Silence of a Love Bat

“All of the wasted time/The hours that were left behind/The answers that we'll never find/They don't mean a thing tonight” – Boys Like Girls, The Great Escape

The first time he hit me it wasn’t that bad, but the second time it was. Then it came again, and again, and again, and again. By the thirteenth time I was pissed. It wasn’t that it hurt really. It was just annoying.

“Joe,” I snapped, looking up from my shoelaces. “What is wrong with you?

He shrugged, “You’re taking too long.”

I could hear Patrick snicker from his workbench, his shoulders shuffling a little as stifled his chuckles. “You two are crazy.”

“Well for your information Joe,” I stated in a matter-of-fact tone, “I can’t tie my god damned shoelaces if you keep fucking hitting me.”

He rolled his eyes, and then poked me again with his weapon. “You’re such a girl.”

“Fuck you,” I snapped, taking off my untied shoe and chucking it at him. I proceeded in taking the other one off, seeing as I wasn’t doing a good job of tying them up.

“Hey!” Joe yelled, after dodging the attack. “You better run.”

“What a threat,” I said sarcastically. I picked up my lightsaber and ran off to the stairs of the basement, stopping before the first step. “I bet you can’t even catch me!”

“Is that a challenge?” Joe question.

I stared at him intensely, before giggling. “Sure.”

He charged forward, but I shot up the stairs and reached the door before he even got to the steps. I opened the door quickly and ran into the hall, after locking it. I passed the bathroom and was sliding on the wooden floors of the warehouse into the living room/kitchen. Andy was sitting in front of the TV, watching the news.

“You okay?” he asked, turning his head from the couch. When he saw my red lightsaber he added, “Aren’t you supposed to be practicing with Joe and Patrick downstairs?”

I smiled and slid over to him, my socks slipping against the floor. “Yeah, well Joe and I got bored. Patrick couldn’t keep us focused for the life of him.”

He shook his head lightly. “He’s trying to help you learn to fight…seeing as you’re useless again.”

“Do I need to smack you across the head?” I joked, pulling my arm up threateningly.

Andy didn’t even flinch. “You should keep moving.”

“Huh?”

“The Republic is running up the stairs and trying to open the door you locked. Get your Galactic Empire butt moving, girly.”

I grinned and headed over to the other hall. “I wanted to be the Republic! But no, Joe wouldn’t give me green lightsaber!”

“How dare he!” Andy shouted as I made my way down the hall.

I walked up the other stairs laughing, and when I reached the top I went to running again. As I pounded around the corner Hemmingway bolted out of Pete’s room, coming at me. I was going too fast to stop, so when I shifted to avoid him, Pete walked out of his room and I collided with him. Of course, the dark haired, raccoon eyed, rock didn’t even move an inch. I was the one who crashed to the floor.

He smirked up from above me. “Don’t chip a tooth.”

I glared up at him, my fangs coming out. It was still hard to control them, but I was gaining control over my blood lust. I was allowed to come out of Pete’s room after five weeks of me turning, and that was three weeks ago. Eight weeks and I was getting better. “Go to hell,” spat.

He rolled his eyes, but stuck his hand out for me to take. “You and Joe having lightsaber battles again?”

I reached up and wrapped my fingers around his willingly. Pete pulled me off the floor effortlessly. “Yeah.”

It wasn’t that we were sleeping with each other, in the sexual aspect. Sometimes he’d crawl into bed with me, other times we would stay in our own rooms. Joe, Andy, Patrick, and Ryan had a running bet that Pete and I were, in fact, having sex. That wasn’t the case though. It was just that we were just closer now that I was a vampire. We understood each other even more so than when he marked me. He was touchy-er, using every chance he got to hold onto me.

“Smile,” he demanded. Pete now had an obsession with looking at my fangs.

I obliged after saying, “Freak.”

He was about to reply when Joe came into the hall. “Locking the door is against the rules!” he complained. “You already have speed over me; you’re not allowed to lock the doors.”

“Get over it,” Pete said, pulling me past Joe. We walked into the kitchen, and he sat me at a stool. “Shake?”

“Please,” I batted my eyelashes.

Joe came back down, plopping on the couch next to Andy. “Any new killings?”

Andy’s gaze fell off the TV. “The park. One of the Hoods was identified.”

“They need to be more careful,” Pete put in. “Ever since Cobra left Travie has his heart set on taking down the Dandies.”

Patrick walked into the room. “Huh?”

“Hoods,” I informed him when he took a seat next to me.

“Oh,” he nodded.

Pete was quickly done with the shake, splitting it into two glasses. He threw a straw in mine then placed it in front of me. He walked over to the sink, leaning his back against the counter and drank his meal. “Trick, I forgot to tell you! As soon as she’s allowed out, Will wants Em to meet Evangeline.”

Patrick looked between the two of us. “If you’re okay with it…”

“I don’t care,” I replied, sipping slowly.

The doorbell rang, and Patrick quickly said, “Hold her.”

Pete was at my side in an instant, taking a strong grip on my shoulders. He pushed me into the island, keeping me in place.

“Oh come on!” I whined. “You seriously don’t trust me?”

“Precautions, Emily,” Patrick stated. “Precautions.”

Trick walked down the entrance hall, opening the door slowly. I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him. He was talking quietly.

I was happy Pete was holding me. I tensed as soon as the person as the door’s smell filled my lungs. I shut my eyes, forcing myself to go through the steps Pete taught me.

Pete puts his lips to my ear, reminding me. “Find something gross about the smell. Make the pulse irritating. Don’t let yourself like it.”

I shut my eyes. I concentrated on the persons pulse. If I thought hard enough I could make it give me a headache, make the pounding hurt my head. If I thought hard enough I could make the smell repulsive, make the cologne dizzying. I scowled slightly; it was Abercrombie and Fitch. It reminded me of the one time I went into the store. His pulse acted at the loud music, the fragrance nauseating.

Pete’s grip was still strong even though I wasn’t tense anymore. “Good job, Em,” he whispered.

The door shut shortly after, and Patrick walked into the kitchen. He placed a small cardboard box on the counter. “Here,” he said.

“For me?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Patrick grinned. “It’s from all of us.”

I opened it after getting a knife. When I took out the contents, I stared at the DVDs in confusion. There were four: Calculus, World History, The Works of Shakespeare, and Chemistry.

“What is this…”
“Homeschooling DVDs,” Joe laughed, looking away from the TV.

Andy explained, “We figured you wouldn’t be out for another month. At least you could keep yourself occupied, seeing as you beat Modern Warfare 3 already.”

I couldn’t help but keep grinning, even as I hugged all the guys and dragged Pete up with me so we could get a head start on The Works of Shakespeare.