By Girl Lover
A mother and father were sleeping soundly in their room. Down the hall, a very young girl, perhaps five years old, was also asleep, unaware of the window sliding up silently. A small black shape crawled noiselessly through the open window and along the floor, towards the bed. Susan’s breathing quickened. She watched in horror as the black shape rose up above the little girl, its eyes a dark red, fangs glistening in the dim light. Susan tried to call out, to wake the little girl and warn her, but no sound came out. Her cries were as silent as the malevolent shape that knelt over the girl as it plunged its fangs into her neck. As blood sprayed out and ran down the sleeping girl’s neck in rivulets, Susan could only watch as the dark shape glanced up and looked at her, snarling. Leaping over the girl and onto Susan, it knocked her to the floor. Unable to move, Susan cried out as she clearly saw Elena’s enraged face, just before she opened her mouth wide and plunged her fangs into Susan’s own neck. Susan screamed…
…as she jerked up in bed. Her eyes opened wide as her breaths came in gasps, she looked around wildly, but there was nothing there. It was just her room. Still breathing hard, she stared at her door. Quickly snatching the cross on the nightstand, she got out of bed. Trying not to make a sound, she slowly and quietly walked to the door and opened it, then stepped out into the hall, tip-toeing slowly towards the living room so she could peek around the corner at the couch.
Reading a book, Elena looked up at her in surprise, then seeing the scared look on Susan’s, her face became concerned as she laid down the book. “Susan… what’s wrong?”
Susan didn’t answer, but instead stared at Elena in fear. The dream had scared her so much, reminding her as to what Elena was. She backed away.
Rising up in concern, Elena asked, “Susan…?”
Susan kept backing away. The concern on Elena’s face slowly replaced with sadness as she recognized the fear in Susan’s eyes. The same fear she had seen many times before on others who only saw her as a murderous monster. She looked down, saying quietly, “I’m sorry… I never wanted to frighten you.” Turning, she went to the door, opened it and left, closing the door behind her.
Staring at the closed door, half scared and half relieved, Susan quickly went over and locked it, then feeling faint, she went over to the couch and fell onto it. Leaning her head back, she tried to calm down. Spying the book that Elena had been reading, she picked it up and looked at it. Strictly No Elephants. It was a book that she had in her classroom and though it was aimed at elementary age children, she loved it. It was about a boy’s pet elephant that wasn’t allowed in a club simply because it was different from all the other pets. The story was about accepting everyone, no matter how different they are.
‘This is not the same. The elephant isn’t some dangerous predator that kills people’, she told her guilty conscience.
‘She tries not to harm anyone’, her conscience told her.
‘She doesn’t have to drink blood. Why can’t she be normal like the rest of us?!’ Susan retorted.
‘Why can’t Matthew be normal like the rest of us. You remember Matthew… the boy in your class who is mentally disabled because of fetal alcohol syndrome?’
‘It’s not his fault he was born that way.’
‘It’s not her fault she was made that way.’
‘But she’s dangerous. What is she going to do when she gets hungry?!’ she argued.
‘She told you that she seeks out animals instead of people.’
‘She also told me that when she can’t find an animal, she goes after people. I know I told her she could stay, but… she can’t. What if she was just pretending so that she could…’
‘Like transgender people are just pretending when they want to use the appropriate restroom.’
‘God, I hate my conscience!’
She couldn’t think of anything to say. Her reasons, though seemingly rational, were just as prejudiced as the club in Strictly No Elephants. Elena had put her faith in Susan just as much as Susan had in Elena. She had always thought that she could accept anyone who was good.
Was Elena good… or dangerous? She heard Elena’s voice in her head, ‘I want to be able to talk to and interact with people like I used to before I was turned… I want to have a friend.’
Susan bit her lower lip, as again, Elena’s voice spoke to her, ‘Why would you trust someone like me?’
She mouthed the answer that she had given Elena, ‘Because of everything you’ve told me.’
She got up and ran to her bedroom. Looking at the cross in her hand, she quickly put it on the shelf in the back of her closet. Quickly pulling off her nightgown, she threw on her clothes and grabbed her keys as she ran out the door. Looking quickly all around, she couldn’t see anyone, so she began the long trek towards the warehouse. She didn’t know if Elena would be there but she didn’t know where else to look.
She walked quickly, the attack still fresh in her mind. More wary of her surroundings, she constantly looked around for any sign of danger as well as for Elena. Fifteen minutes later, she was walking through the door and inside the warehouse.
“Elena!” Her call echoed like an explosion in the stillness. She listened and looked all around, but couldn’t see anything.
“Elena, are you here?” Still nothing.
Turning slowly in a circle, not knowing where to face, she continued, “I’m sorry. I… had a bad dream and it scared me. This is all new to me. I mean… I don’t know you and you’re not supposed to be real anyways. All I know is what everyone says about vampires.”
She walked towards the darkness of the office that she was in, but halfway there, her fear of the darkness within immobilized her.
“I’m sorry!” she called out to the emptiness, “I didn’t mean to… please answer me!” Her hopes sank as she whispered, “You probably hate me.”
“I don’t hate you,” a small voice came from behind her.
Susan shrieked. Quickly turning, she saw Elena right behind her. “Elena… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… say that you’re… I had a really awful dream and I was scared.”
“I know,” Elena said quietly. “I don’t want you to be scared of me. That’s why I left.”
Elena looked into Susan’s eyes, “I would never hurt you. I’m trusting you with my life during the daytime so please trust me with yours.”
“I get scared really easily,” Susan explained. “My friend Stacy is always teasing me about it.”
“You don’t need to be.”
Susan nodded. Looking around at the emptiness, she asked, “Where were you when I was calling?”
“Up there,” Elena pointed up at the steel support beam that ran along the ceiling some forty feet above them.
Susan’s eyes widened. “How did you get up there?!”
“Like this.” Elena jumped up onto a nearby steel support column that ran from the floor to the ceiling, and began quickly climbing up it by pulling herself up with her hands. In a matter of seconds, she’d crawled out onto the narrow ledge that ran the length of the ceiling.
If Susan hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she never would have believed it. Elena was almost out of sight unless you were looking directly at her. Then to Susan’s horror, she dropped off the ledge and plummeted to the ground. Susan’s hands flew up to her mouth in horror, but Elena landing unharmed on her feet.
Once she recovered from her shock, Susan said, “Okay, I really need to go to bed. Elena, will you come back with me?”
“Yes.”
They walked back, Susan much more comfortable with having Elena by her side in the dark. And when Susan finally went to bed, no dreams haunted her.
*****
BEEP…BEEP…BEEP
Susan’s eyes slowly opened. She looked at the clock. 6:30.
“Uugh…” she groaned, reaching over to turn off the alarm before resting her hand on her forehead. She laid there for a minute, exhausted. ‘What kept me up so late?’ she wondered. Elena!
Susan’s eyes flew open and she quickly got out of bed. Going to the closet and getting her bathrobe, she wrapped it around herself before opening the door and stepping out into the hall. Upon walking into the living room, she saw Elena reading a book.
Elena looked at her and smiled as she walked in. “Hi. Did you sleep well?”
Susan smiled, “Yes…no more bad dreams. How was your night?”
“Good. I’ve never been able to watch TV that much. But now, after looking through all the channels, there really isn’t anything good on it.”
“There’s a few channels that I like,” Susan said, “MeTV and COZI because they have really old TV shows from the sixties, seventies, and eighties.”
Susan wandered into the kitchen and opened the fridge, pulling out a frozen sausage and egg biscuit sandwich. Looking across the counter, she asked, “Can I make you anything?”
“No, thanks.”
Susan put the sandwich in the microwave, set the timer, and while it was defrosting, poured herself some orange juice. “Is blood all you can eat?” she asked.
“Yea, food makes me throw up,” Elena replied. “It’s why vampires are so hated, though we really don’t have a choice.”
Susan went over to check the shoulder bag that she carried her school work in and put the homework papers that she had meant to grade inside it. The microwave beeped, telling her the sandwich was ready. She went over and pulled it out, then brought it and her orange juice over to the couch and sat down beside Elena.
“What are you reading?” she asked.
“The Prince and the Pauper.”
“What do you think of it?”
“It’s kinda what we’re doing,” Elena said. “Learning about each other’s life, except we’re doing it together.”
“I never thought about it that way, but I guess we are learning about each other. I’m sure learning about vampires anyways.”
Elena yawned, “Now I need to go to bed.”
She stood up and walked to the bookshelf, placing the book back in its spot, then walking back to Susan. “I’ll be asleep till sunset. But don’t worry about having to be quiet. I’m a deep sleeper. It’s part of the package. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Goodnight… I mean uh… good day, I guess,” Susan snickered.
Elena smiled and went into her room, closing the door behind her. Susan finished her breakfast, thinking about the little vampire girl sleeping in the spare bedroom. When she finished, she took a shower, got dressed, and left for work.
As she headed out of the parking lot, she drove in the direction of the street where she was attacked. She saw several police cars up ahead and an area marked off by yellow police tape and white sheets covering two bodies on the ground. As she slowly drove past, the sight became surreal as the memory of what had happened returned. It really did happen. Those men really did attack her. And now, they were dead. She didn’t know how to feel. Elena had brutally murdered them. But at the same time, she had saved her life by doing so.
*****
That afternoon after school had let out, Susan walked through the door of her apartment at about 4:30, dropping her shoulder bag on the table by the door. She was exhausted. She’d had only about five and a half hours of sleep last night and had to work through lunch grading the papers she hadn’t been able to get to. Curious to see if Elena was still asleep, she walked over to her room and slowly opened the door. The room was pitch black, faintly illuminated only by the light coming through the door. She could see Elena, her eyes closed and breathing really fast, several times faster than normal. It was like she was hyperventilating. It seemed so strange for a person to sleep like that, but then again, she wasn’t really human anyways.
Closing the door again, Susan went over to the couch and dropped onto it. She was so tired. She closed her eyes, thinking how good she was going to sleep tonight. After a while, she opened her eyes and something in her peripheral vision caught her attention. Turning to see, she jumped in surprise. Elena was sitting at the end of the couch, her legs pulled up, watching her.
“Elena?! What are you doing here?! It’s still daylight!”
“No, it’s not,” Elena replied. “It’s been dark for almost half an hour.”
Susan’s eyes grew big as she looked at the clock. Sure enough, it was just past seven o’clock. Stretching her arms, she asked, “Have you been watching me all this time?”
Elena smiled and nodded. Noticing her clothes, Susan remembered, “Oh yea…We need to get you some new clothes… and a toothbrush.”
Standing up, she went to her purse, then remembered something very important. Turning to Elena with a concerned expression, she asked, “Do you uh… need to eat first?”
“I’m not hungry right now. I’ll feed later.”
“Okay…” Susan quietly mumbled to herself, her eyes shifting nervously.
Standing, Elena assured her, “Please don’t worry.”
Susan gave a slight smile, “Okay.” Grabbing her purse, she asked, “Are you ready to go?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
They went to Susan’s car and drove to Highland Mall. Walking inside the JC Penny’s store, they went down the escalator and turned to the right where the children’s department was. When they got to the girls’ clothing section, Susan stopped and told her, “Go pick some clothes that you like.”
To Susan’s surprise, Elena left the girls’ section that they were in and instead went to the boys’ section. Susan followed curiously. Going to where the jeans were, Elena went past the blue and grey jeans stuffed in the bins to the black jeans along the back wall. As she began holding the black jeans to her waist to see how they fit, Susan finally had to ask, “Why are you looking here instead of in the girls’ clothes.”
“Girl clothes are easily torn. That’s why I don’t wear dresses, just jeans, because they’re more durable. I’m not looking for fashionable, but practical.”
Not understanding, Susan asked, “Why would a dress get torn up?”
“When I’m hunting. If I’m trying to bring down something big, like a deer, they sometimes struggle a lot and a dress would get torn up. And I need it to be black so I can’t be seen in the dark and also because it hides any blood that gets on me.”
“Okay, I don’t want to hear any more!” Susan quickly interrupted as she began to feel nauseous.
Elena grabbed three pairs of black jeans and carried them to where the shirts were. Like the jeans, she only looked at dark-colored T-shirts and picked out several. “Is this too many?” she asked.
“No. Is there anything else…” Susan looked at Elena’s shoes. “How about some panties and some shoes?”
Elena looked at her dirty, ragged shoes. “I guess I could use some new ones.” She went and picked out a package of plain white cotton panties, then they went to the shoe department and, as with her clothes, chose black tennis shoes as well as some black socks.
Susan told her, “These aren’t exactly flattering. You don’t look pretty.”
“I’m not trying to look pretty,” Elena explained. “They’re more like… work clothes.”
They took everything to a register and laid it down on the counter. The cashier gave them a funny look, seeing how everything was black.
“It’s for Halloween,” Susan tried to explain.
After Susan had paid for everything and they were walking away, Elena smiled up at her, “Imagine if you had told her the real reason.”
“I would have been too mortified to. I’m still trying to accept it myself.”
As they were walking back towards the escalator, Elena looked at her, “Thank you for getting these for me Susan. Everything you’ve done… it means the world to me. No one has ever…”
Suddenly Elena drew in a sharp breath and stopped, an intense look on her face and then she began walking away from the escalator that they were heading towards, while looking at it apprehensively and frowning. Walking up to her, Susan asked, “Where are you going?”
“Towards the escalator, but I can’t go past that jewelry counter.”
“Why not?” Susan asked.
“Some of those necklaces have crosses on them.”
Susan looked at the jewelry counter, still several feet away. Elena kept a wide distance from the jewelry until they got onto the escalator. Elena glared down at the displays of necklaces below as they rode up. Susan asked, “You sure don’t like crosses. Why can’t you go near them?”
“I just can’t. This feeling of dread comes over me.”
“They make you afraid?” Susan asked.
“It’s a mix of hate and fear,” Elena said quietly. “It’s kinda hard to explain why. I can’t stand even being close to one. It gives me this harsh feeling, you know, kinda like the feeling you get when someone runs their fingernails across a chalkboard. Like that, only a lot stronger. If it touches me, it will burn really bad.”
“Wow. No wonder people think vampires are evil,” Susan muttered under her breath, then to Elena, “I’m not saying you are. It’s just that it makes you seem like… I don’t know, like the anti-Christ.”
“I know. That and our diet certainly hasn’t helped our reputation,” Elena explained, then she smiled up at Susan, “It’s why I’m so grateful to you for seeing me for who I am instead of what I am.”
Susan sighed, “So, us going to church together this Sunday evening is pretty much out of the question?”
Elena smiled remorsefully, saying quietly, “Sorry.”
Susan remembered that she needed to get a new phone since she lost hers during the attack last night. So, they went to the T-Mobile store and she picked one out. As they headed out of the store, Elena asked, “Were you wanting me to spend the night again?”
Susan looked at her, “I would like you to. I only have one friend whom I don’t see that much. It’s nice having someone to talk to and be with.”
Elena agreed, “My sentiments too.”
After they left the mall, Susan stopped by the HEB grocery store to get a toothbrush for Elena and a few groceries for herself, then they went back to the apartment.
After getting back, Elena went to her room to put her new clothes away in the chest of drawers near the closet. After her shirts and pants were put up, leaving out one pair of jeans and a shirt, she pulled off her old jeans, shirt, and panties, and threw them on the floor. Opening the package of panties, she happily looked at how clean and white they were. Her old ones, though she washed them regularly at the laundromat, were kind of dingy from being stained with blood.
Susan, passing by on her way to the bathroom, caught sight of Elena standing naked. Without meaning to or even realizing it, she stopped and stared, mesmerized by the sight of this naked young girl standing not ten feet from her. There was something about Elena’s pale supple skin, the smoothness of her slender bottom, the slight bulge of her small breasts. She couldn’t quite see the nipple…
Suddenly Elena turned around and saw Susan staring at her. Upon being caught, Susan furiously blushed and quickly went into the bathroom and closed the door. She sat on the toilet to pee and think about what just happened.
Why was she staring at Elena like that? Not just staring, but leering. She wasn’t gay, and certainly wasn’t attracted to kids. So what was it then? She remembered Elena’s pale smooth body. Her cute little bottom… ‘STOP IT!’ she told herself, “Why am I doing this?!’
Susan stood, flushed the toilet, and walked out into the hallway, wondering if she should apologize to Elena for staring. As she passed by her room, Elena had just pulled her shirt over her head and was turning around. Covered completely in black, she looked part of a nighttime commando unit.
Elena told her. “I need to go out…”
“Ooh,” Susan whispered, then said, “You mean you need to…?”
Elena nodded. Suddenly, the thought of this little girl killing some poor animal erased all thoughts of lust from her mind. “Please try to find an animal.”
“I will,” Elena assured her as she walked out of her room.
“And try not to hurt it.”
“Okay.” Elena turned and smiled meekly at Susan’s concerned look as she open the door.
“Oh wait!” Susan suddenly called out. She went to the kitchen and opened a drawer, pulling out a key. “Here. In case it’s really late and I’m asleep when you get back.”
Elena smiled, “Thank you,” then opened the door and left.
As she walked across the parking lot, Elena smiled to herself at Susan’s concerns for animals. She knew how kindhearted Susan was, only wanting the best. Elena too was once as kind and gentle as Susan, back when she was human. But that was centuries ago. She had quickly learned that if you want to feed, then you must be ruthless, hunting and killing your prey as quickly as possible. If that meant breaking its leg so it couldn’t run, then so be it. If you didn’t put aside your concern for its well-being, you didn’t feed.
She quickly jogged to the field that was nearby, then beyond it into the woods. Moving silently, she scanned the darkness for movement or sounds. She had better night vision than humans, so the woods weren’t nearly so dark. Not seeing anything, she continued slowly forward.
After a few minutes, she suddenly leapt up onto one of the tree trunks, quickly pulled herself up about a dozen feet off the ground, and waited. Several seconds later, she looked down and watched as a hare scampered along below, then paused to nibble at something.
Elena let go of the trunk, dropping down on top of the hare and snatching before it knew what happened. It squeaked furiously, but Elena went to work, quickly pulling off its head and flinging it aside, then holding it over her mouth and squeezing the limp, furry body so that a few trickles of blood poured into her mouth. Half a minute later, she gave it one last squeeze to make sure she got it all, then dropped it and continued on. Unfortunately, a single hare didn’t have enough blood to quench her thirst. She needed another.
A few minutes later, she heard a slight noise, but it wasn’t an animal. Much too vocal. It was a person. She quietly headed towards the sound, not because it was a meal, but because she recognized it and wanted to watch. Soon, she came upon a young man and woman intertwined together. The man was laying on top of the woman, their hands groping each other as they frantically kissed.
She remembered Susan looking at her when she was changing clothes. Although Susan had been embarrassed by it, Elena liked it. There was something about Susan that she was attracted to. Her kindness, concern for others, her quiet demeanor and above all, her acceptance. That alone attracted Elena. As she continued to watch the young couple, she thought of Susan staring at her and liked it.
As silently as she’d crept in, Elena backed away, leaving the couple to their fervor. Shortly afterward, she managed to find another hare and with her thirst satisfied, headed back to the apartment.
*****
It was almost nine when Elena unlocked the door with her key. Susan looked up from eating her dinner on the couch to see Elena walking in, several spots of dried blood around her mouth and on her neck. Upon seeing the concerned look on Susan’s face, Elena quickly told her, “Two hares. And they didn’t suffer.”
Susan smiled faintly, “I suppose it’s better than people. I know you need to eat… and when I think about it, my food is no different than yours except that it’s been processed so I don’t realized it was once a living, breathing creature.”
Walking to her, Elena asked, “Is it okay if I take a shower?”
“Of course. You don’t need to ask me that,” Susan smirked. “Do your clothes need washing?”
Looking at her shirt, Elena told her, “It’s only a few drops of blood.”
“Then it needs washing. Let me find a basket for you to put it in.”
Susan got off the couch and went to her room to see if she had an extra basket in her closet. After digging through her stuff, she finally found one. She was carrying it into Elena’s room just as Elena was pulling her shirt off over her head. Susan’s eyes automatically drifted down to Elena’s tiny breasts, which, because Elena perpetually had the body of an eleven-year-old, were just buds.
As soon as the shirt came off, Elena saw Susan gazing at her. She slowly lowered her arms, holding on to her shirt in one hand, not wanting to alarm Susan into leaving, then… she just stood there, letting Susan admire her.
After several seconds, Susan came to with a jerk. Aware of how she had been openly gawking at this child, she quietly mumbled, “I’m sorry,” dropped the basket on the bed, and quickly left the room.
Elena followed her to the doorway, but Susan seemed unwilling to talk. With her mind on this, Elena finished getting undressed, grabbed her towel, and went into the bathroom for her shower.
After her shower, she put on a clean pair of panties and shirt, then went into the living room to see what Susan was doing. She was sitting on the far end of the sofa, grading papers. Elena perched on the opposite end, her wet black hair hanging over her shoulder and her legs drawn up, facing her. Susan seemed to be really tense.
Wondering how she could put Susan’s mind at ease, she asked, “Whatcha doing?” Elena knew perfectly well what she was doing, but was simply trying to engage her.
“Oh, I’m just grading papers,” Susan hastily said without even looking up.
“Do you need any help?”
“No,” Susan quietly replied.
Biting her lip for a few seconds, Elena said, “Susan… I didn’t mind you looking at me.”
Lowering the paper in her hand but keeping her eyes staring straight ahead at nothing, Susan murmured, “I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?”
“Because… it was wrong.”
“What was wrong about it?” Elena asked.
“Because you’re a child,” Susan, angry at herself, raised her voice more than she intended. “And I shouldn’t be looking at you like that.”
“I’m not a child,” Elena retorted. “I’m older than the Renaissance!”
Susan shot a hurt look over at Elena, then slowly looked back at the paper in her hand.
Susan was visibly upset and Elena didn’t want to push things further than they already were, so she sat quietly for a few minutes. Not knowing what else to do, she went over to the book shelf to find something to read.
After browsing several of the books, one caught her eye. A Tale of Two Cities. She took it off the shelf, looking at it. She had never read it, but knew what it was about. Personally knew. She had lived through it when she lived in Paris briefly during the late eighteenth century after leaving the Balkans. With the chaos going on throughout the city, she had a seemingly endless supply of food, as well as a fitting home below the streets in the catacombs surrounded by the remains of millions of Paris’s former inhabitants.
That was a bad time for her… when she had given in to the bloodlust and was completely feral. Being surrounded by death, both in the streets above and in the necropolis below, fueled her bloodlust so that she no longer looked for animals, just people. And it didn’t matter who they were. They were all food for her.
The bloodlust controlled her like a drug, until one night it pushed her too far. She had been walking along an alleyway, looking for someone alone when she came upon a homeless family out on the street, clustered around a fire for warmth as they shared a few small potatoes for supper. She silently crept up closer and from the alleyway, saw a small boy, perhaps five years old standing among them. She got his attention and motioned him to come, holding out a piece of bread to entice him.
Hungry, but cautious, he came over and when he was within reach, she grabbed his arm, quickly pulling him in and before he could let out a cry, she had ripped his throat open. Picking up his body and holding it aloft so that his blood poured into her mouth, she didn’t just drink it, she guzzled it and let it rain down upon her.
Hearing his mother calling his name, she dropped the corpse and ran deeper into the alleyway. Stopping to peer back, she watched as the mother happened upon him and screamed. The father came running and fell upon his knees at the sight of his son’s lifeless body. As Elena watched the boy’s parents crying hysterically, for the first time, she saw what she had become, a monster. In every sense of the word. Looking down at her bloody hands, she regretted what she had done and what she had become.
Several hours later, she was deep in the hold of a ship headed for a country that wasn’t relatively new, but was to her. She had to get away from the place that Paris had become. She needed to get away from death and this life as a predator hunting humans for food. In this new country that she was headed to, America, she would start over and try to forget.
Elena put the book back and kept browsing until she saw Captains Courageous. Bringing it over to the couch, she opened it to the first page as Susan continued staring at her papers.
*****
Susan had been staring at the homework in her hand for too long. She had told Elena that she was grading papers, but what she was really doing was replaying seeing the girl’s naked body in her mind as she wondered about this sudden fascination with her. ‘Am I a pervert?’, she asked herself worriedly. ‘Though she is older than the Renaissance, as she says, her body is still a child’s. This is the second time that I’ve done this! Why do I like looking at her?’
No matter how much she pondered, she couldn’t figure it out. She knew she would never try to touch her inappropriately, but she shouldn’t be having these thoughts to begin with anyway. She was a sixth-grade teacher, for crying out loud… with a class full of kids!
After about an hour, Susan grew tired. She and Elena had not spoken to each other since their little argument and Susan didn’t want to go to bed with hurt feelings between them.
“Elena… I didn’t mean to be upset with you earlier. It’s just that I should not have been looking at you that way. I don’t know why I did it, and I’m sorry.”
Elena set her book down and turned to her. “You didn’t do anything to be sorry for. I wanted you to look at me… I liked it.”
Quietly mulling this over, Susan told her quietly, “I still should not have been looking at you like that. You’re my guest and I should be treating you like one.” Susan stood up, “It may not bother you, but it bothers me.”
“But…” Elena began.
“Please,” Susan pleaded, “I don’t want to talk about it any more and I need to go to bed.”
“Okay,” Elena whispered disappointedly.
Susan walked slowly down the hall to her room.
“Good night,” Elena called out reassuringly.
Susan turned and smiled weakly, “Good night,” then continued to her room with Elena’s eyes following her.
Continue on to Chapter 3