by Jen Pretty
As they rolled up their Yoga mats, I looked to the doorway and found a certain vampire watching me. When my eyes caught his, I smiled and he returned it with a bashful look at being caught staring. I said goodbye to my students as they filed out, but the handsome vampire caught the eye of more than one woman as he sauntered into my studio dressed in a very expensive suit and shiny dress shoes.
He looked like he walked off the pages of a magazine with his hair perfectly coiffed and his dark stubble. I shook my head. I was not interested in a relationship with a vampire or my employer. That was what he was I reminded myself. I worked for this man and he drank blood. Stop hormones.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, bending down to roll up my yoga mat.
“I heard you were injured and wanted to make sure you were ok,” he replied. I raised an eyebrow at him. He had done worse to me in the gym at the mansion when he was teaching me how to fight. That was garbage and we both knew it. He stood by his story though, giving me a bland expression.
“Well, as you can see, I’m fine,” I tucked my rolled-up yoga mat under my arm and walked back towards the front desk. In the reception area, Randy was madly typing away on the computer, looking busy for Vincent. It was annoying the way Vincent didn’t respect Randy just because he wasn’t a fighter.
“Hey, Randy. That ad you ran in the newspaper looked amazing,” I said, mostly for Vincent’s benefit, but it was true. The ad stood out on the page, even in the black and white paper. Randy blushed.
“Thanks, Lark,” he said before going back to his typing. I was sure he could write a novel if Vincent stuck around long enough. To save him the trouble of finding an editor, I hustled out the door only to discover the bossy vampire had used his old trick and stolen my car.
In its place was his bright red sports car. It sparkled in the morning sun like it was fresh off the lot.
“Take a ride with me,” he whispered from right behind me, making me shiver.
Instead of answering I just walked forward and opened the passenger side door. He walked around and slid into the driver seat, then started the engine with the push of a button and revved it a couple of times before pulling out. He drove at a steady pace through town and then took the ramp onto the freeway and let the car fly. I put my window down and my arm out, letting the wind blow my hair around my face into a knot.
He pulled off the freeway and onto a street of a small town. It was approaching midday. Luckily, I had a pair of sunglasses with me as my eyes were not happy. I was drowsy too, but could hold out a bit longer. He pulled into the parking lot of a closed restaurant and shut off the engine.
“What are we doing here? It’s closed.”
“I’m just taking you to brunch. I know you didn’t agree to a date, but brunch is hardly a date. Plus, you are wearing yoga pants. It can’t possibly be a date,” he pointed out, helpfully.
“I don’t think this kind of restaurant serves brunch,” I said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and stepped out of the car. He shut the door without replying and then opened my door and offered his hand like an old-time gentleman.
“Alright, fine,” I muttered, taking off my seatbelt and letting him help me out. I looked ridiculous next to him in my yoga pants, tank top and running shoes.
The door was unlocked even though the sign said closed. Vincent held the door for me and I walked through. Inside was a lavish restaurant dimly lit for dinner service. The hardwood floor was dark mahogany and perfectly polished. The tables had pristine white, sparkling silverware and each had a center piece of flickering candles. Seriously, candles.
I had washed dishes in a restaurant like this once. I could never afford to eat in a place like this, though.
I looked at Vincent who seemed perfectly relaxed. This was totally a freaking date. The liar. It didn’t matter that he called it brunch; there was a fancy restaurant and candles.
A woman walked out of the back smiling.
“Hello, darling,” she purred before kissing Vincent once on each cheek.
“Zeta, thank you for opening up for us, I know it was last minute,” he replied in his usually lofty tone.
“Oh, you know I will do anything for you,” she winked at him. Gross.
“This is Lark.” He rested his hand on the middle of my back.
The woman looked taken aback like she hadn’t even noticed I was standing there. I got that a lot. Being short was annoying.
“Hi,” I said. The woman smiled and then abruptly turned and led us to a table. Vincent pulled out the chair for me, you know, because this was a date. Then he sat across from me and smiled.
“This is a date,” I said. He lifted a shoulder like ‘eh, what ya gonna do.’ I shook my head at him.
“Ok, it’s a date. I want to be around you, Lark.” He placed his napkin in his lap, then looked back up at me. “Tell me about your childhood.”
I sighed but began anyway. “It was great, for a while. My mom was amazing. She stayed at home and raised me. She was always singing songs or telling me stories passed down from her mother. My father was a doctor and had a private practice in our hometown. My mom and I would walk to his office and bring him lunch when he worked on weekends. I had an almost normal sleep pattern then, so I went to school and had friends. It was perfect.” When I stopped talking, I looked up to see he had a sad look on his face. “What?”
“I don’t remember much of being a child. It was very long ago, but I’m sure it was not as you described it.” I looked down at my napkin. I had been twisting it in my lap. He was from a much harsher century, I had figured as much.
“Can I ask you a question?” I said.
“Ask me anything.”
“How old are you?”
He chuckled. “You can ask me anything and that is what you choose?” he shook his head. “Very well, I am—”
“Here you are,” Zeta said as she set two plates on the table before promptly returning to the kitchen. In front of me, the dish held my usual breakfast at the mansion -- bacon, eggs and toast. The dish in front of Vincent was eggs florentine. Both were plated immaculately like high-end dinner service, so it was a bit odd to see my runny yolks on the pristine, white dish when I used the corner of the toast to pop the yolk.
Vincent took his fork and knife and cut a small piece of his breakfast off leaving the plate perfect.
“You were telling me how old you were,” I reminded him once I had finished chewing the corner of toast.
He took his napkin off his lap and dabbed his mouth before he spoke. “I was born near Moscow in the year 1432.”
I gasped and choked on my eggs. Throwing me into a coughing fit before I dislodged the egg from my windpipe and took a sip of water.
“You’re a bit older than I thought,” I said. Trying to wrap my mind around the age difference. Nope. It was weird. Definitely weird.
He took another bite of his eggs Florentine while I stared at him. For some reason, I thought I should be able to see the years on him. He looked 30 at most.
“I try not to think about it too hard. I know we were poor farmers. At that time most children didn’t make it to adulthood, the fact my siblings and I all made it was a miracle; particularly my brother and I. Twins rarely survived.” He cut off and took another bite of his breakfast.
I sat back in my chair. Unsure how to even talk to him now. I had always known he was old. Frankie had suggested he was 500 years or so, but to have it confirmed was different.
Vincent finished his meal and I picked at my toast, but wasn’t all that hungry; I was feeling more tired than anything.
“You ready to go?” he asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
“Sure, thank you for brunch,” I said.
“I would like to take you to dinner next time. How about Friday?” he asked as we walked towards the door.
Zeta met us there and held the door, thanking Vincent and telling him to stop by anytime. She just nodded to me and then shut the door behind us.
“Frida
y?” he pressed.
“All right, as long as I’m not on the other side of the world wading through a rainforest chasing down your brother.”
He smiled and opened the car door for me.
Back at the mansion, there was a motorcycle in the driveway. I hadn’t set eyes on the warlock in a month so when Vincent stopped the car, I got out and climbed the front steps. My eyes were heavy, and my legs barely moved me forward, but Frankie was waiting on the stairs to the second floor when I opened the door and stepped inside. His face lit up like Christmas morning. He stood and grabbed me, swinging me around in a hug. I laughed and he set me on my feet, keeping his arms around me, but moving back to get a look at me.
“Vampire hunting agrees with you,” he said. The smell of his cologne mixed with the scent of leather to produce the most delicious aroma. He smiled at my thought and I bit my lip. I wasn’t sure I would ever be able to hide my feelings from Frankie's mind reading.
“That’s good,” he whispered, answering that though out loud.
“Where have you been?” I asked as I took his hand and sat down on the stairs with him to catch up.
“I was following a lead in Europe. I should have been up north with you.”
“I’m glad you weren’t; eight humans died.” I lost all the joy from seeing Frankie at the reminder of the explosion in Canada.
“I’m sorry, Lark. That’s why I’m back. I want to talk to Vincent about joining forces,” he said as the vampire himself came in the door.
“We can talk in my office,” Vincent said. I looked past Frankie’s shoulder and realized Vincent was leaning against the front door watching us. He didn’t look angry that I was in Frankie’s arms though he and I had just returned from a date.
“Alright,” Frankie said. “I’ll be here tonight, when you get up. We can catch up over dinner, ok Lark? Your eyes aren’t going to stay open much longer.” Frankie chuckled, dismissing me, but I almost couldn’t see him through my closing eyelashes. I nodded.
“Alright, no fighting,” I said pointing at Frankie and then at Vincent before I turned and climbed the stairs. I was not going to make it through a shower. Ugh. I would definitely smell bad when I woke up again.
Durga
She finally fell asleep. I thought the warlock’s blathering would never cease. I pushed Lark’s sleeping mind out of the way and then rose and stretched this body to limber it up. Lark may need sleep, but I did not and I would no longer sit idly by while she wasted half of her life in that bed.
I grabbed her money cards, opened the window and leaped down to the firm packed earth below. The manicured gardens and lawns are an unnecessary extravagance. I broke into a run and entered the forest behind the large house and exited the forest into another ridiculously kept lawn. I jumped the fence that protected the house from the road and walked along the street towards the train station where I knew I could find a taxi to take me towards the pull I could feel from the city to the north.
Using the plastic card I had seen Lark use, I paid the taxi driver and walked for nearly an hour before I finally got close enough to follow my senses directly to the fallen vampire hiding in the sewer system below the run-down apartment complex. I called my blade. At least Lark did that right. The blade was perfectly balanced, spelled to stay sharp and always at our fingertips. Lark hadn’t proved her worth, my hands were much more capable with the blade than hers.
I jumped down into the open drain hole and splashed into the cold water below. I looked down to realize I had forgotten shoes. Below the water, silt, mud and things I didn’t want to consider squished between my toes. The feeling was disgusting and the farther I walked through the drain, the deeper it became.
Red eyes flashed in the darkness. The filthy demon sprung from its hiding place. Its dirty fangs slid through my skin. I slashed upwards with the dagger. His flesh split, spraying his blood upon me. It did little else to slow him down. Irritating vermin.
His fingers caught my wrist. Dirty, ragged nails dug into my skin and tore. The scent of my blood drove the demon into a frenzy. His eyes shone like two red moons in the night sky, and the sound of his gnashing teeth rang through the hollow steel tunnel.
I called my blade to my left hand and used all my power to lodge it deep in his filthy neck. He crumpled immediately to the ground, and I followed him down, severing his head from his body and ending his wretched existence.
As I rinsed the blade in the dark water at my feet, I considered the fact that my suspicion had proven true, Lark was only slowing down our mission. Now that I was strong enough, I would ensure our work was done.
The balance must be maintained.
At all costs
CHAPTER FIVE
As predicted, I woke up smelling awful. Way worse than expected, actually. I rolled off the bed and stumbled to the shower, still half blind from sleep. As I washed my hair, I looked down and noticed my feet were dirty. How the hell did my feet get dirty? I scrubbed them and went back to my hair that had knotted from the wind in the car and obviously suffered further abuse while I was sleeping. I squirted more conditioner into it, rinsed, and stepped out of the shower. Combing out my hair took too long, maybe it was time for a trim. My hair fell half way down my back now and I didn’t have time for high maintenance.
When I walked back into the bedroom, I realized the window was open. It was closed when I went to bed. Maybe Vincent had stopped in and opened it when he got a whiff of me. I laughed at the thought of the vampire smelling me and getting grossed out as I slid the window shut and locked it. After getting dressed in some yoga pants and a hoodie, I walked down to the dining room to see how talks between Frankie and Vincent had gone.
“Hey, Lark!” Drew called with an enthusiastic wave. That vampire ruined any image I ever had of broody, dark vampires.
I waved and grabbed a plate before scooping some lasagna out of the warming tray and laughing at the irony of the basket of garlic bread.
“You ready to fight some evil and defend the innocent?” Drew asked with a goofy grin as I scooted my chair into the table.
“Sure. Let me eat first, huh?” I yawned.
“You stayed out too late.” Frankie’s voice floated across the noisy room to me. My new hearing could pick his voice out anywhere and I looked up to find him leaning against the doorway of the dining room with his arms crossed over his leather jacket. The faded denim, motorcycle boots and his standard bad boy pose rounding out his hot warlock image.
He smirked and looked down, letting me know he had plucked that thought out of my head. I needed to get my traitorous mind together before I gave Frankie an even more inflated ego.
“Lark,” Cedric said my name in a tone that made it clear it wasn’t the first time he had said it.
“Huh?” I responded, breaking my gaze from the warlock to look at Cedric.
He shook his head at my inarticulate response. “This is why I had my reservations about working with the warlock, you two have some serious shit to deal with.” He stood, picked up his empty plate and walked towards the kitchen.
“Crap,” I muttered under my breath. That was not embarrassing at all.
Frankie pushed off the door frame and stalked across the dining room. He spun the chair beside me around and straddled it like his motorcycle.
“So, I’m coming with you tonight,” Frankie said, stealing a piece of my garlic bread. I tried to stab his hand with my fork, but he was too fast. Why did everyone take my food?
“Are we going around town? Or is there a sign of the old fallen vamp somewhere?” I dropped my fork, crossed my fingers, and whispered, “Please be somewhere warm, please be somewhere warm.”
“Actually, we’re going to the Marksville, about an hour north. There is a serial killer on the loose there. The city is pretty big, but all the murders have been in the east end so that is where we are going.” He popped the last of my pilfered garlic bread in his mouth and wiped his hands on my napkin. I gave him the universal ‘what the hell?’ loo
k and he smiled and put the used napkin back down beside my plate.
“Alright, kids. Conference room in thirty,” Cedric called from the doorway before he disappeared down the hall.
I shoveled the last of my lasagna into my mouth, grabbed my piece of garlic bread and held it between my teeth while I returned my plate. I had to get dressed in more durable clothes.
Geared up in my leather pants and heavy boots, I was ready to roll. I waltzed into the conference room to find the team, plus Darya, Frankie and Vincent huddled over a map spread out over the table.
“His third victim was last seen entering the night club here,” Cedric pointed to a place on the map as I walked up and pressed in between Frankie and Vincent.
“Hi,” Vincent whispered, his eyes dancing around like he was trying to look at all of me at once. This whole lovesick vampire thing was getting out-of-hand.
Clive cleared his throat, bringing Vincent’s eyes back around to the map.
“As I was saying,” Clive said, drawing out the words. He ignored the glare Vincent shot him for his sarcastic tone. “I would like to start at the most recent dump site. It’s almost thirty-six hours old but there should be some scent lingering and Lark might pick up something.” Clive scratched his neck, looking less sure of himself as Vincent’s anger was still tangible. Clive wasn’t going to get off easy for his sarcasm. “Uhm, hopefully he is getting sloppy and this most recent body might be closer to, you know, whatever hole he is hiding in.” It was strange to hear our fearless leader stumble over his words, but Team Lark captain had stepped in it and he knew it.
Vincent took a step back from the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s fine. I am sending a clean-up van to Marksville in case it is required. Can I speak to you in the hall, Clive?” Vincent’s voice got more and more tight as he spoke and his face was now radiating his anger at Clive’s insolence.