Three: A Reasonable Cause

§ A Reasonable Cause §

 

What just happened? I asked myself. Am I hallucinating…?

            My God, the vampire was still conscious"how?

            Never underestimate the stealth of a vampire…I could almost hear my first-period teacher reminding me.

            He looked up"straight into my eyes that were staring down at him. I quickly redirected my gaze, and did the sensible thing: I opened my mouth to scream. He sat up despite having been shot"whoa, talk about vampire strength"and clamped a winter-cold hand over my mouth.

            Okay, what the hell was I thinking? I scolded myself. This dude just saved my life, and I’m trying to get him captured?

            Slowly, he removed his hand, as if reading my mind, his stormy gray eyes boring into mine. Almost discreetly, he put the hand on his left shoulder while his left arm hung limply at his side, almost bending over in pain.

            “You need to--to--go to a hospi-”

 

            I stopped short and almost choked on my spit when I saw what he was doing. He tore through skin tissue from his shoulder with his good hand, then glanced at me.

 

            That was when I recognized him.

            The vampire soldier from last night! The one who thought I killed that old vampire, and called for backup! My memory screamed at me.

            “I’ll be fine,” he ground out impressively, considering the pain he must’ve been in. “Do you by any chance have a bobby pin, or anything of the sort, that you might be so kind as to…lend me?”

            Frantically digging around in my purse, I discovered the pocket full of emergency bobby pins I always kept with me. Never would I have imagined using them for this kind of emergency. I gave the black clip to him, receiving a murmured “Thank you” in response.

 

            “Y-you’re welcome. Do you…want me to bandage that? I have"um, bandaging materials.”

            With the bobby pin and quick and nimble fingers, he dug out a bullet from his shoulder and collected it into one of uniform pockets.

 

            “That would be helpful, yes. Please.”

 

            My eyes widened, and I automatically flinched away in alarm at the sight before me.

            “Um"okay.”

 

            “I don’t suppose you want your…hair accessory back,” he mused, smiling, by the sound of his voice.

            “No, I have more.”      

 

            Keep it as souvenir from the night you took a bullet for someone from the enemy side, I added silently.

 

            I turned away and produced the required first-aid materials from my bag. I tried to hide the fact that my fingers were shaking almost violently, but that was impossible. With his right hand, the vampire tore off the rest of his damaged sleeve, causing me to set another goal not to squirm away.

 

            It’s official, I thought to myself as I worked on the wound. I’ll never make it as a doctor like Dad wanted me to become. On the contrary, I could totally be one of those squeamish people who faint at the sight of blood.

 

            When I finished tying up the ends of the bandage tape thing, he spoke.

 

            “You don’t have anything you want to ask me?” he inquired.

 

            “How…did you get shot by the bullet?” I voiced.

 

            “‘The’ bullet, not a bullet; so you’re not completely oblivious,” he noted. “I found out from a sergeant that you weren’t the one who killed that elderly vampire last night"one of our own did. He foolishly believed that we shouldn’t have to risk anything by protecting the weak.”

 

            I openly gaped at him. Was this for real? So one of the vampire soldiers had killed that elderly vampire man?

 

            “Don’t worry, he’s going to have to answer to some men higher-up than him in rank, about his reasons for committing such a crime,” he reassured me. “I should’ve known it wasn’t you; I mean, where would you get a machine gun from?”

 

            “Um…yeah,” I stated helpfully like the wise woman I was..

 

            Slowly, he stood up, holding up to the tree behind me to support his weight… Which meant I was trapped in, between this vampire soldier and the huge oak tree, in an area with no one else around for a few yards. Hastily, I stood up too, when he’d balanced himself well enough.

 

            “If I wanted to hurt you, don’t you think I would’ve done it by now?” he asked humourlessly, maybe even slightly offended.

 

            “Sorry, I…I’m just"um, still in shock…?” I ended lamely.

 

            “I understand. Thank you for your help. Your…bandaging skills…were meant to be reserved for those of your own kind, and yet you chose to help me.”

 

            Well, I can’t believe you just literally took a bullet for me, I thought silently.

 

            He finally gave me his first smile, which was pretty damn breathtaking. I wondered if that was what was meant by the expression “butterflies in your stomach from a simple glance.” Was that even an expression, or had I made it up to fit my situation? I’d certainly gotten butterflies from class presentation and anything stage-fright-inducing.

 

            “Don’t worry, I know the soldier who shot that bullet, and he’s going to have to answer to me for shooting at a civilian; he knows that’s a distinct war crime.”

 

            Whoa, did I actually say that taking-a-bullet for me thing out loud?

 

            “I’m Linden, by the way.”

 

            “I’m…”

 

            Wow, those stormy-sky eyes. I could spend all night standing here looking into them…

 

            “You’re not obliged to introduce yourself, if you don’t feel comfortable"”

 

            “No, I was just"um"remembering something. I…”

 

            I What? What was I about to say? Did he ask me a question? My name! Right…My name is…?

 

            “Eileen!”

 

            Jesus. I should not have sounded so excited at having remembered my own first name.

 

            Linden smiled in reply.

 

            “Beauty and radiance.”

 

            “Wh-what?” I stuttered, taken aback, heart pounding.

 

            “That’s the meaning of your name, in Old English.”

 

            “Oh…yeah. Well, I didn’t actually know that, but cool. Thanks.”

 

            Making a fool of yourself is not cool…common sense chided me. Nice going, “Beauty and Radiance.”

 

            I’m just still in shock from these two way-impossible occurrences, I reasoned. First, a vampire soldier killed one of their own"and an elderly one, too, just because he was weak. And secondly, another vampire soldier just literally took a bullet for me"intentionally blocked a bullet fired by one of his own comrades"who he said he knows.

 

            “You’re welcome.”

 

            And then he was gone, just like that. Even with a wounded shoulder. He was nowhere to be seen"unless he’d escaped into the woods behind me, in which case…No, I was still not looking back"I would not.

 

            I still have some control over my actions, I asserted mentally. Especially now that he’s gone.

 

            Vampires.