Tainted Love

by Livell James

  Austin, of course, flies off the handle after I say that.

  “I will kill them Haley. You hear me. I will f’ing kill them.” He screams.

  “Please, Austin! Calm down! You cannot kill them on your own. They’re vampires and you’re only human. You can't just go throw garlic on them, stab them in the heart with a stake, shoot them with a silver bullet and think they will die. That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.”

  Wait! Did I just quote a damn TV commercial?

  I’m losing my mind from all the voices in this damn city. If everyone could hear all the stuff that I listen to, they would have already gone crazy by the time they made it to my age. Austin manages to work out a laugh. Damn! That beautiful jawline stands out even more when he smiles.

  “That’s all my parents told me before they said I had to bring you back to go to the elders, hoping to figure out how to get you off the rogue vampire's most wanted list. It must be tough for you to have all this fall on you in one day.”

  "Haley, you have no idea. This morning, I was going about my normal worthless life. Now, I’m being chased by vampires, riding in the car with a vampire."

  “Now, wait! I’m not fully vampire,” I tell him. “I’m a dhampir, born of vampire and human. My brother, on the other hand, was born after Dad turned Mom. We will know if he becomes a vampire or will remain dhampir when he turns sixteen on the night of the harvest moon.”

  “Wow, this is all so confusing. I have no idea who is a werewolf, vampire, dhampir, or even human anymore. So, do you drink blood like the full vampires do, Haley?”

  “No, I eat pretty much anything I want. I’m not a fan of fried foods at all. The smell of grease makes me sick to my stomach. The stereotype is, however, correct about garlic, vampires nor dhampirs like it. While it doesn’t necessarily kill either of us, it can make us severely ill, and some have been known to die. The only way to stop it, is to drink from the blood of the pure. Though, it’s getting harder to find that in this day and time without drinking the blood of a child. In the vampire world this is normal with so many dhampir children growing up knowing who they are, and then they do not drink from the child. The finger is pricked, then the blood is harvested and kept by the Elders. The Elders are keepers of many things.”

  “I don’t know much of what the Elders do. I came to live in the world with you humans once I was eighteen, and my parents said it was to protect me. So much for being protected, huh? Now, I’m being chased by these asshole brothers right alongside your homeless ass.”

  “Damn, Haley! Just blatantly call me ‘homeless’ why don’t you?” he says.

  “Sorry, that is not how I meant it, Austin. Why are you homeless anyway, if you do not mind me asking?”

  "Now that you ask, I don't even know the real answer, Haley. My dad claimed he only had my grandmother and great-grandmother on his side who have both since died. My mom's family are all a bunch of assholes who want nothing to do with me because I am mixed. But now, I’m starting to think these were all lies as well. I’ve never seen any of my family members on either side. Do I even have other family members at all?"

  “My parents and I moved here right before they had the accident and we always moved from one town to the next, so that was nothing new to me. I had made plans to go to State, but they left me with nothing other than the life insurance they had. The money barely covered their funeral costs. I did see some people at the funeral home who claimed to be my mom's family, but they never spoke to me and left before she was even buried.”

  “So, Haley, I have no idea at this point what’s real anymore. Why am I homeless? Well, because I have no family to turn to. Working two days a week at the market doesn't pay much rent," Austin finishes speaking and just looks at me with a blank stare.

  I can’t turn to look at him because I’m driving and don’t want to take my eyes off the road. I reach over and put my hand on his shoulder, trying to offer some comfort, but damn it almost hurts to touch him. I can feel heat, where my hand is touching his shoulder and again it’s like static flows down my arm. I play it off and start to speak.

  “I’m sorry Austin, I had no idea you were going through all of that when I started looking for you. You parents could only tell me where you were and what you looked like. After that, all I can get from them is, ‘You have to help him.’ So, here I am, helping you.”

  “Do you feel that, Haley? When you touch me, it’s as if I’m being shocked by static electricity, but in a good way,” Austin says, like he didn’t give a shit about me being here to help him.

  “I feel it, sort of,” I reply, still trying to play it off as I move my hand. “Did you not care that I said I was here to help you? How about this? I know you have had a lot going on today, and it’s getting late. Let’s go back to my place where we can shower, get some rest, and have a fresh start tomorrow. You can sleep on my sofa. That has to be a lot better than the back seat of your car.”

  Did I really just invite this guy back to my house? What the hell is wrong with me?

  "Thank you, but I don’t want a pity party."

  “I can assure you, there’s no pity coming from me. I just know how long it takes to get through the tunnels to my family’s place, and it’s much farther to the Elders. I can find the passages with no problems, but I think we’ll be better starting fresh tomorrow. I’m sure the Thompson brothers are out hunting for the night. They may be daywalkers, but from what I hear, they like to prowl at night and get up to no good. I’m sure that’s why they were after you today,” Haley reasoned.

  "Okay, you're driving anyway, so I have to go where you take me. I could just jump out of the moving vehicle, but I don’t see that happening," he laughs.

  “But, please promise no more saying sorry, Austin.”

  I can't help but let out a little giggle because he was trying to be so serious while joking about jumping out of the car at the same time.

  “You've got it, ma’am, no more pity party or I am sorry coming from me. So, we both agree to go back and get some rest for the night?”

  "I’m good with that, sleeping on a sofa will be better than my car or the shelter cot for sure, as long as I am not putting you out," Austin replied.

  “You aren’t putting me out at all. As long as you know, it’s just so you can rest and clear your head for the night, nothing more. Shake on it,” I say, reaching my hand out to him.

  Holy shit! This time it’s even stronger! I can feel the heat when he took my hand to shake it. I pull away quickly and have to admit to him what I thought at that time.

  “Damn Austin, what are you doing when you touch me? Why does it feel like we are shocking each other?” I ask him.

  "I was hoping you were feeling that also. From the first time—when you walked into the store, you were barely close to me, but I could feel the hair on my arms standing on end. I thought it was maybe just my nerves, but earlier your eyes changed color when my arm brushed you. When you put your hand on my shoulder, it was stronger. Just now, when you shook my hand, it felt like it was burning. I don't think it’s me, I’m not the one with any powers here, Haley," he says.

  “Maybe I should just stop touching you until we meet with the Elders tomorrow to find out what’s going on. I wouldn’t want anyone going into combustion because I touched them. We should find food before we get to the apartment, mostly because I want to touch the person's hand at the drive-thru window to make sure it isn't just me.”

  He agrees.

  We exit off Highway 20 and pull into an Arby's a few blocks from my apartment. Pulling up to the speaker, I order our food and drive around to the window. When the cashier takes my cash, I make sure to place it in his hand, so my finger touches him. I felt no static. Nothing. I’m thinking there has to be more to Austin's story and that there’s part of his life that was kept from him. He has some kind of power. There’s no way I would have these feelings otherwise. I get lost in thought while we’re waiting for the food.

&
nbsp; "Hey! Why are you so quiet now, where did you just daze off to? More voices talking to you, Haley?"

  “No, I was just thinking,” I reply, while reaching for the bag of food.

  “Here, grab this.” I shove the bag into his lap, making sure not to touch him this time.

  "Okay, damn. I will leave you be the next time you have a spaced-out moment. You don't have to slam the food into me," he laughs.

  “Oh, you shithead! I didn’t mean to shove it so hard, guess I did get kind of lost in my thoughts. I’ll pay more attention next time.”

  "Are we close to your apartment by any chance because I really have to pee," Austin says.

  “Yes, we are only a couple of blocks away. My place is up one-third level, so try not to pee yourself before we get up the stairs.”

  I’ve only been around him for a few hours, yet I feel very comfortable with him. It feels like I’ve known him for years.

  “Haley, hurry,” the voices say again.

  “Austin, your parents are telling me to hurry again, but I still don’t think it’s a good idea to go tonight.”

  “Neither do I,” he says.

  Haley puts her hand on my shoulder to comfort me after I tell her why I’m homeless and have no clue about my fucked-up family. Once she touched me, I felt as if I had been struck by lightning. It was as if a fire was being lit inside me and all the rage I had built up floated away. I could feel it burning from her touch. I knew she felt it too, but she took her hand away as if nothing happened.

  Is it because she’s a dhampir and that happens when she touches a human? So many questions running through my head.

  “Austin?” She shakes me from my thoughts. “Let’s go back to my place where we can shower, get some rest, and get a fresh start tomorrow. You can sleep on my sofa, that has to be a lot better than the back seat of your car.”

  Holy shit. Did she just ask me to stay with her for the night—oh wait, she said on the sofa, damn it! I feel myself getting hard in my joggers, and I have to put my hands in my lap to cover it.

  Haley reaches her hand out for the promise to stay on the sofa handshake, and the moment our hands touch, it’s even stronger this time—the fire, the burn, the shock! She snatches her hand away as if I had squeezed too hard, but it had to be the shockwave of energy that was running through us that caused her to move away so quickly. This day is getting more bizarre by the hour.

  After stopping for food, we finally make it back to her apartment. I have to run up the stairs, hoping she’s running behind me to unlock the door before I pee myself.

  “Damn Austin, are we running a sprint?” Haley asks, topping the stairs.

  “I told you I had to pee,” I reply, laughing at her while she opens the door, and I run past her. Then it hits me that I have no idea where her bathroom is.

  “Down the hall, first door on the left,” she says. She must have known by the look on my face that I had no idea. Thank the lord and all that is holy, I finally get to the bathroom and do my thing. Coming out, I see Haley standing at the bar between the small kitchen and living room, eating her food. I can’t say it enough just how beautiful she is, and the way her eyeliner frames her eyes…

  It’s a damn trap, that’s what it is—once you look into them, you’re locked there until you shake yourself away, which is what I have to do.

  “I put your sandwich and fries on a plate for you, and there’s ketchup in the fridge if you want it,” she says, nodding to my food.

  I grab my plate and squirt ketchup all over my fries, then turn back around to face her on the other side of the bar.

  “So, what’s the plan for tomorrow, Haley? Um, wait. I don’t even know your last name.”

  “My last name is silly, Austin, and I don’t want you making fun of me so you don’t need to know it,” she replies with that cute ass grin on her face.

  “It can’t be any worse than mine, Johnson! I mean, that’s what guys call their cocks, Haley. Now, how can your last name be worse than that?”

  “Okay fine, it’s Devile,” she says.

  My jaw may have dropped open with my hand putting a fry halfway into my mouth. “Your name is devil, like the dark angel turned from the heavens and into the leader of hell, devil?”

  “Well, that’s what most people think, but it’s pronounced Deville. We may be part of the dark side, but we for sure don’t have part of the devil’s doings—well, other than the sinful ways, but not devil’s, no. Now that you have that to joke about, my dad’s name is also Angelus, so there—his name is Angel Devil,” Haley says, trying to play it off as a joke.

  “Wow! I actually think that’s pretty awesome. How many people would love to have a badass name like that?”

  “Ha, right. I should have known you would like it! Most guys think it’s a badass name. I didn’t get a cool name, just a basic American girl name—Haley—how uncool is that name?” She shrugs.

  “But you still have a badass last name. Okay, let’s get off the names for a bit, what’s your game plan for tomorrow?” I ask.

  “We have to go back into Shreveport pretty early in the morning, and find a passageway that’s closest to my parent’s lair. Once we’re there, they will lead us to the Elders. When we get before the Elders, we’ll have to tell them everything and try not to leave out any details you can remember about your childhood. They will decide if the Thompson brothers will be brought to trial, which I’m one hundred percent sure will happen—because once they know the brothers are after you, they’ll know the rumors have to be true,” she replies.

  I move from the bar stool into the living room to sit on the dark brown leather sofa. Before I sit down, I place my drink onto the coaster next to a romance novel she has sitting on her wooden coffee table.

  “So, this is where I will be sleeping tonight? It’s for sure better than the back seat of a Nissan.” I asked her, the whole time thinking how much better it would be if I was sleeping in her bed.

  “Yes, sir, that would be the place. Are you ready to sleep already? If so, I’ll grab you a pillow and a blanket from my room. I’m about to go shower and change into my night clothes. I can grab you one anyway since I will be in there already,” Haley replies.

  I then remember I didn’t grab any clothes out of my car before we left the garage.

  “I’ll be up for a while; do you mind if I take a shower? I’ll need to throw my clothes in the wash, and maybe cover myself with a blanket until they are done. I forgot to get clothes out of my car before we left it,” I tell her, feeling like a complete dumbass.

  “You can shower in the hall bath when I’m done with my shower. I may have some shorts you can put wear. I sleep in men’s gym shorts because they tend to fit looser,” she says while heading back toward the front of the apartment, opening a door across from the kitchen that I must have missed on the way in. I’m guessing that’s the master bedroom.

  “I’ll be out shortly,” she grins as she walks through the door, closing it behind her.

  I pull off my shoes and place them on the floor next to where I’m sitting before letting back the reclining part of the sofa. My minds start to wonder about why these brothers were after my parents in the first place. There has to be more to this story than just, your parents were hunters so they had to die by the hands of rogue vampires. They were good people, but they did always seem to have a lot of secrets and kept me away from their room, leaving it under lock and key while they were out of the house. Which is weird because after they passed away, their room was totally bare other than their clothes and personal belongings. What could they have been hiding from me? Where did it go if they were hiding anything from me?

  I must have drifted off to sleep, not even realizing that forty-five minutes had passed, when I heard a door slam, and noticed Haley standing in front of me with a black tank top and gym shorts, holding a pair of her other gym shorts in front of my face. Damn, this woman is fine, and she smells a-fucking-mazing.

  Grinning and wiping my eyes,
I reach for the shorts.

  “Thank you, they look rather small for me, Haley,” I tell her.

  “I think they will fit just fine until your clothes are done in the wash. Here’s a blanket, and the things you need for a shower are already in the bathroom closet. Throw me your clothes outside the door and I’ll toss them into the washing machine,” Haley replies.

  I turn the water on before putting my clothes outside of the door, getting it just the right temp. I stand in the shower, letting the water run over me as my mind starts to wander again. This time it’s not on my parents, or the things that have happened today. It’s now on how good Haley looked in those shorts. I feel myself getting hard, closing my eyes and picturing her out of those shorts, and how good her tits looked in that damn shirt. I reach for my cock, squeezing it tight with my right hand, letting the hot water bounce against the head.

  Man, I’m so damn horny, but I don’t want to do this in her shower. I want it to be in her bed. It’s been almost six months since I have had sex at all. I can’t very well get myself off in a car either. Well I could, but you never know when someone will walk by or peep into the window.

  Gripping myself harder, I feel myself stiffening even more, and I reach for some conditioner for lube. Yes, this is a thing guys do in the shower. I start moving my wrist up and down, making long, slow strokes. Massaging the head when I reach the tip, I open my eyes and look down at my throbbing hard cock, slick from the conditioner. Wishing Haley was on her knees in front of me, I pinch my nipple with my left-hand, taking turns from the left to the right. I’m not sure if this is a thing all guys do, but I’ve found it makes me even more horny.

  As I start stroking faster and faster, flashes of her hot lips on my cock run through my mind. Her taking me deep into her throat. The smell of the conditioner lubing my cock reminds me of her sweet scent. I can feel her licking her way up my torso as I rub my hand up my body. Her lips clasping onto my nipple, as I pinch it again. At the thought of her kissing me while I slide myself deep inside her and fucking her right here in the shower, the strokes come faster. It isn’t long before I feel my orgasm creeping up from my balls. I let out a loud moan, which I’m sure she could hear in the other room, releasing my load onto the shower floor. Feeling a little light headed now, I finish my shower quickly, dry myself off, and put on the shorts that I was given to wear.