I let her drink for a minute, and then I withdrew my wrist. Rebecca sighed, and closed her eyes again, but her skin had lost that chalky pallor, and her breathing had slowed. I stood with my wrist over the sink as I tied a compression bandage around it. It would stop bleeding within another minute or so, and by tomorrow you wouldn't be able to see a scar. We heal fast.
I looked over to where Mark stood. His eyes were still wide, but he didn't look frightened anymore. He looked fascinated, and intrigued.
"Well," he said levelly, "that was freaky."
I chuckled. A bit of an understatement.
"Want some tea?" I asked him.
He looked up at me. "Real tea? With boiled water and milk and stuff? No blood?"
"Yes." I smiled at his resilience.
"Yes, please." He went back to gazing at his sister. She looked almost normal now, and appeared to be waking up.
Rebecca
Mark was standing against an unfamiliar wall when I woke up. He was staring at me as if I'd grown an extra eye or something. I was lying on a comfortable leather couch. It smelled new.
"Where are we?" I asked him.
"Angus' house."
"Why are we here? What happened?"
He glanced towards what must have been the kitchen, and said wryly, "I think you'd better let Angus tell you." He grinned at me. "Well, you look a lot better."
I frowned. He wasn't making sense. I tried to sit up, but the world spun sickeningly, so I lay back down again. Angus came into the room and handed Mark a mug. He looked over at me and then came and stood next to the sofa. I could almost feel the heat of his body near mine. It was oddly comforting and perturbing at the same time.
"I can see I've got some explaining to do," he said with a smile. "But first you need to drink something." He turned away before I could say anything and went back into the kitchen, reappearing after a few seconds with a glass of water and five unremarkable brown tablets.
"Drink these," he commanded. I looked up at Mark, and he nodded. I took them from Angus' warm hand, and swallowed them one at a time. Angus smiled at me, and sat down on a nearby armchair, stretching out his long body as he leaned back.
"It's a long story," he said, sighing. "I'd better start at the beginning."