“Please, Luke.” I pout, giving him my best puppy eyes. I would die of boredom, never was good with sitting around doing nothing. Busy work was a must.
“Well, I had someone quit the other day, so I am slightly short on staff. If you really want to Aura, be down in half an hour to start.” He seems doubtful that I would actually willingly deal with irate customers, but so be it. Better than staring at walls all day.
xxXxx
“You made it on time,” Luke grins, spotting me from where he’s standing with whom must be Tiffany. A short, lanky girl, with mousy brown hair, she’s caught huffing in annoyance about something. He turns toward her, “Tiffany this is Aura, Aura meet Tiffany,” he introduces the two of us, while his eyes dart back and forth between the two of us with a nervous expression.
What could go wrong though? She appears to be a cute, nice girl, with a modest appearance. Cheerfully sticking my hand out, I impishly grin. “Nice to meet you, Tiffany.” It wouldn’t be too bad to have a friend that was a girl, if she would just stop giving me the glare of death.
She takes in my appearance, grimacing. “So, you’re the new girl?” she drawls out, “Are you as dumb as you look?” She arches up an eyebrow. Cunt. So much for friendship.
I’m slightly taken aback by her question. I bite my tongue to not let what I’m thinking spill out. The bitch. It’s like she never got out of the mean girl phase from high school, though that was at least a decade ago for her. Or she was just bad at aging. Maybe it was the constant grimace that seemed to be etched into her face.
She moves closer to me, reaching out to touch one of my braids. I cringe, resisting the urge to hit her. It felt like she was going to rip out my hair with that expression of hers. Trying to be polite I ask, “So how long have you been working here?”
She ignores my question, letting go of my hair, which I’m thankful for, I’d rather keep my head of hair. “Cute braids,” she notes.
I smile, hoping this is getting better, “Thanks I—,” I start but am cut off instantaneously.
“How much bleach did you use to get your hair to that color?” she tilts her head to the side, studying me, scrutinizing every inch of me.
Her question sets me off. It was full of assumptions. “Why-” I stop, not willing to play the bullied kid role. “What the hell does this have to do with working in the diner?” I am growing tired of her bitchy, jealous attitude. “You have an issue with me, leave it out of here, this isn’t the time nor the place.”
Luke is watching the scene, clearly on edge. With all of us just standing around here entertaining Tiffany’s rude conversing, we were lucky no one has walked in yet.
She scrunches her nose in disgust. “I doubt that it’s natural,” she says snidely. I’m about to say something back, but she continues. “Your hair is a bit messy though, no wonder Luke took so long to come back earlier today. You could have done a better job at cleaning up.” Her words go toward the unthinkable of things. She thought I slept with my boss. Gross. Not that he’s a bad-looking guy, it would just be so wrong with our history, and he’s practically ancient. Just no.
Luke steps in. “Now Tiffany,” he uses her full name, “if you would stop harassing my new employee, I would like to show her the ropes.” His voice is stern, and he gives her a harsh glare.
She looks at him, bewildered. “First Victoria, now her?” Her voice is fueled with anger. “You know I was just starting to like the girl before you fired her?” she bites out venomously.
If she acted toward her like she did to me, that girl must have been a real bitch or just plain stubborn and patient.
He puts his hands on her shoulders. “That’s enough.” His eyes bore into hers, as he tries to keep his voice low.
“No, Luke, it’s not. Does this blonde dummy even know what you are?” she yells ferociously in the empty place. “Victoria ran when she found out. When I’ve always known and have loved you even more for it. Why not go for me?” Her voice is desperate, as if she’s on the brink of tears. “I’ve loved you from the start!” The tears start to flow.
My eyes widen at the information. It’s becoming less like a workplace and more of a soap opera as the minutes passed by. I even feel a little bad for her seeing her cry like this, despite her earlier attitude. This wasn’t exactly what I signed up for. No wonder Luke was questioning my sanity with wanting to work.
“Tiffany, I think you should get back to work.” Luke’s stance is cold.
“You know what, screw this!” She tears off her apron. “Have fun with your dead wife look-alike; everybody knows you’ve closed your heart off to anything real.” She throws her apron on the ground and storms off. As she reaches the door, a seemingly nice elderly couple greet her and she tells them, “Go to hell!”
I shrug it off, shaking my head.
I look at Luke’s stoic face. So many questions I’d have to ask him later, but they would have to wait. Stuff about Victoria, and me being a spitting image of his wife. He couldn’t have been seeing her?... No that’s impossible, I force it back out. She is dead, Luke wouldn’t have hidden something like that from me.
“Luke you okay?” I ask tentatively. Amazed at how easily everything can change in an instant.
“Fucking peachy,” he replies coldly, then starts to apologizes. “Sorry I’m just stressed out and she pulls this shit right before lunch rush too. Aura, do you think you could manage taking their order while I make a quick phone call please? It won’t be complicated just take Tiffany’s apron. There should be a notepad and pen to jot everything down in one of the pockets,” he explains in a rush.
“Yeah I have some experience waitressing,” I answer getting the apron from the floor, crisping it out before knotting it in the back.
“Thanks, you’re a lifesaver.” He gives me a quick peck on the cheek, leaving me confused in the rush as he goes. I don’t take much note of it; he’s just incredibly stressed.
Going toward the table of the elderly couple, I give them a cheery smile. “I’m sorry for the wait guys, what can I get for you?”
xxXxx
Gabriel
I’m sweating from exhilaration, a mind-blowing orgasm later.
“What would you do without me?” the minx teases, mischief in her emerald eyes. She snuggles up against my chest, as I allow myself to enjoy the moment, letting my guard down enough to revel in it. A much-needed distraction.
“You seem tense babe, what’s wrong?” Her manicured nails make figure 8’s on my stomach, concern crossing her features. She’s a beautiful girl with her perfect olive skin. Box braids fall around her face, as she uses her elbows to prop herself up on me.
“Just the usual stuff.” I shrug, feeling my erection about ready for a round two with how her body was leaning on mine, perfect perky size C’s right up in my face, my hands grappling at her bubble shaped ass. Fuck.
She gets up, much to my dismay, and finds the pieces of her clothing scattered from our rendezvous.
I grab her wrist. “Please don’t go yet.” I give her my best pout, that so many can’t resist.
Except her. “So, you can play me, and discard me like so many poor lonely souls Gabriel?” she teases me, a wicked smile on her lips. “Sorry baby. I have a shit ton of stuff to do.”
“Do it later.” I get up, wrapping my arms around her thin waist.
“Don’t make me use my vamp tricks on you Gabriel. I was in town early, so I stopped by for a visit before errands.” She frowns. “You shouldn’t be so quick to push her away; she could be good for you.”
I groan. “How many times did I tell you to stop going through my mind Veronica?” I give her a pointed look, inconvenienced that she would use those tricks on me.
She holds her hands up in defense. “It’s not my fault, your mind is practically screaming those things at me.” Why am I so transparent? “She’s a pretty girl, and nice too. Don’t screw her over.”
“Wh-” I start, but she cuts me off, already fully dressed during my mo
ment of dull mindedness.
“Chao Gabriel. Until next time.” She waves, before speeding off, not letting me know when or if I’ll see her again, just like our other encounters. She was constantly on the move, wanting to explore, see new things. What was the point of being a vampire if you weren’t going to use your abilities to your full potential, she would say.
Tsk, too bad she couldn’t stay for another round.
Time to be productive, I guess. I too had things to do, sadly.
Chapter 13
Gabriel
Someone on the bus looks at me like I have three heads or I’m speaking pig Latin. I push aside the urge to pop their head like the cork of a wine bottle and turn away.
Buzzkill.
The bus makes another stop, few people get off, and several more get on. A woman very obviously pregnant gets on, her swollen third trimester stomach protruding from under her shirt.
Trip her. His voice sounds like that of a snake, hissing. Asshole.
Fuck you, dude. She pouts, not being able to find a spot to sit, others refusing to give up their own. Society, it was common decency to give up your seat for a pregnant lady.
Don’t.
I stand up, calling towards her. “You can have this seat, if you want.”
She nods a thanks. As she passes me her face turns sour. “You have evil in you.” Some thanks, that is. “He will rise again. Damien will.” She has her hands over her stomach, as if trying to shield me away from her baby. Her words cause my blood to boil.
She’s right, you know?
She starts screaming, all the people on the bus turning towards me like I’m the guilty party. I hold my hands up in defense. I didn’t do anything. It wasn’t my fault she went all psycho.
“I’m sorry ma’am.” I try to apologize to her, hoping it's getting through to her. Was the demon able to make his appearance known without me realizing it.
“Leave her alone. Can’t you see that she’s pregnant?” Some ignorant guy yells at me. That fact didn’t seem to affect him moments earlier when he wouldn’t let her take his seat.
“I didn’t do anything!” I snark back, then my attention is torn to her as she starts convulsing. Fuck. Other’s rush to help her, but it does no good, as the light fades.
Things are finally starting to get entertaining. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was somehow at fault for her freak out to begin with.
The hero ditches me for the time, grabbing a hold of her arm. “Someone please call for help!” Her mouth foams up as he panics, body violently shaking. I stare in horror. I should have long left by the accusatory looks I’m getting.
“Ma’am?” I call, afraid of what's happening to her. Please don’t let this death be on my hands.
The bottom part of her shirt elevates, something probes out through the skin of her stomach, like the unborn child or children were going to tear their way out. Yet it didn’t look like the grubby fingers of a human baby hand; it was more like claws. Multiple claws emerge, as the tearing becomes insistent. And were those low growls? What kind of monster would it be?
Finally, something pokes through the torn flesh... Kitten paws. Growls turn to meows. The ball of bloody fur uses its razor-sharp claws to cut a hole through the stomach, big enough to exit. But that wasn’t the only one; five more kittens follow.
WTF!
No one reacts to the felines, as if that were an everyday common occurrence, for a litter of kittens to emerge from a pregnant woman's stomach. It isn’t. They have no reaction to the kittens rubbing their blood-soaked bodies against their legs.
“You monster!” The man yells at me, as the woman's condition deteriorates. The cute kittens snuggle up to the young girl seated next to the woman.
“Babies.” Was she the cause of this? Did she do some elaborate play and I just blacked out? Kittens... cute enough. The one sitting in the girl’s lap bites into her arm, taking a chunk of hefty flesh with it. Fuck, looking less cute now. The others join it at her ankles, without causing her to mutter a single peep. It may as well haven’t been happening at all. Did I overdo it on the self-medication, or was a demon to blame?
“You did this to her.” The hero swings at me, causing me to sidestep his advances. His knees fall out from under him, and he collapses like a house of cards. Foul play for sure.
The bus stops, even though from looking out the window I could tell it is not a regular stop. The bus driver, a sassy middle age black woman, stands up. “You know I won’t tolerate for violence on this damn bus. Gabriel get off.”
“I didn’t do anything.” I defend myself, at a loss. “He tried to attack me, then fell.” I look at the chaotic scene around me. If I left, this bus would probably be on the news later, as killer kittens had killed the passengers. A cause that's not nearly as cute as it sounds.
“It doesn’t matter who started it, you still threw the guy across the fucking bus.” Lies. I didn’t. “So, get off and wait for the next one. You’re lucky you’re not getting banned.” Can they even ban people from riding the bus? As if on command, the doors open. Unwilling to deal with more drama, I walk down the steps. I know the bus driver means well; she and I usually got along, aside from today’s occurrence, and the one time I tried to pick her up. She doesn’t put up with any of my bullshit.
“Mrow.” One kitten tries to attack my ankle as I’m leaving with its flesh tearing teeth. Kitten piranhas.
“Fuck!” I kick it to the side, earning gasps from the bus patrons.
“What monster would do something like that to an innocent cat?” Innocent my ass.
I warned you not to help her.
I try not to stare at the murder scene on the bus as it drives past. They didn’t want my help by any means.
I pull up the transit app on my phone, lips turning downwards. It would be a while before another bus came by here. I may as well just walk the rest of the way. My boss was going to be pissed.
Whilst I’m walking a car drives through a large puddle, sloshing water to soak me from head to toe. “Fuck you!” I yell at the asshole, just to turn straight into some Asian chick whose coffee ends up as icing all over my shirt. My favorite fucking shirt. Fuck this, my hands clench up and release. The poor girl runs off after a nimble sorry. This clearly wasn’t my day. Maybe it was life’s fuck you to me, for not accepting Aura’s help.
Sucks to suck. His voice taunts me.
Fuck you too, asshole.
I somehow manage to make it the rest of the way to work without another incident. “Hey boss.” I greet him when I walk in the door of the game-shop. Though it was small, the space is well utilized, its walls packed with products galore. Our board game inventory has over 3,000 titles. At least one staff member constantly works on sorting magic cards.
“You’re late again.” His voice is a mixture of aggravation and disappointment. He finally looks at my disheveled appearance. “What the hell happened to you?” Maybe my roughened-up appearance would save my job.
Why do you seem persistent on keeping up this human facade? It's never worked well.
He wasn’t wrong there. I haven’t been able to keep a job. This is my longest one, at a few months more than the last one. I worked at Charley’s before here and quit there fast. The management, coworkers, and clientele all treated me like shit under their shoe. Before that, I worked at the Kroger deli, and they were always so understaffed. The staff there appreciated me at least. Those were just the tip of the iceberg. My current job is a game-store clerk, and if I kept my shit up that would soon be expiring.
“Long story.” By the look on his aged face, he wasn’t accepting that little of a response. “I got kicked off the bus for being called ‘Satan’.” I use air quotes, coincidentally leaving out the part where I threw that douchebag across the bus. He has a look of disbelief on his face. “Then when I got off, a car splashed me with water. When I finally regrouped enough from that I walked into some dainty Asian chick and am now wearing her coffee. Sorry I’m late, won’t happen a
gain.”
“Sure, it won’t.” One of my coworker’s mumbles across the room; the bitch, Claire, a lanky dishwater blonde, with her face in a permanent grimace. She always did too much and made everyone else look bad. Or part of the less productive staff at least.
She’s got such a nice ass though.
No. not going that direction with someone I work with. Besides, she barely tolerates me as is.
What happened to the fun, Gabriel? This model of you is so boring.
“Stop being so catty,” someone else chides her.
My boss clears his throat. “Considering the circumstances, I’ll let you off easy this time.” Though he probably feels he shouldn’t.
Boring.
Zip it.
“Well, what are you waiting for, clean up and get to work.”
“Aye captain,” I mock, getting yet again another warning glare from boss man.
Chapter 14
Aura
“You know that staring at that clock won’t make him any closer to being here, right?” Luke slides into the diner booth, sitting next to me.
He was right. Gabriel was supposed to be here over an hour ago, and instead I’m just stuck twiddling my thumbs until his grand entrance. Waiting. Pathetic. Just when I was thinking he maybe wasn’t all that bad. Wonderful.
I toy with a strand of hair in annoyance. Frowning as I feel a crispness of it, like I got some food gunk in it during lunch. My grotesque clumsiness. Stupid human trait. Despite waitressing for a week, I still couldn’t quite grasp the coordination required.
“Turn to your side, back towards me.” Luke instructs, and I shrug, accepting it. Figuring he’s trustworthy enough, he could tear my throat out as I lay sleeping if desired. Luke rubs my shoulders, and I let out a deep breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. “It’ll be okay, Aura.” His honey-like, soothing voice helps put me at ease.
I let myself lean into his touch, as my bones get a much-needed stretch. “You feel tense Aura. You shouldn’t be stressing out so much.” A crack is let loose. If only not stressing were that easy.
The Demon Inside (Hell's Creatures Book 1) Page 7
