“What?”
“You,” he said, looking up at me with wounded eyes. “Me. Us. I want to try living for someone else for once.”
“I’m a nobody,” I said, shaking my head.
“No, you’re everything – that they aren’t. Those airheads you talked about? They’re all the same. From the way they talk to how they dress. There is nothing exciting about them at all. The moment I take them out or to my bedroom, I know exactly what’s going to happen. I want ordinary, not dead.”
He took another drink of water, and the waitress arrived with our food. She placed the faded plates before us with the piping hot food as I thought about what he said. He might not have told anyone else what he just told me, yet still a part of me wondered if it was a ploy. To get to my music. There was no way to tell for sure. And even if he was genuine, there was so many more questions.
“It’s still about you,” I said. He blinked a few times and waited for me to continue.
“What do you mean?”
“You want to change, so you’re looking for a girl who’s not like the others, but what if that girl…what if she doesn’t want to live for you?” I pushed my poor excuse for chicken parm to the side. “What if I’m not looking for this? You’re making it sound like you want a…like a wife…when I’m just trying to find a relationship that’s real.”
“But I would be real with you.”
“You don’t get it. I didn’t attract you. My differences did.”
“I don’t understand. What makes you different caught my attention. Isn’t that enough?”
“It’s still to serve you. You don’t care for the real me at all.”
“Wow this is confusing,” he muttered, rubbing his forehead.
“It’s like this,” I said, placing my elbows on the table. “You like video games?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, so what would you like more? An Xbox or a Playstation?”
“Playstation.”
“You like the Grand Theft Auto series?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, so let’s say you have both systems and I bought you the latest Grand Theft Auto for the Xbox, how would you feel?”
“I would be happy, but I would prefer it on the Playstation.”
“Exactly.”
“I think I’m more confused than before.”
“It’s the exact same game…but you still have a preference over one system than the other. You’re excited to play it, but you’re not as excited as you would have been if I got it for the Playstation. When it comes to love…it’s got to be all or nothing. Otherwise, it’s not going to work. It’s just not. You want to change, and that’s admirable, but I would go into this relationship knowing I wasn’t everything you wanted. You’re coming at me like this is a business plan. There’s no raw emotion, and I want you to want me. I want you to desire me so bad it aches when we’re apart.”
“But that’s what dating is for. To get to know the other person.”
“But even love starts with attraction. When you meet a girl you’re interested in, what’s the first thing that catches you? It’s how they look. Same for us girls. It’s not your outstanding intelligence or whatever. Basically, I’m not attractive to you.”
“Ha!” he shouted, shoving his plate aside. “Girls always complain about how they don’t want to be treated based on their looks, but now you’re telling me that the reason you don’t want to give this a try is because I’m only after your personality?”
“Being attracted to both would be nice,” I muttered.
“Your problem is that you’ve been watching too many movies,” he laughed, leaning back in his seat. “Nobody’s perfect.”
“Still, guys tend to choose looks over personality.”
“Maybe I’m not like other guys.”
“Your track record says otherwise. The airheads, remember?”
“I told you I got nothing out of that.”
“Then let me ask you another question. So I get you the latest Grand Theft Auto for the Xbox, and you’re playing it, and loving it and all that. Good times. But then, let’s say later that night, I buy you the same game for the Playstation. Which of the two games would you return?”
“The Xbox version of course. The Playstation version is what I wanted all along.”
“Exactly,” I said angrily, shoving the table into this stomach. He tried to reach for me, but the wind was knocked out of him. As he struggled to catch his breath, I stood up and glared down at him. “Go play house with another girl. Another Playstation.”
I stomped away without looking back.
“You must be an Xbox fan!” he shouted back at me as I reached the exit. I slammed the restaurant door behind me.
* * *
“So how did it go?” Noah asked, stepping into the foyer. Henry was right behind him. I closed the door behind me and practically ripped the gauges from my ears. I threw them to the floor and they rolled under a dresser. Just seeing them disappear in the darkness amongst the cobwebs irritated me to my breaking point. I grabbed the sides of my head and screamed, causing Noah and Henry to jump back in shock.
“I know that noise anywhere,” I heard Elliot shout from the kitchen. “Tell Alexandra to drag her butt in here so I can talk with her too.”
“I’m surrounded by men,” I muttered, making my way to the kitchen. Elliot was slumping over in a table chair. I absent-mindedly straightened him so he was sitting up, then I walked over to the refrigerator, grabbed a half-gallon of milk and began chugging.
“Hardly sanitary,” Elliot muttered. Henry and Noah walked in.
“Dude, you’re a zombie,” Henry replied. “Your presence is unsanitary.”
“For once a comeback that renders me silent.”
“You’re still talking.”
“Did he try to hurt you?” Noah asked. I finished the half-gallon and threw it behind me as I glared at him. I wiped my mouth with my arm, since I didn’t have sleeves. “Geez, I was just asking.”
“You know,” I huffed. “You’re the unsexiest vampire I’ve ever met in my entire life.”
“Ouch,” Henry chuckled.
“For the record,” Noah said, clearing his throat and holding up a finger. “I’m the only vampire you’ve ever met.”
“Still unsexy,” I retorted, scouring the refrigerator once more. I found a container of cottage cheese. The lid was snapped off so I began taking two fingers and getting to work.
“Oh c’mon,” Elliot moaned.
“What are you mad at Noah for?” Henry asked.
“Because,” I said between bites. “He made me think he was sexy and suave when it was only hypnotism.”
“What does it matter?” Noah snapped. “I got what I wanted, and you never had any intention of being with me.”
“That’s the point,” I gulped. “You used me. That won’t happen again.”
“Now who’s playing the victim,” Henry muttered. I couldn’t believe my ears. The container slipped out of my fingers and onto the floor, splattering across the tiles. Henry folded his arms and waited.
“What are you trying to say, Henry?”
“Cut the act, Alex. We all know you here.”
“How am I a victim?” I demanded.
“You’re more scared than all of us combined. Scared of what will happen two years from now. Scared of the next life you have to take. Scared that we’ll turn on you. Scared of love, of trust, of your own damn shadow. And you try to hide it, with this – this act of being all powerful like you’re the Queen Siren when you know just as much as we do. Just stop. We’re in this together. Yeah, we were hurt and burned. But you don’t see us shaking a fist at the world. Get over yourself.”
“Once again,” Elliot nodded. “Henry speaks truth. You sir,” he said, turning to the only other zombie in the room, “are on a roll.”
“Thanks,” Henry said flatly. I didn’t know what it meant when Elliot started giving compliments and accolades.
“Alexandra, what happened tonight?” Elliot asked. I shrugged my shoulders and turned back to the refrigerator, but I didn’t open it. I closed my eyes and sighed, thinking of where I could possibly start.
“He wants a genuine relationship with me,” I said to everyone’s surprise.
“And?” Noah asked. “That’s bad, why?”
“Because he’s a hoodlum,” Elliot retorted.
“Let the lady speak,” Henry said, with arms still crossed.
“But he doesn’t find me attractive…well, not like his past girlfriends. I don’t know how to feel about that. And he’s sort of using me…he wants to change his lifestyle into one that’s more ordinary, and less…gangy.”
“Well it doesn’t sound too bad,” Noah said to me. “That’s kind of what I wanted. An ordinary life. Why do you think I stole your – ah, I got it now. That’s why you were pissed at me.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“This is quite the predicament,” Elliot said, “but not as large a one as you might think. The simple answer is to let this go. Let him go, and let us get on to business.”
“Maybe she doesn’t want that,” Henry replied, looking deep into my eyes. “You can’t just turn your feelings off.”
“I don’t have feelings for him,” I said, but Henry just laughed at me.
“You might not,” he said. “But part of you wants to see where this goes. Take it from me. If you’re uninterested in someone, nothing they do will persuade you. The fact that you’re so upset about him is abnormal.”
“I am curious,” I admitted, and though it must have hurt to do so, Henry smiled warmly.
“Then see where it goes.”
“Even while I was hypnotizing you,” Noah said, “I was even thinking of whether to let you go or not. You are a very rare woman. Perhaps I shouldn’t have ended the hypnotism.”
Three pairs of eyes gave him a death stare.
“Have a spell to cure foot-in-mouth disease?” Noah grimaced.
“I’ll check,” I winked at him.
“Check on that cure, and Lucas,” Henry said. “Sooner rather than later.”
“This is very romantic and all,” Elliot sighed. “But it appears that once again I must play the realist. Alexandra, as much as I want to see you happy, have you forgotten that you are absolutely incapable of a healthy and long relationship?”
“That’s harsh, man,” Henry said, dropping his arms and glaring at Elliot.
“Have you forgotten what she is? We have all tasted human blood so we are in no place to judge, but surely Lucas and any other human she is enamored with would be horrified, and more than likely come to this house with a mob of fire and pitchforks to boot.”
“No one would believe him if he told.”
“But the gang that he founded might, or another thought. He could pull rank and force them to take Alexandra down. Whether she is a creature or not, they would surely not mind the idea of ransacking a house and preying on a helpless girl.”
“She has us.”
“Right.” He scoffed. “Me, with no legs. You, who is no stronger than a human, and Noah. While Noah does possess superhuman strength and speed and what not, he has the tactical mind of a wet dish cloth.”
“I could take them down,” Noah replied adamantly.
“Perhaps a few, but even that would just fuel their animosity toward us all. To halt a surge of that magnitude, you would have to kill all of them. Can you do that? Murder that many in cold blood? While you have given in to your hunger and killed a few, there is a difference between being an individual trying to survive versus blatant slaughter.”
“Perhaps he’s right,” Noah winced.
“And remember,” Elliot said, turning to me. “You will transform or die in two years’ time. Would Lucas accept your new form? Could he accept the possibility of your death? Is it right of you to ask him to wait and see? There are far too many complications to take this course any further. Let him go and out of our lives before it gets messier than it already is. Our focus, and I am not saying this solely for myself…is to find the cure for us all.”
Once I heard Henry give a deep forlorn sigh, I knew it was no use arguing.
“When you’re cured of your condition,” Elliot said to me. “You can pursue this or any other relationship. That is my opinion. Naturally, you can do what you like. Your usual mode of operation.”
The three boys waited for an answer, but I had none. Elliot, as usual, was right. And let’s be honest, it’s not like I left Lucas on good terms. It was surely over, and the best thing, no, the right thing for all of us was for me to just let it all go.
“Let’s move on,” I said finally, to which they all nodded in agreement. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m planning on devouring half the refrigerator due to all of my romance woes. Please don’t judge.”
“We won’t out loud,” Noah said, and Henry punched him in the arm.
So they wouldn’t be grossed out, I decided to grab a cup to enjoy my next beverage with. I walked over to the kitchen sink and hummed a tune of which I didn’t know the origin. Washing a cup out, and hearing the boys leave the kitchen, I allowed myself to become lost in my own thoughts, wondering what could have been but will never be…
And then I looked up.
And I screamed so loud, it must have sounded like I was being murdered.
Noah and Henry rushed back into the kitchen, and once they saw why I screamed, I knew that more blood was about to be on my hands.
For Lucas was staring directly at me, from the window above the kitchen sink.
TRACK 8 – Not Business As Usual (Alex Outro)
“Get him,” I heard Henry say, and a gust of wind blew through the kitchen from Noah’s wake. Elliot crawled into the room like there was a fire behind him.
“What is going on?” he demanded. “Noah nearly stepped on me!”
“Lucas is here,” I said, as I heard the front door slam shut. I ran out into the foyer and caught the tail end of Noah shoving Lucas onto the floor. Lucas hit the wood hard, but he immediately rolled forward and back onto his feet. Noah went to punch him, but Lucas already had a Swiss army knife out and held in-between his right closed fist.
Somehow, Lucas was able to dodge Noah’s swing at the last second and retaliated with his own. Noah dodged it and sped behind him. He reached out to put him in a head lock but Lucas jumped backwards, slamming his back into Noah’s body. The strange maneuver caught him off guard and they both sprawled onto the floor.
“Enough!” I shouted as they both came to their senses. Sheesh. The guy just went toe-to-toe with a vampire and held his own.
“What is going on here?” Lucas demanded, wiping the dust off his jacket. I noticed the knife was still in his hand.
“I could ask the same thing,” I said, making sure I wasn’t too close. “What are you doing snooping around my house?”
“I wanted to talk with you,” he groaned, feeling his ribs with a free hand. “You don’t have a doorbell and I was knocking but no one answered. I saw the lights on so I went to see if someone was home.”
“That,” Henry chuckled, “must have been the weakest knock in existence.”
“What’d you do?” Noah said. “Tap once?”
“Aren’t you, Henry?” Lucas asked him. “You look a little different than I remember, but…what are you doing here?”
“The way you talked, you made it sound like you were best friends,” I said. Lucas swatted a hand at me through winces over his bruised ribs.
“Acting like I was interested in him was just a way to get you to talk to me,” he admitted. “But I’m still surprised he’s here. Didn’t you go missing? Are you living here?”
“None of your business,” Henry replied.
“Alexandra, you have to do the ceremony now!” I heard Elliot call out from the kitchen.
“Shut up!” I shouted back.
“Who’s that?” Lucas asked.
“Don’t worry about it. You sh
ould go.”
“He might have seen something!” Elliot shouted. I grit my teeth and turned to Noah.
“Can you please shut him up?” Noah nodded and jogged into the kitchen. I heard a brief scuffle and then Elliot’s annoying outbursts went silent.
“Do you live here with these guys?” Lucas asked me.
“What does it matter if I do?”
“I just…it’s kind of weird. Do you guys –“
“ – she wishes,” Henry replied just as I was about to say no.
“You look strange,” Lucas said, taking a closer look at Henry.
“I’m dead,” Henry said, with no emotion in his voice.
“Such a kidder,” I laughed, pushing Henry behind me and grabbing Lucas’ arm. “But seriously, you have to go.”
“Can’t we talk about tonight? I have something to say.”
“We can discuss it Monday at school.”
“That’s too long.”
“If it’s so important, you can wait.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Please leave.”
“Alexandra,” he said, grabbing both of my hands into his. “I want to see you again. I want to take you out again. We don’t have to talk much. Let’s just have fun.”
“Is that what you and your airheads do?”
“Why are you being so difficult?”
“It’s my personality. You should know that since you’re so attracted to it and not my body.”
“I’m plenty attracted to your body,” he said, and I heard a chorus of groans from the kitchen. “But I respect you enough to not just treat you like one of the…airheads. I want to actually get to know you first instead of not at all.”
“Reassuring,” I muttered, gently taking my hands out of his. “But you’re going to have to leave now.”
“Can’t I get an answer first?”
“No.”
“No is your answer?”
“No, meaning I’ll think about it.”
“But I’ll be up at night wondering.”
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
“Just tell me if –“
Another gust of wind flew between us. In one second, Lucas was standing, and in the next, he was on the floor unconscious, a humongous bruise and welt forming on his left cheek. Where he once was, a triumphant Noah stood in his place.
My Immortal Playlist (The Siren Collection #1) Page 9