Return of the Blood Reaver Ch. 01 - Teaser (Patreon)

The smart people who paid his prices were the ones still alive and enjoyed a cordial, not to mention profitable, relationship with the man. Cristania was one of those smart people, taking pity on the man for all the hardships he went through. Besides, she knew better than most what it was like to be ostracized, to be seen as an outsider.

It was this kinship that allowed the woman to deal with the man when no one else could even get close to him. The relationship between them was almost comical, like that of a father and daughter always taking shots at one another. There were times that Cristania felt like he was seeing someone else instead of her, but she knew better than to ask about Aldrich’s human life. She was snapped out of her recollections as Joshua said something.

“Fresh blood? He must know something pretty important if he’s demanding fresh blood over the regular stuff you get for him from the morgue,” Joshua told her with raised eyebrows.

“The man imparted as much. Said that what he has is extremely important, as it would pertain to who wants to stay alive in the future,” she replied.

“That sounds… ominous! You sure he’s not pulling your leg?” Joshua wondered as Cristania came back with the blood draw kit.

“He called me in the middle of the day, while I was busy snoozing! He never calls me during that time! What he knows must be pretty important if he made a daytime call like that,” Cristania replied as she prepped Joshua’s arm for a needle.

Once she had located his vein, Cristania inserted the needle and hooked up a blood bag. After a quick check to ensure she did everything right, she then started the flow, filling the bag. Cristania smiled as the blood poured into the bag and, to pass the time, she got up and started moving around the kitchen.

“What you making?” Joshua asked as he saw his lady move about.

“Never you mind! Just stay put and rest yourself! Let me know when the bag is full,” she told him as she zipped around, preparing a meal for her man. She had gotten a good drink from him and was taking a little more than usual for her contact. It was only fair that she did what she could to look after her boyfriend.

She puttered around the kitchen while Joshua turned on the TV, looking for something good to watch. He settled on a popular Netflix show as Cristania smiled to herself, happy as a clam. Though the woman was a vampire, that didn’t mean that she couldn’t learn skills that could be of use. While she didn’t eat human food, Cristania was a talented cook, and she put that talent to use in fixing her boyfriend a midnight snack.

“Oh boy! That smells like… a grilled turkey!” Joshua moaned as he sniffed the air.

“Grilled turkey club, with spiced and crunchy mustard!” Cristania giggled, knowing that her boyfriend had a wicked sense of smell.

She often joked that he had to be part bloodhound to have a nose that good. No matter what she did to try to surprise the man, he could always smell what she was cooking. She then walked in with the sandwich on a plate, still steaming hot from the grill, along with a tallboy of Pink Elephant. She placed these items on a bed tray for her man and placed it right in front of him.

“Damn, woman! You really know how to take care of a man!” Joshua smiled as he sat up to kiss her.

“And you really know how to make a woman smile,” Cristania gushed.