The Poison in Your Blood

The next weekend we are back in Arizona. Austin brought up his Range Rover and we are packing up Anna’s stuff. Madison came along, said she wanted to help as much as she could. I can’t express how much I truly love her.

So far we’ve gotten most of Anna’s things put into boxes and suitcases and Austin has been packing them into the truck. Zoe’s huge crate is taking up more space than we would have liked, but he’s got some luggage racks on the SUV so he’s got a few suitcases tied down on the roof.

The doctors seem to think that Blair will come out of her coma now, but they aren’t sure how long her recovery is going to take. She’s going to have to learn how to walk and talk again; at least that’s what they are thinking. It seems like Anna will be living with us for probably the rest of her teenage years. It’s all very draining to think about. We’ve got a hospital that is going to take Blair in in Los Angeles once her current doctors clear her to be transported.

“I think we need a break,” Anna says and plops down on her bed. The bed has been stripped of sheets and pillow cases and all her bedding has been packed up to go back to Austin’s house. The bedding from the guest room has been too, because honestly I loved it. Her walls are bare and her dresser is cleaned off and out. There are only a few things that need to be packed up before we leave tomorrow. We’ve got a couple hotel rooms this time, I just wasn’t sure I could handle staying in this house and thinking about all the bad stuff that happened.

“I think we can do that,” I say. “Maybe we could go and get some lunch or something?”

“Yea,” she says and nods. “There is a Mexican place not far from here.” I look at Madison.

“Sounds good to me,” she says and stretches out.

Anna and I both stand up and also stretch before heading out of the bedroom and down the hallway to where Austin is in the kitchen. I look at him and smile. “Babe, let’s go get some lunch,” I say.

“You ladies finished packing up?”

“We are taking a break,” I say.

He nods once thoughtfully. He finishes the cup of coffee he was drinking. He hasn’t been out to feed in what seems like forever. His eyes are black more of the time than they should be and one time I was just slightly worried he might kill one of us out of pure starvation. I keep telling him to take care of it but he refuses. He’s so concerned with keeping me and Anna calm and taken care of.

“There is a Mexican place about a mile from here; it’s called Garcia’s or something like that. It’s really good,” Annalise says. She knows all the real details, but Madison doesn’t and we’d like to keep it that way as long as possible.

Austin has managed to keep himself under control with human food. But I know it’s not what he needs and I can tell it’s taking a toll on him. I go to him and put my arm around his waist before stretching up to talk in his ear. He instinctively leans down a little, since he’s like…9 inches taller than me.

“You need to go out,” I whisper.

He shakes his head once. “I’m fine,” he whispers back.

I glare at him but I don’t say anything else. No use fighting with him now in hushed whispers. I’ll fight with him tonight at the hotel if I have to though. This isn’t going to end here.

He gives me a weak smile before putting his arm around my shoulders and standing up straight. “Let’s go ahead and get some lunch then,” he says.

All four of us head out of the house in silence. I’m feeling uncomfortable with his ignoring his needs and his life. He needs to eat too, and it’s bothering me that he’s not doing it. I can smell his weird scent and I try really hard to fight it. He’s trying to keep me from being angry. That is going to be a real issue when we start having serious fights. I’m never going to win.

On the drive over to the restaurant we all sit in some kind of discomfort. We borrowed Blair’s car because the Rover is too full of stuff for it to be comfortable or responsible to take it up the street for lunch. But it’s weird being in her car when we know she’s in the hospital. When we know she may never drive this car herself again.

We go into the restaurant together feeling a little relieved to be out of the car and I’m starting to feel a little less agitated by the whole thing with Austin. I never in my life imagined I’d someday be worried that my boyfriend hadn’t gone out and killed anybody. Weird how that works.

I’m feeling like hell today. Like hell, so when the waiter comes to the table I don’t hesitate to order a pina colada. I need a damn drink, and I’m not really even a big drinker. But damn it I need it. I feel better when Madison orders a margarita. Anna looks at both of us and frowns. I wish I could help her out.

Austin orders a soda or something and gives her some kind of weird little wink and she smiles. At least she won’t be the only one at the table who isn’t drinking. The waiter leaves to get our drinks and I let out a soft sigh.

“This has been a long couple of days,” I say. It’s been two days since we came up here to get her stuff together and we’ve been busy packing and getting everything arranged ever since. It’s been really tiring and really unfortunate. We spent the week we were home getting Anna enrolled in a high school close to Austin’s house and though she wasn’t happy about starting at a new school in the middle of a semester she was happy to have a distraction. She won’t get started until Monday though, because she has to get moved first.

“So…I noticed Zoe hates you,” Madison says to Austin a little bit after our food comes.

He laughs a little bit. “Yeah,” he says. “I’m sure she’s going to be thrilled when we get her to my house and she meets Lana’s Piggy.”

“Don’t be mean to Piggy!” I cry. Piggy moved into Austin’s house over the week we were there too so he could start getting used to it and all. I mean, it’s important that Piggy adjust well. But it is going to be a pain when we bring Zoe home.

Madison is thoughtful for a long minute. I have a feeling I know what she’s thinking. She lives in a two bedroom house. I don’t know why she lives in a house by herself but whatever. She was going to move in with a guy a few years ago but they decided they made better friends and broke it off before any real commitments were made. I guess she just didn’t get rid of the house. I guess I don’t blame her. But she could easily accommodate Zoe in her house and huge back yard.

“I’m not being mean to that vile thing,” Austin says.

My jaw drops with horror at the insinuation that my baby is anything other than perfect. Just because he’s fat and lazy is no reason for Austin to insult him. Over all he’s a nice cat. He’s only scratched me a couple times, and he loves Austin. I think maybe cats really are the work of the devil…

“I wonder why she hates you so much,” Madison says.

“Something about the way I smell,” he says totally casually and I’m a little concerned for a minute. She gives him a look.

“I never really trusted people my dogs didn’t like…but so far you seem perfectly normal,” she says and gives him a quick examination.

“Maybe not as normal as you’d think,” he says and smiles. I swat kick him under the table and he looks towards me. “No, I’m kidding,” he says quickly then. “I don’t know why she hates me. A lot of dogs don’t like me much.”

“Weird,” she says. “Dogs usually love everybody.”

He opens his mouth again but I glare and he shuts it. In a minute he’s going to announce it to her and I’m going to freak out and probably have a small heart attack. I really need him to go out and take care of his business because he’s starting to lose his better judgment.

“I guess it’s just one of those weird things,” he says.

“So, Madison, you said you sell cosmetics?” Anna says then and I’m so thankful for her changing the subject. Madison brightens up a bit and starts telling Annalise about the business and how it was her dream and stuff and I feel so much better.

It isn’t until we are in the hotel rooms that I start to feel unhappy again. Madison and Anna are sharing a room and I’m in a room with Austin. He’s lying on the bed flipping channels on the TV and drinking a cup of coffee he made on the little coffee pot. His eyes are black as coal and his skin is looking a little pale and strange.

“How long has it been since you had something to eat,” I say to him. I’m drying my hair with a towel since I just got out of the shower.

“A couple hours,” he says in a totally smartass voice. I turn and glare at him.

“Austin, you know what I mean,” I say.

“Lana, I’m fine,” he says.

“No you aren’t,” I snap. “I’ve been watching you, and you don’t even look healthy. When was the last time you had something to eat?” He looks towards me and he can see I’m pissed.

“Fred,” he says. I stare at him with my mouth open.

“That was a week and a half ago!” I shout. “You’ve got to go out and eat something before you kill my friend or something.”

“I’m fine, Lana,” he says. “Don’t concern yourself with my feeding habits; I can take care of myself.”

“Clearly you can’t! You almost gave yourself away to Madison this afternoon at the restaurant. You need…”

“Damn it I said let it go!”

“How do you expect me…?” I shouldn’t have looked at his face. I’m not sure if the terror I’m feeling is from his expression or the deep animal growl, but either way it’s there.

“Lana, I’ve been with you through all of this,” he says in a level voice. “I’ve helped you and your sister, and I’ve been with you through all this. The only thing I’m asking you to do…”

“No,” I say. “You need to take care of you too,” I say. I close my eyes. “If you don’t want to go out…at least take some from me.”

“I told you before I don’t want to do that,” he says.

I move closer to him and crawl onto the bed. I move up against him, straddling him in my towel. I remember the last time when I did this he told me I was in the danger zone. My stomach hurts a little, but I have to do something because he’s going to be trapped in a car with three humans and a dog tomorrow for ten hours. I’d really like Madison not to find out about Austin, and I especially don’t want her to find out when he’s got his fangs deep in her throat. I cringe at the thought.

“Please, Lana,” he says. I lean down and kiss him on his lips.

“Fine,” I say. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want.” My heart is already beating faster. “I need a distraction.”

“What are you talking about?” he asks.

“You know,” I saw and try and give him a little grin. I kiss him again and move my hands through his hair. God please let this work. His hands travel up my thighs and I’m feeling good, like my plan is moving forward how I want it to. I open my towel and let it fall down around me and he rolls me over onto my back. My heart is pounding hard in my chest. I just have to get him a little closer.

I pull him down and I can feel him tense up when he grazes my throat. He starts to pull away but I pull him tighter.

“Lana, don’t do this,” he says.

“I just want to have sex,” I say in as convincing a voice as I can manage.

I can see the blackness in his eyes as he kisses my collarbone and I’m sure I’ve finally convinced him. I feel his fangs graze my skin. At least I’ll get a good night sleep. “Just don’t kill me,” I whisper then and I feel my skin rip open and it all goes black.