The ride back seemed much quicker, possibly because Theo was in a state of panic. After all, it isn't normal procedure for him brazenly to invite anyone, much less a human, and even much less Colette, to his house. God, what was I thinking?!…Don't lose your cool! Theo's head was spinning in circles from the anxiety.
The store was only about an 8 minute walk from Theo's house. He could tell she wasn't being honest about the pumpkin she actually wanted. She picked up a really tiny pumpkin, but kept staring back at the largest one in the display.
"You're barely going to carve anything into that tiny thing," Theo mentioned as he swapped out the tiny pumpkin for two of the biggest ones the store had.
"But you're going to have to carry those all the way to your house!"
"If we're going to try pumpkin carving, then we'll need a large canvas to work with, right?"
Theo lifted them as if they were two paper weights. Colette attempted to take one from Theo during the walk home, not realizing how heavy they actually were. He's not even breaking a sweat carrying them, she thought. Is vampire strength really that different?
They finally arrived outside of his front door. Theo was fidgeting with his keys as if he were nervous.
"You know I never asked… but is it okay that I showed up un-announced?" Colette asked, concerned.
"Yeah, it's fine. My mom isn't home today. She went away to visit a friend this weekend. However, I bet she would've been ecstatic to know that I brought a friend over."
Colette responded timidly, "Okay…if you say so."
Theo opened the front door, guiding her inside. Colette seemed to be mischievously inspecting her surroundings. She slowly wandered around his kitchen and living room as if she were looking for something unusual.
"It looks pretty normal in here," Colette stated in an almost disappointed tone.
Theo chuckled, "what did you expect to see?… My dimly lit bat filled lair?"
"Well, yeah…where's the coffins, the candlesticks, and torture devices? It just looks like a regular house in here." Colette pouted as she followed him towards the sliding doors that lead to his backyard.
Theo opened the sliding doors and rested the pumpkins on the ground. He then gathered the pumpkin carving kits. Colette took a few more peeks around the space.
"You know this would be a great space for a garden." She mentioned with her hand to her chin in a pensive tone.
"I don't have a green thumb. I'll look to your for guidance on that one of these days…So what else do we need for the pumpkin carving?" Theo looked over to Colette for instruction.
"First, we'll need a trash bag. Second, we'll need to stream a video so I can look up how to do this. After all, I've never carved a pumpkin in my life…" Colette smiled, but she was being dead serious.
"Right, so we're going to give the girl who is a walking hazard sharp tools to carve a pumpkin for the first time? What can go wrong?" Theo joked.
They watched the video twice before they started. Colette got to work and cut the top off the pumpkin. Theo copied what she did step by step. They were both sloppy and unrefined, making a bigger mess than they needed to. After about 35 minutes, the pumpkins were barren and they could start carving. Colette was as focused and meticulous as ever. She finally cut out one eyehole with success.
"See?! That was easy enough." She exclaimed proudly.
It wasn't until she got to the mouth that she struggled. The last 35 minutes of work had worn her out, so she had to use two hands to carve. She wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead and continued.
"Hey…you can take a break…or I can finish it for you." Theo mentioned. He noticed she was becoming unsteady with the carving tools due to fatigue.
Colette looked over to Theo and replied, "What fun would that be?"
Her struggle caused her to lose her grip, resulting in a cut on her left index finger.
"Ouch," she yelped as blood dripped down her finger.
Theo looked at her and sighed. "I told you to let me help you. Let me see if my mom even keeps a first aid kit."
Theo swiftly returned with a hand towel. "I don't really have anything like bandages or gauze in the house. Let's walk you over to the sink to wash it. We can use the towel to apply pressure-"
Colette resisted, "I don't want to…"
Frustrated, Theo continued, "Why the hell not? …You're bleeding!"
Without making eye contact Colette asked, "Don't you want the blood?"
Startled by the comment, Theo's cheeks burned. "What are you talking about? Have you completely lost your mind! …"
"Didn't you say you wanted my blood?" Her eyes were now fixated on his. She reached her hand out towards him, almost inviting him to take a bite.
The bleeding was profuse as blood streaked down towards her palm. He felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest. Slowly, he knelt down towards her. His hands trembled before he summoned the courage to take her hand. His eyes became more animalistic as his pupils narrowed. Slowly, he lifted her bleeding hand towards his mouth.
"Don't get mad about what comes next," he warned, with his fangs drawn.
Colette could feel his hands tremble as he raised her hand towards his mouth. He was nervous, but he had already committed himself to drinking her blood. All of his touches were deliberate and gentle. The blood from her wound pooled in her palm, where she felt his lips and tongue. His tongue traced the streaks back to the source of the cut at the tip of her finger.
"Ouch," she winced in pain.
Theo paused as his cat-like pupils pierced her gaze. She wasn't afraid, but her heart began to race. "I-It's okay…keep going," she whispered timidly.
Though his fangs brushed her skin, he was careful not to injure her a second time. His throat let out a soft growl, but she could tell he was doing his best to restrain himself. The pain slowly shifted into a tickling sensation as he removed all traces of blood from her hand.
Theo finally released her hand and wiped his lips dry, missing the corner of his mouth where some blood remained. He asked, "Are you okay?"
Colette felt like she had snapped back into reality and nodded her head, denying any pain. She was speechless. The embarrassment started settling and now her cheeks burned.
"I-I'm totally okay!" She continued bashfully, gesturing until something caught her eye. Not only was all of the blood gone, but the cut on her finger vanished. Colette paused in total disbelief. The cut that was just gushing blood left no traces behind. She continued thoroughly inspecting her hand in disbelief.
Theo cleared his throat and stated, "Some vampire covens have unique abilities that are passed from generation to generation. I can heal wounds."
Still bewildered, Colette remained frozen, staring at her finger.
Theo continued, "Uh…I didn't want you to freak out. Sorry. I should've told you ahead of time. Basically, my saliva has a property that can heal wounds…I've actually never bit anyone before, so I really never saw it either until today. My mother told me it was a thing we could do, so I guess it's real."
Theo looked worried as he gazed towards Colette. He crouched down towards her and asked, "Are you afraid?"
Colette finally snapped out of it. "Absolutely not!…But I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I really don't know what possessed me.
"You don't have to apologize. I wanted to do it."
The heat of the moment caught up to them and they both became of aware of the tension in the room. A strong silence filled the room, but you could clearly hear both of their hearts pounding loudly through their bodies. They immediately broke the silence and scattered across the space.
"W-well…it's getting late, I-I should probably get going." Colette muttered as she quickly started gathering her shoes and bag.
"Do you want me to walk you home?" He asked hesitantly.
"N-No, it's totally fine! I know my way from here…thanks again for today!" She said as she rushed out of his house. She was as red as a beet.
Theo closed the front door once she had made down the block. I must be an idiot,he thought as he sighed and closed the door. Theo slumped into a chair in the living room. I can't believe I just did that. Theo brushed his fingertips over his lips. How could I ever go back to synthetic blood after that?He had never experienced the euphoric state vampires feel after consuming human blood. He could tell her blood wasn't ordinary, either. It tasted like warm honey with hints of cinnamon. It was intoxicating. As if being around her wasn't hard enough, he was going to have to learn to how to practice more self control.
Theo glanced over at the pumpkins sitting outside. I'll have to finish those and send her a picture later.