Chapter 7: Bonding with Alma

"Looks like we're in trouble," Sagitar hinted under his breath.

Before he and Alma could make it to the entrance of the theatre, the security staff stopped them for questioning. Alma looked at them with an emotionless stare.

"Before you leave the theatre we are going to have to sanction you," says the small female security guard.

"What's the problem?" Alma asked pretentiously.

"We've got you on camera, sitting in an incorrect row and our clerk said you had a regular ticket not a premium one," the large male security guard explained.

"Oh, about that…" Sagitar said, pausing in thought, trying to think of a way out of the mess they got themselves into.

"So what? We sat there because we wanted to," Alma replied casually.

"I don't think you're helping, Alma," Sagitar complains. He could not believe the way his date was responding to security. He knew they were just doing their jobs and in reality, they had broken the rules.

"Please come with us," says the small female security guard.

"Listen very carefully. You'll let us go. And as for the ticket, it was an error in the purchase of it and your staff were responsible for the mistake," says Alma, looking directly in the eyes of the largely built security guard.

For Sagitar, it was obvious. Something Alma had done had paused this man and for five seconds he couldn't move at all. It was as if he was hypnotized.

"I see now so it was an error after all," claimed the male security guard.

Sagitar wondered what Alma just did.

From what he could see, it was quite obvious that Alma did something to him because his small female colleague also noticed. She looked at her male counterpart and turned to Alma.

"What did you just do to my partner! Did you hypnotise him?" says the small female security guard.

She ferociously grabs onto Alma's dress by the chest not intimidated by her chaste. But before she could seize control, her will was taken.

"You will do as your partner and report back just what he said—there was an error," says Alma.

Whatever she did, Sagitar noticed it needed eye contact and like the male, the female security guard too froze for five seconds as well. Afterwards, she nodded in compliance with what Alma had told her. Just after, the male security guard asked the female security guard why she was frozen and yelling at Alma, who he now referred to as the nice lady.

Sagitar could not believe what had just happened. He was speechless and now sure that whatever Alma did, wasn't normal. The security guard, however, seemed to be suffering from a sort of memory loss, as Sagitar observed him.

Immediately, Alma began to proceed ahead. Sagitar was shocked but followed her anyway. He was not intimidated by Alma. It was clear that there was something supernatural about her which he believed she was hiding. On the inside, Sagitar was dying to ask her what had happened and how she had pulled it off. He also wanted to tell her off for such an immoral action. For him, there was only one way to find out and that was by continuing the date with her.

Ending it abruptly because of what happened back there will most likely make her withdraw from me, he thought.

Eventually, they both exit the theatre with Alma ahead of Sagitar. Some seconds later, she stopped, waiting for him a few metres ahead. He walked towards her slowly and confidently, taking his time. Where they stood at the front of the theatre, by the street, was quite empty as the people who had come to see the play had departed.

Sagitar looked around to ensure that they were alone. Ensuring the area was barren, Sagitar seized the moment and engaged Alma in the conversation. "Back there, what on earth did you do? Because I know you did something freaky to those security officers," Sagitar asked, as he arrived next to her.

"I told you, it's a magic trick," Alma whined.

"No it's not. It was something else entirely," Sagitar argued.

Alma held his upper arm tightly to a hush and began to lead him down the street. "Does it frighten you?" She asked. "Me being able to manipulate people's heads, that is," Alma added.

"I'm not scared of you if that's what you're thinking," says Sagitar. He looks down at the pavement ground avoiding eye contact. It was now more than obvious that he was trying to avoid her sights set on his eyes. Although he was not afraid of her, he was disappointed. However, he wanted his first date with her to be perfect. Sagitar felt Alma took advantage of people and he, being the moral person he was, felt discontent about her ability to do so.

"Then why so glum? I won't mess with your head if that's what you want to know," Alma assured him.

Sagitar was furious. He turned and looked at her straight in the eyes, unafraid of what could become of it. With what Alma had just said to him, he was quite sure that there was something supernatural about her eyes; however he desired her to see the right way to utilize her abilities, beyond cheating others.

"I just don't like what you're doing; you need to stop taking advantage of people. Just because you can doesn't mean you should," Sagitar firmly declared. "I took you out on this date because I like you and want to get to know you better but you weren't satisfied with what I provided and that pissed me off," he added.

Alma paused and untangled herself from Sagitar. With her arms folded, she began to reconsider what Sagitar had just said. Sagitar walked on for a bit, then stopped and turned around to beckon back.

Alma moved towards him slowly. "I'm sorry…you're right. I guess I was just trying to impress you that's all," Alma muttered, looking quite sober.

She looked away this time. The fright that pulsed within his persona wounded her slightly. She did not want to look at him in the eyes. In the little time she had known him and grown to enjoy his company, Alma hated that she had made him so mad.

Sagitar would have left her but he noticed that she was truly sorry. Her unhappiness could not be ignored. He realized that she was just being insecure and like anyone, prone to selfish decisions. Sagitar could almost see the guilt dropping off from her skin as sweat. In order to make her feel better, he decided to lighten things up.

"Hey err…Alma…are you like Illuminati?" Sagitar teased, changing the subject at hand.

"Illuminati… I'm not a Bavarian. Why are you asking?" Alma chuckled.

She chuckled at what she thought to be a poor attempt at a bad joke, trying to also make Sagitar feel less tense.

"Because of how you can twist people's minds to whatever you seem to desire. That's why I am asking. Clearly that's not normal. I thought maybe the secret societies that probably rule this world could possibly be able to do all that kind of stuff," Sagitar explained. "So are you?" he asked. He then looked at her with a serious but slightly relaxed facial expression, wanting to know the truth.

"Whoa…slow down. I'm not Illuminati. Don't be so crude…" Alma replied.

"Then how do you do that?" Sagitar wondered.

"I'm a vamp," Alma said. She opened her mouth to reveal her teeth. Suddenly, her canines sprout out becoming sharp fangs.

"Holy crap!" Sagitar was startled.

He was in awe, wondering his kind of luck.

First a Celestial made itself known to me and now, on my first date with a woman I am interested in, she turns out to be a vampire.

Sagitar looked around to see if anyone else noticed what he was seeing but no one was around. He then looked at Alma again to confirm that what he saw was not a trick. After staring thoroughly at her teeth, suddenly her canines revert back into their original state and she no longer looked as rabid. Her face enchanting with ferociousness loosened up to a lesser aggressive state.

"You're a vampire? No way," Sagitar jilted.

"You're not as surprised as I was expecting," Alma realised.

"That's because I'm aware of the fact that supernatural entities walk among us. That's all," Sagitar explained.

Alma could see that there was more to Sagitar's explanation; however, she understood that everyone had their secrets and she was not going to pry. Although she wondered what he must have seen that allowed him to keep a cool head around a vampire. She guessed that he had experienced something supernatural or could possibly even be supernatural himself. For a moment Alma's thoughts distinctively focused on the possibility of Sagitar being just that, of the paranormal. It seemed to make sense to her because normally she was not that drawn to anybody but with him, it was different. With him, she could not hold anything back.

"Hey, have you got work tomorrow or are you busy because, I know it is late, but I was hoping we could just go for a walk you know. I mean, we didn't really get a chance to talk or anything did we," Sagitar proposed.

"Sure, I'll walk with you," Alma replied.

The two of them decided to go for a stroll through the city centre. After they had spent some time getting to know each other as simply as it could be put, Sagitar eventually opened himself up to Alma and told her that he had endured supernatural experiences recently. He told her that it was one of the reasons why he was not so shocked that she was a vampire. Up until the recent moment in the conversation he was having with her, talk had been one sided. He was finding it hard to keep them engaged because she would not open up and talk about her own life in particular. However, she talked about everything else that was not personal.

"So do you like…drink blood?" Sagitar asked. He wanted to make the conversation more about her.

"Yes…but I do it only for survival. After I'm done, they don't even remember it happened anyway. It's not like I need blood continuously, it's just on the off occasion. It isn't a dramatic requirement to function. You have to understand that when I drink, I do it to survive," Alma explained.

She decided to put it down as best as possible to keep him stable minded.

"I understand. That reason is pretty much justified" Sagitar replied with a warm smile.

"You are not like other men by the way. You know too much and I can feel something different about you, like your aura or something," Alma claimed.

"Why do you always do that? When we're getting somewhere, you change the subject back to me again. I feel like I've been babbling all sorts to you with no return," Sagitar responded firmly.

"There isn't all that much to know. I've lived for over a thousand years and I am incredibly old. Sometimes I go to sleep for decades and have found a way to do so without fear of being condemned. It's quite lonely being a vamp because I can't tell anyone what I am," she replied.

"Aren't there any others like yourself?" Sagitar asked.

"I haven't seen another vampire in over sixty years. We are practically extinct," Alma replied.

"So how does one become a vampire?" Sagitar asked.

"Why, do you want me to turn you?" Alma laughed.

"No but I would like to know…just for the sake of it," says Sagitar.

"You can't turn a human with vamp blood like you see in the movies. Also I'm pretty sure that vampires can only reproduce vampires with other vampires. Also, for a human to become a vampire, the process has to be done through alchemy and that knowledge has pretty much been lost," Alma explained.

"Alchemy," Sagitar wondered. "I've heard of the discipline before. Isn't it about the transformation of base metals to gold?" Sagitar asked.

"The study of alchemy goes even deeper. I would argue that it is the study of bending matter to ones will and that process can create life, sustain life, mess with reality and even cause an evolution through transmutation. With alchemy, when explored you are experimenting using every chemical and substance you can think of," Alma explained.

"Flip, that whole explanation hurt my head. Tell me something else about you?" Sagitar asked. "You should have a lot of stories, considering that you have lived that long" he teased.

Alma rolled her eyes. "Well as a vamp, I'm incredibly fast—probably five times faster than your normal human and when I over exert myself I can be almost ten times as strong," Alma explained.

"So you could break me easily? How do you go a day without destroying things accidentally if you possess super human strength?" Sagitar inquired with innocence and wonder in his eyes.

"I'm more stable than you think. I really have to amplify myself mentally to increase my strength and my speed. Generally when I am normal, I'm practically just as physically vulnerable as a human," Alma explained.

"So I could take you if I caught you off guard," Sagitar wondered.

"Maybe…who knows. We should try it out someday," Alma laughed.

Suddenly, Sagitar stopped walking, causing Alma to stop in motion as well. She turned back to face Sagitar who was still staring at her.

He placed his hand on Alma's face so tender and passionately felt her soft skin. "You are warm, not cold blooded," Sagitar mentioned.

Alma looked at Sagitar's lips. She flustered at his touch. Slowly, she removed his hand off her face.

"Another thing you need to know about vamps is that everything feels more sensitive. So when you touch me like that it makes me feel hot you know," Alma let out a breath.

"If everything feels more sensitive, does that mean pleasure is as well?" Sagitar wondered.

"If you are talking about sex then yes. I can't say I knew what sex was like when I was human because I lost my virginity after I became a vampire. What I do know is that the vampire who turned me told me that pleasure is practically enhanced," Alma replied.

"Wow, so you're super sensitive," Sagitar added.

"Yes," says Alma.

The two kept walking and Sagitar continued asking questions that caused Alma to talk more about her experience as a vampire. Sagitar took in every single piece of knowledge that could be told, he took in all there was to know about her struggles, her enjoyment and the luxuries that came with being that, that which had transcended.

"You know I can't really recall my life as a human. I remember who transmuted me into a vampire but that's about it," Alma explained. "I hope you are now aware of how alchemy works?" she added.

"Well I can't say I'm sure how it works but I realise now that there is a science behind how it was used," Sagitar replied. "I have a silly question though," he continued.

"Dazzle me," Alma responded.

"Vampires don't burn up when the sun is shining, do they?" Sagitar shrieked.

"Really…How do you think I go to work then?" Alma laughed.

"So that lore is completely incorrect?" Sagitar realised.

"Not entirely as I can see where it derived. We just get thirstier for blood during the hours of the sun. The pressure to taste it becomes ever so more irresistible with the intensity of its heat" Alma explained.

"I see. I also know why you had to be a nurse," Sagitar said. "I mean, where else would the obvious greatest blood bank in the world be?"

"Real smart…" Alma crudely acknowledged.

Sagitar and Alma chuckled at the humour.

He looked at the time and realised that it was incredibly late to be out and about. It was morning—just some minutes past 1a.m. Thursday was upon them already.

"Wow. We've been talking for ages," says Sagitar. "You know, I wanted our first date to be more exciting than just going to the theatre. I actually enjoyed talking to you more afterwards. And more than the activity itself. A lot more than I could have anticipated," he continued.

"I've lived a long time, I get bored easily Sagitar," Alma illustrated.

"Oh! What would you have liked to have done instead of the theatre?" Sagitar stopped walking.

For Alma, the way he responded, he sounded disappointed. She realised that she went off course with her words. What was supposed to be said did not come out as clear as she had planned it.

Alma stopped in her tracks, wondering why Sagitar had suddenly halted but it became obvious that it was now clearly to do with how she was going to explain what she meant. The vampire could obviously see that he had misunderstood her words. She faced him, placing her finger tips into the open grasp of his hand.

"What I'm trying to say is that I enjoyed your company as well. That's what I want when I date someone. Just their company. And I'm really interested in a good talk and I had that with you," Alma retorted.

"So we're dating now," Sagitar was chuffed. He looked intensely at her. His mind flashed back to when he started to regret asking her out because she manipulated the security officers at the theatre. However, after getting to know Alma deeper, he was glad that the evening turned out like it did. Saying nothing, Sagitar turned and walked ahead of Alma who did not move from her position.

Alma passionately desired to plant a kiss on his lips but wondered what his reaction would be. She walked towards Sagitar and with her left hand she passionately held onto his right. The moment was intense, Sagitar felt the lust in the air, the wanting of bound breaking rules.

They continued walking onwards for a short distance then Alma suddenly stopped. She looked at Sagitar with lustful desires burning in her eyes. They turned to face each other. Alma's mouth opened slightly and Sagitar had figured that she intended to kiss him. He leaned in, responding to her intention, placing his hand on her thigh and the other on her waist.

"Take your hands off him Demon!" shouted a voice in the distance.

It was a shock for Sagitar and Alma who were about to embrace.

"What the?" Sagitar muttered. He looked some meters towards his right.

Standing ahead was no other than Celeste with both of her fists clenched. Sagitar wondered what the Celestial being was doing in the city's urban centre, out of all the places and in an inconvenient time. What was odd was the tech on her right eye. It appeared to be some sort of scanner.