"I don't understand," Beth whined.
"I know," Penny smiled. "It will be okay, pet. I promise. I love you."
"I love you too!" Beth whispered.
Penny smiled and walked out of the office. Penny started to follow and made it all the way to the club before she realized she hadn't put her bra back on. Or cleaned up.
"Woah," Candy said when she turned to see her standing there. Penny was nowhere to be seen, she'd used her supernatural speed to escape. "Is that— and he still left in a huff? Damn!"
Beth looked down at herself and groaned. "Don't ask."
Candy clamped her lips together and pulled a pretend zipper across them. "Wash rag's in the back, hon."
Beth rolled her eyes and stormed back down the hall. It was going to be a long night until the sun rose.
Chapter 11
"I know you're awake. Stop pretending," Penny said.
Beth was awake. Barely. She'd barely come to her senses before Penny spoke. She opened her eyes and saw Penny sitting in the chair. Even with the shadows Beth could tell her mentor was nude.
"I don't remember planning a nude cocktail waitress outfit," Beth tried to joke.
"Do you want me?" Penny asked, ignoring her joke.
Beth sat up in the bed, letting the covers fall to her hips. "Excuse me?"
"You've mentioned many times that we haven't consummated our relationship. Would you like to?"
Beth hesitated and then blinked her eyes. "Wow. Points for spontaneity, but, um, the romance is kind of lacking. You're angry."
Penny was silent for a long moment before responding. "I suppose I am. At myself as much as anything."
"Why?" Beth asked. "I haven't disappointed you, have I?"
"No, I've disappointed me. I should have handled things differently. I should have made more time for you."
"Penny, stop," Beth said. "You've done amazing things for me. I can't tell you how thankful I am."
"Not thankful enough to listen to me," Penny said.
"What? Why do you say that? I told John to go!"
"Elizabeth, you know better, he—"
"Don't call me that," Beth snapped. "Not when you're talking down to me! I'm not a kid, damn it!"
"You're acting like one," Penny replied before she could stop herself. She clamped her lips together and looked to the side while Beth jerked back as though she'd been slapped. "I'm sorry. But look at it. You know he's a police officer. You know he has to look into things that don't make sense. Look at us. We. Don't. Make. Sense!"
"But, I— he cares about me. I can't just block him out."
Penny tilted her head. "I thought you said you did that last night? Are you planning on seeing him again?"
"I don't know, maybe," Beth admitted. "I haven't thought about it that far. What good is being like we are if we can't enjoy ourselves?"
"If he finds out and tells someone? What then? It will spread. We will be discovered and hunted. Ages ago they would have been content to destroy us. Now? The way the world is they would try to capture and study us. Torture us so they could try to learn and use our gifts for their own purposes."
Beth shook her head. "He loves me! He would never let that happen."
Penny rose and walked to the edge of the bed. She sat down and pulled Beth to her until she could stroke her hair. Beth wrapped her arms around her and took comfort in the embrace. "We changed when we died. I changed and so did you. You have many things to learn and do. Many changes ahead of you. What mattered and made sense as a living being is different now."
Beth shook her head as much as her cheek against Penny's skin would allow. "No, I still feel the same."
"Tell me, pet, would you kill each night without remorse before?"
Beth jerked her head up and stared at Penny. "What? I don— oh! But, uh, they're bad people!"
"You're justifying your behavior."
Beth's mouth opened and closed before she scowled and looked away. "Damn it, Penny! You did this to me. Now you're holding it over my head? That's not cool."
"I'm not holding anything over your head," Penny argued. "I'm trying to force you to see things as they are. To see us as we are. We're killers, sweetie. We hunt people down and kill them, and we enjoy it. Drinking the blood of the living gives us a thrill nothing else can match, not even sex. It's what we are and you know it. Accept it."
Beth rolled out of bed and stood up. She paced across the floor and then stopped and spun around to face her. "So what, you're saying I need to kill John?"
Penny stared at her without flinching. "No, not necessarily."
"What else then?"
"You could make him yours," she offered. "Give him your blood. Four times, then he will be yours until he dies."
"No. I won't make him my slave!"
Penny frowned. She glanced around the room before saying, "I have other places. Other businesses. We could leave for a while. I often head to South America or Australia for the summer. Longer nights that way."
"Just run away?" Beth asked, her voice dripping with scorn. "I'm tired of running from my problems. That's why I came to you. That's why I asked you to take me."
Penny held her hands out in exasperation as she asked, "What would you have us do? You won't deal with him, but you won't run away? What's left? Shall I take care of him for you? Would that make you happy?"
"No!" Beth shouted. "Keep your hands— and teeth— off of him! I'll deal with him."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know! Jesus, give me some time. It's not like we don't have enough of it."
"At times like this, time does matter. Go and feed. When you're sated think about things. Remember what I've said. I haven't survived this long because I've made poor decisions."
Beth's eyes narrowed and then she snorted. "Fine. I'll figure it out," she snapped before heading into the closet and grabbing some clothes. She grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a scarlet sweater that had a low cut neck designed to trap the eyes of eligible bachelors. She pulled the clothes on and slid on some boots before storming back out through the bedroom. She paused at the door when Penny called her name.
"Elizabeth— sweetie," Penny hesitated. "I don't mean to hurt you. We can have amazing lives. We will, I mean. There are just lessons along the way to be learned. Lessons that even I am still learning. The world changes around me and I have to keep up with it too."
Beth nodded. She hesitated, trying to find something to say. Finally she grunted and said, "I'll be back later."
"Be careful," Penny said.
Beth nodded again and then opened the door and hurried through the apartment. She grabbed her long jacket before heading out of the apartment and into the elevator. She walked briskly through the lobby and gave the guard a chop of a wave before throwing the door open and rushing out into the blowing snow of yet another Michigan winter snowstorm.
Beth skidded to a halt in her boots. Her toes slipped on the salted sidewalk but her heels dug in, stopping her. She had to hold up her hand to block the horizontal snow so she could see. Traffic was nearly at a standstill.
Beth spun and started walking. She didn't think she just walked. She needed action and distance. She had to get away from Penny. Not forever, just for a while. Penny was her savior, but now she was trying to control her. Demanding who she could and couldn't like. Hadn't she proved last night that she could control the situation? She'd sent him away!
Beth stopped, her feet sliding a few inches again. She'd sent him away, but not until after they'd played. Until after she'd gotten close to him again. "Fuck," Beth muttered. Penny was right, she had told him too much.
She started walking again and then jerked her head up when a horn honked at her. A car slid forward and twisted, running up on the curb to avoid hitting her. Beth glared at him and swung her hand, hitting the front fender of the BMW and leaving a sizeable dent in it. She turned and kept going, ignoring the shout that followed after her a few moments later. The snow had already blown her
tracks away and hidden her from view.
Beth kept going, reliving the night before in her head and even drifting back to when she and John made love in the park. It had been magical, her last night alive with him in her arms. And between her legs. And— she stopped and stared up into the swirling sky. She couldn't have him. Not ever again. But he knew where she worked and lived. He knew about Penny. He knew too much.
"Damn it!" Beth growled. Why couldn't she have it all? Some goddess she was turning out to be.
She tucked her head down and kept walking through the storm. When she looked up she had to squint to see through the blizzard. She was standing in front of a tall factory that had seen better years. The windows and doors were boarded up but in many places the boards were broken or pulled back.
Beth's eyes narrowed. She was thirsty and she could almost taste what waited inside for her. She ran her tongue over her teeth and nearly poked herself as her fangs grew. John could wait, right now she needed something else. Someone else.
Beth walked up to a boarded window and reached out to pull the gaping boards back. She pulled harder than she intended and broke the sheet of brittle plywood off. Beth glanced at it and shrugged before ducking into the dark interior of the building.
She stood and looked around the room filled with rubble and trash. She sneered, exposing her long right canine. The squatters and homeless lived in squalor. It was disgusting and, she suspected, it probably stank to the stars. She was thankful that she didn't have to breathe.
She moved ahead, walking out of the room and into the main part of the factory. Several rooms, offices or something else she couldn't guess, lined the wall towards the back of the factory. On the far side of the building there were other rooms built. Rubble and trash were collected in the middle, as well as a few rusted barrels that flickered with fire in their depths. Several figures, men and women both, surrounded them.
Beth froze and willed the squatters to ignore her. After several seconds of nobody turning to look at her she tilted her head. Why weren't they looking? She'd made noise breaking the board on the outside of the building. Was this the trick Penny used to get people to ignore her?
Beth pushed the thought from her head. Whether it worked or not, she couldn't expect them to ignore her while she fed on them one after another. She turned and walked along the wall of open offices, looking into each long enough to check for the warm glow of life. It took her three doorways before she found something larger than a rat.
Beth glanced over her shoulder at the crowd surrounding the burning barrel. They remained oblivious. She turned back and slipped into the room. A man in a torn winter jacket and puffy sweatpants sat in the corner of the room. His chin was against his chest and his head lolled back and forth. In front of him a dog that was little more than fur over skin and bones picked his head up and looked at her.
The dog's lip curled up in a growl. Beth's eyes narrowed. The dog shuffled its paws and rose up on them to a sitting position. His hackles rose as he growled again. Beth returned the snarl while lifting her own lips. The dog shrank back, it's menacing rumble turning to a whimper.
"What's a matter, Buddy?" the man slurred. He lifted his head and looked back and forth, then reached for the mangy animal. His hand fell short and he seemed forget what he was doing in the first place. His head dropped to his chest again.
Beth stared at the dog and then at the man. Insulin needles littered the floor. Beth smiled, exposing both fangs. She waved her hand at the dog, "Shoo, Buddy," she said, her words lisping around her teeth.
The dog whimpered again and scooted out the door, his tail between his legs. She watched him go and made sure he wasn't coming back before she turned back to the addict. She hesitated a moment, part of her mind marveling at how the animal had obeyed her, and then fell on her prey.
The addict grunted as she landed on him and forced his head up and back. She sank her teeth into his throat and felt the spurt of salty liquid across her tongue. It had a taint to it that gave it a nutty flavor. She sealed her lips to his furry neck and sucked from the fountain of immortality.
Beth's heart thumped in her chest in tune with the addicts. He squirmed at first and then stiffened beneath her. Not his entire body, just his penis inside the multiple layers of sweatpants her wore. She noted and ignored it, then noticed again when his blood pressure dropped to the point where he fell flaccid again.
Beth continued to slurp as the flow of blood lessened. At first it was a challenge to swallow fast enough, a challenge she enjoyed. Now, as his heart began to flutter and his breaths grew shallow, she savored each spurt and let the steaming soup pool on her tongue before she sent it racing down her throat to her stomach. Much too soon the flow came to a stop and no amount of sucking or teasing the wound would make any more come out.
Beth backed away and looked down at the still body in front of her. She clenched her heart rhythmically, sending the captured blood through her body. As the warmth spread so did a tingle that left behind a pleasant numbing sensation in her body. She smiled and leaned back. "You took a lot," she whispered and then giggled.
Beth shook her head. "Get a hold of yourself," she admonished herself. She looked around the room and then back at her victim. Getting him out wasn't an option, but that meant she'd have get help from Penny. That wasn't an option. Penny would be disappointed in her. Again. She couldn't let that happen, but she couldn't let the body be found. Tearing off his head wouldn't work, she'd be back in the same trouble. How else could she hide the damage?
Beth laughed and had to put her hand in front of her mouth to muffle herself. She rose and staggered to the door of the room. She grabbed onto the rusty metal frame to hold herself up and saw the stray dog sitting outside the room. He saw her and lowered himself until he was lying on the cold cement floor.
Beth pointed into the room and mumbled, "Eat!"
The dog lurched forward and went into the room. Beth watched him and bit her lip to stop her from giggling again when he sniffed the addict's body and moved to his throat. He licked the man's throat once and then bit down.
Beth turned away as the first sound of the dog growling and the body sliding drifted out of the room. She hurried across the floor, still willing the homeless people to ignore her until she made her way back to the entrance of the condemned building. Someone shouted. The dog barked and growled. More shouts followed her out of the building.
Beth thrust her arms out and lifted her face into the snow. The cruel winter winds tugged her hair and made her jacket snap in the wind. She laughed and walked into the street, crossing the empty road and over to the far side. She spun and could barely make out the outline of the factory. Beth grinned and licked her teeth. They were normal again, her fangs receded. She was warm inside. Sated. Comfortable. Happy.
That meant she had to deal with John now. But first she had to find him. Was he working tonight, or was he off? Would he come by the club? She frowned, that wouldn't do. If he went there and Penny was there, she'd kill him.
"Fuck that," Beth muttered. She turned and started walking. She had to get to him first. All she had was his phone number, she'd memorized it on the card he gave her before they made love. Before she died. Before a lot of things. But that meant she needed a phone.
Beth walked to the corner of the street and looked up at the street sign. She turned, trying to remember the names of the streets. She wasn't sure, but downtown was behind her. She'd walked north a few miles without realizing it. She could buy a prepaid phone there.
Beth grinned. She had this figured out. If worse came to worse, she'd convince John to go into hiding. Move somewhere else. Do whatever he had to so he could stay alive and free. Of course that would be after. She still wanted to know what sex was like since she'd changed. Kissing was nice, if different. How much would screwing the daylights out of him be?
Chapter 12
Beth rang the doorbell and stepped back. She glanced down at herself and grinned. She pulled her coat out and
focused on hardening her nipples so they bulged into her sweater. She tugged the shirt down, exposing more cleavage, and then buttoned her coat back up. She squeezed her heart in a slow and steady pattern, circulating the blood she'd drank to keep her warm. It kept the addict's blood moving through her body, leaving her numb and happy.
Beth stood on his porch, trying to force the smile off her face. For all the control over her body she had she couldn't erase her grin. The long wait helped. She stepped forward and pushed the button again. She heard the chime through the door just as it opened to reveal John standing there in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. His hair was wet and she could see moisture beaded up on his forehead.
"Sorry, I just got out of the shower, I—"
Beth stepped in and grabbed his shirt in her fists. She pushed him back into a closet door and pressed herself against him. She found his parted lips with hers and led her way into a kiss that he had no choice but to respond to. She bruised his lips against hers and did her best to try and swallow his tongue.
John managed to break away and shook his head. "Liz! What—"
Beth kicked back, hitting the door with her boot and shutting it behind her. "Shut up and fuck me!"
"You can't just—"
Beth slid her hand into his sweatpants and wrapped her fingers around the tent pole that was pushing his sweatpants out. "I can, and you want me to. The proof's in my hands."
"Liz! This is—"
Beth kissed him, distracting him for several seconds while she stroked her hand up and down. She stopped kissing so her lips brushed his. "Has anybody else ever touched you like this? Has anyone ever made you feel like this? Because I know I've never felt like the way you make me feel."
John moaned and reached a hand back to steady himself against the wall. He shook his head. "No."
Beth licked his lips and kissed him hard enough to make his head bump against the wall. She gave his penis a squeeze and was rewarded with his arms circling around her. John showed the life she knew he had and tried to take control. She let him push her back a step and reach up to yank on the buttons of her jacket.
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