The Flash of a Firefly

by Amber Riley

  “Meds?” Stu suggested quietly from across the room.

  She shot him a look, and I held up my hands. “Not right now. Don’t do this now. You can either get it together and come with me, or stay inside and not kill each other.”

  I flung the front door open, not sure if they would be behind me, and went out to see what Francesca wanted. She was standing on the stone walkway leading to the porch. The wind was whipping her polka-dot skirt around her legs, and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail so tight that it would have given a normal person a headache.

  Davis was beside her, and another vampire was wandering around my lawn, looking down at the grass. My heart dropped into my stomach. The Marquis was here, complete with the same ivory cane he had been carrying around since I first met him. The devil himself had arrived at my doorstep.

  His face was just as delicate and kind as I remembered. His black hair trailed down his back, just hitting his elbows, and his smile alone would leave girls weak at the knees. The Marquis was the picture of innocent youth, changed into what he was at the age of sixteen while visiting the court of King Henry VII.

  But lurking behind those green eyes was a mind as sadistic as they came. As Phoenix’s torturer, he had free reign to abuse any vampire sent to him as he saw fit, as long as his or her face wasn’t permanently marked. He would keep some vampires for days, some for weeks, others for months. Locked within the walls of his chamber, there was no escape, and nothing too vile.

  “It took you long enough,” Francesca said with a forced smile. Her heels clicked onto the bottom porch step. “Why don’t you invite us in so we can talk things over?”

  I spared a second to be thankful that the invitation rule applied to vampire, as well as human, homes. “I don’t think so,” I growled. “What do you want?”

  “You know what we want,” she said flatly.

  “You can’t have him,” Flo spat from behind me. “Go back where you belong and leave us alone.” Stu tried to pull her back inside, but she hit his hands away. “Don’t make me say it again.”

  Francesca started to laugh. Even the Marquis looked up and smiled. “Still the same as always,” he called from the middle of the lawn. “I always liked your spirit. It would be fun to break.”

  Flo stormed forward, brushed Stu off a second time, and headed straight for the Marquis. I grabbed her wrist as she passed me and yanked her back. I wasn’t ready to fight anyone tonight.

  Davis nodded to Flo and Stu, acknowledging his former family members. “This is turning into a regular reunion. We’re just missing Sullivan now.”

  “Sorry,” I grumbled under my breath. Sullivan was the only one I could completely trust to have my back in any situation. It stung a little that he hadn’t come to help. “You’ll have to make do with us.”

  “Those two are easy enough to dispose of,” Francesca hissed. “We just need you.”

  The trees were creaking in the wind. All around me I felt the chaos. It surrounded me like a suffocating cloud. Flo’s anger behind me, Francesca’s in front, the Marquis’s eagerness to make something bleed. I needed to center myself. I needed to focus.

  “Phoenix said he changed me to save my life. He had me believing that my neighbors, my friends and family, had burned my house to the ground with my wife and daughter inside. He made me hate humans. I spent centuries getting what I thought was revenge.” I stepped off the porch so I was at eye level with Francesca. “Lies. It was all a lie. He sucked them dry and set the fire to hide what he had done. And, for what?”

  The Marquis popped up next to me and stroked my cheek. “He did save your life. You would have died a long time ago. He needed a strong second, and you were the most qualified.”

  “Don’t touch me.” I grabbed his finger as it made its way down to my chin. I bent it backward until I heard the bone snap in half. “I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Kaden, you are being absolutely ridiculous.” Francesca pushed the Marquis aside and placed her hand on my chest. “Don’t you miss it? The blood, the power?” she whispered.

  I could feel the lure in her words. The sweet taste of it all danced on the end of my tongue. I missed parts of it. I missed the ability not to feel guilty for my sins. I missed living that blissfully ignorant life, thinking I had taken the right path. But I wouldn’t trade any of it for what I had gained when I learned the truth.

  I twisted her wrist and held it in front of her face. “I left all those things years ago and have never regretted it. Not for one second.” I tossed her wrist, and she nearly fell over.

  “We can’t stay here forever, waiting for you to change your mind. We’ll have to go back soon, and you’ll be with us.” She spun around. “I promise you that.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Stu yelled as the three of them disappeared into the trees. “What?” he asked when I looked over my shoulder at him.

  I stormed back into the house and grabbed my zippered sweater off the back of the chair. There wasn’t much I could do. No one had seen them in the city, and I had no idea where to start looking. I didn’t have the resources I had when I was working for Phoenix. I could find out anything at the drop of a hat back then. I wasn’t used to being this blind.

  With one sweep of my hand, I pushed everything off of the table just inside the door. Glass shattered against the tile, and unopened mail went flying. My fingers dug into the ends of the wood, and I carried it out to the front porch. In one fluid movement, I smashed it against a stone pillar, sending splinters of wood in every direction.

  Flo ducked behind Stu. “What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to kill us?” she shrieked.

  “I’m a sitting duck. Forgive me if I am a little irritated,” I screamed, throwing the chunks of wood left in my hands. Everyone was silent. “I’m leaving.”

  “What?” she demanded. “Where are you going?”

  “Out,” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

  The anger was flooding my body. It was slowly picking away at my brain. I was losing myself. My control was slipping away, and it was being replaced with fear. Once it took over, I didn’t know what I would do. I knew what I was capable of. I knew that I would do whatever it took to stay out of Spain. I just didn’t know what that “whatever” was, and it scared me. I didn’t want to go back down the road to violence. I didn’t want to be a monster.

  I hesitated on Lyn’s front porch. There weren’t any lights on inside, but I could hear the television and see the faint blue glow from behind the curtain. There was only one heartbeat in the house, leaving me to wonder which of the roommates was at home. If I wanted to find that same calm feeling I had the night before, then I was going to have to risk finding out.

  I still didn’t know what it was about Lyn that could make me forget about everything, but it didn’t make much difference to me at that point. I was stressed and worried and had no direction to go in. This was the first place that came to mind to go to. Lyn calmed me. Being around her made me feel like I was better and that everything was going to be all right. It was relaxing, and what I needed the most was a clear head.

  So I rang the doorbell. It took a minute for the TV to go silent and slippered feet to shuffle across the floor. I fidgeted nervously with the zipper on my sweater. I didn’t know what I was going to say if it wasn’t Lyn; I just hoped that it was.

  The door opened a crack and then slammed shut in my face. My jaw hung open as I tried to process what had happened, but it opened again, slowly. Lyn stood there in gray sweatpants and an oversized NYU T-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a messy knot, and her cheeks were blushing a deep red.

  More importantly, her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying. It hadn’t been a few tears. She had probably been sobbing for at least an hour before I got there. It was my cue to turn and run, so why was I still standing there?

  She sniffled and forced a smile. “We should really exchange numbers.”

  “I’m sorry.” I backed up. “I’ll com
e back some other time.”

  “No, it’s fine. Come on in.” She stepped aside. “It’s just that I almost went out tonight. I hate to think of your coming over and finding no one here.”

  I followed her into the dark house and pulled off my sweater. There was a movie on pause in the living room. It was frozen on a scene with a man and a woman staring at something off-screen. A gallon of ice cream sat on the coffee table with a spoon stuck in it.

  She hurried to pick up a pile of used tissues and took them into the kitchen to throw away. After she washed her hands at the sink, she shuffled back to where I was standing. “So, what brings you to this neck of the woods?” she asked.

  “I was just in the neighborhood.”

  I cringed at my own cliché statement, but she seemed to buy it. She went back to the old plaid couch and sat down, pulling a tweed blanket around her legs.

  I hovered by the front door. “If this is a bad time, I can go,” I offered. I didn’t know what was best. If she was just trying to be polite, then I wanted to leave. It was awkward not knowing what to do.

  “No, it’s not a bad time.” She patted the cushion beside her. “Some company would be nice.”

  I walked slowly through the wide archway into her living room. When I sat down on the ugly couch, a spring poked up into my thigh. A scented candle was flickering on top of the entertainment center, filling the room with the smell of apples.

  “How did you do on your test?” I asked awkwardly as I made myself comfortable.

  Her face lit up. “I think I did pretty well, thanks to you.”

  “That’s good.” I hesitated. I was feeling self-conscious. I didn’t know what she thought of my popping over, unannounced, two nights in a row. I was probably coming across as a level-five clinger.

  Lyn’s cell phone rang, and she glanced at the caller ID before pressing ignore. Then she flipped it open and pressed a few buttons. She glanced up at me and asked, “What’s your number?” I told her, and she dialed it. My phone vibrated in my pocket, and then she ended the call. “There, now you have mine, too.”

  Her phone was still in her hand when it rang a second time. She pushed ignore, turned the volume off, and shoved it between the cushions. Her breathing became shaky, and her eyes welled up with tears. I felt myself tense, anticipating the waterworks.

  But she surprised me. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together. The water brimming in her eyes disappeared as she snuggled down into the corner of the couch and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders.

  Her body was emanating heat. I could feel it from a cushion away. I wanted to reach out and touch it just for a second. I wanted to soak it up. Her veins were visible under her translucent skin, mocking me, daring me to do it.

  “So do you want to watch this movie with me?” she asked. “I just started it. It might be a little corny.”

  I nodded. I had managed to get used to the urges once; I could do it again. The movie would be a good distraction. It would give me something to look at other than her.

  She pressed play on the remote, and the scene changed from neutral to violent. The two people had been watching their friend turn into a zombie. They both started to run, but the zombie was faster. It caught the woman by the hair and bit into her shoulder.

  It wasn’t going to be as good a distraction as I thought.

  The green numbers on the cable box glowed two thirty. The second movie wasn’t as bad as the first one. It was about some little kid who could talk to dead people. I hadn’t seen the ending coming, which was a nice change. Lyn must have seen it before. She didn’t act the least bit surprised when the truth came out. She was curled up under her blanket with heavy eyes. The puffiness around them had subsided, and she was back to looking like herself again, just tired.

  For the second night in a row, I found that I had gotten used to her scent. I had gotten used to the heat radiating from her body and her steady heartbeat. I still wanted to reach out to her. I wanted to touch her hair and feel how soft her cheek was. But I didn’t feel the overwhelming desire to taste her blood. There seemed to be something overriding that natural urge.

  I was sure that I would feel it later, after I left. Subconsciously I knew what I wanted. It was secretly taking its toll on my body. When I got home, I would have to go straight for the mini-fridge.

  When she clicked the television back to cable, a stand-up comedian was onstage. We watched for a few minutes in silence. I wasn’t much for comedy, but the man was good and I actually started to laugh. It felt good. I hadn’t laughed in ages.

  Lyn sat up, letting the blanket pool on her lap, and smiled. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh.”

  I didn’t know what to say, so I just let my lips fade into a little half smile. I was forgetting myself around her. It was dangerous for both of us. She could spot my fangs, or worse. But it didn’t seem to matter to me as much as it should have. I felt the pull to her more than I felt there was imminent danger. That alone should have sent me running.

  “Kaden, I know this is going to sound stupid …” She paused, turning bright red. “We’ve only spent time together the last two nights. I don’t count when we met,” she added quickly. “But I feel like I’ve known you a lot longer than that.”

  Is that how to describe the feeling? I wondered. I had known a lot of humans for a long time, but I still didn’t feel as at ease around them as I did around Lyn. But it was different for me than it was for her. She was attracted to the vampire in me. Not only do our muscles tighten when we’re turned, giving us bodies that models would kill for, but we emit a low-level pheromone, making us the perfect predators.

  Luckily I was saved from having to come up with a reply. It was good for two reasons: I had no idea what to say, and the interruption happened to be Alex. He came through the door with his arm around Lyn’s roommate, holding her up. The smell of alcohol trailed behind them as they moved toward the stairs. The second roommate stumbled in after them and made a beeline for the kitchen. From the sound of it, she didn’t make it to the garbage before throwing up.

  Lyn sighed and got up, adjusting her sweatpants. She started to shake her head and disappeared around the corner. “Emma, get up,” she said.

  I turned my attention to Alex. He was staring at me while he guided his pseudo-girlfriend to the second floor. He let out an exasperated sigh and picked her up by the waist, carrying her the rest of the way. She shrieked and then began laughing uncontrollably.

  I waited for him at the bottom of the stairs while they shuffled around. The girl was still laughing as two clunks sounded on the floor above my head, which I assumed were her shoes. A few seconds later, the door slammed and Alex came running downstairs.

  “Hey,” he said, giving me a boyish grin. “Sorry about last night. You caught me off guard, and I got scared. Sid talked to me though, and he wants me to stick with the plan.”

  I didn’t understand why Sid would care what happened to Lyn. Humans were nothing to us. Each one only survived a split second in our eyes. “Really,” I said under my breath.

  “Yeah,” Alex replied. “He said if you cared enough about the girl, then we should care too.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Why didn’t you go on the bus?”

  He reached around to the middle of his back and scratched through his polo shirt. “They wanted someone to stay behind and watch out for you during the day, so I hung out in the woods around your house until dark. Then I came here.”

  “How were you watching her if you weren’t here?” I growled. I couldn’t help being mad. I wasn’t sure if it was because he had stalked my house all day or if it was because he hadn’t been keeping his eyes on Lyn. Maybe it was because Sid had him do all of it without telling me. Maybe it was all three.

  “Listen …” Alex grew serious. “I know, but she’s been crying all day because her ex-boyfriend moved into the city to get her back. She doesn’t want anything to do with him, but he won’t give it up. Nothing was go
ing to happen to her when a cop car was driving by every two minutes, and Sid would have killed me if I skipped out on your house.”

  Lyn came out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a dish towel. “Are you all right to go home?” she asked Alex.

  “I’m fine.” He beamed. “I didn’t drink tonight, so I’m just going to get going. It was nice to see you again, Kaden.”

  He was a born actor. I would have believed every word that came out of his mouth if I didn’t know better. He smiled all the way to the door and even threw a wave over his shoulder before opening the door to reveal a police officer.

  Chapter 9

  “Excuse me,” the officer said, standing aside to let Alex pass.

  Alex looked at me for a long moment, urging me to understand something. I didn’t know him well enough to know what he was getting at. If it was important, he would have to tell me later.

  The officer, whose name tag read “Gorski,” stepped inside and closed the door. It obviously wasn’t a work-related house call. He didn’t introduce himself, and he didn’t carry that official air about him. He set his hat down on the dining room table and reached out to take Lyn’s hands. She was frozen in place, her eyes the size of dinner plates. I was standing right next to her, but I might as well have been invisible.

  He pulled her in and hugged her. “You weren’t answering any of my calls,” he said. “I got worried.”

  “What do you want, Frank?” she asked. “I said I didn’t want anything to do with you. Why are you doing all this?”

  Alex’s look suddenly made sense to me. So did his comment about a cop car driving by constantly. Frank was her ex. He wasn’t what I would have pictured for her. He was short and had a long, curved nose. His ears stuck out slightly too far from his head, and he had a little mole just under his left eye.

  “I want to be with you again. You’re not being fair,” he whined.

  “Fair?” She pushed him away from her. “It wasn’t fair when you got that other girl pregnant.”