The Hunt
I slowed once I’d escaped. The same lovely scent was in the air and the craving was back. A few vampires passed while I racked my brain for a good place to go. Eventually I decided on Craven Lake. There tend to be random stragglers there at night, which is exactly what I need.
I took my sweet time heading for the lake, creeping through shadows and darting past bright street lamps for funsies.
I kept my voice quiet while I walked, doing a reenactment of my favorite spy movie and its theme song.
I ducked behind the nearest shadow even though it’s already night time and spun in slow motion, searching for my prey.
“There appears to be nothing at six o’clock hundred,” I whispered, staring at every surrounding as I went. I held my hands up like a gun and inched to the side of a vacant building. “Mayday, mayday! A target is approaching!” I whisper-shouted. I threw myself against the nearest wall and froze.
Human footsteps were slowing. This might become my very first drink on my own.
“No way…” an unsure voice murmured. “Emery?”
The footsteps stopped.
I came out from hiding to see her standing there. A pang went through my stomach the second she smiled. My entire mood dropped. I knew I recognized that voice. I fucking knew it. My heart pounded while I tried to stay calm.
“Bye.” I tried to walk around her, but she stepped in my path.
“What, you don’t wanna talk to me?”
“No.” I went to leave again but she grabbed my arm. “Don’t touch me.” I shoved her off with more force than necessary—she slammed against the building.
She glared at me but held her ground. “So you’re really not even gonna say hi.”
“Bitch I tried to run over, I don’t remember your name, why are you here?” I asked blandly. I honestly didn’t remember her name. Either that, or I’d purposely blocked it out.
“I see you’re still violent, as always.” She looked at her arms, examining the marks my shove had caused. “Since you’re being nosy, I’m here for my man’s weird vampire shit job offer.”
“What’re you talking about?” I demanded. She was clearly human, so what did that even mean?
“What’re you doing here?” She dropped her arm to look me dead on. No emotion.
“Don’t try to change the subject. I moved here last month. Now answer my question.”
“What’re the fucking chances, am I right? Guess we’ll be in the same area again. Anyway, no, I’m not answering. This isn’t high school. You don’t get to order people around anymore.” She stepped back when I stepped toward her. “Are you gonna threaten me?”
“No.”
“Good. Because it wouldn’t have worked—” she gasped as I snatched her neck and shoved it against the wall.
“You can either tell me what the fuck you’re talking about, or we can let your neck change colors like your arms.” I squeezed tighter, holding her up.
She, of all people, knew I was serious. She scratched at my hand but I only held tighter, smiling as her face changed color.
“I can’t really see your neck since I’m choking you, but your face is halfway there.
I’m thinking you have a few more seconds…
” I trailed off as she spluttered something that sounded like giving up.
I dropped my hand and she sucked in a desperate breath. “Tell me.”
“Vampires. I was talking about vampires,” she said hurriedly, “something, I don’t know, it’s like controversial—confidential, I mean, my boyfriend told me he has a job working with vampire-human something that needs him here—”
“Wait, you know about vampires?” I interrupted. Her eyes were on my fangs now. A second passed before she looked up.
“You think you’re one of them.” She stared at me in shock.
Then the shock became repulsion, and the repulsion turned to malice.
“Great. The freak bitch is here and thinks she’s a vampire now.
I can’t believe you’re this delusional. I’ve been patient with my boyfriend because he’s having some stupid psychotic break about his friend going missing, but what’s your excuse?
” She eyed me in disgust. “Even in bumfuck nowhere, I can never get away from you.”
I closed my eyes as a years-old promise flashed back to me. Not to kill anyone. I’d promised Ari I would never try to kill anyone again. Especially this girl, since I’d already tried with her once.
“Well you can now, ‘cause I’m leaving.” I was determined to keep my promise. I started to walk away, but her strident laughter cut through the night.
“Yeah, slut. Keep walking.” She called after me.
Footsteps echoed as she followed. “Run off and cry like all the other times I broke you down. Some things never change, do they? You’ll always be the same Emotional-Wreck Emy”—I froze at the name I hadn’t heard in so long—“you’ll always be damaged goods.
Oh, now you’re waiting for me to catch up? ”
“I’m not.”
But I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
“I missed you,” she said as she caught up to me.
“You missed me?” My stomach lurched at the way she was smiling. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t live with her here. I already knew it would be the same thing all over again. The same fucking thing, and she would never stop.
“I missed you,” she repeated. “I missed seeing you cry. I missed making you cry. I missed all your meltdowns and watching you break things in class. I missed this expression. I missed all your screaming, and the rumors I spread, and the tantrums you threw, and your probation officer, and getting to torment you every damn day you showed up for class—”
I stopped listening. I couldn’t deal with this again.
“I asked you something, slut.” She snapped a finger and everything came back. “How much of this town have you slept with? Like a fourth? Maybe a third?”
“Only one person, and he actually means something to me,” I sniped. “Not that it’s any of your fucking business.”
“I see you’re still a compulsive liar. Not surprising. You probably slept with all the girls already. You always liked those more.”
“No. I don’t have a preference. I’m not a picky bitch like you.”
“Yeah, we noticed.” She laughed and blocked my path when I tried to leave again, feeding off my scathing glare. “You can never make up your mind or stay off your back, can you?”
“I don’t know,” I started sweetly, “why don’t you ask the guy who dumped you so I could turn him down?”
“See, this is why no one ever liked you! You’re an ugly, worthless, home-wrecking bipolar freak who’s never gonna get anywhere in life. I’m surprised you even graduated with how stupid you are—”
“I’m not stupid. I didn’t go to class because it bored me. And I’m not a home-wrecker because I didn’t take him from you. He came to me, and I told him no because you were still with him. I hate you, but I respected your relationship, which is one thing I’ll always have over you.”
I could easily leave. I could easily rip her fucking throat out and call it a day, but I’d promised Ari. And I refused to let her run me off again. Not in my new home. Not in the town I’d moved to just to escape half the fucking shit she caused.
“Either way, it doesn’t matter. He only tried because you’re easy.”
“At least I wasn’t the school bitch.” I took a step toward her and she backed up. “You think nobody liked me? At least they told me to my fucking face and I had the guts to say something back—”
“At least I’m not fucking mentally ill! You’re mentally disabled and you don’t have anything going for you. You’re stupid as fuck, you don’t have any friends, you still dress like a ho, and you don’t even have parents. Is that why you’re so messed up? Too many daddy issues?”
“No!”
“Your dad didn’t give a shit about you,” she backed up again but didn’t stop, “he doesn’t love you. He never did.”
I balled up my fists and took my own step back, trying not to tear her the fuck apart. “He might’ve loved me. You don’t know.”
“Yeah, well, you don’t know either, do you? He made you watch a murder and fucked with your head. Your own dad disowned you. A dad doesn’t do that shit. You never had a fucking dad—”
I shoved past her and started walking, faster this time. I couldn’t handle this without trying to kill her. I promised Ari. I had to leave.
“Keep running, slut!” she shouted after me. I heard quickened footsteps as she followed mine. “You always run from me when you’re supposed to be so fucking tough. What happened to that, huh? Why’re you so tough with everyone but me?”
“Because I don’t need a dad and I don’t need to hear your fucking shit!
” I whirled around and walked back. She was still going, heartless as ever.
“That’s why I don’t deal with you, because all you do is talk shit no matter what the fuck I do, or what the fuck I say, you never leave it alone.
You never fucking leave me alone and I don’t wanna hear it! ”
“You’re messed up,” she said loudly, “you’re a worthless piece of trash and I don’t blame your parents for leaving you. I would’ve left you, too—”
“They didn’t leave me—”
“Yeah, they did. At least your mom traded you for drugs. That’s more than you’re worth, because I would’ve done it for free.”
“She didn’t trade me—”
“Yeah, she did! She fucking traded you for heroine because her habit was more important than you. That’s how worthless you are. She gave you up because you’re a fucking useless cunt and nobody wants you!”
“She didn’t trade me!”
“She fucking traded you!” she was screaming now.
“I bet it’s your fault she started drugs in the first place!
She wanted to forget she even had you. No one’s ever gonna love you, no one’s ever gonna want you and I don’t know why you’re even still alive!
You should fucking kill yourself, just like you tried to senior year—”
A flash of rage shot through me and I blacked out. Red was all I saw. Red, and screaming, and moisture and flesh in my hands. So much screaming and so much rage. And then I blinked. I took a deep breath. My eyes refocused.
My heart stopped when I saw what I’d done.