I glanced around the street again, but this stray vampire had clearly been alone, so the road was still clear. I figured it would be more suspicious if I tried to move the body and left a trail of moldy blood behind him, so I just left the vamp where he laid and then headed back up to the second level of the parking garage.
As soon as I opened the back of the truck, all four girls looked at me with wide eyes.
“Sam, are you okay?” Natalie asked. “You were gone for longer than I thought you would be.”
“I just found a wild vamp that I had to take care of, that’s all,” I said. “But he was alone, and the rest of the parking garage was clear, so I think we found a good hiding spot for you all and for the truck.”
“That’s crazy!” Lily hissed. “So like you just… killed it? We didn’t even hear a gunshot.”
“I bet that’s because Blade here used his bare hands, isn’t it?” Catherine grinned. “You fucking badass.”
“He was already pretty weak, so it wasn’t hard,” I said with a shrug.
“Just because it wasn’t hard for you doesn’t mean that it wasn’t hard,” Erika pointed out. “After all, you’re a fucking vampire, so you can’t exactly tell how strong and how fast you are now.”
“Well, either way, he’s taken care of,” I laughed, “but thanks.”
“So can we-- I mean, do you think we could talk about Isaac now?” Natalie asked.
“Sure,” I said and then climbed up into the truck with them, so I could ease the big door shut behind us. “Catherine, do you want to start?”
“Here you go, Sam,” the auburn-haired girl said as she patted a duffel bag beside her.
“Thanks.” I sat down on top of the luggage and stretched my legs out alongside Catherine’s lean athletic legs.
“Okay, so don’t get me wrong, Nat,” Catherine began. “You know I like Isaac, and I know he’s your brother and everything, but I just… I’m just really worried it’s too dangerous, especially if it means Sam would have to leave us alone.”
“Columbia is really far away,” Lily said. “I mean, not really, but like-- think about how much of a whole ordeal it was for us just to get here from the apartment, you know?”
“Exactly,” Catherine said. “I mean, I’m sure Sam could barricade us really well and get us all set up here, but… I don’t know, is it really the best idea for him to leave us since we are kind of in the middle of the goddamn end of the world?”
“But it’s Isaac,” Natalie said and then looked at me with her big blue eyes. “Please. It’s my brother.”
“How long do you think it would take you to get Isaac and then get back here?” Erika asked me.
“I really don’t know,” I said. “Honestly, there are so many factors that I’m not sure how long it would take. It would depend on how much trouble I ran into or how bad Columbia’s campus is.”
“Don’t tell me you agree with them, Erika,” Natalie said.
“I don’t know, Nat,” Erika sighed and then adjusted her glasses. “I don’t want to, but… they do have a point.”
“But it’s my brother!” my girlfriend said. “And it’s not like he’s all the way up in the Bronx or over on Staten Island or something. It’s basically just across the river.”
“I want to save him just as much as you do,” I told Natalie. “He’s your brother, so that makes him family to me, too, okay? I just want to make sure that I don’t put you all in danger for the sake of rescuing Isaac, that’s all.”
“And I’m saying that I don’t know if that’s possible,” Catherine said.
“I can see it going either way,” Erika said.
“I mean, I guess I can, too,” Lily said. “Like, I think Catherine makes more sense, but I don’t feel like I have as much of a say about it as you guys do. I’m just happy you took me with you, you know?”
“As long as we’re all together, everybody gets an equal say,” I said. “I mean, at the end of the day, I’ll make the final call if there’s not a consensus, but I don’t want you to think that your opinion doesn’t matter, okay?”
Lily nodded, and her thick dark curls bounced with the movement.
“I know it’s dangerous,” Natalie said and pressed her lips together. “I know Columbia is far away, and I know it makes sense for Sam to leave us here instead of trying to take us all with him. Trust me, I get it.”
“We all want to save your brother,” Catherine said and leaned forward to lay her hand on the other girl’s arm. “I think we’re just trying to decide if it’s possible without putting ourselves at an unnecessary risk.”
“I guess I’m just asking if you’re all willing to take a little bit of a risk for Isaac’s sake,” my girlfriend murmured.
“I changed my mind,” Erika said. “I’m with Nat now.”
“What changed your mind?” Lily demanded.
“I just know if I was stuck somewhere without you guys, you wouldn’t hesitate to come get me,” Erika said. “At least, I think so?”
“Goddammit,” Catherine sighed. “God fucking damn it. Why’d you have to go and make a point that’s all, like, emotional and shit?”
“We’re family,” Erika said with a shrug. “And especially right now, we’re all we’ve got.”
Catherine opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could say whether or not she agreed with Natalie and Erika, my girlfriend’s phone buzzed. By the time she pulled it out of her pocket, it had already buzzed again, so Nat immediately answered and put it on Speaker.
“Isaac?” Natalie whispered. “Are you there?”
“It’s good to hear your voice, Nat,” her brother answered.
“Where have you been?” my girlfriend demanded. “I kept trying to text you, but you didn’t answer!”
“Sorry about that,” Isaac laughed. “I’ve just been kinda busy trying to keep us alive up here.”
“Us?” I glanced up at Natalie.
“Sam, is that you?” Isaac asked.
“Yeah, Sam’s here,” my girlfriend replied. “And so are Catherine and Erika, plus another girl who just joined us.”
“Damn, so there’s four of you?” Isaac whistled like he was impressed.
I thought it was a little bit of a strange reaction for someone who was supposed to be terrified for his life.
“Yeah, there’s four of us,” Natalie said. “How many people are still with you?”
“It’s just my girlfriend and her friend left now,” Isaac said.
“What happened to everybody else?” I asked.
“Oh, you know,” Isaac said. “Vamps got ‘em, what else? Anyway, I just thought you were on your way here or something, so I wanted to get a better idea of when exactly your ETA is.”
“We’re just having a little bit of a hard time getting up there,” I answered before Natalie could. “Manhattan’s not exactly easy to get into at the moment.”
“I get that,” Isaac said. “Look, if it was just me, I’d definitely take the risk and try to get down to you guys. But I can’t put my girlfriend and her friend in danger like that.”
“But you’re asking us to put ourselves in danger like that,” Catherine muttered.
“What if you met us halfway?” Erika asked. “Like if we--”
I shook my head and then reached over to lay my hand on the black-haired girl’s leg.
“No details,” I mouthed silently.
“Nah, I still think that’s too dangerous,” Isaac said. “I mean, you guys have survived this long on your own, so you’ve gotta have weapons or something, right?”
I shook my head again, so none of the girls said anything.
“You still there, Nat?” Isaac asked.
“Yeah, we’re still here,” my girlfriend replied. “I’m just trying to figure out how you expect us to come get you, when you can’t even meet us halfway.”
“Oh, that’s because-- uh, that’s because my girlfriend’s hurt,” Isaac said. “She, uh, fell and broke her ankle when we we
re running away earlier, so she can’t really move on it.”
“Well, I guess that makes sense,” Natalie said and looked to me for confirmation.
I thought it sounded more like an excuse that Isaac had made up on the spot than a real reason, so I just shrugged.
“How have you guys survived, anyway?” Isaac asked.
“How have you?” I demanded in response.
“Uh, good luck, I guess,” Isaac said. “That, plus we’ve managed to stay pretty hidden. What about you?”
At first, no one said anything, and I knew the big question was whether or not we were going to tell Isaac that our secret weapon was the fact that I was a vampire. I could have gone either way, but since Isaac had been a little cagey about his answers so far, I figured that I would just tell him the truth and try to get a reaction out of him.
After all, there weren’t many reasons that Isaac would be cagey about what he told us, and of all the reasons I could think of, not a single one of them was good.
“Oh, that’s probably because I’m a vamp,” I said and then immediately put my finger to my lips so the girls wouldn’t add any other details.
“No shit, really?” Isaac laughed. “Well, I guess that makes sense. Look, Sam, since you’re a vampire and all, that’s just all the more reason for you guys to come get us, right?”
“You mean for all five of us to come get you?” I asked.
“Well, yeah!” Isaac said. “And then when you get here, we can consolidate our resources and everything, and then we can take it from there.”
“Alright,” I said before Natalie could answer. “We’ll do our best to make it there soon, and we’ll be in touch whenever we make it to campus.”
“Awesome,” Isaac said. “Thanks a lot, man.”
Isaac hung up the phone before he even said goodbye to Natalie.
“How come you didn’t tell him any details and stuff?” Lily asked. “Like how you’re gonna get to him or the fact that you’re planning to go by yourself?”
“Just in case anyone else is listening in on the conversation on Isaac’s end,” I said with a shrug. “That way, any eavesdroppers won’t know that I’m about to leave four human girls by themselves.”
“Oh yeah, that makes sense,” Erika said.
It did make sense, but that wasn’t the real reason that I had wanted to keep all the details of our planned rescue mission to myself. The real reason was that I could only think of one good explanation for why Isaac would want me to bring the girls to him. And I could definitely only think of one real reason why he didn’t seem at all worried or surprised when I told him that I was a vamp.
It had to be because Isaac was a fucking vamp, too.
Chapter 3
“Sam?” Natalie murmured. “So does that mean that you are going to get Isaac?”
I hesitated and then suddenly had to blink to clear my vision. My eyes and my skin felt painfully dry, like a sponge that had been left out in the desert. I knew that I was supposed to be thinking about Isaac and whether or not I was going to rescue him, but all I could think about was the rhythm of the four girls’ hearts as they pulsed blood all through their bodies.
“Damn, Spike, you look kinda thirsty,” Catherine said and leaned over to push my hair back. “Your forehead’s pretty hot, too.”
“Shit,” I groaned. “I think I need a fucking drink.”
Lily immediately tensed and pressed herself deeper into the luggage and supplies, like she could just hide from me even though I was looking right at her. The other three girls all leaned forward in their seats, and I wondered which one of them would offer me their blood.
Not that I was picky-- I had tasted all three girls, and they were all goddamn delicious. They just tasted different from each other, and their blood also made me feel differently. Catherine’s blood made me feel like I was on a fucking high, Erika’s made me feel laser focused, and Natalie’s made me feel calm and level-headed.
I wondered how Lily’s blood would make me feel.
“But you just drank from Catherine this morning,” Erika said with a frown. “I mean, you clearly need some, but that just seems a little sooner than usual.”
“I must not have had enough from Catherine,” I said. “I used up a lot of energy last night, so maybe I just needed more to replace it.”
“I’m happy to give more,” the auburn-haired girl said as she held out her wrist to me. “I don’t mind.”
“But I do.” I grasped her arm and slowly lowered it back to her side, even though I felt my mouth salivate at the pulse of the artery in her wrist.
“Yeah, you just gave blood,” Erika said. “Nat or I can take it this time, but you need to give your body a little more time to recover.”
“Ugh, fine,” Catherine said and threw her hands up into the air. “You girls get to have all the fun.”
“I’ll do it,” Lily squeaked.
As we all turned to look at her, the Hispanic girl pushed herself forward and kicked a duffel bag out of the way. She blew a thick dark curl out of her face, bit her lip, and then gave a little smile.
“Really?” Catherine asked. “I thought you-- like, you know-- I kinda thought you were, uh, terrified of Sam?”
“I’m scared,” Lily said with a shrug, “but if I was really terrified of him, I wouldn’t have ever gotten into this truck with you guys.”
“You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to,” I told her. “I can drink from Nat or Erika if you’re not sure about this.”
“Yeah, we definitely don’t mind, either,” Erika said. “I know it sounds weird, Lily, but it actually feels kinda good.”
“You mean when he drinks from you?” Lily’s eyes opened wide.
“Uh, fuck, yeah!” Catherine said. “Like, don’t get me wrong-- we’d do it no matter what, since that’s what it takes for him to protect us and everything, but, like-- it just hurts for a second, and then…”
“Then it feels…” Natalie trailed off. “Kind of indescribable. Like… uhhh… super good.”
“I feel like you guys are really pullin’ my leg or something,” Lily said, “but… well, look. I know I’ve been a little weird with you, Sam, and I know I haven’t given you any blood yet, so I just…”
“Just what?” I asked.
“I just want to do this to say thanks, I guess,” Lily replied. “You know, for bringing me along with you guys. You could have just left me to fend for myself--”
“You mean we could have left you to die,” I said.
“Yeah, I guess so…” Lily sighed. “Anyway, I just want to say thanks, that’s all. So, uh, how do you wanna do this?”
The beautiful girl tilted her head to the side, brushed her thick curls out of the way, and exposed the pulsing artery in her throat. As much as I wanted to jump across the back of the truck and drink straight from her neck, I knew that I should just drink from her wrist like I had from Erika and Catherine.
I’d taken blood from Natalie’s neck before, but she was also my girlfriend, so I felt like that made things kind of different. Then again, Natalie had been the one to start the threesome that we had with Erika, so maybe she wouldn’t mind if I drank Lily’s blood from a more sensitive spot.
“Oh, Sam will just take it from your wrist,” Catherine said.
“Yeah, I don’t need to take it from your neck,” I said. “If you’re sure about this, we can go into the front of the truck so you can be a little more comfortable.”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Lily said with a quick nod. “I ain’t no freeloader or nothing.”
“Then come on,” I said and moved to open the truck door.
As soon as I helped Lily out of the truck, I started to close the door again before Natalie grabbed my arm.
“If you don’t get enough from her, you can always take some from us, too,” my beautiful girlfriend said. “I want you to do whatever you need to so you can be strong.”
“So you don’t mind if I drink from her?” I asked
and reached out to tuck her chestnut-brown hair behind her ear.
“Why would I mind?” Natalie laughed.
“Yeah, it’s not like you haven’t drunk from me and Erika before,” Catherine said.
“But that’s not the same thing,” I said. “You guys are her roommates and her friends, so isn’t that-- I don’t know, isn’t this different?”
“Not at all,” my girlfriend replied. “You need to be strong to take care of us, so I want you to do whatever it takes to keep yourself that way.”
“Me too,” I said.
“And one more thing, Sam,” Natalie said as she leaned forward to whisper into my ear so the other girls couldn’t hear her. “In case you suddenly forgot about our threesome with Erika--”
“Definitely not,” I laughed.
“I just want you to remember that I’m not the jealous type when it comes to either blood or sex,” Natalie whispered. “You’re a superhuman now, so that means you can take whatever you want-- and you should, too.”
I felt my heart start to race a little faster at her words.
“In fact,” my girlfriend murmured, “you’re strong enough now that I bet you could satisfy all four of us on the same day-- maybe even at the same time.”
“Then maybe one day, we’ll get to test out that theory,” I growled, gave her a quick kiss, and then turned back to face Lily where she stood just outside the truck.
“Ready when you are,” the curly-haired beauty said and then pressed her lips together into a little worried line.
I closed the truck door, led her to the front of the truck, and helped her up into the front seat. As soon as I was seated beside her, I gently grasped her arm and pulled it toward myself, but Lily’s whole body was so stiff that her arm felt like a wooden plank.
“Just try to relax,” I said as I rubbed the artery in her wrist. “It’ll only sting for a second.”
Lily forced her arm to go limp, and as soon as the olive-skinned girl seemed ready, I raised her wrist up to my mouth, licked the skin to feel the strong pulse underneath, and then bit into her soft flesh with my pointed canines.
The moment that her blood started to flow into my mouth, I felt more like myself again. The dry feeling in my eyes and skin vanished, and instead, I felt like I had just stepped into a cool shower after a trip across the desert.
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