Commination #2
“It’s my right of way. Read the sign.” I pointed to the stop sign he’d ignored.
He inched forward when I didn’t move, then revved the engine so I’d get out of the way. I did the opposite: kicked up a heel to jam into the nearest tire. My mouth dropped at the deafening pop. I watched in shock as the tire started deflating.
“Uh, oh.” I took a step back as the guy angrily got out of the car. Dennis’ laughter was doing nothing to help. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to actually pop it. Shit, I broke your car.” I shut my mouth when the guy came around to check the damage.
He did an examination before straightening up. “You’re paying for that.” He shoved a finger in my face. I pushed his hand away, which he promptly brought back.
“Careful,” Dennis warned. He wasn’t laughing anymore.
“She’s paying for it,” the guy said, sizing Dennis up.
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to defuse the situation before it got worse.
“It’s fair. I popped your tire, I should pay for it.
” I reached into my wallet and pulled out a few bills from the emergency cash I kept on hand.
“Here. That’s enough for a cheap tire to get you around ‘til you fix it yourself. I was trying to piss you off since you’re being a dick, but I really wasn’t trying to pop the whole tire. ”
“You weren’t?” Dennis raised an eyebrow, implying otherwise.
“I’m not used to this,” I whispered. I kick tires all the time and this has never happened before.
I’m usually not wearing heels when I do it, but still.
A normal human couldn’t pop a tire by kicking it.
Or at least it never worked when I tried.
“Anyway,” I turned back to the man, “go buy a tire so you can get out of my face.”
“Well, how am I supposed to get to a tire shop?” His voice was so defeated, I almost felt bad. Almost.
“I dunno. You should’ve figured that out before you tried to run us over.” I waved before walking away with Dennis at my side.
“Your reflexes still suck,” he said. “Also, you’re the worst at crossing streets. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Stop being mean. I zone out sometimes and forget to check.” I made a show of checking the next intersection before stepping out. “Where are we going to drink?”
“We can try over here.” He slowed as we reached the nearly deserted lake, where a lone couple sat on a bench ahead.
It was perfect timing; I could feel a blood craving coming on. I started to walk forward, then hesitated. “How are we gonna do this? Maybe we should ask permission. Can we do that?”
“What the fuck, Vixen?” Dennis seemed downright offended. “No. What’s wrong with you? What kind of vampire asks for permission?”
“Never mind.” I backtracked but it was already too late.
“You’re a disgrace. I can’t believe you’d even ask that—”
“Okay,” I cut in. “I get it, no permission. Is ripping their throats out good enough for you?”
“Yeah.” He smiled. “Let’s do a murder.”
“What? No!”
“I’m joking.” He chuckled as I sighed in relief. “It’s the same as usual. Start drinking, it’ll lull them to sleep. They’ll wake up thinking it never happened. The only uncomfortable part—for you, I’m assuming—is getting started. There’s no way around that.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to control my nerves.
This would be my first time drinking blood without pretense.
It felt wrong. But that thought was pushed aside when another bout of the craving tore through me.
Their blood smelled so alluring. Their heartbeats sounded so fresh.
I could only imagine the taste of warm blood as it soothed my thirst.
I snapped out of it at the realization Dennis was already gone. He’d grabbed the man from behind. The woman reacted but I reached her in a flash, covering her mouth to keep things silent. Dennis was already drinking, so I followed suit.
My fangs gently punctured her wrist. I was careful to focus, not to be rough, not to cause any actual harm until I felt her relax in my grip. Eventually, she fell unconscious. I was still drinking when Dennis touched my arm. A few seconds passed before he forcefully pulled the woman away.
“I wasn’t done yet,” I complained.
“You were drinking too much.” He took my hand and placed it on her neck. Her skin was cold and her pulse had slowed significantly. “I don’t care, but I figured you would.”
“I almost killed her?” A rush of emotion hit, and I nearly teared up at the realization.
“It happens. You stopped in time. She’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
My body relaxed when he nodded. He placed the man on the bench and I did the same with the woman, propping them up as they were before.
I wiped the final droplets of blood from each of their wrists, then listened to the woman’s pulse for a few seconds.
It wasn’t back to normal, but it was getting there.
“Thank you,” I murmured. “For stopping me, I mean.”
“No problem. You’re doing a lot better than most new vampires. You haven’t accidentally killed anyone yet. That’s pretty rare.”
“Does that mean I’m ready to drink alone?”
“Unless you do wanna kill someone, nowhere near.” He walked away so I skipped to keep up. “Why are you skipping?”
“Because I want to. I like skipping.” I slowed to a normal pace to seem less hyper than I actually am. “Do you normally put people back after you drink from them, or are you only doing it since I’m with you?”
“If they seem nice, yeah. If they seem like an asshole, I might kill them and leave the body. Depends on the day.”
“At least you don’t torture them.” I was trying to point out the good, but he didn’t agree.
Or say anything. “Wait, do you?” I glanced over and stopped dead.
Kiro was a couple of blocks past Dennis, leaving Miller’s Market a block away.
“Can we go a different way?” I asked it quietly, but Kiro seemed to recognize my voice and looked our way. My stomach flipped when he smiled.
“You okay?” Dennis asked.
I wasn’t scared of Kiro. At the same time, I’d be lying if I said he didn’t make me uncomfortable. Still, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of ruining our evening out. I switched direction and pulled Dennis along, but Kiro appeared instantaneously. I stepped back as Dennis moved between us.
“Hey guys, how’s it goin’?” Kiro asked. Like we were all friends.
“I meant what I said about skinning you alive.”
“Don’t.” I touched Dennis’ arm. “It’s okay.”
“Yeah, D. Listen to your girl.”
“I’m not doing it for you,” I snapped, glaring at Kiro’s stupid grin. “I just don’t feel like dealing with you today.”
“You’ll be dealing with me soon enough. He can protect you all he wants, but he won’t always be with you. Speaking of, that’s your house, right?” He pointed back the way he’d come, singling out a house three doors past mine.
“No,” I said, praying he couldn’t tell how close he was to getting it right. My heart was pounding for two reasons: this man seemed hellbent on harassing me, and Dennis seemed about to kill him. “Dennis.” I grabbed his arm as he stepped forward.
“I’m not doing anything.” Dennis’ voice was calm, but he wanted to murder him—I could feel the urge emanating.
“Well, this was fun. Thanks for saving me. Your name’s Emy, right?
Or is it Mina?” Kiro peered around Dennis to look at me.
“No one knows.” His voice was mocking, but the smile dropped when I showed no reaction.
“Whatever. I’ll see you soon, then? I know that’s not your house, by the way.
I’m not dumb.” He ‘tsk’ed and laughed before pointing to my real house.
“That’s where you live, eh? Maybe I’ll visit next time you’re alone. ”
And then he was gone.
“I’m sorry,” I let go of Dennis’ arm, “I panicked. I don’t know how these things work with vampires and I got scared you guys would kill each other. I don’t know if I’m being stupid, or—”
“It’s okay. I’ll do it later,” Dennis said. His tone was still deadly calm.
“Do what later?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
It felt like I was talking to a steel wall. All the anger I’d felt from him was gone, replaced by the same block as always. Only this time it was something colder, something I could actually feel.
“I’m sorry,” I repeated, entwining my arm with his. The coldness faded almost immediately.
“It’s fine,” he said.
We walked in silence for a while. We were almost to the condo when I worked up the nerve to ask, “How many people have you killed?”
“I lost count.”
“Vampires, I mean. Not humans,” I said, hoping that would narrow it down.
“Are you scared he’ll end up killing me?” He guessed it perfectly. I barely nodded, causing him to smile.
“It’s not funny. I don’t want you to die.”
“I’m not gonna die.”
“But you’re worried about him with me, so he must be pretty dangerous, right? Otherwise, you wouldn’t care so much.”
“Not really. You’re just more fragile than I am.”
“I am not fragile,” I huffed. “I never have been.”
“I’m sure you’re not.”
I narrowed my eyes, pretty sure his agreement was sarcasm. But then I decided not to care. “My feet hurt.” I stopped in the middle of a crosswalk.
“I’m not carrying you.”
“Please?” I clasped my hands. He sighed and turned, motioning for me to get on.
“Yay!” I ran and hopped up, wrapping my arms around his neck while he caught my legs.
He lifted them for a better grip and started walking.
“Thank you,” I said, leaning against his back.
“You’re the best bind ever. My feet don’t even hurt. ”
“I know. I can tell when you’re lying. Even when I can’t hear you.”
“You can’t hear me again?” I lifted my head, then smiled when he confirmed. “So, how can you tell when I’m lying?”
“I’m not telling you.”
“Why not?”
“Because if I do, you’ll change it. And then I won’t be able to tell anymore.”
“Exactly. That’s why you should tell me.” I rested my chest on his back again.
“No,” he disagreed, “I don’t think I should.”
“Is it because I sound different?”
“Kinda,” he said.
“Is it some fancy body language reading thing?”
“Kinda.”
I lifted my head to look at him. “Are you saying kinda to annoy me?”
“Kinda.”
“You suck.” I tried to hit him, then cried out when he dropped my legs. “Dennis!” I clambered to stay up as he started laughing.
“What?” He caught me before I could fall. “I was working on your reflexes. Practice is good.”
“You’ll tell me, eventually. I’m gonna convince you.” I wrapped my arms tighter as he started up the stairs to their condo.
“Good luck with that.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking his sarcasm as real encouragement. I swung my legs as we neared the pool, not sure what to do with all my extra energy.
“I swear you’re the same age as Mikaila,” he muttered. He pushed the door open and flicked on a light as we walked inside.
“It’s not my fault I’m really happy.” I squealed when he dumped me on the couch. I rolled off the edge onto the floor, then turned on my side and propped my head up while he shut the door.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Too much awesome,” I said sadly. “Sometimes I think it’s gonna overflow and I’ll spontaneously combust. Or implode, or something.
” He shook his head and grabbed a book off the table before moving to the couch.
He sat near the middle while I unlaced my boots and kicked them off.
“Ari’s sleeping in Sean’s room tonight?”
“How can you tell?”
“That’s where her heartbeat’s coming from.” I gestured toward the only room I still haven’t been in.
“Look at you. Finally becoming a little useful.” He opened the book and started reading.
“Ha ha, you’re so funny.” I rolled my eyes and sat beside him. I looked toward Mateo’s shut door, trying to figure out what was going on in there. He and Sean were both yelling. “What are they doing?”
Dennis glanced up before saying, “Oh, that. They must be playing cards.” He went back to reading like it happened every day.
“Is it always this loud and aggressive?”
“All the time.”
“They’re weird.” I laughed at the randomness of it all before turning backwards on the couch.
“You guys are all weird.” I kept readjusting until I was right where I wanted to be: laying upside down with my head and arms hanging off the cushion while my legs rested where a head belongs.
“What’re you reading?” I read the upside down title when he held the book up.
“Ari read that once. I remember. She loves that book.”
“Interesting.” He sounded uninterested as he continued to read.
I want food. Food sounds good. I started playing with my long and currently upside down hair, which reached the carpet and spread a few inches further. It fell through my fingers as I lifted it and ran through the strands. I smiled and did it again. And then again, and again, and again, and—
“I see you playing with your hair. Stop narrating it,” Dennis said. “And go get some food.”
“I can’t. I’m too happy to eat. And I can’t sleep. I dunno what to do.” I beamed as Dennis closed the book on a finger to look at me. “What?”
“Nothing,” he said.
I started ruffling my hair. It’s really soft when I do this. It feels kinda like one of those fluffy pillows, except it’s hair. And a lot softer.
“I’m going to bed,” I decided. “I’ll just lie down and stay awake.” I tried to pull myself up but it turns out I’m stuck here forever. I gave up and flopped back down, letting my hair spread across the floor while my arms hung over my head.
“Need some help?” Dennis asked, setting the book aside.
“No. I’m not stuck. I changed my mind. I wanna stay here.”
“I swear, you’re the most useless vampire I’ve ever met.” He took my hands and pulled me upright. Which I easily could’ve done myself.
“Disrespectful.” I swung my legs and tried to get off but apparently that’s not gonna work, either.
I readjusted again and was about to just roll to the floor when I realized he was still holding on.
“Away!” I yanked my hands free and action rolled.
I hopped up and continued to my suitcase to grab some pajamas.
“‘Night, Vixen.”
“Goodnight!” I blew a playful kiss before heading to get changed.