by Gayla Twist
When we entered the theater lobby, the smell of popcorn was in the air. I suddenly realized something; I had been so focused on acquiring and drinking blood that I had completely forgotten about mortal food. And suddenly I desperately wanted to eat. Tommy must have noticed me drooling as I gaze in the direction of the snack bar because he asked, “Did you want to get something?” He looked a little uncomfortable and I could tell he was thinking about the contents of his wallet.
I almost said, “You paid for the tickets so I’ll get the popcorn,” or something like that. But then I quickly remembered that the whole point of our date was for me to make Tommy miserable while also falling madly in love with me. So instead I smiled and said, “I would kill for a tub of popcorn. And maybe some Sno-Caps.”
“Oh… kay.” Tommy gave me a pained smile as we got in line for the concession stand.
The popcorn smelled so good that I couldn’t wait to toss a handful into my mouth. But as soon as I did, I regretted it. The kernels felt like Styrofoam and tasted like cardboard. I grabbed a coke to try to wash it down, but that was even worse. It was like drinking hydrogen peroxide or something, all burning and gross. There was no way I could swallow any of it. I had to spit it out into one of the lobby trash cans.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy asked.
“Nothing.” I assured him. “I just bit my tongue.”
I was very disappointed and a little depressed. Movie popcorn used to be one of my favorite treats. And I still craved popcorn in theory, but actually trying to eat it was disgusting. It was kind of like a phantom limb for food memory. I wondered if I was going to spend eternity craving foods that I couldn’t eat. That would definitely suck. I was going to have to ask Dorian about it, if I ever got a chance to see him again.
I tried to turn my thoughts away from Dorian. I would just have to practice not loving him and eventually I would learn to not love him. Or at least I hoped I would learn. It seemed like a long, miserable road, but it was apparently the only road available to me.
“Come on,” Tommy said, taking my hand. “Let’s grab our seats before all the good ones are gone.”
Apparently there weren’t a ton of things for teenagers to do in small-town Ohio. It seemed like half of our high school class was in the theater. And most of them seemed to be whispering about Tommy and me.
“There they are,” I heard one girl say.
Her friend responded with, “Are they together? What happened to Sheila?”
“It’s a little thing called karma,” the first girl said with a gleeful laugh.
So I wasn’t the only person at Tiburon High who wanted to shove Sheila’s head in a bucket. That made me feel a little better.
“Who’s that chick?” I heard some guy ask.
“No idea, dude,” his buddy said in reply. “But I bet you she’s from out of town.”
“She’d have to be.”
Then there were a couple of boys trying to get Tommy’s attention. “Dude! Hey Sherman. Tommy,” they kept calling. I could tell my date was doing his best to ignore them.
Finally one of his buddies crossed the line by calling out, “Hey Tommy. You gonna hit that tonight or what?”
I immediately wanted to tear the guy’s throat out. But much to my surprise, Tommy leapt to my defense. “Shut up, Lenny,” he snarled. “Don’t make me beat your ass.”
I couldn’t believe Tommy was defending me. Especially after the way he’d been so awful about showing everybody the blood stain on the back seat of his mother’s car. I had to wonder what I would have thought of Tommy if I didn’t already know him and this was our first date. Probably I would find him rather gallant. It made me understand how women could date men who were obviously jerks. The jerkiness was just being temporarily concealed from them, even though the rest of the world could see it.
By the time the movie was about to begin, the theater was packed. I was beginning to realize that being crammed into a room with a bunch of young mortals was a horrible mistake. I could no longer smell the popcorn or distract my brain with thoughts of avenging myself on Tommy. I could only smell all the fresh, healthy bodies and think about how delicious their blood must taste. I dug my fingernails into the armrests and tried to breathe through my mouth.
Chapter 14
Dorian
Getting rid of Ilona without having to bed her had proved to be quite the challenge. I didn’t want to reveal my feelings for Haley, but I knew I was definitely skating on thin ice with Ilona, no matter what I said.
No one enjoys being rejected, Ilona in particular. The more I resisted her, the more she became adamant that we should be together. At least for old-time sake, she insisted. I knew the smartest thing I could have done was just accommodate her. It was obvious she was testing me for some reason and I think that sleeping with her would have allowed me to ace the test. But I couldn’t. My body rebelled against the very idea. Even if I was willing to take her to my room just to get her out of my hair, I wasn't even clear if I could perform. At least in a way that Ilona would find satisfactory. I cursed the day I had ever courted her in the first place. That had been easily thirty years ago. But some vampires had long memories.
I wasn’t even convinced that Ilona was all that attracted to me. If memory served, she had first pursued my cousin Jessie. But he had rejected her and then she had turned her attentions to me. What a fool I was to give in to a momentary flash of lust. I’d even teased Jessie for his prudishness. But he was the smart one. Ilona didn’t have the best reputation for being rational, for lack of a better term. I was just arrogant enough to assume I could handle it. And I could, for a short amount of time, until her craziness had started to shine through. But now I knew Ilona too well to just casually sleep with her. And I was in love with Haley. Not to mention desperate to protect my scion. Ever single word out of Ilona’s mouth further convinced me that she was up to no good.
There had been an incident when Ilona and I had been together. A situation with a mortal that was very telling of the vampiress and her volatile personality. I’d been at Ilona’s place in New York. She was dressing for a party we were to attend that evening and I was sitting on her bed, paging through a mortal fashion magazine. There was a series of photos that all featured the same young woman. I idly commented to Ilona that I thought the girl had “a good look.” I didn’t say she was beautiful or attractive or anything. I just thought she had a strong presence for fashion work.
Ilona snatched the magazine out of my hand and glared at the images. “Is that the kind of mortal you go for?” she demanded. “She fills you with desire?”
“No,” I assured her. “I don’t go for any mortals. You know I prefer the undead.”
“Right.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Just as long as you remember that.”
It was about two weeks later that I noticed an article in the news reporting on an up-and-coming model who had been murdered in a rather gruesome fashion. The police had no leads and were asking members of the public to come forward if they knew anything. I did a double-take when I saw the poor dead girl’s photo. It was the young woman who I had pointed out to Ilona.
It could have been a coincidence. Vampires weren’t the only fiends in the world. But it was a little too much of a coincidence for comfort. After that I slowly, yet persistently put some distance between Ilona and myself. Eventually she became distracted by another man and ended our relationship.
I wish I’d thought of the model incident before I’d wandered home with Ilona the previous month. I was very caught up in my own misery at the time and obviously not thinking clearly. I wondered if sleeping with her would have made a difference.
The model’s death wasn’t actually all that uncommon. Ilona wouldn’t have been the first vampire to let jealousy of a mortal spiral into bloodshed. They were our food, after all. It was frequently a challenge not to think of them as chattel. At least for some vampires. I had never struggled with it that much, but I knew that wasn’t always the case. Each v
ampire was different. And Ilona was very much on the opposite end of the spectrum from me about a lot of things.
“I wonder what happened to Haley,” I said, frowning a little as the grandfather clock in the front hall chimed, announcing it was five in the morning.
“I hope she didn’t go overboard and kill her little snack,” Ilona said, her eyes starting to glow with the mere thought that Haley might be in trouble. “Or even worse, what if someone has discovered her?” she asked, putting her hand up to her mouth as if the idea was just too horrible to contemplate.
“I’m sure she fine,” I said, like it was no big deal. “Maybe she felt like lingering over her meal. Or even decided to go back to his place.”
“And that wouldn’t bother you?” Ilona asked, her eyes scrutinizing me through her long lashes.
I shrugged. “Why should it? As long as she’s careful.” I stretched my arms and feigned suppressing a yawn. “It is getting rather late, though.” I said, getting to my feet. “I appreciate you dropping by. It’s been delightful having time to chat. Would you like some AB negative for the road?” It wasn’t a very subtle hint, but there seemed no other way to get her out of the castle.
“It is rather late,” the vampiress said, not budging from her chair. “I’m not even sure I have time to fly back to my lodgings.”
“Good point.” Rather than getting sucked into asking her where she was staying and then becoming obligated to having to invite her to spend the day at the castle, I grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet. “I guess you’d better hurry, then,” I insisted, bustling her to the door. “There’s no reason to meet the dawn just because you’ve spent too long chatting with an old friend.”
I shamefully shoved her out the front door. “It was so nice catching up with you, Ilona,” I told her. “Enjoy the rest of your journey.”
She was about to say something. I had no idea what it was, but I wasn’t about to wait and find out. I gave a cheery little wave and called, “Sleep well,” before firmly shut the door, even though she was scarcely over the threshold. My behavior wasn’t very gallant. Under normal circumstances I would have insisted that she stay as my guest. But I really didn’t want her to continue prying into my life. And I definitely didn’t want to sleep with her. Sometimes extenuating circumstances dictated ungentlemanly behavior. I would have to try not to make it a habit.
That dawn I didn’t go to my coffin as usual. Instead I slipped into the room where I’d slept the day before, when I’d held Haley in my arms. I didn’t want the staff to see me, so that was why I did it stealthily. The linens had been changed — there wasn’t the scent of Haley on the pillow or anything like that — but being in that room was the closest I could come to being with her.
I felt pathetic. I was turning into as big of a sap as my cousin, Jessie. But I also felt contented. I remembered how Haley felt snuggled up against my chest. It had been so wonderful to be able to smell her skin and touch her hair. Haley snored softly at intervals while she slept. I knew it was just old muscle memory — and nasal passage memory, for that matter — but I found it adorable.
I really way pathetic.
But I was also a man who got some rest. I was able to let go of my concerns over Ilona, and the strange absence of my family, and even thoughts of Haley. I lost myself to oblivion and it was heavenly.
The next sunset I was completely refreshed. It felt like all of my troubles were manageable, if I only kept the right attitude. Ilona wouldn’t hang around the middle of Ohio forever. She was too cosmopolitan not to be lured away by some undead bacchanal.
My family was probably safe and simply enjoying a little time away. Maybe there had been some kind of tiff between them. Or some near brush with the sun. I really had no idea. But they had all been around too long to be in any real danger. They knew how to take care of themselves.
And then there was Haley. I still didn’t know what to do about Haley. But I knew I was tired of making a fool of myself over her. There were plenty of members of the undead who weren’t in love with their progeny. In fact, many vampires felt the whole maker / progeny relationship was more appropriately viewed as parent and child. I did not feel fatherly toward Haley, that was for sure. But I didn’t have to play the fool. I could behave in a dignified manner and mentor my progeny until she was fully fledged. That was the right thing to do and that was my intention.
Watching a young mortal arrive to retrieve Haley for a date was an unexpected twist in my plans for dignified behavior. I immediately visualized ripping the boy’s heart from his body. But that was just a momentary slip. I had no argument with this child. He simply believed he was on a date with a beautiful young female. He had no idea he was caught in the web of a newly minted vampiress.
But what was Haley up to? Feeding off of the seedy men she stalked in the alleys behind bars was one thing. Some people might even think it was noble. But using her vampire wilds to lure a young man on a date was another thing altogether. What was her plan?
I followed them at a discrete distance as they headed into the center of town. And then they pulled up outside the local movie theater. It was such a weird thing for Haley to do. If she was planning on feeding off the boy, then she should have been leading him away from people, not into a crowd.
And who was this young man? I scrutinized him as the two of them got out of the car. He looked vaguely familiar. And then it dawned on me. He was the brute that had shoved Haley at the Christmas Eve party. He was the one who had upset her somehow and caused her to crash into that tree. And now she was on a date with him, holding his hand, even. She couldn’t still be attracted to the boy. Could she? It was the tendency of some young females to be drawn to the males who were mean to them, but Haley couldn’t possibly be that stupid. At least I hoped she wouldn’t. I watched them from the shadows as the boy opened the door for her and ushered her into the theater. His behavior was so transparent. He was only being gallant because Haley had transformed into a stunning vampiress. That much was obvious. So obvious that Haley had to have known his motivation and had a few motives of her own. What the devil was she up to?
I jogged across the street and surveyed the theater through the glass. I knew Haley’s will was unusually strong for a fledgling vampire, but sitting in a crowded movie theater full of young mortals would have tested even the most experienced of the undead. Purchasing a ticket, I hurried inside.
Chapter 15
Dorian
I couldn’t believe Haley’s foolishness. Not only was she in a crowded theater with hundreds of mortals surrounding her, but she was about to see a vampire movie. She obviously didn’t realize that was an insane thing to do. From the images on the movie poster, the film wasn’t a love story between an undead and a mortal. I knew those stories had grown in popularity over the last decade. I even knew a few vampiresses who indulged in reading the genre. But this looked more like a movie with vampires feeding off mortals and humans trying to stake them in return. There would be lots of blood. It would just be fake blood ― karo syrup and movie magic ― but there would probably be a lot of it.
Even before the trailers ended, I could see Haley gripping the armrests of her chair. It was probably beginning to dawn on her that a room crowded full of mortals was no place for a vampire with an appetite. And then the film began. It wasted no time getting to the gore. Even before the opening credits, a crazed vampire was feeding off the half-naked body of a rather foolish young female. The filmmaker obviously didn’t want to waste time with things like building suspense or crafting a plot.
I was only vaguely aware of the movie. Instead I spent my time focusing on Haley. I knew that she was strong, but the film was not working in her favor. She was such an idiot for agreeing to go out with the boy in the first place. I couldn’t understand her reasoning. Was this somehow part of her master plan for revenge? If it was, then her plan had a few flaws.
I suddenly realized where the plot of the movie was going. There were mortals dressed in even
ing gowns and tuxedos, heading to some type of fancy event. That wasn’t a good sign. Directors loved having mortals die in evening wear. I could almost anticipate what was going to happen next. The party would be very lively and glamorous and the vampires would be able to keep their hunger in check for a little while. But then a minor calamity would occur. A mortal female would become slightly injured, the faint smell of blood filling the air. And then the vampires would lose control, slaughtering everyone so that no witnesses would survive. They would gorge themselves and then maybe even make love on top of some of the bodies. I never could understand Hollywood's perpetual need to marry sex with violence. It would seem more prudent for the human race to keep those two behaviors well away from each other.
I couldn’t say that vampires like the ones portrayed in the movie didn’t exist. Every society has an underbelly. But the Bishops did their best to keep the worst characteristics of the undead under control. Homicidal maniacs, be they living or undead, were bad news for everyone. And our ruling family was not tolerant of bad behavior.
The director must have been impatient for more gore. Before even I could anticipate it, the true savagery of the film began. Mortals were screaming and trying to flee the party. Blood soaked the fine clothing of the undead as they laughed with giddy delight. I saw Haley stiffen, her body starting to tremble. Her eyes were locked on the film as blood splashed across the screen.
I leapt to my feet and rushed down the aisle. “Excuse me,” I said, shoving past mortals who grumbled at my rudeness, having no idea their very lives were hanging in the balance. “Haley,” I said, clamping an arm on her shoulder in case she decided to leap out of her seat. Her eyes were glued to the screen. “Haley,” I said again, this time much louder while giving her a firm shake. She glanced in my direction and I could see the bloodlust in her eyes. She was on the verge of losing control.
