The Two Hearted Monster

Abrielle always showed her fangs if she got too emotional. The movement wasn't conscious, the slightest curl of her lip that showed her razor-sharp incisors that could punch clear through alligator hide. The vampire was hunched in the corner, wearing all black, her arms crossed as her blood-red eyes glowered at the woman.

"It feels like you don't even want me to be happy," the woman said.

"You know I want that more than anything in the world," Abrielle said, "Making you happy is all I ever try to do. Why can't I just be enough?"

"Abby," the girl said softly, "I'm not him, and I never will be."

The vampire huffed, still baring her fangs, "But why does it have to be with

them?

"

She said the word with so much disdain, a shudder ran down the woman's spine, "And now? Near the end of October, when they make a mockery of people like us?"

"Because I'm one of

them

," the girl said, "I was born in their world, grew up around them. When I'm with them, I fit in, when I'm here-"

She gestured around the sprawling gothic mansion, the high vaulted ceilings, the dark shadows where the vampire liked to hide.

"How many hundreds of years have you lived here?" the girl asked, "I'm only twenty. I don't fit in, none of this is my life."

The vampires distain turned to pity, "I won't let you be homeless," she snapped, "If something happened to you- to

him

, I'd never be able to live with myself."

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM ABBY!" the girl screeched, "How am I supposed to live my life when you follow me everywhere I go? I don't know you the way

he

does. You're a roommate at best-"

"Don't say that," Abrielle said softly, quickly hiding her fangs, "I see it in your eyes, the way you look at me. I know I'm older than you, but it's like I've been waiting for eternities just to see your face."

The girl huffed, "I'm living with you aren't I? I'm trying to make an effort. But you have to let me live my life."

"By running off with someone else?" she snapped, "What if you don't come back?"

She scoffed, "Like

he'd

let me. If I didn't make it home by midnight, there'd be a murder- we both know that."

Those red eyes kept digging into the girl's soul, daring her to say something else.

"Jet let me live my life Abby. That's all I'm asking."

The vampire's eyes never wavered, but she knew the girl wouldn't take no for an answer. When she spoke, her voice was a snarl, "Fine."

For Jack, his college Halloween started like any other. He, along with a few of his closest friends dressed in costumes, ready to crawl from party to party and drink enough to kill an elephant. He decided to go in cosplay, dressed in a thick fur coat from

Game of Thrones

.

He had enough of a beard naturally to get by and liked to speak in a faux British accent, just to get in character and annoy his friends. He left the small apartment, a drink in hand, and every intention to forget the night.

The group began their party crawl at a house just north of campus, run down, but packed with college students and a dj set up in the basement. They started out on the lawn, packed between people and their red party cups, but barely an hour had passed before Jack's thick fur jacket had him soaked in sweat. He dipped into the house, desperate to find a cool place to sit down, or beer that wasn't room temperature.

He unclasped his cloak, the whole while muttering, "Fuck, this is hot."

"Couldn't agree more," someone laughed, a girl in a mad scientist costume. She wore a sleeveless lab coat with big, cartoony buttons, long black gloves, with goggles resting on her dark, frizzy hair.

Jack stiffened suddenly, trying to reclasp and stand up straight.

"Relax dude, I'm not gonna ask for an impression."

"You don' want it?" Jack said, doing his best Jon Snow impression.

"That was..." the girl laughed, "So much worse than I could have imagined."

He ran a hand across his sweaty forehead, "It is hot though."

The girl pressed forward, "I take it you're not the real Jon Snow?"

"Jack, actually."

"How ironic," the girl said, completely deadpan. She took his hand, "I'm Jill."

"Need some water?" Jack asked, "We could go up the hill-"

"Just," Jill rolled her eyes, "Stop, please."

Jack shrugged and took a long sip from his solo cup, "I guess this'll have to do."

Jill held up her own cup and joined him, locking eyes as she took a long swig.

"I take it you're not a real mad scientist either?"

"No," she laughed, "Not anymore. Econ major, actually."

She glanced down at her costume and shrugged, "Economists, I guess, just aren't as hot."

Jack took a step closer, "You could have fooled me."

"So what about you?" she asked suddenly, "I take it you're not just here to dress up and drink beer?"

"No," Jack agreed, trying his best to look serious, "Vodka too."

She laughed and gave him a playful shove.

"Business," Jack said, taking another drink, "I know, boring, but hopefully it'll pay off."

"What about tonight?" the girl asked, "You sticking around here?"

Jack gave a glance back outside. His friends were still out there, and it wouldn't be long before they left for the next party.

"Just seeing how the night goes, I guess," he said, "What about you?"

"Just trying to get out of the house," Jill admitted, "My roommate was being annoying, and-"

Jack snorted, "Annoying roommates, huh? I know how that goes."

"Oh, I bet I got you beat," she laughed.

"Oh really?" Jack joined her laughter, "I've been puked on, they never do their dishes, any time I have an exam, I swear, they plan parties around them."

Jill was still smiling, but her eyes were deadpan, "My roommates in love with me."

Jack had to stop himself. Every instinct he had begged him to say something cheesy like,

hard to blame him.

"She's obsessed with me," Jill said, taking a long sip, "Doesn't even want me to leave her sight. It's like I have to beg to get a night like tonight."

Jack tried to follow along, "Sounds like, maybe, you two shouldn't be roommates."

She shook her head and forced a laugh, "It's just that one thing. There's

never

a dirty dish, mostly keeps to herself. There's a part of me that really does like her."

Jack was desperate to change the subject, "I still think my roommates are worse."

She chuckled and shook her head, "This whole, being an adult thing, it's kinda confusing isn't it?"

"Parts yeah," Jack agreed, then held up his glass, "But some parts are simple. Sometimes it's nice to just have a little fun."

"That's the idea," Jill said. She took a long drink, her eyes still nervous, "Even if it scares the shit out of Abby."

"Hey, what do you say tonight, we just forget about your roommate. Just you and me, no one else."

"No one else," she muttered. The idea seemed to make her happy. A grin was slowly starting to grow. "Well... if it's just you and me, we probably need to get out of here, be alone, don't we?"

Jack looked around, taking in the crowded party, the distant pounding music, "I suppose we do."

"And you're sure your roommates won't mind?" Jill asked.

He tried to stammer a response, but Jill just laughed, "Oh please, you've been watching them all night."

"No," Jack said firmly, "They won't mind."

She set the party cup down and held out her arm, "Then lead the way."

The night didn't seem quite as brisk while the two were side by side. The loud party disappeared with distance, and the two of them were strolling the campus, their shadows stretching and racing after them each time they passed a street light.

"I've always liked Halloween, so much more than reality," Jill said. She was leaning up against Jack, feeling his warmth.

"Well this seems like a pretty good Halloween-"

"No," she laughed, "I just mean, the costumes, the spooky atmosphere, the idea of Halloween is just so intriguing, but it feels like most of the time people just use it as an excuse to go out drinking. It's just another Saturday."

"There's still costumes," Jack shrugged.

Jill didn't answer. She kept walking ahead, her eyes deep in thought, "Where are we going, anyway?"

Jack gave another shrug, "Just walking around I guess."

She was looking down at her wrist, trying to squint in the lamplight to see the time, "I, just, don't wanna be out too late."

Suddenly Jack wished he'd stayed at the party. They'd barely made it a mile, and she was already trying to brush him off.

What's so wrong with getting drunk?

He laughed,

Seems like a pretty damn good idea right now.

"I guess I could walk you home," he said. He tried to keep the dejection from his voice, play it off like it was shaky in the cool air.

"You sure?" she asked, "It's a long walk."

Another hint.

"Yeah, but it's dark," he reasoned, "I

want

to."

The pair walked in silence for a few minutes. There was more than a foot between them.

"So," Jill said, trying to break the silence, "Can you believe Professor Dickerson's giving us an exam tomorrow? The day after Halloween?"

"Uh huh," Jack muttered, "Crazy."

This always happens. It always seems like everything's going good, and then, out of nowhere, it's like a switch get's flipped. I fucked it up and don't even know how.

Jill tried a few more times to get the conversation started, but the easy friendliness they had at the party had seemed to vanish.

The walked more than a mile north of campus and stopped at a sprawling gothic estate. Jack stopped at the gate, offered his best smile, and told her how nice it was to meet her.

"Oh," she said. It was her turn to sound dejected. "You didn't wanna come in?"

And all of a sudden, the switch flipped back on. Jack looked at her, studying her, as he tried to make sense of the way she thought.

Women

, he decided,

are harder to understand than calculus.

Jack's eyes lit up. He stuffed his hands in his pocket, and made a quick few steps towards her, "You sure?"

She checked her watch again, "Why not? We've got time."

Jack knew the house would be strange. The towering gothic exterior looked closer to a cathedral than anything he'd seen before, but nothing could have prepared him for the grand foyer. The room sprawled out into darkness, lit only by candle light. He took a step forward, following Jill on thick red carpet that topped ancient looking stone.

For a moment, Jill hadn't noticed he'd stopped.

It was like he were frozen in place by some supernatural force, begging him to turn around and go home. It didn't matter where he looked, he saw nothing but flickering shadows. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling someone else was watching.

"Yeah I know," Jill said. She took a few steps back and grabbed his hand, "It's a little strange."

Jack followed, his eyes still wide with disbelief.

As the two made their way deeper and deeper into the sprawling estate, a vampire bared her fangs.

"I promise," she said, dragging him, "My room is a little more... normal."

Jack forced a chuckle. If Jill's eyes hadn't been so playfully alluring, he might have stopped and took in the strangeness of the building, and how little Jill had spoken about her roommate.

"It's her house," Jill said, filling the silence. Her words seemed to echo off the old masonry, fading into ghostly wails, "Well, her parents, but she and I were both going to the same school, so she lets me live with her."

"Is her whole family so-"

What was the word? Medieval? Terrifying?

"Insane?" Jill offered, "Yeah. They love antiques, old things. They won't even get a tv."

She stopped at the end of the hallway, and slowly creaked her door open.

"I, however, have no such reservations," she laughed.

The second the door closed, the gloomy sprawling mansion might have been a strange nightmare. Jill's room was massive, sure, but it didn't look any different than a normal college girl's room. She had a bed opposite a desk, and a tv opposite a bean bag.

She flicked the tv on, and started peeling off her long, leather gloves.

"You know the worst part of being a girl on Halloween?" She asked, "All the costumes are cold as balls."

She tossed the gloves down, showing off her goosebumps. She ran her hand through her hair, twisting it free, and let it drape down her back.

"You need a blanket?" Jack asked. He was still standing awkwardly in her room, waiting to be told what to do. He unfastened his broach, and slid the fur off his shoulders, "Or maybe a cloak?"

"A blanket sounds perfect," she whispered. She gave her hair one final shake, and plopped down on the bean bag.

Jack took the afghan off the base of her bed, and spread it out as wide as it could get. He fell back, draping it over the pair of them.

She twisted her head, all her muscles flexing as she settled into the bean bag. She looked as cozy as a tucked in puppy.

"Just promise you won't fall asleep on me," she whispered.

It wasn't impossible to imagine. Under the blanket, feeling her warmth, the soft way she breathed; he could have easily let her bury her head against his shoulder, clicked into place like a puzzle piece, as the two slept all night long.

Jack matched her whisper, "The night's still young. I won't."

Jill's eyes were still shut, but the corner of her lips were twisting into a warm grin. She felt for her watch, just to make sure the time hadn't gotten away from her, before nuzzling back up.

"You don't have to worry either," she whispered, "I'm not a very good sleeper."

It was easy enough for Jill to imagine drifting off to sleep too, but no,

she couldn't. Not with him here. Not this close to-

her hand drifted instinctively towards her watch again-

midnight.

Jack lay for a few moments, more focused on the comfortable way Jill was breathing than the shitty horror movie she'd picked. He heard a few Wilhelm screams, say some bad fake blood, tied together by the telltale graininess of a b-grade film.

While Jack was working up the courage to reach out and place his arm around her shoulder, Jill was wrestling with her thoughts.

This is what normal college students are like right? The one night hookup? The parties? This is what you wanted, right?

Her fingers tightened around her watch.

So hurry it along.

"Aren't you getting hot?" she finally asked, cuddling a little closer, "I mean, you were at the party, and hopefully, I'm a little warmer than a bunch of strangers."

He didn't move right away, "I'm not wearing anything underneath."

Boys

, she scoffed,

Be more obvious.

Jill unclasped her top button, staring him straight in the eyes, "Neither am I."

She could feel his nervousness. His breathing had started to quicken, and his heart started to race. He was completely oblivious to the movie, his eyes locked on hers.

She lay still for a moment, letting her lab coat hang open, nothing underneath but a black lace bra. She reached out, feeling Jack's abs, tracing her finger down his stomach.

In the movie, a woman screamed.

"So, you, uh," Jack muttered. It felt like his mind had frozen, every thought half formed as he stared at the way the fabric swayed on Jill's torso, catching on her curves, catching an occasional glimpse of her chest.

"I don't have all night," she muttered playfully, but keenly aware of her watch. She leaned forward, and traced his lips with hers.

He sat up on the bean bag, turning sideways to face her. She lost herself in his eyes, trying to clear everything but the two of them from her mind. She didn't care about the movie, and she had

plenty

of time before midnight- it was just them.

He kissed her back. He had a hint of beard stubble that scratched against her chin. His eyes were shut, and his hand started to wander towards her side. His fingers worked their way past her labcoat, his warmth pressed against her skin.

Jill settled into the beanbag, rocking, and slowly getting more comfortable. She draped her hands over his neck, feeling his body pressed against hers. She gave a hint of a smile. She could feel he was already erect, his veins pulsing in in his neck.

It doesn't matter what Abby says,

she decided,

I'm my own person. I should get to live a normal college life. I'm not some damsel in distress.

Jill's lips shot forward again, as if proving her point. She brought her thigh up, wrapping her leg around his hip and feeling his crotch pressed up against hers.

It's just the two of us.

She didn't even hear the scream on tv, the soft muffled breathing from outside the door.

Jack's fingers ran down her shoulder blades, feeling her taut muscles. His hands were underneath the lab coat, stretching out the fabric.

Jill felt her way down Jack's pants, slowly cupping his balls, and pulling them out above his waistband. She wrapped her fingers around his shaft, and slowly started to stroke, squeezing each time she made her way to the head. His thighs tightened and his toes curled. His fingers dug a little deeper into Jill's side, turning her skin a pale white.

She didn't wait for him to make a move. Feeling his hands dig into her, his warmth, his effortless strength,

Jill wanted this

.

She pulled the lab coat open a little further, and twisted her hips to rest against his penis. She grinded back and forth for a few beats, feeling him, her soft pussy against his throbbing cock. There was nothing but their heavy breathing and the occasional scream as the movie continued to play.

She felt his balls, slowly massaging as she rocked her hips, her labia against the shaft. She felt relaxed with him, calm and completely at peace; like she wasn't living with a vampire.

When he finally entered, the movement felt natural, like the two were embracing in a warm hug, lying side by side, chest to chest.

He went deeper than any she'd ever been with. His movements were slow and careful, only betrayed by his erratic breaths, trying to keep his nerves under control.

Jill let herself lean forward. She nuzzled her chin against his shoulder, and feeling his warmth. He was doing most of the work, a lazy sort of rhythm.

It's nice¸

she thought

, casual. Completely simple and easy.

Jack didn't have many thoughts at all. His mind was still short circuiting, playing

holy shit

on a loop, as he tried everything in his power to keep himself from coming too quickly.

He focused on her, and the slow way the fabric of her lab coat rocked back and forth on the bean bag. He kept his hands around her middle, holding her still. He tried to look at her, but tried not to make it weird. He thought about watching the TV, just to keep his mind from exploding, but stopped himself,

No, that would be rude.

It doesn't need to be anything special,

he decided,

She's the one that brought me here. She's the one that wants it slow and casual.

It didn't matter what he thought, nothing would make a difference. He felt the way his balls were starting to tighten and strain. It was a battle he couldn't win forever.

So don't think

, he decided,

Enjoy it. Enjoy HER.

He looked at her, the way her eyes shut a little with each stroke, the way she breathed, the soft exhale every time he went deep. She was still wearing her bra and lab coat, but he could see the way her body moved, the way her muscles rippled and flexed, laid up against the bean bag like a throne. He let himself look down, and watched as his penis disappeared inside her, the soft white string of grool sticking to the head with every thrust.

Jack tightened his calves and curled his toes, trying to hold out as long as he could, but when he saw the way her eyes rolled back and her neck went limp, he couldn't stop himself. He pulled out, as quickly as he could, while Jill rolled towards him.