by Yvette Ford
“Hey, Ronnie, how you doing?” she whined to him, her voice so sweet, I felt a cavity coming on.
I took in her appearance. The color pink had thrown up on her entire body. A pink head band held her straight cold black, permed curls, back from her forehead. Pink and black dotted earrings dangled from her ears. A pink top that was cut too low and was too small hugged her rail thin figure, and she had matched it with a deep rose mini skirt and pink flip flops on her feet. Unlike my fingernails, hers appeared to be freshly done. The pink on her nails with flowers on every other nail glimmered with a gem in the center. Her toes were simply done in a French manicure. Each one of her friends was just as made up to perfection without a hair out of place.
I struck a pose, leaning into one hip and crossing my arms over my chest, mostly to hide the chipping paint that had started on my own nails. On top of that, the night before I had slammed my fingertip in the closet door and chipped one nail. It was wrapped in a Band-Aid, but I didn’t want Butterfly to see it.
“Buzz off, Bee,” I told her, knowing it irritated her when I messed up her name. “We’re just having a good time and don’t need the air polluted with your cheap perfume.”
Her eyes grew round. “For your information, this is—”
I yawned and tapped a fist to my lips. “Tell it to someone who gives a crap, Black Barbie.”
“What did you say to me?”
I bumped her aside and took Ronnie by the arm. He was looking daze-eyed again with a pretty girl nearby, although I hated admitting Butterfly was anything but a creature from the underworld. Then again, maybe she was underneath all the makeup. One could only hope.
When we were just a few feet past the girls, Butterfly called out. “Oh, hey, Ronnie?”
He almost tore my arm off turning around. “Yeah?”
She sauntered up, casting me a look that said I was an amateur and I’d never beat her at anything. She could have my best friend if she wanted him. A half second after that, her gaze dropped to my exposed fingers on Ronnie’s arm, and she cringed. I dug my nails in Ronnie’s flesh. He cried out and wrenched free of my hold.
Butterfly rested a hand on his chest. “I am going to this stupid thing my parents are dragging me to next Saturday, and I have to buy a dress. I was wondering if you could help me.”
Ronnie blinked. “What could I do?”
He was such an idiot. I resisted slapping him in the back of the head. I chewed my tongue to keep from telling him he wasn’t helping her with anything.
Butterfly giggled, grating on my nerves. “Stupid, you’ll tell me what looks good on me.”
I couldn’t help it. “Not much.” I pretended to study her figure. “Be sure to get something with strong straps over your shoulders.” That was a dig at how huge her boobs were, and how she should be careful or they’d break free. She was just like her mother, and I was just like mine, to my disgust.
The dig didn’t bother her. She had the nerve to plump the things. “I know, right?”
Ronnie almost drooled. I hate boys.
“Yeah, I can help,” he offered. And just like that, I was sitting alone scoffing down pizza in a second rate pizza shop while my best friend had abandoned me to run behind Butterfly. The thing that burned me up was that she didn’t really want him. She had always hated me, and the feeling was mutual. Whatever she could do to one up me, she did it, which didn’t make sense because from where I was standing, she had all the bonuses. I had zip.
Butterfly’s mother was a lawyer. She didn’t need a man to take care of her, as both of them liked to preach to anybody who would listen. That was a good thing I guess since Butterfly’s father had run off when she was two, or so I’d heard when I was sitting on the porch with my mother, while she gossiped with the neighbors. Since then, Butterfly’d had five stepfathers, and none of them stuck it out for more than a few months.
My mother, on the other hand, had only been with my father, and claimed she’d never let another man break her heart like he did. I figured she still loved him a lot, and from those warm fuzzy experiences around me, I decided I was never getting married. But damn, I wanted a boyfriend—just once.
I shoved the last of my pizza away, unable to eat anymore. Annoyance and boredom set in. I wondered if I should see a movie alone but remembered that I had no more money, and I’d seen everything interesting. Trying on clothes with no one to chat with was a bore, and for the millionth time, I considered getting a girl friend. A sudden fear that things were changing between Ronnie and me came rushing over me, and tears filled my eyes. I blinked them away, deciding I was an idiot and stood to throw my trash away.
“Forget him.”
I gasped and spun this way and that, looking for who had spoken in my head. In the small restaurant, there were only three other customers—one woman with her little boy, and a man who looked like he was about ready to pass out. His clothes were tattered, his facial hair out of control, and he rocked side to side like he was drunk. Probably was.
For whatever reason, I checked my watch. Time had flown by. It was already sundown, and that made me nervous. If the sun had passed out of sight, then the vampires could return. All at once, the appeal of my favorite place had fizzled, and I wanted to go home. I left the pizza joint in a hurry and flipped open my phone. I intended to tell Ronnie I was leaving. He’d told me he would spend only one hour with Butterfly, but it had been over two.
I waited through four rings before he picked up. “Ronnie?” I grumbled through the phone at the same time I spotted Blake leaning against the mall directory. He was dressed again in all black and purple clothing, but tonight he wore shorts so that his pale muscled legs from the knee down were bare. I must have been looking a little too long because when I refocused on his face, he winked and stuck out his pierced tongue. I rolled my eyes at him.
Ronnie was calling out in my ear. “Hey, Tanesha, you okay? Tanesha!”
Thinking about giving him a little payback for dropping me for that dirty Butterfly, I snapped my phone closed and started walking over to Blake who seemed in no hurry to meet me or go anywhere else in the mall. I began to wonder if he had somehow tracked me and had come there to see me. Something inside wished it had been Lorcan instead, but I hadn’t seen him since that time at the back of the grocery store. I had to admit I missed him. Yeah right, like we had anything going.
Before I could reach Blake, Ronnie stepped in front of me, blocking my view of him. I stopped short so I wouldn’t careen into his chest. “What in the world are you doing, Ronnie?” I frowned at him. “And where did you come from?” Looking around for Miss Thing and her perfumed shadows, I waited for Ronnie to answer.
When he didn’t answer, I faced him again, and it was like he put on a show just for me. That was weird. I had known Ronnie forever, and I darn sure knew when he was lying to me. Like now. He started huffing and puffing like he’d been running, but I knew for a fact that he wasn’t out of breath when he charged in front of me.
He held a hand to his chest with too much drama. “I ran down here. I thought you were leaving without me. Had to catch up.”
I stared at him, trying to figure out what his game was, but he just blinked right back at me until I turned away. “Whatever.”
When I moved around him I noticed that Blake was gone. Searching the area did nothing. He was nowhere in sight. This was another lost chance to get to know all about vampires, and to ask some questions about Lorcan, and it was all Ronnie’s fault—again. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was up to something, like he wanted to keep me from knowing the truth. But that was ridiculous. He didn’t even believe me that first night when I said Lorcan was biting me. No, wait. He had admitted it later. Then again, that could have been because I said it. I slapped my forehead and groaned. Now I was all confused. Nothing seemed to make sense. Two weeks ago none of this nonsense was real. It probably still wasn’t. Ronnie could be in on this elaborate joke to trick me, but how long would they carry it out? Maybe I shou
ld play along.
My head began to pound, and I decided whatever else I did, I was going home and throw myself into my bed. I wasn’t going to get up until next year.
* * * *
A taste filled my mouth, similar to what I imagined sucking pennies would be like. Something thick lay on my tongue, and although my mind told me to spit it out, I couldn’t. Not that it tasted good exactly, but that I really couldn’t. I needed it. I wanted it. My mind was cloudy, and I had trouble focusing on where I was and what I was doing. Somewhere in the fog I was aware that a finger ran down my cheek and slipped beneath my chin to lift it, forcing me to take in more of the liquid.
“Good girl,” someone whispered.
I tried to raise my hand to push whoever it was away, but I couldn’t move. I was trapped in his spell, his...what? I searched my mind for the answer.
“Glamour.”
I began to shake, willing my eyes to open, but they wouldn’t obey. “Wh-Who is that?” I called out in my head. No one answered that time. This had been going on for a while. I had at last come to the realization that someone or more than one had been whispering things in my head at different times.
When I had trouble figuring out what to do, the answer came. Not like it was my own brain finding a solution, but like someone else was lurking inside there, spying on my thoughts. I didn’t appreciate it one bit. I had always liked the fact that I could escape into my own thoughts because it was for sure my mother and Ronnie never let me have a moment to myself. My mother had told me flat out that my room was still a part of her house, and if I wanted a locked door, I could get my own place. That had pissed me off, but what was I going to do? Move? I didn’t even have a job yet.
As for Ronnie, well he acted like we had to spend twenty-four seven together. I never minded too much because I didn’t have any other friends, and well I liked the boy. I just needed some time by myself every now and then, like when I was PMSing. He didn’t get the concept.
After a few more mouthfuls of blood—I had figured out what it was and was grossed out by my enjoyment of it—the pressure on my head eased. Whoever had been controlling me, keeping me still and forcing me to drink, had let me go. I was still in and out of it but willed my eyes to open. I lay in my bed, blinking and taking in the darkness. While I couldn’t move my head or my arms and legs, I could roll my eyes left and right to see if there was anyone there.
I knew, like I knew a lot of things I shouldn’t, that the shadow in the corner by the window was alive. It was thicker and heavier than the rest although it didn’t move. My heart raced. I swallowed a few times and licked my lips, drawing a few leftover drops of blood into my mouth. Was I dead now? I wanted to cry, to scream, but my body wouldn’t react.
“Who are you?” I think I said it out loud, but I wasn’t sure.
“You can see me?” he asked. I recognized his voice. It was Lorcan. Now my heart did a flip. I wanted to check my hair and put my hand up to test my breath. Stupid! He was trying to kill me, and I was more interested in knowing if he thought I was pretty.
“You’re right there. By the window.” I managed to get a finger moving and aimed it in the direction I meant. Lorcan chuckled. I imagined his beautiful even teeth and wondered if the fangs hung down right now. He was dangerous, that was for sure, but I was drawn to him. I wanted him to stay. “You did something to me. You’ve been here before, in my room, haven’t you?”
He didn’t answer at first, and I clenched both my fists by my sides. A wave of energy passed over my head and slammed the wall where he was. He gasped, and the shadow shifted until it gained color. The next thing I know he was there in the flesh, more sexy than I remembered.
“I gave you strength,” he told me. “Feeding you my blood.”
I screeched. “What?”
“I was taking your blood each time I met you. If I didn’t replace it, you would have collapsed.”
The horror and anger mingled in me enough to allow me to get control. I sat up and swung my feet to the floor, but a wave of dizziness came over me. I grabbed my head and realized my stupid scarf holding my wrap in place had slipped off somewhere. He must think I looked a trip. When the memory of his words washed over me again, I pushed my physical appearance out of my head.
“It was only twice, right?” I asked him, reviewing it in my mind. “Once in the back yard, once at the grocery store.”
“More.”
My hands shook so hard I looked like I was jumped up on twenty cups of strong coffee. I fumbled on the floor for my purse, and inside I found my pepper spray. I held it up to him threateningly. “Get the hell out of here. Right now, and don’t come back.”
He grinned and started walking toward me. “You don’t want that.”
“I mean it! Get out!” I stood up and slid along the side of the bed until I had cleared it, and then I inched back until I was heading toward the door still facing him. My arm began to ache holding the tiny bottle out. I felt dumb, but I couldn’t back down now.
He kept coming.
“I said get out.”
“No.” He stopped in front of me with the bottle pressed against his chest. To prove I was brave, I squirted out some of the liquid, and a tiny wet circle formed on his shirt. If I had any real guts I would have aimed at his smug face and drenched those eyes that made me want to jump in his arms.
He laughed, tugged the tiny bottle from my limp fingers, and tossed it over his shoulder. “You don’t want me to leave.”
I backed up some more until I hit the door. He crowded me. I gulped. “My mother is in the next room. If she knew I had a boy in my room...I could scream this house down...”
“Do you want to know, how I know, you don’t want me to leave?” He caught hold of a lock of my hair, but I slapped his hand away. It looked bad enough. He chuckled and dipped his head down until his nose touched mine. I was so done right then. “I know you don’t want me to leave because your shield was down.”
“Shield? What the heck are you talking about?”
“Didn’t you know?” He frowned then lowered his head to kiss me. The touch of his lips was too quick. He spun away and walked back toward the window. Like I was a robot trained to follow, I stumbled along, stopped to slip my bare feet into flip-flops and was soon steps behind him.
“There is a shield of protection around you at all times, or most of the time. No one gets close to you except you let them, or...someone else does.”
“Someone else? What’s with the riddles, bloodsucker? If you’re trying to say something you need to just come on out with it. How can I have protection around me? I’m not magic or whatever. I’m no one special. And who else would be able to protect or unprotect me?”
He shrugged and stepped up onto the windowsill like we weren’t on the second floor. “It’s stuffy in here. Come out for a walk with me.” He held out his hand, and although my mind cringed at the thought, I found myself resting my palm in his. I was in some serious trouble if he decided to rip out my throat while we were away from my house. Then again, he could have done it right here. Maybe I was already dead.
“You’re not dead...yet.”
I turned away to run, but he caught me by the shoulders and spun me around. I closed my eyes, but he tightened his hold. “Open your yes, Tanesha.”
“No, you’re not glamouring me.”
“Do you think I can’t do it unless I look into your eyes? That’s Hollywood.” He ran a thumb over my lips, and I looked up at him. He winked at me, and I felt it, that pull, that control fall over my head like melted butter.
“You lied,” I whispered as he guided me onto the windowsill, grabbed me around the waist, and propelled us both over the ledge to plunge to the ground. I thought I was going to give up the ghost right there, but I survived. Lorcan touched down first with me digging my fingers into his chest. He didn’t even flinch. After a few minutes, I calmed enough to let go, and he stepped back.
“See, that wasn’t so bad.”
“
I hate you.”
He took my hand with a smirk spread over his full, deep rose lips, and we started walking down the yard to the alley. I must have lost my mind. It was the middle of the night. If my mother knew I was out here, she’d beat me black and blue and ground me until I was twenty-five. I had never snuck out of the house, except that one time last year to go to a party. I got away with it, but only because the party had turned out to be lame, and Ronnie had snuck out to pick me up when my ride wanted to stay. Ronnie had been mad at me for weeks for not including him in my plan. I had promised to include him if ever I did something crazy like that again, but it really didn’t interest me. Until now.
I couldn’t call Ronnie to join me and Lorcan. I just couldn’t. I wanted this time all to myself, which was probably a huge mistake.
Lorcan rested a hand over his chest. “You break my heart.”
I gave him a doubtful look. “Does it beat?”
