“Nothing. That was the end.” I crossed my arms as we reached another intersection. “You’re not gonna kill anyone while we’re doing this, right?”
“Sure. As long as no one annoys me.”
We fell into a less than comfortable silence. The bar was only a few minutes away driving but seemed to take forever on foot. By the time we arrived, the silence was killing me.
“What now?” I asked. As he’d predicted, there were tons of drunk people milling about. Some were shouting drunken nonsense while others were sloppily conversing with friends or dates.
“I usually go to the back alley.” Dennis gestured around a corner and we headed that way. It was empty but close enough to the crowded area that a straggler might show up at some point.
“Now what?” I watched as he leaned against the brick wall.
“Now we wait for someone to come along so I can kill them and you’ll get over the whole‘vampires don’t exist’thing.”
“You said you won’t kill anyone.” I narrowed my eyes. If we were here for a murder, I wanted nothing to do with it.
“Right.” Dennis pushed off from the wall.“Stay here. I’ll find a loner and bring them back.”
“Kay.” I crossed my arms as he walked away. A couple of minutes passed before screaming music blared from my pocket. I pulled out my phone to answer.“Ari!” I shouted.
“Emy!” she greeted just as loudly.“Where are you?”
“Standing on a corner. I need some extra money, so I figured why not?”
Silence.
“Please say you’re joking,” she said.
“Duh. You know I’d rather go to Vegas where it’s legal.”
“Emy!”
“Relax, hun. I’m not on a corner. I’m outside the bar with Dennis. Or I was. He left to find a drunk person. He’s gonna drink their blood in front of me! Which should be interesting. I’ll finally see if he’s telling the truth or not.”
“Emery,pleasetell me you’re lying. You better be kidding me—”
“Ari, it’s okay—”
“Of course you’re not kidding because you’re Emy and you do shit like this. I’m coming to get you.”
“I’m fine. We’re at the bar. It’s super crowded. Except the alley I’m in, it’s totally empty over here.”
“You’re in analley?” she screeched. She swore at a honking car but didn’t seem to brake or slow down; the wind was loud enough to assume she was speeding. “I’m right down the street. You better not hang up on me.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t. I’m pretty sure Dennis is around here somewhere. I’ll be fine.”
“Oh, like that makes it any better? He’s clearly a crazy person,” Ari started, but I shushed her.
“Hold on. I hear footsteps. I think he’s coming back. I’m gonna hang up now.”
“Wait—!”
I hung up as Dennis and a woman came within sight.
“Who’s this?” she slurred.
“Hi.” I waved meekly. Her stance was wobbly from trying to keep balance.
“A friend of mine,” Dennis said smoothly, leading her further into the dimly lit area.
