I wake up in a bathtub almost full to the brim of slightly hot water. I feel a sponge gently running over my belly. I moan.
"Shh."
The sponge goes away and I feel a pair of strong hands put me in a sitting position in the tub. My vision starts to clear. Then, his face comes into view. My eyes go wide and I can feel my face heat up.
He chuckles. "You're blushing very badly, you know."
"It's not my fault! You're the one who has me naked in a bathtub!"
"Shh. Shh. Calm down," he whispers harshly. He sighs. "You were unconscious and I didn't think you'd wake up while in the bathtub. The tip of your fingers and toes were blue. So were your lips and the tip of your nose. Your whole body was practically freezing, so I decided to give you a hot bath to warm you up."
He unplugs the bathtub and gets up. He grabs a towel and drapes it over the bathtub. "There's you a towel. And there's clothes hanging on the wall right there," he says, pointing to the wall beside the tub. "I'll take you home once you're done."
He leaves, shutting the door quietly behind him. I get up slowly, using the side of the bathtub for support. I put my right hand on the wall to stay steady and grab the towel with my free hand. I carefully dry off and wrap the towel around me. I step onto the mat in front of the bathtub and try to steady myself. Epic fail. I crumple to the floor. I stand up and reach for the clothes on the wall. I start to fall again and I feel hands grab my arms firmly but gently.
"Someone's weaker than I thought," he whispers in my ear.
I can't help it. I lean against him. My body's too weak for me to stand on my own. He pulls up a chair and sits down, letting me sit in his lap. He grabs the clothes and helps me put them on. Once I'm fully dressed, he picks me up like a bride at a wedding and takes me to the next room. He lies me down on the bed and reaches for his keys.
"You can drive?"
"Yes, I can." He comes back over to pick me up again, but I turn to crawl away. He sighs. "What on earth are you doing?"
"Please don't take me to the hotel. I don't want to leave. I want to stay here." I stop and look up at him. "With you."
"I told you. You can't stay with me."
"Why not?" I say, raising my voice. "Why can't I stay with you?"
He pins me down by my arms and brings his face close to mine. His voice and gaze is as cold as ice. "First of all, you need to shut that mouth of yours. Second, I've already told you why you can't stay with me. So you know exactly why. And I'm going to tell you this only once: I can be a kind, caring man or I can be the careless, selfish person I really am." He gets up and turns away. This time, his voice is flat, with no emotion. "I'm taking you back tomorrow."
He leaves the room and I check the time. It's 11:19 at night. I sigh and move over to the window and find that we're on the first floor of a renting house. I check to make sure that there isn't an alarm and open the window. I'm still on the bed. I glance behind me to find him standing in the doorway, staring at his phone. I look back to the window and lean out. It's about five feet to the ground. I glance back again to see him putting stuff into a dresser. I put my feet through the window and start to slide out when he turns around and looks up at me.
"Nikkindra!"
I jump down and roll over the grass. I look up and find him peering at me through the window. I get up and dust off the dirt on the clothes he gave me.
"I think you forgot of my telling you I'm a Van Helsing!" I shout at him. "And you should know by experience what it's like to be around a Van Helsing! You can try playing your little games with me, but I'll just fire right back at you!"
He just looks at me, stunned. I turn and walk away. But little did I know at the time that that wasn't the last time I'd see him.
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