared but the doctor never figured out why." She looks round, and sees pictures all over the walls. Some photographs, some sketches, some paintings. "No windows?"
"Stereotypical vampire traits do sometimes apply."
"What?"
"Sun light burns me."
"Oh, right." She gets up and wanders around, looking at the pictures. A lot of them are night time animals. "Why so many rat pictures?"
"They're friendly to us."
"Yuck."
"They are nice animals when you stop worrying about their tails."
"Don't they eat rotting bodies?"
"Certainly not. They much prefer corn to rotting meat."
"And they don't live in the sewers?"
"They do, but they avoid the dirty water where possible. They only live there because it is safe from poisoning by humans, hunting by fox and owl, and food is washed down from the streets. They hate the smell as much as humans do."
"Oh. That makes sense. Are all creatures friendly?"
"Not all. Predators do not like to hunt near us. We are a stronger hunter after all."
"I guess. But why have you got pictures of foxes, aren't they hunters?"
"They are scavengers. They are friendly, but prefer to not nest or hunt near our homes." Some of the photographs look very old. Glade is watching where she is and comments on the pictures she's looking at. "That is Raine, my mate, you might call her my wife."
"How old is this picture?"
"The year is on the back." She takes the pin off, but it looks like it breaks.
"I have steel plates inside the walls so I do not need to use pins."
"Good idea." The year on the back is 1932. "That's impossible. You look nearly the same."
"We age to our best, no further." She puts the picture back and picks up another one. This one has 1975 written on the back. The girl looks older, but he doesn't. The pictures all seem to be night time or in shadows. "How'd you two meet?"
"I needed somewhere to hide from the rising sun. Her family's barn was the only place I could see where I would be safe. I saw her when she came in to milk the cow. You would call it love at first sight. That is always how it is with us when we find our mate."
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"I am sure you would not use it against me so there is no reason to not answer."
"Why aren't you living with her?"
"Her territorial instincts are too strong. When she has had enough of cities we may move to a small island. She would not be so aggressive when it is almost impossible for another to steal away our territory."
"It's getting late. I should go." He gets up and shows her a small stack of cards by the phone.
"I have one with my address on it there. Call whichever one you like." She calls the one on the top of the pile and reads out the address, then sits and waits. Glade sneaks some money into her coat pocket so he knows she will have enough to get home. "Can I meet you again?"
"Yes. Of course you can."
"Tomorrow night?"
"If you wish."
"The same club I first met you?"
"I will be there at 10."
"I'll be there."
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