Demetrius

Chapter 21

Part One:

George saw the changes in Demetri's face as he looked as though he was on steroids or hormones.

"No, I'm as serious as cancer George," he said.

"You're scaring me. Cut it out Demetri," George said still thinking, if not hoping there was a punch line.

Demetri explained his past and about his mother adding,

"I didn't believe in them either. Now I'm in love with Alexis. She's a true vampire; not one that was changed like my mother was. I know it must sound crazy to you but I love her and want to marry her.

"I just wanted to tell you what I'm about to embark on. I and my life are going to be very different and I don't know if I'll ever see you again, at least not as a human. I wanted to wish you the best with Connie and if you were shocked in discovering her secret; you can imagine how shocked I was in finding out about my mother and that vampires can be lovable when they want to be."

"Are you sure you're not, you know, a little sick. I mean you look different," George said as he wrestled with the silliness of the notion.

"My physical changes are due to ingesting Alexis's bodily fluids when they have predisposed me to vampirism. My cells have begun to change and I can feel the internal changes taking place as her vampire cells are taking over. I won't be completely changed until we are married and she changes me; injecting her substance into me. I don't know what's in it but she said it was like a genetic signature that would remain within me forever, when we would have an eternal bond.

"I know it must sound horrible to you but it's what I want. I no longer believe in humans and think they have created their own 'hell-on-earth'; not only for themselves but for the entire planet as well.

"Maybe one day I'll be able to stop what they're doing in some way."

"You mean like a super-hero," George said with tongue-in-cheek hoping Demetri wouldn't catch his ill-timed humor.

George rubbed his thigh repeatedly and nervously looking at Demetri over his glasses, still thinking this was too strange to be true.

"How do you know this is all real? I mean you might be hallucinating when your imagination has taken over. Maybe Alexis has done something to you and has some weird power over you, altering your mind in some way."

Demetri rolled up his sleeves saying,

"Look at my arms George."

There were scattered patches of hairlessness as he explained they were evidence of his changes.

"My transition has begun, brought on by my willingness and repeated drinking Alexis's unique vaginal discharge; not from her biting me on the neck as we're taught," he said noting his arms were beginning to look more muscular too.

"But that can be explained by a strong belief in something. There are people that bleed through their hands and feet on Good Friday because they have convinced their bodies of something. It's like the Buddhists that have learned to slow their heart rates through self-hypnosis and concentration," George said trying to offer some likely explanation.

Demetri wasn't sure why he felt called upon to prove it to George but he did.

He looked over at Alexis until she felt his stare; when suddenly she looked at him. She knew his focus was on her but she didn't know why.

For the first time he used his mind to call to her. He saw her pat Connie's hand as he was totally amazed in seeing her come to him. It gave him chills in knowing they had such a beautiful and unbelievable connection. Whether it was because she was a vampire or if it was due to their love; he couldn't say. He only knew if they could communicate in such a way; it was wonderful.

When she neared, Demetri stood holding her arms as she looked expectantly at him.

"I want George to believe me but he's not easy to convince. He thinks I'm crazy. Do you think you could show him your fangs and perhaps your eyes," he said knowing she wasn't wearing contacts under her very dark sunglasses. When she agreed he walked over to George pulling him up off the bench saying,

"Come here, I want to show you something; so you don't think I'm crazy."

The three of them stood in a close circle. They looked around as though they were making a drug-deal, making sure they were alone when Alexis bared her fangs looking at George intently, if not ferociously.

He felt George jerk in seeing Alexis as he still held his arm. For a second he thought George would try to run away when he tightened his grip on him.

She then removed her glasses. Her eyes batted tentatively before she opened them slightly, until she was able to open them further for a few seconds before putting her sunglasses back on.

The expression on George's face was something to behold as he stared open-mouthed in seeing reality was stranger than fiction.

"Oh my god; this is huge! Are you kidding me," George said in exclamation becoming animated, almost jumping up and down.

It was clear to see he was beside himself when he didn't know what to do with his arms as they moved pointlessly at his sides. Finally he surprised them by hugging Alexis saying,

"You won't bite me if I give you a hug will you?"

Seeing them hug made Demetri realize how much he loved her, as he was still amazed in his ability to beckon to her using only his mind in doing so. He watched as she smiled at him over George's shoulder as he was still hugging her as though they were old friends.

Not unexpectedly Connie began to feel as though she was the "odd-man-out". Uncertainly, if not tentatively, she made her way to where the three of them stood. She hugged Demetri congratulating him on his intended marriage before showing him her own engagement ring. George didn't have to say anything as his bashful grin said it all.

They wished each other the best, before saying goodbye, walking off in different directions and into their vastly different futures.

Every time Demetri turned to look back at them, he saw George walking backwards, waving at them in awe, if not disbelief.

"What's a transsexual," Alexis asked when he smiled telling her Connie was born a male.

They walked leisurely, enjoying each others company when it occurred to her to say,

"So Connie was born with a 'stinger' but George found it in his heart to love her in spite of it."

He squeezed her hand, knowing exactly what she meant though he didn't suspect she could comprehend it. He wasn't sure but he thought the human heart was tied to the soul, when those possessing one had no limits as to how and who they were capable of loving.

Part Two:

"You haven't told me if you want to be married when we visit your mother in about ten days. She told me to let her know so she could make the necessary arrangements. She said we might need more time and if you feel you do, its okay. We can be married whenever you feel its time; we have all the time in the world. I can't speak for you but in my mind we're married now anyway. All that remains is for you to welcome my eternal gift."

Again his mouth went dry, not understanding why he continued to balk in taking the final step though he knew he would eventually. He didn't know if he felt excitement or it was an anxious sense of foreboding in hearing her use the word "gift".

More often than not these days, the idea of becoming a vampire was exciting but it occurred to him suddenly having to live forever could be a curse given unforeseen circumstances. After all, death could be a welcomed relief under some circumstances, couldn't it? And if he couldn't die, wouldn't he be damned to live a miserable existence if he found himself unhappy for some reason.

In spite of his gnawing and persistent uncertainty, he thought their love was the most important thing; he knew he'd never want to lose it no matter what the cost. He felt he was yet to explain his idea of love to her; the most important person in his life.

He lacked confidence in believing she really understood it and that she was perhaps hastening their wedding for reasons he was yet to understand...reasons besides her wanting to change him on their wedding night.

"What about your parents and their lineage," he asked for the first time wondering if he should tell his father and grandmother. Maybe it was best he didn't tell them since he doubted they would understand his decision, as he imagined them thinking he was no better than his mother.

"I don't know much about her but I know she lives a humble existence on a remote farm is Eastern Europe. She didn't have much use for motherhood and allowed the community of vampires to raise me in a nursery, probably much like what you would call an orphanage. I don't know who my father is and doubt if she knows. The idea of marriage has little meaning for common vampires and has always been considered a union associated with the aristocracy in our culture and social order."

They came upon a pond when they walked up to the edge of the water, toying with it with their hands when he asked her,

"You've asked me when I began to love you but I have yet to ask you the same question. Do you really think you love me and if you do; when did it begin for you?"

They sat with their knees pointing upwards as they locked their arms around their legs, looking at the ripples and an occasional water-spider that was too light to break the surface buoyancy.

"Walking on water for some living things must be like our walking in mud," he said.

She leaned against him when she asked if he wanted the long or the short answer. He wanted to hear all she had to say, like he always did. He thought she was the most fascinating creature in the entire universe. And the more he listened to her the more he loved her.

"Like most vampires, I lived a loveless life, never thinking love was something that could make me happy. Most of us have no idea what love is since it requires...something we don't have in order to feel it. It is a human thing and I thought you were ignorant fools. Perhaps as you might expect, I thought love was childish rubbish.

"When I saw you in the park the first time, I thought you were the most beautiful human male I ever saw. Right away you made me feel things, as though you were a stray puppy needing me. Arrogantly I felt sympathy for you since you were only a human being. I had hoped we could have some kind of connection but I didn't know what I could offer you, or if you could welcome me into your life.

"Knowing you were Anastasia's son; I thought of ways to seduce you. I wanted you to like me at first; at least sexually. I wanted you to find me appealing so I could "infect" you when your conversion would be brought about without a whimper of regret. I knew the lure and promise of sex was powerful to humans. But I didn't know if you could find one of us desirable when you might be too scared and run away.

"I wanted to have sex with you, to do the unspeakable, to see if I was capable of having a human inside me, the whole way. I think I wanted to know if you could like me enough to want to have sexual intercourse with me and when I realized you could; it scared me. It was when I began to believe we could have a connection and if you were to change, maybe you would want to marry me so I could have everything I ever dreamed of.

"Yet I was still to understand love and when I realized I was being selfish, I began to think I was incapable of loving. But you led the way without words and I felt you had touched me deeper than I thought possible.

"Still I felt as though I was playing chess with a master and had no idea of the finer complexities of the game. But love is more than a game, isn't it?

"When I was in the orphanage, one of the other girls had a puppy and I used to watch her hug him as she rubbed her nose against his fur smelling him. She never used the word or said she loved him but I knew she was very fond of him and I felt that I was missing something.

"I didn't know if I wanted to be the puppy so I could feel her affection or if I wanted to be her, showing affection to an adorable animal. I began to wish I could have one too. I even asked our guardians but they said one was enough for the orphanage. Somehow I felt emptiness, as though something was missing in my life.

"You remember our time in the booth together and how I kissed you. I thought it was going to make me sick but it was the most wonderful thing I ever experienced. I felt like I was the girl in the orphanage and you were my puppy and even though you were a different species, I knew the emptiness I felt my whole life had disappeared.

"You see, love is something incomprehensible for us, even subversive. Perhaps it is evil in our community when sex is its own reward. The only vampires that can openly profess their love without evoking contempt from other vampires are people of royalty; like your parents.

"It is wrong to belong or to devote yourself to only one other. We believe we belong to a community of vampires. To us that is the normal thing but in your culture, finding one special person to love is what is normal.

"I don't think I could be happy that way since I've come to enjoy sex with various people, both males and females. To me that is natural and it feels right.

"You might not be able to accept it now due to your ideals and upbringing but one day you will see a pretty girl, or a woman at a social event for vampires and she'll smile at you in a certain way when there is no mistaking the idea she wants to be intimate with you.

"You'll become flustered and you'll want to be with her too; to feel your nakedness together and to do what is natural. Of course I will see the look in your eyes and know what is in your mind as it will be conveyed to me without your willing it.

"The first thing I feel is not jealousy but elation in knowing you can find enjoyment in something that is intended to be enjoyable. I'll smile at you and tell you to go; to be with her believing it is what you need and want. It's what makes life worthwhile and when we engage in such things, we confirm our pleasure in life and in living.

"I've only just begun to understand what love is and if it weren't for you, I think I would've given up before now. I only know how I feel when you hold me and touch me. No one touches me the way you do and makes me feel the things you make me feel. No one has ever treated me with such kindness and respect as you do. No one has made me feel more important in simply existing; in breathing the same air together.

"No other human could drink from me and give me so much delight when I know my cells are taking over your cells when we will be as one some day. You are becoming a male version of me and I believe we will compliment each other in a way no one else could possibly duplicate. Our genetic link will be stronger than the one you once had with your mother.

"When other vampires see two vampires that have this bond without the sanction of marriage; they become enraged since it is forbidden and it is their right to exterminate them in any way they can. This above all else is why I want us to be married; so we can have the ultimate connection and won't suffer the ridicule and fury from others.

"Of course I knew you beckoned to me before, using your mind to do so, since our brains are becoming as one brain when we share the same genetic mapping and blueprint. One day even our neurons will be the same.

"After I change you, you will experience a relationship with me you never could imagine possible. Once my substance enters your system, my signature will be completed inside you when our spiritual communion will begin; our genetic signatures will be virtually the same.

"We will be genetically indistinguishable; as though we are clones of each other while maintaining our gender differences along with our personality traits when we would never feel a sense of redundancy. I'll then and perhaps only then be able to comprehend what your concept of love is. The spiritual connection makes words superfluous when we will share in the same thoughts and understand everything without the need to speak. For example, imagine what it will be like for you to hear me speaking to you while I am performing oral sex on you, adding to your experience.

"This is the gift I have to offer you and not immortality for without it; who cares if we live forever.

"I don't think you understand what awaits you. You will be a prince and in line to become our next ruler, if and when something were to happen to Adrian. If you and I marry, I will become your princess when we can love one another openly without other vampires having contempt for us.

"There is no one else I would ever want to have this kind of connection with. I'm not sure when and if it has happened for me but there were a series of things that led me to the realization. My conversation with your mother, when she told me about how faith was a part of what love is helped and yet I still don't feel I understand it completely.

"I know I believe in you as you have dared to believe in me and I promise you an existence beyond anything you could ever envision heaven being."

She said all the things he needed to hear and he told her to let Anastasia know we wish to be married as soon as possible. She threw her arms around him and licked his ear, whispering to him to read her mind and to tell her what she wanted and needed right this very instant.

He closed his eyes waiting for something unexpected to happen to him but when it didn't he opened his eyes looking at her. And then it happened, as clearly as if she had said the words aloud. Though her mouth remained closed he heard her say,

"I want to suck you off right here and now!"

And she did too as he nervously looked around making certain there was no one watching them, as her head bobbed furiously on his lap. She made him ejaculate quickly, as the circumstances seemed to dictate as much.