Cursed

Page 29

I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan. “Like omelets?”
He nodded and sat at the bar.
“So, you are a flesh and blood human with a beating heart?”
He nodded, not answering. I could see I was wearing on his last nerve and stopped asking questions. I was stewing on safe questions while I beat the eggs and chopped the vegetables.
“Are vampires real?” It only made sense to me that if the wolves were real, so were the vamps.
He didn’t answer but when I looked at him, I got my answer. His face was grim.
“Are you a vampire?” I asked.
He had said he was an immortal. Maybe he was a nice vampire.
Again he didn’t look amused. “No, for God’s sake. I’m sorry I said you could ask questions. You’re the most inquisitive person alive. I am not a vampire. Yes, they’re real. I think that in your world, you will find things have changed now that your second sight has—”
I interrupted, “Second sight?”
He nodded impatiently and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment. “Your ability to see me will make other things easier to see as well.”
I couldn’t stop my brain now. “Do vampires become vampires from a bite?”
He slumped at the bar and groaned. “No, Hollywood is not the place to look for facts. Like lycanthropes, vampires have to be turned a special way. If a vampire bit you, he would drink your blood and heal your wounds before you would even realize it had happened. They’re very charming.” He almost growled at me as I passed him the plate of toast and omelets.
I sat beside him at the bar with my orange juice and steaming plate of food and blinked. “So, they drink blood?”
He nodded blowing on his fork full of eggs. “Yeah, unfortunately they do. They aren’t all bad, but they need human blood.”
“Could they drink yours?”
He sighed. “This is the last question for a while, okay? No, they cannot. I am an immortal; my blood would mean death or sickness, depending on how old the vampire was. Me and Angels. They can’t eat either of us. Yes, Angels are bloody real and no, I don’t want to discuss it further.”
I rolled my eyes, eating my eggs. I was stuck in all the empty knowledge that led nowhere and the millions of questions I couldn’t ask.
I turned and watched him eat. I distracted myself with his jaw flexing and his juicy lips.
He frowned at me with a mouth full of hot eggs and peppers, as he tried to suck in cold air and talk. “Eat. You’re weak and watching me eat isn’t gong to make you feel better.”
I took a bite of the eggs on my fork and chewed, barely tasting the food. My stomach seemed to turn at the thought of food. I ate to make him happy and tried to seem like I could move on. But I didn’t. My mind was brewing.
Having nothing to say and sitting in silence proved to be quite a challenge. I waited for him to talk about anything he wanted to talk about. He seemed content in the silence, which was really annoying. We finished breakfast and I started cleaning up the dishes, and I realized I had a whole line of questioning I hadn’t even touched on.
He saw the gleam in my eye and moaned. I ignored him and moved in for the kill. “Do you know who the rapist is?”
He sat perfectly still and then nodded slowly, not making any noise.
I frowned. “You have to tell the police.”
He shook his head. "I can't."
I leaned against the kitchen counter. “Are you telling me that you know who is raping and attacking girls, including me, who you say you love, but you won't tell me or the authorities who he is?”
He nodded still sitting tight-lipped. "What kind of proof do I have beyond seeing him running through the woods? What kind of witness am I? I have no I.D.; I have no address. I do not belong in your world, and the secret of mine is far more important than the safety of a small town. I'm sorry. It isn’t just my secret to share."
I pointed to the door. “No, you need to go now and tell the police."
"I can't get involved. I'm sorry. I have other things and people to protect."
"That could have been me. I could have been face down in the dirty grass with my skirt around my waist."
He didn’t budge.
"Are you heartless?"
His face remained stern and unfeeling.
"Get out of my house. I’m fine. Protect my sister and dad from bad karma, but leave me alone. I don’t believe in karma, anyway. I don’t even believe in you.”
He stood and looked at me. His eyes were full of regret as he turned and walked out of my house. I cried. I went back to bed and slept some more.
I woke hearing rustling in my room, assuming it was him I shouted, “Get out. Pervert.”
My sister peeked her dark head of hair up at me out of my closet. “Yeah, like our parts don’t match? Whatevs. I need that shoe you wore the other night. I found one, but where is the other one?” I looked around the room, seeing the mess everywhere. My room had slowly become like my sister's. It exhausted me to think about the mess around me, even though I had slept for days. I sat up feeling the best I had in a while and gave my sister a look. “Why can't you just wear one of the millions of other pairs?”
She frowned. “You okay, Aimes? Normally I really wouldn’t care, but you’ve been in bed for five days again.”
I frowned. “Huh?”
She nodded. “Yeah, you’re sleeping a lot. The doctor came four days ago and checked your vitals out when you were sleeping. He said as long as your eyes and skin aren’t turning yellow, you would be fine. He said you’re just recovering which can take a couple months. I don’t know though, dude. You seem like you're dying.”
I looked down at the floor to see a cup I didn’t recognize and a few dishes.
“Have I been eating up here?” Vague memories of my father spoon-feeding me filled my hazy mind.
She nodded, sitting on my bed, looking confused. “Yeah, Dad’s been bringing you dinner and feeding you. Dude, you don’t remember any of this? Yikes. He called the doctor again today and the doctor wants you to come back for a check up on Monday. He said it's normal after what you’ve been through to feel sick like this. He said it could be another month. But we're getting worried.”
I didn’t recognize this person on my bed. Her steely-silver eyes glistened as she spoke, “Jaime is awake now. She said she doesn’t remember anything, but the doctors confirmed she was raped. He never got to finish because you and that guy came. You saved her, Aimes.”
I felt my eyes light up. “She’s awake? So, she’ll be okay?”
Alise nodded. “Yeah, I guess she didn’t have an allergy like Giselle. Speaking of Giselle—your phone’s been going nuts, dude. It’s been like fifty messages a day and Shane’s called about twenty times a day. He’s really worried. Dad won't let him in your room, so when he shows up, he stays at the door and then leaves after a while. Kind of awkward for me. A few times he stayed and watched Discovery with Dad. I think he was hoping you’d wake up and he could see you one time.”
I put a hand to my face. “Oh my God—I’m like a mono victim. I need to get out of bed and go see Giselle and Shane.”
I looked at her, deciding to forgive and accept. “How’s Blake?”
Her smile became so deep it hit her eyes, making them sparkly like platinum. “He’s the weirdest guy I’ve ever met. I hate the way he just sits and reads sometimes for like hours. He is like you, but a dude. He wears all these shirts that make no sense, and I bought him this super expensive watch with his money, and he hates it. God, he keeps wearing that nerdy N.S.A one. And he never tells me I’m beautiful or wants to, you know—do it. I think he’s never done it before, which is cool with me. He seems happy to just lie on his bed and read beside me. I’m so tired of him, but I can’t stop going over there.”
I laughed. “Oh my God. You like him. It’s N.A.S.A. by the way; it’s the spaceship people. Not N.S.A. This is you gushing, sis. I’m glad, but please go easy on him. I know it's not your nature, but try. He was my best friend.”
She frowned. “I can't help but go easy on him. He won't fight with me. He just sits there. I accused him of flirting with Jessica at a hot-tub party we had at his house on Sunday. He sat on the couch, watching some special on how they’re making the astronauts retire and work in tourism. I yelled at him and he cut me off mid screaming fit and said, “Hey babe, can you get me a drink of water?” She changed her voice to mimic a man's for the question.
I smiled, knowing the exact face he would have used. “Guess you’ve met your match.”
She nodded. “I’m scared though. What if I mess it up?”
I shook my head. “He won't let you. He doesn’t buy into your drama.”
She put a hand down on my arm and rubbed a little like Mom used to. “Aimes, can you try to get better? I know you’re sad about something, but can you just try a little harder? I can't take this. Giselle is dying, Jaime is sick like you, and you’re scaring us with all this sleeping.”
I nodded, gulping back a tear lodged in my throat. “Yeah. I’m going to take a shower and get dressed now. Have the police got any idea what’s happening?”
She got up from my bed and shook her head. “No, they’re still kind of lost. I guess they found the cup she was drinking from though, so that’s good. They know what the drugs are that the rapist is using.”
I got up from my bed slowly. “What day is it?”
She smiled. “Friday. The big dance is tonight. I think Shane's worried you won't be able to go.”
“I’ll go. I need to go to Giselle’s to get my dress, though. She wants me to wear her spring formal dress.” I felt weird about it.
My sister’s face lit up again. “You’re going to go? I’ll drive you over when you’re done showering.”