I took her hands in one of mine and kept her close, rubbing her back in slow, easy circles.
Her body shook against me. “I’ve gotten your shirt all wet.”
“It’s not my shirt.” I smiled at her. “Let it out, Silvia. Just this once while I’m here. Let me be here for you.”
And I was there for her that day as we sat in the den and looked at the old photo albums I’d thumbed through before while she told me about the past twenty-five years. Heather had never married, never had kids and threw herself into studies instead. She and Silvia had a good relationship though, and Heather had visited on a regular basis until Ralph died. To help her sister out with what I learned used to be a farm behind the house, Heather had moved in. Retelling the past brought Silvia to tears on more than one occasion, and each time, I’d set the book aside, take her in my arms, and let her grieve.
I lay down for a nap around four to sleep until dusk. Silvia woke me, just as I’d asked her to, and I got up to get my stuff together and get dressed for the ride back home.
After a long while just standing there holding her, I told Silvia goodbye for the last time. The sky was washed in shades deep violet, deepening to midnight blue in the east. I paused before opening the door, wondering if I’d feel the same again. Life was moving on once more, and now that I’d finished what I’d come here for, and dismissed the idea of getting to know much else about this place, it was something I really couldn’t regret or take back. Once again, shit had changed me, but I wasn’t sure if it was for the better.
Silvia remained inside as I tightened the straps on my backpack and started the bike alone. I guess she didn’t want to see me go.
* * * *
I left New Mexico and all the craziness behind in relief, but I’d miss Silvia just more than a little bit. Needless to say, I was real glad to see the familiar terrain pop up around me as I rode north.
I rolled into Pinecliffe around four in the morning. I’d been thinking about where to go first once I got back, and as much as I wanted to just go home and lay it down, I figured the best method was to find Tabby and make sure she was okay. If she wasn’t around, I’d push on into Denver and crash at Scott’s.
Tabby’s windows were dark when I parked the bike in front of her house but her car was there. The air had gotten thinner and colder on the way back from New Mexico, but it was nice. I’d missed it. Instead of going to her door, I walked around the back of the house where her bedroom window was. That light was on, so I tapped on the glass. After a series of thumps and the brushing aside of curtains and blinds, her eyes locked with mine through the window and widened. She called my name and pointed to the general direction of the door. When I reached the door we hugged and then she reached up and slapped my face hard. I recoiled.
“Ow! What the hell, Tab?”
“That’s for leaving me to worry and to trust that you were okay. How would you feel if I just up and disappeared? Do you think I don’t care about you? Do you even give a crap if I do?”
She scowled up at me. “What the hell am I supposed to do with you? You’re like a stray tomcat that keeps showing up at my door just when I think you’re gone for good. Or dead.”
“I’m sorry...” I didn’t know what else to say. Nobody else worried about me like she did. It felt almost like an obligation to have to check in with her. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just come and go. It’s just how I was. I didn’t schedule my life around anything but my band, and even that was optional. And now, that was no longer necessary either.
“I either have to accept your apology or chase you away for good, don’t I?” She gave me a sad smile. “Fine, Xan. I accept your apology. There’s no other way to keep you in my life.” She opened the screen door to let me in.
Right there in the kitchen our lips met, partially out of habit, mostly out of unspoken wants. I think a part of me loved her, as much as I wanted to never get attached to a human like that again, for obvious reasons. But Tabby was different. She knew my secret, and aside from a few minor setbacks after I confessed my true nature, she had been supportive. We broke the kiss, gasping and horny, and I took a step back while she crossed her arms under her breasts and regarded me with yearning eyes.
“I don’t think we should be together like that anymore. I can’t have casual sex with you and not want more,” she whispered and I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“Xan...”
“It’s okay.”
“I’ve missed you a lot.” Her voice was so heartbreaking I winced like she’d slapped me again.
“I’m sorry. Sometimes I have to take care of things, and I can’t say why, where I’m going, or when I’ll be back.”
Her eyes shined with unshed tears, but she was smiling. “But you came back.”
“Yeah, I did. Not only that, you’re the first person I went to.”
“Really? Why’s that?”
I shoved my hands deep in my pockets and shrugged, staring at the ground. What else could I say? My dad always believed actions spoke louder than words, and well, yeah. I cared about her. Unavoidably, in fact. But she’d made the right decision to end what I didn’t have the nerve to. We made better friends. And somewhere out there was a nice guy that wasn’t a vampire that would love her and the baby.
“Have you been back to Pale Rider?” I was sort of mumbling, mostly because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to risk getting bad news. But she shook her head.
“My sister moved in with me, just to help out since I’m not going to be able to work pretty soon.”
“I thought she kind of already stayed here.”
Tabby smirked. “Not officially, Even now she works nights and isn’t here much. But I gave her the guest room and she comes in at weird hours. I’m telling you because if you’re looking to stay here too, you’ll have to sleep with me.”
I chomped down on my lip and nodded.
“But I can’t really have you coming and going a whole bunch though, Xan. Once the baby gets here, it’s going to be all about him or her, and not you.”
“Sure.” I pulled my hands out of my pockets to tug her close to me again. “The baby’s definitely got first priority.”
She sighed through her nose and disentangled herself from my arms to retreat to the sofa.
“I haven’t heard from Arturo since you went to kick his ass. I’d file for support but he’s in prison for some drug charge.” Swift tears raced down to her chin. “I can’t do this alone.”
“Yeah, you can. You have your sister.”
“And you, right?” She gave a little laugh.
“Don’t worry, I don’t eat babies.” I said. It was supposed to be a joke, but for a minute her eyes widened.
“That’s right. The whole vampire thing.” The way she said that made it sound like I had a choice in the matter.
I smirked and nodded. “Yeah. That whole vampire thing.”
“Well you’re not the typical vampire,” she said then surprised at herself, laughed. It was a good sound to hear. “Like I know many vampires to compare you to.”
I smiled. “I can thankfully say that to my knowledge, Pinecliffe only has one vampire, and you’re looking at him.”
She shook her head in amazement and laughed again. “Do I really want to know how many of you are out there? I don’t think I do.”
“Good, because I can’t tell you anyway. You’re not even supposed to know I’m one in the first place, but I like to think I can trust you.”
“Why so secretive?” She asked me and then shook her head with a smile. “I know that’s a dumb question, but if they were as nice as you...”
“They aren’t. That’s the problem. Do you really think the world would take kindly to knowing real vampires are walking around? It’d be a bloodbath. Either the world would accept us and we’d take advantage of them, or we’d be hunted down and wiped out. Or experimented on. I don’t even want to fucking think about it.”
She nodded. “So, there are a lot of
you out there.”
I laughed a little, but didn’t confirm or deny the sneaky question. “Think of any baby names yet?”
Her face changed with the subject. She’d definitely grown into the idea of becoming a mother, and looked angelic for those few moments.
“Just girl names. I’m not even showing yet.”
“Yeah well, you’re tiny. Maybe it’ll be a boy?”
“That might be cool.”
She walked toward her room, pausing with a hand on the doorknob. “You’re not allergic to animals are you?”
“Why?”
She opened the door and out rushed a tiny pointy-eared dog, snarling and barking its fool head off. I said a bunch of nasty things in my head about little fucking yappy dogs and forced a smile.
“You got a dog...uh, that’s great.”
Me and that thing were busy having a stare down. With it standing still, shivering like crazy, I could tell it was a Chihuahua. Jesus those things were ugly. This one looked like Yoda on four legs, only brown instead of green.
“I’m not allergic.” I was trying to keep my voice low in order to not upset the thing anymore than it was. Its little heart hammered and it shook so much the quiver was embedded in its growl. “But vampires and most house pets just don’t mesh.”
Tabby approached the dog and went to pick it up but I held my hand up. “Don’t. It’s so damn scared right now it’d probably bite you.”
“Alano,” Tabby said firmly and the dog turned around to the sound of her voice and whined. I stepped back a little bit to give it room.
“Is he afraid of you just because you’re a vampire, you think?”
I raised my eyebrow at her. “Wouldn’t you be?”
“Good point.” The dog trotted to her and sat at her feet. “It’s okay,” she said softly and scooped him up in her arms.
“I just have to keep my distance.”
“He sleeps with me.”
I sighed. “Maybe I should go on to Scott’s...”
“No, it’s okay. He’ll get used to you, I guess.” She licked her lips and let the dog down. We watched as he scurried back into the safety of her bedroom with his tail between his legs. I snorted a laugh.
“You realize his name means ‘handsome’ in Spanish, right?”
She smirked. “It’s what the shelter named him.”
“I see.” I dropped into one of her chairs and patted my thigh. “Come here. I missed my Tabby.”
“I’m all pregnant, Xan.” She scrunched her nose.
“Goddammit girl, I don’t give a shit.”
She eased onto my leg and I pulled her head against my shoulder and kissed her forehead.
“I’m really sorry I left without telling you goodbye.”
“I was just worried.” She sniffled, and I felt bad making her cry yet again. It was becoming a bad habit. “I seriously figured you’d just gone for good, or dead. I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
“But I’m here now.”
“I know. It’s fine. I’m not your problem. This baby isn’t your problem either.”
“True,” I said and squeezed her. “But I care about you. And, consequently, that care transfers to Junior here.” I rubbed her still-flat belly gently. She closed her eyes and smiled. “I’ll be here as much and for as long as I can.”
“I’ll take that,” she whispered and lifted her head to look me in the eyes. Her arms wound around my neck and I just held her for a little while, enjoying her warmth and closeness.
Since Tabby didn’t sleep days and slept really hard at night, I was left with a bunch of time on my hands to think about stuff. I needed to do something, but it was nice just hanging out and being invisible for once. Plus, she found me to be a handy jar-opener ladder. But I was way more active and restless doing nothing. And that goddamn dog was getting on my nerves. I think I reached my limit while Tab was at one of her ob-gyn appointments, and it was just me and him left in the house.
We kept our distance from one another pretty much. He’d lie on the far end of the sofa and I’d sit in the recliner to watch TV. Tabby had an older house, the kind with the really tall windows. In those windows, she had the sort of blinds that roll down, instead of the usual modern miniblinds. Roll-down blinds made me nervous because they had a tendency to pop back up the minute I wasn’t expecting them to. Now for humans, this means they had the shit scared out of them, or in worst-case scenario, their naked ass exposed to all the neighbors. With vampires there’s a much more perilous risk. That would be what happened to me.
* * * *
Tabby liked to leave her windows open with the blinds pulled down to about four inches away from the windowsill. The result was fresh air, along with the darkness I needed. I didn’t sleep well and I never did, so generally I sat up and watched a little TV and waited for night to fall so I could go about my vampire business. I was leaned back in her recliner, snoozing peacefully when I guess a strong breeze disturbed the blind behind me just so that it popped clear up to the top of the window, bathing the room–and me–in pure sunlight.
My arms got the worst of it because I had them thrown back behind my head. I woke to ball-clenching pain and screamed as I threw myself out of harm’s way. I was smoking, and my arms were blistered a little, but holy hell it hurt. Not much else hurt like sunlight. It was the equivalent of peeling my skin off then dunking in a vat of lemon juice. I mean my flesh started to cook like a good brisket and it was only by virtue of moving my ass like a lightning bolt out of the light that I didn’t set on fucking fire.
To add insult to my injury, Alano was barking his damn head off while I retreated to the kitchen sink on an immediate-need basis to cool my burnt ass. Faucet water had never felt so good. I wasn’t too worried about the burns because I could heal. That vampire ability came in handy. The problem with healing is it took energy from somewhere. I’m not sure where, but it made me very cranky, and on top of that, absolutely starving for blood.
So, while I was fighting this new wave of hunger, the dog got brave and decided to bite me, through my jeans, on my ankle. That little pinprick of pain was the final straw. I plucked the little bastard up by his collar and growled at him, suppressing the urge to either tear his head off with my teeth or introduce him to the nearest wall. We regarded one another, he all curled up in traumatized doggie fetal position and me baring fangs that would bite straight through him, when he lost control of his bladder. A fine fountain of dog piss sprayed the front of my shirt as he stared at me with those bulging eyes, making me drop him in fury and disgust. He fled the kitchen in terror with his tail tucked firmly between his legs as I shouted a string of four-letter words, some I’d made up on the spot.
What the fuck was I doing there? Living among the living? Fighting with a fucking house pet?
I pulled my shirt off and headed for the shower.
When I got out of the shower I wasn’t alone. I froze, towel in hand as I listened to the stealthy noises of whoever was in the house. Two someones, from the sounds dividing after a few moments. I reached down and quietly put my jeans back on, wincing as the zipper sounded magnified in that small space. Part of me worried, but the part that happened to be hungry was exhilarated. Punk-delivery? Why, thank you.
The door opened soundlessly for me and I peeked out into the hall. Rustling sounds. A clink of hangers to my right let me know one of them was in Tabby’s room, and the creak of the floorboards told me someone was fucking around in the den. I went to the right. Tabby’s door was open, but her closet was out of view. I leaned in just enough to see his back. He was wearing a ski mask. I grinned, slipped into the room and closed the door without alerting him. He was cursing. In Spanish. I grabbed him from behind and locked my arm around his neck. He squeaked in response and I growled into his ear.
“You’ve got ten seconds to tell me why you’re here before I fucking kill you.”
The man clawed at my arm around his neck but didn’t say anything. I loosened my grip on him a little
. He gasped for breath. “Fuck you, pendejo.”
“You’re a dumb motherfucker,” I replied. “Unless you’re here to get your balls kicked out your ass.”
“Not going to hurt the bitch,” he rasped, “Just looking for what’s mine.”
I spun him around and ripped off his mask. “Fucking Arturo? Aren’t you supposed to be in prison, bitch?”
“I got out.” He raised a pistol at me.
I let out a snort. “Hell, I was just taking a wild guess. Although Tab did mention you were in.” I lunged forward to catch his wrist and relieved him of his weapon. “And haven’t we gone through the fact that you’re retarded as far as guns go?” I threw it aside, where it landed on the floor with a loud thunk.
Someone called his name from the doorway, interrupting us: another fool with a ski mask on and wide eyes.
“Who the fuck is this? You said she would be gone for a while!”
Arturo glared at his partner then at me. “Yeah, who the fuck are you man? Fucking Xan Marcelles,” he said, gaining a little confidence now that his buddy had his back. “Wasted guitarist. Fucking drunk piece of shit.”
I grinned. “I told you it’s a bass. You got it right last time we met. And you and your little bitch jockey have no goddamn business being here.”
His companion had a gun too. I nearly rolled my eyes at how ballsy dumbasses got behind a firearm. It was deceptive, especially against a blood-lusting vamp like me. I could hear their hearts thundering in their chests. I grabbed Arturo and pulled him into a chokehold, craning his neck to the side so fast his friend had no time to react, but finally he did and fired at me. The bullet went wide and planted into the wall next to my head.
“I think he shoots better than you.” I said in Arturo’s ear. “At least he gets to the trigger-pulling part.”
“Shoot him, Julio, you asshole!” Arturo screamed and his buddy raised the gun again.
I maneuvered Arturo in front of me to act as a human shield. “Yeah. Go ahead and shoot. I guarantee you’ll hit your boy before you get me.”
Crooked Fang Page 25