Take Me Once, I'll Bleed You Twice novel Chapter 47

Chapter 47

BEATRICE

Beatrice was amused by how enthralled Riaghaire became with the TV and its thousands of shows and movies. Deciding to go for something more humourous, she put on an old vampire movie for them to watch. Seeing his expression change and hearing him mutter how inaccurate they portrayed his kind made it a hundred times better than it would have otherwise been.

It also gave her an excuse to stare at him, taking in how different he looked after less than a day of freedom. His frame had continued to fill in, his skin no longer pulled taunt over bones. The hollows of his cheeks were nearly gone, making him look more like a human in need of a few good meals than a skeleton wearing a flesh suit.

“Is this truly how humans see vampires?” He asked, drawing her attention back to the movie, an expression in incredulity plastered on his face.

“Oh, don’t worry, popular opinion on your kind has changed over the years. Here, let’s find something newer,” Beatrice giggled, noting

that the credits were rolling and it was time for her to cue up the next film. She already knew it would be just as, if not more, insulting

than the first.

It didn’t disappoint. “Why are they sparkling? Do they believe we are made of precious metals? And what self–respecting vampire choose to attend school for nearly a century? I might understand if they were Old,” he’d said ‘old‘ as if it were a proper noun, “but they are not There are far more important things for a fledgling to learn in the first century than… than whatever it is the schools now teach.”

“Can’t argue with you there,” she agreed, trying not to smile too widely. “I definitely wouldn’t be doing the whole school thing again unless someone was paying me really good money to suffer through it.”

“From what this movie shows, education has changed drastically since my youth. Is it accurate to what is currently the norm.?”

Beatrice wanted to ask when his youth had been but decided to leave his past alone. If she started digging, she’d need to face the fact that he was a serial werewolf killer, and she wasn’t sure if that made him morally good or bad. “Pretty much. I can find a movie that’s more school focused to watch next, if you want?”

“Yes, that would be acceptable. Your kind’s take on vampires is… disturbing,” he said with a frown as he stared at the screen.

“There are other, better movies that might be more accurate… or differently wrong, but I think you can see why I’m ignorant on what werewolves and vampires are about.”

Riaghaire nodded. “Yes. This is… it is…”

“Amusing?” She offered with a grin. “I think it’s rather amusing, how wrong some people are on the subject. And getting to watch it with a real vampire makes it so much better.”

Something in the vampire’s posture changed as he turned away from the TV to stare at Beatrice. “You find me amusing?”

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Chapter 47

Beatrice shook her head. “Your reactions, when you see how badly humans have butchered vampire lore, are really fun to see. I don’t know what’s accurate and what isn’t, but the look on your face when they get something really wrong? Priceless.”

The corners of his mouth quirked up just a bit. “I am glad to provide you with some amusement.”

“Right back at you,” she laughed. “Want to finish this one? Or should I find something else.”

“No, let us finish it. I am curious what else they may have fabricated about my kind.”

Beatrice shook her head at him before getting up from the couch. “I need to make a couple phone calls and get some more food. You wan!! anything?” That was a stupid question to ask. Riaghaire was a vampire. He drank blood, not coffee. He didn’t eat ravioli or mashed

potatoes the consistency of paste. Why had she even asked?

“What is it you ate this morning, whilst I was in the shower?”

Unsure where he was going with this, she replied, “Lasagna?”

“Its aroma was pleasant. Would you be opposed to making another so that I might see what lasagna is?”

He was asking to… sniff her food? That was unexpected. “Uh. Yeah, I don’t see why not. But, just so you know, the food I’m eating like… bargain store versus brand name.”

“…what does that mean?”

Beatrice hesitated. How was she supposed to explain this to someone who’d been out of touch with the world for so long? “Uhm…. well… maybe… think of it like a poor person’s version of a rich person’s meal?” It was a stretch, but nothing better had come to mind to illustrate what she meant.

“And this version you are eating, it is the poor person’s version?”

“Pretty much.”

Riaghaire frowned. “Why not make a better version?”

“Ah, that… well, my mother hates cooking, so all she has are these easy to make meals. They’re premade, sold for a decent price, and they keep forever, so she just eats that instead.” There was no reason to tell him that Beatrice herself wasn’t overly versed in the art of cooking. Yes, she could cook, and was able to make a variety of different dishes, but they always came out tasting average spectacular or worth writing home about.

never

“Interesting…”

Was it though, Beatrice wondered as she left the living room. For someone who grew up in this century, all that information was kind of old news, nothing special at all. Then again, he’d last been outside before televisions were available to the public, when indoor plumbing was a luxury, and kids were still mostly taught in one room schoolhouses.

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Chapter 51

His eyebrows rose at hearing her retort, but his amusement was still plain as day. “This Uber you speak of; it is what a taxi is now?”

“Well… yes and no? It’s the name of the company that does this particular service,” she began, then hesitated. “Taxis still exist, but this is… different, but also the same.”

“That is a rather confusing explanation.”

Beatrice let out a sigh. “I know, I know. I just don’t know how to explain it any better. Like, even taxis are probably different. There’s like a million different taxi companies out there nowadays, and they all sort of follow the same business model, but Uber is different? There are other companies like them, I think, but Uber is the most popular. At least, around here it is.”

“I see…” Beatrice was certain he did not actually ‘see‘ anything but let it go. He’d understand it eventually. Probably.

“You’ve been in a car before, right?” She asked as the Uber pulled up. It was a green sedan, maybe a few years old, nothing overly fand

just a regular car you’d see every day.

“I have… but this looks rather… different than what I have previously experienced.”

“You’re in for a treat,” Beatrice laughed as she walked up to the vehicle and waved at the driver, who’d lowered the front passenger’s

window. “Hey, are you Trevor?”

“Yes. Beatrice?”

“Yep. This is… Ryan,” she told the driver, motioning to Riaghaire, who gave her a questioning look at the name she’d used, but said

nothing.

“Cool. Hop in.”

Beatrice moved to the back door and opened it before motioning for Riaghaire to get in.

somewhere between steady and non–existent. It was easy for The drive into the city was uneventful. Traffic was its usual at that hour Beatrice to see that the vampire had a lot of questions but held back on asking them. He’d probably hit her with them later on and she was sure she’d struggle to answer most of them.

“Here we are,” Trevor told them as he pulled up to the curb and put the vehicle in park.

Beatrice leaned forward as she said, “I was mugged earlier, so I don’t have my phone or anything for electronic payment. I hope you re okay accepting physical cash? 111 pay through the app once I get to my friends, though, so this is more like a bribe to hold you until

then.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, that’s fine. Thanks!”

“No problem.,” she told him with a grin. “Have a good night, Trevor.”

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Chapter 51

“You, too!”

โร

The Uber driver pulled away once both Beatrice and Riaghaire were out of the vehicle.

“Why did you refer to me as Ryan?” Was the first question the vampire asked once they were alone on the sidewalk.

“Riaghaire is.” she tried to find the right word for a few seconds, “…very unique. If he tells anyone about it, won’t that make it easier for

the werewolves to find us?”

“True, and yet you used your true name.”

“Because Beatrice isn’t that uncommon of a name. You could probably find a few women named Beatrice within a ten block radius Riaghaire, on the other hand, you might find one in the entire city; you.” She gave his arm a poke as she said that last word.

“I see. I will begin using Ryan as my name henceforth.”

–

“Sorry to just spring it on you like that,” she apologized as she began leading him a bit further down the block. They’d been dropped off in a residential suburb. It wasn’t a bad neighbourhood, but it also wasn’t in a great area either. There was plenty of crime that happened. or so Beatrice had been led to believe. Not that she was overly worried. With a but that wanly on the street and not in the homes vampire ide, she had a feeling anyone who tried to mess with them would end up regretting their life choices very quickly ”

have said something sooner, but I… forgot. Again. You also don’t actually have to use it unless we’re around others. At after we figure out my dog problem.”

probab

leash

1. nd. To be given a new name by one such as yourself brings me joy.”

ned at his words, unsure what exactly he meant by them. “Uh huh…”

haire let out a chuckle. “It is usually those who wish me dead that name me. This time, it is by someone who only wishes to give me freedom I’d lost. It is a good thing. I thank you for the name, gréine.”

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