My eyes brightened, nodding. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Nessa pushed her chair backward, rolling across the floor before lifting her body upright. Her hips swayed rhythmically when she walked, her curly hair bouncing with each step. Reaching into the worn leather bag hanging on the wall, she gently cradled the object and held it close to her stomach.
“What is it?”
Nessa gingerly put a small, black circular item on the desk between us. The surface was marred by deep scratches, obscuring the words that had been scraped away entirely, leaving only faint ghosts of their former presence. Her eyes glowed. “It’s a CD player. We haven’t had a working one in years, and I stowed this away from our last shipment. All it needed was some light fixing and new batteries.”
“Do you have any discs to play on it?” I was smiling, a thin veil over the laughter bubbling up inside me. “It does use discs, right?” The world’s most prominent tech moguls were turned into vampires, giving all residents of Elysium access to countless digital music libraries, available anytime, anywhere.
“We got rid of most of the CDs years ago. I think someone told me they were used as kindling during the first winter after the war.” Lining the outside, numerous silver buttons, each displaying a unique symbol, gleamed faintly. A press from Nessa’s chubby finger on one of them caused a satisfying click as the lid opened. “But this had one in perfect condition.”
“Can we listen?”
She nodded. “This is the last CD in the world, and even though it’s so scratched and beaten up that it only plays one song, I love it.” She plugged the white corded earbuds into the device and handed me one before putting the other in his ear.
A synth-pop tune with a driving bassline reached my ears, and a powerful beat drummed through my body. The soothing, wavy melody reminded me of being on a beach. Life seemed so much simpler before all this happened. The artist’s high, breathy voice, a strained attempt at sultriness, filled our ears. A cringe reached my face as I listened to the music—I knew who was singing; she and her family were leaders of an Elysium on one of the coasts.
The final note faded, and Nessa’s grin was radiant as she looked at me. “This song gets stuck in my head for days. Even though it is something you can dance to, the lyrics are pretty deep.”
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Pretty deep for her, sure.”
“What’s that mean?”
“I know the singer, her father was one of the first to purchase the BRETH cure. If I remember correctly, she produced only a few albums. This may be the last song of hers in the world.”Her eyes narrowed, questioning my statement, so I had to clarify with more details. “Not because of the war or the vampire uprising, it was because she realized she couldn’t sing without digitally correcting her voice.”
“Digitally correcting her voice? How’s that done?”
“A lot of singers used to do it before the war,” I explained. “It was all a money-making scheme.”
“I wonder how all their money is treating them now.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Do you want to listen again? You have to admit, it’s catchy!”
She was right, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, it was one of those songs that would worm its way into your head and never leave. I sighed and put the headphone back in my ear. “Replay it.” Looking back over my sixty-five years, I couldn’t remember a friend, besides Gabe, that I could do this with. I didn’t know where my friends went before the war. They may even have found refuge in Elysium, but I’d never know unless they appeared inside my penthouse. I never realized how much I missed this camaraderie, how I craved it. Until now.
We listened to the song five times. The catchy beat and lively tempo had us dancing around the desk, swaying our bodies back and forth with our arms in the air, completely lost in the music. The music in my headphones created a bubble of carefree normalcy, blocking out the world’s concerns. It was like we were at a sleepover, listening to music and gossiping about boys.
Until the music stopped.
The back door opened, and Jude emerged from behind. Nessa snatched the headphones from my ears, the music ending abruptly, and then slipped the CD player under a stained cloth. Beads of sweat gathered at her temples as she leaned her face into her fist, offering Jude a shy, awkward smile.
The man looked at me with an oddly amused expression. “Everything okay out here?”
I nodded and turned away from him. Why did he need to interrupt us? This was the first time I felt normal in years. “Nessa and I were getting to know each other.” I flickered my eyes at Jude, who looked back at me with a cold stare. “I think we hit it off. It’s nice to knowsomeonelikes me here.”
“We’redefinitelyfriends,” she agreed, her voice cracking. “Vincent is always welcome here. A-and so are you, J-Jude.”
A sly smirk crossed Jude’s face, and he bit his bottom lip.
Was he enjoying the attention Nessa was giving him? Were all humans this egotistical? Honestly, their need for attention was exhausting.
“Let’s get going, vampire boy.” He cocked his head toward the door. “I have to update my dad about what Michael had advised me.”
“And whatdidyou find out?” I asked through my teeth.
He squinted his eyes and held one condescending finger toward me. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
With a playful glint in my eye, I turned toward Nessa and winked at her. “I hope I’ll see you soon. The stars may be blind, but hopefully they can convince Jude to bring me back to see you.”
A wide smile lit up Nessa’s face, her cheekbones pinching her eyes shut.
