by Prince, DD
“You know Becca; green with envy,” Joe sighed, “Got dramatic in an argument with Andre at dinner. I’m goin’ with Sam to deal with the body. Before we leave I’ll call in Jeff and Leonard to head over here for duty in case you need anything.”
“Right.” Tristan shut the door behind him.
Kyla gaped at him. He shook his head and looked at the floor, “I wish you wouldn’t have had to hear that.”
“My fault,” she squeaked out.
“No.”
“You had Sam bring her here for me, because of me…”
“Shh,” he closed the distance between them and gathered her into his arms and held her close, “Don’t blame yourself. They were unexpected. Becky is a loose cannon. Most vamps are happy with stored blood when a guest in someone else’s home but those two, they’re gluttons, and they fight like crazy.”
“How many more gluttonous vampires will be here tomorrow? Dozens, isn’t it? How many more child killers, how many more kidnapping rapists?” Julia had her whole life ahead of her and might have family wondering and worrying. Just another missing stripper who would eventually be found in a dumpster or landfill? That tiny, innocent-looking redhead was a cold-blooded killer. It was devastating.
She felt a stab of regret, “Sorry,” she muttered.
“For what?”
“The kidnapping rapist comment.”
“Why? It’s true. That’s what happened. They kidnapped you; I raped you, kept you against your will, and now you’re stuck with me. Aren’t you a lucky girl?” His gaze darkened, “That’s it. This needs to end.” He thrust his hands through his hair and let out a long breath.
“What needs to end? Us?” Her expression dropped.
“Not us.” His face filled with disgust, then determination, “We never end. Never.” He took her face into his hands, “Never, Kyla. This. This shit with Becky, with Joe, this party. This ends. Sorry I gotta leave you right now while you’re upset but I have to deal with this. Now. You okay?”
Kyla was about to speak and tell him no, that she was not even a little bit okay when she heard shouting down in the courtyard. Tristan rushed out onto the terrace, “Stay here,” he called behind him as he descended over the side of the railing.
She carefully peeked out the window from behind the drapes and slowly slid the window open a few inches so she could try to hear what was going on.
She could hear Rebecca’s and Andre’s voices but couldn’t make them out. It sounded like Rebecca was having a fit and Kyla made out a slew of cuss words. She put her ear to the window from just behind the heavy drapes but the voices were lower now and she could hear Tristan’s distinct voice as well as he was obviously trying to get the situation simmered down.
“It’s all your fault!” she heard Rebecca shriek, “Why’d you fucking bring me here? I can’t be in the same house as him!”
Huh? Was she talking about Tristan?
An eerie sensation prickled the back of her neck. She looked back toward the bedroom door. Joe was leaning in the open doorway, arms crossed and staring at her. She froze. She hadn’t even heard him come in.
“Entranced, huh? Are you fooling him or is he trying to fool me?”
Kyla smiled sweetly, “Hmm?”
Joe’s eyes were dark and narrow and his face was stoic.
“He’s different since we brought you here.” He took a few steps forward and placed his hands on the handle of the dinner trolley that was between them, “He’s never brought a girl to his bedroom before. Why aren’t you in his fuck room?”
Kyla forced a thin smile and tried to stay still.
“He was a control freak and always on the ball. Now he’s not. Lackadaisical, unfocused, un-Tristan. Stays locked up with you for hours in the middle of the day when he’s got guests? When there are crises going on out there that need his attention? He’s never kept a girl for more than a few hours. His lust is insatiable. Usually has two or three women a day, sometimes at a time. You’ve been the only one for how many nights now? I brought him one the other day and he didn’t even bother to taste her.” He eyed her up and down and moistened his lips with his tongue.
Kyla just sat still and kept smiling at him.
“Never seen him go running outside the gym in all the time I’ve known him; ‘till now. He suddenly cooks. Leaves a fuckin’ mess --- dishes in the sink, papers all over his office. He’s letting things slide that he’d never have let slide before. Either there must be something very special about you or he’s on the road to ruin. Maybe both, eh?” he chuckled.
Kyla forced a chuckle. His fake smile faded, “Not sure I buy this. You suddenly fall in line after all this time?” He took a step closer to her. She stayed perfectly still but tried with all her might to scream internally, hoping that she could toe the line between looking calm and screaming in her head to Tristan to get in here right the fuck now. She could feel a muscle twitching in her cheek. She tried to hold her face steady.
“I was the one who spotted you, you know. At that bar.” Joe’s tongue dipped to the corner of his mouth and he lavishly licked clockwise from the corner and all around to where he started.
“Why’s your heart beating so fast?” he quirked an eyebrow up and folded his arms across his chest.
Tristan Tristan Tristan, Help. Quick.
Suddenly, Tristan was noiselessly in the hallway behind Joe and his face was the personification of cold and calculating. The look on his face made her blood run cold and bolstered her calm at the very same time because she suddenly knew she was safe. Her gaze must’ve indicated someone was behind him as Joe put his hands back on the trolley and stood there, expectantly, a little smirk on his face.
“Joseph?” Tristan asked, quietly. His jaw tight, his arms folded across his chest.
Joe didn’t turn around to face Tristan, “I came back to speak to you and you weren’t here so I waited.” Joe continued to stare at Kyla, “And your little pet here is being a bit peculiar.”
Tristan eyed Kyla, who was still perched on the windowsill against the drapes. Kyla did her very best to hold her face as expressionless as possible.
“Walk with me,” Tristan said and Joe turned and followed him out, closing the door behind him. Kyla counted to 5 and then blew out a huge exhale. She had no idea how she’d managed to remain outwardly calm then and had no idea if she’d pulled it off or not. By what he’d just said, she seriously suspected the answer to that question was a resounding No.
She darted to the trolley and then breathed relief when she saw 4 chilled water bottles. As she drank, she contemplated opening the bottle of wine in the chill bucket but stopped herself. She lifted a lid and saw a dinner of Cornish hens, mushroom risotto, asparagus spears, dinner rolls, and two dishes of peach cobbler. It smelled great but she couldn’t possibly think about food right now. She downed another half a bottle of water and then hurried to the bathroom and washed her face in cold water.
About 25 minutes that seemed like 4 hours passed before she heard the doorknob twist. Her heart lurched forward and she prayed silently it would be him. It was. She let out an audible breath of relief. He rushed to her and pulled her close and squeezed, almost too tight.
“What happened?” he asked.
~~~
Tristan held his head in his hands as she recounted what had happened in the conversation with Joe.
“But you can’t tell him, right? Then he’ll know I’m not a zombie.”
He shook his head, “I could have asked you to relay to me just what he said to you. I’m not worried about that. I have to deal with our houseguest problems now. In fact, I’m going to kill a few birds with one stone.” He stood up.
“What are you going to do?”
He shook his head, “I’m going to deal with it. Please don’t worry. Eat dinner. Relax. I’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.”
Relax? As if!
“Tristan…”
He silenced her with a hard and fast kiss, “Don’t worry. I really need yo
u to try hard to not worry so I can actually think straight, okay?”
He was gone. She heard the door lock. She locked the balcony door. But she suddenly felt an icy cold trickle run up her spine as she recalled him leaving. Was there any trace of blue in his eyes or had they gone black as he left? She didn’t know. She shuddered.
She started to eat alone. The meal was still a tolerable temperature. She left Tristan’s meal lidded hoping he’d be back before it got cold. She wasn’t able to muster much food so gave up after a few bites and decided to take a shower. She didn’t eat the peach cobbler. She suspected he’d requested that especially due to her revealing the truth about his flavoured kisses the other night. She didn’t want the dessert, she wanted a peach cobbler kiss instead.
A romantic, gorgeous, sweet, sweet smelling, sweet tasting, dangerous, somewhat psychotic vampire with a bunch of psycho friends? How much more screwed up could things get? Dare I ask?
By the time she was done he still wasn’t back and she wasn’t in the least bit tired so she decided to try the computer. She double-clicked the Firefox icon on Tristan’s computer and it did connect to the net this time. She decided to login to her Facebook account. She scrolled through her dozens of game notifications and a few friend requests, saw a bridal shower invite for someone who worked at the diner, and then scrolled through the timeline and couldn’t wrap her mind around how normal everyone looked, how mundane their status updates were. Daisy had a recent update that said, “Need a new roommate. No freaks or creeps. Anyone?”
Jess, a mutual acquaintance had replied, “Where’s Kyla?”
“Off on an adventure of a lifetime… ;) Will tell you more when I see you. Lunch Tuesday?”
Kyla wondered what Tristan had said to Daisy. She wished she could be a fly on the wall at that lunch date! Facebook’s “What’s on your mind” on the top of the page made Kyla snicker.
If only I could tell them what’s on my mind, huh?
She glanced at her own profile page and shook her head at how different life had been only a little over a week ago. It was filled with pictures of sunsets, sunrises, food porn, and other sky scapes. Her profile picture was of hers and Daisy’s matching pink painted toes on the beach last summer.
She heard a bing sound. A chat window was open,
“Heyyyyyyy gurl… how are you on the internet right now?”
It was Daisy on the Facebook chat window.
Oh shit!
K: *Hey you. How are you?
D: *Still in shock over your news! How are you even online rite now?
Kyla didn’t know what to say. She wished she knew what Tristan had said to her.
K: *What did you hear?
D: *don’t play coy you lil biatch, lol. That gorgeous as fuck fiance of yours said you weren’t going to have online access for at least a month out there
Kyla’s eyes bugged out.
K: *What did Mr. Gorgeous as Fuck fiancé say, exactly?
D: *Don’t tell me you broke up?!?
K: *Not at all. I’m just curious about what he told you.
D: *that you guys were on your way to Kenya for an eco tour but you needed him to pack because you had to fly out first for something urgent and that after the tour you were then going to dig wells for the poor or something like that and then get married. He told me about his transfer to Spain for work so you would’nt be moving back afters. I gotta say, coulda knocked me over with a feather. Where r u now”
Kyla chewed her lip and typed slowly, totally winging it.
K: *kind of like an Internet café. Back in civilization for a bit. Was just about to email you and say Hey. Sorry for leaving without telling you. It was all very sudden.
D: *Well I won’t pretend I’m not hurt that I didn’t even know you were engaged…. You’ve always been private but how could you keep a secret like that from your bff? Damn he’s gorgeous, Ky. R U Happy? R U having lots of “The Sex”? ;p
K: *Oh “The Sex” like you wouldn’t believe! Lmao. Sry Gotta dash now. I’ll be in touch when I can. R U ok? Sorry to leave you in the lurch.
D: *Naw, the 6 months of your share of the rent he paid more than covered me. As a matter of fact I got a possible lead on a new roommate already. I can send you a cheque. send me ur address.
K: *Keep it. Put it toward your own dream ecotour
D: *Srsly, Ky?
K: *Yes! Thanks for being my bff. I’ll be in touch, k?
D: *Soon, I hope. WANT to see wedding pics! Ooh I know!! I’ll leave that extra $ in the bank for now and if you want a maid of honour, lmk and I’ll fly to wherever you’re having your wedding!*
Kyla felt her chest get tight.
K: *Sounds great. You’re the best! TTYL. Xoxo
D: *XO. Luvya girlie! Ciao bella!”
She logged out and crawled into the bed to take time to decompress. That felt like work! Seconds passed like minutes and minutes seemed to take eons. She resisted the urge to chew her fingernails.
Ecotour? Well-digging in Kenya? Tristan sure knew how to set Daisy up to be accepting and excited for Kyla, rather than suspicious about her leaving. Those were two things Daisy would’ve done, for sure. Of course Kyla was sure Daisy wouldn’t have believed those things about her out of the blue like that, except for the fact that Tristan had hypnotized her to believe that they were true.
Suddenly, he rushed into the room and headed to the mantle. She sat up.
He twisted a bulb on the garlic bulb wreath and there was an audible click. Then he opened that part of the wall like a door. It revealed a safe. He twisted it to and fro a few times and then grabbed a duffle bag out of it and closed it.”
“What’s going on?” She clambered to her feet.
“This is our bug-out bag. I’m loading this in the car and I’ll be back for you in 3 minutes. You’ll hear an alarm. Don’t panic. After you hear it know I’m on my way to you. If anyone comes in before me just be stoic, okay? I’ll be back first, though, so no worries. Put your shoes on.” He shut the safe door, kissed her quickly, and then disappeared with the bag before she had a chance to ask questions.
She gave her head a shake, got into her running shoes, and then after a few minutes of standing there and feeling confused she heard the fire alarm go off.
Shit…what do I do?
Tristan was there an instant later. He closed the bedroom door and then closed the distance between them quickly, “Let’s go.” He touched the doorknob and then led her out onto the terrace. He reached for the pull down ladder but instead of opening it up he snapped a piece of iron off the corner and tossed it into the pool, leaving the ladder dangling by one side.
“Hold on tight, baby” He climbed over the rail and then reached for her while still standing on the ledge of the terrace. He picked her up in his arms and then hoisted her over and jumped down to the ground in a fluid motion before she even had a chance to react. She was surprised at how softly he’d landed on his feet with her in his arms. He set her down and then they quickly went inside the door that led to the kitchen and then when they got to the bottom of the staircase, they were met by Esther, Andre, and Rebecca who were hurrying toward the front door
“Everyone outside!” Tristan urged.
They all followed him out. The front area of the house was well lit. Too well-lit for Kyla’s liking being in front of these vampires.
“Is the fire in your room?” Rebecca asked him.
“It was in the hallway in my wing as well as the wing with my office. That’s why I got out through the courtyard. The fire escape was tampered with. Looks like someone didn’t want her making it out of there.” He motioned toward Kyla with his chin, then lifted his hand, showing his fingertips, which were mildly blistered from the hot door handle.
Kyla choked for a second with a bit of smoke in her lungs.
“It’s okay,” Tristan said to her, looking at her with a careful and deep stare. “You’re fine. Stay calm.”
All eyes were on her. She swallowed and nodded
slowly not taking her eyes off his face.
Something smashed inside the house and within seconds could see flames licking the windows on one of the upstairs windows that faced the front of the house. Tristan hurried her to his SUV and put her inside in the passenger seat.
“Esther, take the Jeep and drive Mr. Tsakos and Rebecca to the Four Seasons. Call and book rooms for yourself and them as well as rooms for Sam and Joe. There’s a spare phone in the glove box. It should have some charge.”
“And yourself, Sir?” Esther asked.
His phone rang from his jeans pocket. He fished it out and glanced at the screen, “I’m heading to my apartment. This is my alarm company. Yes?” he answered it and spoke for a minute, walking away from the group, after shutting the door, separating Kyla from them, Then he ended the call and stood outside and talked with Esther, Rebecca, and Andre for a moment. Rebecca was waving her arms erratically, looking like she was defending herself. The conversation ended when she saw Tristan take keys off his keychain and hand some keys to Esther. Rebecca folded her arms across her chest and was pouting. Andre roughly pulled her toward the jeep. Then Tristan reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, handed Esther a credit card, then he got into the SUV with Kyla. The Jeep pulled away with the three in inside.
A dark car pulled up and two younger guys in suits jumped out and rushed toward Tristan. Kyla guessed they were the guys Joe said he was sending over. Tristan spoke to them for a minute and then they got back in the car and pulled away.
Tristan got in beside her, turned it in the ignition, and pulled it in reverse until they were a few hundred feet from the house. Then it occurred to her all of her worldly goods were up there, getting burnt into nothingness.
“The master suite wing has reinforced walls. Most of the house has been renovated and upgraded since I moved in to include passive fire protection. Any area that catches fire will typically contain the fire in that part of the house,” he said, “There’s fire in two hallways, the guestroom next to our room, and in my office. It should be contained fairly well to those areas.”
She looked at him, confused.