9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
Kai Moreno
One Year In The Past - The Day I Found Out Beau Was A Blood Sucking Vampire
I’m wiping down the front counter one slow circle at a time, waiting for Beau to finish re-shelving the fantasy section because he insists on putting them in author name alphabetical order instead of vibes order like I do.
The bookstore’s smell is strong tonight, but not in a bad way.
It smells like old paper, cedar shelves, and whatever pastry the cafe across the road burns at least once a week.
Tonight, it smells like cinnamon, thanks to Beau’s new scented pinecones sitting at the tables, and very mild existential dread on my part.
It’s late. The kind of late night where the street outside is quiet and the only sound inside is the soft hum of the overhead lights and the occasional step from Beau as he moves through the aisles.
The guy is silent when he walks. I joke that he floats around this place.
He always chuckles but has never denied it.
I lean on the counter and glance over. “You done with the Sanderson extravaganza over there?”
Silence. Then a faint, “Almost.” His voice is smooth. Like melted chocolate on a strawberry. Damn, I’m starving.
Some people are pretty. Beau is… something else.
Something that makes the air around him feel colder and warmer at the same time.
An anomaly that I can’t quite figure out.
He’s quirky, but not in the way you think.
He feels old, but young. Call it a man crush, but he’s everything that I wish I was.
He adapts quickly, but is stuck in his ways in other forms. He slinks out of sight or just straight up disappears.
I’ve never seen him eat a literal meal since I started here. He’s just…odd.
I shake off all my rambling thoughts. I’m just really tired.
That’s all. I only start thinking like this after back to back long shifts.
My mind starts to get dramatic towards the night.
Beau steps out from behind the shelves holding a stack of books, and something glimmers when he moves.
Not around him, but a tiny shard of light catches on one of his teeth.
Not the flat white shine of enamel but something needle thin.
Too thin. Too thin and with a sharp point.
He doesn’t eat when I’m around. Could be an insecurity.
He’s as pale as a ghost. I’ve seen him go outside though.
Maybe a history of skin cancer in his family.
On second thought, I’ve never heard him mention a family.
His mouth carries teeth that are far too sharp, but not always.
The disappearing is odd. I had to teach him how to use a laptop.
How are we almost the same age? There’s no way.
I’m not even sure this guy sleeps or much less where he sleeps.
I’ve worked here for over a year now and I feel like I barely know the guy.
And it all clicks causing me to freeze. Like I just figured out how to manipulate the game master into securing my victory. My whole body comes to a halt.
Blink.
Rub my eyes.
Look again. It’s still there. His fangs. His very visible, literal fangs protruding from the front of his teeth. For a split second, I thought I imagined it.
My heart launches into a sprint like I just hit the gym for the first time in my life.
Thanks Dad for the incredible metabolism so I don’t have to endure the torture of exercising in front of others.
I straighten so fast the dish rag in my hand flies across the counter.
Beau notices the flying rag. His eyebrows lift. “You good?”
“No,” I say, because honesty is suddenly my entire personality. “I am NOT good. I am absolutely not good.”
I point at him. At his mouth. “You have something in your teeth. A tooth!”
“I have a tooth in my teeth? Kai, what the hell?” His face stills completely. He looks like a statue that just realized it blinked in front of a human. He knows that I know that he knows that I know, but all at once. “Kai,” he says gently.
“Oh god,” I whisper. “This is it. Oh god.”
“Kai.”
“You’re a…” I pause, trying to collect my words in the right order, “a vampire, dude. You’re a fucking vampire, aren’t you?
!” He flinches. It’s tiny, just a twitch of the jaw.
But it’s enough to know I just signed my own death certificate by saying it out loud for the first time.
I double down. “You’re a vampire,” I say louder.
My voice cracks an octave higher than usual. “You’re actually a vampire.”
“Kai,” he tries again, but I’m already spiraling. The floor might be tilting. Or my common sense is leaving my body through my ears.
I slap my palms on the counter. “Are you going to kill me?”
Beau looks like I just asked him if he likes pineapple on pizza. Confused. Offended. Mildly flustered, “What? No.”
“Are you sure?” I demand. “I’m your coworker. Your sole employee. I ring up your romance books and promise not to tell anyone about the demon smut you read. You can’t kill me. That would be way rude.”
He sets the books down slowly, palms open like he is approaching a wild animal. “I don’t care who knows about the books I read. I would rather be educated than uneducated. Secondly, I was never going to kill you.”
“Going to? So, you’re gonna start now, right?” I squint. He still looks confused. “Drink me, then? Is that the correct term? Drain me? Suck me dry? Actually no, I hate that one. I hate all of this.”
“Kai, please calm down.” He inches forward.
“I will calm down when I know whether I need to write a letter to my family explaining who gets my LEGO collection.” I point at the office door. “I have a pen in there. High quality pen. Archival ink. Perfect for last wishes. Do I need to draft something?”
He blinks. “LEGO… collection?”
“Yes. A very respectable LEGO collection. My cousin cannot have the Star Wars sets. She’s careless. She throws things away too easily. I won’t allow it. Tell me if I need to put that in writing.”
“Kai, no one is taking your Star Wars sets.” Beau attempts to soothe my wandering thoughts, still trying to close the distance between us.
“They will if I’m dead!” I yell at the top of my lungs.
“You are not going to be dead.”
“I don’t think I trust you. Not yet, anyways. You promise? Put it on Satan or whoever you worship.”
“I don’t worship Satan. What the fuck. But, yes. I promise.” I stare at him like my eyeballs can detect lies. He looks desperate when he continues to speak. “I promise I am not and will not harm you.”
“Fine,” I say, but my heart is still hammering.
“Fine. Okay.” I start pacing behind the register.
Back and forth in short, agitated steps.
Visible footprints probably begin to form on the floor from my sheer panic energy.
Beau watches me as his eyes track every move I make.
He looks nervous, which is a whole new level of concern because I have never once seen him nervous.
“How long?” I ask, backing up again, resting my hands on the bowl holding the scented pinecones he bought from the vitality store across the street. For now, I have no other way to protect myself if he lunges. Scented pinecones to the face, it is.
He lifts his hands in surrender. “Kai, we should have a calm conversation about this.”
“No,” I say. “No calm. No…now? I want answers. Actually, yeah now. That’d be fantastic.
How long have you been a vampire? Where did you come from?
Who made you? Do you come drink my blood in my sleep?
Do you sparkle? Do you have a thing for teenage girls?
Most importantly the last one. I should still do my due diligence even when scared. Important questions, Beau.”
“Kai.” He lets out a soft chuckle.
“And how are you not burning?” I gesture to the necklace around his neck. “Is that a magical talisman? Are you enchanted? Are you using SPF one thousand?” I take a deep breath. “And don’t even get me started on your handwriting. I always suspected it was an immortal power.”
“Kai, please. I let reality slip for just a moment. It was a mistake on my part. You should have never seen my fangs like that.” Beau demands, in a stronger tone now, as he stands just about two feet away.
“Are you going to call the cops on me if I call the cops on you? Are you even afraid of the cops?” I ask, tongue-tied.
Something about mentioning the cops does it.
He moves fast as lightning to my side of the counter.
I yelp and leap backward. He steps left.
I step right. He steps right. I step left.
We mirror each other like two pigeons fighting over a french fry in a vacant parking lot outside a Mexican restaurant.
He holds out his hands again. “Kai, don’t call anyone. Please. I am not a threat to you or anyone. Except when it comes to the ladies. Always consider me a threat there.” He says, jokingly.
ARE WE SERIOUSLY JOKING RIGHT NOW?
“Well, you are a vampire so excuse me if I need a moment,” I hiss.
“I understand. Truly. Please stop moving though. I don’t want to have to restrain you. Plus, I know exactly what you’re thinking.”
“You stop moving! How the hell do you know what I’m thinking?” I blurt out. We hop left and right again like we are at the bottom of the pyramid on Dance Moms and desperately need a win. Finally, I just drop to a crouch behind the register, clutching my forehead.
Beau crouches too but keeps his distance and gently speaks in a tone I have never heard before. “Can we just talk for a second?”
“Yes,” I groan. “Fine. Talking is good. Talking is okay.”
He sits cross legged on the floor, near me, but not next to me.
“I’m dangerous, but I don’t kill. Anymore, at least. That’s beside the point.
I don’t feed on humans directly. I have rules, right now this is me following my own personal set of rules.
There’s a council that operates all over the world, but the one specifically for us here in this country are very much recluses. ”