“Why don’t you tell us, then?” Ari asked.
“Because,” his lip ring caught the light as he gave her a twisted smile,“where’s the fun in that?”
“Hey, wait,” I called. He paused with a hand on the doorknob.“If you’re really a vampire, and I don’t believe you, for the record, shouldn’t you be turning into a bat to fly away?”
“No. We don’t do that.” Dennis gave me a bland look before a small smirk crossed his lips.“I’ll come back for you later.”
And then he was gone. Ari and I sat in silence for who knows how long before she asked, “Do you think he left?”
“Let’s go see.” I pulled her up and led the way from the room. When I glanced over my shoulder, she was nowhere to be seen.“Ari, hurry up. I didn’t finish taking shots and I wanna get to it before dinner.”
“Your psychiatrist would be ashamed.” She finally emerged from my room.
“Then she should’ve answered the phone.” I laughed, bounding downstairs the same as always while she stayed a few steps behind. We did a thorough search of the house but there was no trace of him. I collapsed on the couch once we were done.“Do you really think he’s a vampire?”
“I don’t know.” She stared at a wall, lost in thought.“There’s something off about him. If he’s not a vampire, he has to besomekind of something to be so intuitive. And weird.”
“And sexy,” I added.
“You’re such a mess.” She laughed as I grabbed the remote.
“What can I say? Normal people bore me.” I began scrolling in search of my favorite cartoon.“Did you see what he was doing with that knife?”
“Yes! I thought he was gonna kill us.”
“I know, right?” My voice was almost giddy as I recalled the thrill of it. “I loved it.”
“Are you kidding?” She stared as I propped my feet on the table.
“Not at all. Maybe next time he wants to act like a murderer, he won’t pick a girl with a death wish.”
“Maybe you have one, but I actually like life.”
“Eh,” I shrugged,“it’s okay. I’m good either way. At least if a wannabe vampire kills me, you can tell people I died an interesting death. Make sure you tell them he was attractive, too. Every detail counts.”
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Not even a little.” I grinned and went back to my show.
LivingProof(of Hell)
I leaned against the doorway while Ari stuffed a small backpack with books.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna come?” She hiked the bagovera shoulder and eased past me.
“I’m sure. I’d rather stab myself in the eye than go to a study group.” I pushed off the wall to trail behind her.
“You’re so dramatic. You won’t get bored here all alone?”
“Nope. I’m gonna check out whatever bars are around. Do you know where they’re at?”
“There are two. One’s more of a gentleman’s bar my dad always goes to and the other one is a normal dive bar.” She kneeled by the door to lace her shoes. “You’ll like the dive bar better. It’s pretty close. Go past the park and make a right on Milton Avenue. It’s a few blocks down. Are you going as Mina again?”
“Of course. It’s my decoy name. Can’t flirt or hook up with strangers without it. One stalker was enough. I don’t need to go through that mess again.” I was slightly distracted now, already going through outfit choices in my head.
“I figured. I gotta go before I’m late.” She straightened up and opened the door. “Call me if you need a ride home? I don’t want you going home with some random guy again.”
“I’ll be fine. Maybe I’ll go home with a random girl instead.” I grinned as she shook her head and walked out.“Go have fun with your nerds.”
