Chapter 6: Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping with a pure-blooded vampire was a strange and kind of interesting experience. My hands were settled on my hips as I stared at Sol, who was currently scanning each ingredient printed on the packaging of the products. He touched everything I placed into the grocery cart, from vegetables to canned goods, as though it were the first time he had been to the store. "Not that one," he told me as he took a sweet melon from my hands and replaced it with a smaller one. "It doesn't smell fresh. It might as well be categorized as the undead." Although I couldn't begrudge him when selecting the fruits, he had helped me pick out the freshest ones due to his enhanced sense of smell. "Fine." I furrowed my eyebrows at him but took his preferred choice anyway. I had protested as we walked on, but he only winked at me and tapped his nose. I rolled my eyes because I didn't understand the meaning of his action but let it go. I admitted pure-blooded vampires' sense of smell was greater than human beings and the half-blooded. However, I didn't think their extraordinary eyesight would be useful in the store, especially when he was addicted to investigating the nutritional value of the food on the shelves. "How could you know about nutritional value?" I asked him as I laughed at one of the frozen pizzas he was holding, "When was the last time you could digest human food?" "I don't eat human food," he told me as he put it back. "But I can definitely taste the difference in human blood because their daily recipes are different. Trust me, I do know something about nutrition." "Sounds very reasonable." Did that mean he was so concerned about the nutritional value of foods to ensure that my blood was nutritious to drink? "Don't worry, I won't drink from you." He seemed to know what I was thinking. I cleared my throat, asking him quietly, "How long has it been since you came to the store?" I moved toward him and took the ketchup from his hands. He huffed out a sigh. "Let's put it this way, the last time I knew the existence of stores, there was only a third of the current variety of food on the shelves. Did you see the treats they were selling by the door? It's literally a ball of sugar, just straight–" I sighed as I pinched my nose and nodded to what he was saying. "Yes, Sol, that was candy floss. I think we should probably go before anyone gets any weird ideas." I motioned him toward the countertops lined with the cash registers. Still, he didn't move because he took a bottle from my shopping cart and examined it. "Why do you eat this stuff?" he asked before putting it back. His nose scrunched up at the garlic and ginger paste he had unknowingly retrieved. "I mean… You don't need it to survive, do you?" "I just love it." I shrugged as I stared up at him. "But why?" he stressed again as he looked at me. "Blood is so much easier to acquire, and you don't ever have to waste time preparing your meal. Humans will feed themselves for you." He shot me a devilish grin. I felt my heart skip a beat at the look on his face. I saw several younger females passing us. I didn't miss how they stared at Sol when he was speaking to me. They whispered and held a longing look on us, actually, on Sol. I soon realized that Sol was a charming, tall, and handsome male to the outside world, unlike a dangerous, pure-blooded vampire who exuded an inexplicable attraction to me. He had easily caught the eye of human beings in this store. I had somehow forgotten about my initial reaction to Sol when I first met him. I remembered he wore casual-style clothes when talking with Serin and Sarah in the kitchen. At that time, he held a comfortable smile without such a demanding look on his face at present. "Well?" His calm voice pulled me back to the present from my reverie. His eyes stared down at me as though he was expecting something. "Well, what?" I asked him. I must have looked pretty dumb. He smiled down at me and leaned closer, placing his right arm on the shelf in front of me and his left on the cart at my side, effectively caging me in. There was no one else in the aisle, and the store had been somewhat deserted. What did he want to do? Suck my blood? Hug me? Kiss me? Whisper some secrets to me? I quickly came up with several possible answers, and I braced myself for whatever would happen. Nothing did. He only lowered his lips closer to my ear as he asked softly, "Don't you ever desire human blood?" Chills ran down my spine as I felt his warm breath caress my ear. "Don't you hear it now? How the blood rushes through those girls' veins?" I swallowed as he lifted his head slightly and stared down at me. "As the blood rushes through my body?" My head turned to the side as he moved it with his left hand. My eyes effectively came into contact with his wrist that had slid uncovered. "I'm sure you can smell it." His voice was lower and deeper, asking me to do something about the growing desire in me. This shocked me because I had not felt so drawn to blood before. "Your senses must overwhelm you enough. I bet you're eager to taste it with your tongue right now." His lips hovered over my ear again. "You can taste it if you want. I'll allow you to drink from me once." He was right. I felt my mouth watering as he spoke. I could hear the rushing of his blood in his veins. No, not his blood. Maybe that was the blood from some poor human he drained. The thought struck me as hard as lightning. I snapped my eyes to him. I felt my cheeks inflamed with embarrassment at the sinful look housed there, and I shook my head. "No, that's not me," I said in a quiet voice "I don't do that. Not after–" I was interrupted as my name was called out. "Mia?" My eyes widened once the familiar voice rang out in the aisle next to us. I shut my eyes and cursed the situation that I had somehow ended up in. I turned my head to meet my best friend. "Hey, Kaya," I greeted the strawberry blonde-haired woman in front of me. "How's it going?" I watched as the woman's brown eyes were wide. She smiled and threw a "What is going on?" look. "Oh, good, fine, I'm good," she said because she noticed Sol. " Hi, are you Mia's boyfriend? I'm Kaya Taylor." "No, he isn't," I quickly denied and scrambled to push Sol away from me as I came to realize he hadn't moved. I gestured with a lame hand to Kaya. "Sol, this is Kaya. Kaya, this is Sol." I introduced them to each other. I watched with an increasing amount of anxiety since Sol straightened himself and offered Kaya his hand to shake. "Pleased to meet you," he said in a formal tone. "Believe it or not, it's also my pleasure. I didn't know Mia had such a good-looking friend apart from me. It's a wonder I haven't met you around before," Kaya said as she placed her hand on her waist. I noticed the look Kaya shot me for a split second, and I didn't doubt Sol would miss it either. I opened my mouth to speak, but he already beat me to it. "Mia and I are old friends," he said coolly. "We recently got in touch again." Kaya made a sound of an acknowledgment. She nodded her head and winked at him. "Well, I have to go. I'll call you later, Mia," Kaya promised as she waved at us and walked away. ###