She seemed disappointed that someone else was here. But her smile perked up when Dennis took her hand. He brought her wrist to his lips, and for a moment I thought he was going to kiss it. She seemed to think the same thing until he turned it over and sank both fangs into her flesh. I cringed at the half squishing, half cracking sound. The woman’s eyes widened briefly, then fell shut as she swooned. He caught her, never breaking the contact with her wrist. I stared in shock while he drained her blood.
“Holy fuck…”
“Emy!” Ari’s voice preceded her as she came storming into the alley. “Are you okay? What’s happening?”
“Look.” I pointed to the paling woman, who was limp in Dennis’ arms.“He’s a vampire,” I murmured.“He wasn’t lying.”
Ari gasped and slapped a hand to her mouth. “How is this possible?” she stammered. “Is he gonna kill her? Is he killing her?”
“No. He promised not to kill anyone.”
As if on cue, Dennis released the woman’s wrist and gingerly placed her on the ground. “That was disgusting.” He licked the blood off his lips and grimaced.“Her blood tastes awful. She’s probablyanemic. And she’s not dead,” he added for Ari’s benefit. “Killing isn’t automatic, it’s a decision. Drinking from the neck is painful and kills. Anywhere else is relaxing and only lulls prey to sleep. When they wake up, they shouldn’t remember anything. Or if they do, it’ll seem like a lucid dream.” He stood and smoothed his dark shirt. “Do you believe me now?”
My shocked ‘yes’ was barely audible. The speed, the mind reading, the fact that we’d only seen him during evening or night, and now this. It was undeniable at this point: he wasn’t crazy, he was a vampire.
“Will she be okay?” Ari asked quietly.
Dennis nodded while I continued to stare. I was having a hard time processing this.
“You guys can leave,” he said.
“What are you gonna do?” Ari asked.
“Make sure she wakes up okay. She was alone and now she’s unconscious in the back alley of a bar. The least I can do is make sure nothing happens while she’s knocked out. It should only be a couple minutes.”
“Huh.” I was having an even harder time processing his concern. It was the opposite of what I’d expected. “Okay. Well I guess we’ll be seeing you…?”
“Yeah.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, staying several feet away from the woman. “I’ll be seeing you soon.”
And Then There Were Three
“Emy,” Ari’s singsong voice floated through the hall.
“What’s up?” I hopped up and went to her room. It had been a full day since we’d discovered Dennis was telling the truth. So far, he hadn’t shown up again. The day had been largely uneventful.
“Wanna go out tonight? There’s a frat party.” She smiled brightly, ruffling the auburn fringe of bangs that fell across her forehead. “I think most of my classmates are going.”
“Your nerd friends actually party?”
“They’re not nerds.” She laughed as I made a doubtful face. They spent so much time studying for exams, I found that hard to believe.“I’m almost done studying and it’s only nine something. We have time to get ready. Wanna go?”
“Like that’s a real question.” I laughed at the absurdity of thinking I might say no. “You know I’m always down.”
“That’s true.” She tapped a pen against the thick book in her lap, surveyingme.“Don’t embarrass me, though. Wear something that covers your entire bra and stomach at the same time. Preferably legs, too.”
My hands reflexively touched my bellybutton ring.“Right. Like I even own something that modest.” I ignored her responding complaints and left to get ready.
I took a quick shower, changed into a comfortable temporary outfit, and headed to my room to find a real outfit for the night. I was singing and moving hangers in search of something suitable when a noise came from behind.
“Are we invited to the party?”
I yelped and whirled to see not one, but two vampires in my room. Dennis was posted against a wall while Sean lounged on the window seat.
“No.” I turned back to the closet and held up a shirt, then put it back. It covered too much.
“I think we should crash it,” a third voice came. Mateo emerged from the bathroom across the hall with a lotion in hand.“This smells good. You should put some on.” He tossed it my way but I missed completely. It clattered to the floor. “Never mind,” he sniffed the air as he passed me, “you already did.”
“Why are you here? How’d you even get inside?”
