by B. N. Toler
“Why would he feed me his blood?” I say out loud to myself.
“Because it’s what we need to survive,” a deep voice answers me. The room is completely dark and I struggle out of bed, but fall off the edge as I become tangled in the sheets. Frantically, I grab for my towel to wrap it around myself when a light comes on.
“Easy.” He walks around the bed and stares down at me as I crawl backwards away from him. His eyes flicker with amusement. “I know I just scared the shit out of you. Sorry.” He shrugs.
“How did you get in here?” I hold the sheets up to my chest unable to escape him as he has pinned me against the nightstand.
“A strange man has entered your room and you’re worried about how I got in here?” He rubs his mouth and beard with a wide palm.
“What do you want?” I redirect.
“Put some clothes on. We need to talk.” He turns away and walks towards the door.
“Where are you going?” I ask peeking over the bed.
“To have a smoke. Hurry up.”
I gawk at his audacity. He just broke into my room and now he’s bossing me around? Who the hell is this guy and how on earth did Lucy know him? I dress quickly, throwing on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top, growing angrier as the seconds pass. I’m going to tear this guy a new one. You don’t just bust into a woman’s room like that. I rip the door open and the man, I now know as Daniel, flicks his cigarette and enters my room, pushing me back as he shuts the door.
“Who the hell do you think you are?” I shout at him as he plops down on the end of my bed.
His lips curve slightly as he rubs his palms on his jeans and looks around my room. “Other than the guy that saved your ass? You paged me. You know who I am.”
“Yeah, I paged you. That wasn’t an invitation to break into my room and scare the crap out of me. And, I appreciate you helping me in the alley, but I had it under control.”
“Yeah, that’s what it looked like. I mean lying flat on your back with your tits out and his hand down your pants really screamed control to me,” he says dryly.
I cringe at his words remembering the man’s touch. I quickly push the thoughts aside and lean back against the dresser facing him. “He got the jump on me. But I still had it under control.”
“Sure.” He stares up at me.
“So what do you want?”
“You paged me.” He points to himself.
I stare at him a moment wondering why Lucy would send me to him. What could he possibly tell me? “My aunt gave me your name.” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Who is your aunt?”
“Her name was Lucy Lawson.”
He leans forward putting his elbows on his knees. “Never heard of her.”
“She left me your name and number. She told me to contact you, that you’d have answers for me.”
“What’s your name?” He stands and opens the mini fridge under the television. I had put a few Cokes in there when I’d arrived. He grabs one and pops it open, taking a long swig.
“Sure, just help yourself.” I narrow my eyes at him as I take his place on the edge of the bed.
“Your name?” He turns and leans against the dresser where I just stood. He’s tall and slim, but his chest and arms are massive.
“Aldo,” I sigh, crossing my arms.
“You have no idea what you are, do you?” He sips his Coke.
“What am I?” I’m not sure what he knows about me. Does he know I’m a healer?
He shakes his head frustrated. “I haven’t found one in years.” He sort of mumbles, I think more to himself than to me.
“Found what?”
“Listen closely, kitten.” He sets his drink down.
“Kitten?” I repeat with insult.
“You’re basically a newborn.”
I stand up. “What are you talking about?”
“You paged me. That pager is used for one reason.”
“Which is?”
“To alert me when a hybrid is found.”
I stare at him confused. A hybrid? “I’m not a blood healer.”
“No, you’re much better. You’re a born hybrid.” He exhales loudly and pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
I snort out a laugh. “I don’t even know what that is, but…I’m not that.”
“Yes, you are, and since I fed you blood three days ago, you’re going to need it from now on to maintain your gift.”
“Three days ago?” I ask confused.
“Yeah,” he snorts. “You’ve been sick, right? Sweats and vomiting? It’s been about three days since you drink my blood.”
Three days? Had I been so ill I didn’t realize how much time had gone by? I cross my arms again. “Stomach flu,” I mumble. “You gave me something.”
“It’s part of the transition.” He pulls a cigarette out of the pack and lights it. This guy is nuts. Lucy must have given me the wrong name or something. “Uh…”
“Your mother was bitten while you were in utero.”
“No, she wasn’t,” I argue. “My mother gave birth to us and then they drained her for her blood.” The thought sends a surge of anger through me.
“Us?” His chin lifts.
Shit! My first slip. “Yes, I’m a twin, but she died,” I lie and try to look saddened at the thought.
Daniel nods apologetically. “If your aunt told you to contact me, she knew what you are, and knew I could help you.” He blows out a thick stream of smoke, grabbing the can of Coke off of the dresser and flicking his ashes into it.
I stare at him dumbfounded. What do I say to this? “So you’re a hybrid?”
“Yes.”
“What, exactly, does that mean?”
He pushes his cigarette into the can as he exhales the smoke from his last drag. “It means I’m the truest form. I’m human, I’m a healer, and I’m a vampire.”
“And you think that’s what I am?” I smirk at how insane this sounds.
“Look, I know you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed, kid, but I am speaking plain English.”
I glare at him for the insult and pull my shoulders back preparing to give him a piece of my mind, but his eyes fall to my chest, and I realize I’m not wearing a bra. My nipples poke out under the thin fabric of my white tank top and I immediately slouch my shoulders and turn away from him. “I hear what you’re saying, but it’s not possible.” I dig through my pile of clothes on the table, finding a sweatshirt and quickly pull it on.
“Tell me, Aldo, have you ever craved blood?”
I freeze. In my dream world when I watched Rhett drink from the bag of blood my mouth watered. Then again the night Sarah walked in on me in the kitchen while I salivated over the bag of blood I was holding. Yes, I’ve craved blood. In fact, I’m craving it right now just remembering the times I craved it before. But this time the urge is stronger. My body aches and my belly burns for it.
Daniel must have sensed he struck a nerve. “That’s what I thought.” He walks into the bathroom and tosses his soda can into the trashcan. When he comes back out, he eyes me for a moment. “You’re stronger than most, right? I mean as a healer?”
I lift my gaze to his and nod.
“Your sexual appetite. It’s intense, almost insatiable?”
I blush, but don’t answer. The answer would be yes, but I haven’t exactly had sex—at least not in real life— so how would I know if I’m insatiable?
A smirk plays across his lips as he realizes his question has embarrassed me. Daniel taking my silence as a yes, moves on. “Any other special gifts?” He quirks a brow.
“No,” I lie.
“What are you, like seventeen?”
“Almost twenty.” I plop back on my bed while he remains in the doorway of the bathroom, watching me.
“God, I can’t believe she waited so long to tell you. You should’ve known this long ago.”
“I don’t understand what any of this really means.” I stare at him blankly. Was this wha
t Rhett and Sarah were discussing the night I overheard them? Have they known all along?
“It means quite a few things. First, it means you are stronger than any healer or vampire or blood healer. At least you will be after you’ve transitioned. It means that—”
“I’ve wasted your time.” I jump up and practically fly to the door. There’s no way this is accurate. “I apologize, but it must’ve been a misunderstanding.”
Daniel stalks towards me as I open the door, but he shuts it, leaning one strong arm against it. “Listen, kitten. I know you felt it, the other night when I grabbed your arm in the alley. It was like something clicked. You and I…” he motions between us, “are the same. That’s what you felt.”
I stare into his dark eyes, holding my breath. They were steel gray earlier, a blaze of intensity that makes my stomach knot just remembering it. Now they’re dark and controlled. He’s right. I did feel something when he touched me, but I dismissed it. I had just been attacked.
Overwhelmed by what he’s telling me, I swallow hard. I need him to leave. “I’m sorry I wasted your time. It’s a mistake.” I try to pull the door open again, but he grabs my hand and I feel it, the stirring, like my blood is fizzing. It’s not a paralyzing feeling, like when Rhett first touched me. It’s an empowering feeling. Like every time he touches me, I grow stronger.
“See there.” His eyes shimmer with gray remnants. “That’s what happens when you touch another hybrid. That’s why I followed you here and broke into your room. I needed to know if there were others.”
“So you were following me before I was attacked?”
Daniel pulls my hand, forcing me to follow him before he pushes me on the bed. He leans against the dresser again and stares down at me. “Yes, I watched you and followed you. I have to be careful. Needed to make sure you weren’t trying to set me up. Of course, when I saw you leave your room half naked and walk down the street on a dark night by yourself I realized that you must be an imbecile and therefore would be incapable of setting up anyone.”
“Are you always such a prick or do I just bring it out in you?” I bite back.
“You need my help.” He ignores me.
“For what?”
“I fed you blood earlier. That means I’ve set things in motion.”
“What things?”
“You’ll need blood to heal. You can still draw energy, but it won’t provide enough for you to heal and sustain your normal existence.”
“I’m not drinking blood.” I shake my head, disgusted at the thought. Although I crave it, that doesn’t mean I don’t realize how repulsive that fact is.
“I can help you, but you need to listen to me. A full transition takes about a year from the first day you drink blood. It’s important that you learn—”
“No.” I stand again, frustrated with the idea that I am this…thing. It can’t be true. Lucy wouldn’t have kept that from me.
“Are you always this fucking dense? I get it. You’re in denial, but if you don’t accept my help you’ll—”
“As much as I appreciate the offer, I don’t need it. Especially from some jerk-off that can’t speak five sentences to me without insulting me!” I storm to the door and open it, standing out of the way so he can exit.
“Well, you have my number if you—”
“I won’t be contacting you again.”
He approaches me, sidling his body next to mine and I tense. “I’m leaving tomorrow. If you don’t come with me, I will not return for you. She gave you my number. She knew you would need me. If you want to quit being such a fucking stubborn ass, meet me in the parking lot at noon. I won’t wait long, kitten. Think long and hard.” He backs away from me, giving me a once over, but it doesn’t strike me as sexual. It’s more like a look of disappointment. He finally exits, and I shut the door behind him, locking it.
I fling myself on the bed and groan. Lucy was way off base when she left me his information. Why on earth would she think I was a hybrid? Sarah and Rhett never said anything about my mother being bitten before we were born. It’s impossible.
Unable to fall back asleep, I flip through television channels, mindlessly, trying to ease my nerves. My mind cannot wrap itself around the idea that I’m a hybrid. So many things don’t make any sense. If Lucy knew I was a hybrid, why did she hide it from me? Our conversation the day she gave me her necklace resonates in my mind.
“You’re giving me your necklace?” I had asked. She never took it off.
“I want you to have it.”
“Why?” Perplexed, I held the small rectangle in my hand.
“Because it will answer questions for you one day,” she replied softly.
“What questions?”
“You must find the answer to the biggest question first. The rest will come easy,” she answered.
“The biggest question?” I countered.
Her words made no sense to me then. I thought she was losing it and instead of digging deeper, I cracked a joke about how I thought she had been drinking. I was an idiot. Still, how could I have known Lucy hid so many things from me? She hid the fact vampires even existed from me until she had no choice, and then when I found out that they did indeed exist, she still withheld what horrible atrocities they were committing against female healers. Now, I find out she hid what I am—what I might be—the jury is still out on if I believe what Daniel is saying or not. If I’m a hybrid because my mother was bit while pregnant with me, why aren’t Whit and Hudson hybrids too? Was it another fluke, like their gift to heal? Maybe the bite didn’t transition into them, only me?
My head aches with questions that I’ll never have the answers to. No one can tell me—I pause at this thought. One person—maybe two—have to know. Sarah was there when I was born. She would know, which means she has known all along and didn’t tell me. My fists clench at the thought. How dare she keep something so enormous from me? And Rhett—did he know? My heart dives to my stomach. Has he known all of this time and hid it from me? The man who swore he would never betray me? Surely he wouldn’t have hid it. But my mind rewinds and takes me back to the conversation I overheard the night I came back to the conscious world, when I woke in the middle of the night.
“We need to help her…” Sarah’s words drifted in and out. “Lucy wrote it—”
“Sarah, shut it!” Rhett hissed. “She doesn’t know about it. “
“Lucy hid it for her to find later; in case she died. She had to have absorbed it at some point. Lucy knew she would.”
So Sarah knew Lucy left me answers, which means, based on the conversation I overheard between Sarah and Rhett; he knew too. Maybe I’m the biggest hypocrite in the free world right now, but I feel completely betrayed. Why would he have hid it from me, and why was he digging through my subconscious? When I overheard them, I made myself believe that whatever it was he was hiding was to protect me. Is that what Rhett thought—he was protecting me? But according to Daniel, hybrids are the most powerful of our kind. Did Rhett know how powerful I could become and was afraid to let me embrace my true form?
Laying down, I hug my pillow and tell myself what I know without a doubt. First, Lucy hid many things. Second, she either knew or believed she would die before I found out I am a hybrid, so, she left the box with Cassandra and gave me clues to find it. Third, Sarah knew all of this…which means Sarah had to have known I was planning to leave and Rhett was trying to figure out what I already knew. But he’d told Sarah I didn’t know about it, which may mean he was trying to stop me from finding out about it. If I had known, or the information was there and I had not yet discovered it, could he have somehow deleted information from my mind without me knowing while he was digging around? This is the ultimate betrayal. He was invited into my subconscious world because I trusted him, loved him, and this is what he was doing—trying to keep me from discovering my true self?
Sleep does not find me. I’m a ball of knots. When the clock hits nine a.m. I dress in a pair of jeans and a tank top, a
nd leave, unable to sit still any longer. I head out towards a mall to buy a few more outfits, not quite content with my Walmart wardrobe. After a few hours of shopping I leave the yellow Beast at the mall and take a taxi back to the hotel. I have to ditch the car. I return with my purchases, shower, dress, and make myself look presentable. I pack the wooden box, my clothes, and toiletries in a duffel bag I bought at the mall and head out to the parking lot.
I’m going to leave with Daniel. A part of me is terrified to go with him, but that’s the part of me I hate. The part of me that was too afraid to accept reality so I hid in my subconscious. That part of me will no longer rule me. I need answers. Lucy knew I would need answers, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why she sent me to Daniel, but she did. I have to trust her, therefore, I have to trust Daniel.
It’s five past noon when I make my way into the parking lot wearing my new Buckle jeans matched with my white Walmart tank top, my gas station sunglasses I bought when I was driving to Virginia from Maine, and a pair of flip-flops.
I have absolutely no problem finding Daniel in the parking lot as he sticks out like a sore thumb. His massive arm hangs out the driver’s window of a marina-blue 63’ split-window Corvette.
I sidle up to the window with a smug smile on my face. “So, a 63’ Corvette, eh? I envisioned you more like a BMW man.”
Daniel snorts, seemingly offended by my comment. “I’d never drive that imported shit.”
“You’d look great in a little Z3 Roadster,” I chide. I basically told him he’d look good in a matchbox car.
I know a little more about cars than I care to. Growing up, I was forced to listen to Hudson drone on endlessly about all of the cars he would own one day. Every time he had a few bucks he’d buy some car magazine and tape the pictures all over the walls in his and Whit’s room.
Daniel snorts as he opens the door and slides out, forcing me to stumble back. “You’re hilarious.”
“I’ve been called worse.” I flash him an obnoxious smile.
“So you’re coming?”
“Depends. Where are we going?”