by Maria Amor
Without any idea it was going to happen, she felt her eyes well up with tears. Augusten saw it and his face blanched, then formed bright spots of embarrassment right in the centers of his cheeks. It appeared that while he was wonderful with words and describing emotions, he wasn’t so good with dealing with feelings in person.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Terribly sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Perhaps I over-spoke. I do that from time to time. I’d like to say it was because of my long bout of hermitage, but that would be a lie. I must confess, talking with people has never been a talent of mine.”
“No.” She laughed, reaching out impulsively and touching his hand in a gesture of reassurance. “Please. I’m not upset. It was just --it was a huge relief to hear someone describe things I’ve always thought. To see that someone else gets it, you know? I didn’t even realize how much of a weight it was on my shoulders.”
“Of course, it was. Isolation is a brutal thing.”
“There’s still something I don’t understand, though. I’m sorry, I’m probably just being dense.”
“I very much doubt it.”
“I just don’t see why you need me here. Or why you want me here, I guess. Does that make sense?”
“Ha!” He laughed out loud, loud enough to startle Delaney into jumping almost out of her chair, and shook his head. “My dear, that’s the perfect question. I haven’t quite told you, have I?”
“Not quite, no.”
“Well then let me tell you now. I have the knowledge, I’ve made that clear. I also have the desire to see some of this brilliance in action. What I don’t have is the youth. Not the youth nor the constitution for adventure.”
“But the things you write! They’re all about adventure!”
“They are, you’re correct about that. But tell me this. Have you heard the saying, ‘those who can’t do, teach’?”
“Well, sure, but-”
“But nothing. Sure, these days I have my advancing age and failing health to hide behind for my inaction, but that certainly hasn’t always been the case. In my youth, which despite all current appearances I did have, I was every bit the coward you see before you today. I spent a lifetime knowing something was there, wanting to reach out and touch it, and being too afraid to take even one step.”
“That’s awful.”
She spoke before she could stop herself, then promptly clapped both of her hands over her mouth. She was totally mortified at her statement, of course, but Augusten didn’t seem to be. Far from it, actually. He let out a delighted chuckle that made him look at least a decade younger than he had only moments before. Although Delaney still wished fervently that she had at least some ability to filter the things that came out of her mouth, seeing his levity made her feel a little bit better. At least this guy seemed to find her big mouth charming. That was something.
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right! It is awful, and one of the greatest regrets of my life. Make no mistake, a man my age has almost certainly amassed quite a few and in this matter I am in no way exceptional. Still, my inability to tap into my latent adventurous spirit remains my greatest disappointment. A goddamned tragedy, if you’ll indulge my dramatic side.”
“And you think there’s something I can do about it? Something that’ll help you not feel so bad?”
“I do. That’s exactly what I think.”
“But why? How?”
“Those are big questions, as I’m sure you know. The most important questions to ask, but often not so cut and dry as one might think. The simplest answer I can give you is because you can.”
Delaney considered this for a moment, feeling perplexed and far too energetic. It was the kind of energetic she felt after working a double fueled by way too many energy drinks. Her body felt like it was vibrating with something she didn’t even really understand. Part of her wanted to get up and walk out, just leave Augusten and all his strange ideas behind in favor of a long afternoon nap followed by several hours of Craigslist job hunting.
It would definitely be the easier thing, the less complicated thing. As far as Delaney was concerned, the easy way out always held at least a little bit of attraction, even for people who rarely took it. Anyone who said that wasn’t true for them was lying. But the other part of her?
The other part of her was already totally hooked on the dark magic of what this odd man was telling her. He was handing her the story of a lifetime, the adventure of a lifetime, and he was doing so with open, trusting palms. Even if the part of her that wanted to get out was whining shrilly into her ear, the other part of her was too much of a bully to listen. Basically, there was no way she was going anywhere. Not a chance in hell.
“What do you want me to do?”
Augusten clapped his hands together like a child who had just convinced his mother to let him eat his dessert before his supper. So, he had seen it in her, the hesitation threatening to foil his plans. He had been worried that she would tell him thanks but no thanks, and somehow that made Delaney feel just a little bit better about the whole thing.
At least she couldn’t be considered predictable, when it was all said and done. At least it wasn’t like he had known from the outset that she’d do exactly what he wanted her to do.
“I want you to go and have my adventures for me.”
“That’s all? Seriously?”
“No, not quite.”
“A catch, huh? Of course, there is. There’s always a catch.”
“No.” He laughed easily, a sense of relief having taken over his whole being with the evidence that he wasn’t going to be immediately rebuffed. “No catch. At least I wouldn’t consider it to be one. Hopefully you won’t either.”
“Well that kind of depends on what it is, you know? I can’t say without knowing what the other part is.”
“Smart girl. Very smart. But what I want is quite simple. I only want you to come back and tell me about it.”
“Tell you about what, exactly?”
“The adventures, of course. I want to know about your adventures, the ones I can’t go have for myself. I want to hear all about them, dear, so that it feels like I was right there with you. Do you understand?”
“I do. At least I think I do. But is that really all? You just want me to talk to you?”
“Yes and no. I’m sure you’re going to want to write something about your escapades, yes?”
“I don’t know. Probably. If I can get anyone to take me seriously.”
“But you don’t have to do that, do you? You can write as fiction, the same way I do.”
“Is that what you want?”
“It’s something I’m all right with, but with one caveat.”
“So this is the catch.”
“I suppose you could think of it that way, although I hope you don’t. It’s only that I get to choose what you can write.”
“Um, why?”
“Because, I’ll want first choice, you see. My creativity isn’t limitless, dear. The kind of new material I could attain with the stories you might find is very valuable to me. Valuable enough so that I’m willing to offer you financial compensation for them.”
“Hold on. So you’re going to pay me to go hang out with creatures that aren’t even supposed to exist? And all I have to do is tell you stories and let you have your pick?”
“That’s exactly right. That’s all you have to do.”
The first thing that occurred to Delaney was that this all sounded like it was too good to be true and that, in most cases, when things seemed to be too good to be true, they almost always were. The second thing that occurred to her was that she couldn’t care less. She was all in. Whatever it was that Augusten Grady was really trying to sell, she had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Seriously? If this is some kind of weird joke, I’m never going to let myself forget it.”
Delaney’s time with Augusten had come to an end shortly after her agreement that she would do w
hat it was he was asking from her. It was like whatever magical tie that had made things seem so effortless in the conversation between two people from such drastically different walks of life had already begun to dissolve now that things had been decided.
She could feel it, and when she looked at Augusten, she was sure that he felt the same thing: it was the need to be away from each other. She had stayed only long enough to take down the information on where she should be going to begin the agreed-upon adventure and had then left with a sigh of relief and a promise to return when she had something interesting to tell.
She had gone home with a check in her hands, something she never in her life would have expected to happen. Even when he told her he was going to compensate her for her time, it hadn’t crossed her mind that she would be leaving his sprawling, falling down home with a check tucked into her purse. Fifteen hundred dollars.
He had written her a check for fifteen hundred dollars, and when she’d protested that it was far too much money, he’d told her not to under value herself. It had been that simple for him. “Don’t under value yourself, and take the check like a good little girl.”
And of course, that was exactly what she had done. It had made her uncomfortable, there was no doubt about that, and for a moment she had wanted to call the whole thing off. She felt like she was being bought, which was the last thing she wanted.
But she was also a pretty practical girl, and she was a practical girl without any kind of job and bills that still needed paying. That money would go a long way toward paying them and so she’d taken it and driven back to her apartment with a head full of questions.
She’d fallen into a fitful sleep almost immediately upon walking through her front door and not woken up until it had already begun to get dark outside. The sky going black was like some sort of alarm for her and she sat up with a start and a racing feeling in her chest. In her mind’s eye, she saw the name of the club she was supposed to go to flashing on and off like a neon sign: The Blood. She got up and got dressed, hoping against hope that she didn’t look too terribly out of place for a vampire club with a name like that.
Then again, how the hell was she supposed to know? It wasn’t like she’d ever been to a place like that before. It wasn’t like she knew what she was supposed to wear the first time she saw actual vampires. And it didn’t exactly help that she was so nervous she felt like she might just throw up all over herself.
The nerves were so intense that she was far more scatter-brained than was typical for her, which is why it didn’t cross her mind until she was standing in front of the club that this whole thing might be some kind of bizarre prank. Maybe that was the real adventure. Maybe what Augusten Grady really wanted was to see if he could manipulate the people around him to do whatever strange thing he chose.
“What am I doing?” she asked herself in a harsh whisper. “I must be out of my mind.”
She might have just turned on her heel and left right then and there if it hadn’t been for the door guy. She thought about that a lot later on, when she had experienced the full effect of what her choice would mean for her. She thought about what things would have been like if she’d just gone home and called the whole thing off.
She could have returned the check and offered a sheepish apology, then gone about her life the way that most other people did. She would have found another job and then gone about the business of trying to forget the exciting life she had almost chosen to lead. She really might have done just that thing, if it hadn’t been for the door guy calling out to her and roping her in.
“Hey there, sweetheart, you feeling a little lost?”
“Who, me?”
“Of course, you.” The guy gave an easy laugh, tossing the hair out of his face in an easy, careless gesture. “You see anyone else just standing in the parking lot?”
“Is this what you call a parking lot? Because it looks a lot like a field to me.”
“Ha! That’s good, I like that. You’re a feisty girl, ain’t ya? You know I thought that straight away? Right when I saw you?”
“Did you now? That’s very observant of you.”
The guy laughed again and, without making an actual decision to do so, Delaney took a few slow steps forward. Was it her imagination running away from her, or were his incisor teeth just a little bit too long to belong to a normal human being? And his skin, that looked a little off, too. He looked like he belonged in the movies, maybe as one of those really small roles that got killed off too early for a person to get attached to but whose good looks still made him noticeable.
He was sort of staring at her, too, a carnivorous, predatory look on his face. His eyes gleamed with a merriment that struck her as somehow malicious and it made her wish she hadn’t stepped even one step closer to him. If this was the kind of guy she was going to if she be dealing with if she stepped through The Blood’s front door, she might be better off forgetting the whole thing. Even as she thought this, however, the guy laughed again, a sound that managed to be both harsh and melodic at the same time.
“Am I scaring you, darling? I’m sorry about that. Just say something, put me in my place, you know? You wouldn’t be the first one to do it. I tend to piss people off, that’s for sure. That’s the effect I have on the women I meet. Freaks them out something fierce.”
“You don’t say?”
“I do say. And now why don’t you do some talking of your own?”
“What do you want me to talk about? I don’t really have anything to say. Nothing that’ll be interesting to you, I don’t think.”
“You’d be surprised, sugar. I spend a hell of a lot of time sitting out here on this damned stool. You could say I’m always on the lookout for entertainment.”
“I’m sure, but I really don’t have anything entertaining to offer. I’m just checking the place out.”
“You are, aren’t you? I can see that. Yes, I can, I can see that. Nothing wrong with it, either, although I’d love to hear how you heard about us.”
“Huh?”
“Aw, come on now. Don’t get shy with me. Not just when we were starting to have fun. How’d you figure on this place for killing your Saturday night?”
“I don’t know, I just did. There wasn’t really any planning involved. Just thought I’d check it out.”
“Is that right? Can’t say I get that response a lot.”
“Really? Well, as long as we’re confessing things, I can’t say I’ve ever had a bouncer ask me these kinds of questions.”
“I don’t, at least not usually I don’t.”
“Then how come you’re asking me?”
“Because. You don’t look like most of the girls who come around here. You don’t look like most of the folks who come around here, period. You look a little too... wholesome.”
Crap. Crap! She knew she wasn’t going to be dressed right! No matter what she put on, what makeup she put on or attitude she tried to adopt, she knew she wasn’t going to look right to fit into a vampire club. Despite the extreme interest she’d always had in that sort of thing, she hadn’t ever been friends with the kinds of people she knew of that shared those interests.
She didn’t feel like she had anything in common with them, whether it seemed like it on the surface or not. She didn’t know where she fit, but it wasn’t with them. If she’d had any confusion about that, it was very clear to her now.
“Come on, I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings or nothing. Nobody said wholesome was a bad thing, right?”
“Sure. Right.”
“I’m sure you’ll be plenty popular with the regulars. No need to worry your pretty head about that.”
“Thanks, that’s... sweet.”
“So, you gonna come inside or what? Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying the company, but I don’t think it’s quite the experience you’re looking for. Know what I mean?”
“Sure, I guess. Look, I don’t think I’m gonna come in.”
“Shit, you’re joking, right? T
ell me you’re joking. Pulling my leg or something like that.”
“No, I don’t think I am. Maybe some other time. I just realized I’ve got to get up early for something in the morning. Totally forgot about it.”
“I’m guessing that’s a bunch of bullshit, but that’s just me. Hey, if you ain’t ready, you ain’t ready. I’ll tell you though, whenever you decide you’re ready for it, you should come on back and see us. It’s the kind of place you don’t find just anywhere.”
“I’m sure.”
“And if you’ve heard rumors of any establishments like ours, with reputations for our kind frequenting them, don’t believe it. This is the best you’re going to find, I can swear to you on that one. And you don’t have to worry. We don’t bite. Not unless you want us to, that is.”
“Cool. I’ll keep that in mind.”
She turned and walked in the opposite direction as quickly as she could with her hands shoved deep into her pockets. Her heart was pounding against her ribcage and for some reason, she was sure the guy sitting at the door could hear it. The idea of it gave her goose bumps and she did her best to increase her speed. She had been so sure she could do it, that she could just waltz into this club and act like she owned the place.
When Augusten Grady had spoken to her of adventure, she’d had no doubt in her mind that it was something she could handle. When she’d left his house with that check in her purse, she’d been so sure that she was up for anything, which was what she’d led the strange and famous man to believe.
But now? Now she felt something else mingled in with her excitement and determination. Now she felt a healthy dose of fear, which was something she should probably have felt before she’d ever gotten into her car. This wasn’t something to play around with. This was real. She had already believed that before showing up at The Blood, but she knew it now in a whole other way. She knew it now because she had seen it.
