by Amanda Carol
It doesn’t take him long to recover, because those bloodsuckers have super healing. He speeds forward. I’m not quick enough, and he punches me in the gut. I groan, wrapping my arm around my stomach. Then he grabs my hair and pulls my head back, exposing my neck. I narrow my eyes on his as my temper starts to flare. I hate when they get the upper hand.
“Dick move. Hair pulling? Really? You fight like a girl!” I spit, grabbing his wrist and spinning out of his grasp.
I lift my leg and kick out. My foot lands on his chest, effectively sending him backward. Being in my element now, I grab the dagger from my leggings and lunge forward. But he’s quicker, sucker-punching me in the face. I land hard on the ground. The fall knocks the wind out of me and my dagger slips from my grasp.
“I fight like a girl?” he growls, grabbing my shoulders and bringing my face up to his. I groan in response, but I meet his stare. “I haven’t even broken a sweat. Oh, I just love it when they fight back.”
He smiles at me, blood still smeared across his teeth. Gross. When he tilts his head back to drop his fangs, I throw my head forward hard into his.
“You bitch!” He drops me to rub his head. “I’m ending this.”
Narrowing his eyes at me, he speeds forward. I quickly duck and roll, grabbing my dagger before landing in a crouch. I know that stabbing him with silver will only slow him down for a moment, but I don’t have time to think about it. He comes at me and I lunge forward, lifting my arm and bringing the dagger down right into his shoulder. It won’t kill him, but it’ll sure as hell stun the sucker.
He staggers back, falling to his knees. I look around for anything sharp. My eyes lock on a piece of hardwood that’s slightly pointed on the end. Well, it’ll have to do. Picking it up, I plunge the wood deep into his chest and straight through his heart. Blood splatters all over my white tank top and arms. The vampire lets out one last breath, then collapses on the pavement.
Reaching down, I pull my dagger from his shoulder and wipe the blood off on my leggings. I guess it’s a good thing they’re black. I look around and see my phone on the ground by the entrance of the alley. I reach down and pick it up. Well, damn. I'm going to need new earbuds now. Declan won’t be thrilled because that’s the third pair this month. I’m always losing them, or rather, leaving them at the motels. I’m about to walk away when I hear a soft whimper.
Looking up, I see the girl sitting up, clutching her neck, with tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Right, I almost forgot about her. I use the dagger to cut a fairly clean strip off my tank top and walk over to her. I kneel down beside her and remove her hand from her neck.
“Here, put this on it,” I tell her, placing the strip on her neck and bringing her hand back up to hold the strip in place. “Are you okay?”
I rest my hands on my knees. She nods, too stunned to really talk.
“Wh-what was that? Wh-who was that?” she croaks out, grabbing my hand.
I hold onto her hand, pulling her into a hug.
“Nothing you need to worry about now. My name is Aria. What’s yours?” I ask, hoping to change the subject to take her mind off of what just happened. I know it won’t work, but I still figure I should try.
“Olivia,” she whispers, pulling away. “Is he dead?”
Her wide eyes meet mine, then her gaze drifts behind me to where the dead vampire is.
“Yes, he’s dead and he won’t ever hurt you again,” I assure her. “I need to ask you something and I want you to be honest with me. Can you do that?”
“Yes,” she whispers again, nodding her head in case I need reassurance.
Well, okay, time to make things even more weird.
“Did he make you drink his blood?” I ask, and Olivia grimaces. “Trust me, I know how that sounds, but please, it’s okay. You can answer. Did he?”
She looks down at her hands for a moment.
Please do not say yes, I silently plead.
In order to become a vampire, a vampire needs to drink your blood, then you need to drink the vampire’s blood that has both a human and a vampire’s blood mixed in. It’s this whole drinking game that I so do not want to be a part of. If he didn’t make her drink his blood, then she’s safe. Physically, that is. Mentally, I'm not so sure.
“N-no. No, he didn’t,” Olivia mumbles.
Oh, thank God. One crisis down and another averted. I let out a soft sigh of relief.
“Olivia, is there anyone you can call to come get you?” I ask her.
I’m really hoping she says yes. I have to get back to the motel before Declan calls a search party. That is, if he’s not hooking up with some girl he met at the bar we were at earlier. Before I left, he was chatting up some chick whose name started with a “B.” Becca? Betty? I don’t even remember.
“Yeah, I do. I can call Luke. He’s my boyfriend,” she stammers, reaching for her phone in her back pocket.
She sends out a quick text, and not even a minute later, Luke responds, saying he’ll be here in about fifteen minutes. I stand and pull her up.
“C’mon, let’s get you out of this alley,” I say, taking her hand in mine.
“Will you please stay with me? At least until he gets here?” she asks, her sparkling blue gaze meeting mine.
At first, I’m reluctant because my tank top is covered in blood. Olivia’s neck is wounded and if people see us, they’ll most definitely ask questions. Questions I know I can’t give a logical explanation for. But I also know that feeling. She’s scared and helpless. And I was in her shoes not that long ago.
So, I stay.
Olivia’s boyfriend shows up about fifteen minutes later and thankfully he doesn’t ask questions. Before she gets inside the car, she turns to me.
“W-will I turn into one of…one of them?” she asks, her blue eyes sparkling again with unshed tears.
“No,” I simply say, hoping she doesn’t ask for details.
She doesn’t. She just nods and goes to get in the passenger seat.
“Hey, wait!” I shout. “Be careful out there. Try not to go wandering off alone in the dark again. Deal?”
“Deal.” She gives me a small smile, then gets in the car.
Luke gently shuts the door, mutters a thank you, and then drives her to the hospital.
After I take care of the vamp’s body, I make my way back to the Motel Six where Declan and I have set up camp for the week. We saw in our research that there were mysterious deaths here in Atlanta and came to scope it out. And, well, I think I just solved the town’s problem.
Declan won’t be happy about that, but at this point, I’m too tired to care. We never go after a vamp alone and if we see one, we keep our distance and follow it to its nest. Then we come up with a plan of attack. Together. I never come up with the plan because if it was up to me, I’d just storm the place. The element of surprise and all that. That’s why my level-headed twin comes up with the plan.
I open the door to our motel room and am greeted with a half-naked woman and a shirtless Declan. I see more than I ever wanted to see. Now I need to scrub my eyeballs out with the complimentary soap.
“Oh, my God!” I yell, covering my eyes.
The girl squeals and pulls a blanket up to her chest and Declan jumps out of the bed.
“Jesus! Aria! Ever heard of knocking?” Declan shouts, bending over and grabbing his shirt from off the floor while the girl next to him is looking around for her clothes.
Thank God he still has his bottom half covered. That’s a part of my brother I don’t need to see. Like, ever. I part my fingers to uncover one of my eyes and am relieved to see that both of them are fully dressed now. Unfortunately, not before I got an eyeful of Declan and boobs. I think I’m scarred for life.
“Um, Declan, who is this?” the girl asks, looking super annoyed and apparently jealous.
I glance over at her. She has light brown hair and dark brown eyes and is standing with her arms crossed over her chest, looking expectantly at my brother. The girl is pretty
, but she’s not the most colorful crayon in the box. I raise an eyebrow at my brother.
“Is she serious right now?” I ask him.
The ghost of a smile forms on his lips. We’re identical twins, for crying out loud. He runs his hand through his cropped platinum blonde hair and his green eyes meet mine once more before he glances down at my shirt. Oops. I’d completely forgotten until now that I’m covered in vamp blood. And possibly Olivia’s too.
Declan’s eyes flash a darker green and his lips form a thin line. Uh-oh. I’m up shit’s creek without a paddle. I cross my arms over my body to try and hide the blood but apparently this girl is so oblivious that she doesn’t even notice it. But then again, she’s too oblivious to notice that we’re twins, so…
Declan walks across the room, grabs a hoodie out of his suitcase, and throws it at me without saying a word. He then turns his focus to the girl.
“Look, Brittany—”
“It’s Bethany,” she corrects him, rolling her eyes.
“Right, Bethany,” he says, walking across the room, picking up her shoes, and handing them to her. “I think you’d better go.”
“You cannot be serious!” she hisses through clenched teeth as she snatches her shoes out of his hands and puts them on. “Why doesn’t she come back later?”
Declan’s head whips in my direction, giving me a pleading look that basically says keep your trap shut. Well, I’m not in the mood for this shit. It’s been a long night and once she leaves, it’s going to get even longer.
“She has a name. And if I’m not mistaken, Declan asked you to leave. Not me. So, take the hint, Becky.” I narrow my eyes at her and purposely fuck up her name just to mess with her.
Her gaze meets mine and she finally gives me a once-over. Good thing I put that sweatshirt on. Otherwise we might have to do more damage control tonight, and I’m already exhausted. I can feel my cheek starting to swell and a headache is starting to form behind my eyes. All I want to do is take a nice, hot shower and crawl into bed.
She narrows those beady little eyes at me and I’m expecting something even more stupid to come out of her mouth. But instead, she turns to my brother and kisses him full on the mouth, tongue and everything! Ugh! Gag! She motions for him to call her and finally leaves. Once the door is closed, I can’t contain the laugh that’s bubbling up inside my chest.
“Oh, my God. Declan, that was great. She’s a keeper. You should totally put a ring on it,” I laugh as I walk farther into the room.
“Yeah, well, girls like her are easy. All you have to do is tell them they’re beautiful and that they can do anything they set their mind to. Hook, line, and sinker.” Declan winks.
“That’s horrible. I can’t wait for the day when one girl walks into your life and changes everything.”
“I doubt that’ll ever happen. We’re never in one place long enough for me to even consider something serious. I just happen to like sex. And I never lead girls on. I let them know up front what the deal is. I’m not a total tool. Maybe you should try taking a page out of my book. You might not be so uptight,” Declan jokes.
I want to punch that damn smirk off his face. I cross my arms over my chest and glare at him. It’s not like I'm a virgin, but I haven’t had sex since before our parents died. Sex has always meant something to me. I can’t do one-night stands like Declan.
I’ve also been so focused on training and finding the vampire that killed my parents that the whole romance thing just hasn’t been number one on my priority list. Besides, Declan saved us that night. He did the one thing I couldn’t do. So, I owe it to him. I let out a sigh, uncross my arms, and let them fall to my sides. I shift my gaze to the floor, feeling unsure of myself.
“Anyway,” Declan finally says after a beat. “Do you mind telling me what in the actual fuck happened out there tonight?”
He comes over to stand in front of me; I glance up at him. His fingers tilt my chin up and move it from side to side, looking at what I now suspect is a nice bruise on my cheek.
“A vampire attacked a girl tonight,” I state.
Declan takes a step back.
“Fuck! What happened to the plan, Aria? You were supposed to follow the SOB and then come and get me. We never go after a vampire alone. It’s too dangerous!” he shouts, running his hands through his hair. “How could you do this? What if he killed you? Huh?”
I wince. I hadn’t thought about that. Declan needs me just as much as I need him. We’re all each other has left. Our Uncle Johnny, who was our mother’s brother, died in a car accident when we were ten years old. Since we were eighteen when our parents died, we didn’t need a guardian.
“I know! I didn’t think—” I started.
“You’re damn right you didn’t think!” Declan cuts me off.
“He was killing this poor girl. I just acted on instinct! Was I supposed to let her die?” I shout back at him.
We just glare at each other for several beats before Declan runs a hand down his face.
“No, but you were supposed to be smart about it.” He sighs, coming back over and pulling me to him. I wrap my arms around him, and his chin rests on my head. “God, Aria, the moment I saw you covered in blood earlier…”
He doesn’t need to finish that statement.
“He’s dead,” I state flatly, pulling away and walking to my backpack. I pull out the ibuprofen, take two out, pop them in my mouth, and swallow.
“You killed him? By yourself?” Declan asks, surprise dripping from his tone.
“Yes. I can handle myself in a fight Declan. Why is that so surprising?” I defend, walking over to my suitcase. I pull out some fresh clothes and my toiletries before making my way to the bathroom.
“Aria, stop. I didn’t mean it like that.” Declan comes to stand in front of me, blocking my path.
I stop and narrow my eyes at him.
“I’m sorry, okay? I know you can take care of yourself. I’ve seen you fight and you’re a badass fighter. I just…” He pauses and lets out a harsh breath. “Please, just don’t do that to me again. I saw the blood on you and I…I can’t lose you too.” His eyes meet mine and I can see the fear on his face.
“You won’t lose me. I promise I won’t do that again. I love you too, bro. Even if you are a man-whore.”
He laughs, and I pat him on the shoulder.
“Now that we’ve had this whole heart-to-heart moment, can you please move? I’d like to not look like I just walked out of a horror film,” I joke.
He moves out of the way, and I walk into the small bathroom and close the door. I set my clothes on the floor and turn on the shower with the heat on full blast. I turn and face the mirror, meeting my own gaze for the first time since the encounter with the vampire. Yep, I was right. There’s a nice bruise there, but it’ll probably be gone by morning.
Another perk? We heal faster than normal now. We aren’t sure why. It’s not like we never questioned it. We did. But we both think that, whatever the reason for it is, it’s a good thing. Right? We hunt vampires for a living. We’re bound to get hurt. At least, with the accelerated healing, we don’t need to explain why we look like two abused kids on the run from deadbeat parents.
I strip off my bloody clothes and toss them to the side. Stepping into the shower, I let the hot water cascade down my body, wincing when it hits the little cuts that I somehow managed to get during the fight. I close my eyes and tip my head back under the water. I wash my hair and scrub my body twice, making sure that all the blood is gone.
Once I’m out of the shower, I change into my clothes and head back into the room. Declan is sitting at the tiny table in the room with his laptop open. I walk over and lean against the chair behind him. I take one look at the screen before throwing my hand over my eyes.
“Oh, God! You aren’t watching porn, are you? I think I’ve seen enough for one lifetime!” I laugh as I pull my hand away from my face.
“Ha-ha. You’re so funny,” Declan replies sarcastically.
“I’m not sure. I haven’t had anything new come across as far as vampire attacks are concerned. But check this out. I was looking for the usual and the unusual came up,” he says.
I give him a confused look.
He sighs. “I’ve been researching the norm. You know, trying to find articles about animal attacks. But I found this article about New Orleans. They haven’t had an animal attack in over a decade. Which sounds weird to me. I’m not sure, but I really feel like maybe we should check this out.” He rubs his fingers against his chin.
“Okay, we should check it out. Your instincts have always been on point. It wouldn’t hurt to stop by,” I remark, walking over to grab my brush.
“It’ll take us at least eight hours to get there, though,” Declan replies, seemingly in deep thought.
“We can leave first thing in the morning. We can take turns driving too, so we can get there quicker,” I suggest, crawling into my bed.
“Yeah, okay. Sounds good,” Declan says as he closes his laptop and puts it away.
He makes his way over to his bed and turns the light off. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light.
My alarm goes off way too freaking early. I am not, never have been, and never will be a morning person. Declan, who is a morning person, knows this and always has a fresh cup of coffee waiting for me on the nightstand. I inhale the magnificent scent and sit up in bed. After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I reach for my coffee. That’s when I notice that I’m aching more than I normally would be. I guess that’s what happens when you haven’t fought off vamps in a few weeks.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Declan chimes from the windowsill.
He’s always on guard and on the lookout, mostly during the early morning hours and at night. My brother, the protector and worrywart. We can sense vampires, so I’ve never gotten why he’s always on guard.
Most of what you see from TV shows and movies about vampires is wrong. They don’t need an invitation to come and take what they want. There aren’t even any precautions you can take to prevent them from coming in. I mean, sure, a spell could probably work, but Declan and I haven’t run into any witches. Yeah, mom’s journal mentioned witches too.
