by Tara Brown
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan. “Like omelets?”
“Of course.” He sat at the bar.
“So you are a flesh and blood human with a beating heart?”
He nodded, not answering. I could see I was wearing on his last nerve and stopped asking questions. I was stewing on safe questions to ask while I beat the eggs and chopped the vegetables.
“Are vampires real?” It made sense that if the wolves were real, so were the vamps.
He didn’t reply but when I looked at him, I got my answer. His face was grim.
“Are you a vampire?” I asked. He had said he was an immortal. Maybe he was a nice vampire.
“No, for God’s sake.” Again, he obviously was not amused. “I’m sorry I said you could ask questions. You’re the most inquisitive person alive. I am not a vampire. Yes, they’re real. I think in your world, you will find things have changed now that your second sight has—”
“Second sight?” I interrupted.
“Yes.” He exhaled impatiently and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. “Your ability to see me will make other things easier to see as well.”
“So I’ll see vampires now?” I couldn’t stop my brain. “Do vampires become vampires from a bite?”
“No.” He slumped at the bar and groaned. “Hollywood is not the place to look for facts. Like lycanthropes, vampires have to be turned in a special way. If a vampire bit you, he would drink your blood and heal your wounds before you would even realize it had happened. They’re very charming.” He almost growled at me as I passed him the plate of toast and omelet.
I sat beside him at the bar with my orange juice and steaming plate of food and blinked. “So they do drink blood?”
“Yeah, unfortunately they do.” He blew on his forkful of eggs. “They aren’t all bad, but they need human blood.”
“Could they drink yours?”
He groaned, “This is the last question for a while, okay? No, they cannot. I am an immortal; my blood would mean death or sickness, depending on how old the vampire was. Me and angels. They can’t eat either of us. Yes, angels are bloody real, and no, I don’t want to discuss it further.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes as I ate my eggs. I was stuck in all the empty knowledge that led nowhere and the millions of questions I couldn’t ask.
“Eat.” With a mouthful of hot eggs and peppers he tried to suck in cold air and talk, “You’re weak and watching me eat won’t make you feel better.”
“Whatever.” I sighed and took a bite of the eggs on my fork and chewed, barely tasting my meal. My stomach seemed to turn at the thought of it. I ate to make him happy and tried to give the impression that I could move on. But I couldn’t. My mind was brewing.
Having nothing to say and sitting in silence proved to be quite a challenge. I waited for him to talk. He seemed content with the silence which was really annoying. We finished breakfast and I started cleaning up the dishes, at the same time realizing I had a whole line of questioning I hadn’t even touched on.
He saw the gleam in my eye and moaned. I ignored him and moved in for the kill. “Do you know who the rapist is?”
He sat motionless and then nodded slowly, not making any noise.
“You have to tell the police.”
“I can’t.”
I leaned against the kitchen counter. “Are you telling me you know who is raping and attacking girls, including me, but you won’t tell me or the authorities who he is?”
He nodded, remaining tight-lipped. “What kind of proof do I have beyond seeing him running through the woods? What kind of witness am I? I have no ID, I have no address. I do not belong in your world and the secret of mine is far more important than the safety of a small town. I’m sorry. It isn’t just my secret to share.”
“Can you tell me?”
“No.” He sounded like it hurt him to say it.
“You can’t even tell me so I can tell the police?”
“No.”
“Get out.” I pointed to the door. “You need to go now and tell the police.”
“I can’t get involved. I’m sorry. I have other things and people to protect.”
“That could have been me. I could have been facedown in the dirty grass with my skirt around my waist.”
He didn’t budge.
“Are you heartless?”
His face remained stern and unfeeling.
“Get out of my house. I’m fine. Protect my sister and dad from bad karma, but leave me alone. I don’t believe in karma anyway. I don’t even believe in you.”
He stood and looked at me. His eyes were full of regret as he turned and walked out of my house.
Disgusted, I went back to bed and slept some more.
Chapter 19
Lady parts
I woke hearing rustling in my room. Assuming it was Aleksander I shouted, “Get out. Pervert.”
“What?” My sister peeked her dark head of hair up at me from out of my closet. “Our parts match, weirdo. I need that shoe you wore the other night. I found one but where is the other one?”
“I don’t know.” I gazed around the room, seeing the mess everywhere. My room had slowly begun to mirror my sister’s. It exhausted me to think about the chaos that surrounded me, even though I had slept for days. I sat up, feeling the best I had in a while and gave my sister a look. “Why can’t you just wear one of the millions of other pairs?”
“I need—” She frowned. “You okay, Aimes? You look rough and you’ve been in bed for five days again.”
I frowned. “Huh?”
“Yeah. You’re sleeping a lot. The doctor came four days ago and checked your vitals when you were sleeping. He said as long as your eyes and skin aren’t turning yellow, you will be fine. He said you’re just recovering which can take a couple of months and sleep is best, like a mono patient. I don’t know though, dude. You seem like you’re dying.”
“I think I am.” I looked down at the floor to see a cup I didn’t recognize and a few dishes.
“Have I been eating up here?” Vague memories of my father spoon-feeding me filled my hazy mind.
She sat on my bed, looking confused. “Yeah, Dad’s been bringing you dinner and feeding you. Dude, you don’t remember any of this? Yikes. He called the doctor again today and the doctor wants you to come back for a checkup on Monday.”
“Great.”
I didn’t recognize this person on my bed. Her steely silver eyes glistened as she spoke, “Jaime is awake now. She said she doesn’t remember anything, but the doctors confirmed she wasn’t completely raped because you and that guy came. You saved her, Aimes.”
My eyes lit up. “She’s awake? So she’ll be okay?”
Alise nodded. “Yeah, I guess she didn’t have an allergy or whatever like Giselle. Speaking of Giselle—your phone’s been going nuts, dude. It’s been like fifty messages a day and Shane’s called about twenty times a day. He’s really worried. Dad won’t let him in your room so when he shows up, he stays at the door and then leaves after a while. Kind of awkward for me. A few times he stayed and watched Discovery with Dad. I think he was hoping you’d wake up and he could see you one time.”
I put a hand to my face. “Oh my God, I’m a mono victim. I need to get out of bed and go see Giselle and Shane.” I looked at her, deciding to forgive and accept. “How’s Blake?”
“Weird.” Her smile became so deep it hit her eyes, making them sparkly like platinum. “He’s like the weirdest guy I’ve ever met. I hate the way he just sits and reads sometimes for like hours. He’s like you, but a dude. He wears all these shirts that make no sense, and I bought him this super expensive watch with his money and he hates it. God, he keeps wearing that nerdy NSA one. And he never tells me I’m beautiful or wants to, you know, do it. I think he’s never done it before, which is cool with me. He seems happy to just lie on his bed and read beside me. I’m so tired of him, but I can’t stop going over there.”
“Oh my God. You
like him. It’s NASA, by the way. It’s the spaceship people. Not NSA. This is you gushing.” I laughed. “I’m glad, but please go easy on him. I know it’s not your nature, but try. He’s my best friend.”
She frowned. “I can’t help but go easy on him. He won’t fight with me. He just sits there. I accused him of flirting with Jessica at a hot-tub party we had at his house on Sunday. He sat on the couch, watching some special on how they’re making the astronauts retire and work in tourism. I yelled at him and he cut me off mid-screaming fit and said, “Hey, babe, can you get me a drink of water?” She changed her voice to mimic a man’s.
“That sounds about right.” I smiled, knowing the exact face he would have used. “Guess you’ve met your match.”
“I’m scared though. What if I mess it up?”
“Don’t be. He won’t let you. He doesn’t buy into your drama.”
“It’s kinda good.” She put a hand down on my arm and rubbed a little like Mom used to. “Aimes, can you try to get better? I know you’re sad about something but can you just try a little harder? I can’t take this. Giselle is dying, Jaime is sick like you, and you’re scaring us with all this sleeping.”
“Yeah.” I swallowed the lump lodged in my throat. “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed now. Do the police have any idea what’s happening?”
She got up from my bed. “No, they’re still kind of lost. I guess they found the cup she was drinking from though, so that’s good. They know what drugs the rapist is using.”
I got up from my bed slowly. “What day is it?”
She smiled. “Friday. The big dance is tonight. I think Shane’s worried you won’t be able to go.”
“I’ll go. I need to get my dress at Giselle’s first though. She wants me to wear her spring formal dress.” I felt weird about it.
My sister’s face lit up again. “You’re going to go? I’ll drive you over when you’re done showering.”
I looked at my open window and was lost. Aleksander hadn’t been back. I reminded myself I didn’t care. I didn’t want him back.
The shower relaxed my aching back. I hadn’t done anything in nearly a week, which seemed to be killing me. I decided that even if I was dead-assed exhausted, I wasn’t going to bed until it was actual bedtime.
Wrapped in a towel I walked into my room to dry off and found Aleksander sitting on my bed. I stood at the entrance and leaned against the doorframe. “What are you doing here?”
He sat quiet for a while, staring at the stuffed bear he was holding. It was my bear, Beary, from when I had my tonsils out at nine years old. He squished him, feeling the density of the fluff.
I arched an eyebrow at him and asked again, “What are you doing here?”
“Watching over your sister.” He smiled devilishly, not taking his eyes off Beary.
“I don’t want you here. Stop touching Beary. He doesn’t like you either.”
He glanced up at me with his intense blue eyes through his long black lashes. “I want you to forgive me.” If he stood up, I told myself I would scream.
“No. You’re bad for me. I don’t want to be your friend. You’re leaving in a few weeks, if that. Once the pervert is caught, you won’t need to hang around and that feeling will come back. You’ll need to move on to the next people.”
“I know.” He continued to smile dangerously at me. “It’s a predicament.”
“I have to get ready. I need to go to Giselle’s and get her dress for the dance tonight. Plus, I need to see Jaime. She’s awake—no thanks to you.”
He stood up, gazing deeply into my eyes as he seemed to fill the entire space of my room. “You’re going to the dance?” His tone was not something I wanted to trifle with.
I bit my lip, avoiding the question but allowing my facial expression to answer.
“With that Shane kid?”
I blinked.
He crossed the room in a step and looked down on me. “This is what you want?”
I winced, not able to speak and hating the attraction I had to him. His scent filled the air around me, making me frown, not at him but against the allure of him.
“I don’t think it’s what you want. I know it’s not what I want.”
“I can’t go with you.” The words were so much bigger than the dance; they were everything. No matter what he did from this moment on, I couldn’t go with him.
I gripped my towel and walked past him and sat on my bed. He closed my door and came to where I was sitting. He knelt in front of me and took my left hand in his. It looked tiny and thin compared to his huge hands. “Aimee.” He kissed my hand once and spoke, “I am falling in love with you.” He kissed it twice and then turned it over and kissed my palm. He was driving my body crazy and my brain started to get foggy again. I couldn’t think around him; I seemed to only feel. It was my own version of hell.
“I don’t care.” I pulled my hand away and swallowed hard. “I want to go to the dance. I want a normal boyfriend who is human, the normal kind of human. I want everything in my life to be regular again.” I paused for a second, knowing that if I finished my thought, he would be hurt. As much as I needed him to go away, I also knew it would crush my soul to make him go. I closed my eyes and let my mouth say the words, “I want a boyfriend who will answer my questions, not make more.” I opened my eyes, terrified of his reaction.
He leaned into me and it was as if his body grew in size. Somehow he took up all the light in the room. “If that’s what you want.” Aleksander leaned in slowly and brushed his lips against mine. Then he dove out my open window and was gone.
I still sensed the warmth of his lips against mine as I attempted to process him in my mind.
I got dressed, more determined than ever to make things work with Shane, or at the very least, make it through the dance. Then I would take it one day at a time. Shane was the boy I had loved for a decade. It wouldn’t be work with him.
I made it down the stairs to see my sister watching TV with headphones on, listening to music on her phone. I laughed, tapping her on the arm. “Hey, ready?”
“Yeah.” She shouted at me, “Let’s go.”
“You’re yelling.” I pointed to her ears and she pulled the baby blue headphones off, laughing. “Oh yeah.”
She babbled the whole drive over to Giselle’s parents’ house. I tuned her out right away with my usual thoughts of how annoying I found her friends to be. I hated how the petty story she was telling was nothing but dribble.
But then I stopped mid criticism and looked at my sister.
She was babbling and her story was dribble, but it mattered to her. She was a passionate person, and where she rarely thought about anything, she felt everything. I admired my sister, and thankfully I was still able to ignore the trashy story she tried to corrupt my intelligence with.
She parked in the driveway and waited for me. I went to the door and knocked. The house wasn’t huge like Shane’s or Blake’s, but it was bigger than ours. It was a very large split level. Her dad opened the door, looking rough. His hair was ruffled and his eyes bloodshot. I had woken him and he’d been drinking every day he hadn’t spent at the hospital with Giselle.
“Hi, sir. I’m Aimee James. Giselle told me to use her dress for the dance. Can I just come in and grab it?”
He looked at me for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah, she told me about that. Come on in.” He glanced out at the driveway to see my sister wave at him. He waved back and closed the door.
“How is she feeling lately?” I asked, trying to be casual. I was uneasy around him.
“Not much better, but yesterday we heard they may have found a donor. So I guess she will hear something tomorrow. How are you feeling?” he asked, giving me a weird look.
“Better, thanks. Is her room this way?” I pointed up the stairs to the left.
“First door on the right. Everything is the same as it was before she got sick. I haven’t been able to go in there.”
“Okay.” I turned to sm
ile at him but he looked weird, maybe still drunk. I turned and walked up the stairs quickly. I didn’t want to be there. Drunk people made me nervous.
I got to the top of the stairs and entered her room. Her dad hadn’t followed, but I closed the door anyway.
Her room was just like Alise’s, a mess. There were clothes and shoes on the floor, makeup strewn all over a dressing table, and her bedding was ruffled on top of her bed.
I walked to her closet and found the dress hanging in a dress bag. I didn’t even worry about what it looked like. Papers were scattered on the floor of her closet. It was stationery with handwriting. It appeared to be poetry.
I crouched down, trying not to get dizzy as I looked closely at the letters. They were love letters of some sort, written to Giselle but not signed. I grimaced at the wording of one and stuffed them into the dress bag. When I left the room, I glanced around for her dad. He was at the bottom of the stairs. “Want to stay for a drink?” he asked, trying to smile. I nearly threw up in my mouth.
“No thanks, sir. My sister is waiting for me. Thanks though.” I turned and hurried out the door.
I got to the car and hopped in quickly, exhausted from myself.
My sister gave me a worried look. “Did he touch you?”
I breathed heavily. “No. He is just so creepy.”
My sister put the car in reverse and sped from the driveway. “Yeah, tell me about it.” Her eyes said a lot more than she was willing to share. She snapped out of her thoughts. “So you got the dress?”
“Yeah. And something else. Look at these.” I unzipped the bag and pulled out the letters. “Have your seen these before?” I clutched the papers.
My sister eyed the stationery. “Yeah, Giselle was getting letters for a while last fall. They were from a secret admirer. No biggie.”
“No biggie?” I took out the one that had caught my eye at Giselle’s and held it up. “Did you ever read them?”
“No. We glanced at them but they were so stupid, all romantic and quotes from Shakespeare and crap.”