Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy the last three chapters of this story. I just went through it again and re-edited. Happy Reading!!!
Chapter Five
Getting Trainer inside his warehouse wasn't as hard as I had expected it to be. He was coherent but weak and leaned against me, but managed to walk on his own. I sat him down on one of the training benches, running to the cupboard where he kept some of the vials of holy water.
"Why weren't you carrying some of this shit?" I yelled at him.
"I've gone to that bar for months, I've never had any trouble," he gasped. "I guess I figured you could handle hiding who you were."
"You're blaming this on me?" my tone was incredulous. "You didn't even tell me what you had planned. I thought we were going for a drink."
"I got you a drink," he said. "You didn't drink it."
I turned with the vial, going back towards him, I noted his pallor. "I thought you had to drink from the vampire to turn."
"You do. But some of those damn leeches can leave the virus that creates them with just a bite. It's a slower process and very painful." He tipped his head, exposing his neck and the wound which seemed to almost pulse. "Pour it all and then bring me a vial. I'm going to have to drink it."
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed a handful of his thick hair with one hand, uncorking the vial with the other. Pouring it slowly, I felt his struggle to hold still as his body stiffened with agony. He clenched his teeth, gritting them so hard I could hear the noise they made. A groan came unbidden from his throat. I felt tears gather in my eyes as I watched him deal with the pain that I was causing him, pain that hurt me even if it was for his own good.
When the vial was empty, he slumped back, the flesh around the bite now bright red and welting up. "Get me one to drink. I can still feel the poison in my system."
I got the vial, hesitating for an instant. If pouring that on him had caused him such agony, what would drinking one be like?
"I'll be okay, it isn't my first bite. Just give me the vial and stay back." He held out his hand, his chocolate eyes hard and determined as he stared up at me.
I put the vial in his hand but I didn't stay back, instead sitting next to him. "What can I do to help?"
"You aren't strong enough to hold me down, but after the first effects go through my body, I'm going to need to be put to bed. And I need you to go to the fuse box over there. There is a key inside. Turn it. It will bring down the security features I installed when I built this place. It will keep us safe, if we were followed."
"But I can..."
"No, I have to do this alone. Go, turn the key and then, when the noise is over, come back." He squeezed my hand, the first sign of real affection I had gotten from this man since I had met him.
I got up and walked away, walking down the stairs towards where my car was parked. As I reached the fuse box I heard the first scream. It almost had me turning and racing back up those stairs, but I resisted. He wouldn't thank me for disobeying him and I was concerned about what would happen if we'd been followed. So I went to the box, opening it and turning the huge key, hearing above the sounds of his screams, the grating clicking of metal being lowered, the clang as it locked into place. Slams followed, startling me, but I knew it had to be more of his security falling into place.
When the screams finally stopped, I headed back up the stairs, slowly, I will admit, because I was afraid of what I would see. He lay in a heap on the floor, his body twisted as if in agony, his eyes closed, his face white but no longer with that unearthly pallor.
Putting him in bed took a while and was very troubling on the moral values I'd always held dear. Trainer had held himself aloof from me for so long until that kiss on the mats that had been so passionate and intense. And now he was helpless and I had control.
I half carried, half dragged him up the many stairs to his bed, grouching all the way as I wondered why I hadn't taken him up those steps while he was still conscious. When he was lying on the bed, his head turned from me, I took the time to inspect the wound on his throat. I felt my cross warm slightly as I approached the wound and gasped as a beam of light shot from the crucifix and landed with eerie precision on the two bites.
Trainer moaned, his hands coming up as if to push away whatever was hurting him. I held him down easily, watching with amazement as clear liquid seemed to be pulled from the wound. Well, it was liquid until it hit the air, then it solidified into tear shaped clear hard drops. It took only second and then the glow eased and Trainer once more relaxed. On his neck, next to the two now only slightly puffy wounds were five crystal drops.
I scraped them up with my nail, careful to not scrape skin as well and put them on a piece of paper from off his desk. They were actually pretty, like crystal gems that caught the light and reflected it back.
Leaving them on the desk, I went back to the task of making Trainer more comfortable. Now whatever any one tells you, taking leather off a guy when they are unconscious is not an easy thing to do. I thought of my knife but then realized that it might piss Trainer off which in the long run could cost me a lot when it came to physical exertion in the future.
His tee shirt came off easily, leaving me with a rock hard chest and abs that would make Arnold jealous. His arms were huge, but this I had known already. I wasn't prepared for the small tattoo I found just above his left nipple. It was a duplicate of my crucifix, right down to the slender gold chain. An aura had been drawn around it in golden light. I reached down, touching his skin as I stared at the tattoo.
It was weird, the way that affected me. It was as if we were joined in a way that I hadn't felt before, his tattoo and my necklace brought us together.
Shaking my head at my strange thoughts, I reached for the lacings of his boots, undoing them and putting aside the daggers I found in each. Pure silver I would bet, as I hefted them in my hands, feeling their balance and enjoying the way they felt.