The Ranger

  Myla decided that waiting in silence felt wrong. She sat in one of the easy chairs and flipped through channels on her TV restlessly, looking for something to keep her mind off the vampire in her shower. Of the foggy reflection in the mirror. Of porcelain skin turned pink under hot water, of a smile turned up into the stream from the faucet, of stolen glimpses of her… this wasn't working. She found a music channel and started scrolling through her feed instead.

  She couldn't think about her like that, not with how things were. If Myla took her at her word, which after looking at the boxes of ammunition in her bag and seeing the manufacturing dates she was actually inclined to do, then it wouldn't be right. She was lost, displaced in time, had no one to help her, no money to help herself, not even a place to stay at night without relying on the kindness of a stranger she might literally tonight. It would be wrong to try anything with such a vulnerable girl.

  A girl who had casually overpowered her with one hand. Who she now suspected might have killed a poacher out in the exclusion zone. That hadn't been hard to put together, especially when she saw that smile evaporate when Kasia said it must be dangerous. She doubted Kasia had a choice, the guy probably tried to kill her like they did everything out there, but it was a reminder that she wasn't a helpless girl even if she needed help. She chewed on her bottom lip. No, she also wasn't a girl if she was over a hundred.

  She certainly didn't act like just a girl when she flirted and smiled and when she turned under that water… she heard the shower cut off. Already? She wasn't ready, she still hadn't gotten her head straight. The bathroom door opened and she turned to look back at her. She was wearing the old band shirt she had left her, some goth punk group she had gone to see in a dive bar called All the Same in Death. It only fell halfway down her thighs, not as far as she had hoped it would.

  Kasia looked amused, “So did you just like looking at my legs that much or…?” She laughed, “Yeah, I uh… picked the biggest shirt I owned.” Kasia nodded with the ghost of a smile on her face. There was a long pause before they both started to speak, “Hey so look-” “I was thinking-”. They stopped and laughed, Kasia gestured to her, “Go ahead, please.” Myla felt her heart rate pickup, “So I was thinking. You said you're hungry and… well I don't exactly have bags of blood in my fridge. But um… well if it's safe and if you can make sure not to drink too much…” Kasia was so still she seemed to stop breathing.

  Maybe she did, vampires didn't need to breathe right? Was it a reflex or just so she could talk? Finally she answered, “I don't know if that's a good idea.” Myla frowned, “So it is dangerous?” The vampire hesitated then shook her head, “Not… not exactly no. It's not like I have a deadly venom or anything like that. Some vampires do, but it all depends on the type.” Myla nodded slowly, “Alright. Then why not? What kind of vampire are you?” Kasia breathed out slowly, “The kind that might be more dangerous for you. Not to people in general but… look.”

  Kasia carefully sat on the arm of the couch facing Myla, smoothing the shirt under her and keeping her knees pointed away like she was wearing a particularly short skirt. “I'll tell you what kind I am and you can decide after that what you want to do.” Myla sat forward and clasped her hands in front of her to stop them from fidgeting, “That sounds fair. So explain.” Kasia studied her face then slowly breathed in and out, “There's a lot of different breeds of vampire and most have different origins from each other. I'm from one that shares ties to a few other kinds of vampire.”

  She gestured at herself, “We have a common lineage that's traced back to Lilith and Caine. I'm sure you know the myths, so in short some of the monsters they made were vampire bloodlines. They experimented and got a few different kinds out of it. Making another of my kind is simple but nothing a changeling needs to worry about, the fae in your blood means you can't be turned by me. But I'm one of the more… well I guess you could say a more human kind of vampire.” She pushed loose strands of hair behind an ear. She had noticed the vampire seemed to be uncomfortable with something.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Was she trying to delay telling her something? Kasia kept explaining, “I breathe even though I don't need to, and my heart beats when I'm awake. But it does so very slowly and it stops when I sleep. I can eat and drink despite it doing nothing for me. I won't tell you what I have to do to get rid of food I eat though, it's gross. I'm strong, fast, and tough but I didn't get any of the fun tricks like shapeshifting or turning to mist. But I'm also harder to actually hurt, faith doesn't bother me, the sun doesn't burn me so long as I'm well fed.” She was avoiding something, but Myla didn't interrupt, “Stakes don't kill me but if you drive one into my heart… well that's actually what kept me unconscious for the last century.”

  Kasia was playing with her hair, “Fire only burns me like it burns everyone else, it does stop my supernatural healing though and can kill me. And my bite doesn't hurt. It does at first, but I have a kind of venom that… makes it feel good.” Myla blinked and sat back. That was a lot of information to parse, especially at six in the morning, but Kasia didn't rush her. Finally she nodded, “If your bite feels good and if it's not addictive or deadly, then what is your concern for me feeding you exactly?”

  Kasia slipped off the arm of the couch and slowly walked over to her, “It's not directly addictive, but it's how it feels that people can get… attached to. I think it was made to make us like shepards, so we didn't need to kill to survive and could gather people willing to let us feed long term. Though because we're so human, it had an unintended side effect of us finding enjoyment in feeding, outside just not being hungry, because of how it affects the things we bite.” She slowly reached out and touched Myla's arm, a shiver running up her spine. She was eye level with the short vampire and met her gaze, “You didn't answer the question.”

  The Vampire

  Kasia shivered at the intense focus in those eyes. She had stepped out of the shower with every intention of telling this woman to go to bed, to sleep on the couch till tomorrow and walk away when she got up. To find somewhere else to stay tomorrow. She didn't want to be the predator she had been acting like. And then she had been offered exactly what she wanted. She wanted Myla to tell her no. To tell her to go. To walk away too. But she also didn't want to feel alone. She didn't want to be alone. So she had done what she should have done before coming inside.

  Told Myla everything and let her decide. And that look wasn't helping. It made her think Myla wanted this too. “It’s addictive in the same way the touch of a lover is.” She slowly drew her fingers up a well muscled arm, “Addictive as their warmth pressed against you. Addictive as their lips on yours, as the taste of them lingering on your tongue. It's as addictive as hearing them say your name breathlessly in the dark of the night. It doesn't take you body, mind, and soul as opium or morphine does. But you'll want it in all the ways you crave a woman in your bed.”

  Myla was breathing faster, she could hear how her heart raced now, “You… did you… did you leave the shower curtain…” Kasia took her hand away and didn't hide her guilty look, “Sorry. I shouldn't have done that, it wasn't fair to you. Stars, what am I doing right now?” She started looking for her things, “I-I should go, coming in here when you didn't know wasn't fair, I shouldn't have touched your arm, left the curtain open, shouldn't have-” She was cut off by a hand grabbing her arm, “Wait! Wait. Please. Just… just tell me one thing.”

  Kasia's own heart was beating now, faster than it had… since Malcolm. She did stop though, waiting without turning around. She heard Myla take a steadying breath before she let go and sat again, “Did… you don't have the power to actually affect my emotions right? You didn't say you did.” Kasia turned and looked at her, willing herself still despite the desperate beat of her heart. Should she tell the truth? No. At least not all of it, “I can smell them and my bite gives pleasure. But I can't change your opinion of me or make you attracted to me.”

  Myla met her eye and slowly nodded, “So… this is all me then? How I'm feeling?” Kasia nodded, “Whatever you're feeling is you.” Myla breathed out slowly, “Ok. Did you… was it all to get me to let you feed on me?” Kasia shook her head and spoke hesitantly, “N-no I… I just… I just find you very attractive.” She smiled at the butterflies in her stomach, “Stars above, listen to me talk like some virgin with her first boy. I've had women willing to flirt before that were just having fun and weren't actually sapphic. I wanted to find out if you were attracted to women for certain so… well I thought if I let you peek after all that flirting that it would tell me if you were.”

  She could feel herself blush, “Without having to have an awkward conversation. Kind of like this come to think of it. I may have wasted some effort huh?” Myla didn't answer for a moment before speaking in a husky tone, “Maybe… not completely wasted. I… if you… if it's safe. And if you can control how much you take. Then it's not different from donating blood right?” Kasia slowly turned around and met her eyes. She slipped nearer, “It's very different from donating blood. You don't feel the way I make you feel when you give blood. And your nurse wears more clothes during it than I do.”

  Myla suddenly looked uncertain, “Y-you don't have to do anything l-like that. Unless you want to. Because I'm not saying no if you want to. But you don't need to, if you just want to, like, bite my wrist o-or-” Kasia slowly climbed onto the chair with her, straddling her and letting the shirt ride up as it would, “I think we've done enough talking tonight Myla. Either say no and leave me on the couch or just kiss me.” At least she didn't need to say it twice.