As The Blood Is Drained, It's Bad For Business

Mattie and I are both completely distraught as we sift through Mom’s papers and checkbooks, looking for a good signature to forge. Mattie holds his ‘required paperwork’ in his hands.

“Matthew. You don’t need to do this. I can get a job, too!” I exclaim. He shakes his head.

“It’s one thing for me to drop out, but you...one of us needs an education.” He sighs heavily, only proving once more to me how much he really doesn’t want to do this. He finds a perfect signature on one of Mom’s checks and puts it under his drop-out forms, shining a light on it. He proceeds to sign each and every one of the lines that Mom would never sign, even if she was completely intoxicated. Suddenly our house phone rings, and Matthew picks it up.

“Uh huh, yea, okay, I guess I can do that. Mmhmm. Bye.” The phone call lasts maybe thirty seconds. He looks at me, as if begging me to save him.

“I’ve got to go fill in a shift for another employee. Can you empty my locker and turn these in for me?” He asks solemnly. Slowly, I nod my head and watch him as he hurriedly leaves the house again. Then I take the papers and head upstairs, where I secretly copy a second copy for me.

Cayden led me down the hallway and past the kitchen. I squirmed a little, trying to release my hand from his grip, but it was useless. Vampires are just too strong. I tried to resist as he took me past the living room where I had spent most of my stay here, and towards a nook in the wall. Finally, I just gave up trying to escape. There was no point.

The nook in the wall was actually an entrance to a small stairway. They had a second floor. We headed up each step as if this was the stairway to the end of our lives. Each moment seemed to go so slow, and I had no idea what was about to happen. At the end of the stairs, there was a large carpeted floor and two doors on either side of the tiled wall. One door was halfway open, obviously leading to a bathroom. The other one, where Cayden was leading me, was closed. Everything up here seemed darker. As he opened the door, shock overwhelmed my body. Instead of the blue theme that I was used to downstairs, everything was different shades of black and red. The furniture was sleek and looked brand-new. Overall, the room looked like it had never been touched.

We sat down on his black leather couch, uncomfortably close to each other. His violet eyes met with my hazel ones, and he squeezed my hand tighter.

“I can feel your pulse,” he commented. I involuntarily shuddered. He closed his eyes sadly for a moment and then opened them again. I clenched my teeth.

“Look, I’m sick of this beating-around-the-bush bullshit. First you kidnap me, then you save me. More than once. What the fuck do you want from me?” I tried to sound intimidating, but it was hard when I was this close to him. He shifted his weight a bit, rustling his hair enough to the point where I could smell it. Fruity and musky at the same time; a perfect mix.

“I told you, you don’t really know anything about us. You just think you do,” he informed. I rolled my eyes.

“Tell me what you’re up to, now,” I demanded. Cayden cleared his throat.

“Vampires aren’t killers,” he started. I scoffed.

“Yea, and that’s why I had to chase you away from Keenan,” I growled. He shook his head.

“No, I realize that we kill people. But it’s supposed to be natural. We’re...oh man. This is hard to explain.” As he struggled for words, just for that one second...he seemed human. Loss of words, losing your train of thought, it’s so-normal.

“Scarlett,” he said my name again, more intense than the first time. I snapped to attention, slightly interested in what this vampire had to say.

“I’m going to tell you a story, and you’re going to listen, without interruptions. You need to at least try to understand, or your stay here is not going to be a very pleasant one. You...you have no idea.” I sat speechless, now almost completely unaware that his hand was still grasping mine.

“Promise that you will not speak until I am done talking,” he said grimly. I nodded.