“Reality hurts,” I said with a wince.
She smiled and sat at the edge of the bed again.
“Why did you help me? Why do you continue to help me?”
“Because it was my fault that you got in this mess in the first place. If Lea hadn’t thought that I was with you, she wouldn’t have attacked you.”
“I still don’t understand. She thought I was with you? What did she think that we were going to do?”
I blushed suddenly as I realized the sexual innuendo I had inadvertently made. Anna stood up and faced away from me and towards the curtain. I could see from her shoulders she was tense. Was it possible to embarrass a vampire?
“Something happened to a boy recently, and she thought I was looking to do that same thing to you.”
“What happened?”
She didn’t answer. She remained silent, and I decided to not press the question even though I desperately wanted to know what had happened to this boy and if the same thing might happen to me. It seemed to be a really sore subject for her.
Instead, I took the opportunity to gulp down some orange juice and put my clothes back on while Anna’s back was turned. As I slipped my pants on, the realization that Anna had undressed me last night hit me like someone sucker punching me hard in the face. I instantly blushed all over. Thankfully, she respected my silent need for privacy and did not turn around to see my sudden shame.
She stayed quiet and stoic with her back to me even after I had dressed completely and downed the rest of the orange juice. I walked over to the window where she stood. I thought that maybe if I let some light in, it would perk up our moods a little, and conversation would once again flow. However, when I pulled back the blackout curtains, I let in more light than I was expecting, and the mid-morning sun poured into room. Anna sprang backwards and hissed violently while she covered her eyes in pain.
“Close those now!”
I jumped in shock and did as I was told.
“I’m so sorry, Anna. Are you okay?”
She was crouching defensively and rubbing her watery eyes. When she pulled her hands away, I saw her eyes were black like they had been last night when she’d fought with Lea. I stepped back out of fear, but as soon as her eyes adjusted to the room again, they quickly turned back into the shocking blue and purple.
“I’m all right. Just don’t do that again.”
“I thought you said you can do sunlight.”
“We can, but our eyes are overly sensitive to the sun. If we stare off into sunlight too long, we’ll go blind. It’s excruciatingly painful for us.”
“Why do your eyes turn black like that?”
“It happens when we are thirsty or angry. It’s an instant response to a defensive situation or when we need to feed.”
The last line made me shudder, but I again tried to hide it from her.
“I’m sorry again about the curtain.”
“It’s all right. Do you have any more questions, or are you satisfied?”
I thought for a moment, and I knew the question I had come up with was one that might get me in trouble, but hey, when would I ever get another opportunity?
“Were you ever a normal person before this?”
She stopped rubbing her eyes and looked at me in shock as if no one had asked her that question before. Maybe they hadn’t.
“I…I think so.”
“You don’t know?”
“We don’t remember much of anything. I was one of the fortunate ones who remembered my name. I figured that if I had a name, then I had to be a normal person once. Plus, I have one memory, but I don’t know what it means.”
“What is it?”
“A swing.”
“A swing?”
“I remember swinging on a rope swing with little flowers painted on it.”
Silence took over the room with icy fingers. I thought about how something as insignificant as a rope swing could become so incredibly significant given the right circumstances.
“So you were human once.”
“It seems so. They changed us later and took away our memories of our previous lives.”
“Who are they?”
“I can’t tell you anymore about that. I’ve already told you too much.”
She pulled away from me, walked over to the end table and dropped a large, clunky key onto its wooden surface. It was an actual metal key shaped like one of those turn-of-the-century keys you saw in old movies as opposed to the plastic hotel card keys that you normally got.
“You have until noon to leave before housekeeping will come up and kick you out. Like I said before, the room is covered. Be very careful leaving here, and be watchful all around you. And remember, not a word of this to anyone. Just tell your friends we spent the night together.”
“You’re leaving?”
“I have to get home.”
“Will I ever see you again?”
That last line sounded more desperate than I had intended, and she cocked her head when she looked at me like a dog might if he were studying something that he didn’t understand, like the noises from a computer or a television set.
“Last night you were wondering if I was going to kill you, and now you want to see me again? It’s definitely been a while since I was human, because sometimes you people don’t make any sense to me.”
She had left and shut the door before I could say anything. She never did answer my question, but maybe that last comment was her way of avoiding it. She obviously cared something for me if she saved my life and took care of me the way she did.
I looked over and saw her scarf still sprawled across the armchair, and I opened my mouth to call her name. Nothing came out, and I knew she was probably long gone by now. I picked up my remaining items around the room. Instinctively, I checked that my credit cards and cash were still accounted for, and immediately scolded myself when I saw they hadn’t been touched. I went to the bathroom and checked my appearance in the mirror to discover a better looking Grant than the one that had stared back at me last night in the bar’s bathroom.
The color had returned to my cheeks, and after combing my hair and replacing my bandage, I was looking fit for the world again. The bandage could be explained with an exaggerated story about a rough and kinky night with the hot blond as opposed to getting attacked by a vampire in a back alley.
I walked out into the room and double checked I had everything. I grabbed her scarf, stuffed it into my pocket and I lifted the old-fashioned key she had left from the end table. The hotel probably figured no one would run off with or lose a key that weighed a ton.
I left the room and walked down the first set of stairs I saw. These dumped me out into a nicely decorated but small lobby area equipped with fainting couches and an ornate chandelier that looked impressive even to me. I was greeted by a friendly woman behind the desk with pale skin and shockingly red hair. When she smiled at me, she flashed her slightly elongated canines, catching me off-guard. They were not nearly as long or scary as Lea’s had been. Was she a vampire too? I cautiously placed the key on the large, ornate French desk in front of her, and when she saw the room number, she winked at me slyly. What was this place?
“Thank you, sir. The room has been taken care of. Have a nice day.”
“Thank you.”
I spoke uneasily and gawked at her like a moron, but she continued to grin as though she knew a secret of mine. Didn’t Anna say something last night about these people knowing her or owing her? I looked into the eyes of the hostess one more time and didn’t see even a hint of what I saw in Anna or Lea’s eyes. The strange intensity and contrast that was vivid and unmistakable in theirs was just not in this woman’s.
I concluded she must be one of those people who got their teeth altered by a dentist to play out the vampire fantasy. I had seen something about them on TV, and there were a lot of these vampire wannabes in New Orleans.
I left still feeling uneasy, but the bright sun blinded me and made me focus on
trying to find my sunglasses instead. I realized with dread that I had left them in the hotel room with Eric, not thinking I would be staying the night anywhere else. Well, I would have to find my way back without them. I used my hand like a visor and began retracing the steps Anna and I took last night, the ones I could remember anyway.
I was in unfamiliar territory, and it seemed mainly locals lived around here. I remembered Anna’s warning and tried to be vigilant in watching for suspicious people, but mainly I just looked out for Lea.
The open air left me feeling very exposed and unprotected without Anna around, and the unease began to make me paranoid. Everything smelled sharp. I almost attacked a little old woman with a shopping cart who startled me coming around a corner. She yelled at me in what sounded like French, and I moved onward. I had the suspicion I was being watched, or maybe I was just imagining things, but it seemed like there was a pair of eyes following me all around. I tried to act confident in my path and walked quickly with my head held high, but I had never wanted to find a familiar-looking tourist-trap store so badly in my life. At least I would know if I was getting close.
The paranoia was getting worse, and I was getting very jumpy. Why hadn’t she stayed with me just a little while longer to get me back to my hotel? It’s funny that last night I wasn’t sure what she had planned for me, and now all I wanted was for her to show up and rescue me again. I was pathetic.
Just then, two small hands grabbed my shirt and yanked me hard into a narrow alley between two buildings. Thankfully, the sun was blocked by the high walls of the neighboring buildings. My eyes adjusted quickly to see a small blond with very dark sunglasses on clutching my shirt with her steely little hands.
“Anna!” I had never felt such relief.
“She is following you,” she said sternly.
“Who is?”
“Lea,” she stated as she pointed to the roof of one of the buildings across the street from our alley. I saw a quick flash of brown and purple, and then she was gone. I knew I’d felt someone watching me. Apparently, my paranoia was not unfounded.
“How did you know?”
“I was following you too.”
“You were what?”
“I was just making sure you got back all right,” she said, suddenly looking embarrassed as if I had caught her and she couldn’t hide. “I saw her tailing you and knew I had to intervene before she pulled you into her own alley.”
I shuddered at the thought of what would happen in Lea’s alley.
“Why was she following me? To finish off the job?”
“No. That would be too dangerous for her. She would never take the risk. There must be something else about you.”
She looked at me as though she was analyzing everything about me, but her calculations were not adding up.
“What is so special about me?”
“I don’t know, but I know someone who could tell us. Come on. You are coming with me. It’s obvious I cannot leave you alone right now.”
The thought of being with her longer made me feel safer, and the fact she cared enough made me flush red through my face. But what was next? While I didn’t mind Anna’s interest in me, I could do without Lea’s.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re going to see Brother Sinister.”
Chapter Eleven
Grant
“What are we waiting for?”
Anna and I were back in the hotel room. She had hurried me back to that strange hotel as quickly as she could, maneuvering through as many crowded streets as possible to get there. More people around meant Lea would be less likely to try anything. Even though I was paranoid and nervous, I couldn’t help but watch Anna as she pulled me helplessly down the streets. With those dark sunglasses, she looked like anyone else might, just a pretty young girl with blond hair and tall boots. No one but me knew what she really was.
Her mere presence at the hotel caused the staff to suddenly be alert, and she had a room key in her hand with only a quick nod to the red head with the fangs behind the desk. It was impressive, like watching a mob film.
We were in the room now, and it just so happened to be the same room as before. Housekeeping hadn’t even come up to clean yet. As soon as she removed the sunglasses, I saw the Anna I knew again. She paced around the bed and avoided my perplexed stare, which was not helping my impatience.
“What are we waiting for?”
She stopped and looked at me.
“We can’t go now,” she said as though she were speaking to a five-year-old.
“Why not?”
“It’s daytime. I can barely see with these things on, and I can’t protect you very well if I can’t see.”
“Oh,” I replied simply while feeling very stupid.
She began to pace again, so I decided to switch the subject.
“Why do these hotel people know you? Do they know what you really are?”
She stopped again and sighed heavily. Then she plopped down on the bed and stared at the floor as though it might suddenly start speaking for her. Apparently, I was frustrating her with my questions.
“They think they know what I am, but they don’t.”
“What do they think you are?”
“A vampire,” she said sarcastically as she shrugged. “But one of those folklore ones, like Count Dracula and the ones from the Anne Rice novels. You saw the girl downstairs?”
“Yes, but is she a vampire?”
“What do you think?”
“No. I think she’s one of those vampire wannabes that you see on TV.”
“She is, but they are nice people. I saved the owner of this place from one of Lea’s crew about fifteen years ago. All of us vampires are supposed to abide by the rules and only hunt criminals, but sometimes, as you know, they slip. The owner is a nice man who happened to be very interested in vampire lore. One night, he spotted Lea’s group and followed one of them into a dark alley. I was barely able to get there in time, but I got him out before he was actually bitten. Ever since then, he has dedicated this room to my needs.”
“Wait a second. Fifteen years ago? How old are you? I thought the eternal-life thing wasn’t true.”
“It’s not. We do age, but very, very slowly.”
“And Lea has a crew? How many?”
“Three including herself.”
“What about you? Do you have a crew?”
“Sort of.”
“How many?”
“More than that.”
“How many is that?”
“That’s enough questions, I think,” she said with a sudden stern voice.
She glared at me, and I knew I had overstepped a boundary. After a very pregnant pause, I changed the subject yet again.
“So how did you know the owner was going to get into trouble?”
“I had been researching his group. Vampire admirers intrigue me. Some just watch us, some wear black and make dentists alter their teeth to look like us, and some believe they are one of us. They drink blood or feed off of each other’s energy. It’s all harmless and everyone is willing for the most part, so I leave them alone to have their fun.”
“And what type was the owner?”
“He was just a watcher, very much like you. He collected experiences and knew he had found something when he saw Lea’s vampires. He didn’t even ask any questions of me, just accepted it all. He offered to be my ally and friend. Now most of them know me and think whatever they want about me as long as they tell no one else. The arrangement is fine with me.”
“Wait, what do you mean much like you? Why do you think I am one of these people?”
“Because, Grant, only those types of people are brave enough to acknowledge me in a bar or public place. Look at my eyes. What do you see?”
I looked into those eyes of hers and got lost immediately. They were so mesmerizing, like a hypnotist dangling a lovely watch in front of my face and insisting I do his bidding. I didn’t know how to respond to her, so I was
just honest.
“They’re beautiful.”
“That’s exactly it, Grant. Most humans are scared or nervous when they look into our eyes. You were drawn to them. Even your headstrong friend wouldn’t come over. You are very much like these watcher people.”
“Wait, how did you know that about Eric? The fact he was too afraid to come over to you, I mean. Can you read minds or something?”
She laughed a little at my apparent foolishness and smiled at me. I didn’t mind. Her laugh was like a bell.
“No. I am just observant. Very observant. We are built that way, and I can hear at great distances.”
“Oh,” I squeaked, feeling very foolish again.
I suddenly became nervous and tried to remember if I might have said anything inappropriate that night before I came over to talk to her. I couldn’t remember very well. It seemed like every memory leading up to the incident in the alley was muffled and dulled compared to everything that happened afterward.
Without warning, she stood up from the bed and began unzipping her boots and pulling off her socks. Butterflies began swarming in my stomach. The little creatures flapped their wings hard inside my organs as she lay down on the bed on top of the covers next to where I was sitting. She rolled over to face me with that angelic face of hers. An angel’s face with a devil’s eyes.
“W-what are you doing?”
“Don’t worry, Grant, I just need to sleep. I’ve got to be rested for tonight.”
“What about food?”
“You can order whatever you want from room service.”
“No, I meant for you,” I said awkwardly.
She opened her eyes and looked at me a little shocked. A long moment of silence riddled with anxiety passed through the room as the gravity of my statement was weighed and inspected for meaning.
“I can go days without, but thanks for thinking of me.”
She shut her eyes again and nestled her head on the pillow with an admirable amount of nonchalance. I decided if she could be this comfortable with me, I could do the same with her. I kicked my shoes off and lay down next to her, and despite my inner desires, I was very careful not to touch her.
“Do you need covers,” I asked quietly. “I can stay above the sheet.”
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