Our lesson the next day took us to Woodfield, one of the largest malls in the world. If he could handle it here, he could handle it everywhere. We decided to try a different tactic until he got used to the new condition.
Our first stop was at Starbucks on our way to the mall, to purchase non-see-through coffee mugs.
After arriving at the mall, we filled each mug with blood and headed into the crowds. Wave after wave of scents washed over us both, almost making me dizzy. I could only imagine how he felt. With his free hand he reached out and grabbed mine.
“Oh my god, it’s so much, it smells so good,” he said quietly.
“Take a sip from your mug and think about something else. Your family, baseball, whatever. Just take your mind off of it.”
“I think my fangs are out,” he whispered after taking a sip from the mug.
“Just don’t smile or laugh, I doubt anyone will notice.” We strolled through the mall hand in hand, sipping blood from our Starbucks mugs. We looked just like any other couple at the mall.
“I don’t know how you did this every day, Vicky, it’s so hard,” he sighed as we turned down a less populated corridor.
“It is, but you have to be prepared.” I nodded, sliding my arms around his waist.
“Yeah, but even drinking blood when I’m walking around doesn’t seem to quench the thirst.”
“Here’s my thing—if I didn’t figure out how to control it, I would be alone right now. I’d have eaten all my friends and would be left with nothing. Sure, we can run away from Bartlett, out of town, out of state, but you’d have to leave everything behind, be dead to all your family and friends, just like me. I don’t know why, even though I had the opportunity to go off, to run away, to be on my own, I couldn’t do it. I needed somebody. And I found you and your friends.
He pressed me into his chest and I looked up into his eyes.
“Could you do it? Walk away from your friends, your mom and dad? Or worse, stay and maybe hurt them?”
He tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling.
“You’re right Vicky, I have to try, if only for them. I can’t leave them. I’m sure you wouldn’t have left your family and friends if you’d had the choice.”
I pressed my face into his chest and tried to force the images of my parents and Donovan from my mind. I would have gone back to them if I could have. But how can you possibly explain returning from the dead? I was unsure that would ever be possible.