IZEL

Who knew vampires could be so... considerate?

I hesitated to take his hand, but Jaeger was my teammate. He had saved me and he wanted to help me. The faster I recovered, the faster we get where we needed to and the faster we could finish the task and I could go back home. I had to ignore my body's annoying quirk of tingling when I was too close to him, a vampire.

We didn't enter a small cabin this time, instead, we entered a proper house. It was still small, but not as small as the cabin.

"I have a question," I started as Jaeger helped me to the couch. "It's about that Quearus."

"What about it?" He asked as he puffed up a cushion for me and put it behind my back. What was he doing?

"I, umm, how did the Quearus find us so fast if it—"

"It didn't deliver the message," Jaeger cut me off, knowing what I was going to ask. "It couldn't get to the Zvade and back to us in one day like that, meaning it didn't go to the Zvade in the first place."

"How long does it take to get to the Zvade from here?"

"For a vampire? About a week. For a human. Longer."

"It'll take us more than a week?!"

"Much more than a week."

"On foot though, what if we drove?"

"That's too loud, how many vampires do you want to keep on fighting?" He asked.

I guess that made sense. Jaeger suddenly brought an aid kit and handed it to me.

"Where'd you find this?" I asked him.

He shrugged but said, "there should be some bandage wraps you can tie around your ankle if you want."

"I probably should," I agreed, taking out a bandage wrap and tying it around my ankle. I was thirsty by the time I was done. I wasn't any good at aiding myself and had to start again every time I messed up. I stood, intending to go get water, but before I even took a step Jaeger was before me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I want water," I told him, "do you think there's drinkable running water?"

"Sit down, I'll check."

I looked at him surprised for some time, was he really going to get me water? He placed his hands on both my shoulders, sending shocks down my arm, and set me back down onto the couch.

Jaeger left and came back from the kitchen with a glass of water, which he handed to me.

"You didn't spit in this did you?" I asked, cautiously taking the glass and bringing it to my mouth.

"I'll tell you after you drink it," he told me.

I glared at him, "I'm no longer thirsty."

"Of course, I didn't spit in it!" He chuckled, "have you spat in someone's drink before that you're worried about something like that?"

"Maybe," I mumbled.

As soon as I finished my glass of water, I was planning on putting it on the coffee table near me like a rational person would, but me being me, I decided I was thirsty again. I wasn't though, I just wanted to see if Jaeger would get me more.

"I'm still thirsty," I said, extending my glass toward him.

He took it and surprisingly brought me more water. I finished it and then asked for another glass.

"You're not serious? Another one?" He questioned.

I nodded then he sighed and took it. I was enjoying taking advantage of him like this. I felt like I was in power despite my sprained ankle. Jaeger returned with the glass again, and I drank, finished it and asked for another glass again which he took and refilled. How had he not noticed what I was doing yet? He brought me yet another glass, but this time I noticed he had a smirk on his mouth as I drank the water.

"I know what you're doing."

"What are you talking about?" I asked innocently.

"It worked the first two times, but after the third, well let's say I started adding things into your water."

"What?" I coughed. "Things like what?"

"Use your imagination," he grinned.

I gagged, and gagged and was tempted to pull off my tongue, not sure whether he spat in the water or worse. Jaeger's expression was amused but I was downright disgusted.

"Hope you enjoyed the water," he said with a wink before leaving the house.

I started grazing at my tongue with my nails, but it was no hope, the water was already in my system, and if he spat in it, his spit was already in my system.

*****

When Jaeger returned, he returned with food. Seemed like he'd gone hunting this time because he came back with a rabbit.

"It took you that long to catch one animal?" I questioned him.

"I was doing other things too."

"Don't be embarrassed to say that you were failing to catch more," I teased, "when I hunted with Alek, we—"

I paused. Alek. I hoped he didn't think I was dead or anything. When I was kidnapped, Alek and I had been about to take our friendship to the next level, to see if we'd work in a relationship. I had never thought of Alek as more than a friend, not like he did me, but I had been willing to try. This was the first time I thought of Alek though, and I didn't know what to think of that. He hadn't crossed my mind till now. I had been so consumed with trying to escape and hating Jaeger that I didn't think about everyone I'd left behind. Was that normal? 

The food came in no time and it smelt just as good as it tasted. It was fascinating that a vampire could cook edible food. Half of the meal was eaten in silence, a silence that I decided to break.

"I have a question," I started, "have you ever heard of a human that can like... sense vampires?"

"Sense vampires?"

"Yeah. Like they, umm, feel things whenever they're too close to a vampire," I said as cooly as I could manage.

"No... why?" He interrogated.

"I was just wondering." There was no way I was going to tell him that I felt things whenever I was near him, just in case it meant something else, something different, something I've been telling my brain that it isn't.

"Do you know someone that's claimed to have that... ability?" He further interrogated.

"No."

"It's a weird question to just think of."

"Yeah, well I happened to just think of it."

"Why?"

"Because—" I paused mid-sentence as I thought of what to say, then the perfect answer popped into my head. "Doesn't matter."

Jaeger snickered and fixed his gaze on mine. "You think you're funny now?"

"Very," I said with a bright, proud smile. He always shut me down with those two words, and I used them against him. "Sucks not to have your curiosity quenched huh?"

He was trying to keep his gaze steady, his face serious but failed and his mouth deceived him as his lips quirked up. "I'll figure it out on my own."

"No, you won't."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

I couldn't even figure out the reason for my sensations, so there was no way he could.

*****

I don't know at which point I fell asleep, but when I woke up I was no longer on the couch. Jaeger had moved me. I was now on the bed, my leg elevated by one of the cushions. He had carried me from the couch and laid me on the bed. I cursed myself when the thought of him moving me made my lips quirk upwards. How come he was being so considerate? So not detestable? 

My thoughts were cut off by Jaeger's sudden groan. I slowly sat up and saw him on the couch, moving restlessly. Was he having a nightmare? I almost chuckled at the thought of a vampire having a nightmare, I thought it was only a human thing.

A nightmare having a nightmare, how ironic.

I laid back down again, closing my eyes to fall asleep but Jaeger's groan came again. I ignored it but when he continued groaning I decided I had to wake him up if I wanted to sleep. I groaned as I forced myself out of the bed, turned on the lights and made my way to him. I was planning on ruthlessly shaking him, and if that didn't work I'd have no choice but to slap him, which I was looking forward to.

When I reached him, I didn't see what I thought I'd see. My shirt which had been tied around his hand was on the floor... and bloody. The streaks running up Jaeger's hand were more red and defined. I hesitated before finally approaching him, but as soon as I did... I gagged, my food from earlier almost coming out in one big gush.

There was a scar, a deep slash wound in his hand. It took me less than a second to register where it had come from. This was when he'd stopped the Quearus from stabbing me. But he was supposed to have healed by now. Why hadn't he healed? It'd been more than a day.

This wasn't normal.

He hadn't been groaning because of a nightmare, it was because of the scar. It was infected. He was trying to feign sleep but drastically failed. I placed my hand on his forehead. He was heating up. Like really heating up.

I grabbed scissors from the aid kit and cut at his shirt. How many times was I going to strip him?

I wet a towel with cold water, placed it on his forehead then rushed to fill a dish with warm water and left his wounded hand inside of it while I searched the aid kit for something useful. There was some purple liquid inside, disinfectant it said. I placed it on the table along with cotton wool, bandages and spirit.

I carefully washed his hand in the dish first, dried it then poured the spirit right on top of his scar.

"That's not how you're supposed to do it," he growled through gritted teeth.

"Does it hurt?"

"Yes."

"Good."

I wasn't a doctor, so I had no idea what I was doing, but I figured if it stung, then I was probably doing the right thing. His wound was clean now, so that was a start, now I needed to cover it up.

I grabbed some cotton wool, poured the disinfectant over it and placed it on his scar making him growl again. I then gently wrapped the bandage right around his hand and pinned it in place.

"Is that fine?" I asked, and when he slowly nodded I released a breath I didn't know I had been holding.

Why I had been so concerned, I didn't know. Why I felt so relieved, I didn't know. Why I suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to kill the Quearus, I didn't know.