“Okay?” I didn’t like kids and I didn’t know what else to say. The boy stared at me for several seconds before grabbing the ball and running back to his friends. “Gross,” I muttered.
“I’m guessing you don’t like kids?”
“I hate ‘em. I’m never having kids. They’re basically leeches. They leech off your body, your money, your time. This is entrance only.” I pointed to my crotch, making Dennis laugh.
“Good to know.”
Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream sounded from across the park. A woman was distraught at the water’s edge, frantically pointing at the lake and shouting about a person trapped beneath. I didn’t think twice before hopping up and sprinting over to help.
I ignored Dennis’ calls to come back and joined the woman at the shoreline. I peered into the clear water to see a person somehow wrapped and bogged down by whatever plants grew from the lake’s floor. I took a deep breath and made to dive in, but someone yanked me back before I could.
“What are you doing?” Dennis demanded.
“What’reyoudoing? I’m trying to help.”
“Leave it to someone else. You don’t need to do it.”
“He’s dead,” a gruff voice spoke up. A man was emerging—he must’ve dived in at the same time I tried to—with a grim expression.
“Are you sure?”
“Is he stuck?”
Panicked voices were coming from the small crowd that had gathered.
“Either way, I can’t get him out,” the man said.
“Dennis, please.” I turned to him in desperation. Unless another vampire was present, he was the only one strong enough to free the person without tools. He stared at me for a second before looking at the water in defeat.
“Fine. Wait here.” He dropped my arm and calmly walked to the water’s edge.
A wave of relief hit the moment he was in. The man said the person was already dead, but what if he wasn’t? He could be on the cusp of dying with enough time to be saved. But that thought disappeared as soon as Dennis reached the surface—an unmistakably dead man was slowly surfacing beside him, floating up now that the plants were ripped apart. Dennis got out and crossed the bank without a word, ignoring the horrified reactions around us.
“Let’s go.” He caught my arm mid-stride and pulled me through the frantic bystanders.
“Wait, what happened?” I twisted to see a couple of people in the water, trying to fish the dead man out since Dennis hadn’t bothered to bring him to shore. I struggled to break free but he continued to pull me along. Eventually, I managed to plant my feet on the ground.“I’m not going anywhere. What if they need a witness?”
“They won’t.” He grabbed my waist and flung me over a shoulder, then resumed a quick pace.
“Dennis!”
“Will you stop being difficult?” His grip tightened when I tried to kick his head. “There are plenty of witnesses and he didn’t drown, so whatever you saw is useless, anyway.”
“Fine. I won’t try to go back. Will you put me down now?” I asked, going limp to show I really meant it. He agreed and lowered me to the grass. I pushed his hands off and straightened my shirt. “How do you know he didn’t drown?”
“No blood. I would’ve smelled it. He was dead before he hit the water. Though I don’t know what kind of amateur leaves a body in a clear fucking lake,” Dennis said, running a hand through his soaked hair.
“Don’t you leave bodies out all the time?”
“Yeah. On purpose. I don’t do some half-assed attempt at hiding it, like tying it in a lake people swim in.” His tone was judgmental as he glanced back at the scene. “If I want a body to disappear, it’ll never be found.”
A shiver went up my spine at his words. “I think I wanna go home,” I murmured.
“Why, am I scaring you?”
“No. I just wanna go home.”
“It’s so cute when you try to lie.” He laughed as I shot him a dirty look and started walking of my own accord. Mostly to get away from him, but of course he easily kept up.
