Heartless Love Chapter 2
A razor thin stream of sunlight singed Elinor’s upper thigh about halfway up. The smell of her burning flesh immediately hit her nose and her eyes snapped open. She jolted out of the bed to the other side of the room. “Ow...” the vampire muttered, cursing under her breath.
Her eyes flicked down to her right thigh. She saw the line created by the sunlight and sighed heavily. Her fingers trailed along the small ridge it created and sighed softly, knowing what time it was again. As she lifted her fingers from the mark, it healed itself.
Elinor lifted her gaze to the rest of the room. A faint chuckle left her lips at the state of the motel room in front of her. Empty beer bottles scattered about the room. Clothes thrown whatever which way. Two beautiful women laying asleep and cuddling with one another in the bed. Hickeys and little bite marks clear along their necks. The woman on the right was only halfway covered by the horrendously designed motel blanket.
Her tongue dragged across her lips briefly as she recalled their taste. She allowed herself a moment to replay the events of the previous night in her mind before searching for her phone. She gathered her clothes and set them on the foot of the bed before rummaging through them until she found her phone in her black jacket pocket. Elinor unlocked it and composed a new message to Hallie.
At the motel. Need blood.
A few minutes passed before Elinor’s phone dinged.
Be right over. Give me five.
Elinor sent her a quick message back.
Thanks Hal.
A soft sigh escaped the vampire’s lips as she threw her phone down on the hotel table. She ran her fingers through her long dark hair as she made her way over to the bed, scooping up her pile of clothes. After doing so, she eyed the sleeping females in the bed before using her vampiric speed to escape into the bathroom.
Elinor washed herself down and dried herself off, slipping on her clothes from the previous night. She walked out of the bathroom just as there was a knock on the door. She sped to the door and glanced through the peephole. Once seeing that it was Hallie, Elinor let her in. She closed the door behind her and grabbed ahold of her wrist. “Thanks again, Hal.”
“What are friends for?” Hallie greeted, a small smirk curling on her lips at the unspoken eagerness from her vampire friend. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the sting of Elinor’s fangs piercing her skin.
The vampire lifted the redhead’s wrist to her mouth and opened wide. Her fangs grew out of her normal human teeth. Her eyes glowed a brief yellow and black veins, spider-webbed out from around her eyes to the rest of her face like a mask. She bit down hard on Hallie’s skin and broke it easily. The warm red blood filled inside her mouth and she swallowed once her mouth filled. Elinor did this three times before pulling Hallie’s wrist away. She lapped up the excess blood with her tongue before wiping the edges of her lips. “That should hold me for a little while longer than usual.”
Hallie stumbled back a few steps before her slightly glazed over eyes glided over to her friend. “I sure hope so.” She joked with an airy chuckle. Her gaze shifted over to the bed and waggled her index finger towards the women. “I see you had yourself a little fun.”
“They definitely were.” Elinor said darkly, her lips curling deeply into a knowing smirk. Just as she was about to gesture to the door for them to leave, her phone rang with an alert for another message. She quickly retrieved her phone and read over the message, her eyes widening slightly. “Shit...”
“What is it?” Hallie asked, returned her gaze over to her friend.
“Remember the girl we met at the bar about a week ago? Dawn... Her sister never showed up at all at night. She sent me a text. Her sister is dead. They found her a few days ago. She wants me to come over to her place.” Elinor explained, slipping her phone into her pocket. “I need to go.”
“We need to go. I’m coming with you.”
Elinor shook her head as she made her way to the door. “She just wanted me.”
“She didn’t say that.” The fae insisted with a roll of her eyes. “If you won’t let me come with, let me walk you there. I came all this way for you.”
After a moment, the vampire sighed heavily and scoffed lightly. “Fine. Let’s get going. She sounds like she’s not taking this well.”
Hallie squealed happily and quickly raced to follow Elinor out of the door to the motel. “You won’t regret this! Promise!” She exclaimed happily.
The vampire rolled her eyes a bit after the door closed behind them. She pulled out her phone when they walked onto the pavement and quickly sent a text to Dawn, asking for her address. It was about three minutes before she received the text with the address. “Just a few blocks from here. Convenient.” Elinor noted with a bit of a brief chuckle. She turned the phone towards the fae.
Hallie squinted a little at the screen as a slow smirk etched itself on her ruby red lips.
“She lives in the neighborhood next to our apartment.” Elinor said, meeting Hallie’s gaze for a moment before slipping her phone back into her pocket. “Let’s go, shall we?” She raised her brow encouragingly with a playful smile sitting on her lips.
“We shall.” Hallie replied playfully.
The vampire and the fae sped off towards Dawn’s home, traveling at supernatural speed. They arrived at her front door within a minute. For a normal human, it would have taken at least ten minutes to arrive at the white shingled house.
Matching white pillars held up the small square porch roof connected to the house. Elinor walked up the light grey concrete step leading up to the front door. She traced her finger on one groove of the black doorframe, slowly easing her finger to the dark oak door. She balled her hand into a fist and knocked on the door a few times, ringing the doorbell once. “Dawn! It’s me... Elinor.” She lowered her hand down to her side, placing both of her hands on her hips as she waited for the strawberry-blonde to answer the door.
Five minutes later, the door opened up to reveal the disheveled strawberry-blonde young woman. A dark navy robe around her form, her plain white shirt peeking out of the v-neck made from the robe. Her black shorts showing just a sliver of their existence past the hem of the robe.
Dawn leaned the side of her head on the door frame and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her hair clung to her neck a little. Under her eyes were puffy and slightly bloodshot from crying. “Hey...” she said weakly, sniffling once before meeting Elinor’s gaze.
A crying human wasn’t something that Elinor dealt with often, at least without the ability to compel them to stop crying before drinking their blood. It made her shift her weight from one foot to the other, and she placed her hands into her jacket pockets.
Elinor offered her the best sympathetic smile she could. “Hey... I got your text. Wanna talk about it?” She asked, raising her brow a little.
She nodded her head a little, looking like she was about to cry again. “Y-Yeah... Come in.” Dawn said softly and nodded her head again. She stepped out of the way for Elinor to walk inside the house.
The dark-haired woman stepped forward, walking into the house with ease considering that she invited her into the home. With Dawn being the only alive person on the deed to the home, all she needed was her invitation to enter the home whenever she desired.
“Are you coming in too?” Dawn asked, sniffling a little when she looked out onto her street and saw the familiar red-head.
“I’ve... actually have a thing I have to get to. I just wanted to walk El here. She can be a little directionally challenged.” Hallie teased with an airy chuckle. “I’ll catch you later, Dawn. I wish you the best.”
Dawn nodded her head and flashed her the best smile she could muster. “Thanks... you too.”
The fae glanced over at her vampire friend and winked playfully. “See ya.” She waved before walking away from the house down the side of the street.
Dawn turned to Elinor and closed the door behind them, locking it. She pressed her back against it, avoiding the dark-haired woman’s gaze. “Want anything? I’ve got tea, coffee, water, and I think I have orange juice.”
Elinor chuckled lightly. Her eyes flicked over her form and she smiled. “I should ask you that. I’m pretty good at cooking too, if you’re hungry, that is. Let me make you something.” She reached her hand out and tucked some of her strawberry-blonde strands behind her ear. “I’m here to make sure that you are alright. Not the other way around.” Her finger lingered behind Dawn’s ear a big longer than it should have. Not that the human seemed to pay attention to something like that.
“Why don’t you freshen up and I’ll make us something for breakfast?” Elinor suggested, letting her hand fall back to her side. “I won’t burn anything down. I’ve been around the kitchen once or twice in my life before.” A light smirk curled on her lips as a teasing chuckle left her throat.
Dawn’s heartbeat slowed down, and she seemed to calm down from the tense moment. She opened her mouth to say something, though it wasn’t until a few moments later did she say anything, “That...” She drawled out, blinking a few times, “that sounds great. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Care to take me to the kitchen, m’lady? So that I may prepare a meal for us.” The vampire half-joked with a shallow bow. She winked playfully at Dawn when she rose to her full height. A scattering of memories passed by in her mind as she watched the human woman half-lidded when she cracked a small smile.
“Of course.” Dawn said, nodding a little. She took her through the hallway at the entrance and led her up to the kitchen, up a staircase around the corner. “This is it.” Dawn announced, placing her hand against the half-wall separating the kitchen from the dining room table. She gave Elinor a quick tour of the kitchen. She tapped her fingers against the countertop. “I’ll be right back. Thank you... again... for this.”
“You’re welcome. Now go relax in the shower for a bit. I should be done by the time you’re out and we can eat.” The vampire urged, taking up a spatula and pointing the opposite direction of the kitchen.
Dawn nodded and walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. The fan kicked on and the water turned on.
Images flashed in the front of Elinor’s mind of the things she would do with the human in the shower from her experiences with her first love and ex-girlfriend. She would place her hands on her hips, pulling her close. She would reach up and place a finger under her chin, tipping her head up slightly to capture her lips in a soft and slow kiss. Her hand under her chin would move to the back of her neck, enveloping her in a deep and passionate kiss. Her fingers, placed delicately on her hip, would hold on to her a little tighter before traveling to her backside, giving it a firm squeeze.
Elinor’s heartbeat raced at the thought. Her breasts and pussy ached. She closed her eyes and shook her head to free herself from those thoughts. She cleared her throat lightly before looking through her fridge to see what she could scramble together for a few French style omelets.
With the veggies cut and the eggs scrambled together in a bowl, she cooked the eggs in the hot buttered pan. When the eggs almost cooked fully, but still a little liquid, she placed the veggies in the center and folded the egg over itself into a square before folding it over itself. She repeated the process for the second one and plated both of them. Next, she made a pot of coffee and poured the hot liquid into two cups, leaving enough room to put in any sugar, cream, or both.
A few minutes passed and Dawn walked into the kitchen, fully clothed in a white tank top, light brown knit cardigan, and a pair of black leggings. “I take it you found everything alright. Because it smells delicious in here.” She greeted, moving a few strands of her damp strawberry-blonde hair off of her cheek.
Elinor nodded, “I did. I made French omelets and a fresh pot of coffee.” She said, her eyes flicking up from the coffeemaker. A small chuckle left her throat as she pointed to her own neck. “You forgot your little choker that you were wearing the night we met. It was cute.”
Dawn’s fingers raised to graze against her neck, searching for the choker. “I’m not sure if I should thank you, but thank you. I must really be out of it today.” She sighed heavily as she ran her fingers through her wet strawberry-blonde tresses.
“Well, it is understandable. You’re grieving.” Elinor said, shrugging her shoulders dismissively. “I can go grab it for you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just grab it real quick if you want to get yourself settled.” She walked back into the hallway to the bathroom and grabbed the thin piece of fabric, tying it in a bow around her neck. She returned to Elinor and slipping behind her to add her much needed sugar and a dash of cream into her coffee.
The vampire eyed the black ribbon choker around her neck, spotting that it was a little asymmetrical. The right string was just slightly longer than the other, lingering longingly against the center of her chest. “Now that looks better.” Her eyes followed along the length of the ribbon up to her neck before she met Dawn’s gaze.
“Thanks?” Dawn chuckled slightly. Her brow raising curiously at the comment from the dark-haired female. She grabbed her plate and the cup by the handle. “Mind grabbing silverware? First drawer on the left.”
“Not at all.” Elinor opened the drawer beside her on the left and grabbed two forks. She held them underneath her plate when she grabbed hers before grabbing her coffee. The vampire followed Dawn’s lead over to the living room. She walked over to the far side of the couch, opposite of the other female.
The vampire crossed her right leg over her left, setting her plate down in her lap. She leaned forward and passed a fork over Dawn, who took it gladly. With the side of the fork, Elinor cut a bite-sized piece of the omelet. She chewed the bite of eggs and veggies, moaning softly at the savory taste spread in her mouth. She swallowed and drifted her attention over to the other female, watching as she did the same.
“What do you think?” Elinor asked.
“Mm... It is fantastic. Thank you.” Dawn smiled briefly, pressing her fist to her lips for a moment. “These are the best omelet that I’ve ever had. Where did you learn to make this?”
Elinor chuckled at her question. “I traveled for a time in France with an ex-girlfriend of mine. She loved cooking and wanted to learn from the best of the best. So we went, and I thought that I’d learn a few tricks of my own while I was at it.”
“Ah. Fair enough. What was it like? France, I mean. Not the girlfriend part. Not that I have anything against it or anything. I think it is great that you like girls and aren’t afraid to show it.” Dawn rambled. A tinge of nervousness lining her voice.
Listening to the short nervous rambling coming from the human woman made Elinor raise her brow and laugh aloud. Her last memory of laughing had to be 10 years, at least. The laugh that came from her lips was genuine. She wasn’t faking it like how she would with a human she intended to feed on. Even then, it was because she wanted to make it a little fun for herself instead of compelling them to follow her.
The vampire lifted a lazy fist to her lips, covering her mouth with her laughter. It tickled her. It was a full minute before Elinor composed herself, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh at that. The way you ramble on is so cute.”
Dawn wasn’t sure how to feel about the female across from her, laughing at her nervous rambling. Though because of the laughter, the corners of her lips curled into a tiny smile and she didn’t feel nearly as sad as she had when she got the call from the mortuary about her sister. “It’s fine...” she murmured.
“To answer your question, France was fun. When we were there, they were having this festival. The food was great and those lessons I took with my ex were fantastic. I learned so much while I was there and not just in the kitchen.” Elinor said. A smirk crossed her lips as she met the human’s gaze. “She was my first, but things didn’t work out in the end. As they do whenever I try to have a serious relationship with anyone.”
“Why do you think that? What happened between you two?” Dawn asked, tilting her head gently to the side. Her eyes filled with a curious gaze that sprinkled and swirled with the sad. She placed her empty plate on the end table just behind her and took up her coffee cup. She sipped at the slightly sweet and bitter beverage.
“It’s... a long story. Let’s just say that I wasn’t ready to come out to my parents, and she wanted nothing to do with me because I wasn’t out.” Elinor winced, in-taking a sharp breath through her teeth. She got up from the couch and set her half-eaten breakfast beside Dawn’s. She returned to the couch and sat sideways, crossing her legs.
Her hands found their way between her legs as she shifted her weight to her palms. “I came out shortly after our breakup. They took it about as well as I would’ve expected. My brother knew before I officially came out to the rest of my family.” A sigh left her slightly parted lips.
To Elinor, it felt like it was just yesterday that she had come out to her traditionalist parents. It all came out in an argument about an arranged marriage that they set up for her when she was just a few cells inside of her mother’s womb. The young century old vampire couldn’t hold herself back when they went on and on about this marriage that she didn’t want. She wanted to marry her first girlfriend, who broke her heart. She wanted to marry for love. But that wasn’t in the cards for her.
Her parents were furious. An old vase barely grazed Elinor’s head and a large shard of glass lodged itself in her shoulder. She yanked it from her flesh and sped towards her father in attempts to hurt him as her wound closed up. It was to no avail when Leon grabbed her wrist, calling her a fledgling as his powerful grip forced the glass in her hand to fall to the ground and shatter. He sent her to her room to think about what she had done.
Dawn’s hand on her shoulder broke Elinor from her thoughts. On her lips was a soft sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry that your parents didn’t accept you when you came out. I know how hard it can be when your parents don’t accept you for you. My parents were slow to warm up to the idea that their eldest daughter, my sister, was a lesbian. But they eventually warmed up to it because they loved Alyce.” Her hand slowly trailed down the length of Elinor’s arm to her hand, grasping it.
A tear fell onto Elinor’s thumb and she wiped her cheek dry. She blinked a few times. A puzzling look contorted on her face. She had cried. That was something that she hadn’t done in a very long time. She shut down most of her emotions to protect herself. Yet here she was, opening up to this human female. She couldn’t go into detail about the exact specifics.
Elinor raised her gaze to meet Dawn’s and cleared her throat lightly. “Thank you. I-I’m sorry that I made this about me all of a sudden. This was supposed to be about you.” She shook her head lightly. Her eyes searched the living room.
Pictures of Dawn and a slightly older woman adorned the frames hanging on the walls. Her sister, she assumed. The pictures ranged from when they were children to a few weeks ago when they purchased the house. Between the blonde hair, the similar facial shape, and the amber eyes, her assumption was correct. Upon further inspection, Alyce’s face struck a familiar cord in Elinor.
Images flashed in her mind of the night that she met Dawn. She claimed her sister was always early to meeting up with her. The vampire came across the same blonde on her way to meet with Hallie. She admired Alyce’s beauty from afar before making her way over to her across the street, and striking a conversation with her. After walking together for what amounted to five minutes, Elinor used her power of compulsion to lure her into the alley.
The vampire pinned her to the brick wall with her body with her arms on either side of the blonde human. Her lips crashed against her warm pink lips, enveloping them in a passionate and breathtaking kiss. As she pulled away ever so slightly, she placed one hand on Alyce’s abdomen to keep her in place. Her lips found their way to the human’s neck, kissing it at first while finding the perfect spot to sink her teeth into. Her fangs grazed against the skin and Alyce’s alluring moans filled her ears, causing an animalistic stir in her moments before she plunged her fangs into her. The delectable blood filled the vampire’s mouth, and she swallowed it so wholly before sucking. She alternated between sucking and swallowing her blood until all of it drained from her body.
Alyce’s body went limp in her grasp, and Elinor pulled her body away from the wall. She simply let her fall to the ground as she was. Her tongue jutting out of her mouth to lick the access blood dripping from the corners. Her hunger satiated for now. The blonde was a nice little snack before meeting up with her friend.
A momentary pang of guilt hit Elinor, knowing that she was the one who killed Dawn’s sister. She was the reason the woman sitting across from her was so sad, and she contacted her for solace for what happened with Alyce. She mentally cursed herself. Rarely did she think about the families of the humans she killed to sustain herself with their blood. She never gave it a second thought. Until now, that is.
“It’s okay. It actually helped me forget for a minute about what happened to Alyce. I just-” Dawn took a sip from her coffee. “I just can’t believe that she’s gone. She was the light of my life after our parents died. She took care of me... us. We lost our parents when we were teens. Well, she was. I was eleven when we lost them.”
Hearing Dawn talk again broke her from her thoughts. She brought her attention back to her as she explained a little about her history with her sister. “What happened to your parents?” Elinor asked.
“They died. It was an accident, so you don’t have to worry about it. It happened a long time ago so you don’t have to worry about me.” Dawn explained, shrugging her shoulders. “I went through the grieving process already for them. Just...,” Her voice trailed off for a little, “Have to do it again with my sister.”
Elinor listened intentionally to her words. Normally, whenever she heard conversations such as this, she would block out what they had to say. Especially when they spoke about the people she killed so she could live. Slowly, she leaned forward and placed a hand on Dawn’s, her fingers curling around hers.
The small pit in her stomach grew when she finally met her gaze after she explained what happened to her parents and how she would have to grieve over her sister. “I’m sorry for what happened to your parents and your sister. You shouldn’t have had to go through all of that.”
Dawn’s lips quivered and her eyes watered, pooling on her eyelids until they fell down her cheeks. Her crying slowly escalated to sobbing. Her body shook and her heartbeat quickened.
Elinor closed her eyes for a moment as an overwhelming sense of guilt washed over her. Her heart ached hearing her. She felt this way once before with Hallie during her transition into a redcap fairy. She hated seeing her like that and she hated seeing the human breaking down like she was.
The vampire tightened her grip on her hand before moving closer to her. She let go of her hand to wrap her arms around her, bringing her into a hug. She held onto her in attempts to put the broken pieces back together, to make it all better in this one hug. “Let it all out. It’ll be okay. I promise...” she uttered softly, her fingers tangling into the strawberry-blonde strands as she pulled her head onto her shoulder.
Dawn buried her head in the nape of Elinor’s neck and wrapped her arms around her. She grabbed a handful of the fabric of her jacket, pulling down on it slightly as she held onto her tight. She was afraid to let go, as if she would unravel right in her arms if she wasn’t holding on for dear life.
It had to have been a solid five minutes until Dawn stopped sobbing and another five until she pulled away from the firm embrace. She rubbed her eyes with her fingertips and wiped off her cheeks with her sleeves. “... Thank you. I think that was the best hug I’ve had in a while.” She sniffled. Her heartbeat calmed back down and the tears ceased to fall from her eyes.
“Don’t mention it.” The vampire said as she left the couch to grab a tissue. When she returned, her phone rung in her pocket. She handed Dawn the tissue with a small smile before fishing out her phone. “I’ll just be a minute.” She looked at who was calling her. It was her parents, of all people. She picked up the phone and pressed to her ear, “What’s going on?” She asked, curious why they called her out of the blue like this.
“Come to the Estate.”
“I’m kind of in the middle of something.” Elinor sneered. “And you never call.”
“Just come to the Estate, my darling child of mine.” Sarcasm lined the masculine British voice on the other end of the phone. “There is something here for you.”
“That’s not ominous at all. I’ll be over when I can.” Without as much as a goodbye, Elinor hung up the phone and stuffed it back into her pocket. She turned her attention over to Dawn and sighed slowly. “I have to go. My parents called me, which is never good because they never call me.”
Dawn nodded her head slowly. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine.” Her eyes told a different story, however. “Just... could you come back tonight?” She avoided her gaze, glancing down at the floor. “I don’t think I can be alone.”
“Of course. This family thing shouldn’t be long. It usually never is.” Elinor said as she walked in front of the human on the couch. She lifted her chin with her curled index finger, making her gently meet her eyes. “I promise I’ll return."
