by Mandy Rosko
The fight to rescue the attacked woman had turned into a fight over who would be the one to feed from her, possibly kill her, and Kyle thanked God that he didn't have a murder hanging over his head.
The sirens piercing the air moved quickly, towards him. The woman who kissed him must have lived nearby to call the police so quickly, Kyle was shocked that there were police in this city at all.
Griffon City. The first time he’d heard of it in that bar he thought for sure that the law here was like stepping into the old west. A man made his own justice.
How wrong he'd been.
He took the blonde haired woman and turned her over, lifting her into his arms with a troubling grunt. He could have used that amazing strength right about now. She wasn't heavy, kind of petite really, but whatever that other woman had done to him when she cured him had been draining.
There was no place to put her that did not have any snow, luckily she wore a long coat that went to her knees, and leather boots that rose just as high. He placed her gently under a street lamp where she could easily be seen and away from the body of the dead vampire. He turned his head about to make sure there were no more unsettling characters nearby and ran back to the shelter of the alley.
His plan was simple enough, run through the back alley’s until he knew there was no one following him and get back to the cheap motel where he was staying.
However, he wasn't even halfway down the alley when a little black something sticking out of the fresh snow, and quickly becoming buried by the snow still falling, caught his eye.
A wallet. He stopped and picked it up, and flipped it open. He grinned at the picture.
Not the face of the woman he just put under the street lamp, but the one who kissed him. The picture wasn't flattering, but these kinds of pictures never were. He'd seen the real thing and knew what to appreciate. "Hello Gorgeous."
He pocketed the wallet and ran, he didn't have the time or energy to try and return it. Maybe after he slept through the night, for the first time in five months, he'd think of a way to get it back to her.
Right now, he just wanted to sleep.
***
Jackie flipped the little TV off when the bell over the shop door tingled. Her mother walked in, tramping snow on the mat that wished customers a magical day and covering her red nose with an old tissue.
Jackie sighed, glad that her mother was finally here so that she could leave early.
Patty threw away the used tissue and immediately grabbed five more from the complimentary box on the counter. She nodded to the TV, having seen it was on before Jackie could turn it off. "You know I don't like that on during open hours."
"It's not busy, and I was hoping there'd be something on the ferals from last night."
Patty blew her nose, threw out the tissue, and held the rest in her fisted hand like a lifeline. "Well, at least you're safe. I can't believe so many dead ferals were picked up so close to here. You're lucky you didn't run into them."
"Right." Jackie wouldn't look her in the eye while she got her coat and purse. She didn't like lying to her mother, but she didn't want to worry her needlessly either. She did get home safely after all, and what her mother didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt her.
Patty smiled, her eyes red and watering while she got ready to take over for the rest day. "Well, even though you did have to thoughtlessly drag your poor mother out of bed to work while she's sick, I'm glad you're going out on a date."
"Mom."
"Don't get me wrong or anything, I'm not nagging you. Believe me, I've learned my lesson, but Michael is a nice boy."
Jackie put more of a warning into her voice this time. "Mom."
"All I'm saying is that it's nice you're giving him a chance. You don't get out enough, it's not normal. And if your own mother has to tell you that then you know it's not normal."
If only she knew. Jackie only told her she was going out on a date with Mike so that there would be no suspicion when he picked her up to take her to get tested. Her guilt tripled.
Patty sneezed and then pointed out the shop window. Her red eyes alight with glee. "He's here, that's his car."
Jackie turned and watched Mike get out and stand in front of his Toyota. He saw her through the window and didn't come in the shop.
She breathed a sigh, grateful that he did that for her. If he came in Jackie knew her mother would bombard them both with questions, hints, and praise, mostly for Mike, whom she wanted as a son-in-law. Jackie suspected that it was mostly because having a cop in the family would be just the coolest thing to her.
Jackie jogged for the doors. "Okay, thanks for coming in mom, see you later."
"Wait! Maybe you should take some garlic spray if there're ferals running around."
"I took some last night, don't worry. Bye mom!"
***
Jackie couldn't even look at Mike on the ride to the clinic. She knew he knew that her mother saw him and had gotten excited again. Even if he wasn't a psychic, which he was, he would have known.
She could hear him tapping the steering wheel. "You know, your mom is only trying to help."
Jackie clenched her fist in her hair and shut her eyes. "I know."
"And I would like to get to know you better."
She faced him. "Mike it's nothing against you, okay, but ..." She couldn't even bring herself to say it.
Mike said it for her, his voice a low growl. "But you don't like the idea that I can read minds."
He tried to meet her eyes with his dark ones, she had to look away. She was too ashamed of herself. "I know you don't mean to—"
"You know I don't have much control."
"But I just don't like the idea that at any time you could be in my head, even by accident. Every time I think something bad, or embarrassing, you would see it."
She sneaked her head up for a glance; he was staring straight at the road, his hands clenching the wheel. Even when they stopped at the red light he wouldn't look at her, but his voice was soft again. "I'm getting better at controlling it."
She nodded. She knew that, he'd been improving for years, to the point where the little accidents he had were fewer and fewer, which was why she allowed herself to become his friend.
The problem was that he wanted more. But as his control improved, she had to admit to herself that it wasn't entirely his ability that turned her off of him, she just didn't see him that way. As handsome and noble as he was, she didn't feel the pull that she wanted.
"You could try dating him anyway, it will come on its own." Her mother had said when she talked to her about it, but Jackie didn't want that. She didn't want to date someone just because they were good and nice, she wanted attraction to go with it. Attraction like she felt the night before when that Feral turned back into a normal vampire.
Too bad she knew absolutely nothing about him. For all she knew, he could have been trying to become a Feral on purpose when she kissed him. It made the attraction she felt for him in that split second as useless as her lack of attraction for Mike.
The red light turned green and they moved slowly through the traffic. The plows had already passed through but the snow still fell in heavy clumps and was quickly building again on the street.
Mike tapped his fingers some more on the steering wheel. "So tell me about what this guy looked like, before and after you kissed him."
She flinched at the hurt in his voice. She should have known he wouldn't be silent about that. "He was definitely on the verge of feral before I kissed him."
"What makes you so sure?"
She sighed, hating that he had to question her like she was just some person off the street, even though she was the one who insisted she couldn't be close to him. "Everyone knows what a Feral looks like. Trust me, he was turning," she insisted, remembering his black eyes and warping teeth.
"Hmmm," Mike tapped his fingers some more while he thought. "There's no way of telling if he was trying to turn feral on purpose, even if what you saw was a f
eral vamp."
"It was."
"But you said after you kissed him he ..."
Jackie brought the memory fresh into her mind. "He started to turn normal. I guess he wasn't Feral after I kissed him, but the funny thing is he looked human."
"All vamps look human, Jackie."
"I know, but you can usually see a hint of teeth. I didn't see them after I kissed him, plus I got this feeling."
"A feeling?"
She deflated in her seat and crossed her arms, knowing that he was struggling to believe her. Hell, if he was just another cop and didn't know who she was, there was no way he'd be giving her the benefit of the doubt like he was right now. "Right, just a feeling."
He tapped the wheel some more. She knew what he was thinking. He wanted to read her mind to see for himself that she was telling the truth, and it made the little hairs on the back of her head stand in a rage.
She'd rather he believed her just because she said it happened.
When they finally pulled into the clinic he parked the car and turned off the engine, but neither of them got out. Jackie could taste the thick tension swirling around the car with all the things that had yet to be said. "So, why did you kiss him?"
Not the question she'd been expecting, he was lucky for that, but she groaned and rubbed her face. "Mike."
"No, really. I know you can heal people and all, but even you know that you can't cure things like Lycanthrope and vampirism. You can't even cure the common cold, so if someone comes along in a dark alley that you think looks like a feral, why kiss him?"
Her anger at his lack of faith and heated words burst through without her permission. "I don't know, it was just something I did without thinking. And if you don't believe me when I say he was at least a vampire, why would he try to bite me?"
"It could easily have been some crazed guy who's a fan of vampires, who’s running around trying to drink blood. That's not that uncommon y’know. And I'm not trying to downplay the danger you were in. Even if this was just some guy with a vamp fetish and a screw loose, he could’ve still hurt you."
Jackie unclipped her seatbelt and exited the car. "Well, I took care of myself just fine." She reached into her purse and searched around for her wallet. She kept her health card in there and wanted it on hand so she wouldn't have to search for it later.
She didn't find it, and her hand became jerky as she shoved aside spare keys, pens, makeup and some little notebooks in her attempt to find it.
The answer punched her in the gut.
Oh God, what if she dropped it in that alley? She’d been thrown around like a chew toy. It was possible that the thing had fallen out of her purse while she struggled and ran.
Mike got out of the car and stood on the other side, watching her. He must’ve sensed something was off. "What's wrong?"
She tried not to let her panic show. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to know if anyone picked up a wallet from the scene, do you?"
He blinked. "Didn't hear nothin’. Why? Is yours gone?"
She nodded, relieved by his answer. If it wasn’t in the alley when a bunch of cops were sweeping the place for evidence then she must’ve misplaced it. "Yeah, but I must've forgot it at home or something."
His green eyes darkened. "Or you dropped it in that alley and the guy you kissed took it."
A spidery shiver crawled up her back. "That's possible too, I guess."
They stared at each other while processing the thought that someone dangerous could know where she lived.
"Maybe I should go home and look for it," she said, hoping to prove that theory wrong.
Mike got back in the car. "That's prob’ly best. You should make some calls to see if anyone's used your cards."
Jackie collapsed against the car and groaned. She only had two cards, but both were worth two grand each. Right now that guy could be charging whatever he wanted to them and having a ball doing it. "I didn't even think of them."
Mike leaned over and opened the door for her. "Well, you know now. Get in, I'll take you home. It's been long enough to know you aren't going to grow fangs anyway.
Jackie got in the car and allowed Mike to drive her home. When he'd driven her to the clinic she was satisfied with his slow driving for safety, but know she wanted him to slam his foot through the bottom of the car if he had to, just to get her home fast enough.
He barely parked the car before she jumped out and ran to her apartment on the third floor, barely aware of Mike following behind.
She pulled her credit card papers out of the drawer in the kitchen and called the numbers. Nothing had been spent.
"Maybe I really did leave it here." She started looking in all the possible spots where she could have left it.
Mike checked his watch. "A little over fourteen hours since you called last night. Could be. Did you leave it at the shop?"
That hadn't occurred to her either, but she didn't stop turning over papers and lifting the couch cushions. "I'll have to call mom and ask."
"You do that, and call me when you find it. I don't want to worry about someone having your ID."
She looked at him, his stance the exact opposite of what she'd seen on TV last night, and the air between them thickened.
She hated these awkward times between them. She knew he felt something for her, something that could easily be love, but she just didn't feel anything for him other than friendship, and because of that she was ruining what little they did have.
If only he could understand, she wasn't trying to hurt him.
He turned and opened the door. "I guess I'll see you later."
She pushed a nonexistent strand of hair out of her face before stuffing her thumbs in her pockets. "Yeah."
Then he was gone, and she was left with the guilt.
It didn't stay with her long, her mind quickly returned to her lost wallet and the task of relocating it.
That man's face flashed in her mind. His strong jaw, dark hair and golden eyes flashing with bliss, and she shivered. There was a chance he knew where she lived, and she didn't know how to feel about that. For all she knew he could just be some poor guy who fell victim to the thirst of vampirism, he might even be grateful that she cured him.
But on the other hand, if he was so grateful why didn't he try and return it if he had it?
What if he was waiting for the right time to pay her a visit?
***
Kyle woke in his single bed under the itchiest covers in the known world. He was in a room devoid of any bright color as they’d long ago faded from the walls and been stained a piss colored yellow by cigarette smoke, a scent which still hung in the air, and allowed himself a luxurious stretch.
That was the best sleep he'd had since Sarah cursed him five months ago. Vampires didn't sleep during the night; he learned that quickly after turning. They were up and about like a man hyped up on ten cups of extra large coffee. The nighttime was their daytime, and during the day, if he could snatch a nap for an hour while the sun was up he counted himself the luckiest man in the world.
He turned and caught sight of the red numbers on the clock. He wasn't bothered to see that it was 3:45 in the afternoon.
Whatever, it didn't matter, he could have slept for three days and he would’ve woken up just as happy and refreshed.
He was cured.
Kyle contemplated staying under the covers and making up for five months of lost sleep, but opted to get up and shower and spend his first night out on the town as a normal man.
"It'd be interesting to see this place as a tourist." He laughed at the absurdity of the words leaving his mouth.
Griffon City couldn't be found on any map that he knew of. He doubted that a city like this was accustomed to getting many new people. From what he already saw of it the place was nothing like any normal city, there was a bustling center filled with stores, malls, and other businesses, but nobody stood around selling cheap T-shirts saying, I Love Griffon City.
No. Vendors shouted out for buyers t
o purchase their magical rings and necklaces. Usually cosmetic stuff. The rings were charmed to change a woman’s nail color to suit her mood, and sometimes the necklaces would do the same thing, but for hair and eyes.
He’d contemplated picking up some for his mother and sister, but then the vendor, a lanky man in round sunglasses, pulled another tray of jewelry from beneath his wheeled display table. There were more necklaces, and even men’s chains. The vendor claimed that these necklaces could make the wearer more beautiful or handsome in the eyes of the person the wearer loved. So much so that the intended, “Will even drop the lover they’re with to be with the wearer, so long as you don’t remove the chain, of course.”
The whole air of the man and everything he sold suddenly smelled of illegal, or, if there were no laws to govern things like that in Griffon City, then definitely immoral. And, reminded of how he’d come to be in the city in the first place, Kyle had then put his almost purchases back on the table and promptly got back to work, disappointing the vendor who lost out on a sale.
It was a busy, but private, city, and ever since he got here he felt like he was too normal, not welcome.
That was about to change. He could finally leave and wouldn’t have to worry about it any longer.
He undressed, turned on the shower head and waited until the spray steamed before stepping under. He sighed loudly when the wet heat met his chest, and opted to stay right where he was until there was no hot water left.
It had been so long since he could just stand and enjoy a shower instead of getting in and out so he could get back to his search. It had been so long since he enjoyed anything.
That woman was going to get a roomful of flowers with his thanks. He’d pour the last of his savings into roses if he had to. Five months of searching for Sarah and a chance meeting with a random angel was what lifted his curse.
He left the shower at the first sign of cooling and toweled off. Her face stood fresh in his memory as though he'd known her all of his life, and he couldn't wait to see her again.