I was (and still is) quite suprised over the intensity of these feelings. To be honest, I don't think I felt something in this magnitude for any other being, fictional or real. This suprised me as I am not known for being an empathic person, in fact, if someone told me of a horrible disaster in some far-off country, I am mostly totally indifferent to it. You can blame that on my knowlegde of just how many people die horrible deaths every day, and about how many who live equally horrible lifes. I have gotten used to te darkness of this world, it is now very hard to get an emotional response from me. But the relationship between Eli and Oskar somehow does the trick, meaning that I may not be a cold-blooded monster after all. I can't really explain why this is the case, it seems children are excepted from my otherwise cold cynicism, probably because instincts make me protective of our young. I would actually describe my feelings for Eli to be that of either a father or an older brother, mixed with the devotion a zealous person might feel towards their god.
My current level of infecton are on such level that if I become a parent, I would be very likely to name this child Eli, regardless of it boing a boy or a girl. I kind of like the sound of that name, Eli, it would be especially fitting on a child with black hair. Lets face it, I would probably end up calling this child Eli by mistake sometime anyway, I could as well call him/her that to avoid that embarrassing mistake.
I catch your drift though, a_c_l, that little bloodsucker has me wrapped around her little fang. 
