“What would you like tonight?”
Noah glossed over the menu one more time and ordered. He rattled off a list of things, half of them not even on the menu and the waiter wrote down what he could. “OK, I'll be back with your appetizer soon.”
Olivia hadn't given much thought to how strange she looked until Noah finally pointed it out. She pulled the sticks and leaves out of her hair, throwing them onto the floor beneath the table, prompting him to laugh. She tipped some water that had been sitting on the table into a napkin and scrubbed the dirt off her face until she looked half way decent.
“Stop being self-conscious, you're beautiful,” he said, still chuckling.
She smoothed out her hair, “I just do not want people to call the police for my strange appearance.”
He shook his head, amused and dug into his food when it arrived. “This is pretty good,” he managed to say between inhaling the bits of crab in some soup. She couldn't help but feel a sudden pang of envy watching him indulge in the food as she thought back to her own encounter with human food. He placed his spoon down and began speaking, “So how did this happen? How did you,” he leaned in and whispered “become a vampire?” She could hear the sadness in his voice but knew he was trying to remain lighthearted about the situation.
“I was killed by the kitsune, Erika, and made into a vampire. She believes I will fight alongside her against my mother.”
Noah's mouth had dropped open in genuine shock. “Kill the Matriarch?” he managed to ask after recovering from the initial shock.
“Her argument is that my mother is evil and must be killed...”
“No offense, but she is evil and cruel. I just don't know if she should die for it, but what do you think?”
“I think...that it doesn't matter what I think. I believe she will try to kill my mother with or without my help.”
“And would you be willing to stand in front of your mom to protect her?”
“Seeing as I am immortal...it wouldn't be hard to do.”
“So would you—protect her?”
Her fingers were scrapping the table and tendrils of wood gathered under her nails. She flicked them away, and they dispersed quietly onto the floor. “Of course.”
Noah had seemed almost disappointed but when he spoke he sounded far from it. “I can't believe you are....you know, what you are.”
“Yes, the transition was difficult,” she admitted. “But it would have been more difficult if I hadn't sought my sire out.”
“Your what?”
“The boy from the pier,” was all she said.
“What about him?”
“I was reborn with his blood.”
Olivia spoke in great detail of Troy and Erika and their plans, carefully omitting her mother's knowledge and the truth about Alexa as she was unsure of how he would react. By the time he packed his leftovers in a box and they were walking, out his head was spinning. It felt heavy from the weight of Olivia's words but he managed to walk and not trip. The information had been much easier to digest when he was taking it in bit by bit but when she laid it on him, it started to be a hazy blur of words that he only heard half of but still accepted with no inquisitions.
“I can't believe you've been living in a total stranger's house. He could have done anything to you.”
“As I said, he is bound by his word not to kill me.”
“I'm saying anyyyythhiiing,” he stressed the word but Olivia didn't react, instead she shrugged her shoulders and they walked to Troy's house. She suddenly felt a tight pull in his direction just as they were turning on street that led to Troy's house. He bent over and food began pouring out of his mouth. He coughed and spit, sure that he was done but another wave came and he heaved the crab out on the curb.
“Are you alright Noah?”
“I feel sick...” he grumbled.
She didn't know if her blood would help but she figured it was worth a try. Biting down, she let blood spill out of her wrist and brought it to his mouth. “Try to drink.”
They weren't too far from Troy's house and Noah looked like he was doing a bit better, at least enough to bear the short walk. Olivia opened the door and pulled Noah inside. Troy walked out of the kitchen and stopped when he saw the two.
“Can he stay here with me?”
Nineteen
A brown and white puppy scurried out behind Troy, his ears flopping as he pawed up his leg and slid down and repeated the process. Her eyes were briefly fixed on the tiny creature but went back to Troy when he spoke. “No.”
“Olivia...”
Noah was recovering and had enough strength to stand up on his own and tower over her but a few inches below Troy. He eyed the boy and figured he had to be only a year older than him “I didn't ask to stay here,” he said bitterly.
“Good, now that we're clear on that. Feel free to get out.” He turned to Olivia, “I'm stuck with you but I'm not going to force myself to be stuck with your boyfriend.”
They had both fiercely denied the claim and the puppy ran at the sound of their voices. In the short time Troy had seen the boy, he picked up on one thing and that was his attachment to Olivia. Perhaps they were siblings but that would make him Alexa's brother and if that were true it would only make things worse. “So he's your brother?”
“Do we look alike?” asked Noah, irritated.
Troy shrugged his shoulder. He knew they didn't look alike but he figured it was better to hear it from them rather than to assume.
“We are not siblings.”
The puppy skated through the foyer around Troy, biting on his pants leg for attention and when he looked down, it barked happily. He thought about how he had been willing to take the abandoned puppy home when he saw it following him to his house. He knew a dog was more responsibility and couldn't figure out why he allowed it to stay with him and then he relented. “As long as you're self sufficient and stay out of my way, you can stay.”
It had been easy for him to say no, but it had been too hard for him to mean it.
Olivia thanked him and was on her way to show Noah to one of the bathrooms when he stopped her with a request of his own. “If you want to repay me, could you look after that puppy?”
“You're giving me this?” her eyebrows perked up as she watched the puppy jump up on his back paws and scratch at the door.
“He was never mine to begin with, I just found him as I was walking home. He wouldn't go away and didn't seem to have a home to go to, so yeah...if you could look after him, then I'd say we were even—at least concerning your friend. You can name him whatever.”
Olivia accepted with a nod and as if the puppy sensed what was going on between the two, he scurried toward her and leaped into her arms. Her eyes grew wide from his boldness and they remained wide as she watched him carefully, his tiny claws scratching on her surface. Troy had adjusted himself to being awake at night but it wasn't exactly his favorite thing and stalked off to bed after she caught sight of his weary, red eyes. Noah emerged from the shower and dressed himself in the same clothes he had been wearing before. He managed to scrub them down before he entered the shower and hang them over a heater while he washed up. His skinny jeans were moderately damp when he plopped down on Troy's couch next to Olivia who was still frozen as she eyed the puppy, stunned.
“Nice Beagle.”
“A what?” she asked, not taking her eyes off of it.
“I remember when I was eleven and Alexa was in her obsessive dog phase. She wouldn't shut up so now I literally know every breed,” he let out a groan at the memory. “It seems to like you. What's it's name?”
She shook her head slowly, confusion in her voice. “I don't know.”
“He probably has some stereotypical name like Spot or something.” He sighed and leaned back.
“He has no name. Troy brought him here off the street.”
“And he gave him to you?” he asked and his eyebrows pulled up, curious.
“To look after, yes. And I must na
me him.”
Noah did a once over of the living room, his eyes scanning the large flat screen TV positioned on a mount and nodded his head in approval. He then noted how bare the walls were except for a mantle hanging over the fireplace that held a picture and scented candles. He rubbed his feet back and forth, the bristles of the carpet being tugged between his toes and then he turned his attention to the puppy, placing a hand on its head. “So what are you gonna name him?”
“Dog?”
“Seriously? You've gotta give him a better name than that. I mean, the Ma—your mom didn't just name you what you are—human, well, when you were. Anyway, she gave you a name as an individual not as a collective, that's what I'm trying to say...”
“Bear.”
“Olivia...”
“When I was younger, Alexa would read me Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? all the time and the brown that runs on this dog's coat reminds me of the story.”
“OK then, I can dig it,” he said and nodded.
“Are you feeling better?”
“Much! I think that seafood had it out for me,” he complained. “What kind of food does this guy have?”
“Well there is blood.”
He groaned and made a face which Olivia hadn't seen, her eyes too focused on the dog who was slinking across her lap. “Not in the mood for blood, but then again I never am. The guy is only half kitsune, right? So, he probably eats human food?”
“He does. He's a big fan of Doritos. I'm pretty sure you can put Doritos on anything and he will eat it.”
“You know a lot about this guy,” he grumbled.
“Not because I want to, I assure you. It's just....” she said as she pulled her hand away from Bear who was trying to put his nose to her palm.
“I get it, he's your vampire master of sorts.”
“I suppose so.”
“Can you at least do what you want or is his will kinda imposed on you?” he asked.
“I maintain my freewill.”
When Olivia had explained that she would never feel the sun ever again unless she wanted to die permanently he made it his mission to get her into her room before a single ray touched her. He pulled back the blinds and for extra precaution, tacked a blanket despite her telling him how unnecessary it was. She was accustomed to sleeping beside Noah because that's how open their friendship had been, but there was something about being just a few steps away from Troy that made her uncomfortable. It was like his eyes would watch in disapproval though she knew it wasn't true. Still, she thought it best that Noah sleep downstairs on the couch and he agreed. She pulled the covers over her just to recreate the feeling she had always been used to but it wasn't the same. Her eyes closed and she slowly drifted off.
Her eyes peeled back and she took in the white of the hall. White beneath her and above her and to each side of her, stretching as far as she could see without even a splash of color. She heard the splattering of water with each footstep as if a thin blanket of liquid lay upon the floor and when she looked down, she saw her small feet stuffed into black heels, barely a centimeter into the water. Her legs were lost in the colorless room but as her eyes scanned the rest of her she saw that she was wrapped in a black dress, the skirt puffed out and crinkled. Going further up her body, she noticed that it resembled the dress she wore at Randy's funeral. She tore her eyes away when she heard a sound coming from down the hall. “Who is there?” she called.
Footsteps proceeded the person's shape but soon a body materialized before her and she was taken aback.
“Troy?”
He had a smirk on his face and his hands were tucked in his pants pocket as he strolled toward her without a word.
“Erika?”
He said nothing in response. He had also been dressed in black, a fitting buttoned jacket and a white dress shirt underneath. His pants were perfectly creased and he wore a thin black tie reminiscent of his look when she had saved him. When he reached her, he held out a palm and hesitantly she placed her hand in his. He was leading her down the hall when she heard a voice call from behind them.
“Are you just going to leave me like this?”
Olivia turned at the sound of the voice. “Alexa?”
She let go of Troy's hand and ran to her sister and when she reached her, she couldn't restrain her tears as she spoke, “But you're dead...”
“So are you,” said another voice.
“Noah?”
Both Alexa and Noah were dressed in black as she and Troy were but she couldn't figure out why.
“Why...”
She tried to wrestle the rest of the sentence out of her mouth but Noah had his hand over her mouth and Alexa and Troy had her arms in their grasp to the sides of her. She tugged back on her arms but was unable to free herself and her eyes were riddled with betrayal as she looked at Noah who didn't seem to care. Everything moved quickly, from the footsteps behind her to the warmth that filled her body as a hand was thrust through her back. Her body tensed and a stream of scarlet rolled down her lips as the person ripped her heart out.
Olivia hadn't realized she was screaming until the door had burst open and the light was flicked on. Troy was making his way toward her when Noah pushed passed him and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her awake. Her hand was on his throat and her fangs had come down as a defense mechanism when her eyes fell on him. He clawed at her hand and barely had enough air to convince her to stop and to see who was in front of her.
Troy yelled at her to stop and her irises drifted to the corners of her eyes but she didn't let go of Noah. Troy was tugging her arm away and telling her to let go and when she finally looked in his eyes, she did as she was told. Noah gasped and heaved as he tried to catch his breath. His eyes closed and his hand traveled to his neck as he reeled from his near death. When he turned to Olivia, she was shivering, a first for Troy. After gaining his composure, Noah stretched out a hand to Olivia but she pulled back.
“What's wrong?” he asked quietly.
“You killed me.”
“Um, what?”
“Both of you,” her eyes darted to Troy then back to Noah, “killed me.”
“It was a nightmare...” he said softly.
“If she sleeps in the day could you really classify it as a nightmare?” asked Troy.
Noah ignored him and Troy sighed. “Whatever. Could you just not scream so loud over a silly nightmare.”
He left the room, shaking his head and Noah couldn't suppress the urge to mutter, “Jackass.”
He figured he should be grateful since he really didn't have a place to go but he couldn't help but notice the way Troy treated Olivia, like she was nothing. He tried to console her after she explained her nightmare but every time her eyes closed he was met with shaking and whimpering as if she had been suffering in the world behind those closed eyes.
Erika wasn't particularly happy when she saw Noah a week later and as Troy put on his sneakers at the door, he listened in as she talked down to the boy. “You're still here?”
“Still here,” he said cheerfully, leaned against the door.
Olivia was in the kitchen where Bear had followed her. She couldn't understand why the dog had been so insistent on keeping up with her every move and kept eyeing him suspiciously. When she pulled the refrigerator door open, he barked expectantly and to that she grabbed a plate of cold chicken and gave it to him. Her eyes perked up as she watched him tear into the mangled bits. She wasn't ready to be best friends with him, but she could at least appreciate another creature that fed as she did, with no remorse. She left him in the kitchen and when she was in the foyer, Erika barked at her, “You need to get rid of your hipster boyfriend!” She then said in a small voice, almost spitting the words out, “I hate hipsters.”
“She's not my girlfriend!” Noah shouted. “And since this isn't your house, you can't kick me out.”
She looked at Troy with a smile. “Do you honestly want him here?”
“These two seem inseparable,”
he winced at the words as he thought about Alexa, “so, whatever. I don't care.”
After getting themselves ready they were back at the lake for more training. Erika was light on fighting lessons and instead focused on manipulating which Olivia just wasn't very good at it even though it was the foundation of feeding without killing. Noah sat on the pier while Troy tried out manipulations on Olivia with complete success. He managed to calm her, to get her angry and force her to forget everything he said but Erika explained that if she had the same power she could be impervious to either of their manipulations.
She had her hands planted on Troy's shoulder which made him tense but he didn't knock them away. With her eyes lost in his, she spoke, “Pick up a stick and ram it through my heart.”
Knowing that Troy was not allowed to kill her and that that probably meant he couldn't hurt her, she figured that if he did then her manipulation was successful.
He shook his head. “Nothing.”
She pulled back and turned to Erika. “How can this be?”
“You're not trying hard enough. You have to believe your words.”
She tried over fifteen more times and Troy grew increasingly irritated with her, walking away while she talked with Erika.
“When was the last time you fed? On a human?” asked Erika.
“Four or five nights ago.”
Erika nodded. “I see, maybe your hipster boyfriend will be of some use. Call him over here.”
“I can hear you!” he yelled back at her. He pulled his legs out of the water, he stood up and walked over to them. “Yeah?”
“Would you be so kind as to offer up your blood for a worthy cause?”
Olivia was deep in protest when Noah shrugged and agreed. She turned to him with worried eyes. “I couldn't feed from you.”
“You have no choice,” he said, unwrapping his scarf. Her cocked his head to the side and exposed his neck to her. She watched the veins in his neck pulsate under her red gaze and then her fangs were in his neck. He winced a couple of times and Troy glanced over then turned away, disgusted. She pulled away, his blood dripping from her fangs.
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