Blood Type
Page 12
“He bought you. Like a slave,” Brian said softly. “Our little sister is enslaved to a vampire.”
“Oh my God, I am not enslaved!”
“He gives you money, buys you new clothes so that you’re completely unrecognizable, and lets you stay in his place. He is making you completely indebted to him. So when he takes your blood, you feel like you owe it to him. You feel like your place is beside a monster, when your place is here.” Brian grabbed her hands in his. “With us, Reyna.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Drew said. “Come back. Let us take care of you. We were doing fine.”
She pulled her hands away from her brothers. “Fine? This is your idea of fine?” She shook her head. “We deserve better than a shitty apartment. We deserve better than a moldy, drafty bedroom that makes us sick. We deserve a job that pays us fairly and that doesn’t work us to death. We deserve real food, a livable wage, access to healthcare and so much more! You can’t sit here and tell me that we’re fine. Because we are far from fine.”
Her brothers looked away from her. They couldn’t deny the things that she had said. They really needed the money.
“This is my choice. You guys took care of me my whole life. Let me take care of you now. I’m going to send back the money to you so you can start living better.”
“Rey, please,” Drew said.
“We can’t let you end up like this,” Brian said. “After everything we did to raise you…”
“I love you guys, but I couldn’t ask for a better position. I’m not changing my mind.”
Drew came over to her first. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a big hug. As solid as she had been when she had told them about her situation, she was still so frightened. She couldn’t even tell them about Beckham. They would freak out if they knew what he was really like.
“Get over here,” Drew said.
And then Brian’s arms fell around them both. She tried not to get choked up, but the truth was she didn’t know when she would be seeing them again.
If she would be seeing them again…
Chapter 8
“Oh my God, what is the time?”
Brian pulled out their dad’s old pocket watch. “Quarter to five. Did you want to get dinner?”
Reyna jumped to her feet. “Quarter to five! I need to leave. I have to be back in the city. How did it get so late?”
When she had lived here, she had rarely had time to hang out with her brothers. They were always exhausted from working fourteen-hour days. Time had just slipped away from them. She had only meant to stay a short while and be back before Beckham even noticed. Now she was worried that she was going to be massively late, and they were supposed to talk tonight.
“Shit!”
She reached for her purse and pulled out her cellphone. She hadn’t checked the thing all day. In fact, she had completely forgotten about it after she had sent Beckham that text message this morning.
“Is that a cellphone?” Drew asked in awe.
“Yeah. Beckham gave it to me.”
“He gave you a cellphone?” Brian asked. He was clearly displeased with how much wealth the man was displaying, but there was really nothing he could do about it at the moment.
She fiddled with the display until it lit up and then her heart plummeted. Two missed calls and two text messages from Beckham. Also one voice mail, which she didn’t know how to access. She clicked on the first text message.
Leaving early from work so we can talk. Have you eaten?
Her breath caught in her throat. He was inquiring about her eating? Did that mean he wanted to make sure she had eaten so he could eat? Or was he simply curious about her eating habits? Or did he want to take her out to eat in one of those ridiculous outfits?
She remembered the second message and returned to the screen to open the second.
Where are you? I’m home. I’ve tried to reach you. I told you to have your phone on you at all times. Call me immediately upon receipt of this message.
“What’s wrong?” Brian asked. “You’re white as a ghost.”
“I…I should have been back already. He needs me to leave.”
“You can’t stay for a little longer?”
“No,” she said flatly.
Brian pursed his lips. “I don’t like this, Reyna.”
“Well, we all have to make sacrifices.” She bit her lip and then stared down at her phone forlornly. “I have to call him back.”
“You look terrified, Rey,” Drew said softly.
She locked eyes with him. “I am.”
Then she entered the bedroom for a semblance of privacy.
She had planned her entire day around getting back to Beckham in time. And she couldn’t even manage that. She knew he had a temper…that he was volatile and erratic. She could see that in the short interactions she had already had with him. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him.
Gulping dramatically, she pressed the number to call him back and held the phone awkwardly to her face. It rang only once before his deep voice cut through the line.
“Reyna,” he growled.
“Hey,” she said awkwardly. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t hear my phone.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“I…I went out,” she said defiantly. “I texted you.”
“That was hours ago and you didn’t even say where you were going.”
“I didn’t know I had to.”
He grumbled under his breath. She knew that she was irritating him with her comebacks, but she hadn’t actually broken any rules except that she hadn’t answered her phone right away.
“Well, where the hell are you, then?”
“I’m…visiting some friends. You said I could leave,” she reminded him again.
“I bloody well know what I said, Reyna. Stop avoiding my question. Where? Where are you? And why the hell are you not in my penthouse?”
Reyna closed her eyes and cleared her throat. Here goes nothing. “The Warehouse District.”
Beckham cursed under his breath. “That’s an hour away!”
“I know,” she whispered.
“This is unacceptable. I said you could have anything within reason. Within reason does not mean driving an hour out of the city and spending the day in the slums!”
“You didn’t specify!” she cried.
“Well, now I am. Get back here now, and we’ll discuss exactly what within reason means to me.”
The line went dead in her hand.
Her lower lip wobbled as she fought to hold the tears in. She wouldn’t cry. Not over Beckham. This was her first job and already she feared she was going to be fired. This Permanent position wouldn’t be that permanent if he got this angry with her on day one.
She waited a few minutes to compose herself. Another message came in from Beckham.
I’ve sent a cab to retrieve you. Respond with your address immediately.
She typed out the address to her brothers’ home. She hated that he would now have access to it. Though it was probably in her file if he wanted to retrieve it himself. She almost apologized through the message, but stopped herself at the last moment.
“What happened?” Drew asked when she walked back into the living room.
“I have to leave. He’s sending a car to pick me up.”
“Rey,” Brian said, his voice strained. “Are you sure about this?”
“Oh my God, I am not enslaved!”
“He gives you money, buys you new clothes so that you’re completely unrecognizable, and lets you stay in his place. He is making you completely indebted to him. So when he takes your blood, you feel like you owe it to him. You feel like your place is beside a monster, when your place is here.” Brian grabbed her hands in his. “With us, Reyna.”
“You don’t have to do this,” Drew said. “Come back. Let us take care of you. We were doing fine.”
She pulled her hands away from her brothers. “Fine? This is your idea of fine?” She shook her head. “We deserve better than a shitty apartment. We deserve better than a moldy, drafty bedroom that makes us sick. We deserve a job that pays us fairly and that doesn’t work us to death. We deserve real food, a livable wage, access to healthcare and so much more! You can’t sit here and tell me that we’re fine. Because we are far from fine.”
Her brothers looked away from her. They couldn’t deny the things that she had said. They really needed the money.
“This is my choice. You guys took care of me my whole life. Let me take care of you now. I’m going to send back the money to you so you can start living better.”
“Rey, please,” Drew said.
“We can’t let you end up like this,” Brian said. “After everything we did to raise you…”
“I love you guys, but I couldn’t ask for a better position. I’m not changing my mind.”
Drew came over to her first. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a big hug. As solid as she had been when she had told them about her situation, she was still so frightened. She couldn’t even tell them about Beckham. They would freak out if they knew what he was really like.
“Get over here,” Drew said.
And then Brian’s arms fell around them both. She tried not to get choked up, but the truth was she didn’t know when she would be seeing them again.
If she would be seeing them again…
Chapter 8
“Oh my God, what is the time?”
Brian pulled out their dad’s old pocket watch. “Quarter to five. Did you want to get dinner?”
Reyna jumped to her feet. “Quarter to five! I need to leave. I have to be back in the city. How did it get so late?”
When she had lived here, she had rarely had time to hang out with her brothers. They were always exhausted from working fourteen-hour days. Time had just slipped away from them. She had only meant to stay a short while and be back before Beckham even noticed. Now she was worried that she was going to be massively late, and they were supposed to talk tonight.
“Shit!”
She reached for her purse and pulled out her cellphone. She hadn’t checked the thing all day. In fact, she had completely forgotten about it after she had sent Beckham that text message this morning.
“Is that a cellphone?” Drew asked in awe.
“Yeah. Beckham gave it to me.”
“He gave you a cellphone?” Brian asked. He was clearly displeased with how much wealth the man was displaying, but there was really nothing he could do about it at the moment.
She fiddled with the display until it lit up and then her heart plummeted. Two missed calls and two text messages from Beckham. Also one voice mail, which she didn’t know how to access. She clicked on the first text message.
Leaving early from work so we can talk. Have you eaten?
Her breath caught in her throat. He was inquiring about her eating? Did that mean he wanted to make sure she had eaten so he could eat? Or was he simply curious about her eating habits? Or did he want to take her out to eat in one of those ridiculous outfits?
She remembered the second message and returned to the screen to open the second.
Where are you? I’m home. I’ve tried to reach you. I told you to have your phone on you at all times. Call me immediately upon receipt of this message.
“What’s wrong?” Brian asked. “You’re white as a ghost.”
“I…I should have been back already. He needs me to leave.”
“You can’t stay for a little longer?”
“No,” she said flatly.
Brian pursed his lips. “I don’t like this, Reyna.”
“Well, we all have to make sacrifices.” She bit her lip and then stared down at her phone forlornly. “I have to call him back.”
“You look terrified, Rey,” Drew said softly.
She locked eyes with him. “I am.”
Then she entered the bedroom for a semblance of privacy.
She had planned her entire day around getting back to Beckham in time. And she couldn’t even manage that. She knew he had a temper…that he was volatile and erratic. She could see that in the short interactions she had already had with him. The last thing she wanted to do was upset him.
Gulping dramatically, she pressed the number to call him back and held the phone awkwardly to her face. It rang only once before his deep voice cut through the line.
“Reyna,” he growled.
“Hey,” she said awkwardly. “Sorry. I guess I didn’t hear my phone.”
“Where the hell are you?”
“I…I went out,” she said defiantly. “I texted you.”
“That was hours ago and you didn’t even say where you were going.”
“I didn’t know I had to.”
He grumbled under his breath. She knew that she was irritating him with her comebacks, but she hadn’t actually broken any rules except that she hadn’t answered her phone right away.
“Well, where the hell are you, then?”
“I’m…visiting some friends. You said I could leave,” she reminded him again.
“I bloody well know what I said, Reyna. Stop avoiding my question. Where? Where are you? And why the hell are you not in my penthouse?”
Reyna closed her eyes and cleared her throat. Here goes nothing. “The Warehouse District.”
Beckham cursed under his breath. “That’s an hour away!”
“I know,” she whispered.
“This is unacceptable. I said you could have anything within reason. Within reason does not mean driving an hour out of the city and spending the day in the slums!”
“You didn’t specify!” she cried.
“Well, now I am. Get back here now, and we’ll discuss exactly what within reason means to me.”
The line went dead in her hand.
Her lower lip wobbled as she fought to hold the tears in. She wouldn’t cry. Not over Beckham. This was her first job and already she feared she was going to be fired. This Permanent position wouldn’t be that permanent if he got this angry with her on day one.
She waited a few minutes to compose herself. Another message came in from Beckham.
I’ve sent a cab to retrieve you. Respond with your address immediately.
She typed out the address to her brothers’ home. She hated that he would now have access to it. Though it was probably in her file if he wanted to retrieve it himself. She almost apologized through the message, but stopped herself at the last moment.
“What happened?” Drew asked when she walked back into the living room.
“I have to leave. He’s sending a car to pick me up.”
“Rey,” Brian said, his voice strained. “Are you sure about this?”
