Living Proof （of Hell） #2
“You can’t behead a vampire.”
“Okay,” I heaved a sigh of frustration, “let’s say, hypothetically, you are a vampire. What do you want with me? I know I’m sexy and all, but the stalking was never necessary. You could’ve just asked for my number.”
“It’s not that simple, sweetheart. If it was, you’d be mine by now. Actually,” he looked me over, “scratch that. You already are.”
“What, yours?” I let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t belong to anyone. Slavery’s illegal, remember?”
“Yeah, but you’re not my slave. We’re blood bound, remember?” he countered in a mocking tone. “You agreed when you gave me your blood.”
“So you did drink it!” I exclaimed. “Lemme guess, you’re also part werewolf and that mask you were wearing is really your second face.
” He barely smiled, causing me to shift uneasily.
I was hard to intimidate but there was something off about him.
Like crazy, murder you in your sleep off.
“Okay, fine. I’ll humor you. What does blood bound mean? ”
“Blood binding is when a human willingly gives you blood after agreeing that it will make them yours. It can’t be reversed unless the vampire explicitly agrees to release the bind.”
“I didn’t ‘willingly’ agree to this. You tricked me. Does that count?”
“Of course it counts. You literally agreed. You said if I can get ten questions right, you’d be my property. And then you gave me your blood.”
“That still counts as tricking me—”
“Meaning,” he went on, “that you’re mine until I say I don’t want you anymore.
I can hear your thoughts when they’re about me.
I can sense when you want me around. I can tell when you’re nervous or when you’re excited.
” He glanced at a part of my body that made his definition of ‘excited’ clear.
“I can do whatever I want with you. I can make you my companion or my servant. You can be my pet—”
“Fuck off with that—”
“But I would never do that. I have my reasons for binding you and none of them include harming you in any way.” He waited while I brainstormed a thousand different ways to kill him. “None of those will work. You have to know how to kill a vampire to do it.”
“I’m gonna stop thinking about you ever, so you won’t know what I’m thinking.”
“That’s not gonna work, either. It’s subconscious.” He lightly tapped my temple. I didn’t flinch, nor did my glare falter.
“So how’d you know what I was thinking on Halloween? Because none of those answers were about you.” I was determined to find a hole somewhere in his twisted logic. It simply wasn’t possible.
“You kept thinking ‘there’s no way he’s gonna figure this one out,’ which automatically let me hear it.
The bond was already starting, even if it had stipulations.
If you think even the slightest thing about me, I can hear it.
You mentioned me at the movies so I found you.
And you thought about me when you passed that store a couple hours later, so I found you again.
The bar was a coincidence. I go there a lot.
” He was finished explaining but my mind was stuck on one thing, and one thing only.
“I don’t believe you’re a vampire,” I said. “Not at all. You’re gonna have to drink someone’s blood before I believe you. You know what I saw the other day?”
“What?” He didn’t sound remotely interested.
“I was watching the news and some people said they found real vampires. So I was like holy shit, that’s awesome.
Well, turns out they’re some weird cult in New York where they sanitize a volunteer’s shoulder, poke it with a needle, and then lick a single drop of blood.
Then they put a bandaid on the person and let ‘em go. It was the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen. ”
Dennis looked increasingly disturbed with each word I said. By the time I finished, his face was twisted in disgust. “It’s because of those shit vampire romance novels,” he said. “Nothing has been the same since they started coming out.”
“Someone’s mad.” I was trying hard not to laugh.
“Well those books are shit. The authors need to die.”
I watched for any trace of humor, but he was serious. He stopped toying with the bracelet and pulled the lighter from his pocket, flicking it on so the bright flame once again danced across his thumb.
“So you really kill people?” I asked. He nodded. “Every time your cult drinks from a volunteer?”
“I’m not part of a cult. I drink when I need to and kill when I’m annoyed.”
“Right. I’m still not gonna believe it ‘til I see it.”
“Do you wanna see it?”
“Why not,” I said. Ari would kill me for doing this, but I was growing more and more curious to see if he was a legitimate vampire or legitimately insane. As long as he didn’t kill anyone while we were out, I couldn’t care less.
“Let’s go, then.” He slipped the lighter in a pocket and stood.
I pulled on my favorite leather jacket and stepped back into my boots, lacing and zipping them before straightening up. I grabbed my butcher knife, then tilted my head at Dennis’ bewildered look. “What?”
“You really think that knife’s gonna protect you from me?”
“Yeah. I think I can stab you in time.” I yelped, suddenly sprawled on my back with Dennis comfortably on top. The knife was still in my hand, but both hands were pinned above my head. My heart was racing—I couldn’t move, no matter how hard I tried.
“You know I can get it if I want.” He looked at the knife I was trying desperately to keep away from him. Our eyes met and he smiled.
“Get off.”
“Why? You’re not comfy?”
“Fucking move!”
“Fine.” He let up. I shoved him the rest of the way off before sitting up.
“I get it. The knife’s a stupid idea.” I set it aside before standing.
“You don’t have to be such a dick about it.
Actually,” I changed my mind and put it back in my pocket, “I’m bringing it just in case you leave me somewhere.
I can’t stab you, but I can stab other people.
” He eyed the knife but didn’t comment before leaving the room.
“Where are we going?” I hurried to catch up.
“To find you proof, remember?” He glanced over a shoulder as we headed downstairs.
“I know that, weirdo. I meant where do you find people to drink?”
“People to drink? That’s a new one. Usually people say feed. At least in movies.”
“And your favorite romance books?” I laughed as he grunted.
“I don’t like feed. It’s too dramatic.” I led him outside, then shut and locked the door before we set off down the street.
I double checked that my knife and phone were still in their respective pockets, hoping that arming myself would make up for the carelessness of going along with this plan.
“It’s extremely careless,” Dennis agreed.
“Stop doing that.”
“Then stop thinking about me.”
“I could if you ever went away,” I said, glaring at his infuriating smile.
Hopefully when he proved he either was or wasn’t a vampire—I didn’t care which one—he would finally leave me alone.
I kicked a pebble to distract from the tense silence.
It continued for several blocks before I got tired of listening to footsteps.
“You know,” I kicked another pebble as we crossed an empty street, “now would be the perfect time to kill me. If you’re gonna. ”
“Are you always this idiotic?” Dennis asked.
“I’m just saying.” I shrugged. It was an observation, not a suggestion. “When is something exciting gonna happen? And where are we going?”
“Be patient. You’re like a kid. But to answer your question, we’re going back to the bar.”
“That far?”
“It’s only a couple more blocks.” He chuckled as I groaned. He was right, but I was being lazy at the moment. “This is where I go to drink if I’m getting a late-night snack. It’s easy prey, especially if it’s near closing time when drunks are stumbling around or waiting for rides.”
“I guess that makes sense.” I’d been prepared to judge his reasoning for choosing such a crowded place, but it was actually smart. I pulled my jacket tighter as a cool breeze caressed my skin. He sure looked pretty comfy while I was here freezing my ass off.
“You could’ve changed to something warmer,” he said, eyeing my outfit.
“I swear, if you don’t get out of my mind—”
“Then you’ll what?”
“Nothing. That was the end.” I crossed my arms as we reached another intersection. “You’re not gonna kill anyone while we’re doing this, right?”
“Sure. As long as no one annoys me.”
We fell into a less than comfortable silence. The bar was only a few minutes away driving but seemed to take forever on foot. By the time we arrived, the silence was killing me.
“What now?” I asked. As he’d predicted, there were tons of drunk people milling about. Some were shouting drunken nonsense while others were sloppily conversing with friends or dates.
“I usually go to the back alley.” Dennis gestured around a corner and we headed that way. It was empty but close enough to the crowded area that a straggler might show up at some point.
“Now what?” I watched as he leaned against the brick wall.
“Now we wait for someone to come along so I can kill them and you’ll get over the whole ‘vampires don’t exist’ thing.”
“You said you won’t kill anyone.” I narrowed my eyes. If we were here for a murder, I wanted nothing to do with it.
“Right.” Dennis pushed off from the wall. “Stay here. I’ll find a loner and bring them back.”
“Kay.” I crossed my arms as he walked away. A couple of minutes passed before screaming music blared from my pocket. I pulled out my phone to answer. “Ari!” I shouted.
“Emy!” she greeted just as loudly. “Where are you?”
“Standing on a corner. I need some extra money, so I figured why not?”
Silence.
“Please say you’re joking,” she said.
“Duh. You know I’d rather go to Vegas where it’s legal.”
“Emy!”
“Relax, hun. I’m not on a corner. I’m outside the bar with Dennis. Or I was. He left to find a drunk person. He’s gonna drink their blood in front of me! Which should be interesting. I’ll finally see if he’s telling the truth or not.”
“Emery, please tell me you’re lying. You better be kidding me—”
“Ari, it’s okay—”
“Of course you’re not kidding because you’re Emy and you do shit like this. I’m coming to get you.”
“I’m fine. We’re at the bar. It’s super crowded. Except the alley I’m in, it’s totally empty over here.”
“You’re in an alley?” she screeched. She swore at a honking car but didn’t seem to brake or slow down; the wind was loud enough to assume she was speeding. “I’m right down the street. You better not hang up on me.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t. I’m pretty sure Dennis is around here somewhere. I’ll be fine.”
“Oh, like that makes it any better? He’s clearly a crazy person,” Ari started, but I shushed her.
“Hold on. I hear footsteps. I think he’s coming back. I’m gonna hang up now.”
“Wait—!”
I hung up as Dennis and a woman came within sight.
“Who’s this?” she slurred.
“Hi.” I waved meekly. Her stance was wobbly from trying to keep balance.
“A friend of mine,” Dennis said smoothly, leading her further into the dimly lit area.
She seemed disappointed that someone else was here.
But her smile perked up when Dennis took her hand.
He brought her wrist to his lips, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss it.
She seemed to think the same thing until he turned it over and sank both fangs into her flesh.
I cringed at the half squishing, half cracking sound.
The woman’s eyes widened briefly, then fell shut as she swooned.
He caught her, never breaking the contact with her wrist. I stared in shock while he drained her blood.
“Holy fuck…”
“Emy!” Ari’s voice preceded her as she came storming into the alley. “Are you okay? What’s happening?”
“Look.” I pointed to the paling woman, who was limp in Dennis’ arms. “He’s a vampire,” I murmured. “He wasn’t lying.”
Ari gasped and slapped a hand to her mouth. “How is this possible?” she stammered. “Is he gonna kill her? Is he killing her?”
“No. He promised not to kill anyone.”
As if on cue, Dennis released the woman’s wrist and gingerly placed her on the ground.
“That was disgusting.” He licked the blood off his lips and grimaced.
“Her blood tastes awful. She’s probably anemic.
And she’s not dead,” he added for Ari’s benefit.
“Killing isn’t automatic, it’s a decision.
Drinking from the neck is painful and kills.
Anywhere else is relaxing and only lulls prey to sleep.
When they wake up, they shouldn’t remember anything.
Or if they do, it’ll seem like a lucid dream.
” He stood and smoothed his dark shirt. “Do you believe me now?”
My shocked ‘yes’ was barely audible. The speed, the mind reading, the fact that we’d only seen him during evening or night, and now this. It was undeniable at this point: he wasn’t crazy, he was a vampire.
“Will she be okay?” Ari asked quietly.
Dennis nodded while I continued to stare. I was having a hard time processing this.
“You guys can leave,” he said.
“What are you gonna do?” Ari asked.
“Make sure she wakes up okay. She was alone and now she’s unconscious in the back alley of a bar. The least I can do is make sure nothing happens while she’s knocked out. It should only be a couple minutes.”
“Huh.” I was having an even harder time processing his concern. It was the opposite of what I’d expected. “Okay. Well I guess we’ll be seeing you…?”
“Yeah.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, staying several feet away from the woman. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”