by Laura Del
The room spun again, and I had to close my eyes so I wouldn’t vomit. “Shit,” I hissed, and Angel gently placed me down on the floor.
“We need to take her to the hospital,” Angel said, and it sounded like this wasn’t the first time she had suggested it.
“No,” Mike said, and I opened my eyes to see him shake his head. “We can’t explain this, Angel, even with Maryanne there. We take ‘er to the emergency room and all hell’s gonna break loose.”
“Then what’re we gonna do, Wolfman?” she yelled at him. “Let her bleed to death?”
“No,” Samuel answered, finally letting go of my hand. “I had Chloe make something just in case.” I watched as he reached into his pants pocket, pulling out a plastic vial of something that looked like green sludge.
Angel’s face scrunched in disgust. “What the hell is that?”
“She said it was a healing potion,” he answered, looking at me. “However, with the extent of her wounds, it may not work on the exterior, and it may actually make her worse.”
“I’m not givin’ it to her,” Mike protested. “Not if it can make her worse.”
Angel sighed. “Come on, Wolfman. We gotta try somethin’.”
“I’m not givin’ it to her!”
“You stubborn fool,” Samuel hissed. “This could help her.”
“She’s not takin’ it!”
“Hey,” I yelled, hurting the hell out of my lungs and head. “If you all have forgotten…taking it is…up to me.” I looked at Samuel, who was frowning. “If I drink that…how sure…are you that it’ll work?”
He shrugged, almost looking human for a moment. “I do not—”
“Just…give me the numbers…Samuel.”
“About fifty percent.”
“Okay…” I breathed as pain shot through my head. “Just give…it to me.”
He nodded, glaring at Mike for a minute. But Mike just sat there quietly, looking like he was going to be sick or cry at any moment.
Samuel unscrewed the top of the vial, slowly placing it to my lips. The smell alone made me gag, but I just closed my eyes as he poured it in my mouth. It tasted like metal, grass, and chemical warfare. And when I swallowed it, it felt like needles sliding down my esophagus.
I drank every bit of it, and when he pulled his hand away, we all sat there in silence. “How long before—” but I didn’t get to finish the sentence. Pain shot through my entire body, and my back bowed with the force of it. I screamed, feeling the tissue, flesh, and muscle of my stomach being forcibly pulled back together like it was being sewn with a dull needle and then cauterized with a red-hot poker.
I felt the bones in my head shift and move, and then my womb began to twist and turn inside me. It felt as if the pain was never going to end. Bones reformed, muscles stretched, flesh moved over bone, and finally, I could feel that the blood had stopped pouring from my gaping wounds.
It felt like it took hours, but was probably only about five minutes. As I stopped writhing, the pain subsided until it was almost completely gone. Then my body jerked one last time, and I bolted upright, filling my lungs with my first real breath of air in twenty minutes.
I felt like I could run a marathon. But before I even got up off the floor, everyone went crazy.
chapter
TWENTY-TWO
“You knew that was gonna happen, didn’t you?” Mike screamed at Samuel.
“I did not know anything of the sort,” he retorted just as fiercely. “All I knew was that it would help her.”
“Oh, please,” Angel scoffed, rolling her eyes. “You’re lyin’ through your fangs, bloodsucker.”
“Do not call me a liar,” Samuel hissed, fangs extended.
“I’ll call you anything I fuckin’ want,” Angel growled.
“Watch it, bitch!”
“Make me, asshole!”
“Hey,” I shouted, still sitting on the floor next to Mike. “That’s enough!” They both looked down at me, and the fire in their eyes subsided. “Now,” I said calmly, “first thing’s first. Where are my pants?”
All three of them looked at me like I had ten heads, but Angel was the one who spoke up. “We kinda had to rip them off in order to…you know.”
I nodded. “Then do you have a pair that I can borrow?”
“Yeah,” she said, “in the back.” Then she just stood there, looking at me.
“Could you go get them, please?” I suggested, my voice a little edgy.
She shook herself. “Yeah, sure.”
When she walked back behind the counter I tried to get up, but was I too stiff, so I just sat there waiting. Then I looked at both Mike and Samuel in turn, and realized someone was missing. “Where’s Herb?” I asked.
“He went to see Maryanne to get some medical supplies,” Mike answered. “He should be back any minute now.”
“Got ‘em,” Angel announced, as she came out of the back room with a pair of sweats. She handed them to me, and I put them on. “I figured the sweatpants would fit you. There was no way the jeans were going to. Your hips are way bigger than mine.”
I rolled my eyes. “Gee, thanks. Remind me the next time I die not to have you on my welcome back committee. You sure know how to make a girl feel good.”
“Sorry,” she grimaced, and then the door to the diner swung open.
Herb walked in with his arms full of gauze, tape, and other medical accoutrements. Finally, when he saw me sitting there alive, he dropped everything on the floor and his eyes widened. “You are not dead,” he said, not even trying to keep the surprise out of his voice. “But how?”
“Nothing short of a miracle,” I replied before Samuel could explain about the potion. “Help me up,” I said, after the sweatpants were securely on my body. Finally, Mike stood, while Samuel held out his hand to me. They both helped me upright, and the room went around just a little.
“Do you need a new shirt?” Angel asked, and when everything stopped tilting, I looked down at myself.
My t-shirt was torn to bits, but it covered my breasts, so it wasn’t that bad. Besides, when I tried to remove it, it pulled at my still-sore skin, and I decided it would be better to just leave it be. “No,” I answered her. “It’s stuck right now, so I’m just going to leave it on.” She nodded, and I realized something. “Why are you two human?”
Mike looked at Angel, and she shrugged. “It’s complicated,” he said.
“Oh, come on, Wolfman,” Angel huffed, pushing in front of him. “As long as we stay out of the moonlight, we can control the change. It’s a bitch doin’ it, but that’s why we’re not all furry.”
I nodded. “I see. It’s not that complicated, Wolf.” I told him, turning to look at Herb. Something was bugging me about him. The way he reacted to me being alive…he was a little too stunned, if you ask me. Then I got that feeling. That feeling in the back of my head, nagging at me, only I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I hate when this kind of thing happens. It drives me nuts.
“You look remarkably well,” Herb said as he picked up the gauze. “What about the baby?” He asked as he stood up. I shook my head, and he frowned. “I am so sorry to hear that. It was just not meant to be.”
The thing that had been nagging me came to the surface, and I asked, “Herb? How did you know I was pregnant?”
He looked confused. “You told me, of course. When you asked for my help.”
I shook my head. “No, I never said anything.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Then Tina must have informed me.”
“No. You just told her a few hours ago. So, how did you know I was pregnant, Herbert?”
“What are you suggesting, Patricia?” Samuel interrupted.
I shrugged. “I’m not suggesting anything. I just want to know how he knew, that’s all.”
“What does it
matter?” Herb said, placing the supplies down on a table. “I guess I must have smelled it on you.”
Samuel turned so abruptly, it was a blur. “That is a lie, Morris. If I could not smell it on her, then surely you could not. No matter how old we become, it is impossible to tell that kind of thing without taking blood.”
“It’s funny,” I said, now thinking about it. “The only person who said that he could smell it on me was…” my voice trailed away, as an idea settled into my head and stayed there. “You couldn’t.” I shook my head. It was impossible. “You wouldn’t.”
“What’re you thinkin’, bébé?” Mike asked.
“But you did, didn’t you?” Realizing it wasn’t so impossible after all, I remembered what Stag had said about me betraying him. Only now that I thought about it, he wasn’t looking at me, his eyes were on…“He wasn’t telling me that I betrayed him. He was talking to you, Herbert. So why don’t you share what you did with the rest of the class,” I said, walking closer to him. “Tell them what happened.”
“I have no idea what you are referring to, Patricia,” he dismissed me. “Perhaps you are just overwhelmed at the moment. You should sit down.”
“You condescending son of a bitch,” I snapped. “You created that thing out there! Why?”
“Patricia,” Samuel hissed my name. “Morris would never do something like that. Not only is it against every law we have, it is against the laws of nature as well. Isn’t that right, Morris?” Herb was silent, and Samuel just looked at him. “Morris, please tell her that she is wrong. Morris?”
“Shut up, Satané,” Herbert hissed, dropping his accent in the process.
“Whoa there, Herb,” I said, feeling a sense of triumph, “your accent’s slipping.”
He laughed without humor. “Clever little girl, aren’t you?”
“Why?” I asked him again, but he just shook his head. “The least you can do is own up to it now. Don’t be a coward about it.”
“You are more observant than I gave you credit for.”
“Why in the world does everybody underestimate me?” I huffed. “Do I have ‘I’m a dumbass’ written on my forehead? It may take me a while, Herbert, but I get there.”
He laughed, and this time it sent a shiver down my spine. It was sincerely frightening. “You are human and therefore a little slower than we are, but even for a human, you’re extremely quick on the uptake. That’s what I like about you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m flattered. Really, I am. And if you weren’t a treacherous, murderous snake, I might actually take it as a semi-compliment. However, since there’s no way in hell that’s going to happen anytime soon, could you explain to everyone here why the fuck you turned Stag into that half-breed bastard out there?”
“Feisty.” Herb smirked, and then, like any good villain, he began his monologue. “I did it because of you, Patricia. You were the one that got away from us. And if it wasn’t for Kathryn, you would be one of us by now, or at least six feet under, which is where you should have wound up after you found out about what we are. That’s why I created him: to kill you. Because I knew from the very moment I laid eyes on you, you were trouble. You looked as though you were an angel sent down into a pit of devils in that black dress with your skin as white as a porcelain doll. You looked perfect that night, and I knew that Sammy boy over here would never turn you of his own freewill. That’s why I had to send for Mariah.”
“You bastard,” Samuel exclaimed. “We were friends and you betrayed me!”
Herb cocked his head at him. “Friends?” he chuckled. “We are not friends, Satané! I could never be friends with a moron such as yourself. Besides, any vampire who loses his wife to a wolf isn’t worth my time.”
“You—” Samuel hissed, moving forward. But I stopped him with a wave of my hand.
Herb smirked at me. “See? This why I could not have him kill you. You have this control over everyone you meet. Even your friend Tina feels your power.”
Tina. I had totally forgotten about her, and I hated myself for it. “Is that why you seduced her? All because you wanted to get close to me?”
“Exactly,” he said triumphantly. “And it worked so well, don’t you think? I mean, no one expects a man with a charming accent of any impropriety, least of all you American women. You seem to fall at our feet, and Tina was no exception. Therefore, after I sent Elliot to set fire to your car as a warning, I thought that he would have done what I sent him to do, to kill you. But no. He had the audacity to fall head over heels in lust with you. What can I say? Never send a half-breed idiot to do a vampire’s job.
“That’s when I had the idea of proposing to Tina, and boy, after I had that little conversation with her, she led me straight to you. It was truly remarkable how easy it was to get to you, but then I got to know you—a major mistake on my part. You see, I began to fall for you myself, and I would have turned you in the woods that day if Sammy over here didn’t stop me. It was a shame, really; you would have made such a wonderful vampire, and you still might.
“Anyhow, I decided to let nature take its course with you. You and Elliot would have it out, and all my problems would be solved. Both of you would be dead, and I could go on my merry way without anyone being the wiser. Again, you proved to be harder to get rid of than I thought. But no matter,” he sighed, “I can still have you. All I have to do is…” Herb’s voice trailed away as he glared at me, catching me unaware. When our eyes locked, I could feel a familiar fuzziness in my mind, but I held my ground. His control was strong, but not strong enough. I actually backed away from him a bit, and his face lit up with rage. He pushed harder, but no such luck. I stood as still as a statue and just waited it out. Finally, he let me go, and I let out a sharp breath, not realizing that I was holding it.
I could feel the edges of my mouth curl up into a dark and twisted smile. “Nice try. But as you can see, that really doesn’t work on me. You should have conferred with Sammy boy first, before you tried your little mind control. Even he has a problem with it, and he’s had my blood.” I paused, walking closer to him of my own free will, stopping only inches away from where he stood by the door. “I see this going down one of two ways, my pathetic little vampire friend.”
“Which are?” he asked, and even though his face was neutral, I could hear an edge of panic creep into his voice.
“One, you leave here alive and run as fast as your legs can carry you, until you reach the end of the world.”
“What about Tina?” he asked with a smirk, thinking that he had me backed into a corner. He was wrong.
“Let’s not pretend like you have feelings for her,” I matched his victorious tone pound for pound. “I’ll deal with her. It’s fairly simple, really. I’ll just say that you had to leave because it was too dangerous for you to be around her. She’ll believe me, because, let’s face it, you are a vampire and I’m her best friend. She’s known you for all of two seconds, and known me for almost four years. There’s no competition, Mr. Morris.”
A flash of something crossed his face, and even though it was just for a moment, I could see that he was frightened, which made my smile widen.
“What is the second option?”
“You die,” I said bluntly. “Right here. Right now. And trust me when I say, no one will find the body.”
“That is an empty threat,” he hissed.
“Really?” I cocked an eyebrow at him, the smile gone from my face. “Look into my eyes, Herbert. Just take one look.” He did as I asked, and I could see the fear settling in him. “Do you think it’s an empty threat now?” As soon as I asked, I knew what he was seeing in me. He saw the empty pit of nothing. No emotion. No remorse. Just the darkness inside me.
He backed away, looking at the others, and when he finally looked back to me, his face and eyes were under control. “Very well,” he agreed. “I will do as you say and go.” Herb turne
d away, but just as he was about to leave the diner, he said, “On second thought…” he paused, facing me again. “I think killing you myself is the better plan.”
Before I could even move, Samuel pushed me and I flew backward, hitting Mike in the process. We were both on the floor when Herb sunk his teeth into Samuel’s shoulder, tearing away flesh and cloth. Samuel roared, pushing Herb off him, and Morris went flying through the glass doors of the diner, shattering them on impact. He wasn’t even fazed; he just floated upright like some sort of ghost in horror movie.
I scrambled to my feet, picking up a wooden stool and smashing it over the counter. Thankfully, one of the legs came free fairly easily. And as Herb lunged at Samuel again, I could see that even though he was smaller, he was mightier. Morris caught my ex-husband’s neck in one hand, lifting him off the ground with ease. “You pathetic excuse for a vampire,” he hissed. “I should have killed you a long time ago!” He bared his fangs, throwing Samuel aside into the booths and smashing a whole row of them in the process.
Samuel stood, bloodied by the attack, and just as Herb turned to strike again, I slid in between them, stabbing him through the heart with the wooden stool leg. He looked down at his chest in shock and said only one word, “But…” before I shoved the makeshift stake even deeper into his rib cage, actually making it go through to the other side.
I stood there and watched as the vampire’s eyes turned gray and his skin turned dead white. He began to flake away, the corpse crumbling in front of me, stake still sticking out of its now-decaying chest.
It was silent for a minute as I stared down at the thing that used to be Herb. Then someone turned me around. It was Samuel, and as he grabbed me, he pulled me to him, kissing me fiercely. I pushed him away almost immediately, smacking him in the face, which hurt my hand.
