Guidelines
“You’re leaving already?” Benji was still posted outside.
“Yeah. Something came up.” I forced a small smile.
“I didn’t even get to buy you a drink.”
“Next time,” I promised. He readily agreed, and then we were gone. Dennis was walking faster than usual. “Thanks for standing up for me,” I said, staring at the ground as we reached the street. I gently kicked the first pebble we came across. It flew down the block and shot through a small fence.
“Why do you sound surprised?”
“Because I am.” I kicked another rock, softer this time. “No one does that. Except Ari, of course.” When I looked up he was watching me, almost like he was calculating something. “Have you really skinned someone alive?”
“Do you really wanna know?”
“Probably not.”
“Good answer.” He chuckled before looking away. “I told you, I’m not a good person.”
“You keep saying that, but I trust you either way. I finally decided.”
“Your choice. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’m teaching you how to hunt without killing. You’ll need blood soon. Your eyes are turning darker.”
“Ooh, really? Are they black like yours?”
He stopped walking to look. I kept eye contact, trying to give the best view possible, but the longer he looked, the more uncomfortable I got. It took everything in me not to back away. Hopefully, he couldn’t tell.
“I can always tell when I’m making you uncomfortable.” His eyes danced beneath the streetlamp as he smiled. “It’s the funnest thing about you.”
“Are you trying to make me stop trusting you already?”
“Why would I want that? You have every reason to trust me. And I have every reason to enjoy making you squirm.” He brushed my hair aside, fingers gently stroking my neck.
“Are you gonna tell me what color they are?” I asked, trying to hide how flustered I was.
“Dark purple. Almost black.”
“I love purple,” I said, relaxing when he finally stepped back and we resumed walking. “I have a random question. I know why you hate Kiro, he’s obviously an asshole, but why do you hate Melissa so much?”
“She cheated on Mateo with Kiro. We were all friends before. I saw, I told him. They broke up. She’s had it out for me ever since. And Kiro’s always been an ass. I tolerated him before, but I never liked him.”
“I knew I didn’t like her for a reason! Besides the whole taking Ari’s drink thing. Cheating is such a dick move. I’d never cheat on someone.”
“Really? You don’t seem like you’d care.”
“I guess that’s how I come across.” I ran a hand through my hair, pulling it from an earring when it got caught. “People tend to think I’m a heartless bitch sometimes.”
“Until they get to know you?”
I laughed and shook my head. “No one gets to know me. They always go off first impressions, which usually aren’t that great with me. Especially senior year of high school. That was the worst.”
“What was so bad about it?”
“Everything. I was unmedicated and undiagnosed for the first half of the year, someone found out my dad’s a convicted murderer so that became a whole thing, I went to juvie and got released so my probation officer was on campus for check-ins all the time.
Not to mention the psych ward.” I glanced over, unsure if he would judge me for that last part.
Or all of it, really. But he didn’t seem to care.
I didn’t elaborate and he didn’t push it. “Where are we going to hunt?”
“We’re not hunting yet. I have to go over some things with you first.” He thought for a moment, playing with the chains around his wrist, before nodding toward a nearby alley. “Let’s go in here.”
“You mean rules?” I followed him into the dark space. I hated rules, but having vampire rules might be fun.
“They’re more like guidelines. First thing you need to know is don’t drink from the neck unless you don’t mind them dying. But if you don’t care, then go ahead. The neck is the best part so you might wanna let someone die every once in a while. It tastes better. Fresher.”
“I’d rather not kill anyone else,” I said.
“Weird, but okay.”
“I’m serious.” I frowned at his judgmental expression. “It’s important. I’m not killing anyone else if I don’t have to.”
“Suit yourself, but you’re missing out.” He messed with the black part of his hair before adding, “You better not turn out like one of those sappy vampire books. If you try to only drink from animals, I’ll disown you. You’ll also die if you refuse to drink human blood, so don’t do that.”
“I’m gonna drink human blood. Stop obsessing over stupid books and keep going.”
“I’ll go over the basics: if their pulse starts to weaken or their skin gets cold it means you’re taking too much, and if they go limp they’re probably dying. Any of those three and you need to stop. Also, if they’re anemic don’t even bother. Let those ones go. They’re pointless.”
“How can you tell if they’re anemic?”
“Different taste,” he said. “Trust me, you’ll know when it happens. It’s disgusting. It’s like watered down juice. And then they’re all weak and fragile after. It’s a waste of time. Don’t do it.”
“Kay. No anemic people. Anything else?”
“One more thing before we go,” he paused to assess me. “If you lose control, I’ll have to restrain you.” He almost seemed happy about it, but I was too distracted by a genius idea to care.
“Can I bite you?” I asked in a rush, bouncing on my toes from excitement.
“What is wrong with your attention span? I swear you can’t stay on topic for more than ten seconds.”
“I probably could if I tried, but it’s hard because I always get distracted first. It’s part of the disorder and it gets worse when I’m happy. I wanna bite someone on the neck and you’re the only person who won’t die.”
“You really want to?” He watched until my excited bouncing died to a standstill.
Suddenly, I felt stupid. “Never mind. I don’t wanna anymore.” I was genuinely kind of sad. I turned to walk away, but he gently tugged me back.
“You can bite me. It’s fine.”
“Really?”
“I tasted you so it’s only fair,” he reasoned.
I smiled in delight. “I’m so excited. Does it matter where? Your neck, obviously, but do I need a certain vein or anything?”
“No, wherever you want. Just don’t take too much. A few sips should be enough.”
“Okay.” I stood still, not sure how to get started. He leaned against the wall and motioned for me to join, but I hesitated. What if he died like a human would?
“I’m not gonna die. Just bite me.” He took my hands and pulled me close.
I took a deep breath and rested against his chest. My hand ran through a blonde side of his hair, tilting his head for easier access. If I were still human, my heart would be beating like crazy. But it stayed the same: faint, steady, impossibly slow.
I brought my lips to his neck and forced my fangs through his cold skin.
The taste was overwhelming—I instantly recognized it as what I’d been craving all night.
The need became so strong it nearly hurt.
I ran my nails through his hair and pressed closer.
The same blood was flowing through us, connecting us on a level I never knew was possible.
After a minute he touched my waist. I took that as my cue to let up and withdrew my fangs.
“That was so good. Is blood always that good?”
“Depends on the person.” He dropped my waist and I stepped back.
“How were you so calm when I bit you?” I was curious. Vampire or not, getting bit hurt. At least in the beginning.
“I like pain.” He stepped away from the wall.
“So you are sadistic.” I took a reflexive step back. “I thought you were joking the other day.”
“No, that’s a masochist. Sadistic people like inflicting pain.”
“But that’s you, too.”
He smiled. “It’s getting late. We should find a human so we don’t have to break into a house.”
“Would you really do that?” I asked in mild horror.
“I don’t know, would I?” His voice was cunning as his eyes surveyed me. They were nearly black.
“I don’t think so…?”
“Wrong answer.” He laughed and maneuvered past me.
I couldn’t decide which was worse: his deranged laughter or the realization that he might be serious. A chill went up my spine as I ran to catch up. I was still trying to figure it out when I spotted a little girl walking toward us.
“That’s a human, right?” I asked.
“The little girl?” Dennis followed my gaze.
“Her heartbeat sounds normal.” I stopped walking to focus on listening.
“Hence the stupidity of your question.”
“You’re such an asshole.” I turned my attention back to the girl.
She probably couldn’t see us yet, but I could hear her quietly humming from blocks away.
If it were daytime this would be normal, but in the middle of the night it was like a horror movie.
I scrunched my nose, weighing my options.
Go find blood and leave the leech to fend for herself, or be nice and check on her.
“I’ll be back.” I held out a hand when Dennis made to follow.
“You stay here. I don’t trust you. You’re probably gonna scare her on purpose. ”
I headed toward the girl at a brisk pace but slowed down once I was close, partly so I wouldn’t scare her, but mostly because she might be a ghost. “Hey hun.” I smiled and came to a stop. “Where are your parents?”
“Hi!” She smiled brightly. “They’re not home so I’m on a walk.”
“They didn’t leave a babysitter or anything?” I asked, trying to hide my disapproval.
“No. But I’ll go home before they get back. I don’t wanna get in trouble.”
“You shouldn’t be out here by yourself.” I ran a hand through my hair, holding back a grimace. “Let me walk you home, okay?”
“Okay!”
“Where do you live?”
“Over there.” She pointed back the way she’d come.
“Oh, good. That’s super close.” I examined her as we switched directions. Her blonde hair was unusually pale. Almost like Melissa’s. “What’s your name?”
“Mikaila. What’s yours?”
“Emy.”
“That’s your real name?” She looked at me with wide eyes. “You must have cool parents.”
“No, not really.”