“Yeah, if I could figure out how. I still don’t know how to kill a vampire, but I figure slitting her throat is a good place to start.”I got my keys out as we reached Tuffy 2.0.
“Are you gonna try to run her over when we leave?”Ari asked. I hesitated. I hadn’t thought of that, but now that she mentioned it…
“Gimme the keys.”Mateo held out a hand and I reluctantly dropped them in.“I’ll be careful.”He smiled before getting on my new baby.
I watched forlornly as he drove away. So much for that idea. Now I was stuck riding with them with no chance to go back.
“Ourcar’s over here.”Sean pointed a few spaces down.He got in the passenger seat while Ari and I climbed in back. He turned to grin at me as Dennis started driving.“I can’t believe you told that guy to suck your dick.”
“She does that all the time,”Ari said.“It’s like her favorite insult.”
“It is a fun one,” I agreed. “I save it for special occasions.” I barely smiled as Dennis laughed.
“I was wrong, Vixen. You’re not fragile at all.”
My mood lightened a bit at his words. The others talked throughout the car ride, but I was too busy daydreaming about a nice warm shower. Melissa’s blood was all over me, along with dirt on my legs from kneeling to strangle her.
“Can I shower at your place?”I asked as we parked out front.
“Nope,” Ari said before Dennis could answer, climbing out beside me. “We gotta go home. Aunt Helen comes tomorrow. We need to deep clean.”
“Ugh, really? I hate cleaning.” I pouted as Mateo joined us and returned my keys. Tuffy 2.0 was parked further up the block, nice and shiny as ever. “Thanks.”
“Welcome.”
“We’re leaving. Bye, guys.” Ari pushed me toward my bike while Sean and Mateo said their goodbyes. I managed to wave at Dennis before she gave another shove. “You better not run away. Don’t sneak off to the bar or something, ‘cause I’ll come find you.” She got in her car while I made a face and continued toward mine.
“Vixen,” Dennis called. I waited for him to catch up.“Thank you. I was gonna wait it out, but you’re right. This was more efficient.”
“That’s what binds are for, right?” I giggled as he smiled. “I’ll see you later. I have to clean, apparently.”I made a ‘blegh’ sound before sitting atop new Tuffy and leaving for home.
The wind felt amazing whipping through my hair, but my disgusted sound came back at a terrible realization: as excited as I was for Aunt Helen, I was also sad to leave Dennis behind.
A Thrilling Announcement
I glanced at Ari, who’d been acting weird all day. She’d been normal during yesterday’s deep clean that admittedly wasn’tthatbad, but she’d barely spoken today aside from a flat ‘good morning’ a few hours ago.
“Are you gonna tell me what’s wrong?” I finally asked.
She bit her lip before saying, “I guess. But first, I’m kinda hungry.” She patted her stomach. “Do you want a snack?”
“I could eat. Food sounds fun.” I waited on the couch while she grabbed us snacks, trying to guess what might be wrong. She hadn’t studied, hadn’t insulted me, hadn’t even told me to change my cartoons all day. It was bizarre.
“We need to talk about something before my dad comes home.” Arireturned and gave me a dessert bar. He’d left for the train station a couple of hours ago, meaning he’d be back with Aunt Helen any minute.
“Oh gosh, what’d I do now?”
She laughed and plopped down beside me.“Nothing. It’s about me.”I took a bite, waiting for this mysterious conversation to begin.“I wanna become a vampire.”
“What?”I nearly dropped my food.“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?You know I’ve been waiting for this!”
“Because I didn’t wanna get your hopes up in case I changed my mind.I’ve been thinking about it since the night Sean bound me. And I finally decided. I wanna do it. Sometime soon.”
“I can’t believe this.”I shoved another bite in my mouth and chewed way too enthusiastically, then started choking.
“Are you okay?” She smacked my back until I regained composure. “Do you need water?”
“I’m fine.” I brushed off her concern. “I choke on dicks and smother in pussy all the time. This bar is nothing.” I grinned as she burst out laughing. “Okay but for real, this is so exciting.We can finally play fight again without me having to hold back.”
