‘Well, thank you, Emily. That’s very kind.’ While I lay out the mats, she bustles off back to the kitchen and returns with the two bowls, which she sets down on the mats.
I take a seat and, after a glance at Ruth, start to eat. The stew is hot and fragrant, the meat rich and chewy in my mouth. It’s strange and wonderful, sitting at a table with light outside, eating food with another human.
Finished, I sit back, comfortably full. ‘Thank you, that was delicious.’
Ruth has finished as well, her spoon clattering as she drops it in her bowl. ‘I’m glad you liked it.’
There’s silence for a few moments, but it’s comfortable. Outside, the sky turns from blue to gold. ‘I guess Kyle will be up soon.’
Ruth shrugs. ‘There’s a bit of time yet.’
‘Have you known him long?’ Kyle said he’d known Ruth for years, but something makes me want to ask her.
‘A while.’ She pauses, frowning. ‘I’m curious, though. Where did you meet him?’
Shit. Where did we meet? I chew my lips before answering. ‘I, er, we met at a club.’
‘Ah.’ She nods her head. ‘It’s a tough road, loving a vampire. So I hear, anyway.’
I raise my eyebrows. ‘It’s not so bad.’
Ruth puts out her hand. ‘Oh, I mean no offence. I only mean because of how things are, how different we are to them. It must be strange, growing old while they stay the same.’
‘Er, I guess? I mean, I haven’t really thought about it?—’
‘The young never do.’ She laughs, again without humour. ‘Do you want him to change you? Do you want to change?’
I take in a sharp breath.
Ruth’s face changes. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t pry?—’
‘Why wouldn’t she want to change?’
I turn to see a man standing in the doorway. He’s tall, his shirt straining over the curve of his stomach, feathers of dark hair clinging to his pate.
‘Emily – this is my husband, Andrew. Andrew, this is Emily. Remember I told you she’d come to stay, with Kyle?’ She shoots him a look that’s clearly a warning. He ignores it, putting down the bag he’s carrying and coming over to the table, clapping me on the shoulder before taking a seat.
‘Why wouldn’t you want to be changed?’ He jerks his chin at me, though his eyes are kind. I don’t know how to answer.
Ruth gets to her feet, going to the stove and ladling him a bowl of the stew. She brings it back to the table, putting the bowl down with a thump. ‘Ignore him, Emily. Are you ready for some crumble?’
‘Er, yes please,’ I say, holding out my bowl. Then I realise this is rude and stand up, pushing my chair back.
‘Become the hunter, rather than the hunted,’ Andrew goes on, as though I’ve answered him.
Ruth takes my bowl and I sit down again, feeling awkward. She shoots her husband another glance. ‘She doesn’t need to hear this.’
‘Doesn’t she? Not all of us agree with the deal our grandparents made. Maybe Emily is one of them.’ He holds up his spoon, a large chunk of meat on it, and glances at me. ‘For thousands of years,wewere the hunters. Taking meat, eating it, farming it, giving no thought, really, to the animals, to how they might feel.’ He puts the spoon in his mouth, chewing, his dark eyes on me. He swallows. ‘And now we are the meat. We are the cattle, kept in our pens, our meadows. No matter how big the farm, do you think we don’t know, we don’t always remember? Your protector in there—’ he jerks his head towards the hallway ‘—could eat any of us, at any time. Even you.’ He jabs his spoon at me, then dips it in the stew. ‘So, enjoy eating meat while you can, Emily, because one day, like it or not, you’ll be the meal.’ He laughs, long and loud, as though he’s told some wonderful joke. I stare at him, the hot burn of tears at the back of my throat.
Ruth returns with two smaller bowls, glass this time, both filled with apples, crumble and cream. She gives one to me and sits down with the other, shooting her husband a glance. The crumble smells delicious, but my appetite is gone.
‘And so we work and bring children into the world, and for what?’ Andrew continues. ‘What’s the point, when we’re nothing but cattle? Safe Zones? There are no safe zones, not when we are meat. We can pretend all we like, but that’s what humans have become, and?—’
‘Andrew, that’s enough!’ Ruth slams her hand on the table, causing the glasses to shake. ‘Emily, I’m so sorry.’
‘No, it’s fine. I mean, it’s true, isn’t it?’ My face is hot with anger. Anger at what he’s saying, at the truth behind it, at my parents, at this stupid world I live in where being human is a life-long prison sentence. My dream of a human life is crumbling, right before my eyes. We are the fucking meat. And I can’t bear it.
‘And another thing?—’
