My Own Human Read online

  Oh, gods, I couldn’t wait to start testing!

  Well, maybe I shouldn’t. I could just take a couple of samples while she was asleep. This way I wouldn’t have to wait and she wouldn’t be able to protest.

  Good thinking!

  I walked towards the cupboard and pulled out my emergency science kit. I put on a pair of plastic gloves and grabbed a tweezer. Very carefully I plucked a hair and placed it in a tiny bag.

  “Hmmm,” she groaned, making me guiltily hide the tweezers behind my back and crouch down next to her.

  “Hey, you awake?” I softly asked. She turned her head towards mine and sleepily nodded.

  “Good. You reacted badly to the +fluids, but I think you are okay now,” I informed her and she nodded again. I wanted to say more, but Dad came in.

  “Is she awake?” he asked and pointed at her.

  “Yes, the Heather is awake,” I confirmed, making the girl softly chuckle. “What?”

  “I’m not “the Heather”, I’m just Heather,” she grinned, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion. From what I read humans used a proposition when they announced themselves, something about them having giant egos?

  “Oh, oops, mmkay,” I mumbled, making a mental note. I stood back up glanced at what Father was doing. He was surrounded by kits and boxes that he must’ve brought from thelab.

  “What do you have with you?” I asked, sneaking a look into the cases, wondering how well prepared he was.

  “Syringes, petri dishes, scalpels, … Just a couple of tools to start taking samples,” he said, opening one of the kits and taking out a syringe filled with a clear liquid.”

  “Samples, what do you mean taking samples?” Heather asked in a panicky tone. She shot up when she heard the word samples and was frantically clamping the sheet.

  “Just for a couple of tests we’d like to run. No need to be worried,” Dad indifferently answered, holding the syringe up and making a few drops squirt out.

  “What kind of tests?” Heather inquired, throwing Father a suspicious look.

  “Just taking some samples,” he casually answered. She cringed and shook her head.

  “No thanks, I’ll pass,” she muttered anxious, not liking Father’s intentions at all.

  “I figured you’d say that,” he said, swiftly grabbing her arm and plunging the needle deep into her vein. She let out a little yelp, but it was too late. The clear fluid shot into herbloodstream.

  “What did you just give me?” she yelled, clamping her arm and throwing Father a dirty look.

  “Just a light anaesthetic. Bone marrow samples can hurt.”

  “Bone marrow samples? Are you crazy? I’m not an animal!” Heather shouted, making Father chuckle.

  “Technically, you are. Anyway, it won’t hurt too much,” he said as he grabbed another needle from his kit. Heather jumped up so she could get away, but I stepped in. I grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her down in the couch. She struggled, but her weak human body wasn’t a match for mine. With ease I held her down and Father stabbed her in the hip with a small and sharp needle. She yelped in pain and tried to hit me, making me growl in anger. Immediately she stopped moving and I saw the fear in her eyes. Good.

  “Now a blood sample and a saliva swab,” Father added, grabbing a q-tip and another needle. Heather again started squirming under me and I flashed my fangs so she would stop resisting. She whimpered when Father pressed the needle in her arm and drew some blood.

  “Open your mouth,” he directed, bringing the q-tip to her mouth. She shook her head and pressed her lips firmly on each other. I sighed and grabbed her head with one hand, putting pressure on her cheeks. Involuntarily, she opened her mouth so Father swabbed the tip over the insides of her cheek.

  “Okay, so that’s that. Now just a skin and hair sample,” he said, grabbing a tiny scraper and a new petri dish.

  “I already have a hair sample,” I announced as I revealed the plastic bag from behind my back. Father nodded in approval and placed my bag with all the other samples.

  “You took a hair when I was asleep?” Heather shouted, making me look at her in confusion. What was her problem?

  “Can you hold her arm still for me?” Father asked, pointing at her left arm. I nodded and took her arm in a firm grip, giving Father the opportunity to scrape her skin and place the cells in the petri dish.

  “Okay, I’m done for now. I’ll bring the samples to the lab and do some research. Oh, and I’ll have to inform the counsel about this thing,” he said, gesturing at Heather. “Can you keep her in your house?”

  “Yup, will do,” I said, saluting him for fun. He grinned, kissed me on my cheek and tapped his imaginary hat.

  “Adios, my darling,” he joked as he made a silly bow.

  I turned around to find Heather standing against my wall, trembling and whimpering. I rolled my eyes as I locked the front door. Pathetic.

  “You can sleep on the couch, I’m going to be in my room to read. Please don’t make too much noise,” I stated, grabbing a book on my way to my bedroom. I’d give her some space so she could get used to my place and I wanted to read some more instead of babysitting. I was curious about humans, but she seemed in a pissy mood and I didn’t feel like dealing with a crabby woman. I sat down in my chair and placed the book on my lap. But before I could even read one sentence, Heather came into my room.

  “I don’t want to stay here. Unlock the door and let me leave,” she ordered, giving me an angry stare. I chuckled because she was in no position to boss me around. I discarded her worries and focused my attention back to my book.

  “Hey! Don’t ignore me. Let me leave. Hellooo-oooh?” she shouted, waving her hands in front of my face. I groaned in annoyance and stood up so I towered above her.

  “Stop pissing me off. Just go to the other room and keep yourself busy,” I snapped, making her take a couple of steps back. She grumbled but walked without any protest to the other room. I smiled, sat back down and opened my book. Finally, some peace and quiet.

  Then I heard a sharp sound followed by a loud scream. What now?

  I groaned, as I placed my book down and walked towards the other room. Heather was standing next to one of my windows with one of my golden awards in her hands and glass shattered all over the floor.

  “Did you break my window?” I asked, my voice filled with disbelief. What. The. Fuck? “Are you fucking mental?”

  “I didn’t know we were fifteen metres high! How the hell did we even get here?” she asked in a sneering tone.

  “I jumped,” I answered as I tried not to smirk because I knew that she, a human, wouldn’t be able to leave my flat without the help of a vampire.

  “Did you carry me?” she suddenly asked, cocking her head to the side.

  “Yeah… “I grumbled, not liking the fact that I did.

  “I thought you said you weren’t anyone’s ass. Apparently you are mine,” she smirked, giving me a smug look. With a growl, I flew to her throat, making sure that I didn’t suffocate her this time. Dramatically, I popped my fangs out. She immediately stopped laughing and this time, I was the one smirking.

  “If you ever mention that again, it won’t be your best day,” I threatened, making her whimper. “Understood?” I growled, my face close to hers. She nodded soundlessly and I released her from my grip. “Good.”

  “I just don’t understand you,” she muttered, shaking her head in confusion.

  “What do you mean?” I asked her. What wasn’t there to understand about me?

  “Well, one moment you are concerned and the next you are growling. I just don’t understand why,” Heather answered, making me curious enough to think about it. I don’t know why, but for some reason I tolerated her asking this kind of question.

  Why did I growl? Because it kept people at a distance and they left me alone when they realised I was a snappy and snarky person. Also it just happened kind of automatically, but that was because I had a temper.

  “I have a bit of
a temper, I guess,” I gave her as explanation, deciding that was a good enough reason.

  “No kidding,” she sarcastically snorted, making me almost grab her by her throat again.

  “Watch it, human,” I warned her, but she had already walked off, leaving me standing in a field of shattered glass. Great. Now I had to clean up this mess and get my window repaired. Heather fell down in the couch and grabbed the remote. She looked at it, pushed in a couple of buttons and turned on the VDR, my high-tech television system. She smiled, placed the remote next to her and leant back relaxed.

  I briefly wondered how she knew how it worked, but decided that was a question for another time. “Hey, aren’t you going to help me clean this up?” I yelled, annoyed that she broke my window and didn’t offer to help me clean it. In response, Heather grabbed the remote and turned the volume up. The nerve. I grabbed an old-fashioned broom, walked to the couch, demonstratively turned the television off and pushed the broomstick in her hands.

  “Clean,” I hissed, making her roll her eyes. How dare she!

  “No, I don’t want to,” she protested, letting the broomstick fall to the ground. I growled, grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the couch. I tried not to flinch when I felt her hot skin on my rather cold one. She groaned when I pushed the broom in her hands and shoved her to the broken glass shards.

  “Clean,” I ordered again and this time she nodded and complied. Good girl. I also grabbed a dustpan and a box to put the shards in. We cleaned the floor in silence, the only sound the sweeping of the broom and the clinking of the glass. Afterwards we both sat down in the couch and I turned the VDR back on. We sat again in silence and watched what was on. I kept glancing at her, noticing how focused she was.

  “Do you understand any of this?” I asked out of interest, since she was attentively watching the screen.

  “Nope. Not a word,” she grinned. “But I’m starting to understand what this is about. I guess,”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  She turned her attention back to the screen and we watched again in silence. I had to admit that it wasn’t half as bad as I expected to share my flat with a, for the foreseeable future, permanent guest.

  After a while Heather turned to me and said she was hungry. Oops, didn’t think about that issue. I couldn’t give her more +juices, but on the other hand, I didn’t know what else to give her.

  “What do you normally eat?” I asked, not understanding how she survived until now. For as far that I knew, there wasn’t anything on this planet that humans could eat. In fact, no other life form besides vampires could exist on this planet. There were no animals, insects, or reptiles. The air was heavily polluted and had hardly any oxygen in it. Over the centuries, only vampires had been able to adapt to this change. Or that’s what I thought. Apparently Heather hadn’t any problem breathing the air.

  “The usual. Broast and jelly,” she answered, making me furrow my brows in utter confusion.

  “That’s human food.”

  “Yeah well, if you hadn’t noticed, I am a human,” Heather grinned, clearly mocking my statement.

  “I meant that it’s food that humans ate centuries ago. Where would you get broast and jelly from?” I corrected myself, not understanding how she would find these items. We had no fields or farms and the vegetation was hardly edible.

  “Eeeerrr…”she muttered and looked at the wall.

  “You have human food at your home place and you know where you come from. You just don’t want to tell me,” I suddenly realised, making her look at me with big, panicky eyes. “Bingo,”

  “I, eeh, I can’t tell you,” she stubbornly said, making me chuckle in amusement. I wasn’t expecting her to tell me, but it was good to see that she had a backbone. For some reason, she intrigued me beyond scientific reasons and I wanted to get to know her.

  “I know that you won’t tell me anything. That’s why we are doing the tests and observations. We’ll learn from you, if you want it or not,”

  “Whatever. I’m still hungry,” she whined.

  “Yes, I know, let me think. We don’t have food here, so I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” I answered, not liking to be rushed.

  “Wow, good thinking. Bringing a human to your place but not feeding her. Best. Host. Ever,” she mocked, making me growl softly in my throat. She must not have heard it, because she just kept shaking her head in mock disappointment.

  “Let me think, human. It’s not like I expected to bring a human home,” I snapped, more because I was annoyed at myself for not knowing what to do now instead of her mocking.

  “You could let me leave and I could try to find food?” she sweetly asked and then looked at me with her dark blue, puppy eyes. I bit my lip when I noticed that I felt really compelled to give her her way and shook the crazy thoughts out of my head. Why would I?

  “Not happening. I’ll see what I can do,” I decided and grabbed my cell to call Father again. He would surely know how to handle this situation. But he didn’t either.

  “I’m sorry, Heather. But I have no idea what to do. Looks like you won’t be eating anything after all,” I apologised, not liking this predicament.

  “So, do you have something to drink?” she asked, the despair pretty clear in her voice.

  I shook my head. “Only our +pockets.”

  “But I can’t drink your +fluids, can I?”

  Again I shook my head. This wasn’t looking good. “No.”

  “But… But I need food and water, otherwise I’ll die,” she whispered, her face pale and her voice shaky.

  “I know...”

  Chapter 3

  Chess

  “I SPOKE TO THE COUNCIL. They were as stumped as we were. Maybe even more,” Father informed.

  “So, what did they decide?” I inquired, looking at Heather’s sleeping body. She hadn’t had the nutrients she needed, so sleeping was the best way to preserve her strength.

  “They have given us the green light to continue the testing. How is she doing?” he smiled, also looking at the girl.

  “Weak,” I answered, the concern a bit too clear in my voice.

  “I figured. I went to the lab and we did some testing. We analysed her blood and we came up with this,” Father said, holding up a vial with a clear liquid.

  “It’s just a prototype, but it should buy us some time. This should give her the nutrients and vitamins she needs,” he explained. I nodded in relief and walked to my medicine closet. I opened the drawer and grabbed a new syringe.

  “I’ll do it,” I said to Father, holding my hand out so he could give me the vial. I saw a little hesitation in his eyes, but then he handed it to me.

  “How much do I have to give her?”

  “I think 15 ml should do the trick.”

  I plunged the syringe in the liquid, filled it up to 15 ml and carefully closed the little flask. I pointed the needle in the air, gave it a little squirt to get rid of any air and walked towards my couch.

  “Heather?” I whispered, hoping that she would wake up. She had been down, so I just wanted to cheer her up by telling her that we found a way to keep her alive.

  “Hmm?” she groaned, her dark blue eyes fluttering open.

  “We have something for you. I’m going to insert this needle in your arm, so don’t worry,” I explained, surprising myself with how concerned and gentle I was acting.

  “M’kay,” Heather agreed and she extended her arm. I took it with my free hand, shivering when I didn’t feel her usual warmth but instead was greeted by dry, cold skin.

  “It shouldn’t hurt.”

  I gently pricked the needle in her vein, making her softly whimper, and pushed the liquid into her bloodstream.

  “Done,” I said, pulling the needle out. She held her arm and looked at the tiny drops of blood welling up. I suddenly felt how I licked my lips and wondered what triggered that action. I shrugged and decided to ignore it, so instead of pondering about it, I grabbed a tiny bandage and gave it to her. She no
dded gratefully and put it on the tiny wound.

  “How do you feel?” Father asked, the sciency look I knew too well on his face.

  “Better, actually. My headache has stopped and I don’t feel so tired anymore,” Heather said, sitting up for the first time today.

  “Good. Now. This formula isn’t optimal and we are still trying to improve it, but for that, we’ll need some more blood samples,” he said and to our surprise she nodded without any disagreement.

  “Alright. Now?” Heather proposed, exposing her arm to us again. Father and I shared a look of pure excitement and he grabbed his bag. He revealed all the needed equipment and set it up, not wasting a second.

  “So, what now?” Heather asked, looking at me with curiosity in her eyes.

  “Errrr… We’ll wait to see what the council says, but for now, you’ll be staying with me.”

  “Hmm. Okay,” she agreed, but her tone suggested that she wasn’t as satisfied with my answer as she made out to be.

  “That a problem?” I sharply asked, not understanding why she was so opposed to the idea of staying with me. I was very pleasant.

  “No, of course not.”

  Again that tone. I opened my mouth to point that out, but decided to just let it go. Father didn’t need to see my childish behaviour. After all, he wouldn’t understand why I cared what the human thought of me.

  “I’m done. I’ll see you later,” Father announced. He gathered his things and rushed to the door, clearly in a hurry to get back to the council and his lab.

  “Okay, bye Dad,” I yelled at his back, while Heather only nodded to acknowledge his departure.

  “So, finally alone,” I grinned, immediately regretting my tone and choice of words. Way to sound creepy.