~ Eternity's Many Loves ~

by

Jayme Evans

Several hours later, Ethan stood beside Kristen at her workstation. Even his nearness made her confused. Her fingers worked nimbly on the computer keyboard while he explained some of his notes and she typed them in. She hadn't asked him anything about the earlier incidents of drinking or kissing, simply because she didn't know how to bring up either subject. Besides, he would explain it away, and leave her more confused.

He laid his journal beside her, and she flung her own journal out of the way across the counter. It tipped an ultra violet light that she had over her African violet. The spindly lamp toppled in his direction, and fell against his hand. He jerked his hand back and then his face contorted in silent anguish.

“I'm sorry. Are you burned? Are... ?” Before she could ask anything else, he fled toward the bathroom facilities. She sat the UV-light upright and cautiously put her hand near it and then against it. Slight warmth emanated from it, but it should not have burned anyone.

She took off after him. “I’m really sorry. I don’t know how you could be hurt. What can I do? Can I help—?” He slammed the bathroom door in her face. How could he be burned? She stood outside staring at the door for endless seconds. Well, she had to know. Ready or not here she comes. She shoved the door open and followed him in. “I'm sorry Ethan. How bad is it?”

“Kristen! Get out of here!” he screamed. His anger was understandable, but she placed herself only feet from him. He still grimaced in agony, while holding his injured hand.

“I just want to help.” If he was burnt, he needed help and she would not oblige his pained tantrum. If he could be stubborn, she could too. She reached for his hand and pulled it toward her. Blisters! The UV light had caused blisters, but how? It wasn't logical. She had placed her own hand on the light and had felt nothing.

She had expected him to pull away, but he didn't. His face became expressionless, as if he was studying her. The back of his hand seemed to take on a life of its own. First the blisters heaped high with watery bubbles. These heaved and waved upon the back of his hand like a creature running under the skin and then they flattened by themselves. Next, they seemed to dry out, leaving a thin brown scab. Finally, the dry scab disappeared and his flesh cleared, like a Biblical leper cleansed by a miracle.

It scared the crap out of her and she dropped his hand. “Iiieee!” His uninjured hand moved faster than she could see and caught her upper arm. Terror gripped her. She had to get out of here, but he held her much too tightly.

“What do you see?” His voice was edged with bitterness. Horrified, like a rabbit caught in a spotlight, she couldn't stop staring at his hand.

She straightened her face as much as possible, but the quiver of her lips would give away inner turmoil. “I don't know what you mean?” It was a lie, but she had to deny this craziness or be crazy.

“If you don't know what I mean, why are you afraid of what you see before you? Or should I say, of what you don't see anymore?” He clasped both her arms this time. His face reddened. His eyes glowed. The blues of his eyes changed color and looked like red neon lights.

Chaotic thoughts wanted to control her. There had to be a trace of realism somewhere in the depths of her mind, but logic fast slipped away. What did all this mean? Only in fantasy stories of vampires or werewolves, the undead, the supernatural, did creatures heal like this. That was impossible, wasn't it? Myths were just that, myths, and she didn't believe in them.

But earlier she had thought he had drunk blood. It would explain that too, adding to the sequence of strange incidences, but how could she possibly believe in a myth? Everything had rational answers. If she argued with herself, it wouldn't stop her foolish thinking, and as a scientist, she needed facts, not fantasy.

“I asked what frightened you. What you see or don't see.”

She met his glowing gaze, but shied away. It had to be a trick of the bathroom lighting “I don't know, Ethan. I just don't know. I'm totally confused how you could heal like that and your eyes could look glowing red embers…instead of normal blue.”

Fear grew and made her nauseous. She leaned against the basin but she couldn't take her gaze off his. He didn't look as angry, but what did she know of him? In a matter of seconds, the eyes that had glowed so red had changed to their beautiful sapphire blue. Was Ethan Travis a creature? Inhuman?

Ethan's anger ebbed. It was his own fault. He should not have let her see him like that. He hadn't expected her to follow him. That's why he had fled to the men's room. If only he had pulled his hand away and made her leave. Now regret surged through him.

He released her arms. She couldn't get very far if she did try to run. With his strength and speed, she couldn't get away even if she didn't know it.

Ethan kept his gaze locked with hers. Endless seconds slipped into endless minutes. What was he going to do? After all these years, he had never let anyone remember him. He could entrance her, but she would hate him. Adjustment wouldn't come as easily as Peggy, because he and Kristen hadn't shared the same intimacy. Besides, he might have to leave and take her with him because her father would question her devotion to Ethan. Peggy had been a rolling stone, a free-spirited woman of the nineteen-sixties. Her father hadn’t been an issue.

Ethan wanted more than just another entranced servant, but what? After working close to Kristen these weeks, his feelings fast approached love, and he hadn't known how much until tonight. She felt something too. During the kiss, he had sensed emotions in her that he had never sensed before tonight. No doubt, she was attracted to him, but the overshadowing mistrust that he had for humans hovered. What hope of a relationship could he have? And what did he do now?

“What does it mean?” Her voice sounded timid and he had never known her to be timid. “Please tell me, what does it mean?”

“You're a scientist-in-training.” His voice dripped with bitterness that he couldn't hide. His extended years had not been fair to him. “Can't you figure it out or are you still lacking some of the facts?”

Kristen's brows knit together. “What I'm thinking is foolishness. Myths. I've always thought myself too educated to believe in such myths, especially when there is no logical reasoning behind them. There must be a rational explanation to why your skin heals so quickly, and why your eyes looked like they glowed red.” She hesitated, but her gaze continued to search his face. “I just can't come up with any reasonable answer, right now.”

He sighed. “Tell me what your thinking and I'll tell you if it's logical.” His quiet voice belied his inner turmoil.

She licked her lips. Blast it. Why did she have to be so danged enticing? Why didn't she just spit it out? You're a vampire.

“Myth has it that vampires heal abnormally fast...because they can't be killed... by normal means that is. And —.” She stopped as if afraid to finish her words.