by Rue Volley
“Uh huh,” he said. “Well, the forest is full of squirrels,” he said to her.
She glanced at the forest and back at him. She was going to bite her tongue, she had to.
“I need for you to feed me,” she said, as she took a breath.
“That is not going to happen,” Josh said as he stepped toward her.
“Listen… I know that I have been a naughty girl, but you know that I don’t want to be old… I can’t.”
Josh raised his hands up in the air.
“Naughty...? Oh come on, you are a beast Elin. I think that you can hover around 40 or 45 just fine. That’s the new 20, it really is,” he said, as he grinned at her.
“You are kidding me,” she said, as she glared at him.
He walked up to her and leaned into her ear.
“No,” he whispered. Josh walked past her and to her car.
“Josh… come on,” she said, as she turned around to him.
“Come on what?” Josh said as he leaned against her car. “You should be grateful that we have not killed you. Nice crap you pulled today, by the way,” he added.
Elin sighed. She knew that Rue would flip out, she did it, hoping that she would get herself killed. She took a breath and went back to her charm, hoping that she could sway him. She walked up to him and stopped only a foot from him. He leaned back on her car… staring her down.
“I am sorry,” she said softly. He tilted his head.
“You are not,” he said to her.
“No… I am. I didn’t mean to cause drama,” she added.
Josh leaned up and looked down at her.
“You...? Oh no, you don’t cause any drama at all,” he said. She looked up at him.
“You know, I remember when you could not stop touching me Josh… when you wanted me night and day.”
“That was a whole lifetime ago, Elin. Before I realized just what a parasite you were.”
She closed her eyes and then opened them.
“You don’t feel anything for me then, do you?” she said to him.
Josh leaned towards her face and her heart fluttered. He got really close to her lips and she could feel his breath on her.
“I would rather let the cannibals eat me slowly and then heal me, only to do it again, then let you have one drop of my blood, Elin. You disgust me.”
She closed her eyes and reached past him then she jerked her door open and hit him with it.
“You are pathetic, Elin,” he said, as she slammed her door.
She looked at him and considered telling him that Sara had tried to welcome her home earlier, but her pride got the better of her. She started her car up and pressed on the gas, throwing stones and dirt his way. He shook his head and turned to the house.
***
I stood on the porch looking at him. He walked back to me slowly, and then stopped at the foot of the stairs. I stared at him and then at the road.
“What did she want?” I asked him. He shook his head.
“She was hungry, she wanted to feed,” he said as he stepped up. I looked at him.
“Oh,” I said to him.
Honestly I have a hard time remembering that Elin is only human and she needs to feed to maintain her youth and strength.
“Well, what did you tell her?” I asked him. He grinned and pointed at the forest.
“I told her to eat squirrels,” he said, as he half laughed. I tilted my head.
“Can she survive on animals?” I asked him.
He rubbed his head and looked at me.
“And you care, why?” he asked me. I shrugged my shoulders at him.
“I don’t know,” I said.
“You don’t feel sorry for her do you?” he asked me.
“Maybe, a little… she wants something she can’t have,” I said to him.
He wrapped his arms around me in a flash.
“My little immortal human,” he whispered to me. I sighed.
I guess I do feel human… even though I’m not, I’ll never be. I guess I wish I had something I can’t have either… just a normal life. Elin wanted to be immortal, I wanted to be mortal. At times I think I would trade it with her… days like that today especially. I mean who wanted to fear the tub? Weird.
I wrapped my arms around him and let him hold me then I pulled back.
“Aren’t we supposed to worry about Caine coming into town?” I asked him.
“No way. He cannot cross over the symbols I laid down, it would drain him for sure,” he said as he touched my hair.
“So we just hang out in this cage?” I asked him. He kissed my forehead.
“Not forever,” he whispered.
“I want to go to sleep,” I said to him. He smiled at me.
“Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day,” I muttered, as I pulled on the door.
“Oh… today wasn’t so bad Rue… We are still breathing.”
I glanced back at him, wanting to smile about it, but I found myself suddenly in a funk. I’m tired, and hungry, tired of drinking Theodore’s sugar water. I sighed and stepped in. Josh followed me as usual.
***
Elin drove up to the carnival and shut her car off. She held onto the wheel, gritting her teeth. She kept hearing “You disgust me” in her head. She closed her eyes, then opened them and watched a ride twirling overhead, listening to the kids screaming on it. She hit her wheel a few times and then popped her door open. Truth was, she loved the feeling she got from Josh, his blood not tainted with an evil desire to conquer. Perhaps she loved him, or as close to her version of love as she could get too.
She stood up slowly and felt a vibration in her hands. She looked at them and saw a faint glow in her palms. Her strength had been fading as well as her youth. The loss of her youth bothered her more than power. She slammed her car door and stepped towards the ticket booth. A young boy sat there, with a girl by his side. They looked up at her and grinned.
“Ten dollars,” the boy said, as the girl giggled next to him.
Elin leaned forward and stared at her. She had a kitten in her lap.
“Are you going to eat that?” she asked her. The girl looked up at her and hugged the kitten.
“No,” she said, as her eyes started to swirl with white. The boy cleared his throat.
“And… who are you?” he asked her.
Elin looked at the carnival and then back to him.
“I am the lady of the house,” she said to him. He tilted his head.
“I am Caine’s mate, you ass,” she said, as she placed her hand on her hip.
“Oh… I am sorry, Elin. He is expecting you, go to tent on the end, in the back,” he said, as he straightened up.
“I know where he is, you idiot, just follow the stench of corpses, right?” Elin said, as she started to walk away.
The boy turned and looked at her, then looked back at the girl.
“God, I hope I don’t get eaten for that,” he muttered.
The girl laughed and he grabbed her kitten. He opened his mouth and she cried out, as she snatched it from him. He grinned at her and went back to reading his teen magazine.
“Oh, I’d love to get that,” he said, as he held it up in front of his face, staring at the young stars.
“Look, this one plays a vampire.” The girl laughed.
Elin walked slowly towards the tent. She breathed in, and shook her hands out at her sides. She walked to the opening and then stepped through it. She stood there and scanned the room. Jonah and Lily sat at the end of the table. Lily on his lap and Jonah laughing. Caine sat with his back to the opening. Of course he would, he is an arrogant ass. Sara sat at his side, rubbing her fingers on his arm. All eyes flashed to Elin. Caine looked up and set his glass down.
He didn’t turn to her.
“Hello Elin, my love,” he said as he looked at Jonah.
Elin walked to the other side of the table and looked at her chair. Caine stood up and pulled it out for her. She sat down, as she stared at Sara. Sara grinned
and pulled her one leg up and hugged it. Elin glanced at Jonah and Lily.
“Rogues, I take it?” she asked them.
Jonah pushed Lily off of his lap and stood up. He tipped his hat to her and winked, as he stood back up. Elin looked at her glass and then at Caine.
“Do you think that I could get something to drink?” she asked him. Sara laughed.
“Yeah… you must be parched,” she said, as she glanced at Lily and Jonah.
Lily laughed too and Jonah rubbed her side, as she sat back down on his lap.
Caine walked down to Jonah and took his bottle. He walked back to Elin and filled her glass. She lifted it to her lips and smelled the blood in it. It smelled warm and inviting. She placed it to her lips and took a drink.
Caine sat back down and stared at her.
“So…you have returned,” he said, as he lifted his glass in celebration.
Elin looked at him and didn’t raise her glass to him. Caine lowered it slowly and tilted his head at her. Elin sighed.
“It seems that you are my only option, Caine… regardless of your disregard for me,” she said, as she touched the rim of her glass. Sara leaned forward.
“Are we feeling rejected?” she asked her. Elin’s eyes flashed to her in an instant.
“You should be mindful of your tone with me,” she said as Sara grinned at her in spite.
Caine leaned forward and looked at Sara.
“Be careful… Elin is a most cunning creature. She is a formidable animal, when she is at her best,” he said to her.
Sara leaned back and laughed. “Oh okay,” she said.
Caine’s hand flashed to her face. Sara flew from the chair and looked up at him, with her hand on her cheek.
“Okay!” she said to him as she started to rub it.
“Oh,” Caine said, as he held a hand out to her. “Here, come back to the table Sara. I lost my temper,” he said as he smiled at her.
Sara took his hand and stood up. She brushed off her dress and sat back down, as she glared at Elin. Elin grinned and Caine looked at her.
“I apologize for her ignorance. She simply does not know who you are, love,” he said.
Elin looked at him.
“You want me to believe that you just defended my honor?” she asked him.
He took her hand and kissed it.
“I have missed you,” he said, as he let his mouth linger in her palm.
Jonah cleared his throat and stood up, as he held Lily’s hand.
“I believe that it is time for us to entertain, not to say that this was not entertaining itself.”
Caine raised his hand to him as he stared at Elin.
“Go eat,” he said to him.
Jonah and Lily walked past them and left the tent.
Sara stayed where she was. Caine looked at her.
“Go and play Sara, I am sure there is someone wandering around out there, who will suit you,” he said. Sara stood up and looked at Elin.
“Sure, whatever,” she said as she walked out.
Elin watched her go and turned her gaze back to Caine.
“A little young for you don’t you think?” she asked him. He laughed and stood up, holding his hand out to her.
“I find teenagers deliciously innocent, but they bore me quickly,” he said as she took his hand and stood up. He leaned into her face.
“I find you, on the other hand, intoxicating in a most curious way. You have human blood, and yet the morality of a true protector, it is most seductive.”
Elin closed her eyes, as he flashed behind her and leaned against her from behind. He let his teeth brush against her neck. Her heart fluttered and she took a breath. He raised her hands above her head and let his fingers trace the inside of her arms. His hands lowered and he gently ran them across her stomach. Elin opened her eyes, when a flash of Josh’s face went through her mind.
“Do you want what I offer you Elin?” he asked her.
She hesitated and then closed her eyes.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Caine bit her neck and an adrenaline rush waved through her body. Her knees got weak and he held her up with one arm. He turned her to him and grinned. He backed her up to the table and waved his hand. Things went flying to the ground. He leaned her back and looked at her.
“Don’t be gentle with me Caine. You know that it bores me to death,” she said, as she looked up at him.
He kissed her and moaned in her mouth. He bit her lip and tasted her blood. He sighed and pulled back from her.
“I had no intention, put your hands above your head,” he said.
Elin raised them and he looked at her and smiled. He slammed both of his blades into her palms, jamming the metal through the table. Elin cried out and pulled her legs up. He sighed and tilted his head. Blood started to drip from the tips of each blade onto the floor. He leaned forward and pulled a razor, flipping it open, close to her face. Elin grinned. He sliced it across his palm quickly and pressed it to her mouth. Her eyes opened up as wide as they could, as the blood ran down her throat.
Caine pressed against her as hard as he could, and she moaned under his hand. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath as she drank from him. He pulled his hand from her mouth and her hair started to shine again and the small wrinkles around her eyes started to disappear. She pulled up towards his hand.
“More!” she cried out to him.
He pressed against her harder and she slammed her head on the table; he pulled the blades out of her hands and she grabbed his face as she sat up. She looked him in the eyes and kissed him hard on the mouth, as she grabbed the blade from his hand and cut her neck. He leaned forward and drank from her. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes. Josh flashed into her mind and she grinned.
***
I woke up and sat straight up in my bed. I had one of those dreams… where you don’t know what it is, but something scares the crap out of you. I swear I heard my name screamed, right before I opened my eyes up. I looked around my room but nobody was in there with me. I slid my legs off and let my feet dangle. I yawned, and the pain returned to my stomach. I rubbed it and placed my feet on the floor. It’s early, but at least I slept… thank god.
I rubbed my hair and touched my chest, tracing the ravens. I grinned. I won’t say that I wasn’t nervous when I got the tattoo, but I was so glad that I hadn’t bottled it. I pushed myself up and walked to my window. I suddenly had that feeling that I did when I was In Valon. I am a bird in a cage here. I loved my town. I loved my house, but I wanted to travel… there were so many places that I wanted to go. I laughed, as I thought about how many places I could see in an eternity…
Will we be here when the planet eventually ends? Will we be on other planets by then? Probably, I would think. The idea was just swirling in my head, with a thousand questions, when I turned to my door. Sam stood there with something in her hands. I looked at her and walked back to my bed.
“Welcome to the zoo,” I said to her.
She grinned. I think she got my reference to me being the caged animal. I smiled as I sat down, and scooted back. She walked to me and then sat down.
“What do you have now?” I asked her, as she sat down next to me.
She pulled the cloth off of a plate, and a cookie laid there… looking at me.
I looked at it and grinned, when I saw the face iced on the front of it. I looked at her.
“Is this a magic cookie, you have here?” I asked her.
“Theodore has been up most of the night trying to get you to a solid diet. He feels awful about the vitamin incident.” I laughed, as I picked up the cookie. I looked at her.
“The ‘vitamin incident’… is that what he is calling it?” I asked her, as I sniffed the cookie.
“Yes… you know that everything is a ‘something’ with him. He just feels horrible about it, he worked all night to make a cookie for you.”
I grinned and took a bite. She leaned forward and I chewed. I, “mmm’d” and sh
e grinned.
“Good huh?” she asked me. I shrugged my shoulders.
“A little dry… don’t tell him,” I added quickly.
Regardless of Theodore’s mistake, I couldn’t be mad at him, he meant well.
I took another bite and held out my hands.
“See… I’m not turning colors,” I said. She smiled and stood up.
“Awesome, I’ll tell him to go ahead and cook with it then,” she said as she walked to my door. She looked back at me.
“Take a shower, k? Skip the bath,” she said.
I continued to chew on my cookie and gave her a thumbs up. She grinned and walked out of my room. I stopped chewing and spit the cookie into my hand. It tasted like sawdust, or what I would guessed sawdust would taste like. I should have been honest, but I didn’t want Theodore to exhaust himself for days on end, and he would.
I walked to my bathroom and brushed it off in the trashcan and Josh popped up, leaning around the door. I kind of flinched, not wanting to share my secret disgust with the cookie. He looked in the trashcan.
“Tasted like crap, huh?” he asked me. I nodded and smiled. He touched my face.
“Well, I understand not wanting to hurt his ‘feelings’… He gets upset about stuff, especially when he feels at fault.” I tilted my head at him.
Had Josh just had a moment of nice? He leaned back and yelled out at the top of his lungs.
“Oh God Rue… you’re right! This cookie tastes like crap!”
I shook my head at him and held my hands up in front of me.
“Why?” I asked him, in a whisper. Theodore flashed to my door and looked in.
“I have failed you little one,” he said as he walked towards me. I grinned.
“No… no, you have not… Josh is just being Josh. It wasn’t that bad, really,” I said, as I tried to push through the poo I was spewing. Theodore touched my head and looked sad.
“You hated it… Sawdust, really?” he said. I stepped back.
“Use your words Theodore… don’t just grab my head, okay?” I said, as I crossed my arms.
“I apologize love… Okay, I think I know where it went wrong. I will try again.”
I raised my hand and started to speak, but he was gone. I looked at Josh.
