Chapter 4 : Debt of Life

Blair’s POV

What the fuck?

I stare at him long and hard. He doesn’t blink. He doesn’t flinch. For the life of me, I cannot detect even the slightest hint of a lie.

This weirdo is definitely not pulling my chain. He is being deadly serious. I see a glint in his green eyes. It makes me shiver. He sees that I am trying to figure him out, and the enigma is stumping me. I feel like I need to say something, to test him in some way or another, but I can’t think of anything.

“You seem shocked,” he mutters, readjusting ever so slightly on the bed. His lithe body tugged at the bindings keeping him affixed to my bed. His curly black hair flips and falls into his eyes ever so slightly. I can only imagine what it looks like from his perspective.

“Can you blame me?” I snark back, pointing the broom handle at him. “Vampires only exist in fairytales and myths. It’s supposed to be the kind of thing you tell kids to scare them on Halloween.”

At this, he actually chuckles.

“Admittedly, and with no intention to play into the cliche, it is one of my favorite times of the year,” grins Raven. I think about his statement for a moment.

“Makes sense,” I mumble. “Probably don’t have to worry about blowing your cover. It’s the kind of night where you can see freaky things and not think twice about it.”

“Your statement wounds me. Freaky? Hardly a polite thing to say to a house guest,” states Raven. I can tell he’s teasing me this time, but there is truth in what he says.

“You’re not wrong. But it’s also a bit discourteous to show up bleeding at someone’s doorstep in the hopes they’ll save your life. I’ll bet you could have made it to the hospital, but you came and found me. Why?” I ask. This is something that I do want to know. He probably could have made it to the hospital, but he came here to me.

“In all reality, I could not have,” states Raven. “As you saw, my injuries were dire. Seeing you was… fortuitous. Besides, I saw the hospital did not have the proper supplies to help me in any state. They couldn’t save my companion, so why would they save me?”

“Is that a jab at me?” I ask, bristling. “For not being able to save your, as you say, companion.”

“Not in the slightest, and I apologize if I offended you,” Raven states. “It is simply a testament to your skill and the supplies available to you. You were able to save me with minimal assets at your disposal. Again, I thank you.”

I look at him long and hard once again. I let my gaze bore into his and, again, I don’t sense any deception.

He’s genuine. I’ll give him that.

“Fine, I’ll take what I can get,” I mutter, retracting the stick I had pointed at him. I see his body relax. Does wood make him nervous? Is this one of those cases where you could do the traditional ‘staking a vampire’ thing?

“So… are you going to release me? Or am I destined to be chained to your bed?” asks Raven.

“I was thinking about it,” I snap, realizing how that must sound. Another question comes to my mind. “I have a few more questions if you don’t mind.”

Raven’s eyes narrow, becoming luminous green slits just for a moment as he squints at me. I see he’s weighing his options and calmly sighs once he comes to a decision.

“Please, ask away,” he invites. His body tenses again as he leans his head up further to continue to look me in the eye.

“Your blood and your body temperature. Is that because you’re a vampire?” I ask. It’s a bit of a dumb question. Sure. But I have other questions and this is the most logical segue into it. Raven nods once.

“Yes.”

“And how long have you been… you know… a vampire?” I ask. It feels weird to ask; like asking a woman how old she is. It’s just one of those things you are not supposed to do.

At this, Raven chuckles, lips pulling into a grin, revealing his pearly white teeth which are extraordinarily straight.

“Took a second for you to say vampire. Still having a hard time conceiving it?” Raven asks. I open my mouth to reply, but he continues without prompting. “I’ve been a vampire for one hundred and fifty years, give or take a few months. You tend to ignore months after a century or so.”

“Must be nice,” I mutter, trying to think about what it would be like to be that old. “So, you were around in the 1870s?” I ask.

He nods. “It’s when I was changed, yes, but let’s move along to another topic of conversation, shall we?” Raven asks.

“Fine by me,” I state. My heart is hammering in my chest, not certain if I want to ask what is next on my mind. “Next question is whether all of those vampire stories are true. Super strong? Super fast? Do you need to drink only human blood? Wooden stakes through the heart? Don’t cross running water? Don’t go out in the sunlight? Please don’t tell me you sparkle.”

Raven again chuckles a deep, throaty laugh that sounds for a moment like distant, rolling thunder.

“The last one is something from a story, as is the one about running water. The rest, however, are true,” states Raven.

Either this guy is really good at lying, or I am coming up dry with him trying to be deceptive. In my mind, I see why he seems to get a little nervous when I point the wooden stick at him. Something suddenly occurs to me, and I let my curiosity get the better of me.

“Why are you telling me the truth?” I ask bluntly. I glimpse a momentary gleam in his eyes of curiosity that I am sure he sees in my own eyes.

“I am not sure I understand,” he says quietly. “Isn’t honesty what you wanted?”

“Well, yeah,” I reply, feeling a bit like I’m on the defensive. “But, I mean, why aren’t you trying to lie to me? You haven’t tried once.”

“Haven’t I?” Raven asks, tilting his head ever so slightly to the side.

I fold my arms across my chest, forcing myself to readjust my grip on my only weapon. “No, I know you haven’t, so no reasonable doubt. I guess I’m a bit confused. I should have asked why you haven’t tried to lie to me,” I say.

Raven grins and, for a moment, I feel my heart skip a beat. Why does his smile make me nervous? Is it because I’m having a hard time making sure he’s being honest with me?

“Afraid? Your heart rate just spiked right then,” states Raven. “Afraid I’m telling you these things because I don’t plan on letting you live? That I’ll get loose and drain you dry?”

Admittedly, the thought hadn’t occurred to me. Was he being open because he was going to kill me? He said he was strong. Could he break those ropes? He probably could.

My throat constricts and I feel a little bit of acid in the back of my throat. My heart pounds in my chest, but it feels like it is pushing nothing but air through my veins. I swallow dryly and readjust my stance. My nervousness obviously pleases him based on the look he gets on his face.

“Are you planning on killing me?” I ask bluntly. I tighten my grip on the wooden handle in my hands as I unfold my arms, placing both on the stick. At this, Raven laughs a deep, throaty laugh, daring to throw his head back.

“No,” he says finally after composing himself. “I do not intend to kill my savior. Contrary to popular belief about vampires, many of us have personal codes we uphold. One of those for me is repayment of life. A life for a life. Equivalent exchange.”

I look at his face and, despite how unsettled I still feel, find myself gazing into those green eyes of his and trusting this so-called code of his.

“So, next time we meet… I’m—”

“No,” interrupts Raven as he sighs deeply. “It’s not how I do things. For my debt to be repaid, I have to save your life. It is only fair, just as my next request is a fair one.”

“Request?” I ask, feeling the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I wonder for a split second if he is going to ask for some kind of drink from my blood to help heal him, but he simply turns those intuitive green eyes to me and then to the bindings on his wrists.

“If you could remove these, I will be on my way,” says Raven. “It is undoubtedly approaching dawn, and I need to return to my… well… place where I sleep.”

“You could easily break those ropes though, right?” I ask. “Why ask?”

Again, Raven smiles and tosses the hair from his eyes. “Again, it would be discourtesy. I neither want to break your bed nor frighten you. Removing the binds is a sign that I have earned some small fraction of trust through my honesty.”

I think about his argument for a moment. He does have a point. He could probably break the entire bed and just pull his arms free from the rope on his wrists. If he is luring me into a false sense of security, he is failing. If he is winning me over with his argument, then he is doing a pretty good job.

“So, I let you go, and then, at some point, you repay this life debt you say you owe me?” I ask. Raven nods, his face stoic and serious.

“You have my word,” he states politely.

I look backward to the one window in my bedroom and see that it is definitely getting lighter outside. I look back at him. He was taking a chance with me and was hoping I would do the same with him. I heave a hefty sigh, which seems to make Raven a little nervous. He readjusts himself on the bed and looks like he is mounting another argument for his release, but I make up my mind.

I walk over to the edge of the bed and slowly tug the knots free from his ankles. His keen eyes watch me the entire time, drinking in my actions, obviously ravenous for freedom. The last bit of rope comes free from his ankles before I move onto his left wrist. It is free in an instant, but Raven makes no move to readjust or pull it toward him. He keeps it where it was, slightly above his head, and completely relaxed.

I finally tug the right rope free from his wrist and step away from the bed. He waits until I step away, shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, before daring to lower his arms. Slowly, as if I have a gun trained on him, he pushes himself upright onto the bed, swings his legs off the mattress, and stands.

I realize only now how much taller and broader he is than me. I have to crane my neck ever so slightly up to look into his green eyes. The way his curly hair falls outlines his face in shadow, illuminating the green of his eyes. In the relative darkness of my room, he is an ominous sight.

My heart leaps once again into my throat. I wonder for a moment if he really meant what he said about not attacking me, especially when he smiles and his teeth practically glow in the dark.

“I will not forget your kindness, Blair,” he says softly. “Thank you, and know I am a man of my word. My debt will be paid.”

With that, he spins faster than I can blink and is at the window. It is unlatched and thrown open in a moment and, with that, Raven is gone.

I stand there for every bit of two seconds before sinking to my knees. My hands are shaking as is the rest of my body.

What just happened?

Did that just happen?

A vampire owes me a life debt?

Though I felt fear in that moment when he stood, I close my eyes and see his eyes and the lack of malice in them. Maybe it is some kind of vampire charm, but I actually believe him. I see his eyes in the darkness behind my eyelids and know, for one reason or another, that he isn’t going to come calling on me for a midnight snack.

I feel no fear, but is that a good or bad thing?