Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf
Innocent Devil's Harem | Chapter 15-4: Testing My Limits
“Well, that’s good,” Gabriella replied with a dramatic sigh. “Knowing that how I smelled was so important to you, that’s been my biggest concern.”
I nodded slowly, my thoughts returning to the seriousness of what almost happened back at the house. “But I guess that means I need to go catch another deer now. And shoot myself.”
That got her attention, her expression immediately somber. Her voice was barely a whisper as she responded. “I can shoot myself instead, if you want. You have a better chance of stopping me from hurting anyone.”
I was again taken aback, before I shook my head. “I really can’t believe this. Offering to shoot yourself? And you drank the deer’s blood like it was no big deal. How are you coping with this so easily?” I asked seriously.
She almost looked like she was about to cry now. “Kai, I love you. A lot.” She took a deep breath, glancing away. “I accepted that this was your reality pretty quickly, and I even imagined what it would be like for you…” She paused, only to scoff. “I’ve certainly read enough vampire books to imagine it.” She then sighed, focusing up at me again. “So it’s not too difficult for me to accept this as my reality too. Besides, my body wanted it. The blood was really good, so it wasn’t hard to give into that craving. And, if anything, it makes me happy that I’m like you now.”
Happy?
I hadn’t really thought about how I felt about this, aside from feeling guilty that I’d given her my problems. But that kind of brought up a good point.
Did it make me happy?
Not that it really mattered, since I couldn’t change what I’d done. But I had been perfectly content with her being a normal person. Although, now that I thought about it, maybe this meant I wouldn’t have to worry about her dying from a gunshot too easily.
Not to mention…
“Hey,” I said gently, glancing down at her stomach. “Can you lift your shirt up a little?” I wondered.
Gabriella gave me a confused look, before reaching down, yanking her fitted shirt up to just below her chest, revealing all of her firm tan stomach. “Why?” she wondered. “Something wrong?”
I shook my head, taking a step to the side to confirm what was already obvious. “No. But your bruising is gone.”
She immediately looked down too, twisting to the side, her butt sticking out as she tried to look at her lower back, her dimples becoming more visible from the position, though the nastiest bruise from the Taser had been higher. “Huh, well that’s certainly a perk,” she commented.
I nodded slowly, with it finally settling in that this might be a good thing.
At the very least, she would probably perceive it as a benefit if her senses got stronger. For me, the world was so much richer than it seemed to be for a normal person, largely because I could hear, smell, and see so much more than most people. Not to mention being able to run for miles without tiring, and also having the ability to fly.
I could never imagine being a normal person, and realized I’d never want to be normal if given the choice. Even despite the problems that came with it.
Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly, refocusing my thoughts on what I had to do next. “Well, regarding the gun thing, it seems you aren’t fully like me at this point. At least not yet. So we don’t know for sure you would be able to handle a gunshot like I would. For one, you might not heal as fast, and it’s not worth the risk.”
She pouted again, but nodded in agreement.
Before continuing, I focused more heavily on my nose, testing the air to confirm what I was about to say. “Plus, there are no people around for miles. So if something happens, there are plenty of other wildlife for me to attack, assuming the next deer I catch isn’t enough.”
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She frowned but gave me another small nod.
Leaning forward, I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a kiss, only to take a deep breath of her scent. “Okay, I’ll be back.”
“I love you,” she whispered as I pulled away.
“I love you too,” I replied sincerely, turning and beginning to jog toward what sounded like the nearest deer a couple of miles in the distance. However, as I got closer I had to abandon that particular one, because I caught a whiff of human, and while the person was far enough away, chasing down the deer could last sometimes half a mile or more, especially if it sensed me coming before I got close enough. Not to mention, the trees seemed thinner in that direction, and I just didn’t want to chance it.
I assumed it must be a hiker or something, because while it was definitely bow season this time in April, I was pretty sure it was for turkeys or something, not deer. Thankfully, Nick hadn’t known any better when we were discussing the deer thing the previous evening, though I had to admit I didn’t pay much attention to that kind of thing either.
If anything, that would have been a better excuse for why a hunter might leave a deer in the middle of our yard. Because it wasn’t the right hunting season.
About ten minutes later, and I’d picked up on another deer, sneaking up on it without issue and taking it down. Unfortunately, it woke up as I was dragging it back, so I had to knock it out again before continuing on.
Gabriella seemed concerned when she caught sight of me, though I suspected it was just because of what I was about to do. She met me halfway again, and when I knelt down in front of the deer’s limp body, pulling out the gun from my pocket, she knelt behind me to wrap herself around my torso, leaning her forehead against the back of my white hair, pressing into my shoulders.
She had one of her arms across my chest, her upper arm against my neck while her hand was on my side, prompting me to gently kiss the part of her arm resting against my cheek. She gave me a squeeze in response, keeping her forehead buried.
I took a deep breath, made sure the safety was off, and then held the barrel up to the meaty part of my forearm.
“Ready?” I whispered.
She only nodded in response, holding me tighter.
I took another deep breath, and then pulled the trigger.
The ricocheting gunshot was louder than I was anticipating, causing us both to flinch, the thunderous noise immediately silencing all the birds and few cicadas, though the pain itself wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. Certainly nothing like I’d experienced the previous night, even if it still hurt like hell. The bullet also wasn’t in my arm, having gone straight through and buried itself in the ground.
The entry and exit wounds immediately began gushing blood, and the craving to drink blood resurfaced, but within seconds the bleeding had stopped, leaving me with a chilled sensation as my skin healed up.
The thumping of the unconscious deer’s heart beating began sounding louder, my focus being drawn to it, but resisting didn’t feel any more difficult than it had been last night.
“Are you alright?” Gabriella whispered after a few seconds.
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine so far. I have the urge, but it isn’t too bad.”
She nodded, giving me another squeeze.
Readjusting the barrel of the gun, I gave her a quick warning and then shot a second time. I felt lightheaded for a moment this time, but could already tell that not much else had changed. Thus, I repositioned the gun, and fired again.
The wound stopped bleeding just as fast as before, but it didn’t seem to heal right away this time.
Yet still, the craving for blood didn’t seem to get any stronger.
“I think I need to try to bleed more,” I announced. “Because the urge isn’t changing. I probably need to hit a major artery or something,” I added, positioning the barrel on my bicep.
Gabriella nodded against the back of my head, glancing at what I was doing. “You need to move the gun a little lower then,” she instructed quietly. “There’s a major artery that runs down the center.”
I glanced back at her in surprise, causing her to pull her head away slightly.
She answered my confused expression. “Anatomy and Physiology, remember?” she said simply.
“Oh, right,” I replied, my brow furrowing as I readjusted the gun. “Thanks,” I added, getting ready to pull the trigger again.
She didn’t respond, holding me tight in preparation. It was obvious she hated this, but we both knew it had to be done. We had to know what would happen if we were hurt too badly, and I suspected that blood loss was the most important aspect. Because while I’d suffered a lot of damage last night, those harpoon-like projectiles had also prevented excessive bleeding.
And with the way my body worked, even internal bleeding likely didn’t count as blood loss, since my body could seemingly just reabsorb it. If anything, that might have been why I was able to keep my own sanity even despite the situation.
Taking another controlled breath, I pulled the trigger.
Instantly, the bullet lodged itself in my bone, my body lunging forward from the agony, barely managing to stifle a scream as it began gushing all over my side. Gabriella immediately started to apologize over and over again, as if it was somehow her fault, her scent laced with guilt and remorse.
My head felt like it was swimming as I tried to pull myself together, my vision dark around the edges.
“I think I’m going to pass out,” I hissed just as my vision darkened even more.
“What should I do?” I heard Gabriella ask urgently, her voice sounding like it was a mile away, both of us knowing we hadn’t planned for something like this to happen.
But I wasn’t able to respond, feeling like I couldn’t form coherent thoughts as the ground abruptly came a little closer, my head dropping.
I barely heard Gabriella urgently ask something else, but I couldn’t hear her now, my mind fading away entirely, a low growl the only sound rumbling in my ears.
Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf