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changeling

Something vas very different. I came awake alert, quickly, and very, very hungry. I could move well again, no longer was I clumsy and slow. Sounds were clear, my eyes sharp. And I quickly discovered my emotional responses were swifter, when I encountered a neglected, nearly foodless kitchen! The cupboards contained soup, and cold cereal. My refrigerator contained....several extinct Biology experiments. I was wild with disappointment and hunger! I found a chocolate bar and wolfed it down in two bites. Chinese food! I wanted Chinese food! And I wanted it right now!! Gods. 1 was a mess. I couldn't go out like this! And no one delivers Chinese food. I screamed aloud, and made a mad dash around the house trying to get organized to go out. All the while, I could smell and taste that hot and sour soup! I was yanking on my jacket and heading out the door, keys in hand when I ran headfirst into Leonard. "Will you calm down, you're giving me a headache! ", he rubbed his forehead with his free hand, the other held a large paper bag. and delicious smells arose from within it. I squealed with delight. "I smell Hunan!" 1 cried, and jerked the bag from his grasp, sprinting into the kitchen for a fork. He laughed, "I see you are feeling better." I nodded, my mouth lull of broccoli beef, ravaging the contents of the carton.

Len shook his head, set the table for one, carried the remaining cartons to the table, then pushed me to it. 'Now, sit down and eat properly. Here, take off your coat. Do vou realize vou are still barefoot'?" I stared down at my naked feet. and laughed. "Oh, no! I was in such a hurry...." It was so strange, I was feeling so much different. "Ouch!" I bit the inside of my mouth, something was odd about my teeth. they seemed not to fit in quite the same way anymore. I stopped and stared at him. Good Lord! I was changing! I was becoming...l was becoming a vampire! He smiled at my sudden realization. "Yes, Debbie, my dear, you are!" And he could read my thoughts. Len stood behind me as I devoured my feast. He massaged my shoulders gently, his strong hands dipping ever lower in front, then sweeping up my neck io knead my scalp and forehead. I didn't know if 1 had ever been quite this hungry before in my life. Everything tasted absolutely wonderful! The smell, texture, and look of the food was marvelous. Had it always been so fabulous, and I had simply been blind to it'? 1 looked at my house with new eyes. Man, was it dirty! Dust lay everywhere, and it had collected in all the little hollows carved into my antiques. Spider webs Miss Havisham would have envied festooned the place. How long had I been ill'? "What's the date?" I asked,"How long since you first...visited me?"

"How long?" He looked closely at me. "You'd better prepare yourself ..three months."

I was stunned. "Three months? How could that be? I only remember a few days!" I stopped wolfing down my curried shrimp and stared at him. "You have been sleeping most of the time. It's part of the process." Three months!" I pointed at him with my chopsticks "And in all that time. we've never really talked. What are you afraid of, Leonard`? Why can't you talk to me? Are you afraid I won't like you'?  That you might get to know me, maybe even like me`? Or don't you talk to prey? Am I somehow beneath you`?" I w as mad, now, and how! I had come to stand before him without meaning to, and we were toe to toe. 1 dropped my chopsticks and shoved him backwards. "What the hell is the matter with you. anyway'? Is it all women, or just me you can't deal with?" Somehow, I just kept getting angrier. "Deborah, control yourself!" Len ' seemed more wary than angry, though it didn't register at the time. "I thought that was your job, oh lord and master!" I was boiling over now, and pounced on him. knocking him to the floor. "Deborah!" He gripped my wrists and tried to push me from him, but I righted myself and straddled him, jerking myself free of his grip. "You shit!" 1 cried. and slapped him as hard as I could. I slapped him several more times, cursing angrily. Then he gave out a roar and rolled over, pinning me to the ground. ""Behave yourself!" He cried.

I writhed angrily beneath him, getting nowhere fast. Then something snapped, and I felt quite serene. Time slowed, and my vision narrowed, I was looking down a red-lit tunnel. tiny yellow stars waked at me around the edges of it.  I felt no pain, only a knowledge of touching things. And I knew I could take him . I felt myself smiling, enjoying the buzzing m my ears, and I simply turned him to his back, and buried my fangs in his jugular. Hot, warm, life filled my mouth, and I swallowed it with gusto. I realized I was chuckling, and had torn both of our trousers down and mounted him. I worked my hips as I worried his throat with my newfound teeth. I felt power and strength suffuse my body, and became dimly aware of his moaning, his arms pulling me closer. And I drained him dry, of blood and semen both, my orgasm nearly knocking me from him in it's power. I collapsed atop him, wondering if I had killed him.

He seemed well enough, well enough for now anyway.  I wiped my mouth clean, fastened my clothes, and heeded the night's call, never to look back again.  I had become Vampire.