“You’re like, rich rich, right?”
“Well, Elon Musk is rich rich. But could I buy three of these penthouses and not bat an eye? Yes. Yes I could,” Sirius explained. “But Elon is a goblin, so… They know how to handle their money.”
“I’m not sure which fun fact to focus on,” I said and laughed lightly. Then I spent a moment staring at Sirius, and sighed. “You’re going to buy the penthouse, aren’t you?”
“It seems really nice. There’s security personnel always present, there’s lots of space, it has a great view… It seems worth checking out.”
“And here I thought we’d be browsing single room apartments,” I chuckled, and he shivered.
“If I have to hide for months, I’m not doing it in a tiny apartment,” he told me. “I’ll get claustrophobic. It’s bad enough that I have to be all by myself. Well… Until I find out who I can still trust.”
“You’re not going to be all by yourself,” I told him reassuringly. “I will still come visit you.”
His smile grew softer when he looked at me. “You will?”
“Of course! Someone needs to make sure you’re eating enough. And you said it yourself, it will take weeks before you’re back in full health, so you need someone to take care of you.”
“I mean, yeah…” he said, his expression turning shy. “I can’t really leave the house either, so I’m going to need help with groceries and stuff like that…”
“You know I’ll be glad to help,” I said, touching his arm.
He watched me in silence for a moment. I really liked his smile… Then he turned away, that shy smile still on his lips.
“I mean, you get to spend your time in a penthouse. Why wouldn’t you want to come visit me?” he said in a joking manner.
“I have to admit, the place looks absolutely gorgeous, but no, it’s not the penthouse I care about,” I said quietly. “I want to make sure you are all right. I want to learn more about your world, and you in particular. I’d love to hear your stories.”
“I do have all the time in the world to tell stories for now,” he said, looking back at me. “So… I’d really like it if you continue visiting me.”
I gave him my widest smile and carefully hugged him. “Of course I will,” I murmured in his ear.
He hugged me back, his hold on me still very weak.
“Just the thought of you sitting all alone in a huge place like that makes me sad,” I admitted, and pulled back to see him.
“Don’t you have any friends to hang out with? Family?” he asked.
“I have friends, but everyone is busy with college and work and stuff, so I usually only see them between lectures or late in the evenings,” I shrugged. “And my family lives two hundred miles away, so I visit them maybe once a month. I could use the company as well.”
“Then I’ll be glad to provide,” he said with a smile, though it turned a little worried. “But aren’t you just as busy as they are?”
“I’ve been doing my schoolwork here while you sleep,” I shrugged. “And I don’t need to work since my parents are paying my expenses for as long as I keep focusing on school.”
“I can help with that as well,” he said. “I’m not letting you run my errands without generous compensation.”
“Oh, you don’t have to pay me,” I said, waving my hand dismissively.
“I’m afraid I will insist,” he said. “I will not make you do it for free.”
I could tell he would refuse to listen if I tried to object, so I let out a sigh, and nodded. “All right, I’ll let you pay me.”
For some reason, he found my words funny. “You are a strange young human.”
“I take that as a compliment,” I said with a wink. “So, do you want to go take a look at this penthouse before making the decision?”
“I definitely want to see it first, yes,” he said and turned to look at the laptop. “Do you have a pen and paper I could use?”
“Yup,” I said, and went to grab my bag.
When I returned to him, his entire posture had changed. He held his head down and he closed his eyes in pain. Only a second later, he started taking in sharp breaths, and he rested back against his pillows.
“Sirius?” I said and forgot the bag when I hurried to his side. “What’s wrong?”
His entire body was shivering…
“I feel sick,” he whispered.
I touched his cheek. His skin had turned freezing cold again, and his lips were turning blue.
“When did you eat?” I asked.
“I…”
“When?”
“I don’t…”
“You need to eat,” I said, taking my seat next to him. “Here,” I continued after pulling my sleeve up.
“Please, don’t… I’m too weak to control myself…”
“You need to eat,” I repealed gently.
His eyes, filled with pain, found mine. He was scared again. I still couldn’t even imagine how horrific his agony had to be.
“You need blood. You’ll feel better again,” I continued soothingly.
“I’ve already taken too much… Your body hasn’t recovered yet…”
“I feel just fine,” I said. “Come on, you have to drink. It’ll only get worse if you don’t.”
Reluctantly, he turned his eyes to my wrist, and I brought it closer to his lips. His eyes turned red again, and he started losing the battle. He was hungry.
“That’s it,” I whispered when his tongue touched my skin. “Take all you need.”
This time, he didn’t wait long enough for my skin to go completely numb. I felt the pain when he bit me, but I stayed silent and immobile. He needed my blood. He needed it more than I did…
He took my hand in his and pulled my wrist harder against his mouth when his greed took over. This time he was being messier, and soon my arm was covered in the blood he was spilling. It didn’t bother me because I was too busy watching him. He looked so beautiful when he ate. The pure bliss on his face was such a joy to watch that I couldn’t care less if he took too much.
He was slowly turning back to normal, and suddenly pushed my arm away. He stared at the mess he’d made, looking disappointed and a little horrified.
“I’m sorry… Please don’t tempt me like this,” he whispered.
“It’s all right, Sirius. I want you to have it,” I said, ignoring the fact that I was feeling a little dizzy now.
“No, no, no… It’s not all right, I…” he glanced at me, but then looked down at my chest.
I saw nothing on my clothes, but he still stared at me.
“Your body isn’t well,” he whispered. “Your heart is not well. I took way too much this time.”
“I’ll be fine! I’ll just rest a little,” I said, but he was already reaching for the button next to his bed to alert Mike. “I’m serious. I’m just fine.”
Mike marched in at that second with a worried look on his face. He spotted my bleeding arm and immediately guessed why Sirius had called him.
“What happened?” Mike said as he walked to me, grabbed my arm, and reached for paper towels.
“He was starving,” I said when Sirius was still too horrified to even look at us.
“What do you mean?” Mike asked and turned to look at Sirius, pressing the papers against my wrist. “I gave you two blood bags this morning.”
“I…”
“Sirius.”
Sirius looked away.
“Where did you hide them?” Mike asked in a disappointed voice. “Sirius.”
The vampire put his hand slowly under the pillows and pulled out two bags of blood. Both untouched. Mike let out a deep sigh.
“I’m trying but…” Sirius mumbled. “I thought I didn’t need it…”
“You are recovering. You need three to four times more blood than normally,” Mike said.
“These bags make me sick… I can’t help it,” Sirius said.
Mike shook his head and peered at my skin. The wounds had closed now, so he wiped the blood off and threw the towels away.
“You are pretty OK, but you can’t lose any more blood, okay?” he told me.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said, and Mike turned to look at Sirius again.
“There’s no other choice then. You need a Feeder,” he then said, turning his attention back to me. “Would you be interested?”
“I can’t ask him that!” Sirius hurried to say.
“Well I’m asking for you,” Mike said with a snort.
“What’s a Feeder?”
“It’s a human who lets vampires drink their blood on a daily basis. But you would need to follow a specific diet and take supplements every day, or you will die from blood loss.”
“Oh, that doesn’t sound hard,” I said and turned to give Sirius a smile. “I’d love to be your Feeder.”
For some reason, Sirius really didn’t like the idea. He refused to say anything, and he still wasn’t looking at me.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, sifting close to him.
“I can’t ask you to be my Feeder. You’re already doing too much for me,” he murmured.
“Hey…” I whispered, touching his chin so he’d look at me. When he did, I smiled at him. “I’d be honored to be your Feeder. I don’t mind, and I want you to grow strong again. I want you to heal and get back up on your feet.”
He looked away, shaking his head.
“Don’t look like that,” I cooed and hugged him gently. “This is a good thing. I just need to take supplements and I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t forget the diet,” Mike reminded me. “Regular feeding schedule will prevent accidents like these. I think you really need one, man. Especially since you can’t drink from the bags.”
Sirius let out a deep breath and looked back at me. “You’re doing so much for me already…”
“And I will gladly do even more,” I told him.
He stared at me for a moment, then slowly turned on his side to get closer to me. His weak arm made his way onto my side, and he rested his head under my chin.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
I brushed my hand through his hair and hugged him a little bit tighter. “You’re welcome,” I murmured.
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