“I don't owe him anything.”
She figured it was easier to be cold and displaced than to show how much it affected her.
“Are you serious?” he shouted, his face red as leaned in. “You are—!”
“You may have your opinions about me but I honestly don't care,” she went on, sure that she was on a roll.
“Is that what get's you through the day? Not caring?” he shouted, exasperated. “I see the way you sleep, something's haunting you!”
“Why do you humans,” she begin.
“Don't you try to pull that crap! Erika has a reason for saying that 'cause she's not human, never has been and never will be! But you...you've been a vampire all of a week and a half, two weeks?”
She decided not to press on and remained quiet.
“Are you just not gonna answer?”
“I find that when humans become impassioned, I suddenly lose all interest in conversation with them.”
Before Troy could counter, as angry as he was, the door was pushed open and light from the hallway spilled in. An outstretched hand was thrust inside, followed by a cheery voice, “Rise and shine my minions!”
Erika stepped into the room and turned on the light which made Olivia turn away from it.
“It's just a little artificial light,” said Erika and held out her palm when Olivia turned to her. A small flame burned in her hand. “Now, this could kill you.”
Troy's eyes shot up and he crinkled his face as he thought on her words. Erika closed her palm, putting out the flame and then extended her hand to Olivia. She looked down at Erika's hand with hesitation. “I'd rather not,” she said.
“You!” said Troy, pointing at Erika. “You created the vampire but you let her run around and kill half the town!”
“Whoa, whoa...what are you talking about?”
“She killed my captain, my friend!” he said furiously.
Erika's presence had allowed Olivia to be more forthcoming with the truth and she admitted to herself that he at least deserved that. “He was the first one I drained when I became a vampire. He had been lying out on the rocks, bleeding from an attack...”
Troy's eyes widened as beads of sweat dripped down his face, “You said...he was already attacked?” He was staring at Erika when he asked.
“Yes.”
“It was you...” his voice once again fell into a whisper, “that killed him.” His voice then rose and he yelled at Erika, “Why'd you kill him!?”
“I don't recall killing that man,” she said then tapped her index finger to her temple. “Now that I think about it...I specifically remembering hitting him with a pipe so that our newly turned vampire could feed. I didn't know she was going to kill him.”
“You didn't know? That a new freaking vampire wasn't going to have enough strength to not kill him?” he yelled.
It took all his strength to keep his composure but in the end there wasn't enough in him to keep the tears from streaming down his face. Even if it hadn't been Olivia's fault, she still stole the lives of two people he cared about and for that he wanted to ram a stake through her heart over and over again. If only thoughts could kill, and stakes for that matter.
“Oh please, no tears. Understand that his death was a necessary sacrifice.”
“There isn't a such thing as a necessary sacrifice because no one needs to die!” he shouted.
“You clearly don't know how the world works 'cause everyone needs to die.”
He had nothing to say against that and instead yelled at her to get out and take Olivia too.
“How touchy. You're not a very hospitable host.” Erika frowned. “Anyway, I'm going to need this vampire to be here for more than a month.”
“You're kidding, right? Like a bad joke?”
“Oh, I don't make bad jokes Troy, only bad puns,” said Erika. “Now, come with me.”
Reluctantly, Troy followed Erika and Olivia walked just behind him, silent. They were outside, the autumn evening surprisingly warm. The trees Erika set fire to during her fight with Troy looked untouched as if she had never burned them down. Both Olivia and Troy wondered the extent of her power but neither said anything. They were still on the steps while Erika was just at the edge of the forest several yards ahead. She cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “I'm going to teach you how to be a vampire!”
Troy rolled his eyes and turned back to the door.
“Stay where you are Troy,” she yelled. “I'm going to teach you how to be a kitsune!”
“No thanks!” he yelled back.
“I do not need to learn how to be a vampire,” grumbled Olivia.
“Of course you do! Unless you want to kill ten people again!” shouted Erika.
Troy looked down at her with incredulity on his face. “You killed ten people, after you killed your own sister and my friend?” He shook his head. You're a monster... he wanted to say but didn't.
“I have never been anything more than a monster. So when I killed them, it wasn't because I turned into a vampire, into a monster, it's because I had always been one.”
She jumped down from the steps and was standing in front of Erika, several inches shorter than her but still with an imposing presence. As a human she was hardly intimidating, a scraggly, thin girl who couldn't wield a blade or hunt a person properly but something about becoming a vampire made her an actual threat. It probably had something to do with the fangs, not that the humans around here knew vampires and apparently other supernatural creatures existed. Erika, however, wasn't the least bit intimidated by Olivia and just showed off her signature smirk as she eyed her.
“Are you ready?”
“I do not need your help.” She turned away and started walking.
“If that were the case, you probably wouldn't have killed your sister.”
Olivia turned back, and for the first time ever, there was fire in her eyes. “You don't know anything! You should have saved Alexa!”
“And finally we have some passion. Good,” said Erika. “You'll need it for training.”
Olivia had lost all passion in her voice and went back to her usual tone, “Why do you want to train me so badly?”
Erika disappeared and then was behind Troy, at the top of the steps. She held his hands behind his back and he struggled to which Olivia shrugged, apathetic.
“You think I care about the human?”
A small knife slipped from Erika's sleeve into her hand then she did a short deliberation before deciding to toss the knife to the ground, “Oh, whatever,” she said and opened her mouth, her fangs bared long and sharp, and sank them into his neck. As soon as the blood rushed to the surface and spilled over his neck, Olivia felt the fangs elongating in her mouth. The thirst quickly took over her and her eyes darkened as she moved toward them swiftly. She tried to push Erika back and bite down on Troy who's heartbeat was slowing as the blood poured out of him faster than Erika had ever seen. She dropped Troy, his body hitting the wooden planks of the steps with a hard thud, and pushed Olivia away. Olivia flew back, her body skidding across the driveway but she jumped back up and was once again by Troy, still driven by that same bloodlust. Erika put her hand on Olivia's throat and lifted her up, the familiarity of the scene, being suspended in the air by a female, pulling her out of her bloodlust.
“You have no self control! You don't know how to be a vampire!”
Olivia didn't hear her words as she continued to ponder on why this felt familiar. She then looked down at Erika with wide eyes. “You're the girl from the dream.”
“You're just now realizing that? Yes, hello, nice to meet you. I'm Erika from your dreams.”
“And he...Troy...”
“Is the one you couldn't save,” said Erika sweetly and deathly sarcastic. She lowered Olivia to the ground and removed her hand from her throat.
“How did you make me dream that?”
“I used my powers of manipulation,” she said, “to create a dream for you. One of my many talents.”
<
br /> “Why?”
“Well, it's easier to ask if you want immortality through a dream than to try to sneak into a colony of creepy blood drinkers.”
Olivia was silent, thinking.
“And I know what you're thinking...was I the one who killed you? Even though Troy figured it out and already said it, I'll say it myself: yes,” she said, nodding her head. “But only because you begged for the immortality.”
They had completely forgotten Troy's existence or non-existence, since he had quietly taken his last breath. Olivia's head swirled with thoughts of that night, how she had been afraid to speak up, to admit to Noah that she couldn't save him in her dream. She felt relieved to know that it wasn't Noah who was dying in her dream but now her attention was turned to Troy, and she briefly wondered why he even mattered. Instead of asking the question she had on her mind, she asked: “Can all fox spirits do that?”
“Full? Yes. Halfsies? No, not without training.” Her eyes narrowed and a sly smile crossed her face, “Has Troy been putting naughty thoughts of himself in your head?”
A long breath was drawn from beside them and Troy began coughing incessantly, blood spilling from his mouth. His heart beat rapidly, his body getting back to work as he came back to life. He stood up and looked at them, astonished then angry.
“You killed me!”
“You look alive to me,” said Erika. “You look good.”
His phone once again rang before he could counter. He wiped the blood from his mouth and pulled the phone from his pocket. “Hello?”
Olivia and Erika listened in.
Hey Troy, how are you?
“Good dad, what's up?”
I wanted to bring you some food and stuff. I've got movies too.
“Oh, y-you don't....need to,” he stammered as he eyed the two girls. “I'm fine.”
But I'm right around the corner....actually, I'm turning on your street now...
He dropped his phone as a bright light came into view and turned into the driveway. He closed his eyes and mentally cursed at himself then jogged toward his dad but not before turning back and waving Olivia and Erika away. Erika had whispered that she would take care of it and he was happy to leave the supernatural stuff in her hands, hoping that she could whip up some kind of manipulation. His father kicked the door closed, two grocery bags in one hand and an aluminum wrapped plate in the other. “Hey! You hung up on...”
David blinked several times and his eyes widened.
“What happened Troy?!”
Troy nervously raised his arm in the air and dropped it to his neck, rubbing it. When he pulled his hand away, there was no blood, not even dry blood and there wasn't a wound. He couldn't taste any blood at his mouth and wondered what his father was referring to since he had hoped Erika did something. He then followed his eyes to blood stains on his shirt. “Oh, this? It's nothing.”
“No, the blood on your neck!”
“Huh?” asked Troy. He put his hands back to his neck and once again pulled away nothing.
Erika was peeking through the window while Olivia leaned against the wall.
“Dammit, I put the manipulation on Troy instead of his dad.” She turned to Olivia. “You messed up my concentration!”
“Why don't you bring him in the house and make him forget?”
“Let me try to make this clear, so even you can understand. He was, technically is, married to the most powerful kitsune ever, so she taught him how to resist a manipulation to forget.”
David was still yelling at Troy when they came into the house. Erika stood up and turned to them, immediately locking eyes with him. She threw a hand up and gave a friendly wave. “Sup David?”
He shut his eyes and ran a hand through his hair and then opened them and spoke. “I didn't want my son to be caught up in this kind of mess.”
“You came to me when your wife disappeared, not the other way around.”
“And when I saw that Troy wasn't getting powers, I asked you to leave it alone. To leave him alone.”
Troy was quiet as he took their words in. He recalled their first meeting the day after Alexa was attacked, and didn't remember any mentioning of them being former co-conspirators in some plot to keep his supernatural side away. He suddenly felt all too sick at everything that was going on but instead of lying down and resting, he shouted at them. “What are you talking about?”
“Troy,” his father began, “you have to understand. I always had your best interest in mind.”
He shrugged his shoulders, irritated. “Just tell me what you're talking about. Have you known her all my life? Have you always known my mom was still alive?”
“Yes.”
Troy ran both hands through his hair, tugging at his strands, frustrated. He clenched his fist and turned to the wall, forcing a huge dent into it. When he pulled his fist back, his knuckles were covered in a white powder and bruised a deep red. He turned back to his father.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“How could I begin to explain to you as a four year old, what you are and that your mother wasn't dead.”
“How about when I was thirteen, or fifteen, or now? Was the truth just too much for me?”
“You're different from Alexa and her sister,” he took a quick glance at Olivia who was still propped up against the wall, quietly half listening. “They grew up knowing supernatural creatures exists but you, in the human world, it was easier to pretend that it didn't exist. And when you got older, I just thought you'd live a normal human life.”
Olivia gave them their privacy, wandering down the hall and found herself in the room that she had been sleeping in. It briefly allowed thoughts of her sister to invade her mind despite her best efforts. Erika had gotten David up to speed on everything and after realizing the severity of the situation he tried to convince Troy to learn how to manipulate and wield fire, to be a kitsune. He didn't want his son to live a supernatural life but if it was to be a part of his future he at least wanted him to be prepared. She heard Troy faintly say yes but waited until he had went to bed before entering the living room.
David was kind but formal when he acknowledged Olivia. “Hello.”
“Hi.”
“I'm going to ask you to do one thing for me,” he said. “Take care of my son.”
Erika's eyes were on David and then they wandered from him to Olivia. She didn't move an inch as she quietly stared at him.
“If you can't do that, just remember he's all I have left.”
The words registered with her as she thought of her mother and noted that she was all she had left now that Alexa was dead. “Yes, I can do that.”
Fourteen
Olivia groaned as Erika pushed down on her neck with her hand. “Get down,” she said in a hushed voice.
Olivia lowered her head further behind the bushes as she was commanded. They watched as people threw scraps of magazines and newspapers over the heads and made a dash to get out of the rain. If she weren't watching them she wouldn't have known it was raining. It was odd not feeling the cool water that ran down her skin but at least she could say that she would never catch a cold again. They saw a young woman shivering, a thin jacket clinging to her skin but providing no warmth against the evening wind and shower. She had stepped onto the curve to peer out onto the street and when she saw no one that she recognized she pulled back and continued to stand underneath the glowing awning that read Port Culligan Hospital.
There was a squeaking sound every time the glass doors slid open behind the woman, and men and women dressed in scrubs escorted people to their rides. A nurse placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, gesturing her inside but she politely declined. Olivia wondered why they were even out there but when she turned to ask Erika she just slapped her hand over her mouth. She thought she had an idea of what they were doing since it mimicked what they had down the last few nights: stalk people from the hospital and try to feed and manipulate them to forget. Olivia managed the feeding but when it came time to
manipulate she had lost all talent for it and suffered the next hours with no blood for failing. Troy had at least gotten some satisfaction in seeing her unable to be the monster that she was but the lack of blood had been draining her of energy. Even now, she couldn't concentrate on the comings and goings of the humans before her.
“That one,” said Erika, pointing. Olivia's eyes followed her fingers and she saw the woman hugging a man in a business suit who had just shown up. She then slapped his arm and he cheerfully laughed it away.
“The guy?”
“Yep.”
“Why him?”
“Do you really want to question the complex algorithm that is my mind?”
Olivia stood up making Erika fall to the side. She looked down at her and then was suddenly looking up at her when Erika rose, nearly a foot taller than her. She glared at Olivia but said nothing as she wiped away the dirt from the arm of her body suit.
“Shall we go after them?” asked Olivia.
“We could but I've decided to change the lesson plan,” she said and then was out in the open. She placed a hand on the man's shoulders. “You don't mind if I steal your girlfriend for a minute, do you?”
He shook his head. “Not at all.”
“Great. Thanks,” she said cheerfully. She covered the woman's mouth and with Olivia following behind her, took her to a quiet park. When she pulled her hand away, the woman looked around terrified, “Who are you? Why did you take me?”
“I thought it was the guy...”
“Yeah, I changed my mind again. Have to keep you on your toes for my lessons to be successful!” she said and then turned to the woman who was tearing up. “Don't cry...this girl's a vampire and she's going to eat you. You shouldn't be crying but you probably should be screaming.”
The woman's eyes bulged and high pitched yells escaped her mouth as she looked at Olivia. Her chest fell up and down as she sniffled and paused her yells only to gear herself up for more. Another wave of frightened shrills came out of her mouth as she shook. “Please don't eat me! Please don't!”
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