by Lane Hart
I heard him hiss and the next thing I know I felt his razor sharp claws digging in the back of my legs as he climbed up them.
“What the fuck!” I yelled as I flung my plate and soda down to reach around for him as he climbed up to my back.
“You son of a bitch! Let go!” I grabbed the scruff on the back of his neck trying to pry him off. Pulling him only ripped open the skin on my back even more, but I finally got him loose and slung him across the room. He landed in a thud on the living room floor. I almost worried that I’d killed him, but then he popped up on all four feet and shook his head.
“Scratch me again asshole and I swear I’ll take you to the vet and have them chop off your balls and de-claw you!”
“Jackass!” I heard him mutter.
“Pussy!” I called back as I left the mess in the hall and slammed the door to my room.
I was so pissed I grabbed one of the squishy stress balls from the clinic and squeezed it as I stomped around the piles of crap in my room. Thinking about Kate calmed me down, then I thought about how upset she’d been this afternoon. I’m sure she’d be fine once she had some time to herself. But what if she wasn’t? Damn, I hated I’d hurt her, but I hated the stupid fucking chemistry between witches and warlocks more.
I wasn’t going to let that jackass try and ruin things with her either. I’d find the recipe for the spell, and maybe she would agree to do it at her apartment. Then I’d finally be rid of him.
I sent Kate a text asking if she was okay. When I didn’t get a response I called her but she didn’t answer. Dammit, she was avoiding me. I sent her another text telling her goodnight, that I missed her and would call her tomorrow. I sat staring at the phone for hours like the loser I was, waiting and hoping for a response.
Three hours later, still nothing. I was depressed and exhausted, so I gave up and fell sleep.
Chapter Twelve
I woke up the next morning with my stomach growling in hunger. I glanced at the clock and shot out of bed. Shit! I had forgotten to turn on my alarm and it was seven-fifty. I was definitely going to be late for work.
I quickly ran through the shower, pulled on what I thought might have been clean clothes, and ran out the door. I was so pissed from last night I didn’t put any food down for Chris. I’d fed him yesterday, and he’d probably had some of my pizza that had splattered all over the hall.
I got to work twenty minutes late, and all three women gave me the evil eye since I didn’t have any food to excuse my tardiness today. It was turning out to be a great fucking Monday.
I checked my phone again but there was still nothing from Kate. I was distracted most of the day as I tried to figure out what I’d done wrong this time, well, other than taking her virginity and hurting her after I introduced her to a warlock, which turned her into a crazed nympho.
At least we were staying in the clinic this week. That meant we would just be drawing blood from walk-ins and calling people on the donor list, trying to get them in. I ate some cookies and snacks from our blood drive refreshment stash to hold me over until my lunch break. I needed something to eat and was getting really close to needing more of the red juice. I’d had a few drops of Kate’s blood Friday afternoon but needed a pint every few days or I’d start feeling exhausted like I had the flu. That and my fangs would be ever present until I’d eventually give in and bite someone.
I called and left Kate a voicemail asking if I could see her tonight. Nothing. No response. After lunch I decided to be creepy and call her from the office line. If she answered then I knew she was avoiding me. Yep, I was a complete loser.
I dialed her number and she picked up on the second ring.
“Hello?” she asked since she didn’t recognize the number.
“Hey, Kate. It’s Sam.”
“Oh. Hi, Sam.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Sam,” she paused for so long I thought she’d hung up. “I’m so embarrassed about how I acted this weekend. That’s not me, and I’m still trying to deal with the whole witch thing,” she said. I knew immediately that she was pulling out excuses not to see me.
“And I just started college after not being able to date or even have friends before now.” Every word she said in her sweet voice was like a dagger to my heart.
“Sam, I really like being with you but can you just give me some time? Maybe slow things down? You’re the first guy I’ve ever dated and I fooled around with you after we just met,” she said, crushing me. I was a fool alright. She already regretted sleeping with me. That took what, less than forty-eight hours?
“Yeah, sure,” I mumbled, dejected. She had freedom for the first time in her life and my old ass just so happened to stumble across and interrupt her journey of being a college freshman. I should have realized that after everything she told me Friday night. “I’ll just wait for you to call me if you want to talk, or hang out. No pressure, okay?”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to you later. Bye, Sam,” she said, hanging up.
On the way home from work I stopped by the ABC store and bought a bottle of rum. I was dreading having to deal with Chris after last night, and after he found out he’d have to be a cat for even longer.
“Jackass,” he said in greeting as I walked in the front door. “What’s with the bottle? Kate tired of fucking you already?” He laughed at me from where his fat ass laid sprawled out like a tram car riding the back of the couch.
“Shut up, Chris,” I said. “If she doesn’t talk to me then she can’t help you.”
“Fuck you!” he yelled jumping up. “Why did you have to screw this up for me?”
I did feel a tad bad for him. He’d gotten his hopes up and thought he’d be back to being a man by now. And that would give me a really good reason to see Kate.
“Where’s the spell? Do we have everything we need for it?” That got his attention. He hopped down from the couch and went running over toward the kitchen.
“It’s in the recipe book, second drawer on the right,” he quickly said. He probably slept with the damn thing, and it wasn’t like I really needed it, I knew it by heart.
I pulled it out from right from where he said it would be. The ingredients were minimal – two cups of natural spring water, a tablespoon of natural salt, six crushed leaves of an aloe plant, a hair from before the transformation, a hair from after the transformation, and finally, six drops of witch or warlock blood stirred six times counterclockwise. Easy.
It was the blood of a witch or warlock we’d been without. Chris’s blood didn’t work since he was a cat, which somehow fucked up his DNA. Most witches or warlocks would have made the counter-spell at the same time as the spell, then all they’d have to do was drink it to turn back. Chris hadn’t really had the time to make both when the D.R.A. was hunting him and his family.
There was an envelope tucked in the recipe book where we kept several strands of Chris’s old hair, from before he turned into a cat. We’d been able to salvage his old brush right after he’d found out he’d need it eventually for the counter-spell. The water and salt were in the cabinet. That meant I needed to pluck a hair from him now, then find an aloe plant from the store. That shouldn’t be too hard.
I put everything in a bag and then told Chris to hold still while I pulled out a hair. I took pleasure in the task and hoped it hurt like hell.
“Alright,” I told him. “I’m going to pick up the plant and then I’ll go see Kate. If you’re lucky, you might be a man again before the end of the night.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, jackass! I can’t wait. I don’t know what I’ll do first – take a real shower, eat real food, or find some chicks to fuck. It’s going to be awesome!”
Ugh. Did I really want him to be a fully capable, warlock man, free in the world again? I was a prick for even debating the issue.
“Later,” I said as I left and went to the home improvement store down the street. They had a large green house, so I was pretty sure they’d have aloe, but
it was still a relief when I finally found it.
Chapter Thirteen
Kate
I still couldn’t believe what I’d done in the past seventy-two hours. I’d had my first date, lost my virginity, and then lost complete control of my stupid horny body. And if that wasn’t bad enough, now I was all confused about Sam.
I still couldn’t help but smile as I thought about our night at the club, then our first time, second and third. All three had been amazing, and the intimacy between us had felt to so good and right. But then I’d become some crazy, possessed slut. Sam probably thought I was lying about my inexperience after the way I acted. I was so embarrassed, and had no clue what I wanted when it came to dating Sam, or sleeping with him. When I was at his house my body had wanted sex, but not sex with him, which I still didn’t really understand.
Why had I rushed into things with him? Because I was tired of being lonely and no guy had ever been willing to sleep with me before? Or was it because Sam was just so damn hot that every time I saw him I couldn’t help but want him? I knew I still wanted him, but I hadn’t been ready for what happened Sunday when some freak frenzy took over and my body decided it wanted something else.
When the doorbell rang I panicked. Sam? He told me he would give me time to think over everything, so why would he just show up without calling first?
I ran to the bathroom and brushed my teeth then pulled my mess of hair back into a ponytail. My short black cotton gym shorts and blue camisole weren’t too terrible, so I didn’t change before I finally answered the door. Seeing Sam standing there looking so sad and nervous made me smile, and realize how much I had missed him.
“Hey,” he said hesitantly.
“Hey, Sam,” I said, then noticed the brown bag he was holding.
“I’m sorry to bother you after I told you I would leave you alone, but Chris wanted me to ask if you’d do the spell for him. He’s been a cat for five years now,” he explained apologetically.
Oh, so he hadn’t come over because he’d missed me, he just needed my help.
“Sure,” I said, stepping back to let him through. My mind was heading back toward confusion again as I tried to figure out if he wanted to see me or just needed the favor.
Sam went straight over to the kitchen side of the big open room and sat his bag down on the counter.
“There’s nothing to it really, just pour in a few things, squeeze six drops of your blood into it, stir six more times and then it’s ready for him to drink,” he told me. He wouldn’t even look at me as he started pulling things out.
“Oh. That doesn’t sound too bad,” I said as I walked into the kitchen and leaned my back against the counter to watch. I’d never seen anything to do with witchcraft or spells before and was intrigued.
“Do you need something to put it all in?” I asked.
“Yeah a big bowl would be good,” he said as he continued to measure and get everything ready, then chopped up some sort of green plant.
He pulled out a finger stick from his pocket and handed it to me.
“Six drops and then stir it counter-clockwise six times with a spoon and it’s done.”
“That easy, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, spells are mostly just a few ingredients, usually in sixes, you know mark of the beast and all. Some say witches and warlocks have the devil’s blood in them, which is why it’s black and can do this sort of thing.”
Devil’s blood? That just made me feel awesome. It also made me wonder about my mother. My dad never talked about her and I’d always wondered what she’d been like.
Pulling myself out of my thoughts, I pricked my finger, dropped the blood in, and grabbed a spoon.
“Six stirs counter clockwise?” I asked to be sure.
“That’s it,” he said, and then it was done.
There didn’t seem to be anything special or magical about the mixture, but if he said it would work then maybe it would. I wouldn’t be surprised if my witch blood would be too shitty for this type of thing to actually work.
Sam poured the mixture back into the water container and cleaned up the mess he’d made. I didn’t want him to leave, because once he did, I wasn’t sure when I’d see him again. After tonight he wouldn’t need my help as a witch any longer.
He gathered up the bag and headed straight for the door like he couldn’t to wait to get out of my apartment.
“So thanks for doing this. I know Chris will be ecstatic to finally get back to normal.”
“Is that the only reason you came over?” I asked him harshly as he reached for the door.
Sam turned back around and looked confused at why I had sounded so bitchy.
“What do you mean?” he asked hesitantly.
“I mean, did you only come by just so I would help your friend, or …?” I let the sentence drift off because I didn’t want to ask him and he say no.
Sam put his bag on the floor and then reached and grabbed my arm pulling me against him.
“Kate, you know I want to be with you so why are you pushing me away?”
I bit my lip and thought it over. I hadn’t quite worked that out for myself. I had no clue where to even start to try and explain it to him.
“I don’t know,” I finally said in an exhale.
Sam leaned down and lightly kissed my lips just once. When I didn’t move or protest, he kissed me once more, then again, longer and more forceful each time. It felt so good and I lost my anger and confusion feeling his tongue enter my mouth, then hearing his moan after I responded by doing the same. It was nice having him hold me, and do something as innocent as just kiss me. I jumped when I felt a sudden painful sting on my tongue. Jerking away from Sam I covered my mouth as I tasted what I was pretty sure was my own damn blood.
“Shit! I’m so sorry Kate,” Sam exclaimed. “I’ve gone too long without blood. I’ve been distracted and forgot to get some from work. Then my stupid body thinks that when it’s going to get screwed, it’s going to get to bite someone too. I’m sorry, I probably should have told you that the blood and sex go together before now.”
So he had assumed our kiss was heading further than I had actually intended. Why had he kept something so important from me?
“I think the mood’s passed,” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Kate, please don’t do this,” he pleaded with me, but I’d heard enough for the night.
“You should go,” I told him as my eyes started watering.
“It’s too late to get blood from work,” he said. “Could you just give me a few drops from a finger stick?”
“What?” I yelled. So he had come over here to not only get me to do a spell for his friend but also give him blood and throw in a side of sex. Nice.
“I’m sorry but I’m going to have to drink from someone. I’m not going to be able to wait until I get to work in the morning,” he explained like it was somehow my responsibility.
“Did you want to drink from me when we slept together?” I asked and knew when he looked away from me that he did.
“Yes, but I held off the fangs most of the times-,” he started and I cut him off.
“Were you going to ask me before you bit me, or did you think I wouldn’t notice?” I gasped. “Or have you already drank from me?”
“God no! Kate, I wouldn’t do that to you. Other than just now and your first time I haven’t touched your blood. Oh, and after the blood drive.” The blood drive? When did he drink that? “You felt the fangs, they hurt, so you’d know if I had. I took my mouth off of you the few times they came down so I wouldn’t accidently bleed you.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me this before? Don’t you think it might have been something I would have liked to know before I fucked you?” I yelled at him and he cringed.
“So now that you’re pissed at me you call us being together fucking?”
“It’s the same thing regardless of what you call it – fucking, screwing, slept together, what does it matter?”
>
“You missed one, or maybe you meant to skip that one.” I looked at him trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. “You know the one that has love in it, made love or make love.”
I had to turn away from him. That one didn’t apply because he didn’t love me, we just met and I wasn’t going to fool myself into thinking it had meant more than it did. It was just sex.
“So you don’t think that one applies?” he asked as he moved back in front of me.
“No, I don’t.”
“And why the fuck not?” he asked angry.
“What does it matter?” I asked. Why was he making such a big damn deal about this? He was off the subject we were talking about anyway.
“Because it matters to me. Damn Kate, how can you not see that?”
“You’re avoiding my question,” I told him, trying to get him to drop it.
“And now you’re avoiding mine.”
“You wanting to drink from me and not telling me beforehand is a little more important than the fact that we disagree on interchangeable words for sex.”
“I wouldn’t ever do that without asking you first, and the words don’t mean the same thing.”
“You just did.”
“That was an accident. I’ve never gone this long, and sex and the blood lust go together.”
“So when you drink from someone do you get aroused?” He froze and dropped his eyes again telling me the answer. “You do, don’t you? So you fuck whoever you drink from? Is that why you didn’t tell me?”
“Kate, I told you that for the last few years I try to only drink bagged blood from the clinic, and I do that alone.”
“But not always.”
“No, not always.”
“So who are you going to drink from and fuck tonight?” I asked.
“I didn’t say I was going to fuck anyone. I said I need to drink from someone.”
“But the two go together.”
“Yes but-”
“No, I don’t want to hear it. Just go. Fuck and drink from whoever you want. I’m tired of feeling like you’re using me to help your friend, or for sex, or now because you need a blood source,” I said, as the tears I was trying to hold back started falling.