Conversion Book Three: 'Til Death

by S. C. Stephens

  Teren grabbed my arm, squeezing me gently. “Over there.” I turned my head and looked over to the edge of the movie theater that he was pointing to. Standing at the corner, leaning against it, was a man clearly watching us. Ice flooded my veins as Teren moved me slightly behind him. Meeting up with strange people usually didn’t end well for us. His scent was light on the breeze, but it had the distinct zing of vampire to it. Full or mixed, I didn’t know.

  A low warning growl burrowing up from Teren’s chest cut through the empty space around us. I knew I was more resilient now than the last time I’d met up with a strange vamp, but that didn’t mean I wanted to test out my healing abilities tonight.

  The vampire across the way smiled wryly at the display, slightly shaking his head. Shrugging, he lifted his hands up as if to show he didn’t mean us any harm. Teren stopped growling, but made no move to head towards the man.

  He smiled wider at our reluctance. He seemed mid-twenties to me, not that that was any real indication of his lineage. His hair under the lot lights was sort of an orange shade, but I was pretty sure it would be a dirty brown in daylight, assuming it ever saw daylight. Skinny for a guy, he had a homely look about him, like he hadn’t lived in one spot long enough to repair the rip in his jacket or replace the denims that were badly frayed at the knees. While not unattractive, there was a layer of dirt that permeated him and his clothes. Human eyes probably wouldn’t notice, but mine could easily pick it up. All and all, he looked…worn.

  Holding up a finger, he reached inside his jacket pocket. Actually thinking he was going to pull out a gun and shoot us, I pulled Teren back a step. The man sniggered at my reaction, pulling out what looked like an envelope.

  Bunching my brows, I watched him set it on a nearby garbage can lid. Then he made a gesture like he was tipping his hat. It was old-fashioned and a little odd, since he wasn’t even wearing a hat. After that display, he blurred away.

  Teren and I were at a standstill, staring at that piece of paper like it was going to explode at any moment. Finally, Teren exhaled in a rush. “It’s just paper,” he muttered. Looking back at me, his blue eyes stern, he pointed to the ground. “Stay here…please?”

  I twisted my lips, but nodded. I didn’t smell the vamp in the air anyway and really, if he’d wanted to harm us, he wouldn’t have made such a show of staying away. Obviously, harm wasn’t his intention. Obviously, he wanted us to retrieve that letter.

  Holding my breath, I watched Teren thrust his hands deep in his jacket and casually walk over to the corner of the building. The anticipation was killing me. I wanted to yell at him to go supersonic, but I had enough sense to know that I couldn’t do that. We were smack dab in the middle of a parking lot and while not crowded, a few people were coming and going. Teren even nodded at a couple as he passed by them.

  A few long moments later he made it to the trash bin. Looking around, he sniffed the air a few times before he picked it up. Staring at it for a second, he started making his way back to me. Not able to stand it anymore, I met him halfway. He frowned when we connected. “I told you to stay put.”

  I frowned back. “You can ground me later. What does it say?”

  He shrugged, holding up a plain, ordinary envelope. “I don’t know.”

  Looking around again, he slowly opened it. Pulling out a tri-folded slip of paper, he frowned. I frowned too. The scent wafting from the parchment was unmistakable to a vampire. Whatever was written on that paper was written in blood…human blood.

  I bit my lip as he unfolded it. Reading what was there, he exhaled slowly and deliberately. Pulling it over so I could see it clearly, I gasped and peeked up at him. “Teren?”

  Twisting his lips, he looked back at where the creature had fled. “Yeah, I know.”

  I stared after him too, completely thrown. That lean, homeless looking vampire was the one person on this earth that Gabriel wanted to get his hands on, but couldn’t seem to. The man that had been calmly standing against a movie theater, staring at us, was on just about every vampire’s most wanted list. He was the one that had been indirectly responsible for my husband’s death. He was the one that was, in a way, responsible for my own death. And he’d been right in front of us.

  Glancing at the paper elegantly scrawled with some poor human’s blood, I read it over and over again. It was a message to Gabriel. A message that was all too clear; it chilled my already chilled bones.

  My dearest Gabriel,

  I understand that you wish to see me. I have no wish to be seen. I’ve given you several warnings to stop hunting for me. This one will be my last. I believe I’ve already proven that you are not untouchable. I can harm you, and I will, if you leave me no other choice. Back off, or this will end in bloodshed.

  Sincerely yours,

  Malcolm

  Teren ran a hand down his face as I shook my head, reading it again. Bloodshed? That sounded a bit…drastic. Of course, I was fairly certain that Gabriel wasn’t going to let him off with a stern warning to never do it again. This Malcolm person had been responsible for several mixed vampire’s deaths. Children as well as adults. He may not have wielded the stakes, but he was responsible nonetheless. And he seemed well aware of the consequences that he was facing.

  “He knows who we are, Teren. He knows that we know Gabriel.” My hand clutched his arm as I dropped my hold on the letter.

  Shaking his head, he sighed. “I know.” Looking over at me, he frowned but said nothing else.

  Just as I was about to tell him that we should call…someone, Tracey bounded out of the theater. Teren looked up at her and shoved the bloody note in his pocket as she waved at us. “Hey, you are here! Come on in, the movie’s starting soon.”

  We looked at each other and he shrugged. “He won’t do anything until we deliver his message.” He nodded his head to the doors. “Let’s go watch a movie with our friends, make Tracey believe that nothing is wrong, then we’ll call Great-Gran.”

  I nodded as he smiled nonchalantly and waved back at Tracey. As we quickly walked to the building, I mentally tracked every member of my family. The pins were all exactly in the same space in my head; nobody had moved. Our kids were at my mom’s. Alanna and the other girls were at the ranch. Feeling better that all the vampires in my life were stationary and still spouting life affirming GPS to me, I tried to match his effortless smile as we stepped up to Tracey.

  Smiling widely, she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the ticket line. I halfheartedly followed her, not really wanting to watch a movie right now. Twisting to look at me as we approached the counter, she exclaimed, “Dang, you’re cold.” Smirking, her pale eyes glanced down my body. “Maybe you should put some of that baby weight back on you?”

  Faking a scowl of displeasure, I subtly pulled my hand from hers. So used to being a warm blooded person, I sometimes forgot that I wasn’t now. Especially since my husband didn’t give me chills anymore. My little twin heat boxes were my only real reminder of my temperature.

  As Teren and I got our tickets, Hot Ben walked into the lobby. Box of popcorn in one hand, his other ran through his bleach-blonde highlighted hair. “Hey, glad you made it.” He stopped talking as he looked between the two of us, his brow furrowing to a point. Muttering below his breath, in a whisper that his fiancé wouldn’t hear, especially as she noisily munched from the popcorn in his bucket, he asked, “Something up? You two looked spooked.”

  I adjusted my causal smile as we grabbed our tickets and headed to theater five. Teren causally slung an arm around my waist while discretely handing Ben the note as we walked past him. As Tracey walked beside me, telling me that she hoped she didn’t scream too loudly, I heard Ben behind us un-crumpling the paper.

  Quite clearly to me, but inaudible to anyone else but Teren, I heard him mutter, “Oh…man. This the vamp that stole that stuff that killed you?” Sniffing, Teren looked over his shoulder at Hot Ben and nodded. Ben sniffed in a disgruntled way that matched Teren. “We hunting?”

  For
getting that the three of us were having a silent conversation that Tracey wasn’t aware of, I stopped in my tracks and looked back at Ben behind me. “No! Absolutely not.” My already strained nerves added volume to my voice and Tracey clearly heard me. The person at the end of the hall probably heard me.

  Tracey looked between Ben and me, completely confused about why I’d seemingly told him no for no apparent reason. The last thing she was aware of, was asking me if I’d share the popcorn with her; my reaction was a little strong for her question, but I hadn’t considered Teren and Ben jumping into the middle of this.

  Teren’s hand around my waist moved to my arm. Glancing at Tracey, he muttered under his breath. “He killed me, Em.”

  Not caring how it looked to a clueless Tracey, both my hands clasped his arms. Managing to keep my voice nearly incoherent, I whispered, “No, Teren, no. Let Gabriel deal with this. It’s his mess, remember?” Teren narrowed his eyes but looked down. I squatted to meet his eye. “Please? You have a family now.”

  Hot Ben, seeing a conversation he couldn’t hear and guessing what I was saying, stepped forward and laid his hand on Teren’s arm. “If he gave this to you, then he knows who you are, Teren. He could be a threat.” Ben held up the offending note, like just that evidence was proof of ill intent towards us. “We should make sure that he’s not.”

  Ben said all of that at a normal volume and Teren sighed that our private conversation was no longer private. Sticking her hands on her hips, Tracey asked, “What the hell are you guys talking about?”

  Giving her just a second’s glance, I turned my attention over to Ben. “Gabriel is handling it, Ben. I don’t want the two of you involved.” My heart would have been hammering if it still could. Just the thought of Teren picking up another stake made me feel ill, worse than the fumes of popcorn all around me. I didn’t think I could handle that stress again. I squeezed his arms in my hands painfully tight. “I can’t deal with you knocking on stranger’s doors again. I can’t. I won’t.”

  Teren flinched under my grasp and moved to unclench me, right as Ben started in on his opinion. While he spouted that our families’ safety came first, Tracey finally got sick of being left in the dark. She snatched the note right out of Hot Ben’s hands.

  We all three moved to snatch it back, but Tracey swirled around at the same time. So ingrained to never use our abilities in public, I couldn’t grab it back quick enough. She stared at it, her blonde hair shaking back and forth as she tried to understand what it meant. Twisting back to us, her face was comically twisted in confusion. “Is this a joke?”

  Hot Ben put a hand soothingly on her arms while Teren and I each took a step towards her. Her ice blue eyes darted between the three of us, like she suddenly didn’t know any of us. My dead heart dropped at the confusion in her features. “What the hell is going on? Who is Malcolm? Who is Gabriel?”

  Ben cupped her ghostly white cheek before running his hand back through her hair. “I can explain, babe.”

  I couldn’t help but wonder what the heck he was going to say to explain all of this. Tracey seemed to wonder that too. She batted his hand away. “Bloodshed? You can explain bloodshed?”

  Her voice rose and warbled as color filled her cheeks. Seeing a couple of people walking past staring, Teren grabbed her arm and pulled her into an empty theater. She struggled with him while Ben and I followed, but no human gets out of Teren’s grasp unless he wants them to. Shutting the propped open door behind myself, I sighed wearily.

  “Let me go, Teren. You let me go or I’ll, I’ll…I’ll scream.” She inhaled to create the sound and Teren slapped his hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened and she struggled more.

  Teren held her close to his body while Ben and I each put a comforting hand on her shoulders. “I’m not going to hurt you, but I don’t want you to scream right now.”

  She struggled more, inhaling and exhaling frantically as Teren held her in place against his chest. Hating this, I tried to turn her head toward me. She finally peeked at me out of the corner of her eye. “We’re not going to hurt you, Trace, calm down.”

  She shook her head at me and clamped down around Teren’s fingers with her teeth. I could see Teren flinch as she pierced his skin, but he didn’t let her go. Ben, trying to rub her back around Teren’s arms, sighed. “Trace, don’t…just relax.”

  Her eyes narrowed to fiery points at him. Letting out a frustrated grunt, Teren dropped down to look her in the eye. “If I let go, do you promise not to scream?”

  She looked at the three of us, then nodded, reluctantly. Teren tentatively let go, his hand ready to slap back into place if she made the wrong move. As he gently released her, her breathing steadied. Her eyes locked on Teren, glancing down to his blood smeared fingers once. She couldn’t tell, but I could clearly see that he was already healed from her chomp.

  Glaring at all of us, she held up the note up again. “What the hell are you three involved in?”

  I sighed wearily, not sure what to tell her. “It’s…just a joke. You were right…April Fools,” I tried weakly.

  Her eyes narrowed at me. “It’s May, Emma.” Her gaze flicked between the boys. “Who’s a threat to you? This Malcolm guy? Why, what did you do to him?”

  Teren sighed, grabbing the note from her hand. “Nothing, Tracey, this means nothing.”

  Ben looked away, gritting his jaw like he disagreed but wouldn’t openly contradict Teren’s lie. Tracey didn’t notice her fiancé’s face though. Her eyes were darting from Teren’s fingers to the ink on the paper. Her own fingers flew to her mouth. “Oh my god, is that written in blood? Like, actual blood?”

  Teren closed his eyes, then effortlessly smiled. “Of course not, Tracey. Why would we have a note written in blood?”

  Tracey pointed a finger at him. “Exactly! Why?” Her brow furrowed as she tilted her head, her blonde curls spilling over her shoulder. “Is this some ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ thing? Did you guys kill someone, and this Gabriel guy knows and is hunting you down?”

  I inadvertently giggled; I did that at odd moments sometimes. Biting my lip, I managed to say, “You watch too many movies, Trace.”

  She put her hands on her hips while Ben tried to approach her again. Backing off at her warning glance, she bit out, “No, something is off with you three. You’re all hiding something.” She pointed at Ben. “You are always so secretive about stuff.” Her finger came to me. “And you never let me just pop over to visit.”

  Her finger finished its circle to Teren. “And you…you are…I don’t know, you seem perfect.” Teren blinked and Tracey raised her chin. “Too perfect.” She gasped and took a step back. “You’re the murderer, aren’t you? You wrote this! You’re Malcolm! It’s always the nice, seemingly normal guy that ends up being the serial killer that stores body parts in the freezer! You did it, didn’t you? You killed someone!”

  Ben and I rolled our eyes at the exact same time but Teren flinched and looked down. He didn’t mean to, but I saw the moment of guilt cross his face. While not what Tracey was accusing him of, he had killed someone before, viciously, and a small portion of him still carried around the guilt over doing it, self defense and self preservation or not.

  As Teren didn’t contradict her, she brought her hands to her mouth, stared at all of us in horror, and turned and ran. Watching her dash for the emergency exit, I knew I had plenty of time to catch her. Teren grabbed my arm though. “Let her go,” he said to me and Ben, who was starting to run after her at his own speed. We both halted as she slammed open the door.

  Placing my hand on his, I shook my head. “Teren, we can’t just let her think you’re a murderer.” Even just saying the words, a small giggle came out of me. I just couldn’t help it. Teren some psychopathic killer? Yeah, maybe to the bovine world. Although, Tracey was sort of right in one way…he did have blood in his freezer.

  Sighing, he reached in his jacket and grabbed his cell phone. “Don’t worry, she won’t.” Flicking it open I hear
d him press a speed dial button. Immediately upon connection, he sullenly muttered, “Hey, Mom, it’s me. I need to talk to Great-Gran.”

  Luckily for us, Tracey didn’t have the keys to Ben’s SUV, and it was still parked in the same spot when the three of us finally made our way out of the empty theater. Ben looked around for Tracey while Teren and I smelled the air for her perfume. It was a heavy fragrance, to my sensitive nose at least, and lingered in the currents. I shifted to look down the main road that led out of the area, back towards Ben and Tracey’s place.

  Teren’s healed finger lifted to point in the direction I was already looking. “She went that way, Ben.”

  Hot Ben sighed, following our direction. “She only had a couple bucks, she’s probably walking home.” Looking back at us, he exhaled heavily. “I’ll go pick her up, take her home.” Twisting his lips, he shook his head. “Meet us back there with Halina.”