Loving a Vampire(2)
“I shouldn’t have taken the fucking shit. Never trust anyone. All alone.”
He followed the sound until he stumbled on a blond haired man lying on his back. His eyes were glassy. Listening to his body, Augustus was shocked by the strong thoughts, and yet he was dying. His organs were shutting down. The scent of a strong drug leaked off him.
Augustus stared down one part of the alley and another. No one was in sight. They were alone. Looking at the man, Augustus ran his hands through his pockets.
“Gregory Clarke.” The ID was old. The man on the floor didn’t look like the man in the picture.
Intrigued by the fight inside the dying man’s mind, Augustus slit open his wrist and pressed the bloody wrist to Gregory’s mouth.
Once he’d fed him enough blood he watched as the blood started to fix what was broken.
Vampire blood was miraculous and a cure. His blood would mend Gregory for a time. If his blood started to leave Gregory’s system then it was only a matter of time until the human died.
Picking the human up in his arms, Augustus made his way home. He stuck to back streets out of sight of everyone.
His house was off the beaten track and away from prying eyes with a fully functioning basement.
Taking him down to the basement, Augustus tended to the man on the bed. He was filthy, and Augustus took the time to wash him, cleaning away the muck and grime.
Once he was finished, Augustus watched over him throughout the day. He locked the basement door like he’d been doing for some time.
Glancing at his watch, he heard the change in the human.
The sun was high in the sky when Gregory gasped, opening his eyes and jumping to his feet.
Augustus laughed as Gregory pressed hands against his body.
“I’m alive?”
“You’re alive.”
“No, I was dying. I felt it. I should be dead.” Gregory kept staring at him and then around the room.
The blood he’d given the human had filled out his face. He looked more like the man in the photograph.
“Did you molest me?” Gregory asked.
In one movement, Augustus was in front of him. “Do I look like someone who would molest a dying man?”
“Shit, what the fuck are you? Are you insane?” Gregory scrambled away.
Rolling his eyes, Augustus took a sip of the blood he kept supplied in the house. His fangs grew, and Gregory let out the longest, most feminine squeal Augustus had ever heard.
“Seriously, I’ve known women with stronger back-bones than you.”
He was bored with the reaction.
“Wait, did you turn me into a vampire?” Gregory asked.
“No. I saved you from dying. You were fighting it even though your body was shutting down. You shouldn’t use drugs.”
“Drugs. Shit, when was my last fix?”
He heard the needs coursing around Gregory’s head. Moving back in front of him Augustus caught his head. “You will not use drugs anymore.”
“I can’t stop.” The pain in Gregory’s voice caught at him.
“Do you want to stop?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Gregory licked his lips. “You can hear my thoughts.”
“I can hear a hell of a lot. Now, you can either go out there and die by the time night falls again, or you can stay, talk, and we’ll get you back to being you.”
“What do you mean I’ll be dead by nightfall?” Gregory asked.
“My blood will only heal you as long as my blood is pure. Being a vampire is not like in the books. There are risks and rules.” Augustus had gotten tired of explaining what being a true vampire meant to humans. They were all under assumptions made by books and popular movies and what was on television. When he’d been turned there were no such things to warn him of the dangers that lurked at night.
Gregory sat down on the sofa and stared at him. Augustus was proud of the man. He clearly wasn’t happy with the way his life was. Augustus would help him. There was something powerful in Gregory. The man was a fighter, and he could respect it.
Over the years their friendship grew. Augustus couldn’t believe he’d been so lucky to gain a human friend. Gregory meant so much to him, but he still wished for a woman. Their time together was precious to him. If he could find a friend surely he could find a woman to love and to call his own?
Chapter One
Augustus Hunter was over three hundred years old, and in that time he’d taken many lovers. Other than his human wife he’d never been in love. Finding love as a vampire was impossible. There was no chance. The only friendship he had was with Gregory. For the last five years he’d been keeping the human alive. It was probably cruel of him not to turn Gregory, but he couldn’t let the man die. He cared about him too much. Still, there was no woman for him to keep around.