by Arizona Tape
I gratefully accepted the steaming hot cup, surprised at how much it was burning my hands. I didn’t really have a problem with hot things. The sun, ovens, hot water, ... It didn’t affect us much.
This was a really strange sensation. How interesting.
The guy pulled me with him, an impatient look plastered on his face. I might not know him, but I knew impatient when I saw it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”
“You’re acting rather unusual.”
I squinted my eyes, glaring at him. “What makes you say that?”
“You’re constantly zoning out? You’re avoiding talking about Sian? And to top it all off, you ordered a blood coffee? You?”
I nipped at the red liquid, disappointed to find it just overly sweetened coffee. Hmmm... Maybe I could find that little bar Sian took me to earlier. I could have a proper Bloody Mary with that delicious AB+ and O- mix. Hmmm, just thinking about it, made my mouth water.
“Sorry, what were you saying?”
“You’re hopeless. What has you so distracted?”
Sian. I wanted to see Sian. Why was I stuck here with this weird dude with blackened eyes? Dear God, I hoped that wasn’t a real style. Guess I should name him ‘Dracula’ until I found out his real name.
“Oh just... Thinking?” I answered, crossing my fingers. Dear god, I hoped Ayra was the sort of person who thought.
“Yes, I figured you were. But what are you breaking your head over? You can talk to me.”
“Can I?” I asked, studying him from head to toe. He was ridiculously dressed, but he had kind eyes. Kind eyes that seemed to fill with hurt. Oops, did I say something offensive?
“We’ve been friends for decades, you can tell me anything.”
Oooh, so not a date. Friends it was. That was a relief.
“Is something going on between you and Sian? You kind of avoided the question earlier on.”
“I did?”
Was something going on with me and Sian? Well, not me. Ayra and Sian?
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I deflected, hoping he’d drop it.
“Hmm, okay. I won’t push. But you can, you know that, right?”
“Yes, I know.” Lie. What did I know?
“So... What’s with the blood coffee?”
I rolled my eyes, already tired of all his questions. What was this, a trial?
“What do you mean?”
“You hate anything blood-related?”
Wasn’t Ayra a vampire? Why would she not like blood? I’d only been in her body a couple of times and I already loved it. That stuff was addicting.
“I do?”
“Yes! You’ve been avoiding that stuff for as long as I can remember?”
“Oh... Right. Well, I just decided to suck it up.”
I hid a stupid giggle behind my hand. Laughing at your own puns wasn’t very mature.
“You decided to suck it up...” Dracula repeated slowly, a look of genuine disbelief in his eyes.
“Yes, you know... It was time to grow up?” I made up, not sure what else to say. But at least he seemed to know about the blood thing, so he must be a vampire as well? But if he was... Why was he dressed like a tacky character from the nineties?
We walked past a large window and I caught a glance of myself.
Oh no, why was I dressed like that? Weren’t corsets for inside? And what was with the hideous make-up? This was even worse than the ugly little purse and the sleek dresses.
Ayra, Ayra, Ayra... Your wardrobe is, to put it nicely, ugghhh.
“You’re in a strange mood today, Ayra.”
“Sorry, my head is a thousand miles away, I think.” If only he knew just how far away my head really was.
“If you say so. Let’s just rejoin the festival?”
“Festival?”
Dracula gave me that same penetrative look. Damn, at this rate, I was going to give my secret away. “Right, festival. Of course. Off we go,” I lied, wondering what kind of festival we were at. And were we alone or would there be more poorly dressed dudes?
Oh, maybe we’d be rejoining Sian. Now that would be nice. I wanted to see her and hang out with her, instead of this random dude. Not that he wasn’t polite, he just wasn’t my Blondie.
“You’re attracting quite the looks.”
I snorted. I wasn’t surprised. From what I saw in the reflection, this corset was pushing out my boobs. They were almost so in-your-face, I’d be surprised if people weren’t staring.
Wait...
As quickly as I could, I ran to the nearest window to look at myself again. At Ayra, actually. Who, apart from the strange choice of clothes, looked exactly like... Me.
How had I not noticed that before?
I touched the face that wasn’t my face, but looked like my face, and felt panic bubble up in my gut. Why the fuck did I look like myself?
Who was this Ayra? Was she my twin? That couldn’t be, I couldn’t have a vampire twin. I ran my tongue along my teeth. Yes, I was definitely a vampire.
But why did I look just like me? Was that even possible?
“Ayra, what are you doing?”
Shit, Dracula was still here. Damn, he asked a lot of questions.
“Sorry, I think I got something in my eye,” I lied, hoping that would give me an excuse to study myself a little longer. Myself? Could I even use that word?
I patted my chin, my cheeks, my ears. It all felt familiar. Everything about me was. Except for my eyes... Instead of the lake blue colour, they were an unfamiliar forest green. No, not unfamiliar...
I’d seen these eyes before. Those were the ones that sometimes stared back at me. The same eyes that made me feel like I was losing myself. And now here they were again. More bright and vivid than I’d ever seen them before. And I’d been right. I was losing myself.
“Wow, that’s a lot of... Vampires?”
Dracula nods, grinning as he winks at a glittery girl across the stand. “Most of them are human, but it’s fun to play with them.”
“I’m sure it is.” So vampires mixed with humans? That was unheard of in our community. Dragons only mingled with dragons. That was just how it went.
“You know, you should really lighten up about them. They’re not all bad. And with you not liking blood, you’re not too different from them.”
I gasped. “I do like blood, you take that back.” I retorted, feeling far more offended than I probably should.
He frowned. “You’ve hated blood for as long as I’ve known you, what’s got into you?”
Oh shit. Right, Ayra didn’t like blood. I was pretending to be Ayra here.
“Uhhmm... Hehe, it was a joke. Never heard of sarcasm?”
“Oookay?” Dracula slowly replied, his eyes gliding over my face. His gaze so penetrative, I was afraid he’d be able to see right through me and my lies.
Quick, make up something.
“Humans are just so...” Damn, what would Ayra say? I really didn’t know this girl well enough to pretend to be her every time I was here. What would a blood-hating vampire think about humans? “Confusing?”
Dracula nodded, grinning at my answer. “Only you would say that, A. Anyway, let’s visit that little fortune teller booth. There’s a rumour that it’s a real Owliepoop behind the stand.”
I quipped up. I had heard about the Owliepoop. Nobody really knew if they existed, but if they did, they were rumoured to have insights into the time continuum. A prediction from them was always right.
“That could be fun?”
“It might not be a real one,” Dracula muttered, rubbing his chin. “But I guess it’s worth checking it out?”
“Yes, lead the way.”
Dracula shot me another strange look. How annoying. If I kept doing things out of character, people would start picking up on the swappy thing. I really needed to talk to this Ayra girl and see how we could get this sorted out. Hmmm, maybe I could call her. I did know the number to my own c
ell. It would be a little weird to talk to my other ‘me’, but it would solve a lot of questions.
Ah damn, my phone was password protected. She wouldn’t be able to answer it. And I couldn’t call Devon and ask to speak to myself. That would just be weird.
Well, that sucked balls. So that was not an option then. At least, not now. When I was back in my own body, I could change the password. Or get it removed. But then anyone could snoop in my phone. And I did not like that one bit. Ehhh, I could do without talking to this Ayra. I’d been pretending to be someone I was not for most of my life, I could do it again.
“I’ve got something in my shoe. Hold my coffee for a moment?” Dracula asked, shoving the paper cup in my hands before I could reply. Well, okay then.
The red letters on the side caught my attention and I felt like the biggest idiot in the world. Of course, his name was written on the coffee cup. Just like mine was. How did I not think about that before?
Tate, you idiot.
Marcus. So that was his name. Hmmmm, that almost suited him. Mark Would be better. Or Dracula... Or... Marcula.
I snickered, making Marcus look back up. Well, not Marcus. Marcula. I really wouldn’t be able to call him anything else in my head now.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” I grinned, turning on my heels and strolling toward another booth with fake fangs. I liked it. Maybe I should buy myself a pair and ship it to my house. That way I could pretend to be a vampire when I wasn’t in this body.
Hmmm... Would I still like blood as much in my dragon-form? Well, in my almost-dragon-form?
“Ayra, what’s so funny? Tell me!”
“Nope, not going to.”
“Why not?”
“You won’t like it.”
“Ah, come on!”
“Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“What is it?”
“How’s the coffin, Marcula?”
“Marcu... Oh, you didn’t.”
I laughed at the shock appearing on his face and skipped to a booth with fake blood. How quaint.
“Ayra! Don’t you dare call me Marcula!”
“I told you you wouldn’t like it,” I sang, pretending not to notice how much he hated it. Too bad.
“I swear, I will—”
“Look, here’s the fortune booth!” I interrupted him, happily pointing at the stand with a weirdly dressed man behind it.
“Hello!” Marcula chirped, apparently all thought forgotten about his nickname. So fortune tellers were a good way of distracting him? Good to know.
“Are you ready to begin your journey into the future?” the man asked, waving a set of cards in front of our face. He blew at a bunch of feathers in front of the booth and waggled his eyebrows.
“Not a real Owliepoop,” I whispered in Marcula’s ear, much more disappointed than I expected to be.
“Yeah, apparently not, no,” he replied, sounding equally as disappointed as I did. “Let’s go.”
He dismissively waved at the weird guy and dejectedly trudged through the crowd. Poor Marcula. I jogged after him and patted his shoulder.
“Want to go grab a bite to eat?” I proposed, hoping it would cheer him up. And that he might take me to a place with blood.
“Didn’t you have dinner plans with Sian?”
I did? Even better!
“Ooh, right. I forgot.” I tilted to my arm and glanced at my bare wrist. Right, no watch. And no way had this skimpy attire pockets to hold a phone. Subtly, I patted my boobs, wondering if I was holding my valuables in here, but nothing rattled. So Ayra didn’t use the boob stuff method. Alright then. I turned to Marcula. “What time is it?”
“Almost four.”
“Oh, maybe it’s time to go home then.” If only I knew where home was. How would I figure that out? I sniffed the air, wondering if I could pick up on Sian’s scent. Were Vampires good at smelling?
I sniffed again.
Just cheap street food and sweaty people.
I guessed not then...
“Alright, let’s go then.”
“Yes?” Ah, Marcula was leaving too? Maybe he knew where I lived. Well, not me. Ayra. But I couldn’t really ask him that, could I? Asking directions to my own house... That would be real suspicious. But I couldn’t really wander the streets of... Well, I had no idea where I was either. Great.
Should I call Sian and get her to pick me up?
Agh, no phone. Damn it.
“I need to stop for gas before I can drop you off, is that okay?”
Wait, was Marcula driving me home? Now that would be convenient!
Thank you, universe!
“Yes, of course, not a problem,” I smiled, relieved I wouldn’t be wandering around until I swapped back into my own body.
I waved Marcula goodbye and turned to the house in front of me. So this was where Ayra lived? Not bad, not bad at all. That was a nice place. Now how the fuck did I get in? Where was this little witch keeping her key?
I fondled my boobs again. If her key wasn’t in here, I had no clue where to look. Maybe under a flower pot? Or...
“Ayra!”
Blondie!
I turned as I heard her voice, my heart jumping up in my chest. Damn, that was one strong reaction. But ah, what did I care. The one person I wanted to see, was finally here. I didn’t even want to deny it, I just wanted to talk to her. Maybe even kiss her...
Fuck! Ouch.
Pain shot through my head and I buckled down.
No, no, no, not now. I didn’t want to switch back. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to my Blondie.
Oh, how mean. Damn it.
Well... At least my family dinner would be over...
Chapter 10
With a jolt, my eyes shot open. Panicked, I felt around. What was going on? Where was I? Was I moving? In a car?
Oh no, did I get kidnapped?
“Tate?”
I turned to my left. Oh, it was just Devon. Thank goodness, not kidnapped then. But no Sian either. Damn...
“You okay?”
I cleared my throat, subtly glancing at the clock on the dashboard. The time seemed right, so I couldn’t have been out for more than thirty seconds. Huh. So the swaps were becoming smoother? And less painful as well. Interesting.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“You sure? You’ve been very quiet.”
I had? That wasn’t very unusual for me. I wondered what kind of other things I’d been up to. Well, what kind of things Ayra had been up to. Did she play nice with my parents? We were going home rather late. At least, I assumed we were only going home now?
Did we stay this long with my family? That was unusually long. But then again, maybe they liked Ayra?
I rolled my eyes at myself. Why would they? All they would’ve seen was me. Their incompetent daughter that couldn’t shift and brought the Ancestors to shame.
At least they liked Devon. More or less.
“What was the fainting about?”
“Huh?”
“Did you already forget? You fainted again. Is something going on? Are you healthy?”
Oh, so my body on this side fainted? How strange. I just swapped right into Ayra.
“I know this is a sensitive topic for you.. But by any chance, are you...”
“Am I?”
Devon glanced briefly from the road to me, his forehead wrinkled in a frown.
“Pregnant?”
I let out a hard laugh. “Pregnant? Of course, not!”
“But I thought... Maybe the fainting and the changes...”
“Devon, I’m not pregnant, okay? I know my body.”
“Sorry I asked.”
If only I could’ve stayed ten minutes longer with Sian, I would’ve been able to skip this conversation as well. Damn those untimely swaps. I should really try and figure out how to control them. If I even could. I sighed. It was not his fault I was so terrified of becoming a mother. I gently patted his leg and apologised as well
. “I didn’t mean to snap, I’m just tired.”
“It’s fine,” he muttered, his eyes focused on the road. “But we wouldn’t be like them, you know?”
“What?”
“We wouldn’t be like your parents. You’d make a wonderful mum.”
I lightly shook my head. It wasn’t about that, it had never been. “Can we not talk about this now?”
“Fine.” He furrowed his brows and I saw the hurt written on his face. Damn, I was going about this in all the wrong kinds of way.
“I’m sorry, I know you want kids... But I’m just not there, yet.”
“You’re almost twenty-five, Tate. You know that the first year of fertility is the best one.”
“Devon...”
“I’m just saying... One day, we’ll have kids.” He noticed me trying to cut in and cut me off. “No, just let me say this. I want kids, and someday, you’ll want them too. I know you will. So why not start our family when we’re both in the prime of our lives? It just makes good sense!”
I glared at Devon. “I said not now.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, his hands clutching the steering wheel.
“Fine,” I hissed back, sinking down in my seat. Why was he even in such a hurry? Yes, twenty-five was usually the best time to start a family and hatch eggs. But for that, you needed to be able to shift into a dragon. And surprise, surprise, I could not.
That would prove a pretty big obstacle. No way was I pushing out eggs in my human form. It would just completely tear my...
Yikes. I didn’t want to go there. I liked my vagina just the way it was.
The front door slammed hard into its lock as Devon angrily stomped towards the bedroom. So that was a no for the tension disappearing. But hey, not my fault. He shouldn’t be pressuring me into having kids. He knew I wasn’t ready yet. I could hardly imagine he was putting the women in his clinic under the same kind of pressure. That would be highly unethical and not at all like Devon. He was a wonderful doctor. And most of the time, a wonderful boyfriend as well. Fiancé, even. And he’d make a great husband... Maybe just not mine.
Oh no, that wasn’t something I should be thinking. Especially not if the image of a blonde vampire kept flashing through my mind.
Gods, that really wasn’t fair... How awful of me. Devon was such a wonderful guy and here I was, blowing it all by fawning over a woman. A woman I barely knew, even.