Page 69 of John’s Yearning

“No. We’ll be waiting for the ship to dock. We’ll be there before them. Because we have something they don’t. We have allies who can take us there. They’ll transport us.”

“What?” She looked at him, confused.

“Savannah, our allies, the people who’ll help us save Buffy and the other girls, they’re not human.” He swallowed hard. “And neither am I.”

She pulled free of him and took a step back. He let it happen. “That’s crazy.”

“It might sound crazy. But it’s real. I’m real. My friends are called Stealth Guardians. They’re an ancient race able to teleport to anywhere in the world via their portals. They can get us to Russia in a few minutes.”

She stared at him as if he’d lost his mind. In her shoes, he would have thought the same, because mankind’s age-old dream of teleportation was just that, a dream scientists hadn’t yet been able to turn into reality.

“They are a benevolent race who’s made it their mission to protect the innocent. Just like we have, my colleagues and I here at Scanguards. We’re not just simple bodyguards and security guys. We’re not human, though we once were.” He watched her intently now. “We were human before we were turned.” He waited. Saw her contemplating his words, noticed her shake her head, witnessed the glimmer of emerging knowledge in her eyes. “I’m a vampire, Savannah.”

~ ~ ~

At first, she thought she’d heard wrong. Vampire. She associated the word with fiction, with movies, TV shows, with the female TV heroine she’d named Buffy after. It wasn’t real, she knew that, had never once believed that there was any truth to the centuries-old lore about creatures of the night who lived on the blood of humans. But John wouldn’t joke about something like that, wouldn’t choose this moment of all moments, where she was losing hope of ever seeing Buffy again, to dish up a lie. Not after all they’d been through together. Not after the things they’d told each other, the promise they’d made to each other that they’d be there to support each other, to be there for one another.

She looked at him. John stood there in utter silence, motionless and rigid. As if waiting for the axe to fall. And in that silence, every moment they’d spent in each other’s company came rushing back to her. Details suddenly emerged that she’d dismissed: the fact that he hadn’t eaten when she had, the lack of a mirror in his home, the claim that he’d run out of coffee, the blood on his chin.

But there were other things that contradicted his claim that he was a vampire. She glanced at the window. The sun was setting now, but earlier, during daylight, John had been in this office, with the sun shining into the room. And he’d driven his car during daylight, moved around his house freely as if the sun didn’t bother him.

Slowly, Savannah shook her head. “But the sun… it didn’t burn you. We were outside together. You can’t be what you say you are.” She couldn’t say the word, though she was surprised at herself that she was so calm. Maybe nothing could scare or upset her anymore. Because the worst thing that could happen had already happened to her: Buffy was gone, and her hope of getting her back was fading fast.

“Search your memory, and you’ll remember that I was never outside. Always in a room, or the car, my house, this building. Never outside while the sun was up.”

“But the sun comes through the windows.”

“Special UV-coating. We use it everywhere in this building, in our homes, our cars. So we can move freely during daylight hours. Because the sun does burn us, kill us if we’re exposed for too long.”

She accepted the explanation, but did that mean he was telling the truth? Could she take his word at face value? “I want to believe you, John. I want to believe that everything you’re saying is the truth, that the guardians you speak of are real and that teleportation is real. That there is a way to get Buffy back. I want to believe it, but I… I don’t know how. I have no hope left. And I fear that what you’re telling me is in my imagination, that this conversation isn’t even taking place, it’s just in my mind, because I so desperately want to save Buffy.”

“You need proof.”

Savannah nodded.

“I can show you who I really am. I just want you to be prepared for what you’ll see. Most people are frightened when a vampire shows his true face. But I want you to remember that I would never hurt you. I may have piercing fangs and sharp claws, red eyes and the strength of a hundred men, but you have nothing to fear from me. I will always protect you. And Buffy. Will you believe me?”

“I will,” she said, without hesitation. She knew with certainty that John didn’t mean her any harm. She’d always felt that, felt it from the first moment she’d met him. That belief had grown stronger over the last few days.

“Then look at me,” he demanded softly.

He lifted his arms and drew her gaze upon them. His beautiful strong hands suddenly changed, his fingers growing long sharp barbs where his fingernails were. Savannah drew in a quick breath and lifted her eyes to his face, while her heart started beating frantically.

“Don’t be afraid,” John begged. His lips parted and slowly two teeth started to lengthen, one to each side of his incisors, until they were fully formed piercing sharp fangs where his canines had been.

“Oh my God.”

She pressed her hand to her chest, willing her heart to slow, when she noticed John’s eyes change color. First, the chocolate brown irises turned golden, then red. She’d seen the golden color before, had noticed it when they’d made love and thought that it had been a play of light. Now she knew. She’d seen a part of his vampire side, a part that had slipped through in the throes of passion.

There was no doubt now. He was a vampire. A creature who fed on the blood of humans.

She reached her hand out to him, took a step or two toward him.

“Don’t,” he demanded. “Please, Savannah, don’t touch me now.”

Her breath hitched. “You said you wouldn’t hurt me.” Or had that been a lie?

“I won’t.” He swallowed. “But when I’m in my vampire form, I’m not as civilized as usual. I have a harder time controlling my desire for you. If you touch me in my current form, I’ll try to kiss you, and you won’t be able to stop me.”