The scene was still haunting me days later when Scarlet came up to me and curled up on the small empty space on my bed.

I reached out and started to pet her hair, loving how soft and silky it was. It was amazing how this beautiful creature had come out of a dingy basement covered in grime and dried blood. She still spent most of her time under my bed, huddled away from the sunlight and sometimes wrapped up in my blankets. But other times she was very sweet and did things like curl up next to me. 

I went back to my photo editing, zooming in pretty close to a picture of Lady Arachna, the spider cactus. Her green flesh was very appealing in the current framing, smooth and taut but not bloated. She had the perfect stage of hydration I strived for all my plants– cacti and succulents alike– to maintain.

Scarlet pressed her face against my side and licked the skin there.

A shudder shot through me and I froze.

“Hi,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if I could handle speaking after that.

She showed me her teeth, fangs included and then gave me a look.

“Are you… hungry?” I guessed. “I mean, for blood?” It felt weird to even ask. 

She nodded solemnly.

I took a breath. It had been a week or so since the last time she fed. I told her not to run off at night just to feed and to let me know whenever she needed to. But I’d been dreading this moment. I didn’t have many choices.

“Alright,” I swung my legs over the side of my bed. She perched herself on the edge of the mattress, looking quizzical. 

I swallowed. I couldn’t just feed her my blood. She had decimated that deer. She wouldn’t be able to drink enough to keep her alive. Instead, I took her hand and brought her out into the woods again. She looked around and smelled the dusk air. It was getting to be late and I wished I’d thought to bring my camera. The lighting was phenomenal. It was golden hour and combined with the fiery golds and reds of the leaves, everything looked enchanted. 

Scarlet wasn’t as lucky this time. We had to wander for a while before she finally found something. I opted to keep my distance and busied myself with turning over rocks with my foot, hoping to see something interesting. But it was too cold for toads and salamanders. I didn’t even find any worms. 

When she came back, she’d cleaned most of the blood off of her face. Behind her, there was a smaller dead creature. It had the striped tail of a raccoon.

“Is that gonna be enough?” I asked.

She swallowed. “It’ll do for a few days,” she said. She went to take my hand then thought better of it. The nice thing might’ve been to take her hand in mine anyways but there was still blood on her skin.

We headed back. I hoped nobody witnessed us out here.

She stuck close to me and when we got back, cleaned herself up without my guidance.

Then she curled up with me on the bed, looking satiated.

My mind turned. I couldn’t really focus on the computer.

“Hey,” I said. 

She stirred. “Hmn?” she asked sleepily.

“Do you… can…” I swallowed.

She looked up at me.

“You need human blood too, right?” I asked. 

She nodded and buried her head against my side. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“It’s okay. Do you think… I could provide human blood for you?” I asked. “If it’s just a little I think I can handle it.”

She stared at me. Her eyes still held that pink glimmer under the brown. I wondered how vampires were made.

“Will it hurt me if I do that?”

She shook her head. “I have your consent?” she asked. It was a surprising word to come from her. Her voice was pretty Americanized but at times either her word choice or pronunciation showed she wasn’t from here.

I sat up and put my back against the wall.

She pushed her torso up to stare at me and I was overwhelmed with how cute she was as she did so. Her hair was so soft and free that it flowed luxuriously over her shoulders. I could see she was still hungry. Since she’d been with me the past few weeks, her body had fleshed out. No longer skin and bones, she was just thin. Honestly, the look suited her better than the wiry frame she’d had before.

With a gesture I called her over to me.

“Just… try not to get any on the sheets of anything,” I requested. She crawled up to me and sat on my legs, her hand gently resting on my shoulders.

My face went hot. I looked away in an attempt to cool off but then her lips were inches from my neck. Her cool breath blew over the heated skin there. 

My lungs were trying to hyperventilate but I wouldn’t let them.

There was a lick. Cool moisture clung to my neck.

I hugged her, trying to keep my body from involuntarily fleeing. I didn’t feel her bite, but she must’ve. Her tongue licked the skin a couple times as I felt a hot drop of liquid start to well and then she sucked at the spot.

I closed my eyes as a torrent of conflicting feelings rushed from my neck down to my stomach. She didn’t leave my neck for a while. I felt the skin get pulled at, and wondered how noticeable the hickey would be.

When she finished she pulled away, giving the wound a farewell lick and then stared at my face. I dared open my eyes. There was no blood on her face. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it if there was.

As I started to move again, I felt the dizziness and grabbed the sheets in an attempt to steady myself.

“Was that—?” Scarlet hopped away from me and grabbed my glass from the night stand and darted from the room. As always, she was unnaturally quiet as she did so. A moment later she returned with the water and held it out to me. “I’m sorry,” she panicked. “I took too much. It was just- you taste good, so I– eh–” she buried her face in her hands and as I sat up again retreated off the bed and then underneath it.

I drank the water. It did help me feel better. When the waves of dizziness subsided, I scooched over to swing my legs over the side of the bed. I got down onto the floor. My limbs felt clumsy and uncoordinated but I looked under the bed, seeing those pink orbs staring back at me, guiltily.

“It’s okay,” I told her. “I’ll be fine by tomorrow.” I’d donated blood before. I knew it would wear off sooner or later.

“But I– I can’t do anything for you in return.”

“You have my consent,” I told her. “Maybe next time try not to take so much.”

“Next time?” she repeated and then pulled the blankets between us, hiding her face and body from me.

I took it as my signal to leave her be.

I got back up on the bed and started to try working on my photograph again. I fell asleep almost instantly.