Ghoul Kisses

by J. M Stoneback

“From now on, I’ll be looking after Sarah. I will be bringing her meals and making sure she has everything. You are relieved from duty,” he says through gritted teeth.

  “Yes, sire,” she says. I didn’t want to see Eric every day! Why is he being difficult? This is going to be the most unpleasant stay I’ve ever experienced in my life.

  I open Sarah’s bedroom door; she’s bent over, rummaging through her drawer. Her black lace panties are hugging her ass, causing my dick to ache in my jeans, which makes me forget why I came in here in the first place. Maybe, if I fuck her really well, she will cooperate. She turns around and sees me, her face etched with horror, her cheeks staining red.

  “What the hell? Eric!” Sarah’s beautiful green eyes grow wide; I strain to keep my eyes on her smooth face, ignoring the fact that I want to bend her over the bed and slide inside her. What I wouldn’t do to that pretty body of hers…

  “How long have you been standing there?” She snatches the colorful blanket from the bed, covering her petite body.

  Long enough for me to admire your beautiful body. “Not long,” I lie.

  Sarah snatches her clothes from the chair and rushes to the bathroom. I remove the dirty sheets from her bed and replace them with clean ones. She comes from the bathroom wearing a sweater and black pants, her hair pulled into a messy knot. She’s avoiding eye contact with me. The last two weeks, I’ll come in, set her food on the dresser and make my way to the chair by the bed. She lies in bed, grabbing the remote from the nightstand, and puts on a show called Grey’s Anatomy. I’m assuming this is her favorite show, because she binges on it. We pretend we don’t exist to each other by not speaking. I’ll check my e-mail and play Angry Birds on my phone. Sarah clicks the volume down on the television as she tucks her legs under her butt.

  “I wish I was like Christina, and could have a hot doctor fall in love with me,” she says sweetly.

  Is this her way of trying to make conversation? I ignore her.

  “Do you watch television?” she asks, tilting her head back on the headboard.

  “Does porn count as watching television?” Maybe that will shut her up. She stares at me in surprise.

  “I guess so. Is that all you watch?” Sarah asks. I set my phone down on my lap.

  “No.”

  “What do you like to watch?” she inquires. You naked on the bed underneath me.

  “Horror movies.”

  “I’m too chicken shit to watch that kind of stuff,” Sarah says softly. I avert my eyes back to my screen.

  “What’s up with your eyes?”

  “Huh?” I look up at her again.

  “Your eyes are bright red, are you wearing contacts?” she asks.

  “Yeah,” I lie. Our eyes turn red to appear as a threat to other creatures.

  She goes back to watching television and switches to another show called House. I actually like that show, Grey’s Anatomy is garbage.

  “How did you pay for this mansion? Are you a pimp?” she asks.

  Sometimes, this human asks the strangest things.

  “A pimp?” I raise my eyebrow.

  “Yeah, someone who hires women to sleep with men for cash, Kate refers to you as a King,” she informs. I feel insulted. She thinks that little of me? I gaze into her green eyes. She is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Quickly, I look away and glance out the window, watching a bluebird sit on a branch.

  “No.”

  “How do you pay for everything?”

  “With money,” I answer, a hint of sarcasm in my tone. This babysitting shit is annoying, why can’t Sarah cooperate? I had one of my warriors fill my spot in the search for the leech who ambushed Sarah.

  Time passes slowly. I peer at my watch, and it is time for the last meal. I stand up from the chair and turn off the television. Sarah is asleep. I head downstairs and sit at the table in the eating area. Nicholas wears a black suit with a red tie. He still wants to keep up with the traditions that we had back home; dressing up for every dinner.

  “Have you talked to the human about the book?” he asks, sitting across from me. A servant pours me a glass of water.

  “She doesn’t believe in magic,” I answer truthfully. Sarah treats me differently. I’m used to females throwing themselves at me, but this human is unaffected by my charms and clearly wants nothing to do with me. I thought by now, we would be having sex, but it’s not going to happen. I sip my water and set the glass back down on the table. My frustration makes it taste stagnant on my tongue. Odessa–David’s mate—sits next to me. She waves her hand over the dead rose in the center of the table. The plant immediately springs to life, the wilting flower’s bright red petals restored to their former luster. Odessa can bring anything back to life. Back at home, she was a warrior, trained to use her powers to aid the ghouls. She bonded with David before we moved here.

  “There. That’s much better,” Odessa says, smoothing out her long black dress. Her shiny blue hair falls in a curtain down her back.

  “Are you and the human getting along?” she asks, her gray eyes curious. Odessa wants Sarah to come out of her shell, so she can be of help to our kind. She thinks that Sarah can help her heal some of the ghouls; use human technology to help our kind thrive. I’m not sure if Nicholas would be okay with that, when he insists that I don’t tell her about our world. Odessa has been trying to convince Nicholas to give his permission but has had no luck so far. He is a stubborn bastard. I ignore her question. The butler sets the plate of raw meat on the table. Cutting into the raw steak, I place it in my mouth. The meat is a little tough.

  “Where is David?” I ask between bites.

  “He went to Venice,” she says, before taking the last bite of her food.

  After finishing up the last meal, I carry a tray of food to Sarah’s room. I knock on the door and she tells me to come in. When I open the door, she is dressed in a black T-shirt, and her curly hair is damp. She lies in bed with the television volume on low.

  “You can bring the plate here, please? I am hungry.” I place the plate on her lap. Normally, she doesn’t touch the food I bring her.

  “Do you need anything?” I ask. She stuffs her face with human food, obviously too starved to continue her childish fasting. The smell makes me want to gag. How can she eat this shit? She eats green plants and a cooked steak; you actually have to cook their meat. I read on the internet, if humans eat raw food, it can poison them and they could die. She shakes her head in answer to my question but is too busy chewing to answer verbally. After she finishes her plate, she sets it on the nightstand.

  “Thank you,” she murmurs, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. Rising, she moves directly in front of me and gazes into my eyes.

  “You’re welcome,” I say. What has caused Sarah to have a change of heart? I take a step back; I don’t want to get any closer to her. Afraid I might do something dumb like kiss her pink lips.

  “Thank you for saving my life,” she pauses for a moment, taking deep breaths. “I’m sorry for throwing hot tea on you,” I nod my head to let her know I accept her apology.

  “Do you like to read?” I ask.

  “Yeah.” Her eyes twinkle.

  “I have two libraries; you are welcome to use either.” Sarah goes to the closet and puts on a pair of tennis shoes.

  “Thank you. That would be a great way to pass time while I’m here.” As we make our way down the hall, she keeps her pace behind me, and I find myself sneaking little glances at her. Sarah keeps her head down as if she is deep in thought.

  Once we make it to the library, she gazes around in awe. Odessa designed it. Personally, I’ve always found it too girly; with flowers on every table, and purple walls. It smells like a damn floral shop in here.

  “Your library is pretty. I’ve never seen a glass roof before,” she says softly. You can see the night sky through the ceiling. Sometimes, I sit on the roof to relax and look at the stars.

  “What do you like to read?” I question.

&
nbsp; “Do you have any of James Patterson’s books?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll be right back,” I answer. Sarah sits at the glass table as I disappear into the P section. I don’t know who James Patterson is, because I haven’t caught up with modern fiction. Once I find his books, I grab a pile and set it in front of Sarah. Her eyes widen as her mouth drops open.

  “You can have them, all of them. I’ll just restock,” She picks up the book titled Murder House and flips through it with a smile.

  “Thank you.” Her tone is gentle.

  My phone chimes with a message, and I tap the envelope icon. It’s from Jack.

  Meet me at the Warrior station in ten minutes. Got updates on the leech who attacked the human.

  C U there.

  I hit the send button.

  “I have to go, something came up,” I say.

  “How do I get back to my room?”

  She can’t carry the stack of books to her room, so I grab all fifteen books and gesture for her to follow me back the way we came.

  After we arrive at her room, I set the pile of books on her nightstand. I make my way back to the door and turn to watch Sarah crawl into bed with a book in her hand.

  With a strange sense of pride at having made her happy, I close the door behind me and head to the warrior training room.

  I don’t understand Sarah’s behavior; she went from being an uncooperative bitch to sweet and compliant, which was making it harder for me to not like her. Ever since I found her on Alki beach, my mind has been consumed with her. What the fuck is happening to me? I had to keep my distance from her. My brothers wouldn’t accept Sarah as my mate, especially Nicholas.

  I open the door to the training room, and Jack is teaching a group of young warriors. When Jack sees me, he dismisses the class and the Warriors chat as they march to the locker room. I shake Jack’s hand. Jack is a half-ghoul. His mother is human, and his dad is a ghoul. Jack has dark skin with black dreadlocks. His right eye is crimson and his left is dark brown. That is how we differentiate between a half-ghoul and a full ghoul. We consider Jack a lucky son of a bitch because his human mother survived giving birth to him. It’s very rare that ghouls and humans can have a young. Jack can control currents of electricity, and is also a bit of a hacker.

  “So what have you heard?” I ask.

  “We found where Pete and his minions live. We have to ambush them,” Jack answers.

  I’m not ready to find Pete. I want Sarah to stay here, not because she might take the key from us, but because I want to know more about her. A female has never captured my attention in this way. When it came to bonding, I’d decided long ago that it wasn’t for me because I was focused on finding the Zenith book, and rebuilding my kingdom; far more important than finding a mate. Sex is all I need to get by and I’ve fucked my way through the centuries without a second thought. But, with Sarah it is different. I feel a connection with her. Fuck. I definitely have to keep my distance, it’s a tug of war inside me and I’m not sure which side I want to win out in the end. Get to know her, don’t get to know her. Be a dick or don’t be a dick.

  “Where is the hideout?” I ask calmly.

  “It’s in Seattle, not too far from where the human lives. He’s been keeping an eye on her place,” Jack answers. I stride to the supply room, grabbing a few Uzis and loading them with Mercury bullets—specially forged to kill vampires. Once I finish loading my guns, I tuck them in my holster and head outside to my black SUV, ready to take these bastards out once and for all.

  Finishing up Murder House, I toss the book on the bed and stare at the ceiling. Since I’m going to be stuck here with Eric, I’ve decided to make my stay here easier on everyone; especially him. I shouldn’t have thrown tea in his face. I could have really hurt him. Those words echo again and again in my head, “are all humans this ungrateful?” It made me see it from his point of view. He didn’t have to save me from Pete, so the least I can do is help him find this so-called “magical book.” I still don’t believe in vampires, though, and I still think he is crazy, but I have a few doctors I can refer him to once this is all over. I’m glad he offered me the books from the library, because I don’t want to watch television all day. When Eric came in here to sit with me, I would watch him—waiting for him to rape me or introduce me to a man for sex. When he would snap at me, I figured he didn’t want to be stuck babysitting me. Before he left, I should have asked him about the psychological thriller section; that’s what I love to read. I tried to get into romance novels, but I couldn’t deal with reading about guys being overly possessive and controlling. I don’t understand how women think that’s attractive.

  Eric barges in, his face etched with worry. His black shirt is covered in dried blood, and I instinctively rush to him. Oh God! I hope he’s not hurt.

  “What happened?” I ask, trying to keep calm.

  “My warrior has been shot in the heart and I need you to remove the bullet,” he gasps, clearly fighting for composure as he hurries me out the door.

  I haven’t performed heart surgery since my clinical at UW Medical School, but I want to help, I owe him that much for saving my life. Eric escorts me to a room with out-of-date medical equipment. A man with pretty brown skin lies on a metal table, bleeding profusely from a nasty chest wound. I grip the hair bow from my wrist and tie my hair into a ponytail, ready to jump into action. My gaze darts around the room as I look for the necessary tools, but I don’t see any.

  “Where are the surgical instruments?” I ask Eric.

  “We don’t require any,” he answers.

  “How will I remove the bullet if I don’t have the right tools?”

  He hands me a kitchen knife. Is he insane? I could kill the poor guy. When I give him a doubtful look, he points impatiently to his injured friend and I see the worry in his eyes, which galvanizes me into action. With shaking hands, I cut into the center of the warrior’s flesh, and dark blood oozes out of his skin.

  “I need a saw!” My eyes are playing tricks on me because Eric moves with impossible speed. A second later, he brings me an electrical saw. He plugs it into the socket and hands it to me. I hit the start button, the blade roars to life, hurting my ears. Opening the chest cavity, I cannot believe what I am seeing. The heart is twice as big as a human heart; instead of four chambers like a normal heart, it has eight. It beats at a slow and steady pace, seemingly unaffected by the hunk of metal in its fleshy midst. I don’t understand how it is still working if it has a bullet in it. He shouldn’t be breathing.

  “Remove the bullet, he doesn’t have much time,” Eric says, snapping me out of my trance. I study every artery and quickly find it in the left ventricle. I cut into the heart and grasp the small bullet. It’s not like any bullet I have ever seen. Before I can close him up, he goes into arrest and his heart stops beating. Try as I might, I can’t get him back so I step away and drop my gaze to the floor, unable to tell Eric I failed to save his friend. Tears trickle down my cheeks; I always cry when I can’t save a patient. I set the bullet in the sink, and stitch up the small hole in the heart and his chest cavity. I turn on the faucet and dab soap on my hands trying to get rid of the blood. As I turn around, Eric leans against the wall with his arms crossed. My heart aches for him. I peer at the lifeless corpse.

  “I’m sorry, but he di—” Before I can finish my sentence, the guy’s eyes pop open, and he sits up glancing around the room. He was born with heterochromia iridium - two different colored eyes. His right eye is red, and the other one is dark brown. He yanks the stitches from his chest. The chest cavity is closed, like I never performed surgery; like the bullet never entered his body at all. I rush to the corner with my hands over my mouth. I can’t speak. I blink my eyes rapidly as I gape at the guy. What the hell did I just witness? There is no way in hell he should be alive. I watched his heart stop beating, felt it go still under my hands; he should be dead. Numbness covers my body.

  “Who is this lovely creature?” the guy asks in a smooth t
one.

  “You’re not normal,” My tone is low, incredulous and afraid.

  “Okay?” he says, jumping off the table. Eric strides towards me and the closer he comes, the faster my heart beats through my chest. My blood roars in my ears.

  “Are you okay?” Eric asks as he rubs my shoulder. I flinch. Am I okay? How could he ask me that after what I just witnessed? I have no idea how to respond to his ridiculous question. My mind swims with explanations, scrambling to make sense of what just happened and I can’t think straight.

  “You are a vampire,” I state.

  “No, we’re not,” the guy answers. Eric shoots him a cold stare.

  “Then what are you?” I demand. I need to know. I have to know for the sake of my sanity.

  “Get Sarah a cup of hot tea, Jack,” Eric murmurs. So his name is Jack. I was just elbow deep in Jack’s chest and now he’s scampering off to get me tea. Anxiety crawls at my throat, and I can barely breathe. Jack’s heart keeps popping up in my mind. I try to shake the memory out of my head.

  “Eric, I know you are not human, so tell me what you are,” I say again, this time my voice is stern. He fixes his mouth like he is going to say something but doesn’t. The miraculously recovered Jack returns with a cup in his right hand.

  “Here, drink this,” Jack says, giving me the cup. I couldn’t drink right now if my life depended on it, so I set it on the metal table.

  “Thanks, for stitching me up,” he says gently, holding out his hand. Reluctantly, I shake it. I’m still in shock from what I just witnessed.

  “My name is Jack,” He kisses my hand.

  Eric pins the two of us with a look of frustration.

  “Sarah, I’m going to walk you to your room,” Eric says to me before telling Jack, “I’ll meet you in the computer room.”

  As I walk with Eric in the hallway, he is silent—lost in deep thought. I have a million questions for him. What is he? Is he from a different planet? What other beings are out there? Am I sexually attracted to his human form? Or is his real form ugly? Maybe his looks are an illusion. I never believed in the paranormal world, but seeing an eight-chamber-heart opens a person up to new possibilities.