Chapter 6 #2
I shook my head. I really needed to take a salt soak before the nutmeg brought the zombies. “You know Tom, from the movie theater. He didn’t stop by?”
She was quiet for a moment, almost like I’d thrown her off.
“Tom from the movie theater? You’re having an affair with him?
That is hot. I always thought he had a certain allure, like a butler, you know, scheming, clever, and always knowing exactly what you want to be brought in bed, if you know what I mean. ”
I opened my mouth to tell her that I was not having an affair with Tom, then closed it instead. What would I say, ‘No our relationship is strictly platonic. We slay zombies together, or rather, I’m the bait, and he’s the bomb.’
“It’s not serious,” I finally said. I really had to soak. “I’m glad you’re okay. Try to stay indoors after dark, and if Tom does come by, tell him to call me. I’ll have my burner phone on me.”
“Sure thing, Lucky. Lucky’s getting lucky,” she laughed and then hung up the phone.
I suppose it was a lucky thing that I’d been able to escape out of the grasp of a monster. Twice. Three times if you count the first attack. Usually three strikes and you were out. How long could my luck possibly last?
I shrugged and ran the water in the tub. Life was an uncertain thing, but that was what made it interesting.
It was particularly interesting when I got home because my husband was repainting the hall.
He did it by dipping a golf ball into a can of black paint and then hitting the ball as hard as he could, and seeing how many walls it could hit.
There was a lot of shattered glass scattered on the beautiful oriental rug.
He dipped a ball into the can, set it on the tee he had somehow embedded into the stone floor and then hit it. It hit the mirror above the fireplace, which shattered, then a pillar to his right, then ricocheted off that and hit my pumpkin spice chai, exploding it all over everything, including me.
I gasped as the hot drink soaked through my clothes.
He turned his head and frowned at me. “I suppose it’s a good thing that you didn’t get a cat.”
I stared back at him. “You could have killed me! What are you doing?”
He hefted the golf club and studied it before he shrugged and leaned it over his shoulder. “I’m getting out my sexual frustration. I’m not sure it’s very effective, because the moment I see you, I want nothing other than to hold you. Even covered in pumpkin spice chai, you’re breathtaking.”
“Oh.” I looked down at myself then frowned back at him. “No, really. What’s wrong? It’s not like you to be intentionally destructive.”
“No? Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s that I lost my job, but it’s hard to be objective when your wife is gone all night looking for a cat, and comes back wearing completely different clothing.
Are you having an affair? If you are, I’d appreciate you being more subtle about it, so it’s easier for me to turn a blind eye. ”
“I’m not… You lost your job? What happened?
” I went to him, forgetting about the mess, about zombies, because he was a driven man who wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to do without structure and discipline.
We both couldn’t lounge around in pajamas all day.
I’d have to get a real job, and of course we’d have to downsize, so I’d have to call the people to come and replace the window he shattered, because even if it was bulletproof, it wasn’t golf-ball proof.
I’d take care of it while he figured out what he needed.
“I’m so sorry,” I said, taking his hand before I realized what I was doing. He gripped me back, his palm beating against mine. I shouldn’t touch him, but I had to. There were bigger things at stake than zombie infections. He could get seriously depressed, maybe even suicidal.
“Your hand always fits so well in mine,” he said, studying our hands together, raising them higher so he could get a closer look. “We should spend more time holding hands.”
“I…” I squeezed my eyes closed. What could I say? This was not the time to push him away.
He relaxed his grip and stepped away before I could. It hurt. It felt like rejection in spite of everything. “Maybe after you’ve forgiven me for stealing away your children. I’ll see you later. I’m going to the golf course. Maybe I’ll find a job there.”
“Right. It’s good to socialize and make connections.”
“As a caddy. Making money takes so much time. I’ve spent so much time away from you when we could have been together.
I’ve been learning so many lessons lately.
I would kiss you goodbye, but you’re conflicted, so I’ll just go.
” He walked out, leaving me covered in the now cold pumpkin spice chai in the middle of the mess.
I stood there for a few more seconds before I shrugged off my mixed-up emotions and got to work.
If he didn’t have his job, we couldn’t have the house.
Selling it should give us a few years to live off the profits while I figured out jobs.
Maybe I’d go to college. I’d taken a few classes before I got pregnant with Lock. It had been such a difficult pregnancy.
I called the window replacement place and then cleaned up the paint.
I had a lot more energy than I’d had since I was a teenager.
Everything was easy. I was stronger, faster, and more energetic.
That antidote really was some super drug.
I had to patch a lot of places on the walls and then I was faced with a big chip he’d taken out of the stone pillar.
How had he done that? That’s the same swing that must have gone out the window.
I found epoxy in the garage and was finishing up my patch job when the doorbell rang.
I went to the door, picking up a big golf club on my way because zombies, you know?
I opened the door and two guys with a lot of facial hair and wearing coveralls with the glass place’s name on the chest stood there, waiting to be invited in. Like they were vampires.
“Hi. How are you? You sure came quickly.”
“That’s what we’re known for. Do you want us to get started?” the shorter guy said, looking past me. “I’ve got my kid’s game to get to later.”
“Oh. Of course. Please come in. The broken window is in here.” I led them to the hall.
They set down the piece of glass they’d been carrying and got to work.
They’d replace the entire window instead of just that pane, because it was armed, wired, so it would notify the security if it broke. Security must have come by earlier.
I went into the kitchen and started a nice roast for dinner. Hazen needed comfort food to help him cope with the shock of losing his job. It had to be as bad as finding out about zombies for someone like him.
“Mrs. Darnell, we’re about finished,” the short guy called.
I put the roasting pan in the oven and went in to arrange payment and let them out.
As soon as I walked in the room, I saw the short guy, but not the tall one.
I smelled him, though, or sensed him, or something, so when he jumped at me from the staircase, I ducked and grabbed the big club I’d put to the side.
I came up swinging, hitting him in the temple as hard as I could. Vampires were hard to kill.
He went flying and then the short guy was on me. He got blurry, and then it was this monster wolf/man with claws and muzzle all mixed together in a way that would have made me freak out if I wasn’t already desensitized to monstrosities.
I just wanted to kill him.
How do you kill werewolves? No idea, but beating it to death with a club sounded like a good start. I was fast, slipping away from the beast and ducking around him before his claws could get me. He was roaring at me like I shouldn’t have hurt his buddy.
He jumped, and I swung, but he wasn’t aiming for me, but the club.
He got it in his jaws and yanked it away from me, throwing it so it slid along the floor into the wall.
He pounced on me, knocking me down and gripping my throat with his teeth.
Before he could bite down, I shoved up, using my handy dandy slayer’s knife, that I’d somehow gotten out of its sheath as soon as I hit the ground.
It cut through him like butter, through his brain and out his forehead in a spray of blood and gore that got all over me.
So disgusting. But it beat having my throat ripped out.
It seemed like he’d hesitated, but I wasn’t going to think about that.
I shoved him off me and then went over to the other guy. I’m a big believer in the justice system for humans, but there was no way I was trying to restrain a werewolf who was bigger than that terrifying monster and wouldn’t take me for an easy target a second time.
I took care of him in several ways, draining all his blood out, sticking my knife deep in his eye socket, and stabbing his chest a bunch of times. His body sizzled when I stabbed it. It must be from my special slayer metal.
I sat back on my heels once the job of killing was done, and then sighed heavily as the new mess struck me. I’d have to do something with the bodies before Hazen got home, but first, I had to clean up.
Once that was done, I pulled clean black hoodies over them, then dragged them into the garage where I’d parked my car. I was so strong, I had no trouble getting them around. Good thing, too. They were very heavy.
I drove down to the security gate. “Tim, I have the glass replacement guys in the back seat.” Wearing sunglasses and hoodies.
Also dead. “Can you call a tow truck to get their truck? It’s not working, and I’d hate for it to still be there when Hazen got home.
Thank you!” I waved and drove through the gate before he got too close a look at my backseat passengers.