by Amira Rain
Jake is only kind of a “bad boy,” though, I thought while he let the smoke from his deep drag out slowly. No “boy” who smiled as warmly as he did could ever be truly “bad,” I figured. There was nothing in any way “bad” about the way he made me feel when he complimented me, either.
However, upon getting just a bit of his smoke in my lungs, I began coughing pretty bad, covering my mouth with my hand.
After exhaling the rest of the smoke from his second drag in a hasty rush, he then dropped the cigarette and stamped it out, apologizing. “I may have regenerating vampire lungs, but I can tell just by your human scent that you don’t. I should have asked you first if you’re okay with cigarette smoke. I’m really sorry about that.”
Getting a few last coughs out of my system, I glanced up at him and saw that he seemed sincere. In fact, he’d just taken his dark shades off, and his vivid blue eyes, which were absolutely gorgeous, were now practically radiating sincerity.
Once I could breathe normally, I told him not to even worry about the cigarette. “I guess I must just have exceptionally delicate lungs. Not your fault.”
Jake said nonetheless, he wouldn’t smoke around me anymore. “I shouldn’t even do it anyway, regardless, just because it’s a nasty habit that makes my clothes smell…but more importantly, I don’t ever want to make you cough again. I really am sorry…and I wish I could say your name here, just to underscore how sincere I am about being sorry, but…I don’t even know your name.”
Realizing that I hadn’t yet told it to him, I smiled. “I’m Chrissy.”
Making his beautiful blue eyes twinkle in the sun, he smiled in return. “It’s really nice to meet you, Chrissy.”
My face had cooled somewhat, but now it warmed again, as if heated by the very warmth of Jake’s smile. Returning it, I said it was really nice to meet him, too. We then fell silent briefly, just looking into each other’s eyes, until Jake dropped his gaze to my book, which I was clutching along with my phone.
“‘Anne of Green Gables,’ huh?”
Stupidly glancing down at my book, as if I wasn’t quite sure that was the title, I said yes, and then immediately became a little embarrassed that I’d been “caught” reading a book so antiquated and probably lame. “I’m not really that far into it. See, I hadn’t finished it when I got my high school diploma a few months ago, so my mom insisted that I read it over the summer. So…I’m trying, I guess.”
Everything I’d just said had been a lie. I was actually halfway through the book; I was thoroughly loving it; and my mom hadn’t forced me to start reading it. She hadn’t even recommended that I read it. In fact, when I’d earned my diploma, she’d actually encouraged me to “take a break from books,” suggesting that maybe I join some other teens working at a summer camp at one of the lakes in Sweetwater. Needless to say, I hadn’t even applied for a camp counselor job, preferring to work at the creamery and spend my downtime reading, which was a pursuit I truly loved. Which was why I had no idea why I’d just felt the need to spew a string of total fibs at Jake.
I supposed I’d done it just because I didn’t want him to think I was a “nerd.” Truth be told, my love of books had always made me feel a bit self-conscious, on top of how self-conscious I already felt because of my rapid aging and the resulting divide that I’d always felt between me and the other kids on the farm. My love of books made me a “double weirdo,” I’d always figured.
Jake, however, didn’t seem to find it weird at all that I was reading Anne of Green Gables and apparently not hating it, at least. In fact, he said that he’d heard it was a “must-read classic.” Encouraged by this a little, I asked him if he liked to read, and he said yes. I asked him if he had any favorite books in particular, and he again said yes.
“I’ve always really loved Machiavelli’s The Prince. Have you read it?”
I’d heard of this book, maybe having come across it during some homework assignment or something, and I knew it was well-regarded or somehow considered very important in literary circles; however, to my embarrassment, I really knew nothing about it. Feeling sheepish, and embarrassed now that I knew that I hadn’t had to hide my love of books from Jake, I told him that I wasn’t familiar.
He said that was no big deal. “Maybe you’ll get a chance to check it out someday, and we can discuss it then.”
I said that sounded good, and we both fell silent for a moment or two until Jake said that he usually didn’t tell people that he was a “reader.”
“See, where I come from, it’s not really considered to be a good thing. It’s kind of considered weird and weak for a kid to be into books, a boy especially. I never really cared, though. I was always determined to get out of the trailer park, and I learned early on that books were probably the way to do it.”
Admiring Jake’s thinking, I asked him if his parents had encouraged his reading, and he just scoffed.
“My dad took off just before I started kindergarten, but if he’d stayed, I bet he would have just called me a sissy. My mom stuck around to raise me in the trailer, if you could really even call what she did ‘raising.’ She was more concerned with winning the jackpot at the bingo hall, and with all her many boyfriends over the years, than she ever was with me.”
I didn’t exactly know what to say, but a simple I’m sorry seemed to want to come out of my mouth. However, before I could even speak the words, I heard the front door of the house suddenly whoosh open from maybe fifteen feet behind me, followed by Carol’s voice.
“Are you one of the new recruits?”
Looking over my shoulder, Jake nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I am.”
I turned and looked at Carol while she spoke to Jake again.
“All right. Well, welcome to the farm. You’re free to make this your home now, but please don’t smoke cigarettes up here near the main house. Too many kids around, and we don’t want them breathing in smoke. When you get settled into your own house, you may smoke in your own yard, as long as it doesn’t bother any of the neighbors nearby. Okay?”
To my horror, I realized that Carol had to have been watching Jake and me from a kitchen window or something, which somehow felt like she’d been watching me while I experienced a first date or something. Which, honestly, since I’d never even spoken to a guy I liked before, she kind of had been. I wasn’t sure exactly why Carol’s witnessing this should horrify me, but it did nonetheless. Also to my horror, I wondered if she counted me among the “kids” she’d spoken of, the “kids” that she didn’t want breathing in cigarette smoke. I took serious issue with this because I certainly didn’t feel like a “kid.” In fact, I was feeling more like an eighteen-year-old legal adult every single minute that I spent with Jake.
Seeming not to share any of the horror, irritation, and even borderline anger that I was currently feeling, he simply dipped his head in a nod at Carol again. “Yes, ma’am. I won’t smoke up here near the main house anymore. I promise.”
Seemingly satisfied by this, Carol said all right. “Now, why don’t you come up here to the house and come inside. Hayden has asked that all of you newcomers wait for him to host an ‘orientation’-type meeting in our dining room before being assigned to your houses; and you and I can get better acquainted in the meantime.”
Jake said that sounded just fine, then glanced back at his car before looking at Carol again. “Is my Mustang okay to leave here for right now, then? I don’t need to re-park it anywhere?”
I couldn’t be sure, just because I was standing pretty far away from Carol, but before she responded to Jake, I thought I heard her scoff faintly, something I couldn’t ever remember her doing before.
“Your Mustang is just fine right there. I’ll make sure all other newcomers don’t scratch the paint.”
With that, Carol turned and went back inside the house, leaving me to wonder if she had some sort of a problem with Jake, and why.
Jake didn’t seem overly concerned, cracking a half-grin at me the moment the front door was closed.
“I guess your mom is probably on guard when it comes to guys talking to you. I bet you probably have a few dozen practically trying to break down your front door every week.”
Smiling, I shook my head. “Not really, and that woman wasn’t my mom, anyway. She’s my Aunt Carol.”
Feeling stunningly immature, I resisted the urge to add, And she’s not the boss of me.
Jake said that Carol seemed like a really good aunt. “Aunts should be a little protective, after all, especially when it comes to newcomers in the community. I mean, your Aunt Carol doesn’t know who I am. I could be one of those Warrens, for all she knows.”
That would explain her scoffing, I thought, if she’d really done so; but still, I couldn’t help but feel like that had been a little unfair to Jake. It seemed obvious to me that he wasn’t one of those Warrens. Didn’t you see him smile, Carol?
In response to what Jake had said, I just gave him what I hoped was a small, polite sort of smile, which he returned before speaking again.
“Well, I guess I’d better head inside. A meet-and-greet with Aunt Carol awaits me.”
Looking at the devilish sort of little glint in Jake’s eyes, I couldn’t help but crack a grin. “Have fun. She’s a novelist, so ask her about her current project. You’ll be fine.”
Grinning, Jake thanked me for the tip, then began heading inside. I watched him go, surveying his broad shoulders and tight rear, wondering if I’d possibly just met my very first ever boyfriend.
CHAPTER FOUR
Jake hadn’t even closed the front door when other “new vampires” began arriving. First, there was a carload of young women, all very friendly and nice. Telling them that my dad would be hosting some kind of an “orientation” meeting soon, I ushered them into the house before heading outside again, expecting more arrivals.
Next came a lone man who’d arrived on foot, coming up the driveway with a steady, unhurried sort of walk. Appearing to have been turned when he was maybe in his late fifties or early sixties, he said his name was James, then told me that he’d traveled all the way from Tennessee to see if he could “be of any use” to the “Southern Michigan Watchers.” I told him that I was sure he could be, adding that I knew my dad would want to see him at the meeting, before ushering him into the house.
After James, newcomers began coming so fast that I barely had time to introduce myself before the next guest or group of guests arrived. However, in my hasty series of introductions, a particular pair of newcomers stuck out to me, just because they were so different from the typical vampire stereotype held by most people in the “outside world.” The older-looking of the pair was a young man named David, who appeared to have been turned sometime in his mid-twenties. He wasn’t exactly bad-looking at all, by any means, although thick, black-rimmed glasses kind of obscured whatever good looks he might have had. Along with his “nerd chic” glasses, he was also dressed kind of nerdy. Whether this was by design or by accident, I of course had no idea. All I knew was that pressed khaki pants and a starched dress shirt with a tie seemed like somewhat of an odd outfit for a young man to be wearing on an August day that had been so muggy.
After introducing his similarly-dressed companion to me as Sean, his younger brother, David said that this was all very new to them. A little confused, I asked him what he meant by “this,” and he shrugged, turning slightly pink.
“Oh, just this whole vampire thing, I guess. See, Sean and I were just turned only about a month ago. A group of people that we’ve since learned were Warrens broke into our apartment in Cincinnati and nearly drained us both dry, turning us into vampires in the process just for the sport of it, as best we can figure. When Sean and I got the urge to…well, drink, we caught the attention of an elderly witch in our city, who filled us in on what had likely happened to us. It was she who suggested we come here to ‘try out’ to be Watchers, and for that, I’m very grateful. To tell you the truth, though…I’m not too sure how Sean and I will fare in this ‘audition’ process, if there really is one, but…well, I’m just really glad to be seeing a friendly face right now, Chrissy. Sean, here, and I didn’t know quite what to expect. I’m just a little out of my element as a junior research scientist, you see.”
Wincing slightly every now and again, David had begun twining and untwining his hands in a way that made me think that he possibly had some sort of an anxiety problem, or was at least experiencing some serious anxiety right then. This, combined with his nerdy-style glasses and what he’d said about being glad to be seeing a friendly face, made me find him very endearing, and I decided that I liked him already.
After giving him a smile that I hoped would be reassuring, I told him that he was very welcome on the farm, and that he’d probably find many more friendly faces inside the house. “Just try to find my Aunt Jen. She has bright red hair, so you can’t miss her. She’s really good at making people feel welcome, and she’ll show you around. Oh, and by the way, maybe ask her something about the ‘scientists in her head,’ just if you want to get a conversation going. I know that sounds weird, but she likes to cite ‘scientific studies’ a lot, even though she pretty much just makes them up as she goes along; so, my family and I sometimes tease her about the ‘scientists in her head.’ She’s come to see the whole thing as funny, so she won’t be offended if you bring it up and mention that you’re a real scientist or something, and that you’ve been sent to ‘verify’ all her ‘scientific studies’ or whatever. I honestly bet she’ll crack up.”
Making his natural good looks apparent despite the glasses that kind of overwhelmed his face, David cracked a smile. “All right. If you say so.”
There was something about David that reminded me a little of Superman as Clark Kent, just how he was more than a bit nerdy, yet not too hard on the eyes at the same time. His whole manner of being was somehow a little Clark Kent-ish, too, from his mannerisms to his bashful sort of smile.
He and Sean soon went inside the house, and I watched them go, noting that while they both had naturally athletic builds from what I could see, neither of them were quite built like Jake. And although David and Sean were both nice like Jake, neither of them made me feel like he had while I’d been talking to him.
Wondering if David would meet up with Jen inside, and if so, if they’d have any kind of a connection, I soon went about greeting more newcomers, until finally, after ten minutes or so, there was a lull. Watching the sun begin to sink behind the trees that bordered the forestland beyond the circular driveway, I waited around on the porch until a quarter after seven or so. Then, another pair of vampires arrived, parking a dark sedan far down the driveway, behind at least a dozen other vehicles. Watching them approach the front porch, I guessed that these new guests, a man and a woman, had been turned sometime in their late forties.
When they reached me, they introduced themselves as Mack and Liz, and Liz apologized for their tardiness.
“See, I knew that some sort of a meeting was supposed to start here around seven, but on our ride up here from Illinois, I asked Mack if we could stop for a minute so that I could photograph some sandhill cranes that I spotted in a field. Well, Mack, forgetting that a professional photographer doesn’t just take ‘a minute’ to photograph cranes, said yes; so, long story short, I’m placing the blame for our tardiness squarely on Mack…as well as on a pair of exceptionally beautiful sandhill cranes.”
Smiling, I said that her and Mack’s tardiness was no problem. “My dad hadn’t even arrived for the meeting yet.”
Both looking relieved, Mack and Liz soon went inside the house, and I was left alone on the porch once again.
A few minutes later, I was thinking that they’d probably been the last of the stragglers, and I was about to go inside, where a long-awaited warm shower in my master bathroom awaited me. However, just as I extended a hand to open the front door, a noise stopped me. It was the noise of an obnoxiously loud engine. I turned, and a few moments later, a battered old black truck came into view, coming up the dri
veway at a leisurely pace.
Slightly irritated by this apparent latecomer’s noisy engine and their apparent lack of concern about being late, I almost unconsciously folded my arms across my chest, tucking my phone and my book under one arm while I did so. In all the busyness of greeting guests, I’d set these items down at some point, but had picked them back up when I thought I’d soon be heading inside.
When the truck came to a stop behind all the other vehicles, I just stood and watched, hoping that whoever was about to emerge would be an older person, maybe with a charming story about having stopped to photograph sandhill cranes, so that I couldn’t be too irritated with them. However, the person that got out of the battered black truck, which was more rust than it was black, wasn’t a person who appeared older, no matter how many years they were in “vampire years.” In fact, the person that got out of the battered black truck was one of the youngest-looking male newcomers I’d seen all evening, appearing to be maybe twenty-one or twenty-two. Despite his youthful appearance, though, he moved with the unmistakable confidence and purpose of a man much older, which made me think that he was possibly an older man in “vampire years.” If he wasn’t, and was instead only fairly recently turned, he had some kind of natural crazy confidence that I’d never seen in my life before.
Either that, or he’s just an extremely cocky asshole, I thought, still watching him make his way up the driveway with his purposeful, unhurried strides. It was as if he couldn’t even see that I was waiting for him, even though I was sure that he could. Just relax, Chrissy, I told myself, not exactly sure why this new newcomer was making me feel mildly irritated. It’s because you didn’t want to have to choose between crushing on Jake and someone else, I suddenly thought, almost startling myself, because I immediately realized that what I’d thought was true.