Loving Merritt Forever

Loving Merritt After 20

Merritt sat at a small table alone, looking at the sparse patrons around the rather large bar space. Joy had told her, this was a pretty new place. The first of its kind. It wouldn't be overly busy until it had it's proper launch in a month or so when the staff were ready. Even then, this was meant to be a small, intimate retreat. All The tables around her held Vampires just like her, the staff clearly all Fae or Dragons and easily able to hold their own against the unorthodox clientele of this particular bar. 

No humans were anywhere near this room. Human donors were all in a secured bunker disguised as the rectory for this church. Another experience to look forward to. Merritt remembered her night at the original Maroon. It had been a happy memory. It didn't feel the way it once did.

Merritt was trying to be in the moment. She was on her own. No obligations other than herself. She was in a place that catered to her kind. No one so far appeared to be paying her any special attention, especially when she kept on the sunglasses even indoors to hide the bright glow of her eyes. She wasn't even the only one wearing sunglasses at night, indoors. She wasn't appearing as anything special here. No more so than any of the other vampires who had proven they could behave in mixed company.

All the other vampires already felt special to themselves. Felt like they had a superior method for mastering the power of the vampire curse. As long as no one caught on to just how bright Merritt's eyes were under the sunglasses, and the dark brown colored contacts she knew she would wear at all times while outside of her own, private room. The population of vampires in the bar did seem to skew towards females compared to males. All four of the unattached Vampire men present approached Merritt at her single table one at a time. As though they already knew their own hierarchy. It was like watching a performance on a stage.

One by one she sent them away. None were able to pull any interest or draw from her heart towards them. None were worth her time or attention. Once all the solo male vampires had exhausted their attempts to woo the newest vampire at the resort, it was the female and complicated vampire's turn. They had much more intricate and specific seduction strategies, alliances, histories, friendship and kin ships to all contend with.

Merritt had not bothered to hide anything about herself. Other than how newly turned she was. No wigs. No makeup. No costumes. Merritt was just herself. Wearing clothes she felt pretty and comfortable in. Thinking she did not likely need to hide herself here. Vampires were usually well beyond caring about a single murder on the news. A single, small human life would have been nothing to concern their own existence with. Merritt was thrilled she was able to socialize with what was essentially her peers. To just be out, and be the her she had always wanted to be. 

Since becoming a vampire it was as if every perfect curl and turn her hair had ever held was the one locked into existence. The most flawless, natural, voluminous hair day, every single day. Merritt loved her demon enhanced hair the most of anything that had changed regarding her appearance. It was vain, and silly, and she did not care. She loved that her hair finally looked like how it had always looked in her dreams.

Endless good hair days were wonderful after a lifetime fighting against hair that was never straight nor curly or evenly wavy. It had always just been textured, but never all the same way at the same time. Now every single lock looked like a painter could have chosen the highlights and shadows of every curl, twist and wave of Merritt's hair.

Merritt loved that she felt beautiful now. Knew that she wasn't ever mousey Merritt. Others had tried to box her in and make her small. Levi was the key that had set her free. Which is why his betrayal hurt so much. They were supposed to be equals now, but Levi was still making choices without Merritt. Leaving her in the dark. Merritt did not ever want to feel less than someone ever again.

Merritt was doing her best to nod along with the pair of female vampires who had managed to have the first meeting with Merritt. They did not feel right to Merritt and she had been mostly ignoring them, clearly not interested, but not eager to dismiss them either. Merritt maintained the unengaging small talk. They were giving her time to finally accept how Levi had her hurt. He had set her up to fail. His actions had led to Asher severing himself from her. Levi hadn't ever said anything to Merritt about his plans. She was still angry at him.

Eventually, the first Vampire pair were certain they were not going to catch deeper attention from Merritt and excused themselves. They were followed by a thruple of two women and one man, Three generations of vampires happily together and bonded for decades.

Merritt excused herself and went to her room after the second group had introduced themselves and explained their relationships. There had been some protests, but Merritt did not care about general opinions of herself right now. She was hurt and angry, and trying to figure out everything in the entire world including herself. Other people were not important. Merritt was, for the very first time, only focused on herself.

Merritt went to her rest, in her room alone. Waking long before the sun would set again. Deciding now was as good as any to face her past. Merritt changed into her micro bikini. Every part of her body except her clit, labia, and nipples hidden under scant teal fabric. The color matching the shade her veins had been under her skin when she had been alive. A perfect shade against her eternally pale skin.

Merritt strode through the hotel down to the basement that had been turned into the saltwater pool grotto. Walking into the pool, and doing her best to swim a passable breaststroke from end to end of the pool.

Without the need to breathe, Merritt could swim, longer, harder, faster, pushing her body. Doing endless laps until her body began to signal that it needed rest. Merritt stood up, in the shallow end of the pool, all alone in the expansive space. Sobbing loudly. The choked sounds echoing off the faux cave modeled ceiling. Remembering how it felt to drown, and die in a cold, slimy pond. Asher, bleeding out in the driveway of the cottage. The need to get to him. To be with Asher to try and save him like she was saved. She wanted their forever.

Her demon was so quiet, barely a whisper when she had leapt from the cold water after breaking free of the binds that had kept her still while she drowned. David had let go of the rope when he saw Verity shoot Asher. 

Verity trusted an idiot to keep Merritt alive like a worm on a hook. Merritt had moved with precision, immobilizing first David, sinking her teeth into his thigh. The thick, pulsing femoral artery filling her mouth with blood faster than she could swallow. Remembering how annoyed she had been when Verity had kept screaming, loud and shrill, telling her to stop.

Once David's blood stopped flowing, leaving him barely alive, eyes staring blankly up at nothing in the air, Merritt had pounced on Verity, breaking his back and crushing his windpipe near his vocal chords. Leaving him paralyzed on the ground, head, carefully rolled along with his body into the recovery position to preserve his ruined airway as long as possible. His airway no longer capable of making real sounds.

Merritt's vision had been cloudy and unfocused. Like she hadn't truly shed the slime from the water she had drowned in. On strong legs, Merritt went to Asher. Knowing she should have been freezing as a strong breeze stirred her wet, near frozen hair around her face, moving crisp leaves, brown with rot that had fallen the previous fall. Merritt didn't feel the cold anymore.

She had looked at Asher's ruined chest. Watched as his blue tinged lips gasped at air that his shredded lungs wouldn't be able to transfer to his blood as he drowned in blood that should have been keeping him alive. His heart visible through the holes in his chest made by buckshot, looked like it had exploded, and wasn't able to move the blood that continued to pool back into his chest. Weighing down on his already struggling lungs and heart.

Merritt felt like she was watching a movie. A terrible, ugly tragedy. Merritt used her new, sharp teeth to tear her wrist open. Forcing the bleeding wound into Asher's mouth. Holding him, and telling him she loved him forever. For always. Even after. He was hers. He had been the first person who had made her feel safe. He was hers. Over and over as he died, until his eyes went dull, and Merritt was certain he was gone. For the moment at least.

The entire time that Merritt had been with Asher, ushering him into the darkness of death much more kindly than she herself had crossed; Verity had been trying to scream. His garbled, wet noises ruining the beautiful moment that Merritt's demon had watching their love die, hoping for the promise of her blood that he would live again,