Flesh
Chapter Ten
Real/Fake Love
Part 7
At every window and door she could see a shadowy figure. Éclair didn't know how she knew but she could tell that every single body in here carried the curse of the vampire—aside from herself. She glanced back to Viola who stood between her and Lumière. The small pink haired girl glared around her as if the vampires were disgusting maggots which needed a good squishing. Éclair smiled a little and looked up to her partner. Lumière had her back to her and her arms twitched at her sides. She sensed the woman readying to battle.
With a sigh and a nod the werewolf clenched her fists and turned back to the vampires. “I won't let any of you hurt my friends. I don't care how many there are of you.”
Her own words surprised her. She felt a flood of confidence where there never had been. Her muscles tightened, her vision became acute and her ears picked up every little nuance. A sense of de ja vu washed over her and even though she couldn't explain, she knew these vampires were no match for her and Lumière. Headlights washed through the dusty windows of the abandoned warehouse and acted like the ringing of a bell at a boxing match. Two vampires leaped at her. Behind her she sensed three more going for Lumière and Viola.
Amazingly the movements of the vampires in front of her slowed. She felt a rush of power to her limbs and without bothering to mull over the details she ran forward the caught the two vampires in the stomach with her fists. In a grotesque motion she felt ribs crunch under her knuckles and watched the bodies change direction mid air. Éclair stared wide-eyed at the display of her own power. As the vampires hit the floor she turned and saw a woman heading towards the pink haired girl with a sledge hammer. Again the actions appeared slow and Éclair caught the vampire with her shoulder.
The woman shrieked as she was tossed back against three of her cohorts. Almost at once the rest of the vampires stopped moving. Éclair looked to Lumière who just let go of the leg of a guy who had attacked her. He started taking swings at the guy next to him who tried desperately to dodge. The light blue haired girl turned and peered at the damage her partner had done in such a short amount of time. She almost seemed impressed. Her eyes locked with Éclair's in a questioning manner.
“That was so awesome! You're like Superman! Only better!” Viola's shrieking made the teenager wince. She watched Lumière's lips turn into a slight smile. Éclair wanted to join in the feeling, but she still hadn't changed into a werewolf. If she didn't, she wouldn't be strong enough to take them on.
Several feet away a young man began running towards them. Éclair instinctively stepped forward and readied herself. However, before he could get too far another man wearing a cloak grabbed him around his waist and held him. He threw the boy back into the crowd and stepped forward.
“We're going. Now!”
His orders confused Éclair and caused a stir in the gang of vampires. Shouts of protest and anger filled the large space.
“What! They're only three! I vote we stay and kill!”
“You're stupid man!”
“I want to drink that woman's blood as she watches her beast lover die!”
The cloaked man—who would not look at Lumière, Viola, or herself—shook his head and held up his hands. The shouts didn't die right away and lingered on as he talked. “This is not worth the hassle. These three will die by another's hand in the future. They will not die now. Let us leave while we are still able to and leave this detestable job to a more worthy foe.”
Éclair frowned as she stared at the man. He refused to meet her eye and soon turned to walk back through the crowd. She felt half tempted to tackle him down and ask him what he meant. Several vampires around her dropped their guards and also followed the man. Several more stubborn vampires tried to raise objections to the cloaked man as he walked by them. He appeared not to hear them and continued out the door. They either gave up or felt they could not fight without him and within moments the entire gang disappeared from the warehouse.
Since her senses were still running high, the redhead made a last sweep of the empty building and then returned to Lumière and Viola. The latter climbed up on a table while the former had her arms crossed over her chest and looked deep in thought. Éclair guessed she was thinking about what the cloaked vampire had said. She opened her mouth to ask what the woman thought and was abruptly cut off by the pink haired girl.
“Those guys're just jerks. Cessy says vampires in this city are stupid and only think with their teeth.” Viola stuck her tongue out towards the door and then suddenly reached over to give Lumière a hug. The small vampire tilted off balance from the weight and impact but managed to stay upright by holding onto the table. “I'm so glad you made it! I was gonna try heading North again tonight if you hadn't come, but those idiots had ta ruin everything.”
Lumière smiled and then ran a hand through Viola's hair. “I'm just happy you're safe.”
The little girl instantly became a cat and leaned against Lumière's hand. Éclair smiled as well since she was feeling a little better now that her adrenaline had gone down and they were alone and safe. The redhead leaned back against a nearby table and let out a breath. She didn't know what would have happened if those vampires hadn't left. Would they really have been able to fend them off? Was that cloaked guy simply full of hot air?
“So who's that?”
Éclair lifted her head to see Viola's hardened blue eyes on her. A wave of jealousy formed from the little girl and crashed into the teenager in that moment. In battle Viola had been more than happy to be by Éclair's side, but now it was a different story.
Lumière cleared her throat and steered the attention from the werewolf to herself. “That is my partner. Her name is Éclair and I hope you accept her as you have accepted me.” The small vampire smiled at Éclair and added. “Éclair, this is Viola.”
For the moment anyways, Éclair had no intention of attempting to make friends with the pink haired nugget. If the girl wanted friendship, she would have to make the first move. After all, just a moment ago the teenager was willing to put her life down for the brat and she hadn't even said so much as a thank you.
“Your partner?”
The light blue haired woman nodded. “My partner.”
Viola stared at Éclair as if sizing her up. The redhead shifted under the scrutiny and resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. This little pint-sized pipsqueek sure did have some nerve. And as if things couldn't get any worse the glass shattered above them. As Éclair turned to see what happened, a bottle smashed to floor and flame spread all around it.
“Shit!” The werewolf quickly grabbed up Viola—not surprising hearing no objection—and followed Lumière out the door as a rain of bottles came in through various windows. Outside several vampires watched and laughed as the three ran from the burning building. They continued to throw the flaming bottles at them as they ran. Éclair followed her partner through the empty warehouse district and finally into a nearby forest. The two ran for two or three miles until finally the small vampire stopped on the banks of a river.
Éclair looked back over her shoulder and scanned the forest. “Think we lost them?”
“Yes. They had no intention of following. This isn't their territory.”
A rumbling took the redhead's attention to a nearby railroad where a train rolled slowly on. She felt a pinch on her butt and yelped, dropping the girl over her shoulder. Viola hit the ground with a tumble and eventually landed in a sitting position. She laughed loudly and grinned up at Éclair.
“You're pretty squishy!”
A tinge of pink crossed over her cheeks and she considered her options. At this level it would be more than easy to kick the girl. She wondered if Lumière being mad at her made the action worth it. It seemed likely that the vampire wouldn't stay mad at her forever and Éclair's foot tingled at the thought.
“Viola, why were you attacked?” Lumière knelt down in front of the girl blocking Éclair's foot path. She took a breath and stepped back. The train finished passing by and left nothing but the sounds of the river as it passed by and the humming of cars in the distance. This girl is Lumière's friend, she thought, and it was nothing but luck that they arrived when they did. If Viola had been killed she had the feeling that this would sadden the small vampire a great deal.
The pink haired girl crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. “They don't like people on their territory I'm supposing.”
Lumière smiled and shook her head. “Not them. You and Cesario. Why were you attacked?” Her partner quickly added, “And who did it?” Éclair wondered briefly if the vampire could not read this small girl's mind, but then remembered that the girl seemed genuinely shocked she could not read Éclair's mind. Then it hit the teenager: Lumière was putting on a show for Viola probably because the girl didn't know she could read minds.
“I dunno. They're probably like all the others who try to hurt Cessy and me.” Viola made a face and then got to her feet. “We gotta go find him. He's gotta be in the city somewhere. Those two couldn't kill Cessy even if they were like Superman over here.” She nodded to Éclair.
Éclair raised an eyebrow and then pursed her lips. “Do you know where he is?”
She watched the girl roll her eyes and move to Lumière. “If I knew that then I wouldn't need Lumi now would I? You're not very smart.”
Lumière stood up and put her hands on Viola's shoulders. She seemed to unconsciously or consciously step in the way whenever Éclair felt like knocking some sense into the girl. She didn't know whether or not to be thankful for this.
“Viola. You know I can tell. Please tell me, what happened since I left you and Cesario?”
Viola put her hands in her pockets and then took them back out again. It was during this action that Éclair noticed she had gloves on her hands. The gloves reminded her that Lumière also wore gloves whenever she and Éclair were not alone. Several questions pushed their way to the front of her mind and crowded in with several others. But now was not the time. So she tried to distract herself by keeping an eye on the forest while the two talked.
“Lotsa stuff happened. You left and we went to America. Cessy opened up a book store and we've been living in New York for a while now.”
There came a pause during which Éclair watched Lumière's head drop and then slowly lift again. Her eyes returned to a state of sadness the werewolf had seen before. It made her heart twist inside her chest. She wanted to go hug the woman but refrained. The moment still felt too tense.
“But you weren't a vampire when I left you.”
The ah-ha moment hit her quickly. She sensed something awry with the girl but she couldn't put her finger on it. She assumed Viola a human based on what Lumière had said about her and the girl's father. But with every day since Éclair had been bitten, she realized she could distinguish more and more between humans, vampires, and perhaps even werewolves without looking twice. Smells played a big part.
“No,” began Viola. The slowness in her response made it seem like she didn't want to explain this, but it was likely that Éclair already read her mind. “It was a few years ago. I was walking home from school and a vampire took me. I don't remember much, but when I awoke Cessy already had me home and had covered the windows to my room.”
Éclair felt sorry for the girl. Only a few weeks ago did she find herself in the same position. The memory of waking up in the park made her throat constrict tightly. Even though she was already outside the teenager suddenly wanted more space and proceeded to walk away from the other two. She hadn't thought about it since she found Lumière.
All the mystery of why and who. Was it just some random attack? Was there nothing more to her change than like what happened with Viola? And what about the claim that Lumière and her had spent multiple lives together? Then there still remained the issue of her parents. Why couldn't she just continue to remain a normal girl? It all made sense why she'd been feeling down. Not only was the worry of her parents stressing her but with everything else piled on the weight felt overbearing and unrelenting.
She clenched her fists and stared without really looking at the waves of the river. How was it possible she kept on this long? Even if she had been turned into a werewolf she still wasn't able to access her powers. She wanted to know so many things and figure this all out. But a part of her also wanted to remain ignorant. If she could just continue on through life and resume being unaware of all this stuff she felt she could be happy. Why did she have to drag so many others into it?
Even if Lumière and her were partners, even if she loved the woman, was it still right to be with her? A drop fell on her chin and took her away from her thoughts a moment. She looked up to the skies—which were clear as clear could be in such a smoggy city—and then realized she had bit down on her lip. The coppery taste seeped over her tongue and down around her gums. Lumière had drank from her, had said she tasted good. What was so good about this?
“Are you coming Éclair?”
The voice startled her and she quickly wiped the blood off her chin with the back of her hand. As she turned she licked her lips and did her best to hide the bottom on under her top lip. She moved towards Viola and her partner with a questioning glance.
Lumière's eyes quickly darted at Éclair's lips. If the small vampire did notice the blood she did not say anything. She looked away and instead replied, “Back to the hotel for now. Our best option for the moment is to wait for a message from Cesario. I'm sure he'll try to contact Viola in some fashion or another.”
Éclair did not respond. She nodded and lead them to the road. One cab ride with a stop to pick up new clothing for Viola later had them back in the hotel room. Inside the werewolf plopped down on the bed and turned the television on. The distractions proved to temporarily dissolve the apprehension and tension building up inside of her. Even if she knew she'd get sucked in deeper and deeper.
Over the sound of the television she heard Lumière asking Viola to clean up. The pink haired girl responded with more enthusiasm than Éclair really wanted to hear at the moment and ran into the bathroom stripping on the way. Lumière had to go behind her and close the door. Éclair continued staring at the television though not hearing or seeing any of what was on it.
She felt the bed shift from a weight that came down next to her. A cool hand rested over the top of hers. The action, however simple, felt soothing and with it came more reassurance than the teenager had ever known in her life. It came so much like a flood that it worried her. Her eyes stayed glued to the television and she kept her hand still and calm.
“Come with me please?”
The question seized enough of her attention and curiosity to make her look away from the television and towards Lumière. She looked back and forth between the woman's red eyes as if searching for a clue. What reason did she have to say no? With a short nod the teenager rose from the bed, leaving the television on, and waited for the vampire to lead. She followed her partner out of the room and down the hall. Lumière led her to a stairwell on the other side of the hotel. The small vampire checked up and down the stairs and then sat down. At that point Éclair felt a sort of anxiousness coming from the other woman.
“I don't even know where to begin.” Usually the woman talked in a calm and direct tone, but now her voice cracked a little and the words came out rushed.
Eclair's ambivalence swept away and became replaced with worry. The werewolf knelt down in front of her partner and stared at her with furrowed brows. “Just start with the guy in the cloak.” She wanted to know that most importantly. His words still echoed in her mind.
Lumière lifted her head and her eyes widened a little. The girl smiled and took Éclair's hands in her own. “Of course it wouldn't get past you. I'm sorry for thinking like that.” She cleared her throat and continued, “I read his mind. He has a gift for sensing power, specifically the amount of power. Even with his group of vampires he knew he was no match. He puts the safety of his coven above all else. That's why he left us.”
In the space she left, the teenager added, “Because you're able to read minds and control people.” She squeezed her partner's hands and put on a little smile that she didn't support.
“No,” came the quick reply. Éclair leaned back and let flow an air of skepticism. The smaller woman fidgeted but kept her eyes locked firmly on her partner's. “He sensed something powerful in you as well, Éclair. The way you knocked those vampires back, your quickness. I've never seen werewolves do that in their human forms. Do your hands hurt?” Lumière dropped her eyes to the teenager's hands at the last question. She rubbed her thumbs carefully over the tops of her hands.
“Actually... no. I didn't feel any pain.” Éclair couldn't help the pride swelling in her chest. It bumped against the fear and made for an odd mixture.
` The vampire smiled softly and lifted her eyes, resting them on the redhead's lower lip. She frowned. “You did get hurt.”
Embarrassed, Éclair covered the lower lip with her tongue and looked away. “Ah, yeah, um, that was my fault.” She felt her cheeks blush and shyly turned her eyes back to the other woman. “Continue.”
Lumière stared another few moments before resuming. “But yes, he sensed our power and decided not to test fate.”
“What about the stuff about us getting killed?”
“Lies. He wanted to reassure his coven. They needed a reason to leave and if they were certain we would die they were more likely to go. Obviously there were skeptics.”
Éclair snorted. “Obviously.” The comfort that settled between the two seemed hard to miss, at least, according to Éclair. It didn't feel like they were talking about matters of life and death and powerful beings at all.
“His main reason for being there was Viola.”
“Why?”
“That's another problem.” Lumière looked away at nothing in particular. Her face filled with a torrent of emotions, but so subtle were they that Éclair wondered if she was imagining them. “Viola was a human. When I knew her she was full human. Now... now she's vampire.”
The teenager sat on her heels and ran her tongue over the wound on her lip. “With a werewolf father. That's gotta be one fun family.”
“She's also a werewolf.”
It seemed to Éclair that the statement held a meaning far greater than her own comprehension. The moment she found out she had gotten the curse of the werewolf came as a greater shock than what Lumière just said. Nevertheless, the girl in front of her looked as if she'd just seen a ghost. And the words hung in the air weighting down the earlier lightness of the conversation.
Éclair shook her head. “What does that mean?”
“It means,” Lumière replied, “that she is half werewolf and half vampire. It means that she has bridged a gap that was previously thought could never happen. I have never come across this in my years of study. She could be the first one.”
“But how did it happen? And if you thought it could never happen, I mean, how do you know it couldn't happen? Clearly it did...”
With a small unneeded breath the vampire explained, “There have been tests to try to make this happen. Various vampires have kept thorough records throughout the years and there are a group of vampires who do these sorts of tests... mostly against werewolves.” Her guilty eyes darted back and forth along the floor until she raised them and said, “But you have to understand that werewolves were originally a slave to vampires. They... we never felt guilty because to us, werewolves were just another animal—like humans.”
The information swirled around in Éclair's head and she had trouble keeping most of it straight. However, the last sentence did catch her attention. And it was apparent that Lumière wanted her to know because she ceased talking after it.
“You... experimented... ?”
No sound came from the smaller woman. Only a small nod followed by the girl pulling her hands back to herself. Her eyes, which had turned sad during the confession, took on a coolness and detachment. “Two others and myself picked up where some had left off. We thought if we knew more about the werewolves we could then know more about the magic used on them, and thus know about the magic used on us. Éclair, please don't ask about what I did. There really isn't any use for that information now—other than I do know that we were never able to successfully merge a vampire with a werewolf and vice versa.”
Even if Éclair wanted to know, she felt that this was not the right time to press further. She rubbed her hands on her thighs and dipped her head down. “So Viola is... different?”
“Yes. You see, I knew she was human. Cesario had lied about becoming a werewolf after her birth. I read his mind from the moment I met him. He impregnated his wife—also a werewolf—and the woman died giving birth to Viola. Now, it is rare, but it does happen where a werewolf can give birth to a human. The reason isn't known why, but I suspect that human is a recessive trait.” Lumière paused to study her partner's face. Éclair encouraged her to continue. “In any event, he had a completely human daughter the last time I knew them. When I read her mind back there, I saw the memories she suppressed. And I also saw that she had begun to segue into her werewolf self at around the same time—though she did not know that. The vampire who changed her did not have keen senses. He had no idea she was no longer wholly human. And if my scientific theory had proven, Viola ought to have died the moment he drained her. He should have died as well.”
Éclair watched her partner as she talked. The girl became more and more detached the longer she spoke. Her fiery red eyes were dull and her body looked stiff. She wondered why this girl made herself so hard to read. She wondered why she had this overwhelming urge to take her in her arms and kiss her and hold her and tell her she loved her. Lumière said it herself: she was a demon. But Éclair had not found the fact shocking, nor had it deterred her. And why did it hurt so much to even think about separating herself from this vampire? If that twin had been telling the truth, if she really did know them in a previous life, were they lovers then?
“But neither died. I'm assuming he did when Cesario found him. He's always been very protective of his daughter. Viola reminds him of his wife.” Lumière's eyes lifted to look at Éclair and the teenager swore she saw a tint of shyness. “And so the only reason I can think that this worked was because of Viola's slow change to werewolf. The vampire blood must have mutated with it. I'm not sure.”
“And her being both is bad? That's why they wanted to kill her?” Éclair remembered the cloaked man and her blood ran hot. Even if the pink haired brat was annoying that was no reason to kill her.
“He wanted to drink her blood. He and the others assumed she must be super strong to have both vampire and werewolf blood inside her. And if they know, then there is no doubt in my mind that many others know. She'll become the most hunted and sought after prize of vampires. And she'll become hunted to be killed by werewolves who will find her sort an abomination.”
The redhead let out a small laugh causing Lumière to furrow her brows. “Sorry,” Éclair started, “I guess it just seems like my problems are nothing compared to this. Even though I know it's not funny.” Her sudden outburst came as a result from the need to release the worry. She knew that. But even if it helped, it only helped a little. She still felt tense. And now she felt worried about Viola.
Lumière hesitated and then reached out and took her partner's hands in her own. She pulled on the taller woman until their foreheads were touching. “Even if it is rather inelegant, then I am no better for what I'm about to ask.” After closing her eyes and then reopening to a pair of blazing rubies that made Éclair's heart race, Lumière said, “I've been able to smell the blood from your lip since you bit it open. I don't know how much longer I can hold on. I need to feed—if... if not from you, then someone.”
Inappropriate aptly described the moment. However, the closeness of her partner, the way her forehead felt soothing against her own, and the scent compounding in her mouth made Éclair forget about everything. Everything except her desire and jealousy at the last statement. She let go of Lumière's hands and slid them around her waist.
“Drink from me,” she stated. “And no one else.”
The small vampire had no objection and took Éclair's lips into a blazing kiss. Her lower lip quivered as she felt the other girl's tongue against it. She pulled Lumière up from the stairs and pressed her against the wall while they kissed. Their bodies melded together in a slow, grinding rhythm. But her arms felt trapped against the wall. She pulled the two of them away just long enough to free them and her hands immediately went to the woman's hips and buttocks. Lumière did not like being pulled away and backed them up against the wall.
Like earlier, when she found out after the run that she wasn't out of breath, now too she felt she could kiss the woman in her arms until the sun rose. The taste danced across her tongue and all around her mouth. Her body shivered and jumped at the contact. Eventually, though, the kiss had to be broken. It was Lumière who made the first pull away—though she did not object to Éclair following. They touched noses and proceeded to share light kisses.
Soon the vampire in her arms made her tongue around Éclair's jaw and chin, up to her cheeks and towards her ears. She felt the vampire everywhere but her neck. It was as if the woman wanted to control her desires instead of her desires controlling her. Éclair needed nothing of that. She forcefully bared her neck for Lumière and closed her eyes for the sweet anticipation.
The memory came as a snapshot. The piercing of the fangs, the lips wrapped around the wounds and drawing her blood. It had been such an intense experience and coupled with the orgasm, apparently made her delirious and fulfilled to the point that she forgot exactly what pushed her over. A hand came over the top of hers and pulled it away from Lumière's hip. She turned her head slightly, obviously confused since she was ready for the woman to feed.
Lumière pressed her lips against the redhead's jaw and pulled them up to her ear without putting a space of air between her skin and her mouth. She felt warm inside her ear from the whisper. Éclair couldn't form words so she nodded. The hand on her own guided it to the other woman's stomach and then down the front of her pants which she idly wondered had been undone. She took over once she felt the damp skin under her fingers. As she rubbed gently she felt Lumière's lips on her neck. They kissed a spot and then the woman's tongue swirled the spot.
Teeth, tongue, lips, sucking, kissing, teasing—the more she felt on her neck, the more she increased the ministrations of her hand. When she felt Lumière's moan vibrating gently against her neck Éclair almost came herself. Finally the vampire teased no more and sunk her teeth in. She couldn't deny the initial pain. Sharp objects piercing into flesh is certainly no picnic. But the pain became replaced with lips and tongue. Something made the pain go away and all the werewolf could concentrate on was her hand and how turned on she was becoming.
She rubbed between Lumière's legs with more passion and speed now. An overwhelming desire to bring the woman off while she was feeding grew with each passing second. And finally when the vampire did orgasm, the deep moan against the bite on Éclair's neck sent shock waves down the teenager's body, right to her toes. At the orgasm, Lumière ceased her feeding. Her head lay limply against the other woman's shoulder while her body remained somewhere between limp and barely active.
Éclair breathed heavily. She had not gotten off but it sure felt like she had. She pulled her hand out of Lumière's pants and redid the buttons for her. Then she half carried to the girl back to the stairs where she sat down with her. Even in the crummy stairwell lighting Lumière looked absolutely radiant and beautiful to Éclair. Especially now since her skin took on a healthy flush and her lips were stained red. Unable to resist the urge, Éclair kissed her, long, gentle, and lovingly. The vampire lightly touched the wound on her partner's neck.
After the kiss Lumière spoke, “I'm sorry. I'm not usually like this... when it concerns feeding. I don't normally...”
The werewolf touched the other girl's lips with her thumb and smiled. “You don't need to apologize.”
They kissed again and then Lumière curled up against Éclair the best she could in spite of the uncomfortable stairs.
“Lumière... I'm scared. I'm scared for my parents... I'm scared for Viola. I'm scared for you, me, and even us. I just don't know anything.”
She felt a sigh from the woman in her arms. “Things do seem to be moving at an awful fast pace. I wish I knew what Tweedledee knows.”
Éclair felt mildly annoyed at having that woman brought up. She did her best to ignore the feeling, because hey, she was the one with Lumière in her arms. The redhead took a deep breath and kissed the top of her partner's head. “I want to see my parents. But I also want to protect Viola. What do we do?”
At that point the door to the stairwell opened. There stood the pink haired girl in a pair of new pajamas bought earlier that night. She held a stuffed dragon—something that must have been hers since Éclair didn't remember buying it.
“Protect me from what?”
Instead of extracting herself from Éclair's embrace (something she honestly expected to happen), Lumière simply shifted so that she was facing Viola. She smiled sadly at the girl. “From the people who want to hurt you.”
Viola became quiet for the first time since Éclair met her. She stared at the floor and hugged her dragon. “I want to see Cessy.” Éclair stared at her. If Lumière was right, her parents were already dead... they could wait a little longer before they got to see her.
She let go of Lumière and reached out for the pink haired girl who surprisingly walked into the embrace. Éclair hugged her tightly. “We'll go find him, then. And we'll protect you.”