I gently touched the puncture wounds and Nate must have guessed what I was thinking, because he quickly reassured me, "You won't become a vampire."

"I won't?"

"No. Turning someone is different. The human must lose a lot of blood. Its it hard for all but the most disciplined vampires to keep from draining the human completely. The closer to death the victim is, the more likely the transformation will be successful. Once this is done, vampiric blood is introduced orally or through cuts marked on the wrist. The remaining blood cells may chose to accept or reject the transformation by the foreign blood. In the latter, the body dies. If not, they will appear to be dead for all medical purposes, but will awaken a short time later. Yet still, the human inside dies..." Nate frowned.

Continuing his explanation, "You were, let's say taste tested. Blackborne had no need to finish you off. He has plenty of choice victims chained under his home to quench his thirst when the need is felt. It was show of dominance for his subordinates, as disgusting as it is. You were his to do with, but by his mercy he fed his scraps to his dogs. To make matters worse, by tasting and leaving you alive, he knows your scent by heart. There's almost a psychic connection between you two now. Blackborne will be able to perceive you if you gets too close; he will hold onto what he senses and make sure you die to prove his power."

Sensing my anxiety, he attempted to correct this, "I wouldn't worry too much if I were you. He won't hunt you down himself. He'll send someone else. And they're more likely to recognize me than they would you."

"Why is that?" I inquired.

"I.. that's a story for another time.." I honestly didn't mind. I learned more than I had ever wanted to learn in a span of sixty minutes.

"So am I confined here for the rest of my life?"

"Until I can ensure your protected return, I definitely recommend you stay with me, where I can keep you safe. But you're not imprisoned. As long as we avoid certain neighborhoods prone to vampiric activity, you should be able to navigate around here all right."

"I can?"

"Well.. I don't know about right now. It might not be wise for you to go out at this time of night."

"This time of night?" I thought I had arrived here in the very early morning.

Nate glanced up in mild surprise, "Its past midnight. You slept nearly a day."

"Oh.." I trailed off, not sure what to think. I was wide awake and starting to feel dirty. "Can I wash off?"

"Well there's a bathroom over here..." he led me to the door in the hallway, nearest to the speakeasy's entrance. Quickly clearing the sink counter of clutter, he shoved his miscellaneous toiletries into a cabinet and pulled out a clean towel.

"One moment." he disappeared into his bed room and returned with a belted pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. "There's a 24-hour supermarket down the street. We can head over whenever." I could sense his discomfort, and he always kept his distance. "As you can imagine, I don't get guests very often. Most people don't take kindly to befriending vampires," he raised his eyebrows and gave a small smile, perhaps the first time since we met.

"I don't know why they wouldn't," I was as sincere as I could be, "You could've let me die back there. I'm honestly not sure why you didn't. And now you're giving me clean clothes and fresh towels? You're not like any 'bloodsucker' I've ever heard of."

"Well, thanks.." he attempted to stifle his surprise at my gratitude, but honest gratefulness was reciprocated in his voice. He backed away to hide in his room a bit longer while I took care of my hygienic needs.