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

“So why are you here all the time?” William asks. We’re sitting in the beanbag chairs at the back of the store. Piles of books surround us.

“Mmm...you want the truth?” I raise my eyebrow. He laughs.

“Yes, that’s generally how it works,” he answers. I sigh.

“Okay. In a nutshell, my dad died, my mom’s a drunk, she won’t pay the bills so my brother dropped out to get a job. I secretly dropped out to help earn more income.” William bites his lip, where two snakebite piercings are located.

“Wow,” he says, “intense. Do your friends come and visit you here?” I shake my head.

“I kind of just hang out with my brother. We’re twins. What about you? I’ve never seen you in school, and this town is pretty small.”

“Yea, that’s because I’m homeschooled. I don’t get out much, but this place is like a home away from home for me.”

“Scarlett!” Mr. Boo’s voice resonates from the front of the shop, making me jump. “Get to work!”

I smile and turn to William, “Well I have to actually work...you can hang around if you want, though.” He smiles but shakes his head.

“I can’t. I should be getting home.” I nod and stand up, beginning to walk to the front.

“Thanks,” I say. He tilts his head, making his hair fall in front of his eyes.

“Why?” he asks.

“For not saying you’re sorry. I like it.”

I took a detour on my way to the weapons room, cutting through the kitchen for some food. I made sure to keep on a lookout for that killer dog of theirs. Opening the various wooden cabinets I wondered if I had reacted too harshly...after all, Cayden had no idea what was running through my head. On the other hand, I realized that he was just another rotten vampire, and I shouldn’t care how I treated him. It’s not like he could even begin to comprehend the emotions I was going through...right?

I searched through the cabinets for something edible. Granted, they were vampires, so I wasn’t expecting much. But I had to try. One shelf after another, I found nothing. I tried the fridge; nothing but leftover blood. I kept looking until finally I reached a long row of cabinets under the sink. As I opened them up, I spotted dozens of bags of groceries. Everything I needed to have a decent meal was right here, hidden under the sink. Confused, I started pulling out the bags of food and setting them on the counters.

“We bought that all for you,” Jackie’s voice sounded behind me. I turned around, meeting her face-to-face. I immediately backed myself into the counter to keep from touching her. Knee-jerk reaction.

“And you hid it because...we were playing a game?” I asked sarcastically.

“No, sorry. That was Daniel. He tends to overreact when he’s mad. He’s emotional.” I rolled my eyes.

“No kidding.” I turned my back on her to concentrate on gathering food.

“Nice fight,” she commented. I mumbled something incoherent as I fumbled with the last bag. “You really are the most talented human I’ve ever met. Anyone else would be dead by now.” I said nothing as I rummaged through the contents of the bags, sorting them into cabinets.

“I would have won,” I mumbled. I knew I wouldn’t have won, I was just being difficult. She had had me in a chokehold-there was no way I was getting out of that one alive. And there was no point in trying not to be heard; she could hear everything I said, regardless. She could probably even hear my heart, beating irregularly in my rib cage.

“You may have,” she laughed, “were it not for Cayden.” My heartbeat stopped altogether. “What did he talk to you about anyway?” I slowly regained my breathing and emptied the last of the bag contents into the cabinets, then turned to face her.

“I thought you knew,” I said plainly. Jackie shook her head. The slightest movement made her hair swing from side to side.

“He’s been pretty secretive lately. Which I guess isn’t very odd, because he’s usually very...introspective. He’s just not an open book. But lately he hasn’t been telling us anything, especially Daniel. Now that’s weird.” I found myself hanging onto her words, wanting to know more about my kidnapper. I sighed and turned towards the cabinets again; looking for something I wouldn’t have to cook.

“He just...fed me crap about how you aren’t monsters, it all depends on fate, it’s your job. I don’t know if I believe him.” I thought I heard her gasp behind me, but I couldn’t be sure. I turned on my heel. “Is it true?” I asked wildly. She swallowed but kept a calm face, moving towards the cabinets.

“Do you want me to make you something?” she asked, completely changing the subject, “I can make pretty much anything. How about something simple...like a grilled cheese?” I felt a pang of longing as those words rattled in my head. Grilled cheese. I immediately thought of Chuckie and Keenan, still stuck at home wondering where I was. Or maybe they thought I was dead.

“Yea,” I nodded, my voice barely cracking, “that’d be great. Thanks.” In my mind, I was punching myself in the face. What was I doing? Why was I even acting civilized towards her? She began preparing the grilled cheese and silently asked me to sit, pointing to a chair. I did as I was told. Maybe she had maternal instincts after all.