by H. T. Night
“It must be bizarre as shit,” I said. “The whole Atticai and Josiah thing.”
“I try not to think about it. I knew Atticai was falling off the deep end. His rhetoric, even to me in our private moments, was scary, to say the least. He thought he was a god.”
“And you knew he wasn’t?” I questioned. I was eager to hear her spin on the situation.
“I didn’t know what to think. He was the most powerful and feared vampire from here to kingdom come.” She paused and smiled gently. “Or was.”
“Is that important to you that you are linked up with someone powerful?”
“Why would you say that?” Lena was insulted.
I tried to make my point clearer. “Look, Atticai thought he was a god and Josiah is a savior straight from vampire prophecy.”
“Josiah doesn’t act like Atticai. The two of them couldn’t be any more different.”
“How so?”
“Josiah pays attention to me. He sees me as I am. His first intention is always noble. Atticai’s first intention was always selfish.”
“That’s interesting. What would you say my first intentions are?”
Lena put her head on my shoulder. “You’re just like Josiah. The two of you are the two most ethical men I have ever known.”
“Me? Ethical?” I laughed.
“Look, Tom. You have had some serious shit happen to you. You could easily choose another life. We all have a daily decision to make.”
“What is that?” I asked.
“That we don’t forcibly mow down humans for their blood and massacre entire towns.”
“Some do.”
“I know they do,” she hissed in obvious distaste.
“You and Josiah don’t. You fight against those types of people. You put your lives on the line for innocent people. It’s very noble.”
“There you go again, throwing around words like ‘noble.’”
“You’re very noble, Tom.” Lena reached out and held my hand. What the hell was she doing? Spouting words like noble and then holding my hand. Was this some kind of test? Was she hitting on me in a very odd twisted way?
“I’m not noble,” I said.
Lena let go of my hand and looked up into my face. The moonlight gave her face an ethereal glow that took my breath away. Her brown eyes shone brightly up into mine and they looked confused. She looked like an angel sent down from heaven.
“Why do you say that?” Lena asked.
“Because I’m not.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not?”
“Explain,” she pressed.
“I’m in love with you.” Holy shit! I’d just said that out loud. I’m fucked.
Lena looked at me, puzzled, and that vulnerable look came over her face. “I understand, Tom.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, I understand. Like I said, you and Josiah are a lot alike. I fell in love with him, why wouldn’t I fall...” She stopped herself from talking.
She was going to say she had fallen in love with me, too.
Holy shit.
She looked scared to death. Her admission clearly frightened her as much as mine had. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want her to be left hanging. I leaned in and kissed her lips. It was slow at first and she resisted a bit, at first. But as the kiss grew longer, she kissed me back deeply. We kissed and kissed for what felt like forever.
Then, the dam broke, and not in a good way. She pushed against my shoulders and pulled away from our kiss with a look of horror on her face.
“What have we just done?” Lena said to me.
“I know. I’m so sorry.”
“It’s my fault, too.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
On the long drive back, we didn’t say a single word to one another.
We were both lost in thought. When we arrived at the house, Lena went straight to Josiah’s room and shut the door behind her. When I woke in the morning, there was a letter on the kitchen table that basically told me Lena wouldn’t be staying here any longer without Josiah here, too. The letter also mentioned she’d moved back in with Yari at her condo in West Hollywood.
This was not going to end well. Lena had every right to tell Josiah what had happened. I just didn’t think I should tell him before she did. I didn’t know the protocol for situations like this. When you kissed your best friend’s girlfriend, did you tell him or let her do it? I guessed I would let it stand to chance.
Josiah was going to find out and he was going to be very upset with me. I would just have to face the music when the time came.
I spent the next three nights relaxing at my house. I was going to make sure no funny business would happen with my turning. I ordered every type of delivery. I have to admit, I liked Chinese food delivery the best. I ordered it three times.
I was able to get through the three days without a hitch. Lena never called and I tried my hardest not to care. Deep down, I knew I did.
The next three weeks went by fast. Doing nothing made time go by faster, it seemed.
Finally, I received word that Josiah would be landing at LAX tonight and would be going directly over to Yari’s. Surely to have alone time with Lena. I needed to be there. It would look suspicious right off the bat if I wasn’t there. I mean, I’m his best friend.
I showered up, put on a clean pair of jeans and a gray Armani T-shirt. I shot myself with some of Josiah’s best cologne and headed up to Hollywood.
Yari, Wyatt, Lena and I were all in Yari’s family room drinking beer and listening to something comfortably numb by Pink Floyd.
We were all getting buzzed and mellowing out to some Pink Floyd when I looked up to find Josiah standing in the doorway. He looked like a ghost. I nearly jumped up into a fighting stance. Ready to swing away.
But Yari saw him before I did and screeched, “Josiah!” She jumped up and hugged him.
I was thrilled to see my friend. I had missed him more than I thought I would. I walked over to him, “Buddy! What’s up?” I picked him up and lifted him off of the ground. Josiah felt like a rock. Whatever he had done in Romania had made him even more muscular than before. “Shit, Josiah! You look great. Did they feed you steroids in Romania?”
“Not quite. I just worked my ass off.” Josiah looked at my soft belly and smiled. “Looks like someone won’t be able to go 175 pounds for a few months.”
“I know, I’ve been eating everything since you left. None of these guys can eat, so I make sure I eat enough for the whole clan.”
“Clan? Is that what we’re calling this?”
“We could call it, ‘Josiah and his Merry Band of Misfits’ if you like?” It was a bad joke, but that was what Josiah and I did together. Laughed and told dumb jokes.
“No, ‘clan’ is good.”
Josiah stopped and took notice of Lena. She looked amazing tonight and Josiah must have been even more in love with her.
“I missed you,” Josiah said to Lena. He walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“I missed you, too,” she said, quietly.
“Are you okay?” Josiah questioned.
Oh, crap. She was going to break down right here. I held my breath and she shook it off and said, “Of course, I am. I’m just so glad to see you.”
They kissed and my heart hit the floor. What the hell? Three weeks wasn’t enough to get over her?
“All right, you two,” Yari said, “remember you have an audience. You are more than welcome to hit the back room and do whatever it is you kids do.”
“We’ll have plenty of time for that,” Josiah said and winked at Lena. “Right now, I want to hear about everything that’s happened since I’ve been gone.”
Josiah greeted Wyatt, hugging him and patting his shoulders.
We all decided to go out to the living room and talk because there was much more room out there. We all made our way to the living room and Josiah sat on the couch next to Lena. I went over to plop down in m
y favorite recliner.
“All right, so what’s been happening?” Josiah asked the group as a whole.
It was quiet and then I said, “Not much has been happening here. We’ve all been waiting around for you to return. It’s like all of our lives went on hold. So, what about you, Josiah? Did the blue gnome do unthinkable things to you?”
“Actually, the blue gnome is pretty awesome. I actually don’t think he is a gnome. I’m not exactly sure what he is. He just isn’t human. His name is Goshi and he is a Mani. That little fucker trained my ass off.”
“He was the one who trained you?” I asked, surprised. “What is he? Some kind of Yoda?”
“He might be tiny,” Josiah answered, “but he is one of the toughest guys I ever sparred with.”
“I could take him,” I joked.
Josiah looked at me and laughed. “Maybe, after you drop ten pounds.”
“Okay, that does it,” I retorted. “I’m starting the Atkins Diet in the morning! Josiah keeps implying I’m fat.”
“Who’s implying?” He winked at me. Josiah and I always teased each other if one of us gained weight. It just seemed that I was the one who was usually gaining all the extra weight.
“Oh, that really does it.” I grabbed Josiah playfully.
“Sit down, Tommy!” Yari snapped. Then she rolled her eyes at me and I shot her an irritated look back.
“Regardless,” I said. “We’ve all been waiting around for you to return. It’s like all of our lives went on hold,” I said again.
“How is a werewolf getting along with a house full of Mani? Speaking of which, where is Hector?” Josiah asked.
I was about to answer and say I hadn’t exactly been living here, so I didn’t know, but Yari answered the second part of his question before I could open my mouth. “Who knows?” Yari said about Hector. “He’s been going off by himself lately and if we ask him where he’s going, he just shrugs us off.”
“You two are usually joined at the hip,” Josiah asked Wyatt. “Do you know what his deal is?”
“Don’t ask me,” Wyatt answered. “That guy has some serious secrets. I think it’s better if we don’t know.”
“Secrets? Like what?” Josiah looked concerned.
“If we knew, they wouldn’t be secrets.” Wyatt laughed.
“I guess that would be true.” Josiah smiled back.
We all talked with Josiah for the next couple of hours. He gave us more details about his training and we told him about our boring lives while we’d waited on his return. I didn’t think Lena and I made eye contact once that night.
Josiah eventually took Lena to her bedroom and I decided to take off and go back home.
Jealousy and I did not mix well. Throw in a ton of guilt and that made Tommy one miserable boy.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I went home shortly after Josiah went to bed with Lena.
I didn’t have a proper goodbye with Josiah in my book, but I imagined my friend was horny as hell. The best friend in me wanted to smile and almost giggle because he was getting laid. But the stupid guy who fell for his best friend’s girlfriend was sick to his stomach and refused to think about what they were doing tonight, tomorrow morning and probably a dozen more times in the next couple of days.
But I had to be a big boy and just move on. I had to forget about it. I was never going to take Lena from Josiah. That had never been on the table. Maybe I had been hoping that Josiah would want to move on and play the field and when he did, maybe Lena and I could be together. That was wishful, romantic comedy thinking and frankly, I was too good-looking of a guy to not move on. But I had Stockholm syndrome. I had fallen in love with my captor, per se. I never once invited her over. At least, that was what I was telling myself.
I crawled into my bed, burrowed into my covers and went straight to sleep. I didn’t sleep well. I woke up six or seven times. My heart was hurting on a massive level. I would always be broken because of Maya. I would always look to her as my one true love. But, somehow, Lena had entered the arena. She didn’t surpass Maya. Not by a long shot, but her tenderness had been difficult to resist. I saw why Josiah was crazy about her. She was the girl next door with an edge. And a heart... and a beautiful soul.
What I needed to do was crawl out of bed and head over there. It was three in the morning. I knew the inevitable had probably happened and I needed to be down there so I could explain myself. Lena’s true character wouldn’t allow her to not tell Josiah about our kiss.
My phone showed there had been no missed phone calls. I hoped that was a good sign. I figured I was going to have to face the music and there was no better time than the present. Josiah was clearly pissed at me and would need to talk because that’s the way the kid was. He was a communicator. An odd thing, considering he had been an outcast all of his life.
Turning the water to as hot as I could stand it, I stepped into the stream. I closed the shower door behind me and took the longest shower of my life. The piping-hot water cascaded over my head, down my face, over my heavily muscled arms and chest. I turned around, allowing the water to beat down on my tight shoulder muscles for I didn’t know how long. After a while, I felt them loosen up and I grabbed my Old Spice body wash and handy blue poufy thing and smothered it in the soap and began lathering up my body. When all of my bits and bobs were thoroughly soaped up, I grabbed the removable shower head and rinsed, taking extra care to run the massage option over my neck and shoulders again. Yes, I lived in Southern California and we were in the middle of a drought, but sometimes a guy needed to wash away the stress of life.
After I stepped out of the shower and grabbed the towel hanging on the bar, I rubbed my hair dry and moved on down to my body. I used the towel as a way to rub my skin dry and rub away any tension left in my muscles. Tossing the towel over the shower door, I walked into my bedroom naked and put on my clothes.
I jumped into Josiah’s truck and I was off to West Hollywood. I drove Josiah’s truck because he has all the room in the back. Plus, his truck drives better than my mustang on the freeways.
I arrived at four in the morning, so I walked around back and used the hidden key to enter the back door. Everyone was dead-to-the-world asleep in their respective bedrooms, which surprised the hell out of me since they were all vampires and should be wide awake at this hour. Were they storing up their strength for some battle, or just lazy because they had their blood delivered? Who knew?
I decided not to bother anyone. Instead, I went to the refrigerator and pulled out an egg burrito that was still in the packaging from Del Taco. I sniffed it and trusted it hadn’t there for long. It was the only actual food in the refrigerator.
The only other thing was a variety of blood drinks packaged securely. These guys are very creative in how they took their blood. They mixed whatever they could into it as long as it didn’t turn their stomachs. So far, they had a straight Bloody Mary drink made with the best vodka available on the shelf and their bloody delight. I had also heard that pomegranate juice made a great mixer with blood. So, I imagined one of the sealed containers contained some of that. So, given the choices in the fridge, this egg burrito was a real prize for someone who didn’t live off of hemoglobin. I heated it up in the microwave about twenty seconds longer than necessary. I poured myself some water from the refrigerator’s water spigot. Good thing someone had hooked that up. I guessed they had to have ice for their bloody alcoholic beverages. Then I went to the family room, sat in the main recliner and turned on the TV.
All I could find to watch that was even somewhat amusing was an old episode of Happy Days. It was pretty funny. Richie dressed up like a girl and was at a dance, and the Fonz was hitting on him. He was slow-dancing with Richie, blowing in his ear. I laughed out loud quite a few times. I hadn’t watched too many episodes of that show, but it was amazing to me that Ron Howard had turned into one of the greatest directors of our time. It goes to show you anything can happen.
I laughed way too loudly and one
of the doors at the back end of the hallway opened. Lena stepped out and laughed. “Damn, Tom, could you try any harder to wake up the house?” She walked down the hallway and hopped onto the couch in the family room.
“What are you watching?” she asked, stretching out her body across the couch.
“Happy Days,” I said.
“Wasn’t that show made in the fifties?”
“No,” I said. “It’s a common mistake that some younger people make. The show was made in the seventies.”
“But it’s about the fifties?”
“Exactly,” I said.
“I’m confused.”
“I’ll change the channel,” I said.
“You don’t have to. If this show was making you laugh that loudly, then let’s watch it.”
I nodded at Lena. She had already seemed different. More distant and closed off than she was before. I couldn’t blame her.
“Josiah’s sleeping?” I asked.
“Nope, he left about an hour ago. Didn’t say where he was going.”
I wanted to ask her so badly if she told Josiah anything, but I couldn’t work up the nerve to do it. If I did, who would overhear it? We were in a house full of vampires with super hearing.
So, we watched three more episodes of Happy Days. Lena had gone to the fridge and poured herself a drink from one of the many mixes. When she came back in, she sat in front of the couch so she wouldn’t make a mess. She downed her drink mighty fast. I thought she would stand up and grab another, but she didn’t. She put the drink on the coffee table and continued watching the TV.
Then, without warning, Josiah walked through the front door. My stomach sank to the floor.
Lena rose up off the ground and walked toward Josiah. “Where have you been?” she asked.
“I went out to clear my head. I’ve had a pretty stressful couple of weeks.”
I decided to try my luck and ask a question. “Where did you go?”
Josiah shot me a look and said, “I went out. It was no big deal.”
“You okay, man?” I asked. I needed to know right up front what I was dealing with. It was just the way I was. I was a rip the Band-Aid-off-fast kind of guy.