by Laura Del
Sandy and Mad were busy with Fang when Tina announced that she was going to go upstairs to get dressed, and I was standing there debating on whether I wanted to do those stairs again. Of course, I was going to have to, but it didn’t have to be right away. Then Tina screamed.
Or maybe it does.
Andrew and I were halfway up the stairs when the front door banged open. Bobby dropped everything, holding up his hands for the others to stay where they were. All three of us clattered up the stairs as quickly as humanly possible while Tina was still screaming her head off.
When we got to my sisters room, the door was locked. “Tina,” I yelled. “Open the door!” But she just kept screaming.
Bobby pushed me aside and busted the door down with his shoulder. The three of us walked inside, seeing Tina staring at the closet in horror as she let out a blood-curdling scream, tears rapidly pouring down her face.
Rushing over to her, I began to ask what was wrong and then I saw it. There, hanging by his neck with a stake through his back, was the rotted, gray corpse of what used to be Mortimer. Pinned to his neck was a note that read, “That’s what you get for fucking a vampire!”
chapter
TWENTY
Turning Tina away from the carnage as fast as I could, I stared at the now-empty eye sockets. His once red hair was white, and the stench was horrible, like nothing I had ever smelled before. I couldn’t help the tears forming in the corner of my eyes.
Andrew was saying something, and Bobby was agreeing and then Bobby turned to me asking me a question. I wasn’t paying attention at first then I heard my name, and I snapped out of it. “Get out of here, and we’ll take care of it,” Bobby said. It seemed as though he had said it more than once.
I nodded and walked a sobbing Tina out of the room, and into mine. Closing the door behind us, I walked over to the bed with her still in my arms, and I rocked her. “Shh,” I comforted the tears now pouring down my own face, “it’ll be all right.”
“Patty,” she cried, “I didn’t… have sex… with him.”
I wiped her eyes with my palms. “I know, babe. I know. I think it was meant for me, they just got the wrong bedroom.”
“Why would… why would somebody do something like that?” she asked, her breathing ragged. “He was the sweatiest…” her voice trailed away, and she cried into my shoulder.
That’s when I stopped crying. There was no use in both of us being distraught; someone needed to keep calm. I always seemed to be that someone. “He was,” I replied after a moment or two.
“Was what?” a voice said from behind us.
Both of us stared at each other and then we looked up to see Mortimer soaking wet from the rain, his white t-shirt clinging to his skin. That’s when I allowed myself to cry. I stood up, wrapping my arms around him. He was real. He was actually there. I was so happy to see him that I leaned back and kissed him right on the mouth.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked, looking shocked when I pulled back.
“I walked into a corpse that looked like you,” Tina hiccupped. “That’s what’s goin’ on.” She had haphazardly wiped her face, and I could see there were still wet marks on the side of her tanned cheeks.
He cocked his head and smelled the air. His face crinkled with disgust. Then he wriggled out of my arms and left the room in a blur. When he came back, he looked paler than normal. As if he had just seen a ghost.
“Who was it?” I asked, and he just blinked at me. “Mortimer,” I said, placing my good hand on his shoulder, “who was it?”
“Bernard,” he answered quietly.
“Who?” Tina asked, and I glanced at her.
“Bernard,” he repeated, clearing his throat. “‘E was the backup dat I called fur. I was on the inside while ‘e was on the out.”
“That’s why I felt like I was being watched,” I muttered, and he nodded.
“Why did he look like you?” Tina asked, sniffing away the tears.
He shook his head. “‘E doesn’t. I mean, ‘e’s tall and blond. Maybe a little from the back ‘e did.”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” Tina hissed.
“They just saw a tall vampire and thought it was you,” I said, shaking my head.
“I should clean up the mess and bury ‘em,” he responded softly. “Would ye like me ta—” He touched his temple.
“No,” both Tina and I said together.
“No one saw except for Andrew and Bobby,” I explained. “And they both know about supernatural stuff.”
“Robert does?” Tina asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, he had a werewolf in his platoon. It seems like they’re everywhere.”
“That’s just fuckin’ weird,” Tina muttered.
“Tell me about it,” I said, then I turned back to Mortimer. “I don’t think you burying him is such a good idea. Especially since the person that did this was looking for you.”
He frowned, but looked resolved. “I’m the only one strong enough ta carry ‘em. And besides,” he sighed, “‘e deserves a proper burial.”
I nodded, still leery. “Okay. Only if you’re up for it, and you don’t go too far. I would make sure you take him out the window.” I pointed over my shoulder, finally taking my hand off him. He nodded somberly, rushing out the door again.
Before I could open my mouth to talk to Tina, Mortimer zoomed past us and out the window. Even after he left the smell of the rotted body lingered for a little longer before it began to dissipate. Still, there was nothing like the smell of decomposing vampire. It was like rotten eggs and decaying meat that had been in the back of the refrigerator for months.
“I’m so fucking tired of people threatening me,” I hissed.
“And I’m gettin’ so sick of all this supernatural shit,” Tina huffed.
We plopped down on the bed, leaning against each other and we sighed.
“Do we have to do this rehearsal?” she asked me.
“Unfortunately,” I breathed.
“Baby girl,” Pops called up the stairs. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah,” I hollered back. “It was just a spider.”
“All that for a spider? It sounded like bloody murder. I mean, I heard it all the way outside.”
“Irrational fear,” Tina chimed in. “Whatcha gonna do?”
He mumbled something and then it went quiet.
Tina and I just sat there exhausted from the whole ordeal. We were silent for a moment until Tina broke it. “Do you think it was Mike?”
I shook my head. “No, he would never do something like that. Besides, he seems to like Mortimer. In fact, he told me to sleep with him just in case Samuel came back into my dreams.”
“Did you…” she cocked a brow at me.
“No,” I huffed. “We’re just friends. Besides, he slept with my mother.”
Her face scrunched up. “Ew.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Still—”
“Tina,” I huffed.
“Well, I’m just sayin’ he’s hot, and—”
“Tina,” I yelled.
“What?” she asked in her innocent baby voice. “I’m just sayin’.”
“I know,” I mimicked her. “And it’s still weird.”
Her lower lip quivered and then she started to smile. I stared at her for a second before I felt the smile spreading wide across my own face. That’s when we broke out into fits of giggles and finally full on laughter. Tina was laughing so hard tears were pouring down her face. I snorted, which made us laugh even harder. Then Tina started clapping her hands while I slapped my leg.
Andrew and Bobby burst into the room, looking at us cracking up on the bed. “What the hell is so funny?” Bobby asked. “We just found a dead man hanging inside a closet, and you two are laughing? We thought you were hurt.”
“We�
�re sorry,” I choked out while Tina laughed even harder.
“Yeah,” Tina said through giggles, which made me blurt laughter. “We’re sorry.”
“You two are sick-minded individuals,” Andrew said, shaking his head. “Do you know that?”
We sobered up, looking at each other for a second. That didn’t last long because we just burst out into laughter again, falling onto each other.
“Fuckin’ weirdo’s,” Bobby huffed, walking out of the room while Andrew just shook his head again, closing the door on us.
“I should go get dressed,” Tina finally said after a minute or two more of laughter.
“Yeah,” I replied, wiping my eyes on my wet shirt. It must have gotten wet when I hugged Mortimer, and I was just noticing. “I should too.”
She got up off the bed, walking to the bedroom door. Then she turned around slightly. “Patty?”
“Yes.”
“If anything ever happened to you, I don’t know what I’d do.” Her Brooklyn accent was almost non-existent when she said it, something that happened when she was being very serious.
“I know, Tina,” I said just as seriously. “I know.”
She nodded. “Good.” Then she left to get ready.
I took a deep breath, and before I could even take off my damp clothes, Mortimer popped back through the window and his face was streaked with mud and what looked like blood.
“Jesus, are you okay?” I asked, rushing over to him. I wiped his face with my sleeve getting most of the mud off, but he was crying those creepy tears of blood, so it was harder to get his face smear-free. “Mortimer, don’t cry.”
He sniffed. “I’m sorry. I know it’s gross.”
I shook my head. “No. It’s just the way you are, you sweet vampire. Why are you crying?”
“It’s sad ta lose someone, ye know?”
I nodded. “Were you close?”
“I feckin’ hated ‘em,” he replied, and I stifled a laugh. “But ‘tis still sad.”
“Come here,” I said, opening my arms to him. He walked over and we hugged, him crying blood into my shoulder for a minute and me rubbing his back in order to relax him. Finally, he seemed to calm down, so I leaned back to look into his face, which was literally red with tears. “Feel better now?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I do. But now yer shirts all ruined.”
I looked down at my bloodstained shirt and shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
He sniffed and then sniffed again. “Why does it smell like wet dog in ‘ere?”
I laughed. “Mike was just asking me why it smelled like vampire. Do you know how creepy that is?”
“Mike’s ‘ere?” his eyes lit up.
I nodded. “Yes, he is. Somewhere around here.”
“Maybe I’ll run inta ‘em later.”
“You’re not coming to the rehearsal?”
He hit his forehead. “I completely forgot. I’m gonna have ta go get changed. Is dat all right? Are ye gonna be okay by yerself?”
“I’ll be fine,” I reassured him. “Besides, I have to get dressed myself.”
“May I use the stairs this time?” he asked, and I laughed, nodding again. “Good. Goin’ out dat winda is gettin’ ta be a pain.”
I grimaced. “Sorry.”
He shrugged. “S’all right.” Mortimer walked toward the door at a normal pace, but before he got there, he turned back looking down at me. “Patricia, ‘bout dat kiss earlier—”
My eyes widened as I remembered. “I’m so sorry, Mortimer. It was just in the heat of the moment, and I—”
“I liked it,” he interrupted my babble.
“Huh?” I asked, confused.
“I said dat I liked it. Ye made me feel all tingly inside. Like I was lit up. I was wonderin’ if I asked ye ta do it again, would ye?”
I placed my head in my hands, shaking my head, and when I looked up at him again, he was still standing there with a slight smile on his face. “I would have to say no, Mortimer. I’m still in love with Mike.”
He nodded. “I understand completely. I was just wonderin’.”
“Uh-huh,” I said with a smile. “Sure you were.”
“I was,” he laughed. “I mean, I was just curious. After all, ye smell like lavender and fresh rain, and when ye kissed me—”
“Fresh rain?” I asked, not meaning to interrupt him, but that was a new one to me.
“Like when I was back in Ireland as a boy,” he explained. “The grass after a good rain smelled so sweet,” he sighed. “Your scent reminds me of home.”
That was sweet and somehow disturbing. “Why is it always different?” I asked, trying to figure it out.
“Beg pardon?”
“My scent is always different to all supernatural creatures,” I clarified. “To Samuel it’s lavender and vanilla. With Mike, it’s lavender and his mother’s pecan pie…” I shook my head. “It’s just weird.”
He pursed his lips. “I’ve got no clue. ‘Tis weird. Very weird.”
“I’m sure I’ll figure it out one day.”
He laughed. “Oh, I ‘ave no doubt.”
He turned back around, and as he was about to walk out of the door, I stopped him. “Mortimer,” I said, and he looked over his shoulder at me. “If I would have said yes to that hypothetical question, what would you have done?”
“Well,” he said with a smile, “I would’ve t’aught better of it, and I would’ve stopped meself before anythin’ ‘appened. Why?”
“It just proves that what I thought about you was right.”
“And what might dat be, darlin’.”
“That you are made of very good stock, Mortimer. Very good stock.”
His smile widened. “T’ank ye, Patricia. So are ye.” He winked as he left the room, closing the door behind him.
After about a minute or so, I got up off the bed, and just as I was getting the dress out of the closet, the window burst open and in came a soaked Mike.
I held my chest as my heart raced. “Jesus Christ, Mike. You startled me. What’s wrong?”
“I got some news,” he breathed, and his nose wrinkled. “Why does it smell like death in here?”
“Someone killed a vampire,” I explained without going into detail.
He paled. “Oh my God. Not Mortimer.”
I shook my head, and I could see him relax a bit. “What is it, Mike? And make it quick. I have to get ready for the rehearsal.”
“The pack is sendin’ an advocate,” he told me, and I could feel my face scrunch up, so he explained some more. “They called me on my cell and said that they were gonna send somebody, here, with their verdict.”
“You couldn’t have called me to tell me this?”
He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. “My phone died, and I left the charger in Louisiana.”
“Okay,” I sighed. “Who are they sending?”
He grimaced. “I don’t know.”
“They didn’t tell you?” I huffed.
He shook his head. “Nope.”
“Goddammit!”
“Yup.”
I took a deep breath. “All right. We’ll deal with it when this advocate comes, but right now, you have to leave. Because if my father sees you anywhere near the house, he will shoot first and ask questions later.”
“You’re father has a gun?” he asked, looking scared.
“Guns,” I corrected. “He’s a Marine, and there is no ex when it comes to Marines.”
“Baby girl,” my father called from downstairs.
“Yeah, Pops?” I replied, almost in a panic, while I tried to shoo Mike out the window.
“I’m comin’ up,” Pops said. “We need to talk.”
“Okay,” I answered, and in the same breath whispered, “You have to get out o
f here. I’m not kidding, he will hurt you.”
Mike nodded. “Just one thing before I go.”
“What?”
He smirked. “Do you know how to shoot a gun?”
My brows pulled together. “And what if I say yes?”
“I’d think that you were way sexier than you already are.”
I laughed a little, but it was cut short by Pops’ impending footsteps. “Yes,” I said quickly, pushing him out the open window. “Bye.”
“Love ya,” he replied, kissing me on the cheek and then he was gone.
As I closed the window, I took a deep breath. Then there was a knock. I shuffled over, dreading what my father wanted to talk to me about, but I opened up anyway. “Hey, Pops,” I sighed. “What’s up?”
“Can I come in?” he asked with a gentle smile.
I nodded. “Sure.”
As he walked in and I shut the door, he grabbed my shoulders, pushing me back so that I would sit on the bed. Then he just stood there for a second in silence. Finally, he looked down at me and said, “You shouldn’t trust that Mortimer fellow.”
I cocked a brow at him. “Why?”
He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “What I’m about to tell you, baby girl, doesn’t leave this room. Do you understand?” he asked, and I nodded. “Good.” He took another deep breath and continued. “Your mother never knew that I knew. I just happened to overhear a conversation that she and Mortimer had one night in our kitchen.”
“Mortimer?” I asked, trying to play dumb.
Pops nodded. “Yeah, the same man you went to college with.”
“What?”
“Hear me out,” he said, raising his hands. “When I was stationed in Italy one year, I saw some things that no one should ever see. One night, I was out and about with one of my buddies, and the next thing you know—” he stopped midsentence while he was remembering. “Well, he was dragged away by somethin’ that wasn’t human.”
“What?” I asked again, genuinely shocked.