Ghoul Kisses

by J. M Stoneback

  “You need to go back Sarah, Eric needs you,” Jessie says, sipping her sweet tea.

  “You know about Eric?” I ask, surprised.

  “Of course, I do. He is the first man you’ve loved… I mean creature,” she giggles at her own words.

  “No, I want to stay here with you, in paradise. I’m happy here. No more sorrow.”

  “Your mission is not complete,” she answers, Jessie looks the same as the last time I saw her; tan skin, jet black hair, and puffy cheeks. She looks more like dad, or that’s what mom used to say. I continue to stroke Rust as he licks my face. I miss him so much.

  “Which is?” I drag out the words.

  “You’ll figure it out soon enough,” Jessie murmurs, and tears fall down my cheek.

  “It’s not right, you died and I lived. Mom didn’t treat you right. She left you stuck raising me.” Pain constricts my throat, but I needed to say those words. Her hazel eyes narrow and she plays with her fishtail braided hair; she always wore her hair in that style.

  “You’re my baby sister, I don’t regret what I did for you. I’m mad at you for not going back to that hunky piece of ass, Eric,” she says through her southern accent.

  I’d rather stay here with her.

  “You need to go back to him. He needs you,” she says with a smile.

  “He also will help you complete your mission.”

  “What mission?”

  “You will find out soon.”

  White light ripples through the sky, and I cover my face to keep the light from blinding me.

  “Go!” Jessie yells.

  “Wait! Will I see you again?” I ask as tears glisten in my eyes.

  “Yes, in here,” she places her right hand on my chest.

  “Now go!” she screams. A white light engulfs me.

  My head hurts and my vision is fuzzy. I look at the ceiling. Something is in my throat. A lady pulls it out and I gag. Pain radiates in my skull. God, my head hurts like hell. I glance around the room. I’m in a hospital room. The medical equipment hums, and a nurse stares at me. She checks my blood pressure and my heartbeat.

  “Your vitals are fine. The doctor will be in here in a few minutes,” she says, leaving the room. Eric walks into the room. He’s lost weight since the last time I saw him. His beard and hair have grown out. He has dark circles under his eyes.

  “Why are you staring at me?” My voice is hoarse. He pulls me into a hug, planting kisses over my face as tears fall from his eyes.

  “Where am I?” I ask.

  “Swedish Medical Center.”

  “Do you remember what happened?” he asks.

  “I remember going to Vanessa’s condo, then her body went through a windshield,” I say, placing my palm over my mouth. Panic bubbles in my chest. “Oh My God, I have to check on her, I have to get to her, she’s dead.”

  “Vanessa is okay,” Eric assures me.

  “What? How?” I ask, shockingly.

  “Vampires have healing ability. They can’t die unless they are shot with a Mercury bullet or getting their head cut off,” he says. I feel so relieved.

  Eric places his fingers on my temples. Images flash through my mind. Pictures of Eric getting a call from Mac saying I’m dead, him punching Pete and choking Vanessa, and her confessing to Eric how she betrayed me. Eric removes his fingers.

  “Vanessa is a vampire, and Pete was her boyfriend,” Eric says.

  “What?” Tears well in my eyes.

  “Yeah, she played you,” he says. I can’t believe it. Words can’t describe how I feel.

  A short doctor with gray hair comes in with a chart in her hand.

  “Hey, Miss Clemons, I’m Dr. Banks. It’s good to see you awake and alert.” She scans the chart.

  “You were shot in the frontal lobe. Do you have any dizziness?”

  “No, just a really bad headache.”

  Shock flickers on her face.

  “I’ll have the nurse give you morphine. I’m surprised you are speaking well. The survival rate of a person getting shot in the head is 5 percent; you’re blessed.” Well, I knew that.

  “We’ll run some more tests to see if everything checks out, then you can be discharged.” She leaves the room.

  “Odessa healed you,” Eric says.

  I pat the side of the bed for him to sit. The mattress dips as he slings his arms around my waist. Eric’s lips crash to mine, taking my breath away. He’s never kissed me with such love and tenderness.

  “You knew didn’t you?” I ask. His right eyebrow shoots up.

  “Knew what?”

  “That Vanessa was a vampire. That’s why you wanted me to stay away from her.”

  He exhales before answering my question.

  “Yeah,” he says. Pete was under our nose and we didn’t know.

  “And you didn’t tell me?” I hear the hurt in my tone. Eric should have told me.

  “If I told you, would you have believed me?” He tilts my chin and his red eyes narrow.

  I think about his question before answering.

  “No, I wouldn’t have,” I answer truthfully. I exhale as a nurse comes in and adjusts my IV. She smiles warmly at me and Eric and leaves.

  Vanessa knocks on the door. My heart hammers as anger pings my chest. I never thought that she would betray me. Slowly, Vanessa walks into the room. I study her features; her skin is pale and her brown hair is dull. She doesn’t look like my best friend. This isn’t the woman that helped me through college, helped me through medical school, and kept all of my secrets. This person is a soulless monster. Vanessa stands next to the bed. I don’t trust her so I move as far away from her as I possibly can. Eric’s face displays anger, and I hear him grinding his teeth.

  “Can we have a minute?” I ask Eric. He brushes his lips to mine and he glares at Vanessa.

  “I’ll be by the door,” he says, exiting the room.

  “Pete was Adam, huh?” I ask her. She doesn’t answer, but guilt washes over her face.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper.

  Tears stream down her cheeks. She can cry all she wants, but I’m not showing her any sympathy.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, Sarah,” she says sadly. I want to accept her apology but I’m too hurt from what she did to me.

  “What were those red pills?”

  “Blood pills. I didn’t trust myself around you, so I started taking them during my transition.” The tension is so thick I can barely breathe.

  “I want answers; tell me everything,” I demand. She looks at me with sad eyes.

  “After you went missing, Pete helped me look for you. We started dating, then he went on and on about how he loved me. The night I met you at Black Bird we had sex, and he turned me into a vampire. I fell for his lies. I thought he was the good guy.” She shook her head at her own stupidity.

  “When we went to West Hollywood I was going to tell you, but Pete brainwashed me. He wanted our relationship to be a secret.”

  I don’t know what to say.

  “I knew Eric was King and a ghoul when I met him,” she continues. “I knew about the key and the book. Pete told me about it. I really did love him, you know?” she pauses. “Well at least, I thought I did.” I have no words left to say. A part of me wants to show remorse for her, but she could have told me, especially since she knew about Eric.

  “I’m sorry for betraying you. Please, forgive me,” she begs, using the back of her hand to wipe her tears. I can’t trust her and I won’t. Vanessa hurt me so deeply that I can’t forgive her. I can’t even stand the sight of her.

  “I don’t want to see you again, Vanessa,” my voice breaks with emotions. I turn away from her as tears burn my eyes. Our friendship will never be the same, so this is goodbye.

  “What can I do to make it up to you?” Vanessa pleads. She is making this harder than it needs to be. I want to get away from her.

  “Just go, Vanessa,” I whisper, not facing her.

  “I love you, Sarah
.” Before I can respond, she walks out of the room and speaks to Eric in the hallway. Exhaling, I fight back the lump in my throat. I can’t breathe. I want to scream at Vanessa to come back, tell her I didn’t mean what I said, but I just let the tears flow down my face. Eric walks back in and brushes his lips against my forehead. He doesn’t ask me about the conversation between Vanessa and me. I’m glad of it because I would fall apart.

  The doctor comes in and tells me that my tests checked out good and my brain injury is healed. They are calling it a miracle. Odessa’s powers worked wonders.

  “You ready to go home, love?” Eric’s voice is warm. Home? Right now, that’s where I want to be; with Eric, the man I love.

  “Yes,” I say as I kiss him on the lips.

  New Year’s Eve

  I lounge on a towel on the beach. The sun sets on the ocean, creating an orange and purple sky. The warm breeze tickles my face. Eric lies next to me. His sunglasses cover his charcoal eyes. I wear the tiny purple bikini he bought me the last time we were here. I wanted to get away from Mercer for a while after all I’d been through. I fell in love with a ghoul, helped Eric bring his race a good health care system—the building opens in January—and found out my best friend betrayed me to a bloodsucker. All because of a damn key. And speaking of the key, we are going to the Dark-Light Organization to steal the box so we can retrieve the map that leads us to the book. Even though I am opposed to stealing, I want to help Eric get his revenge on the vampires. To put the icing on the cake, I found out that I’m half witch. My mom kept secrets from me. Even though part of me wants to explore the magic side of myself and find out what I am capable of, I want to enjoy this piece of heaven with Eric. This has been the most bizarre year of my life. Eric slides the sunglasses on top of his head and leans over, brushing his soft lips against mine. The way he is looking at me makes me want to drag him to the hotel and have my way with him.

  “Have I ever told you about my father and mother?” his voice is warm.

  I shake my head.

  “You never really talk about your parents.”

  I lay my head on his hot chest. His heartbeat is slow and steady, and he smells like Old Spice Fiji.

  “My parents were deeply in love,” he pauses for a second. “It was like the fairy tale shit you see on television. I remember when I was growing up my father would take my mother on trips around the world celebrating their anniversary.” He looks like he is in deep thought.

  “Back then, the law was the parents picked the mate for their young. But my grandfather didn’t pick my mom for my dad. My dad fought with my grandfather to be with my mom. After a while, Granddad caved and let them bond. When I was seventeen years old, I used to fuck a lot of different females—this before my father died—and he sat me down and told me to run the kingdom based on love. Not greed, not money, but love. I looked at him like he was crazy and he went on to say, “Your mother loves our race. She is passionate about helping others. And, I want you to find someone who is just as passionate about helping the race.” It didn’t make sense at first because Nicholas was supposed to run the kingdom, but Dad put David and me in charge too.” His eyes grow soft and he tenses. “When I met you, I understood what he was saying. You’re the kind of person she was - selfless and passionate. My father loved my mother, right until her dying breath. He sacrificed his life for her before the vampires killed him.” I sense profound sorrow from Eric as he tells the story.

  “I always wanted to love a female the way my father loved my mom.” He looks at me through hooded eyes.

  “And I think I found her.” I smile at his words as butterflies flutter in my belly. He cups my chin and kisses me with passion and desire. His words melt my soul.

  “You’re wonderful. You know that, right?” I grin like a schoolgirl. He smiles and kisses me again.

  “I have a surprise for you,” he says as he pulls me to my feet.

  A little while later, we walk into a tattoo parlor. The building puts off an antiseptic scent. The people are chill and welcoming. Eric tells me to wait in the lobby, and he makes his way to the counter. A guy greets me.

  “You’re King Eric’s mate?” His voice is husky.

  I nod as he kisses my hand. He is covered in tattoos. He wears swim shorts and a white t-shirt, and his dark brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail.

  “My name is Sarah.”

  “I’m Lee. It’s good to meet you.” His eyes glow bright red. Eric hands me a book of different tattoos. I scan through it, but nothing in it catches my eye.

  “Pick what you want,” he orders as he sits next to me in the black chair.

  “Whatever you get I’ll get,” Eric says.

  “If I get a penis on my scar, you will get it, too?” I joke. He looks at me in horror, I bite back my laughter.

  “I’m joking Eric. You should see your face,” I say, handing him back the book.

  I whisper in Lee’s ear what I want, and we follow him to a sterile room.

  A needle gun is in his hand as he ushers me to lie on the table.

  “Lie down, doll,” he says. Nervously, I lie back on the table and I hold out my right wrist. Lee dips the needle in black ink and the gun buzzes to life. The needle digs into my wrist. It is painful; it feels like thousands of bees stinging my skin. I close my eyes. How the hell do people come back for more tattoos?

  When Lee stops, I lift up my wrist and stare at the word Home. “It’s beautiful, thank you,” I whisper.

  “No problem, baby girl. King Eric, your turn,” he says, strapping a bandage over my burning wrist before Eric can sneak a peek.

  He gives me a sheet of paper on how to clean the tattoo, and I tuck it in my purse.

  I jump off the table and Eric gets on. Lee loads up a fresh needle and starts to work on his right wrist.

  “This better not be a dick, Sarah,” he says.

  “Oh, shut up,” I say. Once Lee is done working on Eric’s tattoo, he shows him the word.

  “Home,” Eric says. He smiles. He knows what it means and how powerful the words are to us. I asked for the tattoo because I recall Eric saying home is where the heart is. I wanted to get a tattoo that means something to both of us. I will choose another day to get my scar covered up. To be honest, I’m not ready to let go of Jessie. If I get a cover-up tattoo, it would be me moving on. Death affects us in so many ways. When you want to move on from the person you mourn, it feels like you are trying to forget about them. And I can’t forget about Jessie. She is the reason why I am alive today.

  Eric stands up from the table, fishes for his wallet from his back pocket, and pays for the tattoos. Lee doesn’t bandage Eric’s wrist; his tattoo will heal in a matter of seconds.

  Our fingers intertwine as we leave the parlor. We have a party to attend in an hour on the beach, so we can count down to New Years. I can’t wait until next year to see what it holds for us. I’m ready to leave this year behind and start a new life with Eric. I know we will have bumps in our relationship, but I’m ready to be with Eric. Home is where the heart is.

  A Note from the Author

  Thank- you for reading Ghoul Kisses Book One.

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  I would like to thank, my wonderful husband and my littlest sister for support. Thank you for listening and encouraging me, even when I wanted to give up. You guys are the best, and I love you.

  Jeanette Stoneback lives in Georgia, with her two boys and her husband. Her hobbies consist of reading, playing video Games, and spending time with her family.

 

 

 
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