Sanguine

Mirella swam into consciousness, hearing the voices as though through a fog of incomprehension, distant and indistinct. Wings, she saw. Was she in heaven? Had she died? No! That wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be, she couldn’t be dead, she was supposed to be a vampire if she died. She was supposed to be with Zanfalcon, one of his kind. Silently, her cheeks dampened with tears. How could… had he betrayed her? Her eyes opened further and she saw that the whiteness wasn’t the white perfection of heaven, but merely the sterile whiteness of a hospital room, and the wings were avian in nature. This was school, then. Feeling foolish, she lifted a hand to wipe the tears gently from her cheek, and the two figures turned towards her.
“You’re awake.” The voice still sounded distorted, far-off, but it was kindly and she trusted it, nodding silently. The man smiled, and his grin further re-assured her that her prospects were good – when someone was dying, usually everyone spoke in hushed, somber tones. Still, his eyes were troubling to her – she figured he must be worried, which meant it was probably bad.
“How..how bad is it?” she asked, her own voice startling her with it’s cracking, weak quality. She swallowed, noticing her throat was as dry as sandpaper. She must not be done recovering yet. Her hand itched – an IV was in it. Ah, so she was still lightheaded from blood loss. He must have gone really far with it. Dimly she remembered it, the falling, the feeling of closeness to death.
“I don’t know, you should ask the doctor. I’m fairly certain you’ll live, though.” The odd quality came through in the voice now – something was amiss. Wait, how had she gotten here? Oh no. They knew. Whoever this boy and that girl beside him were, they knew what she was, what she’d done – which meant that the doctors knew, and the school knew, and they’d warned her time and time again that she needed to stop or she’d be… she hoped she was merely suspended. If she was sent away, how would she ever get to Zanfalcon?
“Am I.. in trouble?” she asked timidly, dreading the answer. The boy looked away, struggling, she figured, with how to tell her what was going on. It was that bad. She glanced at the girl – she seemed like the kind to tell the plain truth, and she did, quietly out of respect but plainly anyway.
“They say you’re going to be expelled.”
She blanched. Expelled. That was it, then. Her life was over. She’d never be near Zanfalcon again, never feel his cool arms around her warm flesh, never again partake of the pleasures of his kiss, of his bite, never be his bride beside him, never rule the night at his side, never know again the pleasure she’d grown to crave, need, and love more than the sunlight itself. “No..” she whispered, closing her eyes, the tears coming harder and faster now, the salt taste in her mouth similar to the blood he had let her taste from time to time. This couldn’t be.. she couldn’t imagine life without him, a night without him to think of and dream of, a day without dreaming of being beside him as he slept. She LOVED him, dammit, and how could they do this to her? How could they tear them apart like their love meant nothing? How could they denounce him as a monster when he was so clearly a man?
The boy before her took her hand gently, asking her softly, “..Do… you want to talk about it?”
“..It’s not FAIR!” she moaned, whimpering softly. “He’s not a bad guy… He’s not a monster like they all say. He’s a man, and I love him, and we’re going to be together forever, and… and…” she dissolved into weeping, remembering his touch, his kiss, as the other two exchanged odd glances over her back.
“…a glamour, I think,” she heard the woman say softly, and the man beside her nodded.
“No! No, there’s no illusion, no trick between us. He wouldn’t DO that, not to me, he LOVES me!”
“Calm youself. Hysterics won’t help anything.” The man’s voice was kind, but she could tell he didn’t understand, not really. If she could just make him understand, make them all understand, make them all see what sort of a man he was, that he’d never hurt her, not really… that was it. She’d take them to him. Then they’d speak on her behalf, and they’d not expel her, and she could stay here with Zanfalcon and they’d be together forever.
“…Listen… you don’t understand anything. Come to the party with me tonight. You’ll see. They’re not like that.” The two exchanged glances, pondering the idea. What would it solve? Finally, the man nodded.
“…Alright. I’m curious myself.”
“Great!” replied Mirella, summoning up some courage. “Only, you’ll need new clothes…”